January 2011
Links and references to articles by the leading UK news providers covering subjects that are of interest to those living and working in rural England and Wales.
Loggers could partner local groups
Britain's biggest timber companies have said they could partner community groups to manage English woodland rather than buy the woods themselves.
The Guardian - 28 January 2011 - 4
Songbirds down, predators up
Trustee of Songbird Survival, Nick Forde, argues that if we want to hear the dawn chorus we cannot avoid taking unpleasant action on predator birds.
The Times - 28 January 2011 - 28
'Untie their hands - the little guys can save us'
Camilla Cavendish writes that small businesses can generate the growth we need so desperately but only if they are freed from "crazy" red tape.
The Times - 27 January 2011 - 21
Cull of Britain's feathered fiends to save the disappearing dawn chorus
Crows and magpies are to be trapped and killed in the first large-scale trial of culling to protect songbirds and save the disappearing dawn chorus.
The Times - 27 January 2011 - 4
Customers will pick up tab as companies pass on VAT rise
Inflation fears are growing as new data from the Bank of England showed a sharp rise in the proportion of businesses intending to pass this month's VAT rise on to customers.
The Times - 27 January 2011 - 38
Fears for public woodland sell-off
The Government is to announce today that it will transfer the management of woodlands from the Forestry Commission to the private and voluntary sectors.
The Times - 27 January 2011 - 4
I promise, I can see the wood for the trees, assures Spelman
Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman writes that the Government is not selling off heritage forests, that access will be protected and warns us not to believe everything we read.
The Times - 27 January 2011 - 22
Mad cow disease close to end after 25 years
Mad cow disease has almost died out among the world's cattle 25 years after it was first identified in Britain, new figures from the World Health Organisation for Animal Health have revealed.
The Times - 27 January 2011 - 17
Native woodlands not for sale
Caroline Spelman is to unveil plans to privatise swathes of "commercial" conifer forests but Britain's oldest native woodland such as the Fores of Dean will not be sold off by the state.
Financial Times - 27 January 2011 - 2
Recovery will take years, warns Clarke
Former chancellor Kenneth Clarke has said the UK faces a difficult "two to three years" before the economy returns to normality.
Daily Telegraph - 27 January 2011 - 4
Sacking laws will be shaken up
Employment laws are to be ripped up by the Coalition under new plans which favour employers.
Daily Telegraph - 27 January 2011 - 2
Sell forestry assets
In a letter to the Editor a former Forestry Commissioner writes that the national deficit will be reduced by the sale of forestry assets ending of its annual losses and that hopefully the Government will ignore vested interests.
The Times - 27 January 2011 - 24
Threatened woodland needs better protection, says Woodland Trust
The Woodland Trust has warned that the Government must improve the protection of England's woodlands as current rules fail to stop them being destroyed.
Daily Telegraph - 27 January 2011 - 12
Coalition 'careless over growth'
Sir Richard Lambert, the outgoing head of CBI, yesterday criticised the Government over its lack of growth strategy.
The Times - 25 January 2011 - 2
Coalition lacks vision on economy, says CBI chief
The outgoing head of CBI has said that the Government lacks "vision" and claimed that the coalition has failed to articulate a "big picture" of what it wants the economy to look like.
Daily Telegraph - 25 January 2011 - 1
Old quarries to be wildlife reserves
Environment minister Richard Benyon is urging the minerals industry to convert old quarries into nature reserves for rare birds and insects.
Daily Telegraph - 25 January 2011 - 32
"We've all been betrayed to the planning muggers"
Charles Clover writes that having invented the concept of localism, the coalition has now undermined it by not reforming the planning system enough in the Localism Bill.
Sunday Times - 23 January 2011 - 25
Can't work or won't work?
A feature on youth unemployment which argues that Britons will not work and that most manual UK jobs taken by immigrants, particularly in the agricultural sector with 12,000 foreign workers brought in each year to work on farms.
Sunday Telegraph - 23 January 2011 - 21
Celebrities join campaign to block 'destructive' sale of forests
A coalition of high-profile figures have joined forces to oppose government plans to sell off 635,000 acres of publicly owned forestry.
Sunday Times - 23 January 2011 - 7
Heating oil firm 'inflated' customer bills
DCC, the oil supplier with a stranglehold on some areas of Britain, is facing a fraud inquiry after inflating the price of customer bills.
Sunday Times - 23 January 2011 - 6
Land-grab Scots hit Laird Attenborough
Lord Attenborough is seeking compensation from the Scottish government after a law that allows rural communities to buy out absentee landlords cost him £120,000.
