“Food security is a much broader topic, encompassing availability, access and utilisation of food.” [Jess Corsair @ AHDB] . How can we build a better, more… Read More »Food security or food self-sufficiency?

The British Business Bank is encouraging older people with a business idea to get in touch after lending nearly £15m to entrepreneurs in the West… Read More »Start-up loans for older entrepreneurs in the South West

“Walking into a green landscape is like walking into nature’s medicine cabinet.” [Beth Bowden, writer and performer] . It was exactly a year ago when… Read More »‘Right of Way’: theatre exploring the South West Coastal Path

The issue has become a key element in the upcoming general election campaign. . Today’s i-news carries a piece extolling the charms of Sidmouth –… Read More »Sewage discharged into Sidmouth seas – again

Regenerative agriculture and carbon sequestration: or, how to look after your soil. Net zero and biodiversity: or, why we need to look after nature. Food… Read More »Why are farmers so angry? part two

Free Round Table Webinar – “The Coastal Housing Crisis and Levelling Up” – Thursday 14 March . Sidmouth does not suffer from many of the… Read More »The Centre for Coastal Communities @ University of Plymouth

The closing date for comments is tomorrow, Friday 8th March. . A month ago, the latest Knowle planning application was rejected; and yet, a mere couple… Read More »Knowle planning application: March 2024: VGS submission

From social housing to exception sites. . There was fairly mixed news and mixed views when it came to housing and the budget – with… Read More »How to get to affordable rural housing

Looking to cuts in the budget. . Back in 2020 the then-Chancellor extended a VAT cut for the hospitality sector. And last year, the current Chancellor… Read More »VAT and the tourist industry

“Hemp delivers four times the CO2 sequestration compared with the same area of forestry.” [Crop Production Magazine] . There are some imaginative ‘solutions to our housing… Read More »“Why isn’t the UK head over heels for hemp?”

“Many farmers have justified grievances about having to bear the burden of providing a vital service.” [Wildlife Trusts] “Will the angry exchanges between farmers and… Read More »Why are farmers so angry?

“Financially, it makes sense to enter unproductive areas of your farm into the more ambitious, higher paying actions of the SFI.” [AHDB consultancy] . The… Read More »The Sustainable Farming Incentive: food vs the environment?

Is the future agrivoltaic farming? “Legal and economic battles might arise in the coming years over conflicts about land use.” [Nature magazine] . When it… Read More »Solar and agriculture

Councils all around us and throughout the country are on the verge of bankruptcy and the County Council is having to make hard choices to… Read More »Devon County Council staving off bankruptcy

To what extent can the new application be “best described as a prison block”? “Sidmouth has one of the most elderly demographics in England: this… Read More »Knowle planning application: tweaked