CMS News Archive
Six seaside projects that will create vital new jobs and local enterprises are the first to receive Government backing to help their coastal town prosper, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles announced today. The £24million Coastal Communities Fund was launched earlier this year to provide coastal towns with money to help pay for projects that can transform and diversify seaside economies. The successful first round winners and their fund allocation are:
• Barrow in Furness - £900,000 to support the 'Unleashing Growth in Coastal Furness' initiative which aims to create 275 full-time jobs and more than 85 part time jobs;
• Bournemouth Borough Council - £2million over two years to create Europe's first National Coastal Tourism Academy (NCTA). They will also use funds for activities including support for coastal tourism businesses, a resort wide customer care programme and coastal tourism research and development. The project aims to create 165 tourism jobs over three years in Bournemouth and 2,100 nationwide;
• National Lobster Hatchery, Padstow, Cornwall - £150,500 to provide four new jobs and 15 training and volunteering opportunities at this social enterprise which maintains and develops the stock of a commercial species of lobster and runs a visitor centre which promotes sustainable and responsible marine management.
• RAK Maritime Project in East Anglia - £757,000 to provide maritime training to 63 young people each year over two years to support the renewable energy industry in East Anglia.
• South East Food Group Partnership - £25,000 from their £80,000 bid to support the in-shore fisheries industry of South East England under the name 'Local Fish for Local People'. The project will create 15 full-time sales posts for fishermen or family members.
• Suffolk County Council - £762,000 to create 200 new employer-led apprenticeships to develop skills needed in the low carbon energy sector in coastal communities in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.
On 23 July 2012, the Government (HM Treasury) published a report Smoothing Investment Cycles in the Water Sector. The effects of cyclical investment are most acutely felt in the water sector but are also observed in rail, electricity, gas and roads investment. The Government is seeking to understand the causes of cyclicality in the delivery of the UK’s infrastructure and to take action to mitigate its impact - reducing cost to the taxpayer and consumers; and promoting growth and sustainability in the supply chain. In meeting this commitment the Government has published its analysis and recommendations to resolve the longstanding issues of cyclicality in the water sector. The report has been produced by Infrastructure UK (part of HM Treasury) in collaboration with Ofwat and the water industry. The report sets out a number of recommendations to improve certainty, productivity and value for money; and to reduce the regular round of significant redundancies in the sector. If the recommendations are implemented in full they could reduce the average customer water and sewage bills by 2% per cent, saving £6.50 on average annual bills; saving the water industry £600m every five years; and prevent up 40,000 job losses over the next five years. Government, the regulators, water companies and the industry will all need to take action and view risks differently if money and jobs are to be saved. This autumn Ofwat will publish its “Future Price Limits” consultation which will examine how these recommendations can be adopted, and set out the future process for price reviews.
Consultation end: 30 October 2012 Views are sought on draft guidance on the application of article 6(4) of the Habitats Directive. Article 6(4) allows plans or projects which may have an adverse effect on the integrity of a European site to go ahead on grounds of “imperative reasons of overriding public interest” (IROPI) when there are no alternative solutions and compensatory measures have been secured. In particular, views are sought on: The overall approach to allowing plans or projects to go ahead on grounds of IROPI - The relationship between alternative solutions and IROPI - The definition of IROPI - Compensatory measures
http://www.defra.gov.uk/consult/2012/08/07/habitats-directive-iropi/
The Water Security Knowledge Exchange Programme (WSKEP) is a long-term initiative funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). The aim is to accelerate the uptake of research and help inform the direction of future science to ensure sustainable use of our water in the future. NERC-funded research produces knowledge, expertise and skills that can provide significant benefits for the environment, for the economy and for the general well-being of society. Knowledge exchange (KE) plays an important role in delivering these benefits. The overarching purpose of the KE programmes is to accelerate the uptake of research and help inform the direction of future science. To read more go to:
Sea Angling 2012 is a new government-sponsored project to provide data on recreational sea angling that can help improve the scientific understanding of fish stocks off our coast, as well as ensuring that the needs of sea angling can be represented as effectively as possible in future marine policy development. The data collected will enable national and local policy makers to make informed decisions on fisheries management, and provide the sea angling community with information to help them develop their own views and policies. This will benefit anglers and businesses while helping to conserve and improve fish stocks by ensuring management decisions are based on the best possible scientific data. To read more go to:
Understanding, communicating and celebrating marine adaptation work in the British Isles. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in the UK, such as floods and heat waves, and businesses and organisations are already responding to the challenges that climate change presents. To share knowledge, experiences and achievements, and in order to promote appropriate responses, MCCIP has launched Climate Smart Working. This aims to bridge the gap between our knowledge of marine and coastal climate change impacts and the capacity of organisations to respond. A general overview of Climate Smart Working is provided in the downloadable thumbnail to the right. As a first stage in this process, we have drawn together examples of adaptation, ranging from the global to local scale, to help share best practice amongst the marine and coastal stakeholder community. The link below will be regularly updated to provide a useful first port of call for organisations wanting to understand how others are approaching adaptation.
