I welcome the amendment. High hedges and trees have been a major issue in my constituency. As a member of North Down Borough Council, I have dealt with many such cases over the past 30 years. Indeed, I was involved in drawing up a number of my constituents’ responses to Lord Rooker’s consultation, and I know for a fact that some of the respondents were referring to high trees rather than hedges. Continue reading “High Hedges Bill: Further Consideration Stage (Assembly)” »

I welcome the Bill, which is long overdue. It is time that we had an update to the protection of wildlife. As the Chairperson said, perhaps it does not go far enough. Neverthe­less, there is much in the legislation to welcome.

It is important that the Bill will introduce a statutory duty on government and public bodies to take action to conserve biodiversity. In particular, I am pleased with clause 2, which will place a duty on the Department of the Environment to designate and publish a biodiversity strategy, and I welcome the fact that the clause has been strengthened to require the production of a progress report every five years, although we suggested that that should happen every three years. Continue reading “Wildlife and Natural Environment Bill: Final Stage (Assembly)” »

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