Environment Minister celebrates Broads Authority’s 20th Anniversary
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn celebrated 60 years of National Parks and 20 years of the Broads Authority on Monday March 16th when he opened the Authority’s new Norwich offices which are the greenest in the East of England.
Dragonfly House, named after the Broads Authority’s logo, brings together three organisations in the Defra family - the Broads Authority, Natural England and the Environment Agency.
Mr Benn, who bounded into the building to greet staff said he was “very keen to come because of the nature of the building” which has been leased by Defra on the banks of the River Wensum.
He said the offices had scored “really impressively” with an Excellent in the Building Research Establishment’s BREEAM rating, which measures environmental performance
“This building is a living example of what the future looks like – and you are lucky enough to be working in it,” he told staff.
Mr Benn said the occasion was a celebration of the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act which created the UK’s National Parks and was described as “The People’s Charter.” He said the Broads Authority joined the family 20 years ago.
“This is a day to celebrate the beauty of our National Parks,” he said. “I spent a day and a bit in a boat on the Broads last November and that experience of casting off and making our way through the blackness and stillness of that morning was a magical experience which will remain with me for as long as I am alive.”
Mr Benn, who lunched with a group of academics working on climate change at the University of East Anglia, said: “We have taken the natural world for granted. We thought we would always be able to rely on the bountiful gifts of nature .But life is delicately balanced on Earth. We need to nurture it so nature protects us.”
He said the Broads Authority had stewardship of a “very very special place” which gave joy and pleasure to many people. He congratulated the staff on carrying out their work with “enormous skill and passion and dedication” and said they were now able to work more closely with colleagues from Natural England and the Environment Agency.
Mr Benn presented certificates to five young people excluded from mainstream education who have gained qualifications on the Broads Authority’s Forest Schools course at Whitlingham Country Park. They have channelled their energy and creativity into tasks such as building benches, planting trees and creating a new picnic area.
He also chatted to Broads Authority trainee reed and sedge cutter Graeme Hewitt and trainee millwright Jake Wilder who had brought some of the tools of their trade along, before touring the offices and chatting to staff.
Broads Authority chair Dr Stephen Johnson presented Mr Benn with a dragonfly lapel pin, sweatshirt, and promotional DVD of the Broads.
For further information, visit the special anniversary website: www.diamondsinthelandscape.org.uk
17/03/2009