Sunday Times - 23 January 2011 - 5
Minister to scrap hotel star ratings
As more holidaymakers base bookings on reviews by other guests, the star system is being phased out by tourism minister John Penrose.
Sunday Times - 23 January 2011 - 15
Why the public should not be shut from forests
A Q&A analysis of what is proposed and how the sell-off would happen.
Sunday Telegraph - 23 January 2011 - 2
Woodland lockout may become familiar tale, warn campaigners
Case study of Rigg Wood in the Lake District which campaigners say has been inaccessible to the public since it was sold last October.
Sunday Telegraph - 23 January 2011 - 2
'Habitat pressure' leaves populations of farmland birds at record low
Numbers of British farmland birds such as turtle doves and starlings have fallen to record lows, according to figures from Defra. The RSPB has said the declines were linked to decades of "habitat change".
Daily Telegraph - 21 January 2011 - 12
Bird numbers fall since 1970
Habitat changes responsible for fewer nesting sites and food shortages have been blamed for farmland bird losses. Less vegetation cover, overgrazing by deer, more drainage of farmland and a changing winter climate could all be factors in woodland bird decline.
The Guardian - 21 January 2011 - 17
Broadband boost for those in the country
Three million rural dwellers will soon have cheaper and faster broadband after Ofcom capped wholesale prices in areas where BT is the only supplier.
The Times - 21 January 2011 - 47
Broadband price blow for BT
Ofcom has targeted BT's wholesale products in rural areas by ordering price cuts to improve internet access in the countryside.
Financial Times - 21 January 2011 - 15
BT must cut piggyback costs of countryside internet rivals
BT has been ordered to slash the cost of broadband access in the countryside by Ofcom who said the telecoms group must reduce the prices it charges other internet service providers to piggyback on its network.
Daily Telegraph Business - 21 January 2011 - 4
Lovely weather for it, deer
Red deer are rutting earlier in the year because of climate change, according to a study by scientists from the University of Cambridge.
Daily Telegraph - 21 January 2011 - 32
Rural transport
A letter to the Editor suggests that townspeople and politicians should try living in the countryside on countryside salaries to understand how petrol and oil prices affect rural areas.
The Times - 21 January 2011 - 28
Wild bird numbers fall despite millions spent on protection
Farmland bird numbers have fallen to a record low despite "millions of pounds being paid to farmers to protect them".
The Times - 21 January 2011 - 27
Councils to foot bill for £1bn in EU fines
Beleaguered council facing deep cuts to their budgets are now set to foot the bill for an estimated £1billion in fines under the Localism Bill currently passing through the House of Commons.
Financial Times - 20 January 2011 - 3
Grow your own and save £26 a week
Allotment holders save almost £1,400 a year by growing their own fruit and vegetable, according to a new study.
Daily Telegraph - 20 January 2011 - 5
Pear tree faces high-speed chop
Britain's oldest wild pear tree at 250 years old could be chopped down to make way for the high-speed ral link in Warwickshire.
Daily Telegraph - 20 January 2011 - 12
Villagers fight to keep DIY squatter in cottage
Villagers are fighting to stop a squatter being evicted after he moved into a run-down cottage in Devon and spent months renovating it.
Daily Telegraph - 20 January 2011 - 5
Whitehall blunders will cost £1bn in EU fines
A catalogue of failures has left Britain facing £1billion in fines from Brussels for breaking EU spending rules, with a large share of fines relating to the Single Farm Payment Scheme.
The Times - 20 January 2011 - 11
Bustard boost
A project to reintroduce the great bustard back to Britain has received £1.8million funding from the European Union's Life+ initiative.
Daily Telegraph - 19 January 2011 - 9
City dwellers greener than country cousins
City dwellers are greener than their country cousins because peer pressure forces them to recycle and save more energy, according to a study by an American university.
Daily Telegraph - 19 January 2011 - 7
EU policy holds up fuel duty cuts in rural areas
Cuts in fuel duty for motorists in rural areas could be delayed because the European Union has not granted permission for them.
Daily Telegraph - 19 January 2011 - 2
Price rise pressure on Bank
Investors are betting the Bank of England will start raising interest rates in early summer after soaring fuel and food prices pushed inflation higher than expected in December.
Financial Times - 19 January 2011 - 1
Heritage groups branded 'middle-class idiots'
A heritage conservation group, including English Heritage, campaigning to save a row of Victorian villas from demolition has been dismissed as "middle-class idiots" who are living in the past by a senior councillor at Birmingham City Council.
