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This Council notes with concern recent reports from the
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services (IPBES) on global species and habitat loss, and also that Cambridgeshire & Peterborough combined
has one of the lowest percentages of land cover of priority habitats, natural
green spaces and designated nature conservation sites in England, with only 6.5% of the land surface having
statutory or non-statutory nature conservation designations and only
approximately 8.5% being
priority habitat.
We recognise the importance of a healthy and biodiverse environment that
ensures our City’s future prosperity and supports the wellbeing of all who
live, work and study here.
We therefore pledge to provide leadership and to ensure that we work
with partners and our communities to reverse the decline in biodiversity and
deliver measurable biodiversity net gain within Cambridge and the wider region.
Further to this, Council:
(1) Declares its recognition of the global biodiversity
emergency and the local impact this could have on the communities and
businesses we serve
(2) Pledges to act during the first year of Motion being
accepted, to work towards future measurable biodiversity net gain for
Cambridge, based on a full assessment of the scientific evidence on how best to
achieve this
(3) Pledges to develop plans for further action, in second
year of Motion and beyond, to secure further biodiversity net gain.
In recognition of this biodiversity emergency, during first year of
Motion being accepted Cambridge City Council will:
·
Make
the Council estate more hospitable to a wide range of plants and animals,
including on our parks and open spaces.
·
Publish
a Parks Biodiversity Toolkit to encourage community engagement with habitat
creation such as flowering meadows for pollinating insects.
·
Identify
how the City’s open spaces function as part of a Cambridgeshire coherent
ecological network and prioritise areas for protection and enhancement.
·
Set
measurable targets and standards for biodiversity increase, seeking to increase
community engagement with habitat creation such as bee banks and ponds.
·
Work
to improve the City Council Nature Conservation Strategy, building on the
significant work already delivered since its adoption in 2006, by embedding
measurable biodiversity net gain across the authority.
·
Work
in partnership with institutions, schools, businesses and community groups, to
raise awareness and encourage wider biodiversity action across the City by:
o
Providing
a range of public engagement and awareness campaigns to provide advice to
residents and businesses on how to protect and enhance habitats within their
neighbourhoods.
o
Promoting
the adoption of the Local Nature Partnership ‘Developing with Nature Toolkit’
within all new major developments to ensure biodiversity best practice is
implemented and recognised
o
Continuing
to safeguard and enhance the trees of our urban forest to maximise their
biodiversity benefits through the implementation of the adopted Tree Strategy
(2016)
o
Encouraging
and supporting urban agriculture as set out in the City Council Sustainable
Food Policy,
o
Continuing
to support the Local Wildlife Trust through a service level agreement (SLA) to
ensure our designated Local Wildlife Sites reach and retain favourable
conservation status
o
Continuing
to support the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Environmental Records Centre
through a SLA to ensure validated, up-to-date biodiversity data is captured and
available to decision makers when considering the implications of development,
land management and projects.
o
Continuing
to support Natural Cambridgeshire, the Local Nature Partnership (LNP), to
deliver the shared vision for ‘Cambridgeshire to be an exemplar for the landscape
scale restoration of the natural environment’.
We further aspire to:
·
Ensure
the delivery of biodiversity enhancements through our planning policy and
development control functions by providing guidance to support existing
biodiversity policies as part of the Greater Cambridge Sustainable Design and
Construction SPD and forthcoming Greater Cambridge Biodiversity SPD.
Development of the Joint Greater Cambridge Local Plan will enable the
development of a mandatory biodiversity net gain policy for Cambridge and South
Cambridgeshire, ensuring that this is a core principle for all future
development across the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service
·
Establish
a Cambridge Biodiversity Charter, calling on all organisations, businesses and
individuals in the city to each establish their own Biodiversity Action Plans
and to commit to enhancing their open spaces, to contribute towards a city’s
wide net gain
·
Design
new council housing for net gain of biodiversity and opportunities in the form
of integral swift boxes, biodiverse green roofs and hedgehog highways etc, where viable.
