We are excited to announce the National Lottery Community Fund has awarded us £280,758 with a match from the five Tees Valley Local Authorities of £47,621. The funding over three years supports the delivery of our business plan and ensures a people-led approach to achieving our aims through –  raising the profile of the nature partnership; building the capacity of local people; building the capacity of the partnership.
We officially launch this new phase of the partnership at the Festival of Thrift on the 14th/15th September. Before then…

JOIN US FOR THE GRAND ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE TEES NATURE CONFERENCE on 28th June.

Natural Capital Committee advice on soil management

Natural Capital Committee (NCC) advice and recommendations on soil management.

9:54am, 14 May 2019: First published.

Natural Capital Committee advice on marine management

Natural Capital Committee (NCC) advice and recommendations on marine management.

9:54am, 14 May 2019: First published.

Natural Capital Committee advice to government on net environmental gain

Natural Capital Committee (NCC) advice and recommendations on net environmental gain.

9:55am, 14 May 2019: First published.

Natural England confirmed today that a new SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) has been declared for Teesmouth and the Cleveland Coast.

The Tees Estuary is a unique environment where industrial facilities share the landscape with a wide range of coastal habitats which teem with wildlife. There were previously seven SSSI’s protecting parts of the Tees Estuary, which have now been merged and expanded into a single, landscape-scale SSSI, totalling nearly 3000 hectares (or 12 square miles). The newly enlarged SSSI will provide clarity for developers and other stakeholders regarding the environmental assets of the site.

You can read the full article at: gov.uk/government/news/estuary-wildlife-of-the-river-tees-gets-increased-protection

The UK government was ‘seeking views on how we can improve the planning system in England to protect the environment (biodiversity net gain) and build places to live and work’…we received 670 responses to this consultation. We are finalising our analysis and expect to publish a government response to the consultation alongside the Environment Bill later this year.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/biodiversity-net-gain-updating-planning-requirements

*TVNP will keep you posted of development as they arise…

Work Starts on a Clean Air Strategy for South Tees

A first workshop to inform and gather initial ideas was held in March. The presentations were so good they are included here:

S Tees Clean Air intro

Air Quality & the Health Impacts, Public Health England: Air Pollution & Health PHE

Local Air Quality in South Tees – How Good is our Air?: Local Air Quality findings

Transport Infrastructure – Plans of the area: Local transport & air pollution

Industrial Pollution control in the South Tees area: Air Quality & Regulated Industry

Tees Valley Combined Authority: TVCA Air Quality Options 4 Change

Middlesbrough Environment City perspective: Active Travel & Modal Shift

STees Clean Air Strategy Workshop Outputs

The 2019-2022 Business Plan is finally here! TVNP Business Plan 2019-2022 

Timothy Crawshaw, Chair of TVNP states ‘Our work over the coming years will embrace the emerging opportunities and will focus on creating the business case for investment in the natural environment, securing benefits for the economy, communities and the environment. In this Business Plan we outline the key activities that the Partnership will undertake to achieve this ambition.

We welcome ‘The Festival of Thrift’ as a new member

We are pleased to welcome our latest addition to the Tees Valley Nature Partnership. This ever popular, creative celebration of sustainable living has continued to go from strength to strength and attracts around 35-40 thousand visitors a year.’ It’s not just a 2 day event’ either as Stella Hall, Festival Director affirms ‘its the culmination of a years activities across the Tees Valley and a launching point for projects and initiatives going forward into the next year’. Come this September along and visit many of our partner organisations that attend the event to promote the great work they do.

Biodiversity net gain: updating planning requirements

Planning how we use our spaces: where house building is permitted, what land is set aside for commercial development to identifying important green spaces and wildlife corridors is the responsibility of local government.  The first part is setting out the vision through the ‘Local Plan’ – crudely what goes where and the second part is responding to planning enquires and applications. The government sets out  the national requirements that informs each area and applies to all councils in England. This is called the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) supported by the National Planning Policy Guidance (NPPG).

The government, through Defra have set out proposals to make biodiversity net gain necessary for developments when granting planning permission. Biodiversity net gain is an approach which aims to leave the natural environment in a measurably better state than beforehand.

The national LNP network stepped up to the plate and provided a joint response to this consultation: LNPs Response to NET GAIN consultation Thanks to our TVNP Natural Assets Working Group who made a great contribution to this response.

The consultation ended in February we’ll keep you posted of the outcomes…

Click on the image for the full newsletter to see what has been happening since the summer