One of the easiest, cheapest and most visible means at new councillors’ disposal to prove that they are different, is to act like nature is a priority….because it should be! The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world and the simple truth is that if we wipe out invertebrates, we not […]
Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth is renowned for sand, rockpools and clean water – at least that’s what the locals and tourists expect to find when they visit. In recent years, however, would-be paddlers and swimmers at Gylly have been met by the products of a nearby Combined Sewage Overflow (CSO). These include everything you’d expect […]
People understand sewage. It stinks. So does the system that has allowed privatised water companies to make huge profits while failing to upgrade our sewage treatment system. Over the last eleven years the companies have paid out £16.8 billion in dividends while sewage discharges continue to be unacceptably high. Graphic pictures of raw sewage spilling […]
Dear Editor, Great to see that the CEO of the parent company of South West Water (SWW) has only earned 1.6m in the last year. I really can’t see how we expect her to manage on such a small amount!. She obviously doesn’t invest in hose pipe manufacturers. We have a hose pipe ban in […]
I was recently invited onto the board of trustees of an inclusive cycling charity called Wheels for Wellbeing, which is doing amazing work, changing attitudes and the road network, to make it safer for everyone who cycles, regardless of ability or disability. I had to go to London for a meeting with the other trustees; […]
Dear Editor, Some of your readers may have seen coverage of the protest by Just Stop Oil at Chelsea Flower Show. The Daily Mail reports a Conservative MP as responding: “When a very, very tiny minority is ruining the lives of other people, action needs to be taken.” The MP totally misses the irony of […]
If you are incensed by the water companies pumping sewage into our rivers, waterways and seas and bitterly resent the fact that WE, the consumer, will be paying for them to clean it up, then join a protest! The water companies have been making huge profits, which they have partially distributed to shareholders, and paying […]
In the most significant leap forward for all of those campaigning for public access to nature, the Labour front bench committed to replace a ‘default of exclusion [to the countryside and nature] with a default of access.’ Reacting to this news, Right to Roam campaigner, Guy Shrubsole, tweeted: Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas, […]
Not a single arrest of climate, ecological and societal crises protesters: a report from the front line at Extinction Rebellion’s (XR) United Action, April 2023 I and around 50 others from North Devon and Torridge attended the massive climate and ecological crisis event in London, on 20-24 April 2023. This report is from the XR […]
The Conservatives are now criminalising peaceful protesters for no more than demanding that we follow the science and stop drilling for new oil and gas. What are people supposed to do when their Government ignores the world’s scientific experts who say we are ‘firmly on track to an unlivable world’? Would you sit meekly on […]
Dear Editor, A recent video released by members of Insulate Britain has chilled me to the bone. Young people protesting our national lack of action on the climate emergency are not only on trial for causing disruption but are now also being arrested on charges of perverting the cause of justice for stating their […]
The CPRE (formerly the Council for the Protection of Rural England) seeks to protect our countryside and accepts that its biggest threat is from climate change. CPRE’s strategy on renewable energy forms an important part of its remit, but some have questioned whether its approach is being influenced by a CPRE membership that is often […]
The mystery of the Dartmoor Gift Pony! This one is all about who’s going to pay for the independent review of farming on Dartmoor. At the Dartmoor debate the other day, Geoffrey Cox (MP for Torridge and West Devon) could not have been clearer in his call for an independent reviewer to consider the current […]
Reading Tony Whitehead’s piece in West Country Voices (‘Failing nature on Dartmoor‘ ) exploring some of the realities behind the outpouring of protest from the farming industry and lurid claims that Natural England has a secret (and no doubt cunning) plan to “rewild” Dartmoor, has enthused me sufficiently to write a blog. I don’t intend […]
In a parallel universe, the Government’s update of its Net Zero Strategy (NZS) with a suite of new policies would have addressed the multiple flaws identified in Zero Hour’s Ambition Gap report. The hard-hitting report by the campaign behind the Climate & Ecology Bill, reviewed and endorsed by an array of top climate and nature […]
