Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Corporate Director of Neighbourhoods and Climate Change which provided an update on progress of the Parks and Countryside Team together with colleagues in the Clean and Green Team, in managing nature reserves and other green spaces across Durham County Council owned land (for copy of report and presentation see file of minutes).

Prior to the presentation, the Chair referred to the recent visit to Hardwick Park at which members learned of the various approaches being used to increase biodiversity on the site.  In addition, members received information on how the park had been developed to allow specific areas to grow wild, to encourage further habitats. At the time of the visit, several groups of school children were also visiting the park and were enjoying participating in planned activities. The team was thanked for hosting the informative visit and for providing members with the opportunity to see for themselves the hard work being undertaken and the plans for the future, despite the difficult financial circumstances for parks across the county. 

Darryl Cox, Principal Parks and Countryside Ranger, thanked members for their attendance and their feedback on the visit.

The Principal Parks and Countryside Ranger introduced the presentation by describing the Parks and Countryside estate, which consisted of 63 sites, two major destination parks and 80 miles of railway path network. The Principal Parks and Countryside Ranger explained that the sites had five year management plans, with long term projects. The Committee noted additional medium term financial plan investment in respect of the Ecological Emergency Action Plan (EEAP) had enabled increased capacity to secure external funding for the benefit of biodiversity and additional staff, including two countryside rangers and three temporary programme staff.

Lindsay Archer, Parks and Countryside Development Manager, provided information on outdoor learning events.  She highlighted that a Volunteer Coordinator had been in post for approximately 18 months and this had increased the number of volunteers and site management and programming throughout the county. There had also been development in corporate volunteering and school engagement, which was at its highest level, with school children visiting the destination parks and participating in activities which support the curriculum and incorporate environmental based sessions.  Work continued to support the LNRS consultation process, through school visits. Community engagement had been boosted by growth bids enabled by the additional resources and the Community Engagement Coordinator targeted specific areas to engage the community, change behaviour and promote positive biodiversity messages.  In addition, a strong guided walks programme was offered, to support health and wellbeing and there was also support for ‘Friends’ groups at Wharton Park, Hardwick Park and Witton Dene.

The Parks and Countryside Development Manager commented that additional resources had provided increased capacity to develop the service which had led to more success in external funding bids as well as facilitating future planning for development projects.

The Principal Parks and Countryside Ranger then outlined the challenges and opportunities for the future, which included the potential loss of temporary staff, budget pressures which will impact upon development ability and the current cost of living crisis leading to loss of income. Opportunities included the progress of CERP3, the EEAP and the LNRS.

Geoff Knight, Technical and Service Development Manager informed the Committee that a number of parks were amenity parks, which were not managed by the Countryside Team and were the remit of Clean and Green. These parks provided a public health benefit to communities. 

The Technical and Service Development Manager updated the Committee that following consultation with elected members, eight pilot sites had been selected for a biodiverse approach to management and the strategy for these open spaces will dovetail with the LNRS and biodiversity net gain strategies.

The Sub-Committee noted that Glyphosate remains in use as no viable alternative was available, however a trial in which herbicide spraying on green spaces to allow natural species to grow around trees and hedges had resulted in no complaints and the trial had been extended for a further year, to fully understand its effectiveness.

Concluding his presentation the Technical and Service Development Manager corrected an error in his previous presentation to the Committee by clarifying that verge maintenance is carried out twice per year.

The Chair thanked officers for the presentation and invited questions and comments.

Councillor MacLean, local member for Horden division, referred to plans to create woodland on the former colliery site at Horden which had been part of the unsuccessful Levelling-Up bid.  He questioned why the tree planting had not gone ahead, as he understood that the plans and finance were in place at the time. The Principal Parks and Countryside Ranger agreed to speak to Councillor MacLean after the meeting, to follow-up the matter.

Councillor Lines, local member for Sedgefield division, thanked the team for the amount of activity being undertaken and he commented on the importance of improving access to encourage the public to use parks and countryside, which may encourage more people to volunteer and to consider active travel in the future. 

