Notice: SY5 8HB, Vinnals Poultry Limited: environmental permit issued

The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).

This decision includes the permit and decision document for:

  • Operator name: Vinnals Poultry Limited
  • Installation name: The Vinnals Poultry Farm
  • Permit number: EPR/MP3034YM/V002



News story: Re-appointments to the Board of AHDB

Environment Secretary Michael Gove, with the approval of the Devolved Administrations, has reappointed George Lyon and Paul Temple to the Board of AHDB for second terms.

The re-appointments have been made in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments issued by the Cabinet Office. Both re-appointments will run from 1 April 2018 till 31 March 2021.

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity to be made public.

George Lyon

George Lyon has already served a term of three years on the AHDB and is Chair of the AHDB Remuneration & Nominations Committee, Chair of Meat & Livestock Commercial Services Limited (MLCSL) and has been a senior consultant for the agri-food practice of Hume Brophy since 2015.

George was a member of the European Parliament in 2009 till 2014, serving on the Agricultural and Rural Affairs committee. He played a central role in negotiating key aspects of agreements on both CAP reform and the EU budget, and also worked on issues related to trade policy, with a particular focus on EU relations with the US and the emerging negotiations on TTIP.

George will receive £11,100 per annum based on his commitment of 36 days.

Paul Temple

Paul Temple has already served one three year term on the AHDB Board and chairs the Cereals & Oilseeds sector board. He is a past Vice President for the NFU, chairman of the COPA COGECA Cereals, Oilseeds & Protein Group and founder of the European Biotech Forum and previously sat on the National Non Food Crops Centre Board. He also serves as Voluntary Initiative Chairman (VI Chairman). Paul farms 312 hectares in partnership on the East Yorkshire Wolds, producing cereals for seed, oilseed rape, vegetables and beef.

Paul has not declared any political activity in the past five years.

Paul will receive £32,000 per annum based on a time commitment of 104 days.

Notes:

  • AHDB is an independent Non-Departmental Public Body created under the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board Order, 2008.
  • The Board for AHDB comprises a Chairman and nine members.



Correspondence: eAlert: 2 August 2018 – Hot and dry weather conditions in England

Contents

  • Hot and dry weather conditions in England
  • Woodland Carbon Fund eligibility
  • New guidance available for afforestation proposed on or near nationally important upland breeding wader areas



News story: Forthcoming changes to fisheries rules highlighted

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is providing advance notice of changes to fisheries laws it expects will affect the English/UK fishing industry throughout 2019.

The MMO, whose remit includes enforcing EU and UK fisheries regulations in English waters, is providing insight into its work in order to give industry as much certainty as possible and to help them prepare for changes. In response to discussions in the media and online, this guidance is being published to clarify that current fisheries laws will continue to apply immediately after the UK leaves the EU.

What is happening

The full Landing Obligation (discard ban) will come into force on 1 January 2019. This means that for all fisheries, species with catch limits (quota species) will have to be landed and counted against quota. This includes undersize fish.

There are exemptions to this requirement subject to certain conditions. These are based on either the ability of the fish to survive capture and release (“survivability”); or on the difficulty of preventing capture of unwanted fish; or disproportionate cost of handling, (de minimis). For example, it is proposed that from 1 January 2019 plaice will be able to be discarded in certain fisheries due to its ability to survive capture and release.

In the new regulations there are also requirements for vessels to use more selective fishing gear. These will apply to parts of the Celtic Sea (from 1 July 2019) and area VIIa in the Irish Sea (from 1 January 2019).

Defra is working with the MMO and the fishing industry to identify ways to limit the risk of ‘choke’ species closing fisheries in 2019. A choke species is one for which there is not enough quota; when this runs out it may restrict opportunities to carry on fishing for other key species for which more quota is available.

The UK is also working with the European Commission and other Member States to develop other ways of limiting choke for the most high risk fisheries. These are likely to be agreed at December Council when the annual Total Allowable Catch and Quota Regulation is finalised.

The regulations are currently in draft form and may be subject to change. The MMO will issue more detailed guidance once the regulations for 2019 are finalised. However, if you want to view the draft recommendations as they stand currently, they are available here: North Sea, North Western Waters.

The technical conservation regulation is the legislation that aims to reduce the capture of juvenile fish and minimise environmental harm. A new regulation is currently in draft and it is likely to come into force in the first half of 2019.

The new draft technical conservation regulation is more streamlined that the original regulation. It aims to simplify the rules.

What the Marine Management Organisation is doing

As explained in its compliance and enforcement strategy the MMO will provide guidance and raise awareness of the rules as a first step to achieving compliance.

Work being carried out by the MMO so that it can support industry to understand and comply with the changes includes:

  • Working with the EC and Defra to gain understanding of the implications of legislation changes by location of fishing activity, sector and gear type
  • Training staff so that they can provide advice and guidance to fishermen in person
  • Working with fishing industry representatives to understand the best way to provide guidance to fishermen and help spread the word about the changes
  • Producing tailored guidance and materials to help people understand how the changes may affect them
  • Working with Devolved Administrations to send out clear and consistent information

How the changes relate to the UK leaving the EU

UK fishermen will still need to comply with the changes despite the UK leaving EU. This is because the Government will be bringing EU rules into UK law as ‘retained EU law’ and so existing fisheries arrangements will continue to operate in the period following the UK leaving the EU. Retained EU law will then be replaced in time with domestic legislation but until then the existing rules apply and will be enforced by the MMO and other UK fisheries administrations.




Notice: Aggregate Industries UK Limited: application made to abstract water

The Environment Agency consults the public on certain applications for the abstraction and impoundment of water.

These notices explain:

  • what the application is about
  • which Environment Agency offices you can visit to see the application documents on the public register
  • when you need to comment by