Agenda item

Presentation by Andy Tharme, Scottish Borders Council.

The Chairman welcomed Andy Tharme from Scottish Borders Council to the Berwickshire Area Forum to give an update presentation on progress in respect of the regional Land Use Strategy (LUS) Framework.  Mr Tharme explained that, following the examination of opportunities and constraints and through the development of mapping and extensive stakeholder engagement, a draft Framework had been produced which was approved by Scottish Borders Council in December 2014 for public consultation.  The presentation detailed the extent of consultation carried out in 2013/14 with regular meetings taking place of a key stakeholder group representing 20 organisations in addition to engagement with 44 organisational representatives and 36 Community Councils.   The draft Framework set out the key land uses in the Borders and how these might change.  Further sections dealt with how the Framework should be used, the next steps and monitoring and assessment going forward.  The Framework identified the important goods and services delivered by the Borders landscape, namely: the provisioning of crops, livestock, renewable energy and timber; the regulating of water quality, flood risk, soil erosion, sediment risk and carbon resource; supporting biodiversity and pollination; and cultural considerations such as sense of place, game and sporting, historic sites and landscape designations.  There were seven opportunities for change identified and mapped indicatively in the Borders at present: mitigation of flood risk; expansion of timber provision; native woodland expansion; biodiversity enhancement; improvement in agricultural production; water quality enhancement; and enhancement of soil carbon storage.  The presentation went on to look in more detail at where the information and maps could be used in respect of natural flood management and the enhancement of water quality.  Mr Tharme stressed that the Framework was a non-statutory strategy for the Scottish Borders.  It would assist and support decision-making about land use that was currently undertaken through existing processes.  It also provided new information as a web-based tool which could be used to evaluate different land use options in an integrated way at sub-catchment or farm/estate level.  Mr Tharme advised that, following the end of the public consultation a final report would be submitted to Scottish Government by the end of March 2015.  In answer to questions Mr Tharme confirmed that although the formal public consultation was now closed, further comments could still be submitted by interested parties and would be considered whenever possible.  Mr Tharme advised that the Framework was available on the Scottish Borders Council website and that the web-based mapping tool would be available on SBC Local View Fusion by summer 2015.  Mr Tharme also confirmed that the next strategy document was due to be published in March 2016.  With regard to the structure of the Pilot Schemes across Scotland, Mr Tharme explained that there were two main formats used and this allowed officers to compare and contrast between the two.  Discussion took place regarding how biodiversity could be incorporated into the Small Schemes and Mr Silcock and Mr Tharme agreed to consider ways in which this could be taken forward.  The Chairman thanked Mr Tharme for his interesting presentation and update.

DECISION

NOTED the presentation.