Tamworth Borough Council

Tamworth Borough Council recognise that: • Nature is in long-term decline, and the requirement to take action to halt and reverse this is urgent; • Nature provides us with vital support systems, and severe declines in biodiversity are undermining nature’s productivity and adaptability, posing excessive uncertainty for our economies and wellbeing; • A thriving natural environment underpins a healthy, happy, prosperous society; • The impacts of climate change are driving nature’s decline, while restoring nature provides a wide variety of cost-effective benefits to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. • Many of our areas of work across the Borough have an impact on nature, and we have responsibilities to make decisions to protect and enhance it. • That the ‘Bigger, Better, More and Joined-up’ principles of the 2010 Lawton Report – ‘Making Space for Nature’ - should be followed to help rebuild nature: Tamworth Borough Council will: Putting Nature into Recovery: 1. Create and implement an evidence-based Local Nature Recovery Action Plan for Tamworth that will support the Stoke and Staffordshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS), when available, in collaboration with partners. The Tamworth Action Plan will include short and long-term targets for putting nature into recovery over a specified timeframe, and reports on progress will be published on an annual basis. 2. Embed nature’s recovery into all strategic plans and policy areas, not just those directly related to the environment. Use the council’s Nature Recovery Network map to inform strategic plans and policy areas, and to help guide development and land allocation decisions. Ensure the Nature Recovery Network map is embedded within the authority’s Local Plan, ensuring that there are dedicated, joined-up spaces for nature as well as housing, industrial areas and other land uses.’ 3. Ensure local nature recovery is well understood across the authority and complements other relevant plans and strategies. Provide training and resources for councillors and council employees about the ecological emergency. Biodiversity Net Gain: 4. To ensure that Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) legislation delivers real benefits for nature, the council will develop a locally-specific BNG policy which requires developers to take into account the Local Nature Recovery Strategy and the Local Nature Recovery Action Plan for Tamworth when selecting locations and delivering both on- and offsite BNG.’ 30 by 30: 5. Seek to manage at least 30% of council-owned greenspace for the benefit of wildlife by 2030. Protected and Designated Landscapes: 6. Produce a monitoring plan for all council-managed protected and designated nature sites, eg. SSSIs, LNRs and LWSs, with a view to achieving favourable condition status by 2030. Road Verges 7. After satisfying safety and visibility priorities and the Highway Code, develop highways verge cutting regimes that maximise potential for biodiversity, carbon storage and sequestration. Tree-planting 8. Formulate a tree policy and strategy which is underpinned by Nature Recovery Network mapping across the local authority area, pursuing a “right tree, right place” approach. Protecting Peatlands 9. Consider the adoption of a peat-free policy for all council contracts and supplies. Nature Based Solutions 10. Carry out a carbon audit of local authority sites to establish how carbon storage and sequestration can be improved. Access to Nature 11. Improve access to good quality natural spaces for Tamworth Borough residents by following Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework.’ Communications 12. Begin sharing joint nature-based communications created by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. 13. Demonstrate leadership by championing Nature Recovery and supporting and educating residents as well as the local business and communities to take action to put nature into recovery. Responsibility and Governance 14. That the Leader of the Council is responsible for ensuring the delivery of the declaration. 15. Appoint the Assistant Director Operations and Leisure as the Lead Officer for coordinating council operations in relation to local nature recovery. 16. That the Infrastructure Safety and Growth Scrutiny Committee monitor the Local Nature Recovery Action Plan. 17. Work closely with Staffordshire County Council and other local partners to form a Staffordshire-wide Local Nature Recovery Partnership. https://democracy.tamworth.gov.uk/documents/s37069/Nature%20Recovery%20Declaration.pdf

— Cabinet meeting (301/11/2023)Full council (12/12/2023) (Source)