Shropshire MP keeping an eye on River Onny wastewater pipe plan
An MP has said he will monitor plans for a four-mile (6.4km) wastewater pipe "very closely".Severn Trent Water has proposed building the pipe from Bishop's Castle to the River Onny.It said the pipe had been designed to transfer water that had been through a "full treatment process" and would not contain untreated sewage.But many people who live in the area, including South Shropshire MP Stuart Anderson, are concerned and an online petition has received more than 8,000 signatures.
Speaking ahead of a public meeting on Monday, Anderson said he would not support anything that reduced the quality of the bathing water in "exemplary" areas that had Atlantic salmon."I know the Environment Agency (EA) has said that is a stipulation, so I am monitoring it very closely," he said. He said he also wanted to know to what extent the water in the pipe would be treated, and why the pipe was necessary.The EA has previously said it put the proposal together in consultation with Natural England to support the Clun's designation as a Special Area of Conservation.Representatives from Severn Trent, the EA, Natural England and Shropshire Council will be speaking at the public meeting, due to be held at the Community College in Bishop's Castle at 19:30 GMT.Organisers asked people to book in advance because of a high demand for places.
This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.
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The Guardian
3 days ago
- The Guardian
Natural England chair rejects ministers' claim that nature blocks development
The government's leading environmental adviser has said ministers are wrong to suggest nature is blocking development. Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England, is to oversee a national nature restoration fund, paid into by developers, which will enable builders to sidestep environmental obligations at a particular site – even if it is a landscape protected for its wildlife. Central to Labour's growth plan, the controversial planning and infrastructure bill cuts environmental regulations to fast-track the construction of 1.5m homes by the end of this parliament, according to three legal opinions. The Guardian revealed this week that more than 5,000 of the most sensitive and protected habitats in England are at risk of destruction because their protections will be weakened. Both the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, have said publicly that they want to tear up red tape that allows nature – bats, newts and other wildlife – to be a blocker to development. But Juniper, in an interview with the Guardian, said such claims coming out of central government were 'not necessarily fully backed by evidence'. Juniper, who has been reappointed for an unprecedented third term at Natural England, the government's nature agency, said he had not spoken to either the prime minister or he chancellor about the new planning bill. He said he and his team were working behind the scenes to ensure the law came with the required 'guardrails' to ensure Britain met its legally binding targets for nature recovery. Juniper, an influential environmentalist who is a confidant of King Charles, insisted that 'nature underpins growth, so we've got to grow nature in order to get economic growth'. Asked if Starmer and Reeves understood that, Juniper said: 'I haven't spoken to them, so I don't know, but there's a very strong evidence base that says that this is the reality. I report to the secretary of state for the environment [Steve Reed] and he very much does get it.' Critics of the bill have questioned the conflict of interest in giving Natural England new funds from developers while expecting the body to regulate their actions but Juniper said: 'That really isn't the culture of the organisation. I've never come across any example in Natural England where we're looking at securing more money because it will help Natural England.' But that could change if a future populist government appointed a housebuilder as chair of Natural England. Juniper said such dangers emphasised the importance of long-term legislation such as the Climate Change Act and ensuring 'the baton of nature recovery gets carried across not only years but decades'. 'I'm sure the same kind of things will be raised in relation to the planning and infrastructure bill to make sure that we've got certainty for the long term.' Asked if he is happy with the bill in its current form, Juniper said: 'We've got our specialists who are working with government to be able to get it as good as it can be in terms of the detail as well as the broad ambition, which we very much support. Parliament will scrutinise all of that. Ministers will make decisions about what they believe are the best choices and we'll see where we finish up.' Juniper outlined his view that neither nature nor Natural England are a 'blocker' on economic growth, but an essential precondition for a thriving economy, at Trumpington Meadows on the edge of his home city of Cambridge. The housing estate was built on green belt, but arable fields were turned into wildflower meadows, which are now a nature reserve where garden warblers sing and grass snakes hide – a store for flood water and carbon, which is also enjoyed by local people. 'It's led to a really good outcome where you can see nature recovery linked to a housing development obviously not only of great benefit to the wildlife but also to the people who live here,' said Juniper, who arrived at the estate on his battered bicycle. 'Rather than just being constantly in tension – 'do we do development or do we have nature?' – we need more of both and this is the kind of approach that can deliver more of both.' Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion Juniper was first appointed to Natural England in 2019 by the then environment secretary, Michael Gove, and has overseen major nature-positive measures in England including landscape recovery schemes on farmland, biodiversity net gain for new housing and a new 'King's series' of national nature reserves. Research examining more than 17,000 planning appeals made last year found that newts or bats featured in just 3.3%. 