Conservatives on Brighton & Hove City Council call on Labour Administration to abandon plans to cut the number of Park Rangers employed by the City from 9 to 3 in the 2016-17 budget.
Concerns about the plans have been expressed by residents, volunteers and conservationists culminating in the presentation of a deputation at today’s (January 19) Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee meeting at Portslade Town Hall by a group of volunteers.
Cllr. Geoffrey Theobald, Leader of the Conservative Group, introduced Park Rangers to the City when he was Cabinet Member for the Environment in 2009.
He said: “These proposed cuts to the Park Ranger service are a false economy and threaten all the great work that has been achieved in recent years in terms of conservation and improving the city’s highly valued parks and green spaces. We urge the Labour Administration to seriously rethink their plans ahead of the Budget Council meeting next month.”
Cllr. Tony Janio, Conservative Group Spokesman on Environment, Transport and Sustainability, added: “Without a properly staffed Park Ranger service the army of wonderful conservation volunteers that we have in the city will simply not be able to carry on with all the excellent work they currently do, particularly around protecting our internationally important chalk grassland habitat. They are one of the main reasons Brighton & Hove managed to secure the prestigious UNESCO Biosphere status and to put that at risk would be sheer folly.”
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