Farming Today 03/06/25 - Welsh Environment Bill, small abattoirs and smart cattle tech
We visit Down Land Traditional Meats in West Sussex, where the owner says increasing financial strain and red tape is putting the future of small abattoirs at risk. The closure of abattoirs has been a long standing trend - in the 1970s the UK had 2 and half thousand abattoirs...but that had dropped to just 203 by 2023.
And we find out about a high-tech cattle handling crate that incorporates software to monitor animals. It can minimise manual handling by drafting animals - where a herd is separated into smaller groups - by itself.
Presented by Anna Hill
Produced by Heather Simons
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The Independent
16 minutes ago
- The Independent
Abandoned fortress transformed into party island with its own nightclub – and it could be yours
A derelict historic fortress which lay empty for 17 years has been transformed into a ready-made party island – complete with its own nightclub. Thorne Island was once home to up to 100 officers manning a 19th century Napoleonic fort to protect nearby Milford Haven, which was then a major naval base on the Pembrokeshire coast. It was converted into a hotel in 1947 and hired out for birthday parties, weddings and stag parties, before being sold in 1999. Despite proposals to reopen a hotel at the site, complete with a new cable car to the mainland, it lay empty and overgrown for 17 years until a former software CEO Mike Conner snapped it up for £555,000 in May 2017. Now, after five years of painstaking renovations – which saw building materials delivered via helicopter – the island can be yours for a cool £3 million. Extending to almost 2.5 acres, the island boasts panoramic coastal views and over 8,000 square foot of accommodation, with a helipad and a nightclub. Mr Conner, who hosted a festival there for his 50th birthday, hopes whoever takes it on enjoys the island as much as he has. He thinks it has huge potential to operate as a tourist attraction or, with no neighbours to disturb, play host to "the most unbelievable raves". Mr Conner said he envisaged the site offering an "unbelievable 24-hour experience", with the potential to host about 800 people. He told the BBC he 'didn't know what I was getting myself into' when he took on the major project. "There was no electric, no water, and any food or waste needed to come back off," he said. "My wife was pretty cross when I first said I bought it, she said she would stay once it had a flushing loo, which is pretty reasonable." The cost of reaching that milestone was £200,000 after he discovered he needed to cut through 16ft of rock to get to a biodigester pump. Workers stayed on the island in two-week shifts while renovations were carried out, using a generator to charge their phones and washing in the sea. Now the project is complete, visitors are welcomed to a grand entrance hall leading into the large open plan reception, dining and sitting room with exposed traditional brickwork, vaulted ceilings, double aspect sash windows and wood burning stove, according to its listing with estate agents Strutt & Parker. The kitchen is open plan with a modern, equipped kitchen and adjoining snug with wood burning stove, exposed brick work and sea views. It currently has five bedrooms, sleeping up to 20 guests. Being completely off grid, it also boasts a range of renewable energy systems including a PV Solar display with 100kwh battery storage, air source heat pumps for hot water and underfloor heating and a 250,000-litre rain harvest system.


