August 2010
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.
'Brideshead' house goes green to cut fuel bill
The owner of Castle Howard, the Hon. Simon Howard, has cut his fuel bill in half by going green.
Daily Telegraph - 31 August 2010 - 4
UN climate change chief fights for job after more criticism on glacier claims
Rajendra Pachauri, head of the United Nations climate change body, is fighting to remain in his post after an inquiry criticised his organisation's response to errors in its most recent report.
The Times - 31 August 2010 - 3
Pretty vacant: Owners told they cannot restore cottage to be lived in
Crumbling Ragged Ray Cottage in Kilburn, in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park, cannot be repaired because no one has lived in it for 50 years, according to officials.
Daily Telegraph - 30 August 2010 - 10
Wildlife warning as 16,000 miles of hedgerows are lost
Nearly 16,000 miles of English hedgerows - six percent of the total - disappeared between 1998 and 2007, according to the Campaign to Protect Rural England.
The Times - 30 August 2010 - 15
Beware the taxman's cash grab
HM Revenue and Customs has been told to collect more money and small businesses are thought to be an easy target.
Sunday Times Business - 29 August 2010 - 10
Briefing on the wheat genome
Scientists who have decoded the genetic make-up of wheat hope their work will help to ease the threat of starvation worldwide.
SundayTimes - 29 August 2010 - 20
Content to rent
With a 16 percent increase in rental tenants since the beginning of 2010, letting is now seen as a long-term option but landlords need to raise their game.
Sunday Times Home - 29 August 2010 - 6
People power putting a spark back into Settle
The co-founder of Settle Hydro, a hydroelectric power plant in the North Yorkshire market town of Settle, says she wanted to help the community which was hit by foot and mouth disease.
Sunday Times Business - 29 August 2010 - 9
Recycling policy up in flames
Charles Clover writes about Defra's recycling policy saying that incineration should be the last resort.
Sunday Times - 29 August 2010 - 21
East triumphs at rural Oscars
The East of England has won the most awards for business, enterprise and local food at the sixth annual Countryside Alliance Awards.
Daily Telegraph - 27 August 2010 - 40
Health and safety laws costing jobs
Britain's onerous health and safety laws are stifling enterprise and may have pushed up unemployment, according to Lord Young who has been tasked with reviewing the legislation.
Daily Telegraph - 27 August 2010 - 6
Japanese forests
With nearly 70 percent of Japan covered in forest, the new Japanese Prime Minister has said that the country's forestry industry is underexploited as antiquated surveying and record-keeping means that ownership of land is often difficult to determine.
The Times - 27 August 2010 - 57
Milk from cloned animals could be sold at premium, says farmer
The farmer at the centre of the controversial cloned cow has said he would like to sell milk from its descendants as a premium product and that he would be prepared to buy more calves from cloned cattle and give the meat to his children to eat.
Daily Telegraph - 27 August 2010 - 2
Science cracks code to feed world
New and improved varieties of wheat that will help to feed the wrold have been promised by scientists after the genetic code was read for the first time by a British team.
The Times - 27 August 2010 - 3
Travellers camping out for the Pope
A group of Irish travellers has set up an illegal camp at a beauty spot in the West Midlands in anticipation of the Pope's forthcoming visit to the UK.
Daily Telegraph - 27 August 2010 - 15
Couple fined for refusing to cut hedge
A couple from Worcestershire have been fined £2,000 after their conifers grew up to 19 feet tall, leading to a complaint from a neighbour.
Daily Telegraph - 26 August 2010 - 15
Local food heroes - meat farmers
Two Oxfordshire farmers talk about their "paddock to plate" enterprise, The Meat Joint.
Daily Telegraph The Table - 26 August 2010 - 11
Once-extinct wader bird on rise in Britain
The avocet, a wader bird once extinct in Britain due to land reclamation and hunting, is finally increasing in numbers.
Daily Telegraph - 26 August 2010 - 38
One man and his lucrative dogs
Sheepdog trialling is enjoying a resurgance and trainer, Aled Owen, is about to turn a £3,000 puppy into a world champion.
The Times - 26 August 2010 - 48
Passport revamp shows idyllic Britain
The UK passport has been redesigned and now contains pictures of idyllic countryside scenes of village greens, country parks, woodlands and lakes from across Britain.
