Council slashes funding for biodiversity project

ANGUS has slashed support for a cross-council biodiversity initiative in a move critics claim “sends out completely the wrong message” at a time of climate crisis.

Councillors voted to cut Ta y s i d e B i o d o v e r s i t y Partnership funding from £26,000 to £6,500 this year – and drop it to £1,500 per annum thereafter – after being told it did not provide “value for money”.

The decision has left Perth and Kinross Council to carry the can for the funding.

Talks around future funding of the post of co-ordinator have been going on for months but despite a plea to delay the decision, councillors voted narrowly to make t he money-saving move.

Kirriemuir and Glens SNP councillor Julie Bell said: “Australia is on fire, the ice caps are melting, and for me this is a time to escalate the effort and increase our biodiversity.”

Brechin and Edzell SNP member Kenny Braes said: “We are losing 150 species every single day on the planet and we don’t want any of those to be in Angus.”

Forfar Conser vative councillor Braden Davy said: “If this is maintained it would be a more than £100,000 of additional cost for Angus council taxpayers. This seems a safe and sensible way to save that sum.”

Communities director Stewart Ball told councillors: “The council has absolutely no intention of scaling back its work in terms of biodiversity.”

A Perth and Kinross Council spokesman said the authority “has no plans to reduce its current funding for t h e Ta y s i d e Biodiversity Partnership”.