Purbeck District Council News

Ice Prince - Impact on Dorset

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 06:17:55 -0500

The Ice Prince cargo ship sunk in the English Channel, off the Dorset coast, on Tuesday and is currently lying at a depth of 58 metres, 15 miles south-east of Anvil Point, in Purbeck. We can advise that all crew on board were rescued by the coastguard.

Avian flu outbreak in West Dorset

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 06:17:10 -0500

An outbreak of Avian ‘flu has been confirmed at Abbotsbury, in West Dorset.

Four dead swans have now been confirmed as having the H5N1 strain of the virus, but three other swans tested negative for the H5N1 strain.

New Beverage Carton Scheme Recycling Scheme is first for Purbeck District Council

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 09:39:03 -0500

Purbeck District Council, in conjunction with Tetra Pak Ltd and the carton industry body ACE UK (Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment), is launching a three-year trial scheme this week for the collection and recycling of beverage cartons in Purbeck, giving residents the opportunity to recycle more of their household rubbish.

Every year, UK beverage carton manufacturers produce approximately 60,000 tonnes of paper-based cartons for milk, juices and even wine. That’s around 2.3kg of cartons per household* which could be recycled instead of thrown in the bin. Purbeck is now working with the carton industry to establish carton collection points at key residents’ recycling centres.

Although cartons still cannot be placed in household recycling bins in Purbeck, the new project means that used cartons can be placed in special orange-coloured recycling collection bins (taking paper-based cartons only) in the following locations:

Swanage North Beach Car Park; The D’Urberville Hall in Wool; Bere Regis Car Park; The Upton Oil Site at Blandford Road North in Upton; and Purbeck District Council Offices in Wareham (the Wareham bank will be arriving in a few weeks).

Once collected, the cartons are taken away to be recycled into various products, ranging from plasterboard liner to high-strength paper bags and envelopes.

Councillor Paul Johns, Waste Management Adviser for Purbeck, said: “The residents of Purbeck have always responded well to the recycling schemes we’ve implemented, but we’ve still got tough targets to meet, locally and nationally. We’re delighted that Tetra Pak and the carton industry are supporting us to increase carton recycling in Purbeck. If the three year trial is successful, we’d like to see the project rolled out further.”

Richard Hands, Environment Manager at Tetra Pak Ltd and Chairman of ACE UK, added: “Whilst large volumes of cartons have been successfully recycled for many years in Europe, the UK still has a long way to go. It’s therefore fantastic news that Purbeck District Council is taking a lead by adding cartons to its materials collected for recycling. We, and our industry partners, are committed to increasing the level of carton recycling in the UK and aim to have a national collection network by the end of 2008. Our work with Purbeck brings that one step closer.”

Since April last year, the UK carton industry has made £1.5million available to help local authorities interested in developing carton collection schemes. There are over 300 districts already collecting cartons, which will result in a national network of coverage during the next 18 months. The carton industry continues to work with new paper mills to trial carton recycling to ensure the industry can cater for this increase in recycling.

Please remember: wash and squash your carton before recycling and only put paper-based liquid food and drinks cartons in the recycling bins, unless otherwise specified on the bin. No plastic, card, cans, glass, plastic bags or foil.

For more information on recycling in Purbeck, call the Helpline on 01929 557279 or visit www.purbeck.gov.uk.

For more information on beverage carton recycling, visit http://www.tetrapakrecycling.co.uk/.

* It is estimated that 54 cartons are used per person per annum in the UK, representing over 200 cartons a year for a typical family of four.

Report on Blueprint for Purbeck Published

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 09:38:25 -0500

Following a 10-week detailed examination last year into the South West’s long term plan, the Independent Panel who ran the process has today published its long awaited report which will shape development in the region over the next 20 years.

The report into the draft Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS), sets out strategic policies on subjects including housing, employment and the environment and there are substantial implications recommended for the Purbeck District. Notably, the increase in the level of housing provision from 2100 dwellings, proposed in the draft RSS supported by the District Council, to a proposed 5150 dwellings to be built by 2026.

The Panel has recommended that the majority of the additional housing (2750 dwellings) should be located in North East Purbeck, effectively to the west of Poole/Upton with implications for areas in and around Upton, Lytchett Matravers and Lytchett Minster (formerly known as the Western Sector).

This area is currently afforded protection by Green Belt policy. However, despite objections from the District Council and local residents, the Panel felt that, in terms of sustainability, an urban extension in the Green Belt adjacent to the conurbation was more sustainable than identifying land outside the Green Belt, which would necessitate commuting into Poole.

In addition to the Western Extension, the Panel has recommended that the Council find a further 2400 dwellings across the District (120 dwellings per annum) by 2026. This is an increase of 300 dwellings on the draft RSS figure of 2100 dwellings (105 dwellings per annum).

The Panel has also increased the targets for affordable housing from a minimum of 30% to 35%. However, the District Council will have the flexibility to provide between 35% and 60% of affordable housing for local people. This would mean targeting a minimum of 1800 affordable homes in the District by 2026.

Councillor Bill Trite, Leader of the Council, said

‘Purbeck District Council is extremely disappointed that, despite its best efforts to demonstrate that the District cannot accommodate major housing developments, the Panel’s report into the draft Regional Spatial Strategy is recommending that the District takes more than double its original housing numbers.

It is of particular concern that the villages of Lytchett Matravers and Lytchett Minster will be swamped by a major new development and that a vast majority of Green Belt will be lost to concrete. It is my view that the report does not demonstrate that the so-called “Western Extension” is viable, as there is still much work to do on transport infrastructure and nature conservation’.

