Planning consideration

National nature reserves

Areas where wildlife, plants and animals are protected to allow them to thrive

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• Design stage: On the platform
• Tags:
  • local plan
  • constraint
  • environmental

  View a glossary of tags

• Github: Join the discussion
• Synonyms: No synonyms added
• Legislation: No legislation added
• Expected number of records: 1,214
• Frequency of updates: Ad hoc
• Useful links:
  • National dataset documentation page
• Technical specification: No specification added

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Related dataset

• National nature reserve:

  • View schema on Github

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Background information

Each planning consideration we work on passes through the stages of our design process, where we research and answer specific questions to help us collect more information.

Backlog

• Who asked for 'National nature reserves' data?

• What is the driver for the request?

• Which 2024 focus area does the request support?

Screen

• What is the 'National nature reserves' consideration?

• Is there legislation that defines 'National nature reserves'?

• Who, in law, is responsible for the planning consideration or makes decisions about 'National nature reserves'?

• Which organisations do we think should publish the data?

• Is the National nature reserves a trigger?

• Is the National nature reserves something to consult during plan making?

• Is there any National nature reserves data already available?

  Yes

  • What National nature reserves data is currently available?

    • Item 1

      • Delete
      • Edit
      • url: https://naturalengland-defra.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/Defra::national-nature-reserves-england/about
      • name: National Nature Reserves (England)
      • fields: NNR_NAME;NNR_AREA;EASTING;NORTHING;LATITUDE;LONGITUDE;REFERENCE;STATUS;GID;AREA;EASTING0;NORTHING0;GIS_DATE;VERSION;Shape__Area;Shape__Length
      • licence: Open Government Licence
      • coverage: National
      • publisher: Natural England
      • attribution: © Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right [year].
      • metadata_url: https://ckan.publishing.service.gov.uk/harvest/object/e22ebfa8-7c7f-424f-9676-a2cc25f026f9/html

• Do we think the data should come from a single source?

  Yes, this data is available nationally from one source.

• Will a data standard be required?

  No

Research

• Do we understand the lifecycle of a National nature reserves?

• Do we understand how the data is created/produced?

• Where will or should the data be used?

• What other planning considerations does it interact with?

• Who are the statutory consultees for National nature reserves?

• Other than the statutory consultees who are the primary users of National nature reserves? How do we expect them to use National nature reserves?

• What are the planning needs for this data?

• Who are the types of users who might benefit from having access to National nature reserves data?

• What are some potential uses of National nature reserves data?

• What's the value of adding National nature reserves data to the platform?

• From what we have learnt so far are there any risks to making National nature reserves data available?

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2 updates

• Claire Miller (26 September 2024)

  As per some research we did, summarised in this blog on an analysis of local plans and local area requirements, we're confident that this consideration acts as an INPUT to the process of creating a local plan.

• Kieran Wint (03 September 2024)

  As per the published data by Natural England on data.gov.uk, the metadata suggests that the frequency with which this dataset is updated is ad hoc.

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Last updated: 2025-09-11 12:02:07