Herefordshire Council uses drone to investigate fly-tipping
17/04/2024 A drone is being used by Herefordshire Council to gather evidence of illegal waste disposal. |
Green Liverpool projects win European funding
08/04/2024 Greening projects designed to complement new active travel routes in Liverpool will be funded by a European climate grant worth almost £80,000. |
LGA warning over XL Bully dogs ban
19/03/2024 Councils face a double whammy of soaring costs and declining police support as they try to enforce a ban on XL Bully dogs. |
City Hall hails ‘dramatic’ air quality improvements
12/03/2024 Air quality in the capital has improved ‘much faster’ than in the rest of the UK because of policies introduced by the London mayor, according to a report. |
LTNs popular and effective, leaked report says
11/03/2024 Low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) are popular and effective, a leaked report from the Department for Transport (DfT) has found. |
Emissions rise at ‘environment capital’ council
07/03/2024 Peterborough City Council's greenhouse gas emissions have risen by half in a year. |
Progress stalls on EV charge points
05/03/2024 Many local authorities have fallen significantly behind on their electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure plans, new research has found. |
‘Outdated’ pollution warning systems putting swimmers at risk
29/02/2024 Swimmers could be at risk of bathing in sewage due to an ‘outdated’ pollution warning system, researchers at the University of Reading have warned. |
UK’s first healthcare air quality alert launched
28/02/2024 Healthcare professionals in London will be notified directly about high pollution episodes, London mayor Sadiq Khan has announced. |
Councils near Gatwick raise alarm over runway plan
27/02/2024 Local authorities near Gatwick have raised concerns over the potential increase in noise and air pollution if the airport brings another runway into use. |
Coffee pod recycling scheme hits million milestone
27/02/2024 An initiative run by Cherwell District Council has seen more than a million coffee pods – weighing 16.4 tonnes – recycled in eight months. |
Councils call for ‘autonomy’ under EPR
26/02/2024 Councils must still have the autonomy to run waste services according to local need under new packaging reforms, the Local Government Association has said. |
Coastal councils raise water quality alarm
22/02/2024 Councils in coastal areas have raised the alarm about the impact on health and tourism caused by the continuing deterioration in coastal water quality. |
Planning inspectors acted unlawfully over council’s net zero plans
22/02/2024 Planning inspectors were wrong to describe West Oxfordshire District Council’s net zero plans for a garden village as ‘too rigorous’, a High Court judge has ruled. |
Lewes becomes first council to support ‘Zane’s Law’
21/02/2024 Lewes District Council has become the first local authority to support a proposed new law that calls for greater protection from contaminated land. |
Second council U-turns on pesticide use
01/02/2024 Cambridgeshire County Council has agreed to reintroduce chemical weed killer, following Brighton's recent call to recommence pesticide treatment. |
Local approach needed to prepare for ‘silent killer’ of heatwaves
31/01/2024 MPs have called for a locally led approach to retrofitting houses to protect the most vulnerable from heat waves. |
Newcastle CAZ generates £2.4m
31/01/2024 The Newcastle and Gateshead Clean Air Zone (CAZ) brought in more than £2.4m in its first 11 months of operation. |
Westminster revamps emissions-based parking charges
30/01/2024 Westminster City Council will revamp its parking schemes so that residents and visitors are charged based on their vehicles’ tailpipe emissions. |
Greta Thunberg joins Hampshire airport protest
29/01/2024 Residents, councillors and Extinction Rebellion activists were joined by climate campaigner Greta Thunberg to protest the expansion of a private jet facility at the weekend. |
Disposable vapes to be banned
29/01/2024 Disposable vapes will be banned in the UK to protect children’s health, the Government announced today. |
Old mines in West of England could be used to heat homes
26/01/2024 The West of England Combined Authority (WECA) has thrown its weight behind a £1.6m study to investigate the use of heat from flooded mine shafts to heat homes, schools, hospitals and other buildings. |
Brighton U-turns on pesticide use
25/01/2024 The use of a controversial pesticide will be reintroduced by Brighton and Hove City Council less than five years after it pledged to become ‘pesticide free’. |
Thames Water sewage spills more than quadruple
25/01/2024 The mayor of London has called out the ‘scandalous’ increase in instances of sewage flowing into the capital’s rivers, urging Thames Water to ‘get a grip of the situation’. |
Councils must adapt to extreme weather threat
24/01/2024 Cara Jenkinson, Cities Manager, Ashden discusses how local authorities can adapt to the threat of extreme weather. |
Half of young vapers never regularly smoked, study finds
24/01/2024 A new study has found that 316,000 young people who use disposable vapes never regularly smoked tobacco, but warns that banning the vape products would risk causing relapse among ex-smokers. |
