Planning

We champion wildlife through the planning system by ensuring that wildlife issues are taken into account where we consider there to be a potential negative impact. NWT is consulted between 200-300 times each year for its views on the impacts on wildlife of planning and water abstraction applications. We make comments on between 80-100 applications and formally object in about 10 cases per year. In recent years nearly 75% of those cases on which we have made an objection have been rejected or changed to take account of conservation issues.

Read more about how to respond to planning applications.

The success of our proactive work is evidenced by the fact that there are now very few planning applications that lead to objections regarding County Wildlife Sites, and we are now broadening our work to include impacts of development on biodiversity action plan habitats.

We have put a great deal of effort in the last few years into strategic planning in an effort to reduce the frequency of conflict between development and wildlife protection. This has included input into local development plans, Environment Agency plans and Community Strategies.

Read more about NWT's involvement in planning.