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1.
£13.5m committed to flood protection
2. January Highlights – Our top news stories
3. Environment Bill - Update on the latest progress
4.
Consultations - Information about our open consultations
£13.5m committed to flood prevention
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In
December, Minister for Natural Resources Carl Sargeant announced funding of £3m for progressing flood
protection works in St Asaph during 2016/17. The Minister also confirmed
a further £3m would be made available to the Coastal Risk Management Programme
- which will use innovative finance to fund £150m of capital projects for
coastal adaptation and resilience to climate change.
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With
homes and communities devastated by the recent flooding, further funding has
been allocated to support homes and businesses affected. In late December, Carl
Sargeant visited flood defences in St Asaph and Llanrwst with Natural Resources Wales, thanking the
emergency staff for their hard work. To help with immediate repairs to river
and drainage schemes, £1m was made available for local authorities.
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The First Minister said: “We will continue to work closely with local authorities to see what additional action can be taken to speed up work to protect homes and motorists while aiming to minimise the impact on road users. In the meantime, I would urge people across Wales to prepare for the risk of further flooding, take care and regularly view flood alerts and warnings, updated every 15 minutes on the Natural Resources Wales’ website". |
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January Highlights
£1.5 million to improve energy performance of Welsh public bodies
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Today, Carl Sargeant announced that he has secured an additional £1.5 million from the European Investment Bank’s ELENA programme to improve the energy performance of public bodies in Wales. The Minister made the announcement in the Senedd during his update on the action taken to deliver on local energy. Including progress made since the publication of Green Growth Wales: Local Energy in July last year. Read more
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Welsh streets
ahead on recycling rates
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Wales remains streets ahead of the other UK nations in
the amount of waste households sent to be recycled. UK
Statistics on Waste, published by Defra, show that Welsh homes recycled
54.8% of their waste in 2014. This compares to 44.8% in England, 43.6% in
Northern Ireland and 41% in Scotland. In the four years since this data has been collected by Defra, Welsh homes have improved our household recycling rate from 44% to nearly 55%. Read more
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Recycling – your gift to the environment
Card packaging used each Christmas could cover the Millennium Stadium pitch nearly 140,000 times. Recycle your Christmas card and wrapping paper so they can be turned back into packaging to use throughout the year. Read more |
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New legislation on Welsh language in
planning
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Provisions to ensure the Welsh
language is considered in the planning system came into force on 4 January. Under
section 11 of the Planning Act, it is now a requirement that every planning
authority when preparing or revising the local development plan gives
consideration to how the policies and site allocations are likely to impact on
use of the Welsh language in their area. Read more
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Minister visits
£2m fuel poverty project
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Carl Sargeant visited Gibbonsdown to meet residents who
will be benefitting from a recent £2m investment from the Welsh Government’s
Warm Homes Arbed scheme. This project will concentrate on
energy efficiency improvements to 238 properties located in the north east of
Barry. Read more
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Marine Strategy Part Three: UK Programme
of Measures published
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The UK has published the
Marine Strategy Part Three: UK Programme of Measures. This completes the third stage of
implementing the Marine
Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). This is the first time an ecosystem based
approach has been developed to look after our seas for future generations. Read more
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Good deal for
Wales - 2016 fishing quota agreement reached
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Deputy Minister for Farming and Food, Rebecca Evans has
welcomed a “strong and fair” deal for the Welsh fishing industry which will
increase quotas and ensure sustainable stocks for years to come. Rebecca
Evans helped secure the deal as part of the UK Ministerial negotiating team at
the EU Fisheries Council in Brussels on 16 December. Read more
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Coastal Risk Management Programme Shaping Workshops
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Local authorities from across Wales have responded to an
invitation from Welsh Government identifying more than 40 possible projects for
the Coastal Risk Management Programme.
The programme is preparing the way for a £150m capital value of
investment by Welsh Government and local authorities in coastal flood and risk
management capital schemes over three years starting in 2018.
