Agenda and minutes
Venue: Committee Room 5, Guildhall, Swansea. View directions
Contact: Scrutiny 01792 636292
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Apologies |
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Disclosure of Personal and Prejudicial Interests Minutes: ·
All
Councillors who have a membership of an organisation with an interest in the
natural environment have been asked to fill in a
interests form after advice from legal. Advised that these would be personal
interests at most. |
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Service Policy Briefing PDF 333 KB An overview of how Swansea Council currently meets its obligations under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and the Environment (Wales) Act 2016) · Cllr Mary Sherwood - Cabinet Member for Future Generations · Deb Hill – Nature Conservation Team Leader · Paul Mellor – Strategic Planning and Natural Environment Manager Minutes:
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The Environment Act and an Overview of Swansea Biodiversity · Deb Hill - Nature Conservation Team Leader · Paul Meller - Strategic Planning and Natural Environment Manager Minutes:
·
The
obligation is best coming from a senior level so it cannot be lost and so each
department has biodiversity objectives embedded into their Service Plans. ·
Swansea
has extremely diverse biodiversity and we are very lucky to have this. Further
details of Swansea’s Biodiversity
Resource (Priority Habitats and Species) can be found in the Local Swansea
Biodiversity Action Plan. ·
Approximately
50% of the County’s area is of significant ecological value and of this
22% is protected though International and/or National designations. e.g. SAC, SSSI ) ·
Connectivity
between green spaces is so important as this helps support ecological
resilience. ·
Swansea
Council owns a lot of land in Swansea and this is both a huge opportunity, but
also a big responsibility to maintain and manage ecologically important sites.
Biodiversity is sometimes viewed as an obstacle rather than an asset. ·
It
is essential that we understand how
reliant we are on ecosystems for provisions, regulation and culture. ·
The
ecological value in financial terms has to be offset against any
sale/development value. ·
Being
able to map sites properly means information up front available for people
(e.g. Planning Services). ·
SINCs
(Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation) are areas which support habitats
and species of principal importance for biodiversity conservation in Wales (as
listed under section 7 of the Environment Wales Act). A site which meets the
SINC criteria (as set out in the All
Wales Guidance) is afforded a degree of
protection under the Environment Wales Act
whether identified on the LDP constraints map or not. ·
Losing
any link SINC sites jeopardises and harms the connectivity of other designated
sites and therefore reduces the resilience of
ecosystems. ·
Swansea
could do better at monitoring biodiversity data
but resources are very limited. ·
There
is a unique opportunity here to influence policies post BREXIT and reimagine
how some sites/activities could work to be more beneficial for biodiversity
e.g. common land. ·
There
are many opportunities ahead of us during this transition period ·
Undermanagement of sites means that they deteriorate and we do
not safeguard them from problems which end up costing more in the long run. ·
Working
with nature needs to be a headline objective
in the Corporate Plan and this way, it will have more influence and more
people would take the obligation seriously. |
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Discussion An opportunity for the Panel to discuss the report Minutes: · Terms of reference agreed · Title of inquiry ‘What should Swansea Council be doing to maintain and enhance its natural environment and biodiversity, and in so doing promote the resilience of eco-systems?’ |