CONSERVATION & WILDLIFE
Jan 5: At least 200 illegal pit bulls in Scotland, animal expert warns
At least 200 American pit bull terriers are being kept in Scotland despite the breed being banned 16 years ago, animal welfare experts said yesterday. (Scotsman)
Jan 6: Escalating threat to the future of Scotland’s seas
Scotland’s marine life could be almost wiped out within 50 years unless tough action is taken to manage the way humans use the seas, a consortium of environmental organisations has warned. (Scotsman)
Jan 10: Are the dead porpoises on Scottish beaches more evidence of global warming?
Harbour porpoises are starving to death in the North Sea as a result of rising water temperatures, scientists have revealed (Scotsman)
Jan 10: Free trees to help bring back wildlife
More than 100,000 trees and shrubs will be planted across Lincolnshire this month in a campaign to bring back wildlife. (Lincolnshire Echo)
11 Jan: wally Recovers At Turtle Sanctuary
A young sea turtle hundreds of miles off course which washed up on the Devon coast now has a fighting chance of survival. (Western Morning news)
FARMING
Jan 5: UK will push for the abolition of Single Payments
The United Kingdom will push for the abolition of Single Payments over the next few years, whichever political party is in power, it emerged at the Oxford Farming Conference. (Farmers Guardian)
Jan 5: Migrant workers’ skills will be revealed in major survey
A major skills survey of the estimated 300,000 migrant workers in the land-based sector is under way this month. (Farmers Guardian)
Jan 9: Opportunities for farming to be discussed
Opportunities for farmers and landowners to produce crops for energy production will be discussed later this month. The North Yorkshire Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group has arranged the meeting at The Angel Inn, Topcliffe, near Thirsk, on Thursday, January 25, at 7.30pm. (Northern Echo)
Jan 10: Villagers oppose ‘green’ power site
Farmer proposes to burn surplus straw in £30m rural plant to serve up to 20,000 homes
Villagers are challenging the green credentials of a giant £30m straw-burning power station proposed for rural Holderness. The biomass plant, which will have a 65m high stack will be at Tansterne, near Flinton, and will be using Danish technology to burn the vast surplus of straw produced in the area, instead of it being chopped and ploughed back into the land. But residents in nearby Aldbrough are worried at the prospect of up to a dozen 37-tonne wagons carrying straw travelling through the area’s narrow lanes and also have concerns about emissions and industrialisation of the area. (Yorkshire Post)
Jan 10: Poultry Workers Offered Flu Vaccinations
People who work with poultry are to be offered winter flu vaccinations to try to reduce the chances of a mutation of the bird flu virus developing. (Western Morning News)
Jan 11: Badgers Freed into TB Hotspot .
The RSPCA has been labelled “irresponsible and provocative” by West country farmers for releasing badgers into the wild near a bovine TB hotspot. (Western Morning News)
FOOD & DRINK
Jan 9: Is the food on your plate British?
A campaign to persuade consumers to ask where the food on their plate is from will be launched today (Northern Echo)
Jan 9: MP fury at ‘junk’ cheeses
A West MP is to mount a challenge in Parliament against a regulation that labels cheese as junk food. (Western Daily Press)
Jan 10: Blair backs CLA campaign
Tony Blair has given his backing to a campaign by the Country Land and Business Association to encourage the public to ask where the food on their plate comes from when they are eating out. The Just Ask campaign, launched at Downing Street on Tuesday, is intended to raise awareness of British food, CLA president David Fursdon said. (Farmers Guardian)
GARDENING & PLANTS
Jan 10: Experts get to the root of tree problem
A century-old tree which caused a planning headache has been carefully replanted at a cost of £8,000. The protected yew tree has been a 12-tonne planning problem since plans revealed it stood in the way of a new £4m care centre. Permission for the build was granted on the condition that the 50ft giant, which sat at the heart of the foundations for the 96-bed residential home, was carefully moved.
Jan 11: Spring has sprung and it’s only 70 days early!