·
Work
with the Cambridgeshire County Council, Greater Cambridge Partnership and
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority to promote sustainable
transport by the implementation of biodiversity net gain targets
·
Establish
a Biodiversity recognition scheme for schools / community groups / business and
individual gardens.
Supporting Information:
Climate change, biodiversity and human health
https://www.who.int/globalchange/ecosystems/biodiversity/en/
WWF Living Planet report 2018
https://www.wwf.org.uk/sites/default/files/2018-10/wwfintl_livingplanet_full.pdf
Biodiversity: state of emergency
https://news.cnrs.fr/articles/biodiversity-state-ofemergency
https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/nature-conservation-strategy
https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/tree-strategy
Natural Cambridgeshire Vision https://naturalcambridgeshire.org.uk/vision/
Minutes:
Councillor Thornburrow proposed and Councillor Moore seconded the following motion:
This Council notes with concern recent reports from the
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services (IPBES) on global species and habitat loss, and also that Cambridgeshire & Peterborough combined
has one of the lowest percentages of land cover of priority habitats, natural
green spaces and designated nature conservation sites in England, with only 6.5% of the land surface having
statutory or non-statutory nature conservation designations and only
approximately 8.5% being
priority habitat.
We recognise the importance of a healthy and biodiverse environment that
ensures our City’s future prosperity and supports the wellbeing of all who
live, work and study here.
We therefore pledge to provide leadership and to ensure that we work
with partners and our communities to reverse the decline in biodiversity and
deliver measurable biodiversity net gain within Cambridge and the wider region.
Further to this, Council:
(1) Declares its recognition of the global biodiversity
emergency and the local impact this could have on the communities and
businesses we serve
(2) Pledges to act during the first year of Motion being
accepted, to work towards future measurable biodiversity net gain for
Cambridge, based on a full assessment of the scientific evidence on how best to
achieve this
(3) Pledges to develop plans for further action, in second
year of Motion and beyond, to secure further biodiversity net gain.
In recognition of this biodiversity emergency, during first year of
Motion being accepted Cambridge City Council will:
·
Make
the Council estate more hospitable to a wide range of plants and animals,
including on our parks and open spaces.
·
Publish
a Parks Biodiversity Toolkit to encourage community engagement with habitat
creation such as flowering meadows for pollinating insects.
·
Identify
how the City’s open spaces function as part of a Cambridgeshire coherent
ecological network and prioritise areas for protection and enhancement.
·
Set
measurable targets and standards for biodiversity increase, seeking to increase
community engagement with habitat creation such as bee banks and ponds.
·
Work
to improve the City Council Nature Conservation Strategy, building on the
significant work already delivered since its adoption in 2006, by embedding
measurable biodiversity net gain across the authority.
·
Work
in partnership with institutions, schools, businesses and community groups, to
raise awareness and encourage wider biodiversity action across the City by:
o
Providing
a range of public engagement and awareness campaigns to provide advice to
residents and businesses on how to protect and enhance habitats within their
neighbourhoods.
o
Promoting
the adoption of the Local Nature Partnership ‘Developing with Nature Toolkit’
within all new major developments to ensure biodiversity best practice is
implemented and recognised
o
Continuing
to safeguard and enhance the trees of our urban forest to maximise their
biodiversity benefits through the implementation of the adopted Tree Strategy
(2016)
o
Encouraging
and supporting urban agriculture as set out in the City Council Sustainable
Food Policy,
o
Continuing
to support the Local Wildlife Trust through a service level agreement (SLA) to
ensure our designated Local Wildlife Sites reach and retain favourable
conservation status
o
Continuing
to support the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Environmental Records Centre through
a SLA to ensure validated, up-to-date biodiversity data is captured and
available to decision makers when considering the implications of development,
land management and projects.
o
Continuing
to support Natural Cambridgeshire, the Local Nature Partnership (LNP), to
deliver the shared vision for ‘Cambridgeshire to be an exemplar for the
landscape scale restoration of the natural environment’.