Council chiefs welcome drop in fly-tipping incidents
17/01/2024 Local authorities in England dealt with 1.08 million fly-tipping incidents in 2022/23, a decrease of 1% on the previous year, according to the latest figures. |
MPs at odds with public on packaging measures
17/01/2024 Appetite for government intervention to reduce the use of packaging, either through taxes or bans, is lower among MPs than with the public, new research has found. |
Report warns of 'lethal' climate change risks
17/01/2024 With London and the UK ‘underprepared’ for extreme weather and an absence of national leadership on climate, regional government must adapt at pace, a new report argues. |
Preparing for future floods
16/01/2024 After Storm Henk, APSE principal advisor Rob Bailey sets out some of the steps local authorities should take to improve flood preparedness. |
West Midlands pilots £24m energy support scheme
16/01/2024 Small businesses across the West Midlands are being offered support to cut their gas and electricity usage. |
Survey reveals support for biodiversity scheme
10/01/2024 Most people in Britain support an upcoming requirement for developers to invest in improving local habitats, a survey has revealed. |
Heat pumps plan to be scrapped over costs
02/01/2024 Salford City Council is set to withdraw plans to install air source heat pumps at its town hall due to the cost of the project. |
Think-tank calls for ‘sensible adjustments’ to clean air zones
22/12/2023 Schemes to reduce air pollution should be designed to avoid penalising those living in more deprived areas, a think-tank has said. |
Rowley rules out pre-election nutrient neutrality law change
21/12/2023 The Government has confirmed it will not be introducing primary legislation on nutrient neutrality in the current Parliament. |
How local authorities can inspire sustainable investment
20/12/2023 Helena Rivers, net zero lead at AECOM, argues that while appetite for climate initiatives may vary on within central government, local authorities have the power to act now and drive a meaningful transition. |
Mayor Burnham criticises fee-paying clean air zone
14/12/2023 Public investment in buses and taxis will improve air quality in Greater Manchester faster than a fee-paying clean air zone (CAZ), Mayor Andy Burnham says. |
Skills shortage ‘putting brakes’ on net zero
12/12/2023 The skills shortage is undermining efforts to reduce carbon emissions and effectively tackle the climate crisis, local authority leaders in London have warned. |
Air pollution in most high streets exceeds guidelines, study finds
12/12/2023 Most of Britain’s biggest high streets have air pollution levels above World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations, according to a new study. |
Councils call for support after ‘stark’ climate change warnings
11/12/2023 Local authority leaders have said they need support to prepare communities for climate change after a stark report described the impacts of changing temperatures on people’s health. |
Wales passes workplace recycling law
08/12/2023 New Workplace Recycling Regulations have been passed in Wales, which will require all businesses to separate recyclable materials. |
Luton Airport Expansion – how much growth is too much?
06/12/2023 As COP28 continues, Cllr Richard Roberts, Herts County Council, criticises Luton Airport's plans to increase passenger numbers to 32 million a year. |
Londoners struggling to take action on climate change
05/12/2023 Londoners motivated to prevent climate change but are struggling to reduce emissions due to cost-of-living crisis, survey reveals as leaders meet for COP28. |
Simpler Recycling: The implications for local authorities
04/12/2023 Lee Marshall, Policy and External Affairs Director, CIWM looks at the Government’s recycling reforms and what they mean for local authorities. |
Oxfordshire councils install vape recycling bins
04/12/2023 Three local authorities in Oxfordshire have joined forces to install 60 new recycling collection points for vapes across the county. |
'Lack of clarity' puts recycling reforms at risk
01/12/2023 A ‘lack of clarity’ around the Government’s recycling reforms is preventing councils from preparing for the upcoming changes, according to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). |
Portsmouth CAZ ‘not enough’ as legal limits still breached
01/12/2023 A government-mandated clean air zone (CAZ) in Portsmouth is not enough to reduce emissions, with pollution on three sites continuing to breach the legal limit, the city’s council has said. |
PM promises to limit council tree felling
29/11/2023 Residents will have to be consulted before local authorities remove trees in their areas, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced. |
Edinburgh to spend £55m to make fleet LEZ compliant
28/11/2023 Edinburgh City Council is set to spend £55m replacing obsolete vehicles and ensuring its fleet complies with new environmental rules. |
High Court approves M&S judicial review
21/11/2023 The High Court has approved an application for a judicial review from M&S after Michael Gove blocked plans to redevelop the retailers Oxford Street store. |
