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No. 46 NEWSLETTER Summer 2000
WEST MIDLANDS BRANCH, BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION
Anchors Aweigh - Well almost!
About two years ago Peter Newell, a member from Aldridge,
submitted a Butterfly survey form for Anchor Meadow on which he recorded Dingy
Skipper, Common Blue and a dozen or so other species. As a footnote he mentioned
that the site might be lost due to proposed development. I needed to know more,
so after a couple of phone calls I asked Peter to monitor the site and I rang
Dave Haslam at Walsall Council's Countryside Services to see if we had a chance
to protect the colony. Dave's response was optimistic and due to our mutual
Branch involvement with the Birmingham and Black Country Biodiversity Action
Plan we arranged a meeting with Planning Officers and sought to 'negotiate' a
way of excluding the core of the site from development.
From this came a request to prepare a species action plan for Dingy Skipper, for
inclusion in the BAP, which I did with relish, however it was not until the 24th
May this year that the Developer gave us a lifeline for at least half of the
site and with an offer of additional land being made available from both Walsall
Council and the adjacent Health Centre we now seem to be nearing the final
stages of saving this site.
You may think that I am blowing my own trumpet. It’s really more like holding my
breath, with the prospect of a long sigh of relief at the end. Things could have
gone awry at any time from day one and still could, but the point of this
article is to demonstrate how the power of a small group of local people can
change the planning process, if you act soon enough.
Early on in the debacle, it transpired that the Council's inter-departmental
communication process needed fine tuning as one Department knew about the Dingy
Skippers but the stream of knowledge had run dry somewhere in between. With the
pending implementation of the BAP it is hoped that this problem will be ironed
out in the future. Consequently, this particular developer did not know about,
and therefore could not be alerted to, the butterfly interest on the site before
he submitted his outline planning application.
I work for a local authority and the last thing you want to have levelled
against you is the old accusation that 'the right hand doesn't know what the
left hand is doing'.
After Peter Newell’s initial comment a whole Pandora's box opened up as to how
to best tackle this and future threatened sites. The draft Biodiversity Action
Plan in my view, acted as a catalyst as did our own Regional Action Plan which
includes Dingy Skipper as a locally important species. These documents played an
integral part in influencing the decision makers, and thankfully the landowner,
into reaching a sympathetic decision.
The moral of this tale is to say to say to members, shout out !!! if there is
the merest hint of a good site going under the bulldozer. Your local Council
will no doubt have a Conservation Officer or a Planner willing to assist in
making a case.
An extremely useful planning tool, comes in the form of an Agreement made under
the powers contained in Section 106 of The Town and Country Planning Act 1990. A
Council can request a developer to enter into an obligation to commit to a
beneficial act as part of the development, such as providing a children’s play
area or a nature reserve amongst other things. (If you become embroiled in a
similar situation, ask your Council to consider including a relevant condition
in a Section 106 Agreement).
A press article also made people aware of the situation, and in the case of
Anchor Meadow at least fifty people deserve our biggest thanks for writing to
the Council. I am sure that such local support helped change the Council's views
and the developer’s intentions. I hope that my next article on this matter will
be to confirm this little success story, only brought about by one individual’s
short comment on a survey form, and the fifty or so letters of support.
Lastly, I feel it is most appropriate to thank Simon Phipps and Dave Haslam of
Walsall Council for being extremely helpful in pulling together the various
development strands and also two of our Conservation subcommittee members. Our
Communications Officer Richard Southwell cajoled myself and others into positive
action and our Conservation Officer Mike Williams ensured tactful negotiations
throughout the various meetings.
Despite getting the Branch involved at the eleventh hour, with the goodwill and
expertise of local Council Officers, the landowner and Dr Wells at the Health
Centre, we are almost there. All involved in the Branch have been through a
sharp learning curve which bodes well for future campaigns.
At times one or two of us nearly threw in the towel at the possibility of losing
out. But to those who grasp any future nettles take heart – don't be afraid,
when a good site comes under the developers eye, to go for it and write those
letters. Like us, you may be extremely surprised at the response you receive.
David Jackson
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