Throop Nature Park plan to use almost £9m in contributions

BCP Council leaders are expected to approve the use £618,000 of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to create the Throop Nature Park on the edge of Bournemouth.

It is recommended that a further £100,000 per year, rising with inflation, is used for the next 80 years to cover the ongoing maintenance of the nature park.

The scheme, which obtained planning committee approval for a revised proposal last summer, will create a suitable alternative natural greenspace (SANG) at Hicks Farm along the River Stour.

The use of £518,000 of CIL, charges levied by councils on new development, has been approved by Natural England as a heathland mitigation resource to develop the nature park.

Members of BCP Council cabinet are also expected to commit a one-off £100,000 of CIL for delivering elements of the scheme which cannot be done using heathland mitigation funds.

• Read more: Throop Nature Park plan for SANG at Hicks Farm is approved
• Read more: Revised Throop green belt park plan recommended for approval

Councillor Mark Anderson, BCP Council portfolio holder for environment and place, said: “This new park will create a number of benefits to our area.

"It will help alleviate the environmental impact of leisure on our internationally sensitive heathland ecosystems; provide a semi-natural space appropriate to its setting for all our residents and visitors to get outside which can help improve their health and wellbeing; protect nature and increase biodiversity in the Throop area.

Cllr Mark Anderson

“We are committed to our sustainable environment and our fulfilled lives priorities helping people lead active and healthy lives, and the creation of the Throop Nature Park will enable us to achieve these goals.”

As reported, BCP Council leaders said the SANG is required in order for large scale residential schemes to take place within the conurbation without adversely affecting the protected heathland habitats.

The Throop Nature Park plans include a network of paths to encourage walking and dog-walking, cycling, new tree and copse planting, protection of the riverbank and the reinstatement of hedgerows to improve wildlife habitats, with signage being placed around the site.

• LETTER: ‘Nature park approval is a tragedy for wildlife and people’
• Read more: Hundreds oppose plans to turn BCP land into public park

At the BCP Council planning committee meeting where members approved the nature park plan despite 380 objections from residents, Nick Perrins, the local authority's head of planning, said the current lack of a SANG to serve Bournemouth had led to around 1,000 homes with planning permission being put on hold.

The land at Hicks Farm. Picture: Google Maps

He said there was not really an alternative site for a SANG and refusal would have “serious consequences”.

Cabinet members will discuss the funding arrangements for the nature park at a meeting on March 9 after the subject is considered by the overview and scrutiny committee on February 28.