Category Archives: Natural England

Somerset Levels Update: Reflections on Flooding

It’s not just “You forgot the birds” who have been attacking RSPB recently. Earlier this year, they were blamed by a number of people, for causing the flooding in the Somerset Levels and Moors. Christopher Booker, in the Telegraph, was … Continue reading

Posted in agriculture, flooding, Maize, Natural England, RSPB, Somerset Levels, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sells brings Cross to NE Board. Goodbye Doug Hulyer

The white smoke has appeared from the Natural England papal chimney – we now know who the new Natural England Chief Executive is – James Cross. He has arrived fresh from being the second CEO of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Sells, Natural England, Uncategorized | Tagged | 7 Comments

Mark Reckless MP for Lodge Hill rails against Natural England, Quangos, spiders, bugs and – vegetated shingle

Following yesterday’s blog on the latest machinations at Lodge Hill, I was informed that the local MP for the Lodge Hill area Mark Reckless, had not made any statement either for or against the development at Lodge Hill or the … Continue reading

Posted in anti conservation rhetoric, anti-environmental rhetoric, biodiversity, biodiversity offsetting, Lodge Hill, Natural England | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

EFRA fails to grill Sells, more of a light poaching

As  I recall there was a lot of effort involved in turning Parliamentary Select Committees from a cross-between talking shops and clubs, into an influential element of Parliamentary procedure and ultimately an addition to the British Democratic process. Watching the … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Sells, Natural England | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Lodge Hill Grasslands and the NVC

I’ve received this comment from Doug Hulyer, Board member of Natural England, regarding my post about the notification of Lodge Hill as an SSSI. It was good to see you at the Board meeting, Miles. I take issue with your … Continue reading

Posted in grasslands, Lodge Hill, Natural England, NVC, Professor John Rodwell, SSSis | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Chairs Past Present and Future

Stan Shebs [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or CC-BY-SA-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons Following on from Monday’s post, I thought I would look back at who has chaired the Council of Natural England, English Nature, the Nature Conservancy Council and – … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Sells, Natural England, NFU, Owen Paterson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The New Natural England Chair: Andrew Sells

The experience of having been present and witnessed a Natural England Board meeting is still fresh in my mind. I was struck in particular at how important a role the chair, Poul Christensen, played in helping his fellow Non-ex members … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Sells, Natural England, neoliberalism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

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

Posted on by Miles King | 6 Comments

Biodiversity Offsetting and Lodge Hill Part 2

At the end of Natural England’s press release confirming Lodge Hill had become an SSSI on tuesday were these words. “The decision to extend the SSSI clarifies the environmental importance of the site but does not determine whether or not … Continue reading

Posted in biodiversity, biodiversity offsetting, conservation, housing, Natural England, neoliberalism, Owen Paterson, public goods, public land, scrub, the cabinet, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Another skirmish on the Lodge Hill Battle Front

It was an exciting day yesterday.  I was part of a small 5 person RSPB team giving evidence in support of the Lodge Hill SSSI notification at an Extraordinary Natural England Board meeting. The opposition were  there in numbers – … Continue reading

Posted in biodiversity offsetting, housing, meadows, Natural England, public land, scrub | Tagged , , , , , , , | 15 Comments