Issue - meetings

Motions

Meeting: 20/06/2019 - South Somerset District Council (Item 25)

Decision:

RESOLVED:

That Council agreed to:-

1. call on all developers not to use netting on trees and hedgerows at development sites in South Somerset.

2. urgently write to the relevant Government Ministers calling on the Government to ban the use of netting at all sites with planning consent or identified in Local or emerging Local Plans.

Minutes:

The following Motion was submitted by Councillor Graham Oakes:

Ban the use of netting at Development Sites

South Somerset District Council has a long and established record of environmental protection and protecting wildlife. The Council is greatly concerned by the growing trend of developers in some areas using netting over trees and hedgerows at development sites to stop birds nesting and other wildlife using the hedges. This is wrong and runs against the best interests of supporting and enhancing local wildlife.

We call on all developers not to use netting in South Somerset.

Additionally, Council will urgently write to the relevant Government Ministers calling on the Government to ban the use of netting at all sites with planning consent or identified in Local or emerging Local Plans.

The Motion was seconded and Councillor Oakes made the following comments in support of his motion:-

· Both national developers and local Housing associations had recently been found to use netting at development sites

· Area East Committee had recently granted planning permission for a small development where the officer had proposed a planning condition to prevent the blocking of bird access using plastic bird netting as this could lead to entrapment from birds caught in netting

· A petition signed by 344,000 people had recently been submitted to the Government calling on them to discuss the issue

He concluded that his Motion called on the Council and the Government to protect wildlife and he asked that Members to support it.

During discussion, Members were very supportive of the Motion and made several suggestions to preserve or re-plant hedges and trees in future development sites.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment said that early engagement with developers and ecologists should mitigate the circumstances which required netting to be used at development sites so that developers worked outside of the nesting season and trees and hedgerows were replaced.

At the conclusion of the debate, Members were fully supportive of the Motion as proposed, and it was:-