Green Councillor, Stuart Jeffery, proposed a ground breaking motion[1] that would have seen the rights of nature enshrined in the council’s constitution; however Conservatives and Lib Dems voted clearly against these rights at last night’s council meeting[2] while Labour abstained.
Cllr Stuart Jeffery (Green Party), “This appalling stance taken by Conservatives and Lib Dems clearly demonstrated their attitude to nature and its rights, and their inability to take difficult decisions in the face of ecological collapse.
“Despite comments by the Conservative leader last month that they needed to take difficult decisions [3] to ensure that the council meets its obligations to the climate and biodiversity, it is obvious that he simply isn’t prepared to do just that.
“This motion did not mean that human rights would be overridden by the rights of nature, just that nature has rights too and that these must be taken into account when we make decisions. It was ground breaking and would have required councillors to put effort into delivering it. Sadly they decided that this was too difficult for them.
“Nature has the right to exist and to thrive, something that has been increasingly ignored over the centuries. We must put that right as soon as we can.”
Notes:
1. The motion to debate putting the rights of nature into the constitution of Maidstone Borough Council has been accepted and was debated on the 7th December. It was written with the support of the Environmental Law Foundation and Lawyers for Nature.
2. The motion fell 5 votes for and 30