Daily Telegraph - 18 January 2011 - 13
Horses are too fat
Horses are getting too fat, according to a new study by vets, who found that more than half could be overweight or obese.
Daily Telegraph - 18 January 2011 - 9
Order to move summerhouse further from road
A Hampshire couple who installed a wooden summerhouse at their home have been told by council officials they have broken planning rules by going beyond the permitted building line at the front of their house and must move the structure 10 feet further away from the road.
Daily Telegraph - 18 January 2011 - 11
Royals would have hidden in the Midlands during WWII
The Royal family would have been taken to the Midlands and protected by an army of scouts, farmers and gamekeepers if Britain had been invaded during the Second World War, according to secret plans unearthed by archives at Worcestershire County Council.
Daily Telegraph - 18 January 2011 - 13
PCs for £98 to bridge digital divide
Martha Lane Fox, the Government's digital champion, wants to provide £98 computer packages to the "final third" without broadband.
Financial Times - 17 January 2011 - 3
£210 a year rise in petrol prices
David Cameron faces growing demands to axe plans for a 1p hike in fuel duty - or risk damaging the economy as Britain suffers soaring petrol prices.
Daily Express - 17 January 2011 - 1
Commodities still reap the rewards
The sector might be popular with corn and wheat prices on the rise but experts say it is not without its risks.
Sunday Telegraph Business - 16 January 2011 - 4
Cumbria on flood alert
The Environment Agency issued 14 flood alerts in Cumbria, putting up temporary defences as river levels rose following heavy rainfall.
Sunday Telegraph - 16 January 2011 - 4
Decline in river quality hidden
The Environment Agency has masked a long-term decline in the quality of rivers by publicising selective and misleading statistics, according to an analysis by leading conservation groups including the RSPB.
Sunday Times - 16 January 2011 - 13
Families ripped off as oil giant corners market
DCC, the oil firm caught in a price hike row has built up a stranglehold on heating fuel in some areas of Britain.
Sunday Times - 16 January 2011 - 7
Groups urge gipsy action
Residents' groups have met with Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman to urge closing loopholes in the planning system which have been used by gipsies to encroach on protected land.
Sunday Telegraph - 16 January 2011 - 4
No entry: public barred as forests sold off
The Sunday Times reports that the Forestry Commission has quietly sold off 30,000 acres of woodland, with many sites snapped up by private owners who have greatly reduced or banned public access.
Sunday Times - 16 January 2011 - 13
Business pleas on age limit ignored
Business leaders have accused the Government of undermining its own aim of boosting enterprise and creating jobs, as controversy erupted over the coalition's decision to press ahead with scrapping the compulsory retirement age at 65.
Financial Times - 14 January 2011 - 3
GM chickens to stop avian flu
Chickens have been genetically modified to prevent outbreaks of bird flu within poultry stocks.
Daily Telegraph - 14 January 2011 - 4
How can we feed nine billion?
The world’s population is set to soar in the coming decades – but food supplies are already under pressure. Meanwhile, Britain and Europe have turned their backs on a great agricultural revolution, writes Country Life Editor at Large Clive Aslet.
Daily Telegraph - 14 January 2011 - 27
Pensioner prosecuted for painting yellow cottage blue
A 72-year old woman from Somerset who painted her bright yellow cottage with a subtle shade of blue has been prosecuted for defacing a Grade II listed building.
Daily Telegraph - 14 January 2011 - 16
Woodland sell-off
A letter to the Editor asks what is the point of the coalition Government's national tree planting campaign if ministers are prepared to put at risk the future of our woodlands with a sell-off.
The Times - 14 January 2011 - 28
Vegetable oil spill coats beaches in yellow foam
Vegetable oil has been washed up along 10-miles of Hampshire coastline. The spill is not dangerous to humans but can make animals ill.
Daily Telegraph - 13 January 2011 - 2
EU must protect Europeans from high food bills
A letter to the Editor from the European Crop Protection Association saying that the key to the threat of global food prices is to promote productive, efficient, sustainable agriculture in Europe and to invest in agricultural productivity innovation.
Financial Times - 12 January 2011 - 10
Hedgerow corridor will help dormice
Dormice are making a comeback in the North thanks to a donation from the shooting community towards a project to create a 10-mile corridor of woodland and hedgerows to help them thrive.
Daily Telegraph - 12 January 2011 - 32
Population rise 'to drain resources'
The world is at risk of food shortages, conflict and mass migration unless immediate measures are put in place to deal with an impending large increase in population, according to a report by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.
Daily Telegraph - 12 January 2011 - 11
Price of food rockets in a hungry world
A special report on the global increase of food price inflation and food shortages.