Daily Telegraph - 26 August 2010 - 16
People on benefits should pick fruit and veg
The Fruit and Vegetable Task Force has warned of an impending shortage of labour in the horticulture industry and recommends that people on benefits should become seasonal fruit and vegetable workers. The Task Force also wants the Government to expand the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS).
Daily Telegraph - 26 August 2010 - 11
Solar-powered Prince
The Prince of Wales has been granted permission to install dozens of solar panels at Clarence House in the latest move to cut his carbon footprint.
Daily Telegraph - 26 August 2010 - 8
Tenants and landlords enjoy benefits of 'quiet revolution'
The duration of commercial property leases has hit the lowest level on record after a "quiet revolution" in which tenants have established an equitable relationship with their landlords, according to new figures from the British Property Federation.
Daily Telegraph Business - 26 August 2010 - 3
Reams of petty rules that carry threat of criminalisation must go, says law review
The Law Commission is calling for the sweeping away of minor red tape offences rarely used by the authorities.
The Times - 25 August 2010 - 6
Castle under siege in a battle over health and safety
Health and safety officials say mowing the grass on the sloping banks of the moat at 900-year old Carlisle Castle is too dangerous, so cutting has now ceased.
Daily Telegraph - 24 August 2010 - 5
Harvest hit by rain
Wheat prices have dropped because there are good stocks in the US and farmers across much of the UK are slightly behind schedule because rain has halted the use of combine harvesters.
Daily Telegraph - 24 August 2010 - 30
Bank holiday gipsy ban
Gipsies and travellers are to be banned from taking advantage of bank holiday weekends to establish settlements in rural land under new laws to be unveiled by Eric Pickles.
Daily Telegraph - 23 August 2010 - 5
Clearer planning rules will cut costs
A letter to the Editor says that a recent report on the UK planning system for major infrastructure projects provides evidence that the revised system is still too complex.
Financial Times - 23 August 2010 - 10
Cuts 'must not be at expense of wildlife'
Wildlife campaigners are to lobby ministers in their constituencies this week to ensure spending cuts do not threaten wildlife. Banners and billboards are to be used to urge ministers to protect the countryside.
Daily Telegraph - 23 August 2010 - 28
Sea level warning
Rural areas in the East of England will need funding to protect them from the sea level rise and storm surges, according to a new study by the CLA. The report says Government funding and private investment would be needed to build coastal defences and offshore reefs.
Daily Telegraph - 23 August 2010 - 28
Soaring food prices threaten British Christmas
The turkey may have to be served up with fewer trimmings this Christmas as economists warn that food price inflation could hit nine percent by the end of the year.
Sunday Times Business - 23 August 2010 - 1
Islay reaps its tidal power
The Hebridean island has teamed up with Scottish Power to tap a reliable source of electricity.
Sunday Times Business - 22 August 2010 - 9
Leave feed on 'giant birdtable'
Farmers are being asked to leave stubble over the winter for birds to feed on.
Daily Telegraph - 20 August 2010 - 36
North-South divide in fuel prices is growing wider, says AA
The North-South divide in fuel prices is growing wider, with prices at the pumps higher on average, in southern England than in northern England, according to a study by the AA.
Daily Telegraph - 20 August 2010 - 14
Sea eagle soars again over Scottish coast
Nineteen white-tailed sea eagles have been released into the wild in Scotland from a secret location near Fife.
Daily Telegraph - 20 August 2010 - 36
Farmers do their bit for the 'Big Society'
Farming Minister Jim Paice says of the Campaign for the Farmed Environment the fact that farmers are volunteering to look after our biodiversity and natural environment is a great example of the Big Society at work. "The key priority over the next 12 months will be to ensure as many farmers as possible take part".
Daily Telegraph - 19 August 2010 - 32
John Deere drives up profits
John Deere, the agricultural machinery specialist, has reported a 47 percent rise in profit in US and Canada, offsetting the growing weakness across Western Europe.
Daily Telegraph Business - 19 August 2010 - 2
Local Hero column
Ian Pye, a dairy farmer from Preston talks about the diversification of his farm.
The Times - 19 August 2010 - 11
Buzz of the city
Bees are better off in the town than the country, according to National Trust research that found the insects thrive due to a more "varied diet" of pollen from different flowers.
Daily Telegraph - 18 August 2010 - 8
Whiskey waste refined into fuel
A new biofuel made from whiskey by-products that can be used in cars has been developed by scientists at Edinburgh Napier University.
