Latest news with #DepartmentForEnvironment
BBC News
03-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Kirklees Council set to lift air pollution zones in Birkenshaw and Ravensthorpe
Measures to tackle pollution in three West Yorkshire areas are set to be lifted after improvements in air quality were recorded. Kirklees Council put 10 air quality management areas (AQMAs) in place between 2008 and 2019 in a bid to tackle rising pollution. The AQMAs require local authorities to monitor air quality and improve councillors will review proposals to revoke three of those, in Cooper Bridge and Bradley on the A62, Birkenshaw and part of Ravensthorpe at a meeting on 8 July. Another three areas at Ainley Top, Liversedge and Thornton Lodge are expected to be amended to cover smaller remaining four, in Huddersfield town centre, Eastborough, Edgerton and Outlane, are likely to be retained. The local authority said the recommendations followed consultation with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and councillors in the areas affected. A "continued reduction" in roadside air pollution had driven the proposed changes, the council added. 'Healthier lives' The only yearly increase since 2017 had been in 2021 when lockdown restrictions ended and traffic returned to the roads, according to a report going before councillors. The AQMA for Cooper Bridge and Bradley, along part of the A62 Leeds Road between Huddersfield and Mirfield, was first imposed in 2008. Similar measures were then put in place for Scouthill in Ravensthorpe the following year, before Birkenshaw was made an AQMA in Beverley Addy, cabinet member for public health, said: "This is fantastic news for Kirklees. "Cleaner air brings real benefits to everyone, especially to young children and those with health conditions. "The fact that we're seeing such improvements really does mean people will live healthier lives." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
19-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Heckmondwike and Marsden gum problem targeted by £26k grant
Efforts to tackle the problem of chewing gum stuck to pavements in two West Yorkshire towns have been boosted with the award of a £26,450 clean-up money from the Chewing Gum Task Force would be spent on a one-off deep clean in Heckmondwike and Marsden town centres, according to Kirklees task force was established by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and is run by the Keep Britain Tidy charity, but is funded by chewing gum manufacturers. Last year, a total of 16,503 pieces of gum litter were removed from streets in Huddersfield and Dewsbury following a £25,500 investment from the task force. Kirklees Council is one of 52 local authorities across the country which successfully applied for a grant this year to help efforts to clean chewing gum off pavements. 'Think twice' Councillor Tyler Hawkins, cabinet member for highways and waste, said: "We are delighted to have been awarded further funding to help us tackle the problem of gum litter across our towns and villages in Kirklees."Removing chewing gum litter will get these areas looking their best and complement our ongoing programme of regeneration work within our town centres. "With this clean-up and new signage, we hope it will make potential litterbugs think twice and help keep our home tidy."According to Keep Britain Tidy, about 77% of England's streets and 99% of retail sites are stained with gum, while estimates have suggested the annual cost to UK councils of cleaning up chewing gum litter is about £ Ogden-Newton, Keep Britain Tidy's chief executive, said: "People need to remember that disposing irresponsibly of their gum causes harm to our environment as it takes years to decompose naturally – and, ultimately, costs the public purse to clean it up."Figures from Behaviour Change – a not-for-profit social enterprise – have shown that in areas which benefited from the first and second year of Chewing Gum Task Force funding, gum littering dropped by up to 80% in the first two months, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reductions were still being observed six months after targeted street cleansing and the installation of specially designed signage to encourage people to bin their gum. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
The Sun
11-06-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Bird flu outbreak spreads to farm in new UK region as chickens set to be culled & study finds chilling virus feature
BIRD flu has been detected in a Yorkshire farm, it's been announced. A case of the H5N1 bird flu in was found in poultry in West Yorkshire. 3 3 The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "All poultry on the premises will be humanely culled." A 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone has been declared around the site near Ravensthorpe, Kirklees. It comes after a new animal study from the US Centres for Disease Control found that bird flu is capable of spreading through the air. In January, a bird flu outbreak was found at another farm in England, and experts feared the virus is one mutation from becoming pandemic. The government said all poultry on the infected site, in East Yorkshire, was humanely culled after a strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus was detected. It was the 16th outbreak of the HPAI H5N1 strain in kept birds in 2024, according to the Nation Farmers Union (NFU) AI tracker. In December, the virus was found on Turkey farms in Norfolk, which led to the culling of thousands of birds just days before Christmas. Bird flu, or avian influenza, has killed millions of birds