A group of UK nature charities have written to Rt Hon Angela Rayner MP and Rt Hon Steve Reed OBE MP calling for action to protect the UK’s chalk streams in planning reforms.
The letter is headed by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and signed by various river, water and wildlife charities including The Rivers Trust, Angling Trust, River Action, Wild Trout Trust and The Wildlife Trusts.
The charities urge the UK Government to integrate enhanced protections for chalk streams into reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
During the government’s consultation on proposed changes to the NPPF (30th July – 24th September), more than 700 people urged action on protecting chalk streams.
The majority of the world’s chalk streams – around 85 per cent – are found in England, but of the 220+ found here, only 11 have any legal protections.
Conservationists argue these measures fall far short of what is required to sufficiently protect chalk streams, especially from indirect pressures, such as pollution that occurs elsewhere in a river’s catchment, or abstraction to provide a water supply for new housing.
There is currently no formal plan to protect or restore English chalk streams, with the fate of a ‘Recovery Pack’ in development under the prior Government currently unclear.
Debbie Tann MBE, Chief Executive of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, said, “The Water (Special Measures) Bill and the recently announced Independent Commission into the water sector are crucial steps in the right direction. However, the government must deliver on these commitments and integrate a holistic approach to protect our chalk streams across all government activities. With some of the most iconic chalk streams in the world right here in Hampshire, I have witnessed first-hand their tragic decline due to insufficient protections. We cannot wait any longer for them to be restored to health.”
Joanna Lewis, Chief Executive of Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, said, “The UK can be proud of the international importance of our chalk streams for biodiversity: they are our Great Barrier Reef, our Okavango Delta. But they urgently need bespoke legal protection to ensure they don’t suffer irreparable harm, and we urge you to take the opportunity of your planning reforms to achieve this.”
In the letter, the charities recommended a series of amendments to the NPPF to boost the ambition of key policies, and to ensure the internationally agreed target to protect 30 per cent of inland waters for nature by 2030 is achieved.
These policy recommendations include:
- Designating chalk streams and chalk stream catchments as irreplaceable habitats
- Introducing 50-100 metre ‘no development’ buffer zones
- Mandating planning authorities to account for implications for water resources of sewerage systems in local plans
Only 15 per cent of UK rivers are in good ecological health and the charities suggest that sufficiently protecting chalk streams is essential for achieving nature recovery targets in the Environment Act (2021).
Image: North Star Transition