Suffolk councils to spend over £300,000 to protect wildlife

On Friday at the Suffolk Public Sector Leaders group meeting Christine Luxton, the CEO of Suffolk Wildlife Trust, presented a proposal to "put the local in local nature recovery strategy".

She said that community groups, especially those in rural parts of Suffolk, know how important nature is for them as it is a part of their everyday life. 

It was recommended that the public sector leaders, a combination of all councils, police, and the police and crime commissioner, fund an initiative to engage with community groups to understand how to improve nature.

She had given the group three options for funding the scheme, and they chose option A which was the cheapest one of £335,134 for three years and said they would revisit it within the time frame.

Mrs Christie Luxton asked for the leaders to engage more with their communities.  (Image: Suffolk Wildlife Trust) "Community groups are the stepping stone and the connectors that are needed to help build the area," Mrs Luxton said. 

She added that this investment would be used to talk to community groups and even allow them to ask for funding projects in their local areas. 

"These groups can give us an injection of fresh new ideas to carry in our environmental thinking," she added.

"It is better for locals and it is better for nature. It is better for everyone."

Cllr Caroline Topping also endorsed the proposal.  (Image: Sonya Duncan) The proposal was received positively by the members of the group, with police and crime commissioner Tim Passmore, saying he had noticed community groups working to enhance the lives of pollinators such as bees and how important those were to the environment. 

Leader of East Suffolk Council Cllr Caroline Topping also endorsed this proposal and said: "We need to enjoy ourselves more and our environment more."

The funding proposal was unanimously accepted by the members of the group.