At its meeting on 27 June 2023, the Panel agreed to add the following item to its Work Plan for the 2023/24 municipal year:

·       Council policies, projects and actions – focus on two key areas: parks and green space management and the operational/action plans that stem from strategies; and biodiversity net gain management.

A review of progress against the Biodiversity Action Plan for Oxford City Council Parks and Nature Areas was undertaken in September 2023. The review is presented to the Panel in respect of its agreed focus on ‘parks and green space management and the operational/action plans that stem from strategies’.

Cllr Chewe Munkonge, Deputy Leader (Non-Statutory) and Cabinet Member for Leisure and Parks and Chris Bell, Green and Blue Spaces Development Manager, have been invited to present the report and answer questions. The Panel is asked to note and comment on the report and agree any recommendations.

Cllr Chewe Munkonge, Deputy Leader (Non-Statutory) and Cabinet Member for Leisure and Parks introduced the report, highlighting that there were only a small number of actions which had not been progressed and this was largely as a result of lack of available funding.

Chris Bell, Green and Blue Spaces Development Manager added that the Biodiversity Review of Oxford City Council Parks and Nature Areas had been developed in 2020 to set out the Council’s current progress and demonstrate what it was doing to promote and support biodiversity in Council parks and nature areas. He added that there was a lot of aspiration within the Council and highlighted the importance of identifying specific sites and projects where this aspiration could be delivered on the ground.

In response to questions, the Panel was advised that:

·         There had been good progress made against the Action Plan, but there was still work to be done across the City.

·         In terms of grass management, specific meadow restoration had been successful, but more work was required in relation to a general review of grass verge management.

·         There was a need to broaden understanding around geology and land use to ensure that the right approach to biodiversity was taken on the right site (i.e. avoiding a narrow, sometimes inappropriate, focus on planting trees on all sites).

·         The Council’s relationship with Oxford Direct Services (ODS) as contractor for the management of parks and green spaces was positive; ODS had a wealth of expertise and site-specific knowledge in terms of site and habitat management.

·         There was no centralised document where information on all sites, habitats and projects across the City were located and their needs in terms of funding.

The Panel noted that it was pleased to see an action plan where the majority of actions had been progressed and appropriate lessons learned; and praised the Green and Blue Spaces Development Manager and his team for the work done.

The Panel agreed to recommend to Cabinet that:

·         The Council, in collaboration with partners who hold relevant data, maps data relating to landscape and habitat type onto a centralised system (e.g. GIS) and populates with information about particular sites or projects which require funding; and makes this publicly accessible so that Members, community groups and the general public can find and support local projects near to them.

·         The Council explores how volunteer coordination could be delivered within existing resource as part of the Council’s core ‘business as usual’.

·         The Council reviews the structure of its contracts with Oxford Direct Services in relation to parks and green space management in the longer-term, to ensure that there is clarity within those contracts as to whether the management of parks and green spaces is led by prescriptive inputs (certain amount of work over a defined period of time) or outputs (supporting, protecting and enhancing biodiversity).

·         The Council ensures the most appropriate approach for enhancing biodiversity is taken in its parks and nature areas according to environment on a site-by-site basis – with a focus on the right approach in the right place, rather than a uniform approach across all sites.

Cllr Chewe Munkonge, Deputy Leader (Non-Statutory) and Cabinet Member for Leisure and Parks and Chris Bell, Green and Blue Spaces Development Manager left the meeting and did not return.