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

The Environment Agency consult 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

Download the spreadsheet tool to check what evidence you need to provide for Mid Tier and Offers for Wildlife applications. It’s for 2018 applications where agreements would start on 1 January 2019.

There are 2 versions of the tool:

• the XLSM file for use with Microsoft Excel
• the ODS file is an open standards format that should work with most spreadsheet software

Both versions include guidance for users.

If you cannot use the tool, you can still check what evidence you need to supply using the Countryside Stewardship grant finder.

Contact

Contact Natural England if you have queries or difficulty using the tool:

British farmers and food producers are set to benefit from a valuable new market as Taiwan prepares to welcome British pork exports for the first time.

UK pork exports were worth £290 million to our economy last year, reaching over 80 export markets. This new agreement is expected to be worth more than £50 million over the next five years.

The deal also means UK exporters can further tap in to the overseas demand for parts of the pig carcass that are not commonly purchased in the UK, such as offal. This means UK farmers and pork processors will be able to generate income for the whole carcass.

The eagerly awaited deal has been secured by the UK government, working with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and UK Export Certification Partnership (UKECP). Exporters can take advantage of the market as soon as the administrative listing process is completed and export certification is made available.

It follows a number of recent successes for UK food and drink exports, which reached a record level of £22 billion in 2017. Last month, China lifted its two-decade long ban on UK beef exports following the BSE outbreak. The agreement will allow official market access negotiations to begin, estimated to be worth over £250million in the first five years alone.

Food Minister George Eustice said:

Access to this new market in Taiwan is great news for our farmers and producers and gives a welcome boost to the pork production industry – already worth £1.3 billion to the UK economy.

This is a significant development for pork exporters and reinforces our reputation for producing high quality food and drink, guaranteeing quality from farm to fork.

International Trade Minister, George Hollingbery said:

Following years of hard work by UK government, the opening of the Taiwanese market to British pork will bring significant benefits to UK pork exporters. This follows a record level of UK food and drink exports last year.

This only goes to highlight the UK’s world-famous reputation for high-quality produce, and we are committed to maintaining those high standards as we leave the EU next spring.

AHDB International Market Development Director Dr Phil Hadley said:

We estimate the value to the UK to be in excess of £50m based on current UK export capacity but if this were to rise to match the strong demand for pork imports in Taiwan, where last year alone imports rose by 26% to US$178.3m, the opportunity could be worth more than £100m over the next five years.

This is an exciting development and a great step forward for the UK and Taiwan.

A team of the Government’s leading trade experts continue to provide guidance to UK businesses as they enter into overseas markets for the first time or consider expanding their current global customer base – ensuring they are poised to take advantage of the increasing opportunities Brexit presents.

This is complemented by the government’s Food is GREAT campaign, which highlights the success of current exporters and showcases the UK’s top quality food and drink.

Mixed commercial and construction/demolition waste was illegally stored at a site in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, despite advice given by Environment Agency officers.

Cambridge Magistrates’ Court heard that the site in Long Drove began as a skip hire site but soon became an unpermitted waste transfer station.

Stop notices were twice placed on the business but Daniel Lee Crockwell, aged 35, of Milton Road, Cambridge, carried on operating.

On 26 July 2018 Mr Gurjit Bdesha, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told the court:

He ignored advice and guidance given to him on numerous visits by Agency officers.

Crockwell had no previous waste experience but tried to compete with established businesses in the area.
As well as the suspended prison sentence, magistrates ordered Crockwell to pay £5,592 costs.

The site of Cambridge Skip Hire at Half Acre Site was first visited by Environment Agency investigating officers in August 2016. No-one was around so a letter was left asking the business to make contact, but it failed to do so and a stop letter was placed on the business.

In November 2016 officers tracked down Crockwell, the company director, who reluctantly agreed to meet them at the site. Mr Bdesha told magistrates:

He told them he needed a few weeks to clear the site and would meet with them again.

Crockwell agreed to clear the site by 16 February 2017 but failed to do so and eventually the landowners took control of the site and cleared it themselves.

Mr Bdesha said Crockwell had taken a risk in running the business illegally and had only ever held a waste carriers’ licence during the year of operating at Long Drove.

He had eventually stopped taking in extra waste in November 2017 and closed down his website and disconnected the phones at the same time.

Mr Bdesha said that before a waste transfer station could be operated at the site there would have had to have been improvements to the infrastructure to protect the environment. Planning and health and safety requirements would also have been needed.

After the hearing, Environment Agency Enforcement Team Leader Phil Henderson said:

Whilst the Environment Agency seeks to work with operators who co-operate and want to comply with the law, we will take action against those who don’t.

Always make sure you are operating legally before embarking on a waste management activity or you are likely to get a visit from our enforcement officers.

More information on permitting waste activities.

Crockwell pleaded guilty to:

Between 31 December 2015 and 31 December 2016 on land known as Half Acre Site, Long Drove, Waterbeach, CB25 9LR, you operated a regulated facility, namely a waste operation for the deposit, storage and treatment of waste without being authorised by an environmental permit granted under Regulation 13 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.

Contrary to Regulation 12 and 38(1)(a) Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.