Just one month after penalising eight Staffordshire anglers, the same court issues a combined fines of £5,500 to another nine anglers for fishing offences.

On 20 March, North Staffordshire Justice Centre Magistrates’ Court heard how nine anglers were caught fishing illegally last summer.

All nine were caught fishing without a rod licence by Environment Agency officers out on regular patrols. Six anglers pleaded guilty but the fines were much higher for those who didn’t submit a plea and didn’t appear in court. And with an annual fishing licence now costing £30 these nine are probably wishing they’d chosen the cheaper option!

Connor Grey of Oak Grove in Cheadle, Nicholas Mills of Neale Place in Stoke on Trent, Samuel Smith of Moston Street in Stoke on Trent, Ashley Gould of Thornewill Drive in Burton on Trent, Stephen Clarke of Sandwood Crescent in Stoke on Trent, Ashley Taylor of Birches Head Road in Stoke, David Pickerill of Hoveringham Drive in Stoke on Trent, Michael Horton of Chapel Drive in Walsall and Ryan Marriette of Skipton Road in Liverpool were all found guilty for fishing without a licence under Section 27(1)(a) of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975.

Magistrates heard that in August and September Environment Agency enforcement officers found these anglers fishing without a rod licence at pools in Stafford, Cannock, Burntwood, Leek, Newcastle under Lyme and Burton.

Andrew Eardley of the Environment Agency said:

The majority of anglers fish legally and purchase a rod licence. With anglers now being able to buy a licence online for a number of rods to cover any 12 month period it seems ridiculous the minority still risk a significant fine like these we’ve seen here.

The minority of anglers that fail to buy a rod licence are cheating their fellow anglers and the future of the sport. Fishing licence cheats risk a criminal conviction, a significant fine and could lose their fishing equipment.

Money from fishing licence sales is invested in England’s fisheries and is used to fund a wide range of projects to improve facilities for anglers including protecting stocks from illegal fishing, pollution and disease; restoring fish stocks through re-stocking; eradicating invasive species; and fish habitat improvements. Rod licence money is also used to fund the Angling Trust to provide information about fishing and to encourage participation in the sport.

You need a valid Environment Agency Rod Licence to fish for salmon, trout, freshwater fish, smelt or eel in England. Buying a rod licence is easy, simply visit www.gov.uk/fishing-licences/buy-a-fishing-licence.

Some of the UK’s leading thinkers in urban infrastructure came together today to start a conversation about the challenges of supporting a growing population in cities.

The event was part of the Future Cities Dialogue project, by Forum for the Future, Innovate UK, Sciencewise and Ipsos Mori. It coincided with the release of a report which reveals the current trends and challenges in urban development and offers 3 visions for what our cities could look like in 20 years. This is based on substantial dialogue with citizens on the types of cities they would want to live in.

Future Cities Dialogue – 3 potential city scenarios

Growing cities

With more than 70% of people estimated to be living in urban areas by 2040, city infrastructure and design is going to need to drastically change in order to better support its citizens.

Speaking at the breakfast session, James Goodman, Director of Futures, Forum for the Future, said:

The year 2040 will be radically different from today. The population in the UK will be 74 million, climate change will have progressed and food production will have needed to increase between 50 and 80%.

In that landscape, the role of cities is critical because it is where ideas are formed and implemented.

How people are going to live

The group felt that the trajectory of growth in people would place pressure on public and private spaces. The consensus was that infrastructure design will need to get smarter, more collaborative and focus on the needs of people if it is to be effective.

Sophie Thomas, Founding Director of Thomas Matthews and the former Director of Circular Economy for Royal Society of Arts, said:

How are people going to live in these cities? What is the density? That is not going to feel like London and the other cities we know now. Where is all the public space going to go? This is what we really need to be thinking about and what the infrastructure needs to focus on. Where is my 10-year-old going to play football?

Rob Whitehead, Head of Strategy, Future Cities Catapult, added:

The key question is how do we manage the public interest versus the private interest? My optimistic side feels that the promise of what we have ahead of us, is that together we can find better, smarter ways of balancing our interests as a whole in a much more responsive and fine-tuned way then we do now.

Join the discussion

This is only the start of the conversation. Now we want to hear from you. We are hosting a Twitter chat on Wednesday 22 March from 11am to midday to answer any questions about where our urban environments are headed and to gather your thoughts.

We want to know your thoughts on proposals to introduce a national ban on landing egg-bearing lobsters and crawfish in England.

This ban will help protect these important shellfish stocks. We particularly want to hear from fishing vessel owners and fishing licence or shellfish entitlement holders.

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: C D Jordan & Son Limited
• Installation name: European Metal Recycling
• Permit number: EPR/KP3594HB/V011

The Environment Agency is looking for members to join the Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (RFCC) which covers the River Great Ouse catchment, including large parts of the Fens, part of the Wash and North West Norfolk coast. Roles will start in July 2017 and January 2018.

RFCCs play an important role in deciding local priorities for flood and coastal work. They have a critical role supporting the Environment Agency and local authorities to work with communities and other partners to help bring in more funding.

More people are needed to help develop plans. They should have effective communication skills, be able to think strategically and bring enthusiasm, expertise and new ideas, using their particular skills and experience to advise and provide opinions during committee meetings.

A specific vacancy exists for a member with coastal expertise and focus. Someone able to network nationally and help develop innovative ideas with partners and communities. The RFCC has a varied and vulnerable coastline that extends from the west of King’s Lynn through to Hunstanton cliffs.

There are also 3 vacancies for general members and, in particular, applications will be welcome from people with knowledge and experience of incident management, community resilience, agri-business and industry, land drainage, water management or strategic/spatial planning.

New members will have a contact within the Environment Agency who they can work closely with to ensure they have a good understanding of the issues and discussions taking place at meetings and who will be happy to answer any queries.

RFCC members are all appointed as impartial individuals in their own right and not as representatives of any particular organisation. It is important that the committees represent the communities they serve. All public appointments are made on merit, following a fair, open and transparent process.

Members would be expected to attend 4 committee meetings per year and are able to claim expenses.

Anyone interested in helping to make a difference in their local area should get in touch to discuss further with Paul Burrows (Environment Agency Flood & Coastal Risk Manager) on paul.burrows@environment-agency.gov.uk or on 07824431597.

For an application pack please visit or contact Stephanie North on 02030 251938 or email AnglianRFCCs@environment-agency.gov.uk

Closing date for applications is 13 April 2017. Interviews taking place the week commencing 19 June 2017 at Environment Agency offices, Bromholme Lane, Brampton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE28 4NE.