Tag Archives: Natural England
Rearranging the deck chairs on the Natural England Titanic.
Natural England chairs come and go, and today’s publication of the advert inviting applicants to be the next chair, gives me an opportunity to look, once again, at the absolute state of Natural England. Some may feel all I do … Continue reading
Quoth the Raven: Never More.
On Friday last week Defra announced that Natural England chair Andrew Sells would be standing down in January 2019, a year earlier than had originally been planned. Sells joined the Natural England board in 2014 on his first 3 year … Continue reading
Dorset chalk downland site sprayed with herbicide and re-seeded for farming.
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
Shifting Baselines
This post isn’t about how our perceptions of environmental change get reset with each generation. It’s about Defra’s budget. Today’s spending Review saw Chancellor Osborne perform some typical numerical tricks, as he sought to position himself nearer to the centre … Continue reading
Natural England steps into the Tumbrel
Liz Truss has apparently already agreed to a 32% cut to the Defra budget for the 4 years from 2016-17 onwards. This impressive feat allows her to sit on the panel which resides over the imposition of cuts on other, … Continue reading
Rampisham Factcheck #5: The photographs of Rampisham Down
Some people are trying to make out that Rampisham Down SSSI is a poor quality, low value piece of wildlife grassland, or, as Professor Ghillean Prance, former Director of Key Gardens said a “very degraded and often impacted habitat”. They … Continue reading
Rampisham Down and Lodge Hill demonstrate that Natural England must Notify every site which qualifies as SSSI
Offham Down SSSI ploughed to grow Flax 1997 (http://www.eco-action.org/history/offham/offham.html) When the Wildlife and Countryside Act was introduced in 1981 in order for the UK to comply with the European Union’s Birds Directive, nationally and internationally important … Continue reading
Another SSSI to be trashed? Councillors approve solar farm on Rampisham Down
Rampisham Down SSSI (c) Miles King While we wait to hear whether Brandon Lewis will decide to call in the planning permission granted by Medway District Council for the new town on Lodge … Continue reading
Mark Reckless MP: destroying Lodge Hill will undermine national SSSI protection across the country
Part of Lodge Hill’s military past: a fictitious Newry Road with Iraqi posters (c) Miles King Rochester and Strood MP Mark Reckless is nobody’s fool. You may remember that earlier this year I wrote about his tirade against coastal … Continue reading
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
a new nature blog 