Financial Times - 18 August 2010 - 3
Clampers face £5,000 fine or five years in jail
Clamping cars on private land is to be banned in England and Wales with anyone clamping a vehicle on private land or towing it away facing a fine of up to £5,000 or a maximum five-year jail sentence.
The Times - 17 August 2010 - 15
Concern over plans for greater localism
Abolishing the regional development agencies without a clear replacement structure could lead to a "creeping centralisation by Whitehall."
Financial Times - 17 August 2010 - 3
Destroying nature will ruin economies and cultures, says UN
The world's leading champion on nature, Ahmed Djoghlaf, secretary general of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, has warned that Britain and other countries risk economic collapse and loss of culture if it does not protect the natural world.
The Guardian - 17 August 2010 - 4
Fears for efforts on low-carbon energy
Attempts to generate low-carbon energy by burning rubbish have been hamstrung by local authorities which have rejected numerous applications for such projects, according to Sita UK, on of Britain's biggest waste companies.
Financial Times - 17 August 2010 - 4
Number of second homes reaches record high
The latest second homes statistics from estate agent Knight Frank said numbers rose to 245,384 in 2009, up 2.6 per cent on the previous year. Numbers dropped 0.4 per cent in 2008. Knight Frank said rental holiday properties enticed buyers because their rents offered a 7 to 8 per cent return.
Daily Telegraph - 17 August 2010 - 7
Price of farmland doubles
The price of farmland has doubled in five years, according to Savills. In the second quarter of 2010, the average price of Grade 3 arable land was £12,905 per hectare, compared with £5,842 per hectare in June 2005.
Daily Telegraph - 17 August 2010 - 30
Reforms could backfire, warns infrastructure industry
The UK's sclerotic system for granting planning permission has long caused frustration among infrastructure industries who fear scrapping the Infrastructure Planning Commission could further slow down the barely functioning system.
Financial Times - 17 August 2010 - 4
Web surfers can help save the coast
The National Trust has launched the Neptune Appeal, a new web campaign to help raise funds for the Trust to buy stretches of wildlife rich coastline.
Daily Telegraph - 17 August 2010 - 30
Wheel-clamping on private land to be banned
Lynne Featherstone, the Home Office minister, is set to announce plans to curb the activities of clampers in England and Wales. Removing cars parked without permission on private land – which can then cost the owners up to £400 to release – is said to be worth £1billion a year for so-called 'cowboy clampers'. She said: "Landowners who wanted to protect their land could erect barriers."
Daily Telegraph - 17 August 2010 - 1
'Empower parish councils'
Campaigners, including the CLA, have urged the Government to give parish councils radical new powers to approve development in the countryside.
Daily Telegraph - 16 August 2010 - 6
Councils spending millions on website redesigns as job cuts loom
Councils are spending millions on website redesigns when many people in rural areas struggle to get online. Vice-President of the CLA, Henry Robinson, is quoted: "It would be sensible for the councils to plough the money into helping to improve the broadband infrastructure first...Broadband access for rural areas is essential for the thousands of businesses based in the countryside which are at an unfair disadvantage to their urban competitors."
Daily Telegraph - 16 August 2010
Huhne to fight for energy cash
Treasury plans to axe hundreds of millions of pounds from Britain's renewable energy and nuclear clean up budgets are being resisted by energy secretary Chris Huhne.
The Times - 16 August 2010 - 12
Kingfishers check-in to Fen 'bird hotel'
Kingfishers have returned to The Fens, thanks to a new custom-built "hotel" for riverside birds.
Daily Telegraph - 16 August 2010 - 28
Old Britannia has survived the war on nostalgia
Libby Purves writes that at last, the Government has offically recognised that tradition and country houses must be allowed to play their part in luring tourists to Britain.
The Times - 16 August 2010 - 17
Rising price puts meat off the menu
The price of fish has fallen by eight percent over the past three years as the cost of meat has surged by 10 percent. The trend reflects the high price of grain and fossil fuels, which are needed to raise pigs and cattle. In comparison, fishing the oceans requires no feed input and less fuel.
Daily Telegraph - 16 August 2010 - 6
Russian grain ban angers traders
The embargo has sparked a surge in prices and raised doubts about the nation as a supplier.
Financial Times - 16 August 2010 - 7
Demise of the local quangos leaves void
What exactly will replace the scorned regional development agencies?
Sunday Times Business - 15 August 2010 - 7
North-south divide slides down map
The north-south divide is getting more stark as its line is redrawn to move further south, bisecting the country from Gloucester to Grimsby.
