Pittsburgher in UK: April 2018

Sunday, 29 April 2018

Weekend of Eating Eating Shows and more Shows !

Make a wildflower meadow | Kent Wildlife trust

Chris Packham’s email to SNH re: Raven Cull licence

Here’s his email to Mike Cantlay, Chair of SNH:

Good morning Mr Cantlay,

I hope you are well.

I write with reference to the licensing of the raven cull. I’ll keep it short, I imagine you’ve had a fair few emails about this.

If you had asked a team of the very best PR executives to come up with a plan to incinerate the last vestiges of credibility, to banish any dwindling reserves of integrity and to destroy any remaining trust between conservationists and SNH, then it’s my bet that they would have suggested this. Top work.

As it stands the already beleaguered reputation of SNH lies in bloodied tatters, and, whilst I am not a PR person I would suggest that to reverse this ill judged and ruinous decision – as quickly as possible – would be a jolly good idea.

Yours

Chris Packham,

Conservationist

Thursday, 26 April 2018

#PlanningForPeople

From delivering affordable housing to safeguarding the countryside we love, the planning system affects all of us. The Government is currently reviewing its planning rulebook, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), and it will have a significant bearing on our countryside and communities for many years to come.

The campaign

We believe that people should be at the heart of decisions made about development in their local area, but time and again, decisions are made that don’t see their needs met, while developer profits rise.

The proposed reforms to the planning system are supposed to help tackle the housing crisis, but we are concerned that, as they stand, they won’t help us build the affordable homes we need or safeguard our countryside and green spaces.

It is possible to build the homes that people need without needlessly harming our beautiful countryside. This is genuine sustainable development and we can only achieve it with a strong planning system that:

Supports local democracy by adhering to neighbourhood and local plans.
Ensures realistic and high quality development based on genuine need not market demand.
Delivers more affordable homes by closing legal loopholes that put developer profits first.
Adopts a true ‘brownfield first’ approach to development.
Protects our countryside for current and future generations.

What now?

We have a real opportunity to influence the shape of the system that will guide development decisions for many years to come – and we’ll need your help and support to do it.

The Government’s consultation closes on 10 May and we’re campaigning hard to make sure that they’re thinking about #PlanningForPeople – ensuring that the policies set in stone will deliver for communities and the environment.
You can find out more about what we think of the proposed changes in our briefing, and in the blogs below.

Over the coming weeks, we will be detailing how planning effects our lives through a series of blogs and mobilising our supporters to take action. So watch this space and sign up to our campaigns update emails to make sure you’re kept in the loop.

http://www.cpre.org.uk/what-we-do/housing-and-planning/planning/campaign-planning-for-people