worldwide. The highly contagious bug is now spreading to mammals, raising fears it could trigger another pandemic through potential human-to-human transmission. In December, an animal sanctuary in Shelton, Washington, announced that twenty exotic cats, including a Bengal tiger, four cougars, a lynx and four bobcats, have died after contracting bird flu. So far, there is no evidence that H5N1 can spread between humans. But this increase in transmission gives the virus lots of opportunities to mutate - a process where a pathogen changes and can become more dangerous. Experts from the US recently discovered H5N1 is already just one mutation away from developing the ability to transmit person-to-person. Scientists at Scripps Research in San Diego tested various genetic mutations on virus material from infected cattle. They found that the Q226L mutation enhanced the virus's ability to attach to human-like cell receptors, giving bird flu the potential to behave like other human flu viruses. A recent case of bird flu suggests the virus might have already mutated to better spread among humans. The case, spotted this month in a hospitalised Louisiana man, is the first "severe" bird flu case in the US, amid its rapid spread through cows this year. Tests show the case involved a mutated version of H5N1 that helps it bind to human upper respiratory cells. This could make it easier to spread between people through coughing or sneezing, raising concerns the virus is adapting to infect humans more effectively. Bird flu viruses do not typically bind to a cell receptor in human upper airways, which helps explain why H5N1 rarely infects people or spreads between them. Bird flu is spread by close contact with an affected bird. This includes touching or petting an infected bird, touching droppings or bedding, or killing or preparing infected poultry for cooking. However, bird flu cannot be caught through eating fully cooked poultry or eggs, even in areas with an outbreak of bird flu. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the human risk remains low, but urges countries to share information quickly for monitoring and preparedness as the virus spreads. Bird flu: Could it be the next human pandemic? By Isabel Shaw, Health Reporter The H5N1 bird flu is running rampant in wildlife around the world and is now spreading in cows. In recent months, it infected people in Canada and the US leaving them severely unwell. This increase in transmission has given the virus lots of opportunities to mutate - a process where a pathogen changes and can become more dangerous. Scientists fear it's only a matter of time before one of these mutations makes it better at spreading among mammals - and potentially humans. Experts recently discovered that H5N1 is already just one mutation away from developing the ability to transmit person-to-person communication. Some experts believe the virus could already be spreading among some animal species. So far, there is no evidence that H5N1 can spread between humans. But in the hundreds of cases where humans have been infected through contact with animals over the past 20 years, the mortality rate is high. From 2003 to 2024, 889 cases and 463 deaths caused by H5N1 have been reported worldwide from 23 countries, according to the World Health Organisation. This puts the case fatality rate at 52 per cent. Leading scientists have already warned an influenza is the pathogen most likely to trigger a new pandemic in the near future. The prospect of a flu pandemic is alarming. Although scientists have pointed out that vaccines against many strains, including H5N1, have already been developed, others are still in the pipeline.
Reuters
11-06-2025
- Health
- Reuters
UK confirms case of bird flu in poultry in northern England
LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) - Britain has detected a case of the H5N1 bird flu in poultry in West Yorkshire, northern England, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said on Wednesday. "All poultry on the premises will be humanely culled," a notice on the department's website said.
BBC News
03-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Thames Water should be put in administration, MP says
An MP has called for Thames Water to be put into administration after a US firm pulled out of a deal to buy the struggling utilities company. Lib Dem Charlie Maynard, who represents Witney in Oxfordshire, said the government had a "big problem" after private equity giant KKR withdrew from a £4bn deal. Maynard had previously argued against a £3bn rescue deal for Thames Water, but an appeal against it was dismissed in March. Thames Water has called news of the failed bid "disappointing" but said it would proceed to work with other potential investors. Speaking to BBC Radio Oxford, Maynard said the government would now be "scrambling to try and fix" the situation. He renewed his calls from earlier in the year that the company should be put into government-supervised administration. "They should be in bankruptcy, because you can't deal with this enormous amount of debt... you've got to cut it down into something sustainable."He added: "The government is just doing anything it can to not do the fundamental thing that will actually fix it." Maynard said he was considering taking his case for putting the company into special administration to the Supreme Court. The government has previously said it is ready to take over Thames Water in the event that it cannot continue to Thames Water and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have been contacted for comment. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