Sunday Times - 15 August 2010 - 6
Victims of rail blight to miss out on £50m compensation
A £50 million compensation fund for families whose homes have fallen in value bacause they are on the proposed route of a high-speed rail line will be launched this week - even though the Government believes only about 100 residents are initially likely to qualify.
Sunday Times - 15 August 2010 - 12
Wheat crisis gives taste of the troubles to come
As Russia's ban on exporting grain raises fears of soaring food prices, one Wiltshire farmer plays the commodities market from his combine.
Sunday Times Business - 15 August 2010 - 7
'Build houses where people want them'
Opinion piece from Conservative Peer, Lord Wolfson, who writes that planning must be left to the market, not Whitehall and that less attractive parts of the countryside should be used to build on.
The Times - 13 August 2010 - 21
Barn must be homes for low-paid workers
A retired couple who want to sell their eight-bedroom guesthouse home in Exmoor National Park have been told by planning officials to convert their barn into affordable housing before the property can be sold.
Daily Telegraph - 13 August 2010 - 7
Cameron wants half of us to take holidays in Britain
David Cameron promised yesterday to boost domestic tourism by cutting red tape - and aimed to have half of all Britons taking their holidays in the UK.
The Times - 13 August 2010 - 9
Chill wind on the moors
Wealthy shooters are choosing to lease estates with grouse moors for a few years rather than spending up to £10 million to buy one. By offering a lease for around £100,000 per year allows landlords to keep the moorland in the family while ensuring it is well cared for.
Daily Telegraph - 13 August 2010 - 30
Third of cheddar cheese from overseas
More than a third of standard cheddar cheese is being imported and not labelled correctly.
Daily Telegraph - 13 August 2010 - 9
Anti-hunt group sells land to pay from £1m campaign to keep ban
The League Against Cruel Sports is to sell more than 2,000 acres across Exmoor to pay for a £1 million public campaign to keep the ban on hunting. The League will retain sporting rights over any land sold.
Daily Telegraph - 12 August 2010 - 10
Company staff face jail if they step out of line on 'green tax'
Company executives and workers face prison sentences and large fines for breaking the rules of the Government's controversial new Carbon Reduction Commitment Scheme.
Daily Telegraph - 12 August 2010 - 4
Councils seeks allotment aid
The Local Government Association wants some of the money raised from taxes on rubbish dumped in landfill sites to be made available to councils to create allotments. Allotments are currently excluded from landfill communities fund grants because they are used by individuals, not public.
Daily Telegraph - 12 August 2010 - 38
Farmers protecting the nation's heritage
More than 2,000 historic monuments at serious risk of damage are being protected by farmers through Environmental Stewardship, says English Heritage.
Daily Telegraph - 12 August 2010 - 28
Glorious outlook
The grouse season starts today and is on course to be a recordbreaker with high numbers of birds on the moors of northern England and Scotland, despite the harsh winter according to GWCT.
Daily Telegraph - 12 August 2010 - 2
Sporting estates come into sights of foreign guns
Grouse moors are attracting a high level of overseas interest with more than 10,000 acres snapped up by foreign buyers in the last decade.
Financial Times - 12 August 2010 - 2
£30,000 to make an Exmoor path smooth
Somerset County Council is to spend £30,000 smoothing over an ancient bridleway because its rugged surface may be a health and safety hazard.
Daily Telegraph - 12 August 2010 - 5
Argentina's farmers unable to fill the wheat gap
Export curbs and taxes have dented supplies from South American breadbasket and producers are unlikely to be able to cash in.
Financial Times - 11 August 2010 - 6
Chinese lanterns plea
Farmers have issued a warning to people to stop releasing Chinese lanterns after a rise in the number of crop fires and livestock deaths.
Daily Telegraph - 11 August 2010 - 30
Dog walker attacked by herd of cows
A dog walker was attacked without warning by a herd of cows in East Sussex. In the eight years to April last year there were 32 deaths in cow-charging incidents and more than 500 recorded injuries.
Daily Telegraph - 11 August 2010 - 9
Farmers poised to cash in on grain shortage
Grain farmers are expecting to rake in bumper prices for this year's harvest on the back of strong rises in wheat and barley prices in the past few weeks, buoying the arable farming sector after last year's difficult season.
Financial TImes - 11 August 2010 - 2
Green tax user guide that runs to 99 pages
Companies required to take part in the Carbon Reduction Commitment must undergo a lengthy bureaucratic process and give the Government extensive information about their business operations.