We further aspire to:
·
Ensure
the delivery of biodiversity enhancements through our planning policy and
development control functions by providing guidance to support existing
biodiversity policies as part of the Greater Cambridge Sustainable Design and
Construction SPD and forthcoming Greater Cambridge Biodiversity SPD.
Development of the Joint Greater Cambridge Local Plan will enable the
development of a mandatory biodiversity net gain policy for Cambridge and South
Cambridgeshire, ensuring that this is a core principle for all future
development across the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service
·
Establish
a Cambridge Biodiversity Charter, calling on all organisations, businesses and
individuals in the city to each establish their own Biodiversity Action Plans
and to commit to enhancing their open spaces, to contribute towards a city’s
wide net gain
·
Design
new council housing for net gain of biodiversity and opportunities in the form
of integral swift boxes, biodiverse green roofs and hedgehog highways etc, where viable.
·
Work
with the Cambridgeshire County Council, Greater Cambridge Partnership and
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority to promote sustainable
transport by the implementation of biodiversity net gain targets
·
Establish
a Biodiversity recognition scheme for schools / community groups / business and
individual gardens.
Supporting Information:
Climate change, biodiversity and human health
https://www.who.int/globalchange/ecosystems/biodiversity/en/
WWF Living Planet report 2018
https://www.wwf.org.uk/sites/default/files/2018-10/wwfintl_livingplanet_full.pdf
Biodiversity: state of emergency
https://news.cnrs.fr/articles/biodiversity-state-ofemergency
https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/nature-conservation-strategy
https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/tree-strategy
Natural Cambridgeshire Vision https://naturalcambridgeshire.org.uk/vision/
Councillor Dalzell proposed and Councillor
McGerty seconded the following amendment to motion (additional text underlined
and deleted text struck through)
This Council notes with
concern recent reports from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) on global species and habitat loss,
and also that Cambridgeshire & Peterborough combined has one of the
lowest percentages of land cover of priority habitats, natural green spaces and
designated nature conservation sites in England, with only 6.5% of
the land surface having statutory or non-statutory nature conservation
designations and only approximately 8.5% being priority habitat.
We recognise the importance of
a healthy and biodiverse environment that ensures our City’s future prosperity
and supports the wellbeing of all who live, work and study here.
We therefore pledge to provide
leadership and to ensure that we work with partners and our communities to
reverse the decline in biodiversity and deliver measurable biodiversity net
gain within Cambridge and the wider region.
Further to this, Council:
(1) Declares
its recognition of the global biodiversity emergency and the local impact this
could have on the communities and businesses we serve
(2) Pledges
to act during the first year of Motion being accepted, to work towards future
measurable biodiversity net gain for Cambridge, based on a full assessment of
the scientific evidence on how best to achieve this
(3) Pledges
to develop plans for further action, in second year of Motion and beyond, to
secure further biodiversity net gain.
(1)
Recognises the global biodiversity crisis, the impact this will have on our
local community and its close link to the Climate Emergency declared at our
last meeting.
(2) Renews
this Council’s 2006 commitment to deliver a measurable biodiversity net gain
for Cambridge, based on a full assessment of the scientific evidence and
consultation with local stakeholders.
(3) Pledges
to identify actions that can be taken this year to protect and improve
biodiversity in Cambridge, to bring a report to scrutiny committee in October
to report on progress and develop a long-term spending plan for future budgets.
In recognition of this
biodiversity emergency, during first year of Motion being accepted Cambridge
City Council will:
·
Make the Council estate more hospitable to a wide range of
plants and animals, including on our parks and open spaces.
·
Seek to eliminate unnecessary use of
pesticides across the City Council estate.
·
Publish a Parks Biodiversity Toolkit to encourage community
engagement with habitat creation such as flowering meadows for pollinating
insects.
·
Identify how the City’s open spaces function as part of a
Cambridgeshire coherent ecological network and prioritise areas for protection
and enhancement.
·
Set measurable targets and standards for biodiversity increase,
seeking to increase community engagement with habitat creation such as bee
banks and ponds.
