Premier League champions ‘score’ again - but this time for creating training ground wildlife habitat

Habitat for bees and pollinating insects - wildflower meadow at club's training ground 

THERE has been another honour for Manchester City FC - but this time unconnected with football.

It has won an ecology project of the year award from the Institute of Groundsmanship for creating wildlife habitat.

On the perimeter of its academy training ground, the Premier League title holders are steadily improving biodiversity by planting trees and even installing breeding boxes for insects such as solitary bees.

The ground sits on 80 acres reclaimed land used previously as a chemical treatment works.

The venture is part of a three-year plan which also aims to raise awareness  of local ecology in the local community, hopefully including  footballers.

The club academy's landscape contract manager, Daniel Lewis, comments: "What we are achieving here shows what  can be done to align first class footballing facilities with ecology and biodiversity."

Equally upbeat is the academy's head gardener, Daniel Cranmer, who provides more detail thus: 

"We have introduced wildflower meadows, with lots of high nectar pollinating plants.

"We have a clear understanding of what we want to do and developing manageable projects with our small landscape team. 

"We have shown what can be achieved with little investment, but still produce such dramatic changes for the good of the environment.

"We have had to think and re-assessthe way we do our maintenance and have encompassed new programmes which have required the team to be open-minded, willing to learn and go the extra mile. 

"Full credit is due to team members Paul Silk, Dalton Eckersall, Pavel Furda, Karl Horne, Dominic Knower, Ben Williams, and Martin Neighbour."

The academy works closely with the company, idverde, a leading provider of grounds maintenance services and landscape creation projects.

The groundstaff team at the Manchester City academy with their award 

1982 study of Rock Buntings - rarely seen in Britain - attracted plenty of interest at Salisbury art auction

Rock Buntings - the preferred habitat is dry mountainous area

                                                                      

WHAT prompted artist Mary Fedden OBE to choose Rock Buntings for this expressive painting she completed in 1982?

Bristol-born Fedden, who died aged 96  in 2012, was not especially noted as a bird artist.

Nor was 1982 one of the handful of years in which the species has been recorded in Britain.

So there must have been some other factor which brought Rock Buntings - a partially migratory inhabitant of Asia and Central Europe  - to her attention.

The question is prompted by the fact that this delightful study, measuring  22.4cm x 16.7cm,  went under the  hammer at the Woolley and Wallis art auction in Salisbury earlier this month.

Including the buyer's premium, it sold for £5,040, which was in line with the pre-sale estimate of £4,000 and £6,000.

A close friend of former TV news presenter Anna Ford, Fedden had a varied art career which included stage designs for Saddlers Wells and murals for the World War Two effort and then  for Charing Cross Hospital.

For most of her married life she lived on the banks of the River Thames in London where she shared a flat with Julian Trevelyan, also an artist. He died in 1988.

The first British records of Rock Buntings were the two netted by birdcatchers, in late October 1902, near Shoreham in Sussex, with another that was seen at Faversham, Kent, in mid-February 1905.

Subsequent records include birds seen in Pembrokeshire (August 1958), Spurn (February-March 1965), Bardsey (June, 1967) and Bolton Abbey (May 2011).                                                                         

Mary Fedden - a long and colourful life

Farewell to the swallows and the thrushes! Green light soon for developers to bulldoze local nature into oblivion

                                                 

Already in decline because of habitat lost to development, the Song Thrush will be even more vulnerable to latest Government proposals 

DEVELOPERS may soon be able to bulldoze wildlife habitat -  so  long as they are  willing to chip in towards 'enhancing' nature at another 'strategic' site.

This latest Government proposal - which will delight housebuilders - was announced as the weekend.

A statement from Whitehall says: "As we seek to turbo-charge housebuilding, developers will be able to pay into a Nature Restoration Fund as a quick and simple way of meeting their environmental obligations."

It goes on to claim that the proposed measure will "help to  halt and reverse the decline of species and natural habitats" by "driving nature recovery at a strategic, not site-by-site, scale". 

It insists: "These common-sense measures will create a ‘win-win’ for nature and the economy, accelerating economic and environmental growth." 

The statement has been signed off by Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner who says: "Getting Britain building means stripping away unnecessary barriers to growth to deliver the homes that we  need.

"For years, vital housing and infrastructure projects have been tied up in red tape leaving communities without the homes, infrastructure and jobs they need."

The extent to which Natural England supports these proposals is unclear, but chairman Tony Juniper is giving the Government the benefit of the doubt.

Says he: "We will continue to work with the Government to help deliver their plans

"We should consider the huge opportunities which can be unlocked through better strategic planning which considers environmental improvements, economic development and green spaces for public enjoyment on a landscape scale."

The Wryneck says: "Talking about 'robbing Peter to pay Paul'! This is a potentially calamitous proposal. Right-minded people don't want to lose their local song thrushes, skylarks and badgers  in favour of supporting some 'strategic' nature enhancement scheme at a remote site elsewhere. They want nature to thrive in and around the places - whether urban or rural - where they actually live. They want  it to be part of the fabric of  their communities. And who will hold the levers of control  at the so-called 'Nature Restoration Fund' (which, incidentally, will inevitably require its own costly secretariat)? Who will to decide what habitats can be forfeited and what 'strategic' habitats should be 'enhanced'? Hopefully not Natural England, a body notorious for its inability even to maintain its own sites of special scientific interest. Contrary to the Government 'line', there is not  a great deal wrong with the planning system as it exists at present. It is up to developers to design their projects in such a way as to safeguard habitat and wildlife (and, in fairness, some already do). Allowing them carte blanche to  buy their way out of their responsibilities will leave the country even more nature depleted than ever. 

