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Quarry to become wildlife haven
BBC News Online 21
December 2006
The location of the new
nature reserve is a disused gravel quarry
With just days to go
before Christmas a Lancashire wildlife charity
The Lancashire Wildlife
Trust has reached its fundraising target to turn a former gravel quarry
into a wildlife haven. It had to raise £50k before the end of the year
to release funding worth £1.5m to save Brockholes Wetland near Preston.
The new nature reserve is
next to J31 of the M6, and is the size of 120 football pitches. It is
already home to a wide variety of birdlife including Lapwing, Sand
Martin and Kingfisher, together with more vulnerable species such as
Whimbrel, Skylark and Reed Bunting. There are also Great Crested Newts,
bats, dragonflies and damselflies.
Representatives of the
Wildlife Trust will be meeting with the present owners and funders over
the next few weeks to finalise details of the purchase. Anne Selby,
Chief Executive of the Trust, said: "This is the biggest land purchase
in the history of the Wildlife Trust and we thank the people of
Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside for their generosity."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/6199675.stm
Wolves' return is a real howler
Daily Post 21 December
2006
The culls of wild goats
in Snowdonia recently has opened up discussion on the re-introduction of
a predator for a more natural control. However, few expect the wolf in
Wales after an absence of more than 800 years.
Cledwyn Fychan, a former
secretary of the Welsh Sheepdog Society has just published a Welsh
language book on wolves. He doesn’t think it possible as agriculture
today would not be compatible with wolves.
As the book shows, many
place names in Wales allude to the wolf, including "Bleddyn" – "one of
the wolf’s family". Coed y Bleiddiau – "Wolves Wood" – near Blaenau
Ffestiniog, is rumoured to have harboured wolves until the 15th century.
Wolves have been
re-introduced in the US and the French Alps, where predation of
livestock is minimized by close supervision. The Wolf Trust says wolves
would manage deer encroachment into the Caledonian Forest, as well as
managing the widespread destructive activity of rabbits, themselves an
introduced species.
There are continuing
sightings of large wild animals, especially in mid and south Wales, so
does Cledwyn think there might still be wolves in Wales?
"Good grief, no," he says
categorically. "I’m pretty sure these sightings are large cats, pumas
perhaps. Wolves howl, so I’m pretty sure we’d be able to recognise their
howling."
http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk/dailypost/farming/tm_method=full&objectid=18298176&siteid=50142-name_page.html
Farmer fined for
pollution death of fish
EDP 24, 21 December 2006
James Flint, who runs
Bodgers Farm, near Stow Bridge, was fined £2,000 by King's Lynn
magistrates after pleading guilty to causing poisonous, noxious or
polluting matter to enter the Terrington Drain at Stow Bridge, near
Downham Market, in September this year. The pollution killed fish and
aquatic organisms as the oxygen level fell, and took six to eight weeks
to clear.
Flint collected solid and
liquid wastes from vegetable-processing companies and either fed them to
his livestock or put them on his land. The liquid waste formed pools on
a track and ran into a ditch before entering the drain.
Flint accepted
responsibility for the incident and said he would stop taking waste on
to the farm in the future.
EDP24
Last chance for wild water
voles
Environment Agency Press
release 180/12, 11 December 2006
Britain’s under-threat
water voles have received a significant boost to their survival - and
developers and landowners a possible insight into their future
obligations - with a new conservation handbook unveiled this week.
Backing calls for urgent
legislation to give the small freshwater mammals full legal protection,
the joint Environment Agency and Oxford University WildCRU publication
details conservation actions aimed at reviving water vole numbers, as
well as best-practice for developers, landowners and habitat managers to
avoid negatively impacting on existing populations.
WildCRU scientist Dr Tom
Moorhouse said: "The question is whether or not we really want to let
the distribution of a mammal that was extremely common across the entire
of the UK, found in every single county, become confined to just a few
suitable habitats in a couple of counties."
"The Water Vole
Conservation Handbook describes best practice for land managers and
developers to mitigate the damaging aspects of their activities, as well
as pure conservation to proactively encourage water vole populations to
expand into areas where they had previously been lost."
Results from a wildlife
survey released by British Waterways today (11 December 2006) show that
water voles retain a foothold along some canals, but mink numbers are
definitely on the rise.
www.waterscape.com/wildlife
http://www.waterscape.com/wildlife
National Park
plan goes to minister for approval
Cairngorms NPA 11
December 2006
Public sector bodies
operating in the National Park have officially submitted the proposed
National Park Plan for the Cairngorms to the Deputy Minister for the
Environment and Rural Development, Rhona Brankin MSP.
