Oxfordshire Treescape Project have been delivering Treescape Opportunity Reports
to parish groups since October 2021. Since then the range of resources offered and
our ways of working have developed. In April 2023 a survey was sent to the 76
parish groups that had viewed our Opportunity Maps (the majority as pdf Reports,
but some in addition or solely as interactive maps on the Land App), the aim of
which was to understand what resources for nature recovery are already at parish
councils’ disposal; how useful different resources provided by OTP have been; what
would most help parishes move forward with nature recovery planning and
activities.
Responses were received from representatives of 18 parish groups. Of these, 13 had
or were considering a Neighbourhood Plan (NP) within their parish. Nine of these 13
thought it likely or very likely that their NP would support nature recovery in the
parish, highlighting that NPs could be a key tool for parishes in nature recovery.
The key theme to emerge was the importance of human connection: the difficulty of
engaging with landowners came through strongly, as did the value of volunteers,
connections with other groups such as neighbouring parishes and discussions with
the Oxfordshire Treescape Project team. Respondents who had good relationships
with local landowners described them as among their greatest strengths, but the
majority wanted better guidance on how to approach them. Volunteers are highly valued, but respondents felt that volunteers lacked time.
The most used and influential OTP resources were discussions with the team,
introductions to relevant people or organisations and the maps, in Opportunity
Reports and in the Land App. The maps within the Opportunity Reports were the
most used and most useful sections, being used to plan nature recovery and share
ideas with parish councils. Some respondents felt that the maps could be improved
in terms of accuracy and level of detail.
- On the basis of this survey, it is recommended that OTP:
- Explore how to support parishes further in including nature recovery in Neighbourhood Plans;
- Develop resources for engaging with landowners, including a section in the Getting Started Guide;
- Create more opportunities for parish groups to meet in order to share experiences and develop local collaborations;
- Ensure that all OTP resources are available to all parish groups;
- Continue to supply Land App maps and Opportunity Reports, while managing expectations as to what they cover.
