That:

a)    Herefordshire Council consider the principles of the Charter for the River Wye wherever relevant in decision making processes, reviewing the opportunities for integration alongside policy and strategy updates;

b)    Herefordshire Council reflects the intrinsic value of the River Wye and its tributaries within the new Local Plan, currently being drafted, utilizing the Charter for the River Wye as a reference document in framing ambitions regarding Herefordshire’s rivers;

c)    Herefordshire Council recognise the priorities relating to freshwater habitats stated in the Local Nature Recovery Strategy, including those to safeguard against pollution, restore and reconnect wetland habitats, and restore hydrological functions at a catchment scale, as well as the commitment in the Herefordshire Council Plan 2024 - 2028 to ‘do everything we can to recover the health of our rivers’;

d)    Herefordshire Council support neighbouring authorities in their will to champion the Charter, toward a holistic, cross border and catchment-wide acknowledgement of the intrinsic value of the River Wye and its tributaries, and to publicise the collective response.

1.              None proposed. It is a Constitutional requirement that all motions by Council are referred to Cabinet