Lancashire council micro-grants to fund bug hotels and bat boxes

The funding is part of Lancashire County Council's plans to boost biodiversity in the county

Grants of £300 for parish, town and neighbourhood councils to buy bird feeders, bug hotels and hedgehog houses are to be offered to try and improve a county's biodiversity.

Local authorities across Lancashire will be given a chance to fund small-scale projects from a £58,000 pot.

Lancashire County Council's Shaun Turner said the grants would help "micro-events at a local level".

Opposition councillor Mark Clifford said the amount offered was "derisory".

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the scheme was part of Lancashire County Council's plans to capture carbon, which also include the restoration of peatland and the recruitment of three ecologists.

The grants will be available annually.

Mr Clifford said the £300 grants were "in effect, chicken feed…[which] will be seen as an insulting and derisory amount by many".

However, Mr Turner, the Conservative-led council's cabinet member for environment and climate change said the Labour councillor had missed the point behind the idea.

"It is about micro-events at a local level," he said.

"It's about small schemes and in the grand scheme of… all the other things we're doing, it really is a good thing."

He added that the grants could be used to supplement the work of schools or businesses and it could also fund nest boxes, bat boxes and communal gardens.

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