Daily Telegraph - 11 August 2010 - 4
High temperatures and low politics 'pose risk to food prices' in China
Global warming and political interference could threaten food security in China, according to reports by the International Rice Institute and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation after a six year study of 277 rice farms in Asia.
The Times - 11 August 2010 - 28
Painful increase in cost of cattle feed eats into wheat profits
Case study of mixed farmer Laurence Matthews who farms near Dorking in Surrey.
Financial Times - 11 August 2010 - 2
Scrap horse passports, say councils
Passports for horses and licences for animal trainers are among council rules that ministers should scrap to reduce red tape, town halls have claimed.
Daily Telegraph - 11 August 2010 - 4
The ups and downs of a long-running cereal
In an opinion piece, Oliver Walston, a farmer from Cambridgeshire, writes that wheat farmers are like futures traders playing a volatile market.
The Times - 11 August 2010 - 16
Third of rivers still low despite July rainfall
One in three rivers in England and Wales is running low, despite July being the wettest month of the year so far, according to the Environment Agency.
Daily Telegraph - 11 August 2010 - 30
'Putting wildlife before people is just bats'
Comment piece from Rob Yorke, land agent and rural commentator which argues that the countryside needs people as much as it needs a diversity of species and habitat and that the opportunity to build affordable rural housing should not be scuppered by wildlife.
The Times - 10 August 2010 - 18
Coming down the mountain, a mile-long zip wire
The Lake District is divided over plans to build a high-speed ride on a remote fell.
Daily Telegraph - 10 August 2010 - 3
Cutting farming red tape
Defra is asking farmers to highlight the regulations which they see as the biggest waste of time to cut red tape in farming. The consultation period lasts until 31 October.
Daily Telegraph - 10 August 2010 - 30
Landowners rally to save grey partridge
The CLA and GWCT have launched a new initiative to stop the grey partridge from becoming extinct by organising open days to show farmers how to boost grey partridge numbers. CLA President William Worsley is quoted.
Daily Telegraph - 10 August 2010 - 30
Plan to offer incentives for new housing
Councils will receive additional funding for each new property built in their area under a Government plan intended to encourage the construction of new homes. Housing minister Grant Shapps launched the New Homes Bonus scheme yesterday which will see the Government match the council tax raised on each new house for six years.
Financial Times - 10 August 2010 - 2
£4 a pint looms amid soaring barley prices
The pub price of a pint of beer, which has doubled in the last 19 years, looks set to climb further next year as poor barley harvests in Eastern Europe and export controls imposed by Russia threaten to hit brewers while they are forced to push through VAT and duty rises.
The Guardian - 10 August 2010 - 18
Complaints about small business loans on the rise
The number of complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service about small business bank loans has risen by 119 percent in the past year.
Financial Times - 9 August 2010 - 2
Councils to sell renewable energy
Local authorities are to be allowed to sell renewable electricity to the national grid, resulting in a potential income flow of about £100 million a year, according to Government estimates.
Financial Times - 9 August 2010 - 3
Drought doubles price of barley in six weeks
The price of barley has more than doubled in six weeks in response to the drought affecting Russia and Ukraine, prompting fears of increases in the cost of meat and poultry.
Financial Times - 9 August 2010 - 13
Economy takes flight with Red Grouse
In the week of the Glorious 12th, the Mooorland Association has published a survey showing that the annual cost of managing the grouse moors in England and Wales is now more than £5.25 million, sustaining more than 300 jobs for gamekeepers and boosting the local economy.
Daily Telegraph - 9 August 2010 - 30
Huhne lifts ban on energy sale
Local councils will be allowed to sell renewable electricity to the National Grid from today. Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has lifted a ban on the sale of surplus electricity to the grid by councils, which say the scheme could raise £100m a year for cash-strapped local authorities in England and Wales.
The Guardian - 9 August 2010 - 12
Low carbon investment at risk
The prospect of £150 billion of private sector investment in the low carbon infrastructure is receding as the Government fails to provide clarity on planning policies, according to the CBI.
Financial Times - 9 August 2010 - 3
Marchioness of Worcester criticises meat labelling
Tracey Worcester has urged consumers to look for sausages with 'high welfare labels' such as Freedom Food or free range organic, rather than simply British or local for the start of National Picnic Week.
