Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey has today opened a £5 million cutting-edge glasshouse at Delamere Nursery in Cheshire.

The state-of-the-art growing facility covers a hectare and is set to boost timber production, with its tight environmental controls creating better growing conditions for the four million seedlings it will house.

It boasts computerised environmental controls, rainwater harvesting from the glasshouse roof into a 15 million-litre capacity lagoon and a boom irrigation system, which allows accurate watering and can apply fertiliser and chemicals.

The glasshouse will play a vital role in the maintenance and expansion of the Public Forest Estate throughout the UK, with the seedlings helping timber production and improving biosecurity.

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said at the opening:

It is wonderful to be here to officially open this impressive new structure which will help ensure our forests are stocked with trees in a more sustainable and productive fashion.

The forests and woodlands that these trees will go on to be a part of are vital for providing timber, protecting wildlife, and helping us improve our environment for the next generation.

Simon Hodgson, Forestry Commission England, Chief Executive said:

I’m delighted our minister, Thérèse Coffey, officially opened our new forestry glasshouse today. This significant investment demonstrates how committed we are to the nation’s forests.

The largest glasshouse dedicated to forest trees in the UK means that Forestry Commission England will be able to plant around five million of the very best trees every year in the nation’s forests for timber, recreation and wildlife as well as supplying trees to Scotland and Wales. We are increasing the diversity of tree species we plant so the nation’s forests are resilient; protecting them from pests, diseases and the effects of a changing climate.

I would like to thank everyone involved for their hard work in making this project a reality.

The glasshouse was completed in December 2017, with the first seeds sown in March 2018. It is anticipated that it will be fully stocked with a mix of species and ages by 2020.

The Environment Agency publish surrenders that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).

This decision includes the partial surrender notice, decision document and site condition report evaluation template for:

• Operator name: Ferrybridge MFE 2 Limited
• Installation name: Ferrybridge Mutifuel 2
• Permit number: EPR/XP3833DK/S002

The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).

This decision includes the permit and the decision document for:

• Operator name: LJ Heywood Limited
• Installation name: Hollyfield Farm
• Permit number: EPR/KP3733JQ

If you comply with the conditions in this regulatory position statement (RPS) you do not need to apply for an environmental permit for a waste operation for:

• site-specific pilot trials
• small scale remediation schemes

In September 2016, the Secretary of State granted a Development Consent Order (DCO) for the Hornsea Project Two offshore wind farm. The pre-application, examination and DCO documents can be found on the Planning Inspectorate website.

The DCO authorises DONG Energy to construct and operate up to 2 offshore generating stations with a maximum capacity of 1800MW. The project is located adjacent to Hornsea Project One offshore wind farm in the North Sea and is located approximately 90km off the East Yorkshire coast. The development could comprise of up to:

• 300 wind turbines
• 2 offshore accommodation platforms
• 6 offshore HVAC collector substations
• 2 offshore HVDC converter substations
• 2 offshore HVAC reactive compensation stations
• subsea inter-array electrical circuits
• subsea cable connections to the shore

On 18 July 2017, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) received a request from DONG Energy to vary the Deemed Marine Licences contained within Schedules 9 and 11 of the Hornsea Two Offshore Wind Farm Order 2016.

The MMOs decision was to vary the DML as detailed in the Notice of Variation, effective from 26 September 2017.