Wild Oxfordshire

WILD Oxfordshire’s local environment groups’ conference will take place at Benson parish hall on Saturday, March 28 from 10am to 4pm.

With such pressure for development across the county, the need to protect and enhance our green spaces and biodiversity resource has never been more important.

This event will suit you if you want to find out what you can do to reverse biodiversity loss on your patch or if you have risen to the challenge of preparing a neighbourhood plan for your parish.

The inspirational Benson Nature Group works with its parish council, the neighbourhood plan delivery team and developers to ensure that, as their village grows, it remains a great place to live.

They expect to see Benson’s green network more than double in the coming years and provides advice on how to make sure the new green spaces are designed to be good for both wildlife and the people who use them.

The “nuts and bolts” will be addressed through a series of presentations in the morning from our speakers —Edel McGurk, of the Benson Nature Group, Katie Lea, from Place Studio, an urban design and place-shaping consultancy, Ricardo Rios, planning policy team leader (neighbourhood) at South Oxfordshire District Council, and Yolanda Vazquez, of the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre.

After lunch there will be a guided walk around Benson, showcasing the achievements that the nature group has already been able to make through the process.

By the end of the day, we’ll all know more about getting gains for wildlife out of the neighbourhood planning process.

The cost to attend the conference is £20 for Wild Oxfordshire members and £40 for non-members and parish councils. This includes lunch and other refreshments.

Book via www.eventbrite.com/e/local-environment-
groups-conference-28-march-
2020-tickets-91593591899

Roselle Chapman, community ecologist