Local elections 2024

Many local councils have declared a climate emergency, setting concrete net-zero targets and action plans to tackle the crisis. Now, we need councils to to do the same for nature by setting targets for nature’s recovery locally by 2030 and creating a strategy and action plan to make that happen.

As part of this, we need councils to embed the upcoming Local Nature Recovery Strategies into their plans and wider strategies, to ensure nature is considered in all decisions.

Ask your council to declare a nature emergency

Councils decide what gets built where, as well as determining how it gets built to minimise the environmental impact. There are many policies that councils can put in their local plan to create more nature-friendly developments; we are urging all councils to go beyond the minimum 10% Biodiversity Net Gain and instead require all developments to deliver at least 20% net gain and strategically direct improvements to where nature and people need it the most. We also want to see councils embed the Local Nature Recovery Strategies into their Local Plans to ensure nature is prioritised from the start.

Find out more about our approach to planning

Take local action to improve the state of our rivers change the paragraph to ‘Our rivers are failing ecological standards due to sewage and agricultural pollution, as well as over-abstraction. Last year we launched the Save Our Chalk Streams Campaign [link to chalk stream page on website] and since then over 1000 people have called on their MP to champion chalk streams.  However, to fully address this crisis, we need system level change across all sectors and authorities. 

Councils can support our rivers by putting in place strong policies in the Local Plans to protect our rivers, for example by embedding the recommendations of the Chalk Stream Strategy, and ensuring there are adequate buffers between developments and rivers, or strategically direct funding from Biodiversity Net Gain into the restoration of rivers and wetlands. They can also place pressure on water companies to stop damaging practices. 

The Trust is a supporter of River Action’s Local Charter for Rivers. The charter calls on councillors to take action within their local powers to restore our rivers to health by ending sewage pollution, preventing agricultural pollution, minimising pollution from new developments and preventing harmful chemicals at source. 

Commit to tackling the climate and nature emergencies together and investing in nature-based solutions to climate change. The climate emergency is only hastening the destruction of the natural environment, damaging habitats and disrupting ecosystems. Yet it is these very habitats that have the potential to lock up carbon and fight back against rising global temperatures. These habitats also provide many other benefits for us, including cleaning our air and water, preventing flooding and cooling our towns and cities. It is essential that we not only protect these spaces, but let them thrive – for the benefit of people, planet and nature.   

We need councils across the two counties to empower communities to take action for nature. In particular, we want councils to support Team Wilder, a growing movement of people driving local efforts for nature's recovery. Team Wilder encourages people to focus on the issues that matter to them and puts power in the hands of the local community - we want to see this approach embedded across all councils.

Find out more about Team Wilder

Dear [INSERT CANDIDATE NAME HERE],  

As you are a candidate in the upcoming local elections, I am writing to you today to ask how you plan to support nature’s recovery in my local area if elected as a councillor.  

I am greatly concerned about the decline of nature in my community, and the state of rivers locally. [INSERT WHY NATURE AND CLEAN RIVERS ARE IMPORTANT FOR YOU]  

We know that nature’s recovery is also vital for tackling the climate crisis and that nature underpins a healthy and thriving society and economy.  

Rivers are nature’s lifeblood yet every river in the UK is polluted. Locally Hampshire and Isle of Wight is renowned for it’s world-famous chalk streams. Their crystal-clear waters are home for salmon, water voles, white-clawed crayfish and kingfishers, making them our equivalent to the Great Barrier Reef or the Amazon Rainforest. Now they are under threat from sewage, agricultural and chemical pollution and over abstraction. The Government says our dirty rivers won’t be clean and in good overall health until 2063. We can’t wait that long, and neither can our rivers. 

The River Action UK Local Charter for Rivers has actions especially for local political leaders. The Local Charter has been supported by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, W.I, National Trust, Friends of the Earth, Rivers Trust, among others.  

If elected as a local councillor, you will play a vital role in restoring nature and tackling the climate crisis locally. As a constituent, I am clear that these are key issues when considering who to vote for in the upcoming local elections. 

Therefore, I am writing to ask what are your plans to put nature into recovery in our local community? 

In particular, I would like to see you commit to:  

• Improving our rivers by putting the recommendations in the Local Charter for River into action 
• Developing strategic plans and targets for nature  
• Embedding the upcoming Local Nature Recovery Strategies into all plans, functions, and strategies, including the Local Plan 
• Scaling up investment in nature-based solutions locally 
• Ensure new development are good for people and for nature 
• Supporting communities to take action to create a Wilder future 

Kind regards,  

[INSERT YOUR NAME HERE] [INSERT ADDRESS AND POSTCODE] 

To find out what elections are happening near you and find a candidate list, you can use the Democracy Club's online tool and type in your postcode: https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/ 

The official full candidate lists will also be published on your District, City or County Council's website from the 9th April 2024.