APM webinar on 24 February 2021 presented by John Varley, Jane Dobson and Dr Neil Strong. Hosted by the APM South East Branch https://www.apm.org.uk/news/all-aboard-a-railway-for-people-and-wildlife-webinar/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmlDpblDHJM&feature=youtu.be

1. All aboard a railway for people and
wildlife – the power of effective
stakeholder engagement
1
Jane Dobson, Portfolio Head, Projects, RSSB
John Varley OBE TD, Independent Chair of the “Varley Review”
– the Network Rail Vegetation Management Review, plus Estate
Director of Clinton Devon Estates
Dr Neil Strong, Biodiversity Strategy Manager, Network Rail
24 February 2021

2. APM webinar: All aboard a railway for people and wildlife
The aim and agenda of this webinar
Aim, Agenda, Introductions
Clarity and Purpose and Relationships! John Varley OBE TD, Independent Chair of this “Varley
Review”, and Estates Director of Clinton Devon Estates (10 mins)
Bringing together stakeholders with conflicting interests in just three months Jane Dobson, Portfolio
Head at RSSB, and Project Manager for this work (10 mins)
Network Rail Overview Dr Neil Strong, Biodiversity Strategy Manager, Network Rail (15 mins)
Q&A

3. Clarity and Purpose and
Relationships!
3
John Varley, OBE TD, Independent
Chair of the “Varley” Review

4. APM webinar: All aboard a railway for people and wildlife
4

5. APM webinar: All aboard a railway for people and wildlife
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6. APM webinar: All aboard a railway for people and wildlife
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7. APM webinar: All aboard a railway for people and wildlife
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https://www.gov.uk/government/news
/government-sets-out-vision-for-a-
safe-and-biodiverse-railway-lineside

8. APM webinar: All aboard a railway for people and wildlife
Andrew Haines, Chief Executive, Network Rail
“The Varley Review has been a welcome opportunity for us to develop
an ambitious plan that both supports our core purpose of delivering a
reliable and safe railway for passengers and increasing biodiversity on
the railway. Our commitment is to manage lineside vegetation as a
natural asset and enhance the habitats in a way that supports the
sustainability of the rail network and the communities we serve.”

9. Bringing together stakeholders
with conflicting interests in just
three months
9
Jane Dobson, RSSB
Jane.Dobson@rssb.co.uk

10. APM webinar: All aboard a railway for people and wildlife
Why was stakeholder engagement so important in this project?
- This was politically sensitive project
- We needed to deliver at pace during the summer months (3 months Jul-Oct)
- There was a wide range of stakeholders with apparent competing dilemmas

11. APM webinar: All aboard a railway for people and wildlife
The project
Following concerns expressed about the impact that tree felling, considered necessary for the safe
operation and performance of the railway, was having on nesting bird populations, the UK
Department for Transport (DfT) asked Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) to manage a project to
“consider how Network Rail
can best ensure the safety of
our railways, while also
protecting wildlife and
preserving trees………”.

12. APM webinar: All aboard a railway for people and wildlife
Answers from a survey of >8000 people
What aspect is most important in Network Rail’s decision
making in managing lineside vegetation?
- Safety
- Keeping trains on time was regarded as important by those
working in the rail industry
- Improving the environment and biodiversity and the impact
on lineside neighbours
How well do you think Network Rail manages lineside vegetation, the
environment and biodiversity?
- Poorly, with concern about
- the safety, with vegetation not being removed from the lineside
proactively or quickly enough
- maintaining the environment
- condemning Network Rail’s perceived ‘all or nothing’ approach to
managing lineside vegetation
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
45.0
50.0
Which sector?
What one word would you use to describe Network
Rail’s approach to vegetation management?