Thursday 30 March saw the first of a trumpeted series of open meeting events led by Anthony Mangnall MP to allow constituents the chance to “submit a question for South West Water”. After a media and public backlash over the dire state of Britain’s waterways and coasts, MPs have been scrambling to find a way […]
News broke on 26 March 2023 of ‘reservoir fluid,’ containing oil, leaking into an environmentally sensitive area for wildlife. The devastating impacts of the oil spill from the Wytch Farm site in Poole Harbour are unacceptable in a climate and ecological emergency – and heart-breaking for the many organisations and individuals involved in conservation work […]
Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to you in order to highlight what I perceive to be a greenwashing issue regarding the Somerset Levels. I was under the impression that following the Dutch N court case, the Somerset levels were protected from any additional phosphate discharge due to either their unfavourable condition or that they are […]
Funding to pilot a project involving the Lyme area community in the creation of the Great Big Dorset Hedge has been approved by Lyme Regis Town Council. Julie Leah from Charmouth, who is one of the coordinators of the project on behalf of Dorset Climate Action Network, said: ‘We really appreciate the Town Council’s support […]
Farming from the ground up – George Monbiot’s latest book puts food production under the microscope. It’s time to harvest the last of the main crop potatoes, but I have a dilemma. How do I get them out of the ground without disturbing the soil? I have been reading George Monbiot’s book: Regenesis. He devotes […]
More than 170 people from a total of 27 local organizations joined Extinction Rebellion North Devon (XRND) in Barnstaple on Saturday 28 January, to express their disgust and concerns about the polluted state of our rivers and coastline. The vibrant march, accompanied by a ‘sea serpent’ and local samba band, toured the town, stopping for […]
Local campaigners against the importing and dumping of sewage into the Exe estuary took a blue plaque to their MP Simon Jupp’s office in Exmouth on Saturday 28 January to highlight the shocking state of our bathing waters. ESCAPE (End Sewage Convoys And Poollution Exmouth), Transition Exmouth, Plastic Free Exmouth, Tidelines, Women Swimmin’ and TEDS swimming group joined […]
We are grateful to Guy Shrubsole for permission to reproduce this thread: If we’re to restore wild camping rights on Dartmoor, we need a new Right to Roam Act – and a government willing to pass it. New legislation is how we defend and extend public access to nature – anything less won’t cut it. […]
⚠️🚨Urgent update on the Retained EU Law Bill (REUL) from the RSPB England – help needed! This Bill, which is set to be debated by MPs tomorrow, January 18, threatens to repeal hundreds of vital wildlife-protection regulations by the end of 2023. It must be stopped. Here’s how you can help … The REUL Bill […]
The judge’s decision on the right to wild camp on Dartmoor has cause upset and outrage amongst walker, climbers, nature-lovers and Dartmoor-lovers from across the country. On Saturday, people will be coming together to protest the verdict. We predict that this will be a very big event indeed and we will be there. You must […]
A new farming documentary launches on 5 January 2023 at the Oxford Real Farming Conference, taking a ‘behind the headlines’ look at the claims around the climate impact of livestock farming – and what this means for Cornwall. Food for Thought – the latest film from charity Cornwall Climate Care (cornwallclimate.org) – is presented by organic farmer Lisa […]
Only 14 per cent of England’s rivers have good ecological status, and the government has just, incredibly, allowed itself another 36 years to clean things up. Yet all is not lost: local citizen scientists are joining together to save streams, brooks, and rivers, and to start action now. Vicky Whitworth shares a tale of hope […]
On December 11, 2022, with only a handful of days’ notice and on one of the coldest days of the oncoming winter, 400 people gathered for a rally to save access to Dartmoor for wild campers. They were the young and the old, locals and those who’d travelled considerable distances, wild campers and non-wild campers […]
The Shores of South Devon (SOSD) Marine Interest Life Association held an art and photography launch event on Friday 25 November at the Maltings Taphouse, Newton Abbot. The Exhibition features local intertidal marine life, recorded and photographed on south Devon shores over the last three years, in the geographical area between the River Exe and the River […]
‘Tis the approaching season of glitter, foil and glue! We all like a spot of sparkle but if anyone wants to indulge with twinkly bits of glitter and plastic bits and bobs on cards and wrapping paper, recipients of the aforementioned, just please don’t put them in the recycling box! Why not put a nice […]