Daily Telegraph - 9 August 2010 - 30
Midlands melons are ripe for the high street
Melons grown in Lichfield, Staffordshire, are about to go on sale in supermarkets thanks to polytunnels and the warming climate.
The Times - 9 August 2010 - 13
Russia's grain ban is the wrong response
Leader which says that the export embargo threatens another world food crisis.
Financial Times - 9 August 2010 - 8
Russian farmers on brink of bankruptcy
Feature on the fate of Russian farmers during the unprecedented heat and drought which have destroyed this year's grain crops.
Financial Times - 9 August 2010 - 6
Holidays on the farm
Agriculture should be turned into a tourist attraction to make consumers understand the value of the food they eat, according to Adam Henson, the BBC Countryfile presenter.
Daily Telegraph - 6 August 2010 - 34
Russian ban on grain exports recalls 2008 food crisis as wheat prices soar
The prices of staples such as bread, flour and beer are set to rise sharply after Russia imposed a ban on grain exports, triggering panic in commodities markets and sending wheat prices to their highest since the 2008 food crisis.
Financial Times - 6 August 2010 - 1
Top beaches could be sewage traps, claim surfers
t least one in four of Britain's premier bathing beaches are failing to meet the strict requirements of their "Blue Flag" designation,
so bathers who believe they have been swimming in Britain's cleanest waters may have unknowingly been exposed to raw sewage, according to pollution watchdog group Surfers against Sewage (SAS).
The Guardian - 6 August 2010 - 14
Victors named in battle to deliver energy from offshore wind farms
A project to connect up to two million homes to seven giant offshore wind farms has been won by Balfour Beatty, Macquarie and Transmission Capital Partners.
The Times - 6 August 2010 - 45
Villagers fight to follow pilgrims' progress
A public inquiry is questioning the Chaucerian credentials of paths winding through beautiful Kentish woodland as a result of an access dispute involving a landowner and villagers.
The Times - 5 August 2010 - 9
5m tune in to The Archers
The Archers has scored record ratings of more than five million listeners a week.
Daily Telegraph - 5 August 2010 - 2
Anyone for squirrel pie?
A three-page special on cooking grey squirrels, with recipes including braised squirrel in Madeira with chestnut puree and nettles.
The Times Table - 5 August 2010 - 1
Clone chaos born of supreme champion
The chain of events that led to scores of clone offspring being added to Britain's dairy herd is traced.
Daily Telegraph - 5 August 2010 - 2
Food from offspring of cloned animals is safe, scientists insist
Meat and milk from the offspring of cloned cattle should be treated as "novel foods" needing regulatory approval, cloning experts said yesterday.
The Times - 5 August 2010 - 8
Meat from the offspring of cloned cow enters food chain
Meat from at least two bulls that were offspring of cloned animals has entered the food chain.
Financial Times - 5 August 2010 - 3
The chronically hungry deserve support to achieve food security
Professor Gordon Conway writes that with help developing countries can achieve food security.
Financial Times - 5 August 2010 - 10
British wheat farmers enjoy bumper year
Although it accounts for only 2.5 percent of global production, the UK is one of the few producers in the world forecast to have increased its output this year and farmers should enjoy a bumper payday.
The Times - 4 August 2010 - 32
Drax puts dampener on wood-fired power stations
COntroversial plans to build a string of huge wood-fired power stations to generate 'green' electricity were dealt a blow yesterday after one of Britain's biggest energy companies shelved a £2 billion project to construct three plants, blaming continued incertainty over government subsidies.
The Times - 4 August 2010 - 29
Retail consortium takes a shot at farmers adjudicator
The British Retail Consortium (BRC)yesterday slammed the Government-backed 'adjudicator' for the supermarket sector by saying that the new quango is "unjustified and against the spirit of better regulation."
Daily Telegraph Business - 4 August 2010 - 2
Waders return to Ouse Washes
Wading birds have returned to the Ouse Washes in Norfolk after two areas of farmland were converted to wet grassland over two years, providing an ideal habitat.
Daily Telegraph - 4 August 2010 - 32
Weevils to eat threatening wildlife
Weevils are to be released into a canal in Somerset to eat the North American water fern that is damaging the waterway.
Daily Telegraph - 4 August 2010 - 10
Ragwort alert
Landowners and nature lovers are being called on by Agriculture Minister Jim Paice to help control the yellow-flowering plant ragwort, which is poisonous to horse, cattle and sheep.
Daily Telegraph - 3 August 2010 - 30
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