Appointments to England’s National Park Authorities and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Conservation Boards have been made by Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Michael Gove.

National Park Authority members have a primary responsibility to ensure that the Authority furthers the statutory purposes of the Park. Five members have recently been appointed for four-year terms (ending June 2022) on the following National Park Authorities and Broads Authority:

• Broads Authority: Simon Roberts
• North York Moors: Patrick James
• Peak District: Ken Smith
• South Downs: Graham Morrison
• Yorkshire Dales: Julie Hutton

Additional information regarding the members listed will be made available on the individual Authority websites.

Secretary of State Members on AONB Conservation Boards have a primary responsibility to ensure that the Conservation Board furthers the statutory AONB purposes as set out in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.

Six members have recently been appointed for three-year terms (ending June 2021) on the following AONB Conservation Boards:

• Cotswolds AONB: Nicholas Bumford, Jaqui Fenn, Catherine Le Grice-Mack, Garry King and Andy Parsons
• Chilterns AONB: Elaine King

Additional information regarding the members listed will be made available on the Cotswolds AONB and Chilterns AONB websites.

The following reappointments to the National Park Authorities and Chilterns AONB Conservation Board have also been made in April 2018:

• Peak District NPA: Paul Ancell for 2 years
• South Downs NPA: Sebastian Anstruther and Margaret Paren for 2 years,
• Exmoor NPA: Robin Milton for 2 years
• Northumberland NPA: Jean Davidson and Fiona Gough for 4 years
• Lake District NPA: Peter Allen for 4 years
• Chilterns AONB: Ray Payne for 3 years
• Yorkshire Dales NPA: Julie Martin for 4 years
• Lake District NPA: Cathryn Hayhurst for 4 years

The appointments are made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Ministerial Code on Public Appointments, and are made on merit. There is a requirement for appointees’ political activity during the past five years (if significant) to be declared. None of these appointees declared significant political activity.

Torcross sea defence repair is one of 10 projects worldwide nominated for the Institution of Civil Engineers People’s Choice Award 2018.

The award recognises top civil engineering projects and the winner is chosen by public vote. Anyone can vote – you can read about each of the 10 projects and vote on the ICE Website. Voting closes on 28 September 2018.

The Environment Agency team based in Devon worked with contractors Bam Nuttall Mott Macdonald Joint Venture (BMM JV) to complete the £2.4m project within 14 months of problems being identified. The work was funded by Defra flood defence grant in aid.

The original seawall was constructed in the 1980s, protecting a row of properties along the seafront. Significant storms since 2014 had caused beach levels to drop, leaving the wall’s foundations exposed. The winter storms of 2015/16 damaged the connecting road and caused movement in the wall and promenade. This indicated that the defence had been weakened and may no longer offer protection to adjacent properties.

The project had a tight deadline. The Environment Agency needed to identify the underlying issues with the wall and rectify them before the next winter storms arrived. The team faced a variety of challenges including tides encroaching into the working area, constrained access routes and a high risk of unexploded ordnance as Exercise Tiger – a live-fire training exercise for the D-Day landings – took place on the beach.

Environment Agency Project Manager Becky Richards said:

We would love Torcross to win this very prestigious industry award, but the competition is tough and we need votes to help us get to the top.

I’d like to thank all involved in getting us nominated, especially the local community who were really understanding throughout construction. Working with the tides meant long, noisy shifts. We couldn’t have completed the project so quickly without the support of people in Torcross.

Voting for Torcross takes less than a minute and you could help a local project be recognised as the international top civil engineering project of the year. The winner of this year’s People’s Choice Award will be announced on 6 November 2018.

River Thames restriction information for Friday 21 September 2018.

7 page summary providing information on:

• HS2 – Glossary, and phases of work
• Legislation
• HS2 – Has permission to fell trees (Phase 1)
• Landowner – Has a felling licence to fell trees
• Landowner – Restocking conditions after felling
• Landowner – Applying for a felling licence
• Landowner – Has grant agreement for woodland creation
• Landowner – Plans new woodland creation
• HS2 – Plans new woodland creation
• HS2 Phases route map

26 page summary offering:

• Purpose
• Background
• Context – Policy and regulation
• Planning for wildfire
• Preparing a Wildfire Management Plan (WMP)
• FC review of wildfire planning
• Contacting Fire and Rescue authorities
• Sources of further advice
• Wildfire management plan – minimum requirements
• Wildfire risk assessment template
• Wildfire risk and hazard checklist
• Example wildfire risk assessment
• Stakeholders for wildfire planning
• Template letter to Fire and Rescue Service