Council wins national award for environmental work
Adur District Council’s work in helping restore the county’s rivers and coastline has been recognised with a prestigious national award.
The Council has scooped gold at the 14th annual Green Public Sector Transformation Awards for its pioneering Sussex Bay initiative at the Improvement and Efficiency Social Enterprise (iESE) honours night.
iESE is a not-for-profit organisation which recognises, rewards and promotes best practice in the public sector in the UK.
The Sussex Bay Blue Nature project, in partnership with a host of other partners, aims to help restore Sussex’s offshore kelp forest, to protect and boost marine life along the Sussex coast and to restore estuary habitat in the county’s rivers.
In addition, the Council is also working with farmers, landowners, nature charities and trusts as part of an innovative restoration project on the river Adur.
The honour follows a commendation at the MJ Awards in 2021, which acknowledges best practice and excellence in delivering services, as well as innovation in supporting local communities.
Cllr Emma Evans, Adur’s Executive Member for the Environment, said: “We are delighted to accept this award. We are very proud to be recognised for our work to tackle the ecological crisis on land, river and sea in very tangible ways. We know that we need to work at nature’s scale, not just municipal boundaries, and I’m very excited by the progress we’ve made with partners across Sussex.”
Restoring the kelp forest by supporting the Sussex Kelp Restoration Project will increase biodiversity in the sea and bring back a rich habitat for wildlife.
The government-backed Adur river project aims to transform land close to the Adur into havens for nature by returning the area to biodiversity-rich wetland, alongside food production.
The Knepp Wildland Foundation is coordinating the project, alongside Ouse & Adur Rivers Trust, Sussex Wildlife Trust and a range of other partners. The Council is one of 27 landowners involved, having purchased Pad Farm in 2020.
Pad Farm is 45 acres of arable farmland on the western banks of the River Adur north of the A27. Returning this to salt marsh will help take pressure off the river elsewhere by allowing some natural flooding, while also encouraging biodiversity.
