The Aarhus Convention guarantees the public’s right to information about, and participation in environmental decision-making by public bodies.
As a member of the public, Fiona Hesselden attended the 29th January Pennine Prospects/Natural England Workshop on Working with National Character Areas : Profiles in Practice .
She reports on it here.
Continue readingBan the Burn! members and supporters might like to attend the free South Pennines National Character Area Profiles Workshop. This Pennine Prospects/Natural England workshop is about how the South Pennines Watershed Landscape Project has been influenced by Natural England’s update of the South Pennines National Character Area (NCA) profile.
The workshop takes place on Tuesday 29th January, 10am-2pm, at Hebden Bridge Town Hall. It is free, with lunch provided, and open to all, but you need to book in advance by emailing robin.gray@pennineprospects.co.uk or phoning 01422 847612, or 07582 101319.
Speakers include Nancy Stedman, Natural England Senior Adviser and Robin Gray, Watershed Landscape Project Manager Continue reading
The European Commission is to investigate the legality of Environmental Stewardship payments to Walshaw Moor Estate.
Hebden Bridge campaigners who want a ban on burning and draining blanket bog – a rare, priority protected habitat – are challenging the legality of a £2.5 million Environmental Stewardship Agreement (ESA) that Natural England has awarded the grouse-shooting Walshaw Moor Estate, part of the South Pennines Site of Special Scientific Interest and Natura 2000 site.
In Brussels on 10th January, Hebden Bridge resident Dongria Kondh asked Jean Francois Brakeland, head of the European Commission’s unit for enforcing EU environmental law in the UK, to investigate whether Natural England and the Defra Secretary of State acted unlawfully in deciding that Walshaw Moor Estate’s grouse shooting operations would not adversely affect the integrity of the protected moors.
Continue readingIn case anyone is interested in the details of information arising from the Environmental Information Regulations requests I have made to Natural England & the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in relation to Walshaw Moor Estate, here is the current EIR_Summary.
Information I have obtained through Environmental Information Regulations requests shows that Natural England’s 2012 environmental impact assessment of Walshaw Moor Estate’s grouse shooting operations appears not to pass a crucial legal test.
The assessment fails to show that no reasonable scientific doubt exists that Walshaw Moor Estate’s burning and draining of blanket bog (and other operations) will not damage the integrity of the protected conservation site. This calls into question the validity of the £2.5m Walshaw Moor Estate Environmental Stewardship Agreement, since the ESA is based on the Appropriate Assessment conclusion that WME’s operations will not have adverse effects on the integrity of the site.
Continue reading
Defra’s Triennial Review proposes to merge Natural England and the Environment Agency.
Defra is inviting anyone with an interest in Natural England and the Environment Agency to respond by 4th February 2013 to a discussion paper which proposes to merge the two agencies. This follows considerable cuts to Natural England’s funding in the Coalition government’s first Comprehensive Spending Review, and the removal of the agency’s power to make policy. The Coalition government has also already cut 27% of Environment Agency funding, stopping 294 planned flood prevention schemes from going ahead – including one at Walsden Water.
Continue reading
After six months of investigation, the RSPB has decided that Natural England has failed in its duties to enforce wildlife and habitat protection laws on Walshaw Moor Estate, and has asked the European Commission to step in.
Mike Clarke, RSPB chief executive, said
“The decision to lodge this complaint has not been taken lightly, but this is a vitally important issue which centres on the Government’s statutory duty to protect our natural environment.”
Caroline Lucas MP, who is a member of the Environmental Audit Committee, has emailed to say:
“Thank you for your email and comments about the Environmental Audit Committee’s wildlife crime inquiry. I am sorry that you did not feel the investigation was sufficiently rigorous and am happy to pass on your feedback to the Chair. I appreciate you getting in touch and sharing your concerns.”
In a post titled £2.5m uplands agreement seems to sidestep Burning Code, I asked why Natural England has given Walshaw Moor Estate an explicit exemption from the Heather and Grass Burning Code.
I’ve sent an Environmental Information Regulations request to Natural England, asking them why they have done this.
Round 1 – National England fails to answer my question
Continue reading
The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee took oral evidence on wildlife crime on Wednesday 16 May 2012, as part of its audit of “how effectively the Environment Agency and Natural England enforce laws about wildlife crime.”
From the transcript, the audit seems pretty lax. The MPs’ superficial questions failed to focus in adequate detail on whether Natural England has effectively enforced wildlife protection laws on Walshaw Moor Estate (WME).
As a result, the European Commission is the next port of call for organisations and individuals who want to investigate whether Natural England has acted unlawfully, in failing to provide adequate conservation protection to the Walshaw Moor Estate Site of Special Scientific Interest and Natura 2000 site.
Continue reading