The Environment Agency continues to urge people to follow water company advice and use water wisely during these hotter summer months to help manage demand and reduce the impact on the environment. United Utilities has announced a ‘temporary use ban’ which is likely to come into effect in early August for its customers in the North West.

Paul Hickey, head of water resources at the Environment Agency, said:

Over two very dry months, we have seen a rapid decline in reservoir levels in the North West and we support the announcement by United Utilities to manage water supplies by introducing household restrictions.

Across the rest of England, most groundwater supplies are at healthy levels and water companies have enough water to maintain supplies if resources are managed properly.

Many rivers around the country have dropped to lower levels than normal for this time of year, which can be damaging to wildlife. We have robust plans in place to respond to these pressures and have stepped up our incident response as well as regulation of those abstracting water to ensure the environment is protected.

We are meeting with affected groups including farmers to provide practical advice about conserving water and planning for prolonged dry weather. We encourage everyone to use water wisely to conserve supplies and protect the environment.

During hot weather the Environment Agency works with water companies and other organisations to reduce the impacts of the hot weather on the environment. Steps include rescuing fish, responding to incidents, regulating water abstraction, advising businesses and farmers on water usage and monitoring for environmental impacts.

The Environment Agency also takes action to ensure water companies have made robust plans for managing water supplies, although water companies themselves would decide on proposing water restrictions.

If the public see fish gulping for air that could be because of reduced oxygen and river flows, please report it the Environment Agency incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.

More detail on the current water situation is available on the Environment Agency’s Creating a Better Place blog: Summer has started – what does that mean for the water situation in England?

We note with concern the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government plans to prohibit the continued operation of the Hong Kong National Party. The rights to stand for election, of free speech and of freedom of association are enshrined in the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights.

The UK does not support Hong Kong independence, but Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, and its rights and freedoms, are central to its way of life, and it is important they are fully respected.

BEC has submitted a formal planning application for permission to do the work, which will be the catalyst for wider development of North Shore.

The total Bus Station project cost is £4.1m, of which Sellafield Ltd is providing £2.6m.

It will create a hothouse for tech, digital, media, and creative start-ups.

Alongside units for fledgling firms, the plan includes:

• conference and meeting space for 75 people

• an artisan food and drink outlet, open to the public

• health and wellbeing facilities

The scheme is part of our Transformation Programme, which seeks to leverage public and private sector investment to help grow and diversify the West Cumbrian economy.

To comment on the plans, quoting ref: 4/18/2292/0F1 visit:

For further information, read the ‘Sellafield invests £2.6m to create Cumbria business hub’ article published in April 2018.