Solar farms, good news on seabirds and the latest rewilding research

Plus when is an environmental improvement not an improvement?

Good morning! I’m Sarah Hartley and this is The Northern Eco weekly update. As you’ve received this newsletter then either you subscribed, or someone forwarded it to you. If the latter, then you can click on this handy little button below.

Before we get stuck into the news, I’ve some happy personal news to share with you as I’ve just been named as a winner of the Tenacious Journalism Awards for 2025! I’ll bring you much more on that in a future edition.

But for this week…. Joe Willis brings you the report below on the council ‘improvement’ work which has caused upset for residents in the North Yorkshire town of Richmond. Plus scroll down for all the other eco news on:

• Plans for more solar farms along the A1

• Rare sea birds producing more chicks than ever

• Live streams from the lambing sheds

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“They’ve ripped it apart with no explanation”

From this……

To this……

Council workers have come under fire for digging up flowerbeds and chopping down trees without consulting with local residents and community leaders.

But North Yorkshire Council officials have defended the work saying it is part of an improvement scheme for the town.

Workers cleared plants and trees from a prominent roundabout in the town’s Darlington Road last week.

At the same time, rose bushes were dug up and flowerbeds were turfed over in the nearby Friary Gardens.

The areas are both managed by North Yorkshire Council after previously being overseen by the former Richmondshire District Council.

Lack of consultation

Richmond councillor Stuart Parsons said he had received phone calls and emails, and been stopped in the street by people asking about the work, which he was not notified of in advance.

“They’ve ripped it apart with no explanation and quite a lot of people are upset by it,” he said.

“I’ve said I want it all reinstated — if they want to make changes they have to do so with the people concerned.”

Richmond Town Council was advised work was going to take place, but was not informed about the extent of the changes, a spokesperson said.

Richmond resident Alyson Swift lives opposite the roundabout which she said was a “little oasis” and a refuge for birdlife before it was cleared.

The first she knew about the work was when she heard chainsaws chopping down the trees.

“What I’m annoyed about is that the council has come along and got rid of this little bit of green space without so much as a by your leave.

“We used to hear a tawny owl perched in the trees on the roundabout at night.”

North Yorkshire Council’s head of parks and grounds, Jonathan Clubb, said the authority understood the importance of areas such as Friary Gardens and the roundabout on Darlington Road to both residents and wildlife.

He added: “That is why we are currently carrying out improvement work at both locations.

“This is being undertaken as part of our annual winter works programme and has become necessary due to the current condition of the areas.

“Within Friary Gardens, flowerbeds that were under the shade of trees have been moved into brighter spaces, others are being refreshed and resurfacing of an area of footpath is being undertaken.

“In relation to the roundabout, the rose beds were thinly planted, the small trees had been weakened by ivy cover and the bedding was in need of refreshing.”

Mr Clubb said the proposed improvement scheme would include a new grassed area, bedding and trees which it was hoped would increase biodiversity in the years to come.

The three most clicked links from last week were:

Our poll on the ethics of wearing fur showed that 59% of voters would NOT wear fur

Vangelis Dumb Animals

What’s on: Eco events for February

In the news

🪶 In the build up to a forthcoming decision by the DEFRA Secretary of State whether to accept the HSE’s recommendations to ban the use of toxic lead ammunition , the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) has released a spoof video highlighting the dangers of poisonous lead shot to the environment, wildlife and human health.

🪶 A colony of one of the UK’s rarest breeding seabirds, devastated by Avian Influenza in 2022 and 2023 has produced more chicks than ever before. A record number of 191 Roseate Tern chicks hatched on Coquet Island this year reports The Ambler.

🪶 The Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) has been awarded a £250,000 grant to carry out their project, 'Building Homes for Dales House Birds.' Gavin Engelbrecht at The Northern Echo has more.

🐺 A study led by researchers at the University of Leeds said that reintroducing wolves could help curb the problem of red deer eating tree saplings, which stops natural woodland regeneration. PA Media has the report.

🌏 Nearly 22,000 tonnes of hazardous waste has been disposed of in a non-hazardous landfill site, adjacent to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Leigh Jones at The Teesside Lead reveals.

⚡️North East upholstered furniture firm George Smit is installing 392 solar panels to reduce the carbon footprint of its Cramlington factory, reports Gavin Engelbrecht at The Northern Echo.

✈️ “There isn’t enough ‘sustainable’ aviation fuel to make a dent in our emissions – and there won’t be for years” writes Ben Purvis, Research Associate in Sustainability Assessment at the University of Sheffield.

✈️ There was more talk about so-called sustainable aviation at Politics North this weekend. Green councillor in Leeds, Ed Carlisle, dismissed the idea of ‘environmentally friendly flying’ describing it as “completely nuts.” He said: "So-called sustainable aviation fuel is a pipe dream; it's a fig leaf... I think this kind of turbo charging of the aviation industry is reckless.” Watch the clip on aviation from 13:20. (For more information about SAF, check out our explainer here.)

🌳 Durham Wildlife Trust is to become the owner of land on the edge of the Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve, at Houghton-le-Spring, ensuring it will be protected from housing development and preserved for nature, writes Peter Barron in The Northern Echo.

🐑 Millions of viewers all over the world are expected to spend the next few weeks watching daily live streams - as they share the triumph and tragedy of the lambing season at Yorkshire’s Cannon Hall Farm predicts Liana Jacob at the Yorkshire Post.

• We’ll be back next week with the latest book recommendations from Claire and Alan at The Wonky Tree along with all the usual eco news.

• Don’t forget, we also publish news on the website and via social media through the week too!

🎉 Thank you for reading edition number 123 of The Northern Eco. It’s my birthday this week so I’ve a special offer for you! If you’d like to help me celebrate and feel having this independent, free unless you want to pay and ad-free newsletter is worth a few of your hard-earned £, now’s the perfect join our paying subscribers. 🎉 The main newsletter is sent out at 7am every Tuesday and can’t exist without paying subscribers. 🙏