The Times - 12 January 2011 - 8
Tory rebels back down on EU bill
Ministers have modified plans for a new law on the European Union in order to defuse a Conservative backbench revolt.
Daily Telegraph - 12 January 2011 - 12
Two held as oak tree is killed
Two people have been arrested after a mature oak tree in Dorest was attacked by vandals using a chainsaw.
Daily Telegraph - 12 January 2011 - 11
Save our woods
Letter to the Editor from a former Forestry Commissioner who says that it is nothing new for the Conservatives to plan a sell off England's woods and the attempt in the 1980s was met with hostility and abandoned.
The Times - 11 January 2011 - 22
Second-home bin tax
Letter to the Editor from Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman saying that owners of second homes rented out for less than 140 days a year will continue to receive a normal domestic waste collection after paying council tax those with second homes rented out for more than 140 days a year who pay business rates should have their waste treated like any other business.
Daily Telegraph - 11 January 2011 - 21
Hague urges Eurosceptics to back referendum Bill
William Hague has issued an appeal to Eurosceptic MPs who are threatening to vote down the Government's EU referendums Bill to reconsider it as a "massive advance" for sovereignty.
The Times - 10 January 2011 - 14
Second home owners face new bins tax
Defra has proposed allowing councils to charge holiday cottages and campsites among others for waste services. The CLA is quoted saying that extra charges would "severely disadvantage" small businesses that already pay council tax on their properties crippling the rural tourist trade, as second home owners will choose instead to leave their houses empty.
Telegraph Online - 10 January 2011
Bonfire of quangos 'botched'
Plans to scrap quangos have been "poorly managed" and will not deliver significant cost savings or better accountability, MPs are set you say today.
Daily Telegraph - 7 January 2011 - 4
Reap the reward for saving wildlife
The Daily Telegraph is sponsoring the RSPB's Nature of Farming Award to reward farmers who help to save threatened wildlife. The winner will receive £1,000 and a commendation award to help farmers who protect wildlife to promote their business.
Daily Telegraph - 7 January 2011 - 34
Sell-off threatens plan to recreate old English woods
Dozens of projects to restore ancient woodlands are likely to be abandoned under the Government's plan to sell most of England's state-owned forests, The Times has learnt from a Whitehall source.
The Times - 7 January 2011 - 19
Toxic Dutch eggs sold to British food firms
Eggs contaminated with toxic chemicals have been imported to Britain from Europe and may have entered the food chain, the EU has admitted.
Daily Telegraph - 7 January 2011 - 2
Two million trees will hide high-speed rail line
More than two million trees are to be planted alongside the planned high-speed rail route to disguise the line and offset carbon, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has announced.
Daily Telegraph - 7 January 2011 - 14
Village sitting on 5m barrels of oil
A tiny village could be sitting on a half a billion dollars worth of oil following a petroleum company's exploration in the unlikely location of Forestside in West Sussex.
Daily Telegraph - 7 January 2011 - 8
Britain loses voice in Brussels
Baroness Ashton, Europe's Foreign Minister and Britain's only full representative on the European Commission has failed to fully attend two thirds of meetings over the past year, leaving Britain without a voice in the EU, according to research by The Daily Telegraph.
Daily Telegraph - 6 January 2011 - 1
Food for thought
The Food and Agricultural Organisation has warned the world faces a "food price shock" after its benchmark index of agricultural commodities prices reached a nominal record last month, surpassing the level of the 2007-08 food crisis.
Financial Times - 6 January 2011 - 1
Call for changes to farm subsidies
Caroline Spelman will today call for fundamental reform of the European system for farming subsidies at the Oxford Farming Conference.
Financial Times - 5 January 2011 - 4
Coalition faces pressure in flood insurance
The Coalition is coming under growing pressure to spell out how it intends to achieve more with less after cutting the budget for flood defences, while it tries to carve out a new agreement with the insurance industry to ensure high-risk homes do not do unprotected.
Financial Times - 5 January 2011 - 4
Higher VAT here to stay
George Osborne has insisted that the new 20 percent VAT rate would be a permanent fixture.
The Times - 5 January 2011 - 3
Rising bread feeds inflation concerns
The cost of a loaf of bread is set to rise this month, fuelling domestic inflationary pressures, after UK wheat prices hit an all-time high of £203.30 per tonne.
Financial Times - 5 January 2011 - 1
Setback for choughs as chicks vanish
The population of one of England's rarest birds has been dealt a blow after none of last year's Cornish chough chicks survived.
Daily Telegraph - 5 January 2011 - 32
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