I see that Walshaw Moor Estate has made a planning application to build a livestock building and a stone access track.
How sensitive of them at this time. There are quite a few local objections and I gather that NE are a bit worried about this too. To be fair, as best I can make out, this proposal stops at the SPA and SAC boundary – though it’s a little difficult for me to tell with the mapping tools available to me. That does not, of course, mean that there is no impact to the SAC or SPA and any developer would have to satisfy the authorities of no impact before such an application should be given permission.
The public can object to this proposal up until 10 August.
But it does remind me that everything has gone quiet on the RSPB complaint to Europe over burning of blanket bog. How is it going I wonder? Has our government got a robust defence for its position on consenting burning regimes at Walshaw Moor and many other moors across the north of England?
What’s happening? I think we should be told.
What’s happening with our e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting? Today it has passed 9,700, 9,800 and 9,900 signatures. What’s the next milestone – ah yes 10,000? And at 10,000 Defra need to write their response telling us all to go boil our heads.
Are you sure you’ll need that new road, Mr Bannister?
[registration_form]
At least it’s not a hideous supermarket
The final southern section does cross SSSI, SPA and SAC. If it is refused for that reason should someone ask Bradford if they will be investigating the other illegal tracks without planning permission that cross the same protected land which were dropped by NE?
BB – very interesting, thank you.
I went to an SSSI not long ago and I was horrified to find miles of stone tracks, car parks, a retail outlet and café, toilets, ghastly drab buildings scattered around the place and unsightly electric fencing in highly visible locations. I was particularly distressed as I have happy memories of what a wonderful wild place it used to be. You should Goggle it, its in Suffolk, its called Minsmere, you may have been there. In fact Mark, come to think of it, you may have been party to getting the planning permission.
Ian, This sort of entry doesn’t actually help does it.
Minsmere started its life as a reserve in 1947. Became an SSSI under the 1949 act in 1954 so it was clearly its existence as an RSPB Reserve area that helped lead to it being designated. Currently 95.48% of PSA target. The SSSI is clearly working well. Car parks and Visitor Centre are outside the SSSI and the membership and visitors invited onto the site have helped make it the exciting place it is today.
“membership and visitors”
That’s that Big Issue innum because all the cosnervation NGOs suffer from this dilemma which is that they have to grow their membership and visitor numbers for financial survival yet are forced to intone the mantra about reducing their “carbon” emissions while knowing full well that the biggest sooty clunker of all is the footprint of their membership visiting by car what grows with their growing membership that they need for financial survival and salaries and pensions and redundancy payments and all that there and unless we severely limit the number of members visiting places to gawp at stuff the entire country will be a contiguous visitor carpark and toilet block with no space left for that Nature nor nothing so me and Mrs C have decided that will will go on supporting a select few NGOs for the good work they do do but won’t be going anywhere at all because we can see enough out the window without moving the jamjar and anyroad Mrs C refuses to dye her hair blue.