Phil Redmond, Suzanne
Hughes, Communications Manager and Tony
Dean, Regional Director both from the Environment
Agency, Julie Lau & Tara Cook from North
West Vision and Media, Martin Dixon from
post production company 422, Simon Lewis,
Director from the Gate Films, Karl Sanderson
from advertising agency Vivid, ,Jessica
Smith, the North West’s Young Climate Change
Champion.
Climate change, flooding
and water resources.
Climate change is the biggest threat to
our future. Already the first years of this
century, floods, storms and droughts have
shown how vulnerable we are to the weather,
and the devastation it can cause.
We have to manage the
use of water maintain supplies and protect
the environment, while encouraging sustainable
development. Reducing water wastage means
more than just saving water, it protects
the environment and saves energy too, reducing
carbon emissions and helping to fight climate
change.
Flood risk is often
overlooked by those who are at risk of flooding.
Just 15cm of fast flowing water can knock
an adult of their feet, 60cm will float
a car, and 90cm in an average house can
cause up to GBP 30,000 of damage. It is
time to prepare.
Environment Agency suggest
solution to swan pollution at Dawlish
The Environment Agency
has reassured Dawlish Town Council that
it will not require expensive improvements
to the duck and swan enclosure.
The Environment Agency
has reassured Dawlish Town Council that
it will not require expensive improvements
to the duck and swan enclosure provided
certain conditions are met and there is
no substantial change to the use of the
enclosure.
Following extensive discussion with Dawlish
Town Council and South West Water Limited
the Environment Agency is happy for Dawlish
Town Council to continue to make a surface
water discharge from the wildfowl enclosure
providing sewage and dirty water was separated
out and treated by South West Water Limited.
The Agency will also require that all clean
roof water be kept separate from contamination
from the wildfowl enclosure and the total
volume of water extracted from the Dawlish
Water is no more than 19.9 m3 per day.
There were concerns that the seaside town
could lose its famous black swans after
Environment Agency tests revealed a high
presence of bacterial in water flowing from
the wildfowl compound into the sea.
Following investigations by Environment
Agency Officers it was revealed that the
town council did not have a proper disposal
system to deal with water flowing from the
pond in the Brunswick Place enclosure.
It was advised that the water must be treated
to a specified standard before returning
it to the brook.
The Environment Agency has worked closely
with the town council and South West Water
Limited to come up with an action plan to
reduce the level of bacteria so as to improve
the overall quality of the Dawlish Water
whilst protecting the long term future of
the black swans.
‘The Environment Agency will continue to
monitor the discharge from the site to ensure
there is no significant adverse impact on
either the Dawlish Water or the quality
of the nearby bathing beach,’ said Richard
Tugwell from the Environment Agency.
‘However, if the Aviary is the cause of
any future water quality failures on the
bathing beach we will review the decision.’
The Environment Agency has suggested to
Dawlish Council that it should carry out
its own sampling of the discharge from the
wildfowl enclosure to ensure it is not detrimentally
affecting the water quality at Dawlish Water
or other bathing beaches.
New team to crack down on environmental
crime in Cambridgeshire
The team, based in Ely and Brampton, will
investigate environmental crimes such as
illegal scrap yard operations and other
unlicensed waste sites as well as other
cases of serious environmental crime.
Time is running out
for individuals and businesses who commit
environmental crimes.
That is the message
from the Environment Agency as it sets up
a new Environmental Crime Team.
Once formed and fully
functioning, the team will include dedicated
crime investigation officers, an intelligence
officer and a technical surveillance officer.
Prior to the creation of the new team, one
team served a large area extending from
the Humber down to Essex. Now the Environment
Agency has three teams covering the region.
This move creates a team dedicated to an
area from Milton Keynes and Bedford in the
south, through to Cambridge and Bury St
Edmunds, right up to King’s Lynn in the
north.
Phil Henderson, Environmental
Crime Team Leader, said: “It had been felt
for some time that the geographical area
covered was too large and the number of
officers too small.