·
Work to improve the City Council Nature Conservation Strategy,
building on the significant work already delivered since its adoption in 2006,
by embedding measurable biodiversity net gain across the authority.
·
Work in partnership with neighbouring Councils,
institutions, schools, businesses and community groups, to develop
strategies raise awareness and encourage wider biodiversity action across
the City by:
o
Providing a range of public engagement and awareness campaigns
to provide advice to residents and businesses on how to protect and enhance
habitats within their neighbourhoods.
o
Promoting the adoption of the Local Nature Partnership
‘Developing with Nature Toolkit’ within all new major developments to ensure
biodiversity best practice is implemented and recognised.
o
Continuing to safeguard and enhance the trees of our urban
forest to maximise their biodiversity benefits through the implementation of
the adopted Tree Strategy (2016) and committing to increase the number of
trees in Cambridge.
o
Develop a Hedge Strategy to protect and
maximise the planting of high quality hedging across the city including major
GCP projects and housing developments.
o
Encouraging and supporting urban agriculture as set out in the
City Council Sustainable Food Policy,
o
Continuing to support the Local Wildlife Trust through a service
level agreement (SLA) to ensure our designated Local Wildlife Sites reach and
retain favourable conservation status.
o
Continuing to support the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough
Environmental Records Centre through a SLA to ensure validated, up-to-date
biodiversity data is captured and available to decision makers when considering
the implications of development, land management and projects.
o
Continuing to support Natural Cambridgeshire, the Local Nature
Partnership (LNP), to deliver the shared vision for ‘Cambridgeshire to be an
exemplar for the landscape scale restoration of the natural environment’.
We further aspire to:
·
Ensure the delivery of biodiversity enhancements through our
planning policy and development control functions by providing guidance to
support existing biodiversity policies as part of the Greater Cambridge
Sustainable Design and Construction SPD and forthcoming Greater Cambridge
Biodiversity SPD. Development of the Joint Greater Cambridge Local Plan will
enable the development of a mandatory biodiversity net gain policy for
Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire, ensuring that this is a core principle for
all future development across the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service
·
Establish a Cambridge Biodiversity Charter, calling on all
organisations, businesses and individuals in the city to each establish their
own Biodiversity Action Plans and to commit to enhancing their open spaces, to
contribute towards a city’s wide net gain
·
Design new council housing for net gain of biodiversity and
opportunities in the form of integral swift boxes, biodiverse green roofs and
hedgehog highways etc, where viable.
·
Work with the Cambridgeshire County Council, Greater Cambridge
Partnership and Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority to promote
sustainable transport by the implementation of biodiversity net gain targets
·
Establish a Biodiversity recognition scheme for schools /
community groups / business and individual gardens.
Supporting Information:
Climate change, biodiversity
and human health
https://www.who.int/globalchange/ecosystems/biodiversity/en/
WWF Living Planet report 2018
https://www.wwf.org.uk/sites/default/files/2018-10/wwfintl_livingplanet_full.pdf
Biodiversity: state of
emergency https://news.cnrs.fr/articles/biodiversity-state-ofemergency
https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/nature-conservation-strategy
https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/tree-strategy
Natural
Cambridgeshire Vision https://naturalcambridgeshire.org.uk/vision/
On a show of hands
the amendment was lost by 11 votes to 22 (with Councillor Hipkin recorded as
abstaining)
Resolved (unanimously):
This Council notes with concern recent reports from the
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services (IPBES) on global species and habitat loss, and also that Cambridgeshire & Peterborough combined
has one of the lowest percentages of land cover of priority habitats, natural
green spaces and designated nature conservation sites in England, with only 6.5% of the land surface having
statutory or non-statutory nature conservation designations and only
approximately 8.5% being
priority habitat.
We recognise the importance of a healthy and biodiverse environment that
ensures our City’s future prosperity and supports the wellbeing of all who
live, work and study here.
We therefore pledge to provide leadership and to ensure that we work
with partners and our communities to reverse the decline in biodiversity and
deliver measurable biodiversity net gain within Cambridge and the wider region.
