The Climate Change & Nature Recovery Service Transformation Committee met on Monday 4 March 2024, approving the Section 6 Biodiversity Duty Action Plan for Swansea and noting the council's work plan.

Section 6 Biodiversity Duty Action Plan for Swansea

The committee approved the draft Section 6 Biodiversity Duty Action Plan for Swansea, which outlines the actions the council will take between now and December 2025 to meet its obligations under the Environment (Wales) Act 2016¹. This plan aims to maintain and enhance biodiversity and contribute to the Welsh Government's '30x30' targets for nature recovery. The plan's actions are structured around the six key objectives of the Nature Recovery Action Plan for Wales and the Swansea Local Nature Recovery Action Plan.

During the discussion, Councillor D H Hopkins, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Performance, introduced the report, highlighting it as a Corporate Priority scheduled to be reported to the full Council on 21 March 2024. Paul Meller, Natural Environment Section Manager, presented the plan, explaining the legal requirement under the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 for public authorities to seek to maintain and enhance biodiversity. Mark Barber, Biodiversity Officer, noted that ongoing actions are dependent on staff resources and Welsh Government funding, which is currently secured until 2025.

Committee members raised several points, including the importance of working with schools to support biodiversity and green infrastructure enhancements within school grounds. They also discussed making Community and Town Councils aware of the report, noting that each council is responsible for formulating its own plan. The council's legal responsibilities regarding water, soil, and air pollution, and collaboration with organisations like Natural Resources Wales (NRW), were also mentioned, with the hope that including these issues in the plan could attract more funding. The positive inclusion of active travel within the plan was acknowledged, as was the need for a more detailed plan linking broad actions to contribute to the Welsh Government's 30x30 biodiversity targets. The committee stressed the key importance of nature recovery and its inclusion within the Corporate Plan, alongside collaboration. The discussion also touched upon changes in legislation strengthening biodiversity in the planning process, the importance of sustainable drainage, and changes being introduced in the replacement Local Development Plan.

The committee resolved to approve the draft Section 6 Biodiversity Duty Action Plan for Swansea Council and forward it to the Council for adoption. They also agreed to add the inclusion of working with schools to support biodiversity and green infrastructure enhancements within school grounds to the plan being reported to the Council.

Work Plan

The Chair presented an updated Work Plan report. It was noted that the Public EV Charging Strategy remained an outstanding item, and confirmation was sought on whether Scrutiny was examining this topic. The committee resolved to note the contents of the report.