13. APM webinar: All aboard a railway for people and wildlife
What did we need to do to get everyone on the same page and reach our goal?
1. Identify all stakeholders
2. Focus on stakeholders who have the most power to help or hinder your goal
3. Clarity over what we wanted from each stakeholder
4. Connect stakeholders’ interests to your goals
5. Don't always deal directly with stakeholders
6. Attain enough agreement to secure goal
Communications and Stakeholder Engagement
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14. APM webinar: All aboard a railway for people and wildlife
Generate/excite effective stakeholder engagement/buy-in, early
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Nearly 100 documents reviewed
5 roundtables, incl NGOs, policy and Network Rail
Over 40 interviews, including industry, Network Rail,
regulator, local communities, conservation groups and
public sector
Over 100 individuals engaged
Over 8000 survey responses
2 workshops
2 cab rides, 1 day on inspection train
Social media
But also, prepare to be fluid!
• Survey
• Change of ministers
And get audience to sit up and
take notice!
• Punchy language
• Concise recommendations
• Clear implementation steps

15. APM webinar: All aboard a railway for people and wildlife
And above all: Leadership and good team
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16. APM webinar: All aboard a railway for people and wildlife
The result
We succeeded in 3 months in delivering a project to the satisfaction of our client:
- Influencing Government to introduce a specific policy for biodiversity on the railway
- Driving forward a commitment to change Network Rail’s licence.
- Shifting DfT’s targets from “improved biodiversity” to “net gain” by 2040.
Please see link to the “Varley report”: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/network-rail-
vegetation-management-review-valuing-nature-a-railway-for-people-and-wildlife
16

17. Providing technical leadership
Network Rail overview
Neil Strong
Biodiversity strategy manager
OFFICIAL

18. Page 18
Varley to sustainable land use
Vision development
Standards and guides
Training
Systems
Data and reporting
Communication strategy
Pilot projects

19. Page 19
Leadership

20. Page 20
Vision
OFFICIAL

21. Page 21
Standards and guides

22. Page 22
Training

23. Page 23
Asset management
OFFICIAL
Kent pilot – summary
• Started March 2020
• Eight management techniques over 70 sites
• Nine completed
• 23 start February 2021
• 38 start June 2021
• Physical works completed October 2021
• Ongoing maintenance, monitoring and measuring
beyond 2021
VIR
SBJ

24. Page 24
Improving
OFFICIAL
Kent pilot – progress
before after
future
*
*
*
* images from Emorsgate Seeds

25. Page 25
Improving
OFFICIAL
Kent pilot – lessons learned
• complaints received early in project
• detailed information leaflet developed
• educates and informs

26. Page 26
Influencing
OFFICIAL
Kent pilot – positive results
• site signage

27. Page 27
Influencing
OFFICIAL
Partners – initial contact
• events like the Varley review workshops
• attendance at specialist conferences
• published articles in journals
• Network Rail communications
• when we’ve done something wrong…
Ongoing relationships
• passed to local teams to manage
• collaboration in novel research
• strategic partnerships

28. Page 28
Asset management
OFFICIAL
Working with UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
• Land cover mapping using Sentinel 2 satellite data

29. Page 29
Asset management
OFFICIAL
Complete network coverage plus 1km buffer

30. Page 30
Hadley Wood
Jo Johnson
announces review
John Varley, chair
Review published
Breeding bird
guidance revised
and briefed
Network Rail
response
DfT policy statement
John Varley progress
review
Sustainable land use
programme
launched
Vegetation
management standard
updated
Kent pilot
commissioned
Breeding bird guidance
updated and rebriefed
Biodiversity and habitat
baseline methodology
UIC rEvERsE project
launch
Network Rail
biodiversity action plan
published
Network Rail
environment
sustainability strategy
published
Network Rail
biodiversity standard
published
The post-Varley era
2018 2019 2020
May July
November
March July September
December
March June September December

31. Page 31
Biodiversity as one of four pillars of environmental sustainability strategy
Biodiversity action plan published
Organisations and conservation groups actively wanting to work with us
Data
• enabling science-based management decisions
• allowing measurement and monitoring of strategic targets
• promoting discussion and raising awareness
Achievements
OFFICIAL

32. Providing technical leadership
neil.strong@networkrail.co.uk
OFFICIAL

33. 33
Opportunity for questions

34. Thank you