Protecting Nature Recovery Areas

This House is dismayed by Horsham District Council’s proposed allocation of the Buck Barn site for a new development in its local plan which means that a planned Nature Recovery Area, linking the Knepp Estate with coastal and forest habitats, including St. Leonard’s Forest and Ashdown Forest, to create a cross-Sussex wildlife corridor will be severely disrupted; notes that the Knepp Estate was cited as an outstanding example of nature regeneration in the 25 Year Environment Plan; further notes that that 25 Year Environment Plan proposed the creation of Nature Recovery Areas and that the Environment Bill requires the development of Local Nature Recovery Strategies; highlights the contradiction between environmental and planning policies that will hinder the creation of a cross-Sussex Nature Recovery Area; further notes that Buck Barn has been identified by Sussex Wildlife Trust as a site of high strategic value for Horsham District Council’s own nature recovery network plan; urges Horsham District Council to reverse its decision to allocate Buck Barn for development; recognises that nature is in decline across the country and that our future prosperity, security, health and wellbeing depend on reversing that decline; further recognises that the recovery of nature can only be achieved if planning policies align with environmental policies and further climate and nature goals; and calls on the Government to use the forthcoming Environment Bill and Planning Bill to achieve that alignment, ensuring that the planning system delineates nature recovery networks and protects nature-rich spaces.