Save our chalk streams

Latest update:

For the first time, chalk streams have been mentioned in England's National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the overarching framework that sets out the Government’s planning policies for England, covering topics such as sustainable development, plan-making and decision-making.

This recognition of chalk streams is all thanks to our members and supporters who have taken action to back our Save Our Chalk Streams campaign, spoken out to raise awareness of the importance of our precious chalk streams and reached out to their MPs.

However, these mentions fall short of delivering on the Government’s promise of “explicit recognition”. With two mentions of chalk streams as mere examples, this draft lacks the detail and strength needed to properly protect chalk streams and leaves our chalk streams are still under threat. With the Government currently running a consultation on the NPPF, we have set up a simple e-action to submit a calling on chalk streams to be added to the irreplaceable habitats list in the National Planning Policy Framework.

With your help, we can secure irreplaceable habitat status and give them the protection they urgently need.   

Save Our Chalk Streams

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The majority of the world’s chalk streams – around 85% – are found in England, and approximately 10% of these are found in Norfolk, which makes the county globally important for this rare habitat. Of the 220+ chalk streams found in England, only 11 of these have any legal protections.

Chalk rivers in Norfolk include the Rivers Bure, Glaven, Stiffkey, Burn, Heacham and Gaywood, but the longest, biggest and most significant is the River Wensum, which runs alongside Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Sweet Briar Marshes nature reserve and forms a vitally important corridor that helps wildlife to move through the county.

The Government has a valuable opportunity to stand up for our chalk streams in their planning policy reforms. We are calling on them to introduce specific legal protections in planning for all our chalk streams, to protect them from development-related harm.

Our chalk streams need protecting

England's chalk streams are one of the rarest habitats on earth! Their crystal-clear waters are home to water voles, white-clawed crayfish, Norfolk hawker dragonflies and kingfishers, making them our equivalent to the Great Barrier Reef or the Amazon Rainforest. A truly special habitat that we are so lucky to enjoy.

They are not just important in their own right, they are fabulous corridors for wildlife for creatures such as otters, birds, bats – helping these creatures to move through the landscape. Yet many of our chalk streams are now dirty and choked by pollution, threatening the wildlife that calls them home and the people that rely on them for their wellbeing. The Government must introduce specific protections for all chalk streams in their planning reforms, to ensure these unique habitats are conserved and put into recovery for future generations.

We need your help to save our chalk streams!

Why not write to your local councillor or MP to share your concerns at this vital time?  We’ve included some bullet points below with suggestions of the kind of things you might want to highlight. We’d recommend using your own words and emphasise how important these precious habitats are to you.

• The majority of the world’s chalk streams are found in England, and approximately 10% of these are found in Norfolk, which makes the county globally important for this rare habitat.
• Despite their ecological value, chalk streams are exceptionally vulnerable to pollution, over-abstraction, and habitat degradation.
• Water quality in chalk streams across the UK continues to worsen, with detrimental impacts for wildlife
• The opportunity of planning reforms should be used to designate chalk streams and their catchments with a bespoke protection.

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