Next Steps

Representations are not invited upon the Panel Report. The Secretary of State will consider the Panel report and representations previously submitted and aim to publish her proposed changes in Spring 2008. There will then be a 12 week period of public consultation, where representations from organisations and the public will be invited. Following consideration of these representations the Secretary of State is expecting to publish the final RSS in Autumn 2008.

Implications for District

Meanwhile the District Council will continue preparing its Core Strategy, which must conform with the Regional Spatial Strategy. The current timetable for preparing Preferred Options for the Core Strategy, due for consultation in Spring 2008, has had to be delayed in order to fully explore all possible housing options through the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment work that is currently being carried out. This would have the benefit of allowing the Core Strategy to fall in line with the latter stages of the RSS. The District Council is expecting to re-submit a new Local Development Scheme setting out the revised consultation timetable in the Spring.

Make a Green Resolution for 2008

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 09:37:47 -0500

This January, Purbeck District Council is encouraging residents to think about the environment in 2008 by resolving to start home composting their kitchen and garden waste.

The start of a new year is the ideal time to invest in a compost bin for as little as £8 and turn waste into free, organic fertiliser for the garden. It is an easy way of recycling on a daily basis and every little bit makes a difference.

Home composting plays a vital role in helping to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill where organic material gets trapped under other rubbish, rots down without oxygen and produces the greenhouse gas methane.

Compostable materials include grass cuttings, dead flowers and leaves, tree prunings, vegetable and fruit peelings and egg shells. Cotton handkerchiefs, tissues, vacuum cleaner contents, paper and cardboard packaging can all be composted.

Lynne Gunn, of the Recycle Now Compost at Home Campaign, says: “As fears about the effects of climate change continue to intensify, we all need to do as much as we can protect the environment.

“By making home composting your New Year’s resolution, you can play an important role in helping to divert waste from landfill which, in turn, reduces the amount of harmful gases released into the atmosphere.”

It takes around six to nine months until compost is ready to use, but enthusiastic gardeners can apply peat-free soil conditioners in the meantime. These products, which contain recycled materials, such as grass cuttings, prunings or leaves from local gardens and parks, can also improve the nutrient level and structure of soil.

The Dorset Authorities have partnered up with the national Recycle Now Compost at Home Scheme. For more details, check out the website www.recyclenow.com/compost or phone 0845 077 0757.

Local Farmers Support Scheme to Reverse Decline of Biodiversity

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 09:36:44 -0500

The Purbeck Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) identifies 10 habitats that are: characteristic of Purbeck, have suffered high local rates of decline, are now locally rare, threatened or distinctive and are important for key species. Lowland wet grassland is one of these habitats. A target was set in 1998 to increase the wildlife interest on 25% of the lowland wet grassland in Purbeck by 2005.

The Heritage Lottery funded Purbeck Keystone Project, with the help of financial input from the Environment Agency and Natural England’s Countryside Stewardship Scheme, and the support of three local farmers, has completed water-level management works costing a total of just under £60,000 at three farms on the Frome Valley in Purbeck. These will create conditions suitable for over-wintering wading birds and waterfowl and encourage the return of breeding waders to the Frome Valley.

At the three farms, sluices have been installed to regulate the water levels in the ditches to make the fields wetter at key times of year, especially in the spring and early summer. Several of the sluices are made of brick walls which line the ditch banks between which are mounted steel plates that can be raised or lowered to regulate the flow of water in the ditches. Some of these new sluices are copies of old sluices, the originals of which were cast in foundries in Dorchester. The new structures will allow a return to active control of water levels on the floodplain grasslands of the Frome valley, a practice that was once widespread but has occurred very little for many decades.

It is hoped that by improving the ability to control the wetness of the fields, conditions can be created which will encourage over-wintering wading birds and waterfowl to visit the farms more than they currently do, and allow some locally rare species such as Lapwing, Redshank and Snipe to be able to return as breeding birds

The works have now been completed at Priory Farm at East Holme, and at Manor Farm and Bindon Farm at Wool. A study looking at the feasibility of implementing similar schemes on three other farms between Wareham and Wool is underway.

Richard Caldow, Biodiversity Officer for the Purbeck Keystone Project said: “Over recent decades there has been a significant decline in the number of breeding waders on lowland wet grassland in many parts of the UK. These declines have been linked to intensification of agriculture and in particular to improved drainage of wet grasslands. The water-level management schemes that we have helped to implement on local farms will hopefully create the right conditions for these wetland birds and will help them to recover from the very low numbers that we see in Purbeck today.”

Stephen Goldsack of Priory Farm said: “I look forward to the challenge of continuing to operate a viable farming business while improving the wildlife interest on my farm. It will be very pleasing to be able to achieve both goals”.

The engineering works were carried out by one of the UK’s foremost environmental contracting companies - Alaska Environmental Contracting, which is based at Stokeford.

The Keystone Project is now looking for volunteer(s) to undertake a programme of monitoring of the ditch water-levels, field wetness and bird numbers on the three farms over the coming months.

A report on the results of recent surveys of the over-wintering waders and waterfowl in the Frome valley can be downloaded from the Purbeck Keystone Project web-site at: http://www.purbeck.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=10312

A repeat series of surveys of the wetland birds along the whole valley between Wareham and Moreton is also taking place each month this winter.

Those interested in taking part in either monitoring programme, or simply wishing to find out more about the project should contact the Purbeck Keystone Project on 01929 557336.