Proud of…?

A week ago a poll emerged which showed that the countryside is top of the list for what makes us proud to be British. Tomorrow the government will unveil its conclusions on the future of the planning system in England and it seems that the presumption in favour of ‘sustainable’ development will remain.  This pleases…

NIAs again

Nature is everywhere, it’s all around us and it is in trouble in many places around us.  When government was looking for areas to qualify as Nature Improvement Areas it had plenty of places from which to choose – 76 proposals came forward for the £7.5m funding that was available for just 12 sites. Those…

Habs Regs Review

Defra is carrying out a review of the regulations that implement the EU Birds and Habitats Directives. They’d like to hear from you at [email protected] . I’m glad to say that they have already heard from a large group of wildlife NGOs who have submitted their views on the nature directives – good for them!…

An everyday story of country folk

Last week, a scene in a long-running play was acted to a conclusion.  The play is a bit of a ‘whodunnit’ with heroes and villains – but since we haven’t yet seen the ending there is time for villains to repent.  Sometimes it’s difficult to know on which side some people are until the final…