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England will get a new national park as part of a government set of "nature pledges" to give greater access and protection to the countryside.
Natural England will consider a list of possible sites, which could include the Chilterns, the Cotswolds and Dorset. Some environmentalists gave the news a cautious welcome, as government funding for national parks has fallen in real terms, forcing service and staff cuts. Funding worth £15m was also announced for a range of protected landscapes. That will be shared by England's 10 existing national parks and 34 National Landscapes, formerly known as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The government said the £15m announced was new funding, with £10m to be released next year and a £5m pot made available this financial year from which national park authorities could bid for funding to improve rivers, lakes and water quality. Thirty-four new landscape recovery projects will also be created under the ELMs farm payments scheme which will see 200,000 hectares of land managed to benefit nature and sustainable food production. Further funding of £2.5m will be used to help give disadvantaged young people access to the countryside while £750,000 will be set aside for research into protecting England's temperate rainforests. The package forms part of the government's final response to a 2019 review that criticised how such protected landscapes were managed and funded. Julian Glover, the author of the Landscapes Review, which had called for three new national parks to be created, in the Chilterns, Cotswolds and Dorset, said he was thrilled to have "real progress backed with some extra money to help our national landscapes and national parks do more for people and more for nature". Parks across the country have had to make cuts to staffing levels and visitor services as their core grant from government has fallen in real terms.
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Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council has launched a public consultation on its draft Urban Forest Strategy, created to maximise and enhance all the benefits trees and woodlands provide to our environment and communities.
Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council has launched a public consultation on its draft Urban Forest Strategy, created to maximise and enhance all the benefits trees and woodlands provide to our environment and communities. This innovative evidence-based strategy proposes an exciting vision for the future of trees in the BCP area until 2050. This strategy identifies opportunities to manage the challenges and impacts of urban development and climate change for current and future generations in both the public and private realms. The council’s first Urban Forest Strategy was developed using the feedback and comments received in a tree and woodland public survey carried out in autumn 2022. Alongside this feedback, the council facilitated two stakeholder workshops, which included representatives from council departments, local businesses, charities and tree specialists. Our draft Urban Forest Strategy has been shaped by engagement with residents and key stakeholders and developed by a working group involving key council services and partners. It provides a vision, key guiding principles and priorities for action to ensure that the decisions we make allow for all residents, visitors, and businesses in our conurbation to get the most from trees both now and in the future. The draft strategy underpins the need to care, support and invest in our trees. This is needed throughout our diverse network of streets, parks, and council-owned green spaces. It is also important to recognise the impact we can all make as individuals, by planting, nurturing, and protecting trees. It also acknowledges the significant role BCP Council, and its partners, will play over the coming years, and proposes the creation of the BCP Tree Charter, where everyone can play a key role. Closed 17th Dec 2023 The biggest piece of energy legislation in the UK’s history has become law today (Thursday 26 October), laying the foundations for an energy system fit for the future.
The Energy Act 2023 has received Royal Assent and will transform the UK’s energy system by strengthening energy security, supporting the delivery of net zero and ensuring household bills are affordable in the long-term. The Act will deliver a more efficient energy system in the long-term, helping to keep energy costs low. It will do this by increasing competition in Great Britain’s onshore electricity networks, through a new tender process – reducing costs for network operation and development. This new model is expected to save consumers up to £1 billion off their energy bills by 2050. A specific merger regime for energy networks will also be created under the Competition and Markets Authority. This will minimise the risk of mergers between energy network companies having detrimental effects on consumers and is estimated to save households up to £420 million over the next decade. There are also new measures for Energy Smart Appliances to prioritise safety and give consumers the confidence to transition to smart products, helping them to manage their energy consumption and reduce their bills. A smart electricity system could reduce system costs by up to £10 billion a year by 2050. The government is expanding Ofgem’s remit to heat networks, allowing the regulator to set rules on excessive pricing and improve the quality of service for the half a million heat network consumers across the country. The Act includes new consumer protections and frameworks, incentivising the heating industry to invest in low-carbon heat pumps, and including powers to deliver the smart meter rollout by 2028 – which could generate total bill savings to households of £5.6 billion. The Act will help the government deliver net zero by 2050 in a pragmatic, proportionate and realistic way. It updates Ofgem’s remit so that it considers net zero targets as part of its everyday decisions and facilitates the first large village hydrogen heating trial – providing crucial evidence on the technology’s role in decarbonising heat. The government is also introducing a licensing framework for CO2 transport and storage to help deliver the UK’s first carbon capture sites – supporting up to 50,000 jobs by 2030. These new laws also make the UK the first country to legislate for fusion regulation, enabling developers to plan with confidence and encourage investment into this flourishing technology, and driving the UK’s ambition for a prototype fusion power plant by 2040. Establishing a new independent body – the Future System Operator – will ensure consumers can access a secure and decarbonised energy supply, key to enhancing the country’s energy security. The FSO will be responsible for systems in the gas and electricity network developing efficiently and keeping consumer bills low. The CCC’s progress report to Parliament in June 2023 set out the risks to meeting the UK’s emissions targets and identified policy gaps and significant delivery risks. It highlighted that the UK was not on track to meet the UK’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the UN process for a 68% reduction in emissions by 2030, to which the Prime Minister reaffirmed the UK’s commitment in his recent update on Net Zero.
