“It’s a Great Idea, But…” Fostering a yes-for-nature culture at the council
Natalie Watson is Nature Together Coordinator for Bristol City Council, working with communities and partner organisations to explore new ways of enabling community-led action for nature. In this blog she outlines the challenges of developing a new Nature Permit scheme and how you can have your say.
When I joined the Nature Together project in January, I was given the task of developing a Nature Permit for Bristol, a permission system aimed at making it easier for communities to take action for nature on council-owned land.
The idea felt immediately compelling. What if there were a clearer way for residents and community groups to improve local green spaces? What if people understood what was possible, what support was available and how responsibilities could be shared? What if taking action for nature felt less like navigating a process and more like joining a collective effort to care for a place?
What surprised me most was what happened when I started talking to people.
Every single person I spoke to thought it was a good idea.
Community groups liked it. Environmental organisations liked it. Councillors and officers liked it. Everyone could see the value of making it easier for people to play an active role in caring for Bristol’s green spaces and neighbourhoods.
Then came the “but”.
“It’s a great idea, but…”
The rest of the sentence varied depending on who I was speaking to. Over time, I realised those “buts” were where the real work began.
One of the strongest messages we heard from communities was that people aren’t short of motivation. Across Bristol, residents have ideas for planting, habitat creation, caring for local spaces and supporting wildlife. In many cases, they’re already taking action. What can get in the way is a lack of clarity. People aren’t always sure what’s allowed, or who to contact and how to navigate existing processes. Others worry about investing time and energy in projects that never get off the ground because the path forward feels unclear, or their hard work risks going unrewarded.
That’s become one of the most important insights for me. We often talk about getting more people involved in nature recovery, but many people are already willing, and many are already doing it. Sometimes the challenge isn’t motivation, it’s navigation.
Conversations with council teams revealed a different perspective.
Managing council-owned land is complex. Officers have responsibilities around safety, accessibility, ecology, infrastructure and long-term maintenance. Public spaces need to work for everyone, and decisions can’t focus on biodiversity alone. They also need to consider legal obligations, public expectations and what happens if a project is no longer maintained in the future.
Another challenge is that expertise and responsibilities are spread across different council teams. Supporting a community project may involve colleagues from several departments, each with their own priorities and processes. While that reflects the complexity of managing public spaces, it can make it harder for both residents and council staff to find the best route forward, and creates delays in decision making.
The more people I spoke to, the more I realised this wasn’t a story about communities wanting one thing and the council wanting another. In fact, both groups largely want the same outcome: more people taking positive action for nature.
What differed was the set of challenges they experienced along the way. Community groups described slow processes, unclear guidance and difficulty identifying the right point of contact. Council officers described limited capacity, increasing workloads and the need to manage risk responsibly. Both perspectives were valid. More importantly, they were connected.
This is increasingly shaping how I think about the Nature Permit. We’re not simply designing a permissions process. We’re designing a participation process.
Beyond the “but”
That work is already underway. Through Nature Together, partners have already supported more than 35 community-led projects across Bristol this year, helping residents improve local green spaces, create pollinator habitats, establish community gardens and support wildlife. At the same time, the Nature Permit has moved from concept into testing. Fourteen projects are taking part in the first closed trial of the permit in Easton and Lockleaze, helping us understand how the process works in practice and where further improvements are needed.
This first trial is only the beginning. We plan to run two further rounds of testing in Spring 2027 and Autumn 2027 before, subject to the learning from those trials, launching the full Nature Permit in January 2028. Taking a phased approach will help ensure the final system is practical, proportionate and accessible for both communities and council teams.
Every project helps us better understand the “buts” we’ve heard throughout this process and gives us an opportunity to find solutions together.
So, when I think back to all those conversations, I don’t really remember the “but”. What I remember is that everyone started in the same place: “It’s a great idea.”
We’re working on turning that shared ambition into a practical reality, creating a clearer route for communities and the council to work together for nature.
Have your say
We’re looking for community input to help shape the future development of the Nature Permit. Complete our short survey, join an upcoming engagement workshop, or get in touch with the Nature Together team on NatureTogether@bristol.gov.uk
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