Following a visit with Staffordshire Wildlife Trust to a local wildlife site at Beacon Lane outside Kinver, Gavin Williamson MP for South Staffordshire has called on the Government to consider giving local wildlife sites special protection within the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) when it publishes the results of its consultation in a few weeks time.
Gavin Williamson MP believes that protecting our natural environment is at the heart of what the NPPF is designed to do and so he has written to the Minister of State for Decentralisation, the Rt. Hon. Greg Clark MP, to ask him to ensure that local wildlife sites are taken into consideration when planning officials consider granting planning permission.
The Government has already announced that special protections will be put in place for Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and also the greenbelt. Gavin Williamson MP would like local planning officials to be able to take local wildlife sites into account as well.
Commenting on this Gavin Williamson MP said:
‘Natural habitats for wildlife should never be destroyed by unwanted development. When these sites are destroyed we cannot get them back. This is why I think it is so important to put as many protections in place as possible so that we do not have developments that destroy the beautiful countryside in South Staffordshire. Areas such as Beacon Lane and other in South Staffordshire provide amazing havens for our wildlife and it must be a top priority for us to protect these areas as much as possible.’
The Government has recently announced that new nature zones covering hundreds of thousands of hectares are to be set up across England to create wildlife havens, restore habitats and encourage local people to get involved with nature.