LNRS user guides: Planners and public bodies

Legislative context

Production of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) is a requirement of Section 104 of the Environment Act 2021, so the Oxfordshire LNRS has been produced in line with Environment (Local Nature Recovery Strategies) (Procedure) Regulations 2023 and has received approval for publication from all of Oxfordshire’s District and City Councils, the County Council, and Natural England.

All local authorities have a duty to ‘have regard’ to the LNRS under Section 40 (2A) of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. In addition, The Planning and Infrastructure Bill 2024-25 as placed before Parliament would require a spatial development strategy to ‘take account’ of the LNRS.

How the LNRS can support you

Many businesses are already making space for nature on their premises, land holdings, and within their community. The LNRS is here to help you do even more - and show how your efforts would contribute to the bigger picture.

How to have regard to the LNRS

It is up to each Local Planning Authority to decide how to ‘have regard’ to the LNRS within their Local Plan and as part of their planning decisions. Read more about natural environment planning practice guidance.

This guidance is intended to support local planning authorities by identifying how the different elements of the LNRS can inform a positive approach, whereby local plans and planning decisions can help to make a meaningful contribution to local nature recovery. 

The LNRS is an evidence base to support local planning authorities in preparing their Local Plans and informing their planning decisions. It helps them make the case for policies and decisions that support nature recovery and Oxfordshire’s resilient future. The information presented in the LNRS may be a material consideration in the planning system. 

Using the LNRS

Understand nature and the challenges it faces 

Explore the background to the LNRS, the biodiversity found across Oxfordshire, and how species populations are changing. You can also learn about the county’s landscapes, river catchments, and the environmental pressures we face.

All of this information is included in the description of strategy area document and can help evidence the need for biodiversity and nature recovery policies in Local Plans, as well as providing context for wider place-making considerations.

Use the local habitat map to inform allocation of sites (para 188 NPPF)

In the early stages of plan preparation, the LNRS can help inform assessment of sites proposed for allocation in Local Plans. However, it may not always be possible to avoid situations where allocations need to be taken forward that overlap with the mapped extent of the LNRS, particularly where land for development is in short supply. In these circumstances, the LNRS can support local planning authorities in planning positively for the delivery of potential measures within the proposed development, using LNRS priorities and measures to inform delivery of on-site Biodiversity Net Gain and green infrastructure networks.

Where existing or proposed allocations within more advanced Local Plans overlap with the mapped extent of the LNRS, this can be viewed as a positive opportunity for the potential measures identified for that part of the network to be delivered. This could include targeting on-site Biodiversity Net Gain at the delivery of the potential habitat measures identified in the LNRS by integrating the relevant habitats into green infrastructure networks and landscaping schemes for the proposed development. It may not always be possible to accommodate the exact mapped extent of the LNRS within the developments but opportunities to link and connect habitats within the green infrastructure strategy should be implemented wherever possible.

Use the LNRS Local Habitat Map to identify, map, and consider safeguarding areas for habitat management, enhancement, restoration or creation in Local Plans (NPPF para 192 a)

The LNRS Local Habitat Map has been prepared by a partnership of local councils, communities and environmental organisations under a national legislative framework to identify proposed areas for habitat management, enhancement, restoration and creation. During the production of the LNRS, over 3000 responses were received to various surveys and a formal public consultation enabled development of a collaborative set of actions and mapping for nature recovery.

Local planning authorities should therefore consider how the Local Habitat Map will be reflected in their Local Plans in line with paragraph 192 (a) of the NPPF, which indicates that such areas should be identified, mapped and safeguarded. Further guidance is available in the Planning Practice Guidance, which notes the potential for stronger safeguarding in areas the Local Planning Authority considers to be of greater importance to support the best opportunities to create or improve habitat, including where this may enable development in another location.

