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Monthly Archives: September 2014
The strange case of Dr Earth and the UKIP environment policies
Dr Strangelove Curious to discover whether UKIP could justify new(ish) recruit Mark Reckless’ position on the protection of Lodge Hill (he is currently for its protection), I went in search of their environmental policies. I had already subjected myself to … Continue reading
Posted in UKIP, Uncategorized
Tagged Andrew Charalambous, environment policy, re-wilding, UKIP
29 Comments
Weird: UKIP is now the main political party defending Lodge Hill from development.
Who would have thought that Mark Reckless, MP for Rochester, including Lodge Hill SSSI, would have defected to UKIP? Well I certainly did, just a couple of weeks ago. He had been on the fence between the Tories and UKIP … Continue reading
Posted in deregulation, EIA, Lodge Hill, Mark Reckless, UKIP
Tagged housing, Lodge Hill, Mark Reckless, UKIP
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Great News: Defra decides Neonics are safe to bees after all and allows their use
Neonics are back in the news. Two days ago the BBC reported on how flea beetles were feeding on the newly planted autumn sown Oil Seed Rape, and farmers were interviewed weeping and wringing their hands, saying the end of … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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The Matt Ridley Prize for Hypocrisy
Just a short one today as I am away from home on the ipad, which is much more limited for using wordpress. After being accused of having no sense of irony by a climate change denier on twitter yesterday, I … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
8 Comments
Labour commits to building 200,000 new homes a year: Great: where?
At the Labour Conference both Hilary Benn, Shadow CLG Secretary, and Ed Miliband, both promised massive new house-building, up to 200,000 new homes a year by the end of the parliament. Benn said ” … we will give communities, as … Continue reading
Posted in biodiversity, biodiversity offsetting, bungalows, housing, Labour, Lodge Hill
Tagged biodiversity offsetting, housing, Labour, Lodge Hill
4 Comments
The CLA in Wales cares more about protecting meadows than CLA in England
a wildflower meadow (c) Miles King In these days where devolution is in the air, it’s worth considering how differently two UK countries use regulation to protect wildlife. This press release from the Country Landowners Association Cymru, was picked up … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, CLA, deregulation, EIA, grasslands, Wales
Tagged CLA, deregulation, EIA (Agriculture), meadows
5 Comments
Director of Lodge Hill Developer Land Securities withdraws from becoming London Wildlife Trust trustee
Here’s an interesting story, just published in the Guardian. A Director of Land Securities, the FTSE 100 company who are the developers behind the planned destruction of Lodge Hill SSSI, was about to be appointed as a Trustee of London … Continue reading
Posted in biodiversity offsetting, Lodge Hill, SSSis
Tagged Land Securities, Lodge Hill, Site of Special Scientific Interest
5 Comments
NFU special pleading knows no bounds
NFU President Meurig Raymond’s image is front and centre of the new NFU 2014 manifesto. He appears to have popped up from a hole, perhaps arising from an underground chamber: is this is satirical take on NFU’s relationship with badgers? … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, deregulation, Neonicotinoids, NFU, regulatory reform
Tagged deregulation, Intensive Farming, Meurig Raymond, National Farmers' Union, NFU
8 Comments
Badgers in the mainframe? Defra’s monumental TB data errors
Back in January I wrote about Defra’s revelation that the vet agency AHVLA’s new computer had been spewing out fictitious reports overstating the number of Herd’s which had suffered a bovine TB breakdown. In retrospect it’s amazing that Owen Paterson … Continue reading
Posted in badgers, bovine TB, Defra
Tagged badgers, bovine TB, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Liz Truss, Owen Paterson
4 Comments
A Recipe for Disaster? Take two nature directives, add Malta and Boil until weak and tender.
I was going to write a post about the new European Commission and then I read Martin Harper’s blog and decided it more or less said everything I was going to say. So I’m just reblogging it. The only thing … Continue reading
Posted in European Commission, Malta, Nature Directives
Tagged Ambelopoulia, EC, European Union, Malta, Natura 2000, Nature Directives
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