Supporting groups and local partners

East & West Sussex County Councils are supported by various organisations who are convened as groups. These groups are consulted throughout the process and they bring their expertise and resources to contribute to LNRS preparation. These groups and their members include:

The LNRS Working Group 

• Sussex Wildlife Trust
  
• Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre
• The Sussex Nature Partnership (representing 28 member organisations who convene for nature in Sussex) 
• Natural England
• Environment Agency
• Forestry Commission
• NFU (National Farmers Union)
• CLA (Countryside and Land Business Association)
• FWAG (Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group)
• CLM (Sussex-based land management consultants)
• Frank Knight (Sussex-based land management consultants)
• Weald to Waves
• Iford Estate

Supporting Authorities Group 

Supporting Authorities have additional specific tasks set out in the LNRS regulations. 

• Brighton & Hove City Council
• Adur District Council
• Arun District Council
• Crawley Borough Council
• Chichester District Council
• Eastbourne Borough Council
• Hastings Borough Council
• Horsham District Council
• Lewes District Council
• Mid Sussex District Council
• Rother District Council
• Wealden District Council
• Worthing Borough Council
• South Downs National Park Authority
• High Weald National Landscape
• Chichester Harbour National Landscape
• Sussex IFCA

LNRS Board

• Oversight is provided from senior management at East Sussex and West Sussex County Councils and Brighton & Hove City Council who share updates with Responsible Authority Cabinet Members.

Neighbouring Authorities

• The LNRS process recognises that nature is not bound by borders. East Sussex and West Sussex County Councils are part of a network of responsible authorities, established by Natural England, that meets on a regular basis in regional clusters, to communicate and coordinate. In addition to this, East Sussex and West Sussex County Council LNRS teams regularly meet with their equivalents in Kent, Hampshire and Surrey to ensure the strategies work across borders. 

Technical Review Panel

• A specialist panel of local biodiversity experts. The Technical Review Panel will peer review the baseline information that supports the Strategies.

Local partners

• Local partners are key organisations in Sussex including universities, conservation charities, those representing communities and agriculture/land management, national landscapes and utilities. The Responsible Authorities will be working with local partners to prepare the Strategies and later when reviewing and preparing them for re-publication.

Task & Finish groups

• The Responsible Authorities are also convening individuals and organisations with expertise to be part of Task & Finish groups. These groups have a specific remit that will help inform the development of the strategies. Examples of these groups include the LNRS Health & Wellbeing group who will identify where improvements to habitats and species can have the biggest impact to people, and a Species sub-group made up of experts who will specifically consult on local species. 

Local stakeholders

• In addition to the above, everyone who lives and works in Sussex is an important stakeholder for their Local Nature Recovery Strategy, and can inform its priorities for nature, whether they are a resident, business, group or organisation.  Have your say by taking our public survey.