Councillor Lines gave an example of a partnership project in Sedgefield between members and Hardwick Park, which provided a path linking Sedgefield to Hardwick Park, bypassing the busy road.  He added that a Heritage 100 route now follows the path.

Councillor Sutton-Lloyd remarked that he was unaware of some of the initiatives such as Branch Out and the Species Survival Fund, and he suggested there was more work to be done to increase the reach of communications.  He added that community groups and AAPs (Area Action Partnerships) would welcome presentations from the team on the work being undertaken. The Principal Parks and Countryside Ranger explained that engagement work had taken place over the years with community groups and AAPs however, the work was resource intensive and the success of engagement work largely depended upon public interest at the time.  He clarified the Branch Out scheme was a partnership scheme with Northumbrian Water and the Species Survival Fund was a partnership with the National Trust, to access Defra funding to support the creation and restoration of wildlife rich habitats.

Councillor Brown referred to the use of Glyphosate and referred to issues she had raised in respect of poor application of herbicides, asking whether operatives were trained. The Technical and Service Development Manager confirmed operatives were trained to a high standard, however there had been issues with faulty equipment and he agreed to look into the issues raised by Councillor Brown, at the conclusion of the meeting.

Councillor Adam thanked officers for the presentation and for their contribution to the development of the CERP and the LNRS.  He referred to one of the challenges identified being the potential loss of temporary staff and he asked the officers to explain to the Committee why the temporary staff should be retained. The Principal Parks and Countryside Ranger outlined the benefits of the staff, including the increase of school and volunteer engagements and that the additional staff had enabled the team to visit some of the harder to reach areas of the county.  The staff also added value in the work to improve infrastructure, engage with communities and to identify issues in the wider environment as well as providing the flexibility to be reactive and make the best use of resources.  He highlighted that the staff had done a great amount of work in a relatively short time which had made a significant contribution to the overall aims of the team.

Councillor Adam requested that, in light of the comments from the Principal Parks and Countryside Ranger, the Committee should consider an additional recommendation, to request that Cabinet consider the retention of the temporary members of staff.

Councillor Elmer, local member for Brandon division, spoke of two urban parks in his division, both of which had wildflower meadows and he raised concern regarding the maintenance regime in previous years, which resulted in clippings being left on the sites. The Technical and Service Development Manager responded that financial constraints and a lack of equipment were factors and he agreed to take the comments back to the service. Councillor Elmer then spoke of the ceasing of grass cutting which had occurred in some areas of the county and it had been met with positivity.  He pointed out that the challenge lay in public perceptions and he referred to a study by Durham University to research public perceptions of grass cutting and he hoped the study would reveal a positive public attitude to the change.

Resolved:

Members of the Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

a)    Noted that continued effective management of nature reserves, other countryside sites, and green spaces across Durham County Council is contributing significantly to biodiversity protection and gain.

b)    Noted the progress made in delivering the linked objectives of the Parks and Countryside Service and Durham County Council’s Ecological Emergency and Climate Emergency reports.

c)    Recognised the progress that has been made in the development of links between the Parks and Countryside Service and the delivery of a Local Nature Recovery Strategy for the county. More work is needed in this area as the LNRS develops but Services remain committed to supporting the effective development of this strategy and aiding its delivery.

d)    Recognised that although a significant level of work has been undertaken and is continuing, longer term risk is present due to the temporary nature of the additional staff resource provided in 2022/23. Resource requirement beyond the 2024-25 financial year needs consideration to ensure the protection of biodiversity management and community buy-in for the future.

e)    As per (d) above, whilst there is a plan to determine the condition of LWS held within the Countryside Estate, there is no additional resource available to carry out any of the work that may be deemed necessary to either return the sites to good condition, nor maintain current condition. 

The Committee agreed the following additional recommendation:

f)     That the Chair of this committee write to the Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods and Climate Change highlighting the significant benefits which have been delivered by the three temporary posts and ask that consideration be given to extending the contracts of the three temporary staff to allow for the continuation of vital engagement activity and support currently provided to the Parks and Countryside Team.