Golden daffodils waving in the breeze, lighter nights and the promise of summer around the corner – images of spring being seen across Lincolnshire right now. (Lincolnshire Echo)
HERITAGE
Jan 10: Will USA Stump Up For Our Churches?
Church leaders are turning to their American counterparts for help raising £3m for a major restoration campaign. A new office is being set up in the US city Boston, Massachusetts, to collect donations for the Lincolnshire Boston Stump Restoration and Development Appeal. Supporters hope the move could net 1,000,000 – just over £500,000 – towards the conservation of Boston’s ancient St Botolph’s Church. (Lincolnshire Echo)
MISCELLANEOUS
Jan 10: Closed pit may be worked again
Coal extraction could pay for site clean-up. COAL could be extracted again from a South Yorkshire colliery in a scheme to finance the restoration of the site, which closed more than 30 years ago. (Yorkshire Post)
Jan 11: Historic city builds for cosmopolitan future
Black and ethnic minorities could make up as much as 10 per cent of York’s population within four years. The demographics of York, which has traditionally been seen as a white, middle-class city, have changed dramatically in two decades, with an influx of ethnic minorities creating a far more diverse and cosmopolitan feel. York is one of only three cities nationally, along with Bournemouth and Blackpool, where the ethnic minority population has more than doubled in 10 years. (Yorkshire Post)
Jan 11: Storms Warning
Severe storms are expected to batter Britain for the rest of the week as warm air sweeps in from over the Atlantic. (Western Morning News)
Jan 10: Sorry for biting comment
Police in Gloucestershire have apologised to One Man And His Dog presenter Robin Page after an officer said he hoped the TV star would be eaten by a crocodile. (Western Daily Press)
PROPERTY
Jan 11: The fight for Get Carter house
A house that made an appearance in the cult gangster movie Get Carter should be saved from demolition because it has become a tourist attraction, it was claimed last night. (Northern Echo)
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Jan 9: Bird charity blow to wind farm plan
The RSPB is objecting to a controversial plan to build the West’s biggest wind farm next to the Bristol Channel, we can reveal. (Western Daily Press)
Jan 10: National Park Opposes Windfarm Plan
The Exmoor National Park Authority (ENPA) is opposing plans to build nine 360ft turbines on the edge of the moor. (Western Morning News)
Jan 10: Long Journey For Christmas Card Recycling
Christmas cards dropped into recycling boxes in shops around the UK are being transported by lorry to paper mills in Devon and Somerset. (Western Morning News)
SPORTING
Jan 10: Trainer denies horse-switch allegations in point-to-point
A controversy worthy of a Dick Francis horse racing thriller has rocked the normally tranquil world of point-to-point. Trainer Robert Tierney is under investigation following claims one of his horses was replaced with a “ringer” in two point-to-point races last year. Mr Tierney has vehemently denied using a different horse to race in place of his official entry, Green Admiral, in two events. The Horseracing Regulatory Authority (HRA) has investigated claims that Green Admiral – a horse that had not competed since March 2004 – was replaced by a look-alike, an eight-year-old called King’s Crest. The talented King’s Crest was the winner of seven races on the Flat in 2001 and 2002, but had not run since finishing fourth in a novice hurdle at Wetherby last January. The investigation centres on allegations that King’s Crest stood in for Green Admiral in two events last year, one held at Witton Castle, near Bishop Auckland, on February 5, and a race at Brocklesby Park, Grimsby, six days later. (Northern Echo)
Jan 11: Lost Foxhound Makes New Friends
When Fever the foxhound got lost an embarrassed huntsman was forced to cross ‘enemy lines’ to find her after she was rescued by an anti-hunt campaign group.
“We told her all sorts of things about hunting and showed her our posters and leaflets, so I hope she learnt something”, Paul Tillesley, the league’s head of sanctuaries, said. The hunt, meanwhile, insists that Fever was in fact working as a spy, having daringly infiltrated the enemy’s headquarters. “We can confirm that one of our hounds did finish up at the Dulverton offices of the League Against Cruel Sports on Wednesday and was collected later by a huntsman unharmed,” the Harriers spokesman, Tim Holt, said. (Western Morning News)
