County Hall’s role in the Isle of Wight’s United Nations Biosphere came under scrutiny on Thursday, with questions asked over costs to Island taxpayers.
At the Environment and Community Protection Committee (ECPC), the Conservatives’ Sandown South representative Ian Ward questioned the need for a steering committee governing the UNESCO designated area, and whether the council was contributing financially to it.
What is a Biosphere Reserve?
A Biosphere Reserve is an area recognised for its ‘combination of ecological and cultural diversity and its desire to see these qualities used to support a sustainable and resilient way of life’, according to the Isle of Wight Biosphere’s website.
Three quarters of the Island is ‘specially designated for wildlife and landscape with rewilding zones, wetland nature reserves, a white-tailed sea eagle reintroduction programme and seagrass restoration projects’, it says.
Ward: Why have we got a steering committee
Councillor Ward said,
“The Biosphere is an award – why have we got a steering committee? What are they doing with it?
“Is it a council committee and do we contribute financially to it, even if it’s only staff time?”
Dix: The Biosphere steering committee is not the council’s bit
Natasha Dix, Isle of Wight Council’s service director for waste, environment and planning, responded,
“The Biosphere award was provided to the Isle of Wight and its surrounding waters because of the way we already work as people, as a culture, as an economy with a sustainable development community.
“The Biosphere award… is a badge of honour, and it gives us a huge amount of respect in terms of tourism and also gives us opportunities to promote the Island.
“The Biosphere steering committee is not the council’s bit – it is the bit that we have helped set up, that sits as an independent group who act autonomously and are self-governing.
“They have a member from the Isle of Wight Council who attends that is non-executive, so not decision-making, and they also have one day a week of staff time to help administer setting that group up and help make sure that we are flowing information back and forth between the (participating) organisations and working for that.”
Critchison: It is one of our crown jewels
Green councillor for Chale, Niton and Shorwell Claire Critchison said,
“I think it’d be quite remiss of the Isle of Wight Council not to be the number one champions of our natural landscape that we’ve got here… it is one of our crown jewels.”
“But we had all that before the Biosphere”, Councillor Ward remarked.
Councillor Critchison continued,
“We did – and that’s why we got it – but we need to make sure we keep it.”
“As long as we’re not paying for it”, he added.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