Daily Mail
17 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Furious council discovers hundreds of hidden asylum seekers have been shipped into city despite telling Home Office it had no more room for them
A furious council has discovered hundreds of asylum seekers were shipped into its city despite telling the Home Office it could not take any more. Portsmouth City Council found that 55 private rental properties were being used to house a minimum of three asylum seekers each last week. The migrants have been staying in homes of multiple occupation (HMO) - not council housing. It comes just two years after James Hill, Portsmouth's director of housing, told the Home Office that the 'system's capacity was such that we couldn't support additional asylum seekers'. But when a public meeting was hosted in July by Amanda Martin, the Labour MP for Portsmouth North, figures showed the number of private rentals being used to house migrants had increased from 10 at the end of 2019 to 58 in April 2024, The Times first reported. The council confirmed with the Home Office last week that the number is now at 55, according to the newspaper. The data was uncovered by Ms Martin after Clearsprings Ready Homes wrote to a parliamentary committee this year amid an inquiry into accommodation for asylum seekers. Portsmouth City Council said it was never notified about the use of the properties to house migrants. A spokesperson said: 'We were previously not aware of the number of properties being used in the city. 'We have made it clear that the processes [the Home Office] has are not adequate and they should be formally notifying a senior officer.' A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We are continuing to expand the use of dispersal accommodation as part of our strategy to reduce reliance on costly hotels and deliver a more sustainable and cost-effective asylum system. 'This approach is being implemented in close consultation with local authorities across the UK to ensure dispersal is balanced and community needs and concerns are taken into account. 'This Government inherited an asylum system in chaos, with tens of thousands of asylum seekers stuck in the backlog being housed by the taxpayer. At its peak, less than two years ago, there were 400 asylum hotels in use at a cost of almost £9million a day. 'We have taken urgent action to fix the system – more than doubling asylum decisions and cutting the backlog by 41 per cent. 'The cost of asylum hotels was reduced by almost a billion pounds in 2024/25 compared to the previous year, and we have put in place the major reforms which will allow us to end the use of asylum hotels entirely by the end of this Parliament.' The news comes amid nationwide protests against the housing of illegal immigrants. Last month, demonstrations escalated with tense stand–offs in cities including Portsmouth. More than 40 anti–immigration demonstrators confronted almost 30 activists holding Stand Up to Racism placards outside the Royal Beach Hotel. Some on the anti–immigration side hung a banner which said 'protect our children' outside the hotel. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faced mounting pressure over the issue last night after 700 people were involved in angry clashes outside a migrant hotel in a Scots town Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faced mounting pressure over the issue last night after 700 people were involved in angry clashes outside a migrant hotel in a Scots town. Police had to call in reinforcements as local residents and anti-racism groups clashed in angry scenes that saw bottles and other objects thrown outside the hotel in Falkirk which can hold more than 50 asylum seekers. Community tensions had reached fever pitch after Afghan asylum seeker Sadeq Nikzad, 29, – a former resident in the hotel – was jailed in June for raping a local 15-year-old schoolgirl. Yesterday, one of Sir Keir's own Labour MPs said he believed that migrants should be removed from Falkirk's Cladhan Hotel. Euan Stainbank, the MP for Falkirk, said: 'These hotels don't work for host communities or those who stay there and their use will be ended by this government.'


The Sun
17 minutes ago
- The Sun
‘It's still summer,' cry Morrisons shoppers as traditional Christmas treat spotted on shelves ALREADY
WE may be in the midst of a late summer heatwave, but clearly some people are thinking ahead to Christmas – as Morrisons has already started selling mince pies. An eagle-eyed shopper posted an image of the festive dessert on sale at their local Morrisons in Sheffield on August 16. 2 The photo, on Instagram account @ newfoodspotteruk, shows a pack of six shortcrust mince pies, priced at £1.50 and set to expire on August 29 – almost four months before Christmas. Mince pies are also available on the Morrisons website at the same price point. As well as shortcrust, deep filled (£2) and puff pastry (£1) mince pies are also now on sale. "Get stuffed it's still summer," commented one outraged follower. Others were less concerned, with one remarking that the pies "need some Baileys squirty cream [clapping emoji]". Morrisons is not the only major retailer with Christmas products for sale in the height of summer. Rival supermarket ASDA were already selling their range of mince pies in June. Meanwhile, B&M were recently at the centre of an online spat after they were caught stocking Advent calendars and selection boxes. One concerned commenter complained: "The way the chocolate is going in b&m during this heat, I would hate to think what it would be like in Dec!" It's also not the first time shoppers have noticed Morrisons stocking festive treats in summer. Earlier in August, a father of three was shocked to find Milkybars branded with snowflake and other yuletide imagery on the shelves. Last year, The Telegraph reported that the chain was selling six different types of mince pie by the end of August. experts note that August is the ideal time to start shopping and bag a bargain. We've approached Morrisons for comment.