Climate change ‘biggest threat’ to heritage
20/11/2023 The future of the coastline, countryside and historic buildings protected by the National Trust will be threatened by extreme weather without urgent and large-scale action, a report has found. |
London council launches green investment scheme
17/11/2023 Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council is inviting residents and businesses to invest in green projects across the borough. |
Only 5% of public feels ready for climate change
15/11/2023 Most of the public feels unprepared for the effects of climate change following the extreme heat, flooding and storms of recent years, LGA poll reveals. |
New health and social care secretary announced
13/11/2023 Victoria Atkins has been appointed Secretary of State for Health and Social Care amid Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s cabinet reshuffle. |
Housing minister among casualties of Sunak reshuffle
13/11/2023 The UK will have its 16th housing minister in 12 years after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s sweeping reshuffle affected the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. |
Councillors ‘powerless and penniless’ on clean air
09/11/2023 Elected members do not believe that councils have the powers or budgets to make meaningful change on air quality, research has found. |
£20m boost for leisure centres
06/11/2023 The Government has awarded local authorities a share of £20m to help support swimming pools and leisure centres most at risk of closure or significant service reduction. |
Glasgow clean air bid gets all clear
31/10/2023 A legal challenge to Glasgow's Low Emission Zone (LEZ) from a local business has failed. |
How AI surveys show councils need a new approach on litter
31/10/2023 Gavin Ellis, co-founder and director of Hubbub, discusses how litter survey projects on Glasgow and Cardiff roads suggest that a new approach is needed by local authorities. |
Khan hails ULEZ compliance as revenue doubles
31/10/2023 London mayor Sadiq Khan has welcomed new data showing that compliance rates in the new outer London part of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) have nearly caught up with those in inner London. |
Air quality rules continue to trouble Bath area
27/10/2023 A council that had ‘officially passed a government milestone’ for cleaning up toxic air breached legal limits as traffic returned after the pandemic, according to recent data. |
Time for local authorities to ‘right-size’ their offices?
26/10/2023 Mobilityways' local authorities lead Graeme Banister asks: should councils reinvent their town halls, or motivate staff to return and fill up these empty edifices? |
Councils ‘held back’ on net zero
24/10/2023 The organisations that represent English councils have collaborated in a call for the Government to change its approach on delivering net zero. |
State of rivers ‘hangs in the balance’ amid pollution climbdown
24/10/2023 The Government has reportedly abandoned its plans to scrap nutrient neutrality rules. |
Turning pensions into fossil fuel playthings
23/10/2023 Robert Noyes, Platform London, argues that if councils are serious about net zero, then local government pension funds must divest from fossil fuels. |
Councils welcome waste reform flexibility but await details on costs
23/10/2023 Councils were relieved not to lose all local discretion in the Government’s waste collection reforms but have said questions remain, including over funding. |
Over £12bn of council pensions invested in fossil fuel
23/10/2023 Over £12bn of local government pensions are invested in the fossil fuel industry, environmental campaigners have revealed. |
Controversial Oxford LTNs made permanent
19/10/2023 Three low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) in Oxford are to become permanent, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet decided this week. |
Councils underperform in first-of-kind climate study
18/10/2023 Local authorities are not doing enough on net zero, the first study of UK councils’ climate action across all sectors has found. |
Government approves plans to increase Luton Airport capacity
17/10/2023 Plans by London Luton Airport (LLA) to increase its passenger cap by one million a year have been approved by the Government. |
Local authority pension schemes invest £330m in renewables
13/10/2023 Six local authority pension schemes have agreed a multi-million-pound deal to invest in renewables projects in the southwest. |
Beavers reintroduced to west London
12/10/2023 Beavers have been returned to west London for the first time in 400 years, Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced. |
15 minute cities 'don't exist'
09/10/2023 Civil servants are battling to explain to ministers that concepts like ’15-minute cities’, said to restrict people’s ability to shop, ‘don’t really exist'. |
Seven bins? The future of consistent collections
04/10/2023 Lee Marshall, CIWM, looks at the Government’s claims to be scrapping the much-fabled ‘seven bins’ policy and the future of the consistent collections reform. |
Greening Up: why, where and how
