Report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing

This report provides the annual update on the delivery of the Green and Blue Implementation Plan together with information on the delivery of the Tree Action Plan. It looks back at the progress made during 2021 and sets out how the Green and Blue Implementation Plan has been refreshed to ensure it remains relevant and in the context of the current challenges faced by the city.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing that provided the annual update on the delivery of the Green and Blue Implementation Plan together with information on the delivery of the Tree Action Plan.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Describing the relationship of the Green and Blue Infrastructure (G&BI) Strategy to other Council strategies and action plans;

·         The objectives and long-term vision of the Strategy;

·         Governance arrangements and G&BI stakeholder Group;

·         The contribution the strategy had in relation to the Climate Emergency and Social Inclusion and Equality;

·         An overview of the Green and Blue Infrastructure Strategy Action Plan refresh;

·         Describing the Greater Manchester IGNITION Project and the GrowGreen Project;

·         The G&BI Implementation Plan 2021 Delivery highlights by Objective; and

·         The G&BI Implementation Plan Refresh and Future Priorities.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were: -

·         Welcoming the clear and detailed report and requesting that an easy read version was produced to ensure this was accessible to all residents;

·         Welcoming the inclusion of ‘Objective Three: Improving access and connectivity for people and wildlife, focusing on: Green routes – neighbourhoods and travel routes’;

·         Noting that trees planted in residential streets had caused damage to the pavements as the roots had grown, and consideration needed to be given to using the planting technique adopted in Albert Square to reduce this damage;

·         An exercise should be undertaken to understand residents’ access to green space, calling for equity of access to quality green space for all residents;

·         Equitable access to quality green space needed to be considered in conjunction with active travel schemes;

·         Welcoming the inclusion of the Bee Line information that was included within report;

·         Recognising that planning policies and developments were key to the delivery of quality green space;

·         Priority should be given to delivering green schemes in those wards that had historically not benefited from such schemes, adding that officers should support residents and interested community groups to bid for all available funding to deliver green schemes;

·         Noting that the recent IPCC report stressed the importance and urgency to address climate change;

·         The need to engage local schools on the issue of green and blue space, as part of the wider issue of climate change to influence behaviour change;

·         A strategy was required to ensure that all Registered Housing Providers across the city took responsibility for managing the green spaces they were responsible for, noting that the approach adopted was currently inconsistent across the city;

·         Consideration needed to be given to promoting the benefits of grass verges as a way of supporting bio diversity and this needed to be communicated so they were not used for car parking;

·         Residents and community groups should be encouraged, with the support of local Neighbourhood Officers, to take responsibility for local green spaces,

·         An assurance was sought that appropriate consideration had been given to flood risk management as part of the Victoria North development;

·         The communications strategy needed to be reviewed to ensure that all of the many positive examples of green initiatives, including those delivered by local business were celebrated as these could then inspire others to replicate or consider what they could do;

·         Consideration needed to be given as to which employers we used in the report as positive examples of green infrastructure and employment;

·         More information was sought on the approach to allotments, noting work needed to be done to stop the use of harmful pesticides in these locations;

·         A ward map of all green spaces and land ownership should be provided to all local Neighbourhood Teams;

·         Noting that both Manchester University and the Manchester Metropolitan University had volunteers available to assist with community groups establishing environmental projects; and

·         The correct species of tree should be used for the identified location and consideration needed to be given as to how tree planting could support and enhance active travel schemes.

The Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing welcomed the comments from the Committee. She stated that a review of the Core Strategy and Local Plan would be undertaken, and the views of the Committee would be used to inform these reviews. She advised that an audit of open spaces would be undertaken, and this would also consider factors such as access, quality and barriers. She stated that they did work with developers to maximise the delivery of green schemes and provided examples of these, noting that this also included the instalment of green walls and roof top gardens. She further commented that allotments were considered as part of the Parks Strategy however these sites would be captured as part of the open space audit. She further noted the comment regarding the use of the Airport as an example and reassured the Committee that there were many other positive examples that could be used in future reports.

The Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing stated that consideration would be given to providing ward based maps that mapped green space, however she advised that difficulties arose when identifying land that was privately owned. She added that this information would be shared with the relevant Neighbourhood Teams.

In response to an invitation from a Member for a representative from Planning and Building Control to be present at the planned Manchester Earth Summit 2022 conference, the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing committed to sending a representative to the event.

The Senior Policy Officer stated that he would circulate the Principles of Tree Management document to all Members for information, commenting that this document described the approach to street trees, adding that he would discuss the specific issue raised by the Members following the meeting. He further advised that the Tree Action Manchester programme did consider trees and green space in a wider context, such as the recognised health benefits. He further advised that the Our Rivers Our City would progress the work with blue infrastructure in collaboration with key partners.

In response to a specific question asked by a Member the Tree Officer stated that there was no policy of not planting hard standing trees, however the focus recently had been to prioritise soft scaping.

The Senior Policy Officer stated that the Biodiversity Net Gain legislation would be reviewed at a Greater Manchester level to ensure the best outcomes for Manchester could be achieved by adopting the correct policies as a result of this legislation.

The Executive Member for Environment stated that she welcomed the IPCC report and noted the key messages. She stated that she would be meeting with officers to review a wide variety of work through this lens. She advised that she would circulate a summary of the IPCC report to Members following the meeting. She further commented that she would speak with her other Executive Member colleagues to address the issues raised by Members that cut across different remits, noting the comments regarding Housing Providers and support available to the VCSE sector to bid for funding to support green projects. She further recommended that an update report on the Bee Network is submitted for consideration in the new municipal year. 

The Executive Member for Environment commented that she would speak with Councillor White, Executive Member for Housing and Employment with the view to arranging a briefing for Members on the Victoria North development, adding that work had been undertaken with the Environment Agency to consider flood risk management as part of the development planning.

Decision

To note the report.