A Moray councillor has hit out at Moray Council’s “downgrading” of its biodiversity and landscape commitment.
Forres councillor Claire Feaver says she is shocked that the council has removed a commitment to protect Moray’s biodiversity and landscape from its corporate plan.
As former chairwoman of the planning committee, the Tory councillor led moves to introduce the commitment.
She said: “The National Biodiversity Network’s State of Nature Report shows just how important it is that we take action and how profoundly short-sighted the council administration is in its attitude to species loss.
“They have downgraded it to the local development plan, which means that it no longer has the same status or priority that it previously had.
“This has practical consequences for the environment.
“Since the SNP have taken over the council, there has been little or no practical action to protect biodiversity, with developers invariably getting their way whenever anyone like me tries to propose compensating measures to mitigate the impact their schemes have on the environment.”
But last night, Forres SNP councillor Aaron McLean refused her claims.
He said: “It’s absolutely laughable to suggest that the SNP administration and Moray Council now don’t care about biodiversity.
“That is because it has been replaced in the corporate with the priority ‘to work to protect and enhance our environment’ creating a more resilient and sustainable future.
“This involves the development of a climate change strategy and promoting active and green travel.
“The local development plans she mentions has many policies in it supporting and developing biodiversity, the most significant one being that every new development has to have a biodiversity plan.”