In July 2018, Chris Packham visited Havannah and Three Hills Nature Reserve, as part of his UK Bioblitz 2018: ‘Nature Reserves Are Not Enough!’. The tour took the naturalist to 50 UK wildlife sites to highlight the extent to which the nation’s wildlife is under threat. At each site, a team of ‘experts’ was on … [Read more…]
Newcastle City Council has confirmed it will contest our grounds claim for judicial review of its decision to allow development in Cell A/B1 of Newcastle Great Park. The plans, which are contrary to local and national planning policy on Green Belt and open space, and undermine a longstanding legal agreement between Newcastle Great Park Consortium … [Read more…]
Newcastle City Council has confirmed it is unable to provide a response to our summary of grounds for judicial review by 30th January 2019 ‘due to the nature and extent of the issues raised’. The council intends to provide a substantive response by 6th February. In the event that the council sees fit to plough … [Read more…]
We have given up waiting for the decision notice for Newcastle Great Park Consortium’s application for Cell A/B1 of Newcastle Great Park, which was minded for approval over a month ago. This morning, Wednesday 16th January 2019, we submitted our pre-action protocol letter to Newcastle City Council. The 22-page document sets out our grounds for … [Read more…]
Last year we asked Newcastle City Council how close it had come to achieving the targets set out in the Waste Commission’s ‘No Time to Waste‘ report, in terms of its pledges to reduce plastic waste. We received the below response. We have reduced single-use plastics in the Civic Centre by stopping the use of … [Read more…]
The consultation on Newcastle City Council’s draft ‘Trees Newcastle: Newcastle City Council Tree Strategy 2018-2023’ closed on Friday 14th December. We submitted the below response, calling for more clarity on how tree cover will be increased and how the strategy will bring about meaningful change. Dear Sir/Madam, This document sets out Save Newcastle Wildlife’s response to … [Read more…]
Thank you to everyone who sat through almost three hours of Alice in Wonderland logic from Newcastle City Council officers and Newcastle Great Park Consortium this morning. Developer-led officers succeeded in bamboozling members of the planning committee into giving the thumbs up to unlawful plans that will harm the Green Belt and wildlife in Newcastle. … [Read more…]
On 5th November 2018, Newcastle Great Park Consortium submitted further information relating to the environmental impact of proposed development for Cell A/B1 of Newcastle Great Park. The plans have now been amended to remove the proposed pavilion, access track and parking areas from the Green Belt within Cell B1 and to reduce the length and change … [Read more…]
Our final Urban Nature NE session of 2018, Fabulous Fungi, will take place on Sunday 7th October, in Havannah Three Hills Nature Reserve. The reserve is one of the best sites in Newcastle to see fungi fruiting, with species ranging from the common to those with very few national records, and we hope to see lots … [Read more…]
In March 2018 Newcastle City Council determined to put into practice recommendations of the Waste Commission’s ‘No Time to Waste’ report. The report suggested a number of ways to cut waste across Newcastle, including: • a voluntary ban on single use plastics in the city • a voluntary ban on drinking straws in pubs, … [Read more…]