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River Nene Regional Park, Northamptonshire

Creating a county-wide green infrastructure

Keywords: Green Space, Design, East Midlands, Partnership Working, Housing

Overview

River Nene Regional Park (RNRP) is creating a green infrastructure network of environmental projects in Northamptonshire. Since 2004, the partnership has secured £12 million for projects that enhance the county’s rural and urban environment.

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Green infrastructure is a planned network of multi-functional green spaces and inter-connecting links. Northampton’s green infrastructure links together the growth settlements of Daventry, Towcester, Northampton, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby and Peterborough.

RNRP’s Environmental Character and Green Infrastructure Suite enables planners and developers to understand the character and ecology of local landscapes. The tool underpins all of the partnership’s work and has helped to inform projects such as the provision of accessible recreation facilities at Salcey Forest. Local community projects have also benefited from £400,000 of funding through the RNRP grants programme.

RNRP brings together Northamptonshire’s local authorities, the Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Natural England and other partners from the public, private and voluntary sectors. All of the partnership’s projects fit into one or more of its five core themes, which include developing a sense of place, championing green infrastructure and addressing climate change.

Michel Kerrou, Chief Executive of RNRP, explains, “By 2016, we want Northamptonshire to be recognised internationally for the quality of its environment, while accommodating an unprecedented level of growth. Integrating green infrastructure into the planning of new settlements and the surrounding countryside will provide long-lasting improvements to the social, economic and environmental well-being of new and existing communities.”

Summary

More than 200,000 people visit Salcey Forest each year
Local green space projects received more than £400,000 of grant funding to deliver a green investment of almost £1.1 million
The RNRP project portfolio core funding grew from £1.5 million in 2004 to £4.5 million in 2007
RNRP secured £12 million of funding for environmental projects from 2004-2007

» Background

Background

Planning for growth

In 2003, the Government’s Sustainable Communities Plan set out a programme of action for tackling housing shortages in the south east of England. In the Milton Keynes and South Midlands region, Northamptonshire was identified as suitable for significant growth and development. The report marked the area out as having no areas of outstanding natural beauty or other environmental considerations that would hold back expansion.

Local environmental organisations could have resisted the plans for expansion but instead embraced the opportunity to ensure that the new developments and associated investment enhanced Northamptonshire’s environment.

Forming a partnership

Northamptonshire County Council was already interested in establishing a regional park in the River Nene valley and used the expansion plans as an opportunity to pursue this idea. At the end of 2003, a group of local organisations formed the RNRP partnership, with support from the council, the Environment Agency, Forestry Commission and English Nature. A feasibility study concluded that a regional park could deliver significant environmental, social and economic benefits and support the creation of sustainable communities in Northamptonshire.

From 2004 to 2007, RNRP moved rapidly from concept development to project delivery: in 2007 it became a community interest company, with board members from public, private and voluntary sector organisations. Louse Johnson, Chair of the Stakeholder Steering Group, says: “As a community interest company, we’re in a unique position to work with partners, acting as a catalyst to develop and deliver a wide range of environmental initiatives that would simply not be possible otherwise.”

» The Impact

Overview «

The Impact

Signature projects

Between 2004 and 2007, RNRP secured £12 million of funding for environmental projects in Northamptonshire. One of the partnership’s signature projects is a two-mile all-ability trail at Salcey Forest that has helped to increase annual visitor numbers from 60,000 to 200,000. The trail includes a treetop walk with far-reaching views across the woodlands. Another signature project is Top Lodge at Fineshade Woods, where the green infrastructure includes a visitor centre, education facilities, rural craft outlets, horse riding trails and overnight shelters for walkers. Top Lodge is also home to a red kite conservation and breeding programme.

More than 30 projects have received funding through the RNRP green infrastructure environmental grants scheme. Funded projects include the conservation of ‘at risk’ listed buildings at Wothorpe Towers, hedge and tree planting near Quinton Green and the creation of a wildlife garden and allotment at Brambleside Community Primary School in Kettering.

Environmental character assessment

RNRP led the development of the Environmental Character and Green Infrastructure suite, an interactive tool that generates landscape character assessments based on digital maps, surveys and other data. The tool describes the physical environment of Northamptonshire to help planners, developers and the community to understand the nature and history of the landscape, its modern usage and ecological biodiversity. The tool has already been used to inform decisions about growth directions for sustainable urban extensions and in the production of local development plans. As well as being used at a strategic level, it is also used in projects such as improving access routes to and between urban parks.

» Good Practice

Background «

Good Practice

RNRP has pioneered the green infrastructure concept as an integral part of new developments. Northamptonshire’s green infrastructure strategy was the first in the UK to define green infrastructure networks for both urban and rural areas at a sub-regional level.

By working in partnership, local environmental organisations were able to adopt a co-ordinated approach to bidding for funding, rather than working in isolation and potentially competing against one another for the same funding sources. Having started out as an informal partnership hosted by the local authority, RNRP is now a community interest company. This means that it is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that is able to hold assets on behalf of the community.

The Environmental Character and Green Infrastructure suite uses the latest technology and data to provide a robust evidence base and user-friendly analysis. Developing the tool provided RNRP with comprehensive baseline data that is used to identify priorities and to monitor progress. The system is able to incorporate new social, economic and environmental data as it becomes available.

Local people can stay up-to-date on RNRP projects and plans for the future through its website and the annual magazine SPACE. The RNRP publication Creating Successful Green Infrastructure Plans explains green infrastructure for others interested in adopting the approach at a regional, sub-regional or local level.

» Reference

The Impact «