​Buckland Parish Meeting

Parish Councils (PC) are the lowest tier of local government but, in our initiative to create a Biodiversity Park they are the foundation of Governance for the four parishes within which the park is located. They are elected corporate bodies and carry out beneficial public activities in their parishes, with concerns for the health and wellbeing of their citizens and the environment. Parish Councils have an open public meeting once a year when they account for their activities and actions during the past year and draw attention to particular issues and to new policies that will affect residents. This week Buckland PC had its annual meeting and biodiversity, and the Local Nature Recovery Strategy were discussed by Councillor Debbie Jones. She highlighted the new responsibilities of the PC stemming from the Environmental Act (2021) and what was required as a result of the strengthened Biodiversity Duty namely:

Public authorities who operate in England must consider what they can do to conserve and enhance biodiversity in England. ….This means that, as a public authority, you must:
Consider what you can do to conserve and enhance biodiversity.
Agree policies and specific objectives based on your consideration.
Act to deliver your policies and achieve your objectives.
Report on their actions and their effects
 
Councillor Jones provided examples of how the PC had met this requirement during the last year and explained the PC's strategy for moving forward in the future.
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From a biodiversity perspective, it is good to see the positive effects that Government legislation is having on decision making authorities in communities to become more aware of what biodiversity means and how they can conserve, protect and enhance biodiversity through their decisions and actions. Buckland PC is positively engaging with the idea of a Biodiversity Park which has the potential to provide a public demonstration of grassroots commitment to the biodiversity duty.                                                                 
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​ Evidence of this commitment is seen in the beautiful village pond which has been maintained by residents and conservations groups for many decades. Thanks to the efforts of volunteers and the careful management of this habitat, Cllr Jones was able to report that a small breeding colony of Great Crested Newts is now established in the pond.

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