Somerset residents urged to have their say on environmental strategy

Somerset residents have less than a week to have their say on proposals to protect and enhance their county’s natural beauty.

Somerset Council is currently in the early stages of creating a local nature recovery strategy, which will shape how the county’s green spaces and watercourses can be improved to encourage biodiversity in the face of new housing and other new development.

The strategy will identify individual habitats which will require additional protection or restoration, and opportunities to improve access to “nature-rich spaces” to promote physical and mental health and well-being.

Residents have until April 30 to give their say on the draft strategy, with more detailed proposals expected to come forward in the summer.

The new strategy is being funded by Defra, with the council working with the Somerset Local Nature Partnership to deliver the document.

The strategy, once adopted by the council, is expected to do the following:

• Map the locations of Somerset’s most precious habitats and wildlife.
• Identify the locations most suitable for nature restoration, and the places where the recovery or enhancement of biodiversity could make a particular contribution to other environmental benefits such as carbon sequestration, flood regulation, and access to nature-rich spaces for health and well-being.
• Set out local priorities and actions for restoring and creating habitats.
• Build and strengthen local partnerships that will be important for implementing the strategy,

Any improvements in biodiversity are intended to complement and build on new government guidelines for housing developments, which require house-builders to deliver a ten per cent increase in biodiversity for any new development submitted after January compared to leaving the land untouched.

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