GI planning
BRCC is a founding member of the Beds and Luton GI Consortium – a multi-agency forum established in 2004 to promote the need to plan for and invest in GI at both a strategic and local level. The Consortium has been effective in influencing planning policy (including the East of England Plan and MKSM Sub Regional Strategy) to take account of GI investment needs and has recently published its own strategic GI plan for Beds and Luton. This latter plan is being used to guide strategic GI investment and to provide a framework for more detailed district and parish level GI planning.To download the plan and for more info about the Bedfordshire and Luton Green Infrastructure Plan visit the website
Community Green Infrastructure Planning
In 2007 our Environment & Planning Team commenced a new area of work, helping parish communities in south Bedfordshire shape the future of their local countryside. Hosting a series of workshops we have supported a number of communities in identifying what countryside features they value and want to protect; and what new features they'd like to see created to improve their quality of life.Using the 'Living Networks' parish map pack which has been developed with partner organisations, individual parishes are generating their own 'Green Infrastructure' (GI) Action Plans for protecting and enhancing their bit of the county 's countryside. GI is defined by the Bedfordshire & Luton Green Infrastructure Consortium as 'a strategically planned and managed network of accessible greenspaces and access routes, landscapes, biodiversity and heritage which will meet the needs of existing and new communities in Bedfordshire and Luton.'
The workshops are open to all members of the local community and the resulting Action Plans inform district and county level plans which are overseen by the Beds & Luton Green Infrastructure Consortium. The Action Plans are based on the aspirations of those attending the workshops and it is acknowledged that all aspirations are subject to the wishes of landowners and funding. The completed Action Plans are also made available to planners and developers to inform them of what local communities value and require in terms of future GI provision.
The GI Action Plans being produced in South Bedfordshire are funded by the Chalk Arc Initiative. Plans are complete for Sundon, Streatley and Totternhoe; with further plans being developed for Whipsnade, Kensworth and Chalton.
Completed plans include a wide range of aspirations, such as:
- A bench and information board at a good viewpoint
- Restoring village ponds
- Planting a community orchard or woodland
- Linking an existing dead-end footpath to the rights of way network
- Creating a new cycleway
- Converting large arable fields to flower–rich chalk grassland
Having piloted this work in South Bedfordshire, we are now keen to explore opportunities for helping many more parishes throughout the county develop their own Green Infrastructure Action Plan. If you represent a Town or Parish Council and are interested in discussing the possibility of undertaking this process in your community, please contact Cliff Andrews, Environment Team Leader at cliffa@bedsrcc.org.uk or on 01767 626456. If you are a local resident who feels that your community would benefit from developing a GI Action Plan, please contact your Town or Parish Council and ask them to contact us.
For more info on parish green infrastructure planning workshops read this pdf.
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