1. The document discusses how planners can better capture the benefits of healthy wetlands by rediscovering planning's role in balancing the built and natural environments, identifying planning "hooks" to manage wetlands, and championing or cautioning certain planning practices. 2. It provides examples of how ecosystem services frameworks and landscape-scale approaches have been used to plan developments and value environmental assets. 3. The document cautions that tools like community infrastructure levies and biodiversity offsetting could impact wetlands if not considered carefully and calls for better evidence, shared language, and embedding natural environment concepts into planning.

1. Capturing the Benefits of Healthy
Wetlands: A Planner’s Perspective
Alister Scott MRTPI
Wetland Futures Conference 1/2 October 2013

2. 1. Re-discovering planning
2. Negotiating the built versus natural environment
divide
3. Identifying planning ‘hooks’ for wetland
management
4. Championing existing good planning practice
5. Cautioning future planning practice
6. ‘Whatevering’
Outline

3. FROM….
Rediscovering planning

4. Rediscovering planning
deliver homes, business &
industrial units,
infrastructure & thriving
local places that the
country needs, while
protecting & enhancing
the natural and historic
environment
NPPF 2012 p1
TO………

5. Navigating the planning vs
environment divide
Natural Environment INCENTIVE
Defra
NEWP
Landscape Scale
Ecosystem Services
Local Nature Partnerships
Built Environment CONTROL
DCLG
NPPF
Local/Neighbourhood Scale
Economic, Social &
Environmental costs/benefits
Local Enterprise Partnerships

6. Managing Environmental
Change

7. Planning ‘Hooks’
Paragraph 109

8. Source: Jim Davies
Env Agency

9. Exmoor: South West Water
Exmoor
R Barle
R Exe
Wimbleball Resr & R
Haddeo
Exebridge
Pumping
Station
Replenishment
Pumping
Approx 5 miles,
lifting water from
120 to 240 m AOD
CO 2
Source: Charles
Cowap

10. Uses an Ecosystem Services
Framework for
development of plan
Ecosystem Services
mapping exercises for
evidence base and
masterplan
Landscape- scale approach
supported by Biosphere
Reserve and NIA

11. Bridgend : SCANN CCW 2012

12. Hampton

13. Staffordshire and Stoke on
Trent
WHO
Local Nature Partnership
Local Enterprise
Partnership
Health Boards
WHAT
Mainstream environment
into decision making
Ecosystem assessment
Value environmental
assets
£110 million annually.
DECISION MAKERS ………

14. Cautionary practice 1
Community Infrastructure
Levy
Levy based on development
to benefit community
Development monies used
to re-invest in enhancement
of environmental
infrastructure?
Currently Wetlands not
really being considered
WHY?

15. Cautionary practice 2
Biodiversity Offsetting
(Habitat Banking)
Extends scope of Section 106
planning agreements
Offsets as first or last resorts?
Based on substitutability but
could be used for wetland
improvement.
Pilots Explicit linkages of planning
with biodiversity applicable to many
developments

16. Hooks vital to progress discussion and partnerships
Planners not well embedded in natural environment
(wetland) lexicon and vice versa
Importance of having sound evidence base for use in
planning tools to identify trade-offs
Shared language of multiple benefits unites.
Valuation of nature (wetlands) has costs and benefits!
Whatevering

17. Completing the Jigsaw
Strategic
Environmen
tal
Assessment
Learning by doing
Monitoring and
indicators
Valuation
Embedding
programme
Evidence
Tools to
enable
local delivery
Guidance
Public
Participation
Plan
Development