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1. Environment Bill
2. February Highlights – Our top news stories
3. Food for the Future Conference
4. Keep up to date on the latest
news
5. Opportunities
6. Consultations
- Information about our open consultations
Environment Bill
Message from the Minister for Natural
Resources
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The Environment (Wales) Bill was passed last week
by the National Assembly. This is a critical piece of legislation and
represents the culmination of months of collaborative working, with much
stimulating debate along the way. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved and I
would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to everyone who
has been involved in the development of the Bill - your contributions
have been vital.
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Focus on Parts 5, 6 and 7 and Stage 3
amendments
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The Bill has now completed the formal Assembly
scrutiny process and is expected to receive Royal Assent by the end of
March. The Stage 3 plenary debate took place on 26 January. A total of 80
amendments were tabled.
Following last month’s feature on Part 3 and 4 of
the Bill, this month we’re focusing on Parts 5 (Fisheries for Shellfish),
6 (Marine Licensing) and 7 (Flood and Coastal Erosion Committee
& Land Drainage). Read more.
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February Highlights
New programme to support local renewable
energy schemes launched
A new service to help social enterprises and SMEs
across Wales to develop their own renewable energy schemes has been
launched by Natural Resources Minister Carl Sargeant. The Welsh
Government Local Energy Programme will support small and medium scale
renewable energy projects. The Minister made the announcement on a visit
to the Friends of Taff Bargoed project, which is a community owned 100kw
hydro scheme. Read more
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European programmes to deliver millions
for rural and coastal Wales
Deputy Minister for Farming and Food, Rebecca Evans
will today announce several new support mechanisms for Welsh farmers,
foresters, and fishers providing access to millions of pounds of European
funding. The Minister will be at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea for
the official start-of-term event of two European programmes, the Welsh
Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014-2020
(WGRC) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund 2014 – 2020 (EMFF). Read more
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New legislation changes to Development
Management
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New legislation coming into force on 16 March will
introduce a number of improvements to the development management system
in Wales. In particular, the amends to the Development Management
Procedure Wales Order 2012 will include requirements for a developer
proposing a major development to undertake pre-application consultation
with the local community and relevant local members, town and community
councils, and statutory consultees.
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These comments will need to be taken into
consideration before a formal planning application is submitted. The
main changes to the development management process are explained in a
letter sent to Chief Planning Officers on 1 February 2016, which can be
found on our website.
Planning authorities get new powers to
manage impact of HMOs
New legislation that will give planning authorities
the opportunity to manage the impact of Houses in Multiple Occupation
(HMOs) in their local area has been made by Natural Resources Minister
Carl Sargeant. The announcement was made during a visit to Swansea to
hear how the new legislation will help planning authorities manage impact
of HMOs in their area. Read more
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New legislation for crustacean fisheries
in Welsh waters
The Minister for Natural Resources has announced
minimum size requirements for lobsters and crabs as one of several
measures of new legislation which came into force on 1 February to
help improve the quality and sustainability of Welsh stocks. Read more
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Recycling your card
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner and St
Dwynwen's Day that has recently passed, it is time to think about card
and gift wrap recycling. Recycle for Wales have pulled together a table
summarising what can be recycled in your local authority in terms of
flowers, cards and Gift Wrap. Read more.
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Four new faces at Design Commission for
Wales
The Minister for Natural Resources
has announced four new appointments to the board of directors of the
Design Commission for Wales (DCFW). A new chair and three new board
members will all take up their roles on 1 April this year. Established in
2002, the Design Commission for Wales promotes the importance of good
design across sectors, collaborating with a range of other bodies to help
champion better buildings and spaces, now and for future generations. Read more
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Farmers’ use of renewable fertilisers to
be revolutionised by new research
Farmers’ and growers’ confidence in digestate and
compost has been given a welcome boost, as new ground-breaking research
published by our delivery partner WRAP, shows that smart use of
these renewable fertilisers can increase yields and reduce bills with no
negative impact on crop quality or safety. Read more.
