Planning

We have no legislative authority or enforcement powers and our role is to provide the council’s planning officers with sufficient guidance for them to decide whether the application complies with current planning policy and wildlife legislation, prior to determination. Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is one of a very few Wildlife Trusts that supply this service to the Local Planning Authorities.

When we review an application, we use the information within the ecological report supplied with the planning application documents (usually available within the public domain on the Council’s website). We also use our own database, which holds biological records supplied from the general public, ecology reports and where possible local recorders, and also our expert knowledge of the local area.

In some instances the Trust may wish to respond as an independent organisation and submit an objection to some applications. This is separate to our work under the Service Level Agreement. These instances are usually when the proposals have a significant impact on local biodiversity that cannot be mitigated for. Sometimes they may include impacts to our Local Wildlife Sites or nature reserves.

Our team has around 50 years of combined ecological experience.

Our planning staff come from a variety of backgrounds including both ecological consultancy and the nature conservation sector. They have a detailed knowledge of the local area, the planning system, wildlife legislation and planning policy and do their best to make sure that proposed development incorporates nature wherever possible.

Where sufficient ecological information is not submitted with planning applications, they will highlight this to the planners and request additional survey work and reports as appropriate. The planning officers also recommend planning conditions to secure best practice, mitigation measures and enhancements, as relevant, within a development.

Our Planning Team is small and we deal with over 1600 consultations on a wide range of applications each year . Please be assured that if you have emailed us, we will add the email to the relevant planning folder and the DWT case officer will try to take any observations or concerns into consideration when we respond to the application.  We try to reply to each email but during very busy periods there may be a delay  

If you have any concerns about the impact a development may have on wildlife, we strongly recommend that you comment directly to the Local Planning Authority using their planning website portal. 

We have created a guide to help you comment on planning applications here: Have your say | Derbyshire Wildlife Trust 

It is great news that you want to take action for nature. Our Team Wilder Campaigning webpage has lots of useful information with toolkit providing all the information you need to get started whether you’ve never campaigned before or you’re a lifelong activist. See our toolkits and resources here. 

If you are concerned about an imminent or active threat to protected species, , such as breeding birds, badger setts or bat roosts, you should contact the Rural Crime Team. A link to their webpage can be found here: Tell us about a possible wildlife or rural crime | Derbyshire Constabulary. Please note that Derbyshire Wildlife Trust do not have any enforcement powers or rights to enter land, and this would be a matter for the police to deal with.  

If you are concerned about potential impacts to wildlife and habitats as a result of a proposed development, please check the planning pages of the LPA to see if the Trust has submitted a response to the development, as these are available to the public.  You can also see if ecological survey work undertaken by the applicant has picked up on your concern, for example if an ecological survey has recorded a badger sett you are concerned about. 

If you are still concerned, please email the Planning Team with the site name and application reference, if possible, along with the details of your concern. In addition, we would be grateful if you could report any wildlife sightings, to Derbyshire Biological Records Centre (DBRC) through the ORS (online recording system). The data goes straight into Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s database to be verified and our planning team can then access these records when reviewing applications. 

If we have reviewed a planning application, you can read our full response and give your feedback to the Local Planning Authority on their planning application webpages. You can find the links to each Local Authority Planning pages on our website here.  

Here at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, we have a small biodiversity planning team which comment on between 700 and 1,000 planning applications a year for Derbyshire’s Local Planning Authorities (LPA) under a Service Level Agreement (SLA). 

This means that when local planners receive a planning application that may impact wildlife or natural habitats, we review the information to make sure an appropriate level of survey work has been carried out, , and that measures are in place to minimise any adverse impacts to biodiversity. Where applications are subject to mandatory 10% net gain, we also assess the information submitted, including biodiversity metric calculations and any on-site and off-site compensatory proposals. 

Our role is to provide the council’s planning officers with sufficient guidance for them to decide whether the application complies with current planning policy and wildlife legislation, prior to determination.  The Trust will usually only object as an independent organisation if substantive impacts are identified, which cannot be adequately avoided, mitigated or compensated in line with current legislation, policy and best practice guidance.   

When we review an application, we use the information within the ecological report(s) supplied with the planning application documents (usually available within the public domain on the Council’s website). We will sometimes undertake site visits ourselves to verify information, but we do not undertake baseline habitat surveys or protected species surveys ourselves, as part of our planning role. We also use our own database, which holds biological records of species and habitats supplied from the general public, ecology reports and where possible local recorders, and our knowledge of the local area. We also check developments to see if they have an impact on a designated statutory or non-statutory nature conservation site including Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Local Wildlife Sites and Local Nature Reserves as these sites have a higher level of protection.  

If you are concerned about the impact of a development on a statutory site, we would also advise that you contact Natural England.    

The Trust can only comment on ecology / biodiversity matters, in relation to development.  All other matters should be addressed to the LPA directly to be passed to the relevant planning officer or consultee.  

If you are concerned that planning obligations in relation to ecology / biodiversity  are not being met, then please direct this to the enforcement team at the LPA, as the Trust  have no legislative authority or enforcement powers.  

If you have concerns, please contact your Local Planning Authority. You can find the links to each Local Authority Planning pages on our website here.