Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s Keeping it Wild team highlight concerns to Newark MP Robert Jenrick

Young wildlife trust volunteers have highlighted their concerns over proposed planning reforms in an open letter to Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Robert Jenrick, the Newark MP.

Members of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s Keeping it Wild team — aged between 13 and 28 — have written about their concerns over the government’s proposed planning reforms.

The letter outlines the concerns of the group, which cares for a nature reserve and campaigns to raise awareness of environmental issues.

They fear reforms outlined in the White Paper Planning for the Future will damage wildlife habitats and limit the ability of local communities to have a fair say in planning decisions.

They are concerned these changes will prevent them from speaking out

effectively to safeguard areas they care about and will have an impact on their lives for decades to come.

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust chief executive Paul Wilkinson said: “We are very concerned about the proposed reforms, we believe that they will fail people and fail nature by removing local knowledge and consultation from decision making and allowing many types of development to proceed without proper scrutiny or assessment of their impact.

“Our Keeping it Wild team understand the need for urgent action to tackle the climate and ecological crises.”