This report is a transcription of notes taken during the meeting on flipcharts and in small groups. 

Agenda

  • Welcome and Introductions
  • Short presentations
  • Working session
  • End by 5pm

Objectives

  • Hear about what is needed to be achieved and some of the existing initiatives
  • Develop recommendations for accelerating change

A series of short presentations was followed by questions and some discussion between each presentation. The presentation is appended to the end of this report. The following is a transcription of the notes made during the question and discussion time.

Questions following Tony Norton, Harry Barton, Damian Offer Tracy Hamston’s  and Kate Barker’s presentation on carbon emissions and meeting achieving decarbonisation.

  • This is more of an issue because of trees being cut down at the moment.
  • Account for increase of CO2 absorption as trees grow
  • How many trees per Ha. - 2000 per Ha
  • The Power line on the graph is not declining. The top line is business as usual
  • Creating corridors and treescapes in urban areas
  • In the 1990’s there was not much data on marine environment, now this is led by the Marine Forum
  • Historic sea grass and recovery data? Is Depth important for its recovery?
  • Eco- moorings, any change of any more? We are focussing on areas where there is anchoring to strike a balance between reducing impact of anchoring and not encouraging more boating
  • Calculation of carbon sequestration from seagrass?
  • Can you plant seagrass like trees? – no much more complex
  • Jet ski and motor boat damage – not much physical damage but they stir up sediment which is a problem for sea grass growth
  • Will it take into account maladaptation’s?

The notes below were taken down by the working groups at tables.

1. What is important and how do we accelerate change. Who should be helping to deliver?

  • Support appropriate management of the rest of the land (green space) especially privately owned
    • Awarensess
    • Education
    • Opportunities – positive rather than negative
  • Learn from elsewhere in Devon
    • LNP, integrate with LNP from groups (FWAG, WRT, DWT)
    • Projects -
  • Catchments
    • Tangible scale, but small, steep, flashy catchment
    • Built on the flat bits!
    • Positive link of NBS and benefits in bay including seagrass. Action needed in catchments, needs to be funded.
    • Emulating natural systems services if not able to restore on a large scale, targeted functionality e.g. buffer strips, cross contour hedges and agro-forestry.
  • Funding and infrastructure
  • Improving wetlands
  • Stakeholders, learning lessons from projects
  • Habitat banking
  • Section 106 funding
  • Need mitigation from new development to counter negatives
  • Not just trees and seagrass – hedges, other plants.
  • Protect what we already have and enhance it! – seagrass /marine, green fields, trees and hedges, protected sites.
  • Increasing awareness
  • Green building – look beyond at great green examples and retrofitting
  • Understanding where we can have influence and how
  • Urban green network – developing a vision
  • Community awareness – addressing visitors / tourists too
  • Creating a green/blue tourist destination
  • Research – knowing more about what’s there.
  • Zoning the bay – banning craft from certain areas
  • Water quality – cleaning our rivers – SUDS, CSOS, Runoff ( from agri)

2. Come up with examples of good projects people know of (in and out of Torbay). Who is delivering these?

  • Connection the Culm – River Trust Blackdown AONB
  • Look across Devon for others
  • EA info – NFM studio, projects including Highways England etc. and NBS practitioner group across Devon and Cornwall.
  • Urban/Suburban SuDs and green infrastructure

                                Cardiff Council – Greener Grangetown

                                Welsh Water – Llanelli

  • Doughnut Economy – application in decision making in Cornwall Council.
  • Tamar wetland restoration
  • Wild Ken hill
  • Exeter (from Harry’s presentation)
  • East Anglia
  • Oldham sustainable flower beds.
  • Sea grass projects
  • Upstream thinking ‘joined up’ thinking SWW
  • Rewilding
  • Nature Recovery Network – land and sea
  • Marine Protection Areas (highly but also flexible area)
  • Saving Devon’s treescapes
  • Beelines
  • Exeter e.g. ‘wild City’ wilding – multi-agency (LA leads)
  • I tree project
  • Need for joined up approach / landscape scale of sites and multi-agency approach.

3. Recommendations for the Carbon neutral action plan

  • Climate friendly resort – marketing, come up with a destination management plan, link to business not currently engaged.
  • Balanced Decision making – lots of competing pressures – recognise and engage. Use models / tools to help – doughnut economy, living lab, positive vision.
  • Ecosystem services. Nature recovery strategy important but other ES needs considering too e.g. water quality, flood mitigation.   ES assessment to inform decision making.
  • Ship gardens
  • Green bus stops
  • Planting roundabouts
  • Tourism – make it look good and plant for climate
  • Self-managing and good for insects
  • Tackle / discourage AstroTurf
  • Road runoff – Stover
  • Run off from A38 onto reedbeds
  • More tree planting
  • New infrastructure – offset carbon e.g. solar panels on all new buildings
  • Pressure on business to measure their carbon footprint / take action
  • Long-term – protect and enhance key marine assets and corridors i.e.. Seagrass
  • Long term – planning and development – considerations impact and protecting natural assets. / monitoring
  • Torbay Councils functions – also work with centres with green thinking
  • Incremental cumulative harm through residential fencing / fake grass etc. Could be actions / codes to prevent.
  • Combined action with tourism industry re assets (hotels) green actions and via sustainable resort and green destination awards for sustainable green business. (Multi-agency LA/ERBID/Tourism industry)
Name Organisation
Amy O'Dwyer
Christopher Smith Groundwork Trust
Damien Offer Countryside Trust
Dan Best Community Builder
Hannah Worthington Swisco
Harry Barton Devon Wildlife Trust
Ian Smith Devon food partnership
Jennifer Walter
Kate Barker
Kirsten Pullen Wild Planet Trust
Lily Stokes Marine Management
Mike Langman Friends of Clennon Lakes
Nick Walter
Tim Eley South West in Bloom
Tracey Hamston Wild Planet trust
Tracy Brooks Torbay Council