Notices of Motion
To receive Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor Thomas under Standing Order No.12
Council recognises the importance of soil health in food production, combatting climate change, storing carbon, regulating water flow and quality, and as the basis for biodiversity. However, soil in Rushcliffe as elsewhere is under multiple threats* including the ever-expanding built environment, flooding, contamination, industrial farming methods, and climate change.
Council will:
· Seek to strengthen policies that protect soil in the next round of the Local Plan, (in line with current National Planning Policy) including measures to minimise impermeable surfaces in development. Council will also call on the government to strengthen protection for soil in future planning policy and legislation.
· Review Rushcliffe’s own operations with determination to further improve soil health on the Council’s own land and land it manages in line with our Environmental Policy and planning policies and guidance.
· Where possible include soil health improvement as one of the criteria used to evaluate bids when distributing relevant external grants to Rushcliffe’s businesses and community groups.
· Within resource constraints, e.g. using social media and Rushcliffe Reports, engage and educate residents to promote small scale improvements in soil health in residential gardens e.g. using organic and permaculture techniques. Council will include nitrogen fixing plants in future free plant schemes.
* See reference material
CPRE 2018, Back to the land: rethinking our approach to soil
https://www.cpre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/CPRE_FF3_Soil_26Nov_web.pdf
Environment Agency 2019, The state of the environment: soil
Questions from Councillors
To answer a question submitted by Councillor Sue Mallender under Standing Order No.11(2)
In the spring, I received my "Rushcliffe Gardener" magazine and although there are some messages about climate change and the free tree scheme etc., I was disappointed to see suggestions to residents in the seasonal jobs section, which are not supportive of the Council's environmental policies, such as using weedkiller, artificial fertiliser, and frequent mowing, instead of no mow. Why were these suggestions allowed to be printed?
Minutes:
Councillor Williams left the room for consideration of the item.
The following Notice of Motion was proposed by Councillor C Thomas and was seconded by Councillor S Mallender.
“Council recognises the importance of soil health in food production, combatting climate change, storing carbon, regulating water flow and quality, and as the basis for biodiversity. However, soil in Rushcliffe as elsewhere is under multiple threats* including the ever-expanding built environment, flooding, contamination, industrial farming methods, and climate change.
Council will:
· Seek to strengthen policies that protect soil in the next round of the Local Plan, (in line with current National Planning Policy) including measures to minimise impermeable surfaces in development. Council will also call on the government to strengthen protection for soil in future planning policy and legislation.
· Review Rushcliffe’s own operations with determination to further improve soil health on the Council’s own land and land it manages in line with our Environmental Policy and planning policies and guidance.
· Where possible include soil health improvement as one of the criteria used to evaluate bids when distributing relevant external grants to Rushcliffe’s businesses and community groups.
· Within resource constraints, e.g. using social media and Rushcliffe Reports, engage and educate residents to promote small scale improvements in soil health in residential gardens e.g. using organic and permaculture techniques. Council will include nitrogen fixing plants in future free plant schemes.”
In moving the motion, Councillor Thomas stated that soil was the very stuff of life, a mixture of physical, chemical, and biological elements including minerals from rocks, organic matter from dead plants and animals, living organisms, air, and water. Councillor Thomas advised that soil held three times as much carbon as the atmosphere, it reduced the risk of flooding by absorbing water and it delivered 95% of global food supplies; however, it was a limited resource under pressure from many factors.
Councillor Thomas referred to a 2019 report by the Environment Agency, which had highlighted that soil currently stored about ten billion tonnes of carbon, which was approximately equal to eighty years of annual UK greenhouse gas emissions. Councillor Thomas stated that intensive agriculture had caused arable soils to lose about 40% to 60% of their organic carbon, and in England and Wales almost four million hectares of soil was at risk of compaction, over two million hectares of soil was at risk of erosion and the spread of some materials could give rise to 300,000 hectares being contaminated in the UK.
Councillor Thomas outlined the four actions set out in the motion and confirmed that the motion asked the Council to collectively recognise the
importance of soil, the threat that it was under and to identify actions that could be taken.
Councillor Inglis stated that the Council had a strong record of promoting the protection of soil health and this motion helped to ensure, where possible and within Council resources, that practices were embedded within the relevant Council policies and operational activities, whilst also promoting soil health to local residents and land owners in the Borough.
Councillor Inglis recognised the collaboration between Councillors Thomas and S Mallender in bringing forward this motion, which served the interests of the Borough and was deliverable. Councillor Inglis advised that the Conservative Group supported the motion, and he recommended that Councillors read the information available through the links listed on the agenda.
In seconding the motion, Councillor S Mallender advised that looking after soil involved also looking after worms, as worm casts could contain five times more nitrogen, seven times more phosphorus and 1000 times more beneficial bacteria than soil without worms. Councillor Mallender stated that worms loosened, mixed and oxygenated soil, they improved the structure and water drainage capacity and helped to clean up contaminated land. Councillor S Mallender stated that worms were very important in combatting climate change, as soil with worms was 90% more efficient than soil without.
Councillor Mallender confirmed that a quarter of the earth’s species lived in soil and one gram of soil contained ten billion organisms. Unfortunately, every minute, the equivalent of thirty football pitches of fertile soil was lost and she hoped that the Council would do something to prevent that happening and would support this motion.
The substantive motion was carried.
Councillor Williams returned to his seat.
Question for Councillor S Mallender to Councillor Inglis
“In the spring I received my "Rushcliffe Gardener" magazine and although there are some messages about climate change and the free tree scheme etc., I was disappointed to see suggestions to residents in the seasonal jobs section which are not supportive of the Council's environmental policies, such as using weedkiller, artificial fertiliser, and frequent mowing, instead of no mow. Why were these suggestions allowed to be printed?”
Councillor Inglis responded by stating that the Council strived to set the standard and provide residents with the information they needed to change their behaviours and habits if they choose to. That was in line with striking a balance, being pragmatic and proportionate to what realistically they could achieve with their own garden and for smaller plots for example, it might be impractical to leave a grassed area of a typical home, fully un-mowed for a whole year or remove weeds without assistance. Smaller scale residential gardening might mean some residents understandably struggled to match the greener, more environmentally friendly methods the Council adopted for its larger publicly owned sites. The magazine was written internally and with all good intentions and the Council would continue to endeavour to influence residents with updates to make a greener choices, including practical tips as gardening habits evolved.
Supplementary Question
Councillor S Mallender asked if future editions of the Rushcliffe Gardener would cover practical information for residents about ways of improving soil health within their own gardens.
Councillor Inglis responded that would not be a problem.