Agenda item

Councillor Lee addressed the Committee on this item.

In summary, Councillor Lee made reference to the following points which were responded to accordingly by the Cabinet Member and relevant officers:

·       Thanked the Natural Environment and Recreation Team for the proposals within the report and stated that time was of the essence to get the process correct, particularly for biodiversity net gain and local nature recovery.

·       Suggested the need for important new thinking for the combined nature and climate declarations could benefit from a change in title for the Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency to also reflect the nature emergency.

·       Proposed the need to be clear on terminology in respect to natural capital – eco system services.

·       Pleased to see nature-based solution included within the presentation and the new local plan, but considered the meaning of this needed to be defined.

·       Stated that this way of thinking would be more coherent with the South Downs National Park (SDNP).

·       Requested that the Pilot Road Verge Project to be extended district-wide.

·       Following Defra advice, it was acknowledged that there was a need to ban the use of unnecessary pesticides within towns and cities and Councillor Lee proposed that chemical land management be reviewed in urban Winchester, in liaison with Hampshire County Council (HCC).

·       Requested a registry of groups to determine what part they could play in the proposed nature improvement plan going forward, which he fully supported.

Councillor Power addressed the Committee on this item.

In summary, Councillor Power made reference to the following points which were responded to accordingly by the Cabinet Member and relevant officers:

·       Disappointed that the report was city centric and did not take account of other land in the council’s ownership.

·       Requested that Bramdean Common and other sites of significance for biodiversity, wildlife corridors, nutrient mitigation and carbon sequestration and asked that a review of these sites be included in the work programme of the committee going forward to investigate their contribution to environmental facilities and their potential for supporting the aims of the council.

·       Wildflower verges – these are largely supported and welcomed the work of the council liaising with contractors on this.

The Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency introduced the item which provided an update on the land managed by the council and what action is being taken to promote biodiversity and achieve other benefits. The committee were reminded that the city was an unparished area and therefore this land came under the management of the city council directly.  It was noted that with changes such as the new biodiversity net gain, planning regulations and the need to update the biodiversity action plan, this was a good time to review how the council managed its land, recognising the limited resources available to the council and the review of savings to budgets.

The Service Lead: Sustainability and Natural Environment gave a presentation which detailed examples of the type of ecological sites, the management, monitoring and maintenance measures currently in place, Environment Act 2021 and the introduction of a Nature Improvement Plan and how this could be delivered going forward.

The committee proceeded to ask questions and comment on the following matters which were responded to by the Cabinet Member, the Corporate Head of Economy and Community and the Service Lead: Sustainability and Natural Environment.

(a)  Improvements, enhancements and opportunities to make the maximum ecological use from council owned land.

(b)  Collaborative working practices with the South Downs National Park Authority.

(c)  Resourcing for the planning process.

(d)  Future policies and land management.

(e)  Biodiversity Technical Advice Note – habitat banking and achieving greater gains.

(f)    List of sites – criteria and city council role to define management approach regarding biodiversity and maintaining and monitoring standards.

(g)  The use of pesticides – details are under the contract managed by IdVerde

(h)  Biodiversity Net Gain legislation and resourcing concerns to fulfil this.

At the conclusion of debate, the committee thanked officers for an informative presentation.

RESOLVED:

                     That the report and presentation be received, and the comments         raised by the committee, as summarised above, be noted.