The National Park Plan
sets out the long-term vision (25 years) for the Park as well as
priorities for action for the first five years of the Plan from 2007 -
2012. The Park Plan will guide the work of all agencies operating
within the Cairngorms in working to deliver the four aims of the Park.
The National Park Plan
for the Cairngorms has been produced collectively by all the public
sector bodies operating in the Park, led by the Cairngorms National Park
Authority (CNPA) following thorough discussions with all partners and in
consultation with members of the public and other interested bodies.
Further approval was
sought from members of the 'Advisory Panel on Joined-Up Government',
which includes bodies like Scottish Natural Heritage, Forestry
Commission Scotland, Visitscotland and local authorities.
Once approved by the
Scottish Executive, the National Park Plan for the Cairngorms will be
published and made available. A summary version of the National Park
Plan will be delivered to every household in the Cairngorms National
Park during the summer of 2007. In the meantime, the Park Plan - as it
has been submitted to the Scottish Executive - can be accessed on the
CNPA website at:
www.cairngorms.co.uk
Reclaim green belts as
‘eco-belts’
Town & Country Planning
Association 5 December 2006
Responding to the
proposal to establish an independent planning commission, the TCPA
cautioned that Government must ensure decisions are made openly, after
proper public scrutiny, and in accordance with clear sustainable
development objectives.
However, broad reforms
proposed for retail, transport , microgeneration and green belt land
were welcomed by the independent charity, which campaigns for
sustainable development through planning.
Poor quality green belt
land should be reclaimed to create ‘eco-belts’ ensuring land around
towns is used for ecological and sustainable projects such as new
community woodland and wind farms, the TCPA said. In its policy
statement on green belts, the charity has reinforced the ongoing
importance of green belts in preventing urban sprawl, but calls for
sustainable homes and other development to be allowed where appropriate.
Green belt land - often
neglected scrubland with no discernible environmental or social value –
should be reclaimed for environmental projects such as the creation of
wildlife habitats, organic gardens for local markets, or small scale
power generation to supply heat and power through district heating
schemes, the charity said
Gideon Amos added:
"Too much green belt has
now become a derelict wasteland of rubbish dumps and abandoned buildings
– it’s time to turn green belts into eco-belts fulfilling a whole range
of functions that will support a more sustainable way of living for
people and the environment.
Instead of being treated
as a derelict buffer zone between town and country, the emphasis should
be on making this land truly green and pleasant.
"Local communities should
have better access to this hugely important amenity for recreation,
local food production and wildlife habitat."
www.tcpa.org.uk/press_files/pressreleases_2006/20061205-BARKER-PR.pdf
Protecting the land that
matters most
HM Treasury & DCLG
Press Notice 5 December 2006
In December 2005, the
Chancellor and the Deputy Prime Minister commissioned Kate Barker to
conduct an independent review of the land use planning system of
England, focusing on the link between planning and economic growth.
As part of the review
process an IPSOS/MORI poll was commissioned:
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54% of respondents
believed that around half or more of England was classified as
developed. Only 13% of respondents think that around a quarter or less
of the country is developed.
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The land that people
most want protected from development is that with important or
endangered wildlife (71%) followed by land with scenic beauty (53%).
Only 16% believe that land near towns and cities is among the most
important to protect.
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There is widespread
misunderstanding about the function of green belts, 60% of people
believe one of its key functions is to protect wildlife, 46% believe
it is to protect areas of scenic beauty and 24% believe it is to
protect high value farmland.
In terms of protected
area designations, 12.9% of England is classified as green belt,
15.6% Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 8.2% Sites of Special
Scientific Interest, 6.2% Special Areas of Conservation, 4.7% Special
Protection Areas, National Parks 7.6%. Only around 8.3%-13.5% of land in
England is classified as developed.
The Review sets out
proposals for a more efficient use of land, in light of the growing
demand for land and the need to ensure that areas of high public value
(such as sites with important or endangered wildlife) or areas at higher
risk from flooding due to climate change, are adequately protected. In
Recommendation 9, the review asks for local planning authorities to
ensure that the quality of the green belts is enhanced through adopting
a more positive approach towards applications that can be shown to
enhance the surrounding areas through, for example, the creation of open
access woodland or public parks in place of low-grade agricultural land.
The report also
recommends that the Government should consider how best to protect and
enhance valued green space in towns and cities, by reviewing the merits
of different models of protecting valued open space, including the green
wedge approach.
Government will set out
in a White Paper in Spring 2007, proposals in response to
recommendations in the report for improving the speed, responsiveness
and efficiency of land use planning, and for taking forward Kate
Barker’s and the Eddington Study of Transport’s proposals for reform of
major infrastructure planning.
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/newsroom_and_speeches/press/2006/press_barker_06.cfm
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