24 Sep 2017

MCZs Mary Creagh, Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC), said: “The Government has not adequately responded to our concerns around Marine Protected Areas. Specifically, it has failed to outline a plan which addresses the delays in completing the Marine Conservation Zone network, continued to exclude reference areas from these Marine Conservation Zones, and taken […]

24 Sep 2017

MCCIP news: ‘The MCCIP website has recently been updated with new marine climate change news and events. Below is a brief summary of the new items that have been added. For more details on all of the items listed below, simply go to www.mccip.org.uk and go to the relevant links in the ‘news and events’ […]

24 Sep 2017

Thanks to Phil Williamson The new HoC Science & Technology Committee met and they agreed to publish a Defra response (of 18 July) to issues raised re the OA inquiry: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/science-technology/Correspondence/170718-Coffey-to-Lamb-Ocean-acidification.pdf.  That was in response to the Committee’s letter to Defra of 26 April: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/science-technology/Correspondence/Letter-toTh%c3%a9r%c3%a8se-Coffey-MP-ocean-acidification-26-04-17.pdf.   It is up to the new Committee to decided whether the Defra/government […]

22 Sep 2017

Towns and cities along Britain’s coastline set to benefit from thousands of new jobs and millions of pounds more in visitor spending. Towns and cities along Britain’s coastline are set to benefit from thousands of new jobs and millions of pounds more in visitor spending after the government announced the next round of the Coastal Communities Fund today […]

22 Sep 2017

I have been puzzled about the lack of information on the Dean Quarry EIA process – this response provides clarification. ‘Corrections to Dean Quarry article published 29th August  Shire Oak Quarries was disappointed by the article entitled ‘Seasearch report on Dean Quarry shines unfavourable light on earlier EIA’ published in CMS Marine News on 29th […]

22 Sep 2017

The following marine-related JNCC Reports have been published: Report 598 Monitoring guidance for marine benthic habitats Report 515 Physical Damage (Reversible Change) – Penetration and/or disturbance of the substrate below the surface of the seabed, including abrasion Report 601 Physical damage (Reversible Change) – Habitat structure changes – removal of substratum (extraction) Report 602 Review […]

19 Sep 2017

The Guardian reports on plans to release a beaver family to protect the homes of villagers in the Forest of Dean by damming waterways. Read the story here.

19 Sep 2017

Following a recent consultation, Defra has published its Strategic Policy Statement to Ofwat. Full details are available here, but some of the key points are: No substantive changes from the draft statement – the wording of some points / objectives has moved away from “Ofwat should work with” to be more challenging for both the […]