“The fact the team now
deals with a more focussed patch coupled
with an increase in our resource is good
news for the environment but bad news for
those criminals who think they can get away
with committing serious environmental offences.
“The creation of our
new team ties in with the Environment Agency
moving nationally towards and intelligence-led
approach to enforcement. We are now using
intelligence and crime analysis to identify
patterns, trends and hotspots so we can
target environmental crime in a proactive
way rather than the more traditional reactive
response.”
Phil added: “This will
enable us to deploy our resources more effectively
and address the ‘big, bad and nasty’ crimes.
“Once word gets out
we are investigating, hopefully we will
be able to prevent these crimes being committed
in the first place.”
Environment Agency calls
on views about landfill odour
Micklefield residents are invited to attend
a community event to discuss odour problems
from a local landfill.
The Environment Agency,
which is responsible for the regulation
of landfills across the country, has experienced
a large number of complaints in recent months
from residents across Micklefield about
Peckfield landfill.
It is holding a drop-in
session on Monday 11 May from 2pm until
9pm at Micklefield Youth and Adult Centre
on Great North Road, LS25 4AF. Staff from
the Environment Agency, and Caird Bardon
Ltd, the operators of Peckfield landfill,
will be at the event to answer any questions.
Residents have also been invited to keep
odour diaries so that the Environment Agency
can get further information as to when and
where offensive odours happen. Odour diaries
were recently sent to local residents to
capture useful information about their experiences
and the results will be available at event.
Environment Agency regulatory
officer Max Folkett said: “This is an opportunity
for residents to find out more about how
we are tackling odour problems at Micklefield.
The odour diaries that residents are keeping
will really help with our monitoring of
the site, and to decide what changes need
to be made.”
The Environment Agency
has been working with Caird Bardon Ltd over
recent months to see how the odour problems
can be stopped. The company made improvements
to Peckfield landfill site in 2008, then
again last month, but they are still receiving
some complaints. They are now checking how
well these improvements have worked to see
what more needs to be done.
More information about
the completed and proposed improvements
will be available at the event.
Micklefield residents
who experience significant odour problems
from the site can report them to the Environment
Agency
Environment Agency boosts
angling
The Environment Agency is sending a local
angling guide to over 1.3 million people
in England and Wales to help boost angling.
Local angling guides
sent to all rod licence holders
The Environment Agency is sending a local
angling guide to over 1.3 million people
in England and Wales to help boost angling.
The guide, paper or electronic, will be
sent to everyone in Eastern England who
bought a rod licence last year. They will
arrive before the first May bank holiday.
Those who bought their licence online will
be sent an email with links to the internet
angling guides. Others will be sent a local
guide for their area.
Roger Handford, Regional
Fisheries Specialist with the Environment
Agency said “The guide acts both as a prompt
to go fishing and reminder to buy a licence.
It addresses one of the major barriers to
participation identified by our research,
namely the lack of information on local
angling opportunities”.
He added “It should
help not only to retain past licence holders
but also, indirectly, to encourage their
family and friends to go fishing. Most people
are introduced to angling by other anglers”.
The new look A5 size
guides, designed to fit into tackle bags,
contain important information on the new
rod licence and an inspirational article
on 'Catching the impossible'.
Detailed maps and directories
show the different types of fishing available
in the area and locations of local tackle
shops.
A covering letter from
Mat Crocker, The Environment Agency’s Head
of Fisheries, reminds last year's licence
holders to renew their new-look licence
and be entered into a prize draw to win
.We’ve teamed up with film-maker Hugh Miles
to give away 40 of the new DVDs free in
our prize draw. To make them really special
each copy will be signed by Hugh and stars
Martin Bowler and Bernard Cribbins.
Tidal flooding emergency
brings testing times for Environment Agency
Imagine the scene: A strong north east wind
is blowing, waves are pounding the tidal
defences, the highest tide of the season
is imminent - and vandals have damaged vital
parts of the flood defences.
