Agenda item

The purpose of the report is to approve the Milton Common Local Nature Reserve Restoration and Management Framework.

RECOMMENDED that the Cabinet member:

(1) Adopts the Milton Common Local Nature Reserve Restoration and

Management Framework (attached as appendix A).

(2) Authorises the City Development Manager to proceed with the designation of Milton Common as a Local Nature Reserve including the submission of the Local Nature Reserve declaration to Natural England (attached at appendix C).

(3) Authorises the City Development Manager to make editorial amendments to the Restoration and Management Framework, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Regeneration and Economic Development. These changes will not alter the meaning of the document and will be restricted to grammatical and typographical errors.

(TAKE IN REPORT)

David Hayward introduced the report advising that its purpose was to request the Cabinet Member to approve the Milton Common Local Nature Reserve Restoration and Management Framework.  He explained that the proposed management framework (attached to the report as Appendix A)  sets out how the city council intends to restore Milton Common and then continue managing the site in future.  He explained that as part of the framework, it is proposed that formal designation as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) is pursued for Milton Common.  Natural England has sent a letter of support for the framework attached as Appendix D of the report.

The Cabinet Member advised that a deputation request had been made by Janice Burkinshaw and invited her to speak. She was broadly in favour of the proposed LNR status for Milton Common but had the following concerns:-

·         Community Wardens do not appear to visit the site as stated in Appendix A 3.44

·         There is a problem concerning dogs both in terms of the effect they have on ducks and swans and also the conflict with other users such as joggers

·         The document does not contain a plan for displacement of woodland birds from St James site nor for mammals.

·         There seems to be no guarantee that the LNR status will ever be given as paragraph 5.17 of the Appendix states that this is just one way to mitigate and those putting in applications are free to make other proposals.

The Cabinet Member thanked Janice Burkinshaw for her deputation  and asked officers to respond to the matters raised.

David Hayward said he would check that the information in the Appendix regarding visits by wardens is correct.  If not, it would be removed from the document.

The issue of conflict between dog walkers in relation to other users has been looked at extensively.  Most conflict is small scale but is worse at certain times - such as during the birds' breeding season.  National research suggests that better outcomes result from appeasing dog walkers. There is no available budget for on-site patrols. 

In response to a query, Mr Hayward further advised that a dog agility facility had been considered but the site's previous history meant that it was not suitable to sink anything into the ground to support any structures.  A fenced in area had also been considered but rejected because Milton Common is too small. Ways of providing separate routes for dog walkers had also been considered but were not practical.

Councillor Darren Sanders was invited to speak at this point and he said that the same problem was evident at Milton Green and suggested that this should be considered at the same time as Milton Common and that perhaps members could be involved and perhaps also the Green and Clean team.

Mr Hayward said that other mitigation measures were being considered and that a dogs forum is being set up modelled on the Dorset Scheme, so matters are progressing and some funding would be available.

With regard to a plan for displacement of mammals, the nature of the site is such that it would not be suitable for burrowing mammals.

With regard to 5.17 of the Appendix, it is correct that this is just one way to mitigate, but by providing a Framework, developers are quite likely to accept it as alternatives would be very costly.

With regard to the timeframe, it was expected that this would be in place by March 2016.

The Cabinet Member advised that he wished to make a change to the recommendations in the report to add the following words to the end of recommendation 3 "or in connection with information about Community Wardens following matters raised during the meeting."

He thanked officers for their good and thorough report and approved the recommendations with the amendment.

DECISION:

That the Cabinet Member for Planning, Regeneration and Economic Development .

(1) Adopted the Milton Common Local Nature Reserve Restoration and

Management Framework (attached as appendix A to the report).

(2) Authorised the City Development Manager to proceed with the designation of Milton Common as a Local Nature Reserve including the submission of the Local Nature Reserve declaration to Natural England (attached at appendix C of the report).

(3) Authorised the City Development Manager to make editorial amendments to the Restoration and Management Framework, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Regeneration and Economic Development. These changes will not alter the meaning of the document and will be restricted to grammatical and typographical errors or in connection with information about Community Wardens following matters raised during the meeting.