Home >> council >> departments >> planning >> naturec04/12/2008 00:34:25

Action Plan

Five Year Action Plan

Planning -

Development Plans

  1. Ensure that policies within development plans take full account of biodiversity by:
    1. Ensuring that land allocations in the local plans take account of areas of value or potential value to wildlife.
    2. Giving protection to statutory designations, SINCs and other areas of wildlife value.
    3. Giving protection to protected species and biodiversity priority species.
    4. Ensuring appropriate mitigation, compensatory provision and enhancement of biodiversity where development is permitted.
    5. Including policies that encourage the creation of new habitats, particularly in areas of deficiency.

Development Control

  1. Ensure that the development control process takes full account of biodiversity by:
    1. Providing advice both before and during the application process regarding the likely impacts of development proposals.
    2. Ensuring that planning applications are supported by high quality ecology surveys.
    3. Using planning conditions and agreements to ensure provision for biodiversity within development.
    4. Ensuring early consultation with statutory agencies including English Nature and the Forestry Commission.

Development Briefs and Schemes

  1. Ensure that new developments retain existing wildlife habitats and create new opportunities for wildlife where possible by:
  1. Ensuring that development briefs take full account of biodiversity.
  2. Identifying potential and existing green corridors and greenspaces in planning strategies and development proposals to ensure easy access to biodiversity for all.
  3. Considering the retention of habitats and species that have established on previously developed (brownfield) land on both a temporary and a permanent basis.
  4. Incorporating sustainable drainage measures into development schemes to provide new wildlife habitats whilst reducing storm-water run-off and pollution.
  5. Exploring possibilities with developers for planting roofs, walls and pavements to create additional wildlife habitat, particularly in areas of very dense development.

Plans and Strategies

  1. Ensure that biodiversity is fully integrated into the work of Fareham Borough Council by:
    1. Ensuring that the Fareham Community Strategy takes full account of biodiversity.
    2. Ensuring that biodiversity is fully considered during the Best Value review process.
    3. Identifying links between biodiversity issues and all other activities and responsibilities of Fareham Borough Council and develop strategies to advance biodiversity work.
    4. Including biodiversity in corporate strategies.

Land Management

  1. Ensure that Fareham Borough Council land is managed to benefit biodiversity by:
    1. Ensuring favourable management of priority habitats and species found on Fareham Borough Council land holdings.
    2. Developing 'best practice' guidelines for favourable conservation management of all public open space.
    3. Reviewing the management of parks and other Fareham Borough Council controlled land to consider introducing additional measures for nature conservation.
    4. Reviewing tree planting programmes to identify new opportunities.
    5. Preparing management plans or briefs for all key sites to accommodate the needs of both people and wildlife.
    6. Aiming to establish statutory Local Nature Reserves at the minimum level of 1 ha per 1000 population as recommended by English Nature.

Survey and Data Collection

  1. Increase knowledge of the biodiversity resource of the borough by carrying out survey work to:
    1. Identify areas of value or potential value for biodiversity including sites that meet the SINC criteria.
    2. Audit the nature conservation resource of Fareham Borough Council land holdings.
    3. Identify priority habitats and species found on Fareham Borough Council land holdings.
    4. Produce 'alert' maps showing important and potentially important sites, to guide planning and other strategies.
    5. Ensure regular re-survey of wildlife sites to keep data up-to-date including rolling re-survey of SINCs.
    6. Inform management decisions.

Data

  1. Ensure that data is kept up to date by:
    1. maintaining membership of the HBIC Partnership.
    2. establishing a rolling programme of re-survey of important sites including SINCs.

Monitoring

  1. Develop indicators of biodiversity to assist with monitoring and assessments of 'best value'.

Community Involvement

  1. Encourage the community to become actively involved in the protection and enhancement of biodiversity in the borough by:
    1. Developing opportunities for community involvement in the management of wildlife habitats.
    2. Organising community surveys of individual species and local habitats.
    3. Seeking public support for changes in management regimes.
    4. Involving the public in the production of site management plans.

Partnerships and Projects

  1. Develop partnerships with individuals, organisations and companies in order to protect and enhance biodiversity within the borough.

Education and Awareness

  1. Increase general understanding of biodiversity through the production of information materials that:
    1. Explains the value of biodiversity to everyone.
    2. Makes links between local biodiversity action and national and international biodiversity goals.
    3. Makes links between biodiversity and other indicators of sustainable development such as health, economic growth and an attractive environment.

Local Authority

  1. Highlight the importance of biodiversity to Members and officers in order to:
    1. Generate awareness of, and support for, biodiversity.
    2. Developing corporate commitment and action for biodiversity across all departments.

Community

  1. Highlight the importance of biodiversity to the community by:
    1. Involving a wide spectrum of community groups in biodiversity issues as part of the Community Strategy process.
    2. Distributing information on biodiversity through local information points.
    3. Promoting existing biodiversity campaigns aimed at the public and identify new campaigns.
    4. Developing a greater biodiversity focus to activity programmes and interpretation materials.
    5. Promoting appropriate access to natural greenspace for all sections of the community such as people with disabilities, the elderly and children of all ages.
    6. Promoting initiatives to encourage people to explore biodiversity in their neighbourhood.
    7. Ensuring that information about biodiversity action and how to get involved is readily available to the public.
    8. Providing training to enable people to become actively involved in biodiversity conservation.

Education

  1. Provide children with an opportunity to encounter and learn about biodiversity by:
    1. Promoting the use of nature areas as an educational resource.
    2. Encouraging the management of school grounds for biodiversity education.

Business and Industry

  1. Ensure business and industry understands the importance of biodiversity and takes part in its conservation by:
     
    1. Promoting biodiversity through the work of existing business advice networks such as Green Business Clubs and Chambers of Commerce & Industry, and professional associations.
    2. Encouraging business sponsorship of biodiversity projects and programmes.
    3. Promoting the inclusion of biodiversity in economic development strategies and the work of agencies such as SEEDA.
    4. Encouraging partnerships between local businesses and local wildlife organisations.
    5. Providing information on how business and industry can assist biodiversity conservation and the benefits to business of taking such measures.