Arctic sea ice extent declined quickly in July, continuing the pattern seen in June. On August 1, ice extent was just below levels recorded for the same date in 2007, the year that saw the record minimum ice extent in September. Low sea ice concentrations are present over large parts of the western Arctic Ocean. Warm conditions dominated the weather for most of the Arctic Ocean and surrounding lands. For a brief period in early July, nearly all of the Greenland ice sheet experienced surface melt, a rare event.
Developing new indicators With cross-government responsibility for sustainable development, Defra has reported on sustainable development indicators since 1992. Defra is building on this extensive experience, drawing particularly on the set published annually since 2005, while taking account of new priorities, new visions and other national and international initiatives. While the previous sustainable development indicator set had 68 indicators, the proposed new set has been streamlined and consists of 12 headline indicators and 25 supplementary indicators, covering the economy, society and environment. The indicators will be supplemented by periodic policy-specific indicator reports. To read more:
Environment Minister, John Griffiths, has announced the appointment of Professor Peter Matthews as Chair of the Welsh Government’s new body for managing natural resources in Wales. The appointment will take effect from 1 August. To read more:
http://wales.gov.uk/newsroom/environmentandcountryside/2012/120801appointmentofchair/?lang=en
The European Commission wants to tighten its oversight of deep-sea habitat, proposing yesterday to phase out deep-sea trawling, reduce discards of unwanted fish, and implement scientific quotas for fishing. "If you want to take deep-sea fish, you have to do it in a sustainable manner," says Oliver Drewes, a commission spokesperson for maritime affairs and fisheries. Only 1% of fish caught in the Northeast Atlantic come from the deep sea, including species such as black scabbard and red sea bream. The amounts aren't huge—34 tons in 2008—compared to more fecund, faster growing fish in shallower waters, but they have been declining due to overfishing. Worse, the methods used to catch them are particularly destructive of fragile deep-sea habitat, which includes slow-growing coral reefs thousands of years old. There's other collateral damage, too: Trawling and bottom-set gillnets (which are left on the seafloor and then hauled up) can contain up to 20% "bycatch" of unwanted species, such as deepwater sharks. The commission's proposal is part of a larger effort to improve the management and health of European fisheries. It was also inspired by calls by the United Nations General Assembly over the past decade to protect deep-sea habitat in international waters. The proposal would phase out licenses for deep-sea trawling 2 years after the regulation is approved, require strict quotas for deep-sea species that lack solid scientific data on the size of populations, and require impact assessments for opening new areas to deep-sea bottom fishing. It would apply to all the economic exclusive zones of EU countries and international waters of the Northeast Atlantic.
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/07/european-commission-proposes-pro.html
Standard Rules for the Environmental Permitting Regulations – Consultation No.8
The Environment Agency are seeking your views on some new and revised sets of standard rules and generic risk assessments in relation to activities that will become installations under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and also to some activities that are waste operations and water discharges. Before we can introduce any new or revised standard rules for a particular activity, we must consult on our proposed revisions and this is the eighth such consultation. This is your opportunity to influence the standard rules and generic risk assessments.
https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/portal/ho/ep/src/rules8
In this issue you can read about - CFP reform progress - Pilot community quota groups - ICES scientific advice - Shellfish science - News from the Marine Management Organisation on marine planning - EFF funding and Lyme Bay management measures
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/marine/wwo/fishing-focus/
This issue of the Marine Planning Newsletter includes: South coast announced as the next areas for marine planning - New marine plan area boundaries - Options workshops held in Norwich and Hull- Planning timeline update - Seascape character area assessment published - MCZ data available on Marine Planning Portal - New evidence to be published to support marine planning - Marine Planning ‘Out and About’ Diary
http://www.marinemanagement.org.uk/marineplanning/news/newsletter9.htm
Scientists often assume that simply by providing science that users will somehow absorb the information and go on to make wise decisions. The reality is, of course, rather different and this considered report looks at how the UKCP09 projections for climate change have been assessed by the user community.