'Natural England is held up as a blocker to development not necessarily by government but in the newspapers sometimes and amongst some of the development community, but if you look at the reality of the position we object to fewer than 1% of planning applications every year,' he said. Under the planning bill, the nature restoration fund will give Natural England vital new resources. When Juniper was appointed, the agency was suffering from deep cuts after a decade of austerity and one staffer asked him: 'Have you been brought in to close us down?' Since then, Juniper has reinvigorated the agency, tripling its budget, but has had to make job cuts this year after a funding freeze – a real-terms cut. Juniper argues the nature restoration fund will enable Natural England 'to take a large-scale view of the landscape, not just the nature that's affected where the houses have been built, but to look at the effects on the wider environment, including protected areas that might be quite far away'. He said they had sought this approach to tackle 'landscape pressures' such as river pollution and too many nutrients in sensitive meadows and wetlands 'for years'. 'Moving to much more strategic approaches whereby we can get our arms around these bigger landscape pressures, that's key,' he said. 'This represents a real opportunity but the detail has to be right including having a high level of certainty about will it work, a high level of ambition about what's aiming to be achieved and some sense that the resources will be available.' 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The Independent
5 days ago
- The Independent
Badger cull snubs science chief advice as opponents mount legal challenge
Natural England has authorised a new round of badger culling in nine areas starting immediately, with extensions to 10 areas from September, despite internal scientific advice against it. Natural England's science director, Dr Peter Brotherton, advised against further culling, stating there was "no justification" and recommending badger vaccination instead. The extensions to last year's supplementary licenses come as the government faces a legal challenge from the Badger Trust and Wild Justice, who have won a judicial review of the culling policy. Critics, including the Badger Trust, argue that the cull is ineffective, decimates badger populations, and fails to address the primary source of bovine tuberculosis transmission, which they say is cattle to cattle. The culls could result in the shooting of 5,000 or more badgers, with approximately 240,000 badgers killed in the past 12 years, while critics advocate for badger vaccination and improved cattle testing as alternatives.
The Independent
5 days ago
- The Independent
Badger cull expansion given go-ahead by officials — against advice of own science chief
Government officials have given the go-ahead for a fresh round of badger culling, starting immediately — against advice from their own scientific chief. Natural England is believed to have authorised supplementary culls for this year in nine areas — from Derbyshire to Wiltshire — as part of a programme that began in 2013 to curb badger populations in an effort to tackle bovine tuberculosis (bTB). Then, from September, culling periods are also set to be extended in another 10 areas, from the west country to Northamptonshire and Cumbria, sources say. Natural England's director of science Peter Brotherton recommended to his own officials that no supplementary culls be carried out this year, saying there was 'no justification' for more culling. The extensions come as opponents prepare to take the government to court to challenge the culling. The Badger Trust and the Wild Justice organisation, jointly led by naturalist Chris Packham, have won permission for a full judicial review of the policy. It's feared the latest culls could mean 5,000 or more adult and cubs will be shot. In its manifesto, Labour promised to end what it dubbed the 'ineffective' badger cull. Last year, 10,769 badgers were killed, sources have told The Independent, bringing the total killed in 12 years to around 240,000. Last year, Dr Brotherton advised switching to badger vaccination but officials overruled him, leading to thousands more of the wild mammals being killed, including in two new areas of England. The science chief now says he has reviewed two new papers published since last year, and that they did not change his mind. In advice to Natural England's operations team, obtained by ecologist and badger expert Tom Langton and seen by The Independent, he wrote: 'Based on this evidence, my advice remains that I can find no justification for authorising further supplementary badger culls in 2025 for the purpose of preventing the spread of disease, and I recommend against doing so.' But Natural England, the government's nature adviser, is pushing ahead with supplementary cull licences in nine areas. Supplementary licences extend a formal cull – usually of four years – after it has ended. Dr Brotherton concluded that the expected benefit from four years of culling already carried out should last for two years without more culling. 'Recent progress also gives further confidence that badger vaccination is a practical alternative to badger culling, supported by cattle-based measures,' he wrote. Studies have shown that vaccination of cattle, if done over several years, can be effective, and the Conservatives pledged to phase out culling, replacing it with badger inoculations and better cattle testing. Critics have accused both Conservative and now the Labour government of continuing the cull to retain the votes of farmers, who say bTB forces them to kill infected cattle early. Mr Langton said new advice not to cull badgers was welcome and that Natural England's decision was a 'failed and cruel distraction that simply serves to push yet more farms into the misery' of cattle TB outbreaks. 'A policy due to end in 2038 has missed all its targets and will blight the UK beyond 2060 at a cost of £1billion per decade without fresh thinking.' Nigel Palmer, chief executive of the Badger Trust, said 95 per cent of bTB transmission was cattle-to-cattle. 'This decision is utterly indefensible,' he said. 'The government has chosen to authorise another year of badger culling in the face of a legal challenge, scientific opposition, and public outrage. They promised change, but instead, are doubling down on a failed policy that has decimated badger populations without effectively tackling bovine TB.' It's understood that official government plans on supplementary licences will be announced later.
