
Sewing Bee judge to become Queen Margaret University chancellor
Having been educated in both Edinburgh and Barnard Castle, he went on to study a degree in materials science and engineering at the University of Leeds, followed later by an MBA from the University of Oxford.Pamela Woodburn, chairwoman of the Court of Queen Margaret University, said: "Patrick's career and achievements resonate strongly with the university's strong social justice ethos, and with our commitment to building strong communities and acting as a force for good."Past chancellors at the university have included celebrity chef Prue Leith and Sir Tom Farmer, who died earlier this month.
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BBC News
3 minutes ago
- BBC News
Hundreds raise concerns over farm biogas plans
Fresh concerns have been raised over plans for a biogas plant at a former mushroom farm near Market proposed anaerobic digestion plant at Marigold Farm, off Welham Way in Great Bowden, Leicestershire, would treat chicken manure, maize and Great Bowden Green Energy Ltd wants to pipe the gas to the nearby National Grid more than 300 objections to the scheme have been lodged and now Harborough District Council has joined those opposing the project, claiming it is "not in the right place". Concerns raised include fears about odour from the treatment process as well as the impact of heavy goods vehicles importing manure and food stock to the for the applicant said the plant would not produce odours and would generate enough biomethane to heat approximately 7,000 average-sized application was discussed by Leicestershire County Council's development control committee on had recommended the scheme be approved but councillors deferred making a decision, saying they wanted more information on lorry movements. 'Considerable disrepair' Harborough District Council leader Phil Knowles said: "We have listened to the local community in respect of this development and the message is clear that it is not in the right place. "While the district council fully supports the production of green energy, this cannot be at any cost."The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said the council had recently purchased more than 130 acres (54 hectares) of land next to the application site as part of a major rewilding scheme. The district council said it is concerned the "ecological impacts" of the facility will greatly impact on plans for nature restoration. Knowles added: "Speaking up is the right thing to do and the strength of feeling was made clear at the board meeting." The agent for the applicant, Lewis Smith, told councillors the farm had been unused since the early 2000s and had fallen into "considerable disrepair". He added: "Much has been made of the potential for odour from the process and, accordingly, we have carried out detailed analysis to show this is not the case."My client has been involved in 40 plants over the last 14 years which all use the same technology and to date none have generated complaints due to odour or noise."


BBC News
3 minutes ago
- BBC News
Legal challenge against Sellafield's plans to extract water
An environmental activist is lodging a legal challenge against plans from the UK's largest nuclear plant to remove water from its Birkby, campaigner for Lakes Against Nuclear Dump (LAND), is contesting a decision by the Environment Agency (EA) to give Sellafield permission to extract water from its Cumbrian plant - a process needed to build a new storage facility for radioactive Birkby fears the process would produce contaminated water, which would be discharged into the nearby Calder and Ehen EA said it had considered all the potential impacts on the environment before giving permission. Sellafield said the water would not be discharged in the rivers. Ms Birkby is working with environmental lawyers Leigh Day, who have warned the EA of their intention to pursue a judicial licence to abstract water was granted to Sellafield in May. It is part of a wider project to build the second of four new units to store waste to support the site's decommissioning said the water would have to be extracted when the ground was dug up to build the new facility, and the water removed would mostly be from rainfall."Removing water from a construction site is standard practice when preparing land for a building project," a spokesman added: "The water is pumped to on-site storage tanks where it is tested prior to being discharged direct to sea." Fears for rivers Ms Birkby said she feared the environment would "bear the brunt" of the operations, which she said could impact the endangered freshwater pearl mussel population present in the Ehen."No-one begrudges Sellafield repackaging leaking nuclear wastes from the Magnox silos, but this should not be at the further expense of Cumbria's rivers and groundwaters," she added she believed the EA should have required Sellafield to provide a hydrological impact assessment, but the EA said it did not believe that was needed."In this case, we did not require a hydrological risk assessment because we consider that the application will not affect any site of nature conservation, significant landscape or heritage, protected species or habitat," a EA spokesman licence granted to Sellafield would allow the company to extract up to 350,400 cubic metres (77,077,224 gallons) of water a year until Free Local Authorities, which represents about 25 councils who are against civil nuclear power, has also written to the EA to raise concerns about the permit."We are concerned that the proposal will involve nearly one million litres of contaminated water being discharged into the River Calder and out into the sea every day for an unknown length of time," they said.A EA spokesman said: "When we receive water abstraction license applications we take into consideration all the potential impacts on the environment before determining whether to issue a licence." Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.


BBC News
3 minutes ago
- BBC News
Campaigners fear return to tree-cutting plan at Cheshire beauty spot
Campaigners fighting to save trees at a Cheshire beauty spot have said they fear original plans that would see them cut them down will be resubmitted in the coming East Council has previously planned for the removal of 70 trees at Poynton Pool as part of works to improve safety and reduce the risk of of Poynton Pool said they were frustrated the council was continuing to pursue its original proposals despite describing the group's alternative plan for the area as viable. A Chester East Council spokesman declined to confirm to the BBC whether the authority planned to resubmitted its original proposals. The spokesman said the council "continues to maintain an open dialogue with the Friends of Poynton Pool" over the management and safety of the Pool, which dates back to 1750, is an ornamental water feature which is classed as a high-risk reservoir because of the amount of water it council said trees had to be removed as part of its legal requirements to maintain the plans for the site were deferred by councillors at a meeting last year, and a study by the Environment Agency a few months later found the pool was smaller than the council had previously of Poynton Pool put forward an alternative proposal and said earlier this year it had been told the plans were "viable".The group said it has been told by the council the authority was going to be resubmitting its proposals for the site "in the next few weeks".Chairman Mike Ellison said the council and its engineers had "acknowledged that there are viable alternative solutions for Poynton Pool".The Cheshire East Council spokesman said their priority for the site was safety and the authority was in "regular dialogue" with the Environment Agency over its plans. See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.