Local Nature Partnerships

South Yorkshire Local Nature Partnership (LNP) has been formally designated by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs as part of a network of LNPs established across the country in 2012.

© Dearne Valley woodland, Josie Martin Mendoza

They were established for the purpose of protecting and improving the natural environment in an area and the benefits derived from it.

LNPs were set up to help their local area manage the natural environment as a system and to embed its value in local decisions for the benefit of nature, people and the economy.

The overall purpose of a LNP is to:

  1. Drive positive change in the local natural environment, taking a strategic view of the challenges and opportunities involved and identifying ways to manage it as a system for the benefit of nature, people and the economy.
  2. Contribute to achieving the Government’s national environmental objectives locally, including the identification of local ecological networks, alongside addressing local priorities.
  3. Become local champions influencing decision-making relating to the natural environment and its value to social and economic outcomes, in particular, through working closely with local authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and Health and Wellbeing Boards.

Local Nature Partnerships – an overview

Duty to Co-operate

South Yorkshire LNP has commented on a number of local plans.  Please see more about our work here.

Section 33A of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 imposes a duty on local planning authorities, county councils and prescribed persons to co-operate with each other in relation to the planning of certain categories of sustainable development or use of land.  The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 made a provision for Local Nature Partnerships to be one of these bodies.

This includes working collaboratively with Local Planning Authorities, and along with Local Enterprise Partnerships, as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework:

 “25. Strategic policy-making authorities should collaborate to identify the relevant strategic matters which they need to address in their plans. They should also engage with their local communities and relevant bodies including Local Enterprise Partnerships, Local Nature Partnerships, the Marine Management Organisation, county councils, infrastructure providers, elected Mayors and combined authorities (in cases where Mayors or combined authorities do not have plan-making powers).

Nature Improvement Areas

LNPs also have the ability to designate new Nature Improvement Areas (NIAs).

South Yorkshire currently has:

The Dearne Valley NIA

Part of the Dark Peak NIA

SYLNP homepage