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Natura 2000 - the Natural Wealth of Wales
A major European-funded programme which sets out
what is needed to enhance Wales’ most important wildlife sites has just
been completed. The LIFE Natura 2000 Programme for Wales has been a
major 3 year project funded by EU LIFE+ scheme, strongly supported by
Welsh Government, and led by Natural Resources Wales. Read more
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Food for the Future Conference
Thursday 25 February 2016, Venue Cymru,
Llandudno, North Wales
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Food for the Future conference will highlight both
the progress and the remaining challenges in food innovation, health and
nutrition by bringing together businesses, policy makers, academics and
health professionals to share their knowledge and experiences. The day
hopes to inspire business, professionals and those with an interest in
the area to discuss how Wales can be a leader in food, health and
nutrition.
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The event will include key presentations and
discussions led by experts and professionals, such as leading consumer
insight company, Kantar. Themes will include: Retailer and food-service
healthier food initiatives, global public health policy, product
reformulation, opportunities for business growth, the health of Wales,
public sector procurement and leading edge scientific research.
Rebecca Evans, AM Deputy Minister for Farming and
Food Wales will open the conference and North Wales Farmer and TV
personality Gareth Wyn Jones, will be hosting.
Keep up to date on the latest news
Are you a tweeter?
Whilst we summarise our monthly activity in this
newsletter, if you are an avid tweeter keep up to date on breaking news via
our Twitter channels.
Follow:
Carl Sargeant, Minister for Natural Resouces - @WG_NatResMin
The latest news from Farming and Food - @WG_Farmingfood
The latest news from the Chief Veterinary Officer - @CVOWales
The latest news from Fisheries - @WG_Fisheries
Are you signed up to Gwlad?
You can keep up to date with the latest agriculture
and countryside information from the Welsh Government through Gwlad. Sign
up to the e-newsletter via the website.
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Opportunities
Building Regulations Advisory Committee
for Wales - Member Opportunities
We are looking for members to join the Building
Regulations Advisory Committee for Wales. Members will assist BRACW in
its statutory role to provide advice to the Welsh Ministers (usually via
the Planning Directorate’s officials) on the exercise of their powers to
make building regulations covering Wales, and on other related matters.
Members will be required to commit to a minimum of ten days per
year. More information can be found on the recruitment pages of the website.
Consultations
New Consultations
Bathing Water Review in Wales 2016
We are consulting on our proposal to designate
Aberdyfi Rural Beach (referred to locally as ‘Cemetery Beach’) as a bathing
water in Wales under the Bathing Water Directive (2006/7/EC) for the 2016
bathing season. Have your say by 26 February.
Code of practice for species control
provisions in Wales
We are consulting on a draft code of practice
for Wales on new species control provisions. As a result of changes brought
in by the Infrastructure Act 2015 new species control provisions are now
contained in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Have your say by 5 April 2016.
Changes to water abstraction licensing
exemptions in England and Wales (New Authorisations)
We are consulting jointly with the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Environment Agency (EA)
and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) on our approach to bringing exempt water
abstractors into the licensing system. Have your say by 8 April 2016.
Proposals relating to the Statement of
Public Participation for the National Development Framework
The National Development Framework was introduced
through the Planning (Wales) Act 2015 it will be a national land-use
development plan and will set out the Welsh Government’s social, economic
and environmental spatial planning objectives for the next 20 years. We are
consulting on the first stage in the process of preparing the NDF, the
preparation of the Statement of Public Participation. Have your say by 25 April 2016.
Ongoing Consultations
Proposed New Management Measures for the
Scallop Fishery in Cardigan Bay - Have your say by 17 February 2016.
Promoting the conservation of
White-fronted Geese in Wales - Have your say by 7 March 2016.
Proposed changes to Technical Advice Note
20: Planning and 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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