Latest news with #SheenaBrockie
BBC News
16-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Jersey gardening group's joy as polytunnel opens
A Jersey environmental group has opened a new polytunnel to extend its growing Jersey said the £12,000 project, which was partly funded by St Helier Youth and Community Trust, would allow them to offer indoor community gardening sessions all year not-for-profit organisation, which aims to encourage social engagement through gardening, added it had hopes to expand its infrastructure further in the near future with features such as a shaded space for the Brockie, who co-founded Grow, said it was a "phenomenal feeling" to see the polytunnel come to life. Ms Brockie added the tunnel - which is 55ft (16.7m) in length and 24ft (7.3m) wide - meant Grow would no longer have to cancel sessions during the winter due to poor weather."It means that we really mean business, but also it gives us an incredible space that we can use all seasons," Ms Brockie said. The introduction of the polytunnel has been welcomed by people who use Grow's services and their Rodgers said his son Bertie, who has autism, really enjoys the sessions hosted by Grow and had benefitted from them."Get him in a garden and he loves it," Mr Rodgers said."He uses more words now and he thinks things through."It's just so good that he joins in."
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Jersey trees need better protection, environmentalist says
An environmentalist wants politicians to introduce a tree protection law in Jersey, after videos of trees being cut down in St Martin were shared Brockie said she "felt sick" watching the videos of UK contractors working at Fliquet. The videos have since been removed from social environment minister has promised greater protection for the island's trees in future, but said the work was properly authorised and did not breach any planning or wildlife laws.A tree surgeon co-ordinating the project defended the work. He said the videos took efforts to restore land - after it was devastated by Storm Ciaran - out of context. The contractors have been approached for comment. Ms Brockie said she did not believe the work at Fliquet was a reforestation project. She said it looked like "every single piece of nature that lived on that land has been decimated completely"."It still makes me feel very anxious that this is allowed to happen," she said it was an example of what could happen to trees in Jersey without tighter 2024, efforts to introduce a tree protection law were scrapped by the States Assembly, following criticism that the proposals were too strict. Joel Freire was the Jersey tree surgeon who co-ordinated the work at Fliquet. He said it was a shame the videos had been received "in the wrong way" by the public, although he sympathised with some of the said the UK contractors were hired to carry out the toughest parts of the job and the work shown in the video was removal of unsafe trees and mulching of vegetation to eradicate invasive said: "What the client's done has restored an amazing part of Jersey and left it to recover."It wasn't that it was for development or anything like that, it was purely to reinstate it as it should be." Mr Freire said, for the most part, the island has many measures in place to make sure trees are looked after, such as wildlife trigger lists required under the wildlife law. He said politicians did not need to introduce any new laws, but they did need to sufficiently maintain and implement the island's protected tree register and communicate better with the industry."I think if there was a stronger relationship between government and the tree industry, there'd be much more protection," he added. Environment minister Deputy Steve Luce said officers from three different government departments had investigated the work at Fliquet and were satisfied the owners and contractors had operated within the island's said: "The owner, I think, has acted properly. He's put everything in place that he needed to do. "I'm sure he's got a plan moving forward and I'm sure in a number of years' time it will look beautiful again." He said he was expanding the members on the States' tree advisory board and asking them to come up with new plans to further protect trees in said the tree listing process was currently "a bit clunky" as it did not work particularly quickly and did not have enough trees on he said he wanted to find a different solution to the previous tree law proposals that would have required the removal of "just about every tree" on the island to have a planning application. Chair of the environment scrutiny panel Deputy Hilary Jeune said she wanted ministerial work to protect Jersey trees completed as quickly as possible, preferably before the end of the current political said until the work was finished, trees were not being protected as well as they should be."There could be some irreversible damage done to trees right now," she urged the minister to learn lessons from the previous tree protection legislation and to be as thorough as possible going forward.
ITV News
07-07-2025
- Politics
- ITV News
Investigation underway after environmentalists 'sickened' by tree felling video in Jersey
A video of woodland being felled in Jersey has sparked outrage from environmentalists and calls for better legal protections. An investigation is underway to see if the felling of woodland on private land in Jersey was lawful. It comes after a video was shared on social media of trees being cut down at a property in Fliquet, which has since been removed. The island's former Climate Change Minister and Chair of Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel, Deputy Hilary Jeune, told ITV News: "My first response is aghast at how aggressive it is, including with the music over the top - it seemed to be promoting it as a really a good thing, that there were big machines scouring the earth and taking away not only the trees but any wildlife has completely gone. "As an environmentalist, I felt completely sickened by it." She added that this is not the first case of it's kind and "the risk has always been there, and been brought up many times." The Infrastructure and Environment Department have said they need to "discover the facts of the case and see if there have been any breaches under any relevant laws - before any action can be taken." In Jersey, there are no laws explicitly preventing the felling of woodland in these kinds of areas if they are on private land. People can apply to the Planning Department to protect individual trees, but due to the length of the process, very few trees are actually were attempts to tighten tree protections by the previous States Assembly but these have since been withdrawn. Jersey's Wildlife Law protects nesting birds as well as many trees and plants. Planning permission is also required for the removal of some trees. Environmentalist, Sheena Brockie, says the protecting biodiversity on the island is crucial. "Granted there was damage from Storm Ciarán, however there was still standing trees, standing deadwood's really important. "The fact that every single blade of grass, every single shrub, the majority of trees - they're covered in ivy and those kind of trees support so much wildlife. "The soil biodiversity, the birds that depend on it, the bats that depend on it - these are protected under the legislation."The Environment Minister, Deputy Steve Luce, added the islands greenery needs to be looked after. "I see sites that are developed and trees are still being felled where I feel that's unnecessary and consequently, since I've been minister we've formed a tree advisory board and that group of people are coming forward with certain recommendations about varieties we might want to grow in the future, and about protection." ITV News Channel tried to speak to people inside the property, but no one would are now carrying out an investigation to see if there has been any breaches of the law.
