22 Feb 2016

Plas Newydd Marine Source Heat Pump Ed Bartlett has provided this really useful example of the way the National Trust are piloting alternative ways of managing the heating of their properties. This 300kw heat pump system uses seawater to help heat one of their coastal properties. Contact Ed for more information. ed.bartlett@nationaltrust.org.uk t:   01793 817826 […]

16 Feb 2016

A blog by Sandra Ryan reflects on the dilemma of drought planning when flooding is on the front pages.  A new horizon in water resource management planning. Changes to the Water resource management Plan guideline: great flexibility, or more complication? Managing water in the UK is a juggling act. Devastating floods grab our attention and […]

16 Feb 2016

Susdrain is a really important network promoting sustainable drainage – sign up for it here 1.  Scottish SuDS working party publishes new guidance The Sustainable Urban Drainage Scottish Working Party (SUDSWP) has published the Water Assessment and Drainage Assessment Guide. The new guidance is intended to help guide those involved in the installation of water and […]

16 Feb 2016

Sheep dip: groundwater protection code Defra: Sheep dip is a hazardous substance – follow this code to reduce the risk of groundwater pollution when you use, store and dispose of dip. Groundwater lies below the surface of the ground. If you carelessly use or release toxic sheep dip on your land it could pollute groundwater. […]

16 Feb 2016

Defra has today published a report by Eunomia on a pilot Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) project undertaken from 2014 – 2015 in the West of England. The project – one of five funded by Defra under its third round of PES Pilot projects – investigated the potential of changes in land management to tackle […]

16 Feb 2016

South West Water looks to Rezatec to provide satellite-derived data analytics to understand location, structure and function of peatland on Bodmin Moor  Harwell, Oxfordshire, 9th February 2016 – For South West Water and the Mires Partnership on Exmoor understanding the underlying peatland structure and integrity is crucial for restoration planning. Rezatec has been using cutting […]

15 Feb 2016

Question marks have been growing about the Swansea tidal lagoon project since the summer. DECC announced that it was conducting a further value for money study. Conspicuously, even though there is considerable Chinese backing for the Swansea lagoon project there was no obvious mention of it during the state visit by China’s leader Xi Jinping […]

15 Feb 2016

Institute for Government – Analysis of Arms lengths bodies – One key theme of Liz Truss’s speech on modernising Defra was getting its various arm’s-length bodies (ALBs) and the main department to work in alignment. The Secretary of State would like the various organisations in the Defra departmental group to make plans around shared policies, […]