Identify actions that policies and decisions can support, to conserve and enhance priority habitats in the area (NPPF para 192 b) 

Nature recovery needs to happen at a large scale; the planning process has an important part to play. The NPPF (para 192 b) indicates that plans should promote the conservation, restoration and enhancement of priority habitats.

Not all LNRS priorities and measures have been mapped on the local habitat map; many apply across the county. Our statement of biodiversity priorities lists all the key priorities and actions needed to support the different habitats, including grasslands, woodlands, and wetlands, in the area. 

There are also priorities relating to the wider environment, including villages, towns, cities and greenspaces; these can help inform how to apply paragraph 193 (d) of the NPPF by indicating the priorities for nature recovery in and around developments.

Support the rare and threatened species in the area (para 192 b NPPF)

Nearly 900 species in Oxfordshire are threatened or at risk of becoming extinct; para 192 b of the NPPF indicates that plans should promote the protection and recovery of priority species.

The species priorities list highlights species where focused Oxfordshire action could significantly help to recover species that are at risk of extinction - from hedgehogs and swifts to water voles and house martins. 

Use the species maps in the Species Priorities List to see which species may be in the local area and consider how policies and decisions could help support the actions needed to help these species, in line with paragraph 1892 (b) of the NPPF.

Use the LNRS Local Habitat Map to understand Oxfordshire’s strategically important locations for biodiversity action and where to incentivise Biodiversity Net Gain outcomes which will deliver against LNRS priorities (para 192 b NPPF)

Some areas of land are especially important for restoring and connecting nature across Oxfordshire. The local habitat map shows where actions could particularly contribute towards creating a resilient network of nature in the county and where Biodiversity Net Gain and nature recovery policies could have the greatest impact. 

The NPPF (para 192 b) indicates that plans should promote the conservation, restoration and enhancement of ecological networks and identify and pursue opportunities for securing measurable net gains for biodiversity.

The areas that are mapped with actions on the local habitat map are considered to be areas of high strategic significance for Biodiversity Net Gain. The Statutory Biodiversity Metric incorporates a ‘Strategic Significance’ multiplier of 1.15 which should be applied within an applicant’s Biodiversity Net Gain calculations when the proposed habitat creation or enhancement  would deliver against a LNRS potential measure in a location where that measure has been mapped on the Local Habitat Map. This applies whether the BNG is on-site, off-site or part of a habitat bank.

This has the effect of incentivising delivery of measures that will deliver against LNRS priorities in the most effective locations, by providing a 15% uplift in the biodiversity units generated.

Local planning authorities can further incentivise the delivery of mapped potential measures through development of policy that supports Biodiversity Net Gain outcomes which deliver against measures included on the Local Habitat Map.

Even where developments may be exempt from statutory Biodiversity Net Gain, they could still make a contribution towards the delivery of some of the potential measures identified in the LNRS, for example, through targeting certain habitats or species enhancements as part of their landscaping scheme and/or green infrastructure strategy, where appropriate. 

It might not be possible for all developments, particularly small-scale proposals, but the LNRS should be a key resource for local planning authorities when determining planning applications. 

Local Planning Authorities should consider hosting information about the LNRS on their websites to raise awareness amongst prospective planning applicants and incorporate links to the LNRS interactive map, so that they can see for themselves what potential measures they could take to facilitate local nature recovery. This might also form part of the pre-application advice that local planning authorities give to developers.

Further resources and support

• Since LNRSs are being created at a national level, see the frequently asked questions about Local Nature Recovery Strategies on the Planning Advisory Service website.
• Local planning authority in-house ecologists will be able to provide further advice
• The Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre (TVERC) holds detailed information that has been used to inform the LNRS, including data on Local Wildlife Sites, species and habitats, and most Local Planning Authorities will have access to this data through a Service Level Agreement.
• The Planning Practice Guidance includes a section on LNRS

The Biodiversity Metric User Guide identifies how to use the LNRS to assign strategic significance in Biodiversity Net Gain calculations.