From Issues that will affect East Lothian in the next 10-15 years
Nature and living Countryside
One of the most direct ways that society can address the nature crisis is by protecting habitats and species and expanding these areas in the town and countryside. The LDP and development proposals will have to respond to this challenge. There are a variety of issues and methods that could achieve this goal.
Green Networks
Green Networks provide a context through which environmental action can be coordinated both in the countryside and urban areas and can be a key resource in highlighting opportunities for biodiversity enhancement that can take place alongside development proposals.
Green Networks connect areas of green infrastructure and open space that together form integrated and multi-functional networks.
Green Networks can include rivers and water features, designated sites, woodland, open space, street trees and hedgerows and provide a framework through which these areas can be connected for the benefit of the whole natural environment including the area’s human population.
They are defined as ‘The linking together of natural, semi‐natural and man‐made open spaces (which may include leisure or recreational facilities) to create an interconnected network that provides opportunities for physical activity, increases accessibility within settlements and to the surrounding countryside while enhancing biodiversity and the quality of the external environment’.
The protection and expansion of the components that make up the Green Network are a key element of the NPF and this will be promoted through the LDP.
National Green Networks
NPF4 identifies the Central Scotland Green Network as a National Development The CSGN has identified potential Habitat Networks for woodland, wetland and grasslands. NPF4 seeks enhancement of biodiversity through all development.
The CSGN is described in NPF4 as providing multiple benefits for health, biodiversity, and will help mitigate and adapt to climate change
Our Green Network
Councils are expected to add detail to the Central Scotland Green Network and identify areas environmental opportunity of any scale.
Although the current LDP does have a Green Network policy but this requires to have more of a focus in future decisions as it will be a key vehicle to address the nature crisis. The expansion of the CSGN into a local East Lothian context will be a key priority for the next Local Development Plan.