Since June, there have been several notable developments, with consequences for the feasibility of achieving future emissions targets, several of which were contained within the Prime Minister’s speech made on 20th September. A deal has been reached to electrify steelmaking at Port Talbot; a new cap has been implemented for the UK emissions trading scheme (ETS); the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate has been implemented in legislation; Auction Round 5 (AR5) for Contracts for Difference (CfDs) failed to attract bids for offshore wind projects. The Prime Minister’s 20th September announcements included exemptions / delays to phase-out dates for fossil-fuelled cars and boilers, and a decision not to regulate for improved energy efficiency of rented homes. We have updated our snapshot assessment of risks to meeting the UK’s emissions targets to reflect these developments. Recent announcements, most notably the Prime Minister’s speech on Net Zero, were not accompanied by corresponding estimates of their effect on emissions, nor with evidence to back the Government’s assurance that the UK’s targets will still be met. This is unhelpful – and the Committee urges the Government to adopt greater transparency in updating its assessment of policy impacts at the time of major announcements. Based on the information available, the CCC has made an independent assessment of how these developments will affect plans to meet the targets. We did not have enough information to assess the full effects of some of the proposed policy measures.
Climate Emergency UK assessed all UK councils on the actions they've taken towards net zero. The Scorecard assessment consists of 91 questions or less, depending on council type, across 7 different sections, created in consultation with over 90 different organisations and individuals. Each council was marked against these criteria and given a right to reply before the scores underwent a final audit. This work was completed between January and August 2023.
Dorset 47% BCP 34% Westminster 62% (top) Single tier average 36% Government action to tackle the scourge of litter and protect the environment from plastic pollution ramps up this weekend (Sunday 1 October), with bans and restrictions on a range of polluting single-use plastic items coming into force.
No business – whether retailer, takeaway, food vendor or part of the hospitality industry – will now be able to sell single-use plastic cutlery, balloon sticks nor polystyrene cups and food containers in England. The supply of single-use plastic plates, trays and bowls has also been restricted. The new regulations were announced in January and extensive work has taken place throughout 2023 to provide further guidance on the ban for businesses. The ban will not apply to single-use plastic plates, trays and bowls used as packaging in shelf-ready pre-packaged food items as these will be included in our plans for an extended producer responsibility scheme, which will incentivise producers to use less packaging and meet higher recycling targets. The Government has set out plans to drive up the repair and reuse of existing materials and increase recycling, including via the ‘Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste’ programme announced in July. This brings together a range of measures backed by government funding to help keep products and materials in circulation for as long as possible and at their highest value, in turn growing the economy and boosting employment. The single-use plastics ban is part of the Government’s wider world-leading action to tackle the scourge of plastic pollution and eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042. The Government has already banned microbeads in rinse-off personal care products in 2018 and restricted the supply of plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds in 2020. The Government also introduced the Plastic Packaging Tax in April 2022, a tax of more than £200 per tonne on plastic packaging manufactured in or imported to the UK that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic. The UK’s wildlife is continuing to decline according to State of Nature Report 2023.
THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE REPORT ON THE UK’S CURRENT BIODIVERSITY. State of Nature uses the latest and best data from biological monitoring and recording schemes, collated by the incredible work of thousands of skilled people, most of whom are volunteers, to provide a benchmark for the status of our wildlife. The UK, like most other countries worldwide, has seen significant loss of its plants, animals and fungi. The data from State of Nature cover, at most, 50 years but this follows on from centuries of habitat loss, development and persecution. As a result, the UK is now one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth. But the reasons for the decline are clear and we know conservation actions deliver results for nature. We have never had a better understanding of the State of Nature and what is needed to fix it. Across Dorset over 400 land and freshwater species recorded in the past are now thought to be extinct, about one in 40 species. These include the pearl bordered fritillary butterfly, shrill carder bee and chough. Some 2,500 species are still present but are threatened, rare, scarce or protected. A new Flood and Coastal Erosion Management (FCERM) Strategy to guide how the frontage from Hengistbury Head to Hurst Spit, encompassing Christchurch Harbour, will be sustainably managed for the next 100 years.
Climate change is putting significantly more properties, infrastructure and open spaces at risk from coastal flooding and erosion. Calculations have revealed that if we do nothing over the next 100 years, the coastal frontage will suffer around £1 billion in damages which includes erosion risk to approximately 1,600 properties and coastal flood risk to over 2,200 properties (homes and non-residential buildings). The figures are not designed to alarm but to help us evidence and justify doing something to manage the risks. A new coastal strategyBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) and New Forest District Council (NFDC) are working together with the Environment Agency (EA) to produce a strategy for Christchurch Bay and Harbour. It will identify where, when and broadly what type of works are needed to manage the risks of coastal flooding and erosion over the next century and roughly what they may cost. It will also consider the effects of predicted climate change on coastal communities, including sea level rise and the increased frequency of storms. As Coast Protection Authorities, BCP and NFDC do not have a statutory duty to undertake coast protection work, but we can use permissive powers to protect the coastline and work with communities to help them adapt to future coastal change. In addition, along with the EA, BCP (as Lead Local Flood Authority – LLFA) has statutory responsibilities for managing flood risk; Hampshire County Council is the LLFA covering the NFDC area. Strategy development – engagement and consultationWe have involved our stakeholders in the development of the Strategy since summer 2021. You can read all of our engagement and consultation findings on the BCP Council Have your Say Christchurch Bay and Harbour Strategy Hub. You can also view the recording of the online presentation from 27 June 2023. In Winter 2022, the public and key stakeholders had their say on the proposed short list for managing coastal flood and erosion risks. Each of the options were then appraised to assess their economic, technical, environmental and social viability. The process identified the proposed leading options for each of the 18 option development units across the strategy area. These proposals were the focus of the Phase 5 consultation which ran from 5 June to 27 August 2023. Next steps - We are now analysing and considering feedback on the proposed leading options consultation. In Spring 2024, we anticipate that the draft Strategy will be presented for adoption at both BCP Council and New Forest District Council’s Cabinets The Strategy will then be presented to the Environment Agency for final adoption. Despite nature's recovery being impossible without them, just 7% of UK woods are in good condition for wildlife. Our new reports set out what needs to be done to restore our woods and trees in England, Scotland, Wales and North Ireland, for both wildlife and people.
Our reports, Trees and woods: at the heart of nature recovery in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, show the central role that native natural and semi-natural woods and trees must play in restoring nature. Despite nature's recovery being impossible without them, just 7% of UK woods are in good condition for wildlife, and many are a shadow of what they could be. The report sets out a raft of solutions, including adding more trees into housing estates with less than 16% tree cover, 30% canopy cover for new developments and access to greenspace within 10 minutes of everyone’s doorsteps. The report is designed to help councils and communities write their Local Nature Recovery Strategies, following the government’s recent announcement that it has made £14M available to the 48 local authorities tasked with leading on drafting the plans - of which Dorset is one. Since 1970 35% of species have declined in abundance. This means today’s children now have a 70% less chance of seeing a hedgehog than their parents did, while dormice populations have fallen by 48% since today’s primary school pupils were born. If we don't restore our damaged, degraded and disappearing woods and trees, nature will continue to free-fall. We must:
Climate Action Now! is an initiative developed by Blandford Museum in partnership with charities in Blandford. We all see climate change as the biggest challenge confronting the world in the years to come.
Green Fair at the Arches beside the Stour as part of Blandford’s CAN 2023 and the national Great Big Green Week from 10 - 18 June. Exhibitors and stallholders who have already agreed to take part include, DWT, producers of vegetarian and vegan food, cosmetics and gifts, refilling businesses and other eco-friendly products. There will also be activities for children. |
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