http://www.ukcip.org.uk/wordpress/wp-content/PDFs/UKCP09-user-engagement.pdf
The latest newsletter includes study reports on: Pollution, ocean temperature and ‘natural’ disasters - Success for world-first experiment to study the effects of a leak from CCS storage site - Climate Change: Biodiversity and People on the Front Line - Engaging users to deliver UKCP09 projections – paper from UKCIP - Marine Protected Areas Not Effective Against Climate Change
The Times recently reported the increased costs of new nuclear stations. ‘The U.K. unit of French state-controlled Electricite de France SA (EDF) has increased by 40% the estimated costs of its new-build nuclear power plants in the U.K., The Times reports Monday. EDF is heading one of two consortia planning new nuclear power stations in the U.K., following the withdrawal in March of Germany's RWE AG and E.ON AG. The U.K. government has backed the construction of nuclear plants in an effort to keep the lights on while meeting targets to reduce environmentally-damaging emissions. The cost of two new reactors at Hinkley Point, in southwest England, is now estimated to be around GBP7 billion each, based on EDF's experience of building a new plant at Flamanville, France, The Times says, without citing sources. The U.K. newspaper says EDF Energy has briefed Centrica PLC its partner in the project--about the rising costs, which the report says increases the likelihood of the U.K. company withdrawing from the joint venture, for which it is liable for one-fifth of the costs. Last week, EDF Energy's Chief Executive Vincent de Rivaz said the company is likely to press ahead with its plans in the U.K.
http://www.4-traders.com/EDF-4998/news/EDF-Sees-UK-New-Nuclear-Costs-Rising-By-40-Report-14314952/
Please see following and take the requested actions to try and help secure Skomer MNR as an HPMCZ. Please do sign the e-petition here:
https://www.assemblywales.org/epetition-list-of-signatories.htm?pet_id=776
More than 2,000 miles of historic canals and rivers across England and Wales are being handed over to the Canal & River Trust today in a move to get communities more involved in their local waterways. The new charity, whose Patron is the Prince of Wales, will give the 10 million people who visit and love the waterways a greater role in making them cleaner and more beautiful than ever. To mark its launch, the Trust has unveiled its first appeal, 50 projects across the nation that will breathe new life into towpaths and riverbanks. By pledging money or time people can get involved in projects such as creating new habitat for rare water voles, planting linear orchards for people and wildlife, and restoring neglected towpaths. The Canal & River Trust takes over from British Waterways and The Waterways Trust in England and Wales and represents a completely new approach to caring for the country’s waterways. The move, part of the Public Bodies Reform programme, is the largest single transfer of a public body into the charitable sector.
The Trust aims to build upon the public passion for the nation’s canals which rescued them from dereliction and decline in the last century, through increased fundraising, volunteering and community involvement. Defra is helping the new charity get off to a great start by committing to a landmark, 15-year grant funding agreement as the bedrock to help the Trust maintain its waterways. In addition, the Trust is funded through commercial income including money from its waterside property dowry, boat licences and moorings. Every penny donated by the public to the Trust will be spent directly on conserving, restoring, and enhancing the waterways. Too read more:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2012/07/12/canal-river-trust-launch/
The Environment Agency have just published the first consultation on how we will update the river basin management plans (RBMPs) in 2015. The “Working Together” consultation seeks views on how we can work with you to develop, over the next three years, ambitious and sustainable plans to protect and improve the water environment for the benefit of communities, businesses and wildlife. This consultation is important as we want to involve others as much as possible in the planning process and in the actions in the river basin management plans. The final plans are for everyone, and everyone can contribute. The formal closing date for your response is 22 December 2012 but to help us make the most of your comments we would appreciate having them from you as early as possible. Please also help us to spread the word by including details of this consultation in your regular communications to your staff/members and external networks. We can also accept hardcopy responses. For a printed version of the document, please call NCCC number - 03708 506 506 , or email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk .
https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/portal/ho/wfd/working/together2012
The MCZ Project Newsletter is designed to keep stakeholders up-to-date with the work of the Marine Conservation Zone Project through to designation. This update covers - Natural England and JNCC submit their advice to Defra on recommended Marine Conservation Zones - What does the Advice say: A snapshot - Advice on the regional MCZ project recommendations - Advice on the confidence we have in the evidence for recommended MCZs- The ecological contribution of recommended MCZs- Advice on prioritising designation and recommended MCZs most at risk - Reference areas - How the Advice will be used - Can I comment on the Advice - Next steps
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