Controversial report claims housebuilders are ignoring planning conditions designed to safeguard wildlife

                           

The cover of the report contrasts what has been pledged with what actually materialises 

SOME housebuilders are flouting planning conditions aimed at safeguarding birds and other wildlife - and local councils are turning a blind eye.

This is the conclusion of research carried out at  42 new housing estates across five local authorities.

It revealed that many ecological enhancements had simply not materialised.

As a result, the following were - and still are - missing:  

* 83 per cent of hedgehog highways

* 100 per cent of bug boxes

* 75 per cent of both bat and bird boxes.

When it comes to plant life, the results are equally grim, with 39 per cent of trees either dead or missing and 82 per cent of woodland edge seed mixes failing to materialise. 

Even the features that had been planted were not  always properly installed, rendering them effectively useless.

For instance, some 59 per cent  of wildflower grasslands were found to be sown incorrectly or otherwise damaged.

The research visits were conducted between June and August  this year by a team from  from the University of Sheffield.

Says Prof Malcolm Tait from the university's School of Geography and Planning: "The Government has just announced ambitious housing targets, on the assumption that the planning system can ensure harm to nature is mitigated. 

"But our research shows that housebuilders are not implementing their promises on  ecological enhancements to help nature.

"What we have revealed is a huge, systemic issue and an urgent need for the planning enforcement system to be given the resources it needs to protect wildlife from harm."

Prof Tait notes that, since 2010, local authority budgets have been subjected to cuts, and many enforcement teams are understaffed, leaving them unable to deal with anything but the most serious breaches of planning conditions.

He maintains that  there is often very little regulation of developer behaviour in installing measures for ecological mitigation and enhancement. 

It  appears that some companies may be gambling that no one will have time to check whether they have actually met the conditions of their planning permission or not. 

The report suggests that some developers seem to think wildlife consists of  " imaginary creatures that live only in documents or in spreadsheets" whereas the reality is that they are living, breathing beings and vulnerable to "a devastating change in land use".

It states: "People sometimes wrongly imagine imagining that, when development starts, wildlife happily decamps from one site to another equally favourable one close by. 

"While some creatures may escape destructive effects in this way, the reality is that many will simply perish. "

"Many such erasures, happening here and there across an area, can be a form of death by a thousand cuts, leading to the local extinction of a species.

"Multiply that picture at a regional, national, and international scale of development, and the implications for a much wider biodiversity crisis are obvious."

In the New Year, the research team is hoping to  produce a guide that explains how to evaluate new developments for their compliance with planning conditions and how to alert local authorities to breaches. 

The Sheffield University report was commissioned by the campaigning organisation, Wild Justice, whose directors are Ruth Tingay,  Mark Avery and Chris Packham.

County wildlife trust left 'devastated' by appeal inspector's approval for housing estate on bird-rich wildlife site

                                                                       

Fieldfare - one of the winter-visiting species that could be lost to Longridge 

AN appeal inspector's decision to allow a housing development on nature-rich habitat in Cheshire has dismayed Cheshire Wildlife Trust.

It appears to spell doom for the Longridge Local Wildlife Site which lies on the outskirts of Knutsford 

"We are devastated," says the trust's planning manager Dr Rachel Giles. "This site is amongst the most valuable and important sites in the county for wildlife.

"It is a mosaic of oak woodland, wildflower grassland, scrub and ponds. 

"It is a haven for wildlife with flocks of Redwing, Fieldfare and finches in the winter months and numerous red and amber listed breeding birds in summer including Song Thrush and Willow Warbler.

"Remarkably, there are also three species of newt, which is extremely unusual for Cheshire.  

Continues Dr Giles: "Yet the appeal inspector has decided that the benefits of a new housing development outweigh the harm to nature.

"The decision over Longridge could have wide-reaching implications by setting a precedent for other similarly damaging applications across the country."

Cheshire East Council refused the planning application  for up to 225 houses, but the developer, Dewscope Ltd, chose to appeal, and the council decision was overturned earlier this week.

In his report, appeal inspector M Ian Dyer, who carried out a site  visit before reaching his decision, concludes: "No irreplaceable habitat would be lost."

                                                   

               Above and below - some of the trees at threat as a result of                                                      planning inspector's Longridge decision

                                                  

Dancing with penguins - Chris Packham keen to celebrate the 'alluring magnificence' of Antarctica

                                                             

As if broadcasting and crusading to save the planet were not enough to keep him busy, Chris Packham has also been promoting his penguin photograph prints  that are now available (prices start at £125) from art dealers Taylor Jones & Son (01304 362671) of Deal in Kent. Says the celebrity naturalist: "I have been lucky to visit Antarctica several times.  I have always been entranced by the ice and  the way the light plays on both it and the snow.  The way it changes the form and texture of the landscape is so alluring. The last time I journeyed there, I created a set of images to celebrate this ice world's utter magnificence."

Chance to contribute to seabird research - but don't apply for these RSPB posts if you haven't got a head for heights!

Home to thousands of breeding seabirds in spring and summer - the steep cliffs of Flamborough 

TWO research assistants are being sought by the RSPB for short-term seabird-monitoring work during  spring next year at Flamborough and Filey on the Yorkshire Coast.

The job description states:

* Experience handling large birds (ideally seabirds) is essential

* Comfortable with working at height in cliff environments (no vertigo)

* Comfortable working long days and weekends (including early morning and late nights)  

* Experience working in a close-knit team (desirable) 

* Experience monitoring seabirds (desirable) 

* Experience tracking birds (ideally seabirds) and/or a good understanding of the process 

Similar posts are also being offered in North-east Scotland.

The salary is  the equivalent, depending on past experience, of  between £24,890 and £31,347 per annum.

The closing date for applications is January 12, 2025.