PLANS to bring nature back to Staffordshire are being drawn up by the county council as part of national action to halt the decline in wildlife species.
The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, a council report revealed, with 13% of species threatened with extinction.
Staffordshire County Council is now tasked with producing a legal document to set out measures to help nature recovery in the area – and the scrutiny committee was given an update on how the Local Nature Recovery Strategy was progressing.
Cllr Simon Tagg, cabinet member for environment, infrastructure and climate change, said:
“We know that our environment faces many challenges and species across the globe are threatened with extinction.
“As a council we have been given responsibility for the Local Nature Recovery Strategy that covers Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. That will require mapping out nature within the boundary so we can start to bring back nature.
“The county council is working with the city of Stoke-on-Trent, our district and borough councils, Peak District National Park, Natural England, the wildlife trust and many others.
“We’re also working with landowners and the farming community across the county who have a really important role to play in managing their land for environmental advantage for species and wildlife.”
Sarah Bentley, head of environment and countryside at the county council, said the strategy would not be dictating what landowners did with their land, but would identify places where they could make the biggest difference.
It would also link up with other areas covered by similar strategies – in total 48 are being drawn up across England.
The county council is aiming to complete the document this summer, with a public consultation on the proposals expected to place in May or June.
Cllr David Smith, Conservative member for Lichfield Rural South, highlighted the wildlife at his local quarry, including deer. He added:
“I’m interested in a project in my village which will plant over 100 trees.
“We have got to look at new ways of quarry management and quarry restoration. I have a concern about quarries and what we’re doing, because what we’ve currently approved isn’t going to work in 10 years’ time.”
Cllr Tagg said:
“We have got disused quarries that have spent their time supplying materials for our economy and construction and they’re an ideal place where we can bring nature back.
“I know your record of tree planting in your division and we’re trying to replicate that across the county – tree planting not only helps us to offset carbon emissions but also makes our environment much nicer for our residents and helps nature come back as well.”
Labour opposition group leader, Cllr Charlotte Atkins, said:
“I very much welcome the strategy and I’m interested in what we’re doing as a county council to bring nature back to those bits of land we own ourselves, such as grass verges.
“What are we doing to ensure that we don’t just cut everything down to a few inches – and do what they do in many places in England and France to mow a bit of the grass verge and then leave the rest longer?
“We have miles and miles of green verge and the last time I asked about it I was told it was cut six times a year.
“There’s also roundabouts – I think we could be doing more, it seems to me an easy win.”
Cllr Tagg responded:
“I agree with you on grass verges. I think the policies are changing and they’re looking to leave areas longer.
“We’ve got No Mow May that gathers momentum every year, but then we’ve got to be careful we keep the grass verges for highway safety.
“I think there is a compromise – as part of the strategy moving forward, anything we can do to help nature come back, through wildflowers or tree planting, is something we can include. I think highways are beginning to look at that and thinking of ways of changing cutting regimes to improve that.”
But committee chair Cllr Tina Clements said:
“When it comes to grass verges, we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t. They do look lovely when they’re done correctly and towards the back of the grass verge rather than the front.
“But when the wildflowers all die off it starts to look a bit rubbish and ends up being a tip because people chuck stuff out the window.
“I agree it’s a good idea and I agree we just need to be careful where we do put them. I feel sorry for our highways team when they go out there, things are done and then people moan – sometimes we can’t win.”