Further to this, Council:
(4) Declares its recognition of the global biodiversity emergency
and the local impact this could have on the communities and businesses we serve
(5) Pledges to act during the first year of Motion being
accepted, to work towards future measurable biodiversity net gain for
Cambridge, based on a full assessment of the scientific evidence on how best to
achieve this
(6) Pledges to develop plans for further action, in second
year of Motion and beyond, to secure further biodiversity net gain.
In recognition of this biodiversity emergency, during first year of
Motion being accepted Cambridge City Council will:
·
Make
the Council estate more hospitable to a wide range of plants and animals,
including on our parks and open spaces.
·
Publish
a Parks Biodiversity Toolkit to encourage community engagement with habitat
creation such as flowering meadows for pollinating insects.
·
Identify
how the City’s open spaces function as part of a Cambridgeshire coherent
ecological network and prioritise areas for protection and enhancement.
·
Set
measurable targets and standards for biodiversity increase, seeking to increase
community engagement with habitat creation such as bee banks and ponds.
·
Work
to improve the City Council Nature Conservation Strategy, building on the
significant work already delivered since its adoption in 2006, by embedding measurable
biodiversity net gain across the authority.
·
Work
in partnership with institutions, schools, businesses and community groups, to
raise awareness and encourage wider biodiversity action across the City by:
o
Providing
a range of public engagement and awareness campaigns to provide advice to
residents and businesses on how to protect and enhance habitats within their
neighbourhoods.
o
Promoting
the adoption of the Local Nature Partnership ‘Developing with Nature Toolkit’
within all new major developments to ensure biodiversity best practice is
implemented and recognised
o
Continuing
to safeguard and enhance the trees of our urban forest to maximise their
biodiversity benefits through the implementation of the adopted Tree Strategy
(2016)
o
Encouraging
and supporting urban agriculture as set out in the City Council Sustainable
Food Policy,
o
Continuing
to support the Local Wildlife Trust through a service level agreement (SLA) to
ensure our designated Local Wildlife Sites reach and retain favourable conservation
status
o
Continuing
to support the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Environmental Records Centre
through a SLA to ensure validated, up-to-date biodiversity data is captured and
available to decision makers when considering the implications of development,
land management and projects.
o
Continuing
to support Natural Cambridgeshire, the Local Nature Partnership (LNP), to
deliver the shared vision for ‘Cambridgeshire to be an exemplar for the
landscape scale restoration of the natural environment’.
We further aspire to:
·
Ensure
the delivery of biodiversity enhancements through our planning policy and
development control functions by providing guidance to support existing
biodiversity policies as part of the Greater Cambridge Sustainable Design and
Construction SPD and forthcoming Greater Cambridge Biodiversity SPD.
Development of the Joint Greater Cambridge Local Plan will enable the
development of a mandatory biodiversity net gain policy for Cambridge and South
Cambridgeshire, ensuring that this is a core principle for all future
development across the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service
·
Establish
a Cambridge Biodiversity Charter, calling on all organisations, businesses and
individuals in the city to each establish their own Biodiversity Action Plans
and to commit to enhancing their open spaces, to contribute towards a city’s
wide net gain
·
Design
new council housing for net gain of biodiversity and opportunities in the form
of integral swift boxes, biodiverse green roofs and hedgehog highways etc, where viable.
·
Work
with the Cambridgeshire County Council, Greater Cambridge Partnership and
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority to promote sustainable
transport by the implementation of biodiversity net gain targets
·
Establish
a Biodiversity recognition scheme for schools / community groups / business and
individual gardens.
Supporting Information:
Climate change, biodiversity and human health
https://www.who.int/globalchange/ecosystems/biodiversity/en/
WWF Living Planet report 2018
https://www.wwf.org.uk/sites/default/files/2018-10/wwfintl_livingplanet_full.pdf
Biodiversity: state of emergency
https://news.cnrs.fr/articles/biodiversity-state-ofemergency
https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/nature-conservation-strategy
https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/tree-strategy
Natural Cambridgeshire Vision https://naturalcambridgeshire.org.uk/vision/