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As partnership working and achieving wider benefits are vital parts of the programme, we will be arranging two workshops bringing together local authorities, Welsh Government and other potential partners. These will be held on 4 February in Colwyn Bay and 10 February in Swansea. The event is by invitation only but if you haven’t been contacted and would like to attend, please contact Peter Kellam by 22 January.
Recommended non-statutory standards for sustainable drainage (SuDS) in Wales
The Welsh Government has published recommended
standards whilst it determines the most effective way of embedding SuDS
principles in new developments in the longer term. The SuDS approach mimics natural drainage, managing runoff close to the surface and as close to its source as practicable. These standards will enable designers
property developers; local authorities and other interested parties to both
demonstrate that they have taken account of the Welsh Government’s planning
advice on Development and Flood Risk , Nature Conservation and Planning and
allow us to test the standards. Read more
Environment Bill - Update on the latest progress
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Stage 2 of the Environment Bill was completed on 26 November at the Assembly’s Environment & Sustainability Committee, where the amendments were discussed and voted on. A total of 134 amendments were tabled.
Following last month’s feature on Part 1 and 2 of the Bill, this month we’re focusing on Part 3 - Carrier Bag Charging Scheme and Part 4 - Waste.
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Read on for more information about the Environment Bill Part 3 and 4 and the to see the amendments to stage 2 that were agreed by the Committee.
Consultations
Green Growth Wales –
Options for investment support
We want your views on
options to accelerate investment in green growth projects. Green growth
addresses one of the major challenges facing Wales: how we become more
prosperous in environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive ways. This
consultation examines what we can do to support investment in this area. Have your say by 29 January 2016.
Amending UK legislation to account for changes to the R1 energy efficiency formula relating to energy from waste plants
We are consulting on the changes to Annex II of the
revised Waste Framework Directive, commonly know as R1. The changes will come
into effect on 31 July 2016 and are keen to seek the views of local authorities,
Natural Resources Wales, landfill operators, energy from waste operators, operators
of permitted and exempt waste facilities, professional and membership
organisations and businesses/private sector. Have your say by 29 January 2016.
Scallop Fishery in
Cardigan Bay
Due to a technical
issue we have restarted the consultation on the proposed new management
measurements for Scallop fishing in Cardigan Bay. We apologise for the inconvenience but if you have already responded
to the previous consultation please resubmit your response. Current
management measures came into force in 2010 and were based on limited evidence.
Following a programme of research by Bangor University we are proposing new
changes. Have your say by 17 February 2016.
Environmental Permitting Regulations - Consultation on rules for mobile crushing of lamps that contain mercury
We want your views on proposals to replace the T17 exemption which allows the
crushing of waste fluorescent tubes that contain mercury with a bespoke permit. This consultation is primary aimed at
all operators of facilities or equipment which handle or treat lamps containing mercury and will be of interest to all businesses across
England and Wales. Have your say by 8 February 2016.
Promoting the conservation of White-fronted Geese in Wales
We are seeking your views on different options to promote the conservation of Greenland White-Fronted Goose in Wales. Have your say by 7 March 2016.
Proposed changes to Technical Advice Note 20: Planning and the Welsh Language
Planning Policy Wales and TAN 20 state that the Welsh language is a consideration in the planning system. Changes to the current TAN 20 are proposed as a result of bringing into force provisions contained in the Planning (Wales) Act 2015. We are seeking the views of local planning authorities, developers and other interested stakeholders on whether the amended TAN makes it clear to all the implications of the provisions in the Planning (Wales) Act 2015 on planning for the Welsh language. Have your say by 30 March 2016.
Our priorities: Doing things the right way for Wales
We’re planning for a better Wales by doing things the right way for future generations. We want to make sure the money we have as a Government is spent in a way that really makes a difference and gets the most benefit for Wales, now and in the future. Our priorities booklet sets out how we will be doing this. |
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