03/10/2023 Nicholas Boys Smith, director of Create Streets, sets out how local councils can improve the level of urban greenery and why they should. |
New programme to help councils with climate change goals
03/10/2023 A sustainability programme has been launched by the Local Government Association (LGA) to help councils reach carbon reduction targets. |
Sunak launches fight for motorists
02/10/2023 The Government has announced plans to discourage English councils from bringing in 20mph and traffic reduction measures. |
Country park renamed in honour of late Queen
02/10/2023 A Lincolnshire country park has been renamed The Queen Elizabeth Memorial Lincolnshire Coastal Country Park as a mark of respect for the late monarch. |
Government to restrict use of 20mph speed limits
29/09/2023 Local leaders have responded critically to reports that the Government is set to restrict the ability of councils to impose 20mph speed limits on main roads. |
Bradford claims success from watered-down CAZ
29/09/2023 Bradford Council has celebrated questionable success in its struggle to demonstrate compliance with the legal limit for toxic air pollution. |
Concern companies not aware of single-use plastics ban
28/09/2023 The Local Government Association (LGA) has raised concerns that businesses may not know about the ban on certain single-use plastic items. |
Biodiversity Net Gain laws delayed
28/09/2023 The Government has confirmed it is delaying the introduction of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) laws until next year. |
County areas behind on EV charging
28/09/2023 The number of publicly available electric vehicle (EV) charge points in England’s county and rural areas lags ‘far behind’ major towns and cities, according to a report. |
Newcastle clean air zone brings in £500k
27/09/2023 Newcastle City Council’s clean air zone (CAZ) has brought in over £500,000 in the first six months of its operation, new figures from the council reveal. |
Tower Hamlets to remove LTN road closures
21/09/2023 Tower Hamlets has decided to remove its low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) road closures despite the majority of affected residents supporting the measures. |
PM delays new petrol and diesel ban to 2035
21/09/2023 PM Rishi Sunak has delayed the Government's ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030 to 2035. |
Environmental regulations holding back housebuilding
21/09/2023 Laws such as those requiring nutrient neutrality in housing developments have resulted in ‘effective moratoria on housebuilding,’ Lords committee says. |
Government fails to block levelling up Bill amendments
19/09/2023 The Government suffered a flurry of last-minute defeats as the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill completed its journey through the House of Lords. |
New Lincolnshire nature reserve a ‘landmark moment’
19/09/2023 Lincolnshire’s new national nature reserve is ‘a landmark moment for nature recovery in England’, Natural England has said. |
Council net zero efforts at risk, LGIU warns
19/09/2023 Disputes over London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) and Low Traffic Networks (LTNs), combined with the cost-of-living crisis, put net zero efforts at risk. |
How citizens hold the key to decarbonising Britain
18/09/2023 Jonathan Bradley, head of Business and Practice at Granicus Experience Group (GXG) UK, argues that citizens hold the key to decarbonising Britain. |
Government defeated over planning fees
15/09/2023 Councils would be able to vary fees for planning applications under amendments to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. |
Lords block plans to scrap nutrient neutrality rules
14/09/2023 The Government’s attempt to scrap nutrient neutrality rules has been defeated in the House of Lords. |
Planners unprepared for new biodiversity requirements
07/09/2023 Planning authorities are struggling to prepare for the introduction of biodiversity net gain (BNG) requirements, says the Royal Town Planning Institute. |
Time to fight Government water plans
05/09/2023 Ali Morse, water policy manager for The Wildlife Trusts, makes the case for defending the EU-era nutrient neutrality rules. |
Newcastle axes LTN
04/09/2023 A trial low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) scheme in Newcastle will not be made permanent, the city council has announced. |
Against nutrient neutrality rules
31/08/2023 Neil Jefferson, the managing director of Home Builders Federation, makes the case for scrapping the EU-era nutrient neutrality rules. |
Gove to ease nutrient neutrality requirements
29/08/2023 Ministers have announced they will ease divisive development rules on water pollution blamed for low housebuilding rates in rural areas. |
Vehicle emission schemes raise £418m
24/08/2023 More than £400m in fees and penalties has been generated from vehicle emission schemes in England, a freedom of information (FOI) request has revealed. |
EPR scheme payments may come as late as December 2025
17/08/2023 Councils may not receive their first payments under the new extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme until as late as December 2025, The MJ has learnt. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.