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Issue - meetings

Nature Recovery Plan and Nature Recovery Officer

 

 

Meeting: 14/02/2024 - Executive (Item 147)

147 Nature Recovery Plan and Nature Recovery Officer pdf icon PDF 99 KB

Purpose:

To present the West Oxfordshire District Council Nature Recovery Plan, which is proposed to be adopted and resourced by the Council from April 2024, and to set out the business case to appoint a new Nature Recovery Officer.

 

Recommendations:

That the Executive Resolves to:

1.    Approve the West Oxfordshire District Council Nature Recovery Plan and recommend to Council that it is adopted as part of the Council’s compliance with the new biodiversity duty;

2.    Agree to part-fund a Nature Recovery Officer at a cost to the Council of £39,039.00 over 24 months.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Andrew Prosser, Executive Member for Climate Change, introduced the report, which presented the West Oxfordshire District Council Nature Recovery Plan. The report further set out the business case to appoint a new Nature Recovery Officer. The Nature Recovery Plan was proposed to be adopted and resourced by the Council from April 2024.

 

The Executive Member stated they would propose an additional recommendation, where delegated authority be given to the Assistant Director for Planning and Sustainability, in conjunction with the Executive Member for Climate Change, to make any necessary minor amendments to the Nature Recovery Plan, following consideration by the Executive and the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

The Executive Member referred to recommendations made to the Executive by the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and circulated ahead of the Executive meeting.

 

The Executive Member for Climate Change stated that the Executive had accepted, in principle, the recommendations made by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The recommendations suggested more engagement with Town and Parish Councils, that the Council takes a network approach to the facilitation of grassroots projects and getting people involved in nature recovery activities, and that consideration is given to mitigating risks around the future funding for the new post and the reliance on external funding for projects.

 

The Executive further highlighted that the Rural England and UK Shared Prosperity Funds would also provide additional funding for nature recovery projects in rural areas that would struggle to provide match funding through WestHive.

 

Councillor Andrew Prosser proposed that the Executive agree to the recommendations as listed on the report, with an additional recommendation as outlined in the presentation of the report.

 

This was seconded by Councillor Lidia Arciszewska, was put to a vote, and was unanimously agreed by the Executive.

 

The Executive Resolved to:

  1. Approve the West Oxfordshire District Council Nature Recovery Plan and recommend to Council that it is adopted as part of the Council’s compliance with the new biodiversity duty;
  2. Agree to part-fund a Nature Recovery Officer at a cost to the Council of £39,039.00 over 24 months;
  3. Delegate authority to the Assistant Director for Planning and Sustainability, in consultation with the Executive Member for Climate Change, to make any necessary minor amendments to the Nature Recovery Plan following consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Executive.

Meeting: 07/02/2024 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 41)

41 Nature Recovery Plan and Nature Recovery Officer pdf icon PDF 99 KB

Purpose

The Committee agreed to include this Executive report on the agenda for pre-decision scrutiny (the item was previously titled “Biodiversity Action Plan”).

 

Recommendation

That the Committee scrutinises the report and agrees any recommendations it wishes to make to the Executive on 14 February 2024.

 

Invited

Councillor Andrew Prosser, Executive Member for Climate Change

Hannah Kenyon, Climate Change Manager

Rachel Crookes, Biodiversity & Countryside Land Management Officer

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Biodiversity & Countryside Land Management Officer introduced the report to the Executive on the Nature Recovery Plan and Nature Recovery Officer. The plan had three main strands, to look at scope for improving biodiversity on the Council’s own land, to safeguard and enhance biodiversity through policies and development and to facilitate communities and partnerships for landscape-scale recovery. There had been 177 responses to the consultation and people had generally agreed with the Council’s ambitions. An officer post was requested for which some funding was available for 15 months. The intention was to provide a top up to have a two-year post. This would increase capacity to engage with grassroots organisations.

 

The Executive Member for Climate Change thanked the public speaker for their points. The approach was not intended to be a top-down one although some funding was top-down. The Council wanted to facilitate nature recovery at all levels and there was lots going on. 50 coronation orchards were due to be delivered across the district.

 

The Committee asked a number of questions and noted that:

·         The Council’s own land was primarily concentrated in Witney and there was a need to ensure the approach was not too town-centric.

·         Town and parish summits would be useful for sharing information and good practice.

·         The Climate Change Officer had successfully pulled in funding and the hope was that a Nature Recovery Officer would do likewise. There was 24 months to demonstrate the role which if successful could later be made permanent, subject to approvals.

·         There was concern that rural areas would struggle to raise funds for nature recovery projects.

·         10% biodiversity net gain was seen as a blunt instrument which would be difficult to enforce. The Planning Service was recruiting for an Ecologist and the Council may decide to go beyond 10% in its new local plan. Environmental issues were due to be scoped as part of the local plan process.

 

The Committee resolved to submit four recommendations to the Executive meeting on 14 February 2024:

1.    That engagement with towns and parish councils is more frequent than suggested in the report (i.e., events should be held at least annually).

2.    That the Council takes a network approach to the facilitation of grassroots projects and getting people involved in nature recovery activities.

3.    That consideration is given to the need for an additional financial pot for funding nature recovery projects in rural areas that would struggle to provide match funding through WestHive.

4.    That consideration is given to mitigating risks around the future funding for the new post and the reliance on external funding for projects, given that no capital allocation has been made for 2024/25.

 

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