Minutes:
Councillor Eburne introduced the Motion and informed Council that the Motion called for Council to carry out a review of green space to ensure that it was optimising the biodiversity and well being aspects of natural and amenity green space in Mid Suffolk.
Councillor Eburne went on to say that during the last year, the importance of green space to our communities had been highlighted more than ever with people taking advantage of local outdoor space. Green space was important for many reasons. For both physical and mental health, we know that social prescribing works, that people who can access green space have healthier lives, exercise is beneficial, and time spent outdoors improves our mental health. As green lungs in our town centres where homes have very little gardens or none at all, it provides areas for dog walkers, access to nature and areas to combat pollution. Green space is important for our children, so that they can run free and avoid all of their time looking at screens, an area where they can play, an outlet for their energy and areas where they can be just children.
Our green spaces also attract visitors in our villages. Green centre spaces full of wild flowers that inspire visitors to stay a while and makes residents proud.
Green spaces are also areas for wildlife and wild flowers, for greater biodiversity in responding to the climate emergency. We should be prioritising our areas of biodiversity ensuring our ponds, trees, hedges and areas of rough ground are creating the right habitats for creatures and wildlife.
Pieces of land that are of significant historical importance that are found on tired old maps and in local history.
Or green space known simply for its beauty. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, this could be a rough scabby piece of land, can mean as much as a wild flower meadow or a copse of trees.
We should be creating new opportunities for green space, positively looking for new areas and where there are gaps, it is not just about green spaces
per se, it is about their availability and access to them. In our rural district people often have to travel more to get to a green space. Natural England have proposed a standard for green space provision no more than 300m or five minutes walk from home. This does not refer to privately owned farmland or footpaths but publicly available and accessible areas They need to be accessible with the ability of a parent to walk with their toddler for someone to be able to cycle to and for a wheelchair user to able to access.
Where we have green space we should be looking to enhance them and improve biodiversity.
These spaces should be publicly owned by the community by local councils even by the district council and covenanted so that no development can ever take place on them.
Finally, we need to protect the spaces we do have to ensure that our green spaces are designated as local green spaces as defined in the National Planning Policy Framework. We should also set up a directory of green spaces and add to it each year. The Council has already agreed to draw up a supplementary planning document for green space in new development, but this Motion is about our existing green spaces, enhancing and protecting them and finding new spaces within our towns and villages. Ultimately, we need to value our green spaces more. Our communities have shown that they both need and value them.
Green spaces are incredibly important for health both mental and physical as green lungs in our urban towns, as places for children to run free, as spaces for wildlife and biodiversity, spaces of historical interest and places simply of beauty.
As Councillors we need to ensure that our green spaces works for our communities and access to them is part of this.
Councillor Eburne then MOVED the Motion which Councillor Fleming SECONDED.
In her speech, Councillor Fleming thanked Councillor Eburne for bringing the Motion to Council and said that they clearly agreed that accessible natural green space was important to our communities for all of the reasons that Councillor Eburne had mentioned. Open space conveyed a sense of wellbeing and permanency which was very reassuring in a world that was becoming increasingly stressful and hurried.
Mid Suffolk and Babergh’s open space study which was prepared in 2019 supported the Joint Local Plan. This refers to a largely aspirational standard for accessible open space of various kinds. The standards for open space have been evolving since 2003. The implications of putting these standards into practice were complex and should not be overly rigid. We already have this as a starting point, but this should be taken further.
Councillor Fleming went on to say that plans needed to be put into place to optimise and use the green spaces that we already had as well as identifying any gaps that we have. Growth pressures need to be taken into account as well as the new planning context and pressures from biodiversity loss it then needed to be linked in with the emerging health and well being strategy.
The open space study suggested some strategic options, existing provision to be protected and enhanced and opportunities for relocation and re-designation etc. it was also about how the Council defined open space itself. The definition from Natural England was very rigid and had some problems with practical application particularly in areas of Mid Suffolk which were rural and actively farmed.
Councillor Fleming felt that the Motion gave the impetus needed to take action on the objectives in the existing open space strategy and the emerging Joint Local Plan. It was acknowledged that a supplementary planning document was the best way to detail how the standards should be set out and applied.
Councillor Fleming added that she would like to see joint arrangements in place so that the health and wellbeing aspects of open space were fully considered as well and she was confident that this would be the case.
Councillor Morley commented about the benefits that green space had on mental health and stated that by increasing access to green space it would contribute overall to the health and well-being of residents.
Councillor Passmore welcomed the approach being taken and supported the Motion.
Councillor Richardson emphasised the benefits of access to green spaces improving the health and well-being of residents
Councillor Matthissen requested that Councillor Burn undertake to review the designation of visually important open spaces in the emerging Joint Local Plan.
Councillor Scarff welcomed the Motion and requested that the Public Realm team be heavily involved in the review.
Councillor Warboys spoke in support of the Motion and made reference to the Dasgupta review and the natural capital approach.
Councillor Geake made a plea for green space to be truly communal.
Councillor Burn in response to Councillor Matthissen’s request, informed Council that the time had already passed for the designation of visual open space to be included in the Joint Local Plan. However, the Plan would be reviewed almost immediately after it was adopted.
Councillor Welham raised concerns about open spaces on new developments and requested that green spaces with poor access were looked at to see how they could be improved.
Councillor Mellon commented that whilst it was important to have green spaces in our towns, it was also important to have useable green space in the countryside.
Councillor Flatman felt that Mid Suffolk was very lucky to have access to an abundant number of footpaths and bridleways and stressed that it was really important that these areas were kept and maintained for the next generation.
Councillor Carter stated that it was important that green space was accessible to everyone.
Councillor Eburne thanked Councillors for their comments and outlined the seven reasons why open space was so important. She also highlighted the importance of listening to our communities.
The Motion was PUT to Council and CARRIED unanimously.
It was RESOLVED:-
That the Council carries out a review of green space to ensure that it is optimising the biodiversity and wellbeing aspects of natural and amenity green space in Mid Suffolk.