My hope on this Notice of Motion is that I am very much pushing at an open door.

Full Council has agreed a line of travel by amendment to the City Plan Part Two after all, and we have seen much success already with swift boxes and bee bricks after this committee got behind the idea.

The proposal is straightforward, exciting and just right. Nature is being destroyed constantly and the Council has a limited number of levers to pull in tackling that. The planning system is one such lever and we, as a committee, have the ability to have huge impact in that regard.

Bee bricks and swift boxes, which our group proposed last year, are now flying up all around the city. That should really be just the start though. There is opportunity to be much more ambitious.

Our hope is that the list of two compulsory low-cost nature features is extended – perhaps to include a total of ten features. I will defer to experts on what the features might be but I do have one example which is worth discussing today.

Hedgehogs – who doesn’t like hedgehogs? Their ability to thrive in Brighton & Hove depends on numerous factors – one of which is to easily roam and forage. Few residents set out to install impermeable fencing or impenetrable walls. It’s just how it comes. This is so easily addressed and costs barely anything, if anything at all.

In the case of a fence, the very bottoms of a couple of slats might be sawn off. In the case of a masonry wall, a standard 4 inch core drill bit might be employed to make an opening.

I have visited various residents in Hangleton & Knoll who are part of the HK Hedgehogs project. Hedgehogs bring delight to their lives and this is exactly what we should be promoting.

At national level, the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and Hedgehog Street have done fantastic work on the issue. Here’s one of their promotional plaques to highlight hedgehog highways.

I’m focusing on this one idea and urge committee members to use their imaginations as to others. Badger routes, bat boxes, bird-feeders and many other routine item may feature.

Please back this wonderful cause.

Thank you.

Speech from Councillor Robert Nemeth to the Tourism, Equalities, Communites and Culture Committee, 19 November 2020.