Partnership bid to mitigate risks of future floods

COUNCIL SIGNS DEAL WITH INVESTORS TO TURN RIVER PLYM INTO 'INVESTIBLE ASSET'

- KIRSTIE MCCRUM

PLANS are being developed which could ease Plymouth’s future flood risks and climate-proof the city. The council is working with a fund manager with an environmental interest and it’s been reported that huge investments in the city’s water management could be unlocked thanks to the partnership.

The council is now in what is termed as a ‘nature-restoration partnership’ with Rebalance Earth, a UK-based boutique fund manager entirely focused on connecting finance with nature.

Rebalance Earth will collaborate with Ocean City Nature, an arm’s length, council-owned ‘habitat bank’, to ‘design and ultimately fund investible propositions’, it says.

The council has said: “Habitat banks are a form of green finance that ensures that the biodiversity net gain, required by law for large developments, benefits residents and also ensures that natural habitats are looked after and maintained for many years to come. From January 2024, national planning laws changed to require all large developments, as defined in planning terms, to provide at least ten per cent biodiversity net gain on all construction.