Purpose

Notice of Motion referred to Cabinet by
Council on 20th March 2025.
To establish a Hedgehog Highway Scheme and initatives to enhance
the local hedgehog population.

Content

The Cabinet considered a report
of the Executive Director (Environment and Place) in response to a
Notice of Motion concerning hedgehog highways referred by Council
on 20th March 2025.
 
Councillor Stuart Allen,
proposer of the motion, attended the meeting and spoke on the
matter.
 
Resolved:
 
1. That the Notice of Motion
‘Hedgehog Highways’, be noted.
 
2. That officers develop, in
consultation with the Essex Wildlife Trust, and the Cabinet Member
(Climate, Environment and Waste), a programme for how the proposals
contained in the Motion would be taken forward.
 
Reasons for
decision:
 
1. Baselining current hedgehog
infrastructure and then assessing opportunities for improvement are
the first steps that needs to be undertaken to ensure that there is
clarity on the scale of the opportunity for enhancement, potential
costs and opportunities for grant funding where cost may fall to
the Council.
 
2. The recommendations are
deliverable and recognise both the need and benefit of
collaborating to improve outcomes for, and numbers of, hedgehogs in
the city.
 
Other Options:
 
To reject the motion. However,
the intention behind it supports the Council’s and Greater
Essex’s biodiversity ambitions. 
     
 
Note: This is an Executive
Function
Not eligible for
call-in
Cabinet Member: Cllr
Hyde