We really should make use of the peers who have local government experience in the Lords more, so I decide to.

We have a site in Kingston where biodiversity is being destroyed. Seething Wells Filter Beds is a ‘Site of Importance for Nature Conservation’ and Metropolitan Open Land where nature had flourished after Thames Water left in the late 90s, but now the private owners are spraying pesticides, draining the standing water, cutting back grasslands and trees. They have even resorted to using goats to munch though all the vegetation on site! And as a council we are pretty powerless to stop them!

Sound familiar?

We think they want to get the site downgraded so they can have an easier route through the planning process build on it (past planning applications have been refused) but the local community wants the council to protect the biodiversity here, to make it a great nature reserve for future generations.

So what can we do?

We can’t enforce against wildlife crime (Police matter). We can’t use planning legislation, as we don’t want mass residential buildings on the site. We can’t control the use of pesticides (it’s by the River Thames, so that’s the Environment Agency). We can’t control their cutting back the vegetation or the draining of the water on site and hence the loss of birds and bats. We can’t even insist they let us on the site to monitor their activity and the effect on flora and fauna.

So we’ve taken our fight to Westminster with the help of our Parliamentary colleagues in the Lords to get new legislation to give us these powers. Lord Jonny Oates, who’s a local resident as well, has tabled an amendment to the Environment Bill to give Local Authorities the right to inspect and enforce prevention of biodiversity loss on important sites like Seething Wells Filter Beds.

His initial amendment at Committee Stage seemed to confuse Government Minister, Lord Zac Goldsmith, when he said Councils have these rights already, but when challenged by Jonny failed to be able to find any! Now a new and improved version of the amendment is back at Report stage and Jonny has explained the situation we face in Kingston, it might get some traction.

We need your help.

We know this amendment will help us with Seething Wells Filter Beds, but the next sticking point seems to be that this may be an isolated problem, so not worth legislating for. Do you have examples in your area where important biodiversity sites are being destroyed by private owners? Maybe it is laziness or cost cutting causing the destruction, maybe they want to build at some point in the future and think this makes it easier or maybe they just don’t care about the site. Send me any examples you know about, so we can show Government this isn’t just about our site, and if they are serious about protecting biodiversity they need to work with councils up and down the country by giving us the power to protect the sites we care about.

If you have a local campaign you want to raise in the Lords, get in contact with [email protected] in the LGA Liberal Democrat Office and he will advise.

* Councillor Liz Green is the former Leader of RB Kingston Upon Thames and the LGA Liberal Democrat Sector Improvement Lead.