Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust has today spoken about the unique pressure it is facing as it works to ensure major minerals planning applications next to both its Idle Valley & Attenborough Nature Reserves do not damage or destroy local wildlife or impact on people’s enjoyment of its flagship sites.

The Trust, which is the only local charity that routinely responds to planning applications which threaten wildlife habitats or species across all parts of the county, finds itself in a unique position of needing to assess and respond to large scale minerals applications close to its flagship sites at opposite ends of the county.

In north Notts, the charity has been assessing the impact of an application to extract pulverised fuel ash (PFA) from land next to Idle Valley Nature Reserve near Retford – its largest site where beavers were introduced in 2021 and which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its waders and wildfowl. Having now sent a formal objection to this proposal, the charity will now assess the possible impact of an application to extract sand and gravel from land across the River Trent from Attenborough Nature Reserve.

Speaking about the difficulties of standing up for wildlife in the face of two huge applications at the same time, Head of Communications Erin McDaid said: “Reviewing and responding to planning applications is a key part of our efforts to stand up for nature, but the pressure due to the sheer volume of applications, whether in terms of housing, solar farms or other type of development is incessant. We also have a long history of responding to mineral planning applications – as illustrated by the recent success of our decade-long fight to prevent fracking for shale gas damaging our Misson Carr Nature Reserve. However, we can’t remember a situation where we we’ve been faced with major minerals applications potentially affecting our two flagship reserves at the same time.”

Whilst the Trust will have submitted detailed responses to both applications to the Mineral Planning Authority, the unprecedented clash has limited the charity's ability to share its responses with supporters and the wider public who may also wish to respond.

Erin added: “In an ideal world we’d have time to consider our responses and then share them, so that people could use them to inform their own responses. However, the clash of application dates has made this impossible in terms of the application adjacent to Idle Valley Nature Reserve and very difficult for the application opposite Attenborough.” 

Erin explained: “We are absolutely committed to protecting our nature reserves and other wildlife sites from damaging development and recognise that supporters and residents look to us for advice and guidance – but the scale and complexity of applications, combined with the never-ending series of response deadlines, can make it difficult to for us to share information early enough in the process. It is essential that we consider all mineral applications in detail and in a rigorous way that considers all the science behind the ecological issues and potential impacts. We cannot, therefore, rush to a decision before a great deal of staff time has been spent reading the applications thoroughly and analysing what has been said by the applicants. It is vital that people with concerns about proposals look at the detail of the application and send in personal responses – they can make a huge difference to how applications are viewed by planners and local councillors.

The Trust has been working alongside local campaigners to protect Local Wildlife Sites from damage and destruction linked to earlier proposals for a sand and gravel quarry at Mill Hill, Barton in Fabis for many years and remains committed to protecting the wildlife of the local area, not least at the much-loved Attenborough Nature Reserve.

Speaking about the long-term campaign Erin added: “Given that we won’t be able to share our views on the new planning application for some time, it is vital that people take a look at the application for themselves. Local campaigners who we’ve been working alongside for over a decade have created a very informative website setting out how people can raise their concerns – making it a great starting point for anyone wishing to have their say.