Local Government’s Role
The environment of Wales is very diverse and includes some of Europe’s most sensitive sites as well as some severely degraded areas. Local authorities have played a leading role in protecting and enhancing the environment. Councils provide a wide range of essential local services that contribute to the protection and enhancement of urban and rural environments alike.
Managing our environment can range from pollution prevention and control, remediation of contaminated land to opening up access in our countryside and flood protection and defence activity.
Key Issues
Everyone agrees that a prosperous environment is a key component for economic and social well-being, but the challenge for the environment is profile. This is because issues such as dog fouling, litter can appear trivial compared to issues of ill-health, lack of employment and high crime. However, tackling the causes which impact on our environment can have a positive effect on people’s health and bring investment into the area.
Climate change has been recognised as the most important environmental issue and by some has been regarded as an even greater threat than terrorism (Sir David King, Government Scientific Advisor). Climate change issues affect not only our energy policies and how we reduce carbon emissions, but how we respond to a more volatile weather system with the likelihood of more floods, and also how our trees, shrubs and animals respond to a warmer climate. These are areas which local government, should, and does play a central role.
Local authorities have a range of duties under the environment heading. They are responsible for the identification of contaminated land, they lead on pollution prevention control, working closely with the Environment Agency (EA). They are often the lead for taking forward biodiversity work in their areas and also for implementing the Countryside Rights of Way Act, managing sites of special scientific interest and working with the Countryside Council for Wales and other partners on Area of Outstanding of Natural Beauty.
WLGA View
The Wales Environment Strategy should set the context for a clean and vibrant environment in Wales recognising the national and global impact that residents in Wales have. Local authorities though, as community leaders have a key role to be local environment champions, to lead by example and recognise, highlight and emphasise the key role a prosperous environment has in meeting other local outcomes and delivering other policies.
We need to raise the profile of the environment and see it as an equal to economic and social issues. Local government also has to work in partnership with other agencies to provide a seamless and integrated service. To enable these relations the WLGA has a strong partnership with both the Environment Agency and the Countryside Council for Wales. We have signed Memorandum of Understandings with both organisations and sitting beneath the EA/WLGA “Working Better Together” rest technical, service-specific protocols which illustrate how local government and EA will respond and work together to tackle environmental issues.
For more information contact: Rachel Jowitt