Category Archives: EIA

Building Back Greener – Defra’s Eustice announces Govt plans to weaken nature protections

Posted on July 20, 2020 by

  I’m not much a zoom enthusiast but the invitation to listen to Defra secretary of state George Eustice give a “major” speech on the environment, via Green Alliance, seemed like too good an opportunity to miss. So, having finally … Continue reading →

Posted in Brexit, EIA, George Eustice, regulation | Tagged , , | 21 Comments

Dorset chalk downland site sprayed with herbicide and re-seeded for farming.

Posted on April 24, 2017 by

It seems almost inconceivable that 20 years has passed since a Chalk Downland Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) was ploughed up in Sussex. The Offham Down case became a minor cause celebre during the election campaign of 1997 which … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, Downland, EIA, farm subsidies, Natural England | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Rampisham: BSR antics force council to defer planning decision

Posted on November 13, 2014 by

Today was decision day. The culmination of nearly two years work; West Dorset District Council were finally going to decide whether to give planning permission for a 40ha area of over 100,000 solar panels to be constructed on a Site … Continue reading →

Posted in EIA, grasslands, Rampisham Down, Solar Farms | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Weird: UKIP is now the main political party defending Lodge Hill from development.

Posted on September 28, 2014 by

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 , , , | Leave a comment

The CLA in Wales cares more about protecting meadows than CLA in England

Posted on September 20, 2014 by

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 , , , | 5 Comments

Three Cheers for Natural England

vanishing meadows – less than 5000ha left in England     Natural England come in for a great deal of stick from other conservationists – Walshaw Moor is a good recent example. But I’d like to praise them for some … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on November 22, 2013 by | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The fallacy at the heart of the Governments biodiversity offsetting proposals

Posted on November 11, 2013 by

I have been thinking a bit more about last week’s Biodiversity Offsetting debate at the All Party Parliamentary Group on Biodiversity, which I blogged about here. Something was niggling away at the back of my mind and I couldn’t quite … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, biodiversity, Biodiversity APPG, biodiversity offsetting, EIA, farming, housing, meadows, Owen Paterson, regulatory reform | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments