Protest plus inspiration: The climate action coming up
Plus news on the real life Tufty the Squirrel's plight, solar farm planning decision and Electric Vehicles analysed
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.
A weekend for climate voices
It will be a busy weekend for global thinkers looking to take climate action locally with both a major conference in North Yorkshire and a big fracking protest at the coast.
North Yorkshire Climate Coalition kicks things off with the Inspiring Community Climate Action event on Saturday which organisers describe as aiming “to ignite a passion for environmental change within our community.”
Held in partnership with North Yorkshire Council, the event is billed as being filled with inspiring speakers, interactive stalls, engaging workshops, refreshments and lunch - all driven by the amazing community action of our members.
Frack-off
Also on Saturday, there will be a protest march against a planned gas drilling site near Scarborough and the North York Moors National Park.
Campaigners from anti-fracking groups in Scarborough and the wider coast have said a protest will take place against these plans submitted by Europa Oil & Gas.
The oil and gas company is seeking to install a 38m high gas drilling rig on land in Burniston, near Scarborough.
If plans are approved by North Yorkshire Council, the initial scheme at Burniston would test whether gas could be extracted on a commercially viable basis and, if further approvals were granted, extraction could take place for “about 20 years”.
Residents and campaigners said the march through Burniston would be “a show of opposition against plans to drill for gas under local villages”.
According to organisers, the event is backed by York City Unison, Parents For Future UK, Scarborough Green Party, York City Unison, Scarborough Unity, Social Justice Party Scarborough, Friends of the Earth and York Trades Council.
John Atkinson, a member of Frack Free Scarborough told the local democracy reporting service, said: “We can’t just rely on the planning process to protect us.
“It is vital we back up individual objections with a collective show of opposition on the streets and within our organisations. We intend to be a force that can’t be ignored.”
Concerns and opposition have also been raised by politicians including councillors, local MP Alison Hume, and the elected Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith.
However, the company has said that “no one’s going to notice” due to the “small volume” of the scheme.
“As a responsible oil and gas exploration and production business, Europa is highly conscious of its responsibilities and is mindful of the potential risks to people and the environment,” the company said in a statement to the council.
Inspiring Community Cimate Action in North Yorkshire
Location: Christ Church, Harrogate, HG1 4SW
Date: Saturday, 22nd March
Time: 10:00-16:00
Register your place here.The protest is scheduled to start at 1pm on Saturday, March 22 at Burniston and Cloughton Village Hall and the march will end at the entrance of the proposed drilling site on Coastal Road, Burniston.
There’s also a couple of repair cafes underway:
22nd March - Thirsk Repair Cafe
Richmondshire Climate Action Partnership will hold the next Repair Cafe in Richmond Town Hall on Sunday 23rd March , 9.45am to 12.30pm.
Details of more events for the rest of March and beyond can be found here.
The three most clicked links from last week were:
Solar form planned for protected green belt
In water news
💦 This time last week we were all trying to understand the impact of the major ship collision off the east coast. Now we hear that, the environmental impact is believed to be ‘mercifully small’, reports Dylan Connell at The York Press. But how can we be confident of that? In reality, that’s very unlikely to be the end of this incident. Leigh Jones at the Teesside Lead speaks to a marine biologist who points out that systems for gathering and sharing data on pollution at sea need to be improved if we’re going to get a true picture. Professor Rodney Forster also points to “parallels” with the 2021 incidents which saw thousands of crustaceans wash up on the Tees coastline.
💦 Minister for Water and Flooding, Emma Hardy, has visited North Cave Wetlands to see how nature-based solutions help flooding.[Government press release]
💦 As we reported on Friday, river campaigners in North Yorkshire are grappling with new bathing status rules.
In other news
Officials urged to act to stop red squirrel deaths
Officials have been urged to take action to reduce the number of red squirrels being hit and killed by vehicles in the Yorkshire Dales.
🐄 Shocking scenes of cruelty have been filmed at Lowfields Farm, in North Yorkshire, a massive industrial zero-grazing dairy farm by campaigners at the Animal Justice Project.
🌳 A patch of ancient woodland north of Bolton could be the first area of Greater Manchester to be classed as ‘rainforest’, writes Chris Gee at the MEN. The habitat of ancient oak, birch, ash, pine and hazel woodland is made even more diverse by open glades, boulders, crags, ravines and river gorges.
🐝 A County Durham farm has created a honey alternative without using any bees. Hunny, a honey substitute made from the syrup of rowan berries and flowers is said to mimic many of the health benefits of manuka honey and comes in a variety of flavours. Gavin Engelbrecht at The Northern Echo has more.
"This is good quality agricultural land"
Councillors have rejected plans for a solar farm the size of more than 80 football pitches which was due to be built on protected green belt land.
🦇 Dozens of bird and bat boxes have been installed at nine TransPennine Express (TPE) stations to provide additional habitats for native wildlife. A total of 50 boxes have been installed at Yarm, Northallerton, Thirsk, Hull, Cleethorpes, Grimsby Town, Barnetby, Scunthorpe and Stalybridge, as part of TPE’s plans to grow biodiversity at its stations. [TPE press release]
🗑️ Congratulations to Plastic Free Settle! Settle has become a plastic free community, accredited by Surfers Against Sewage on 19 February.
🌏 York Environment Weeks 2025 (YEWS), is looking for more volunteers to join its organising team. Last year, the group ran over 100 events over 4 weeks from 14 Sept to 12 Oct. Contact them at: info@yorkenvironmentweek.org.uk
✍️ The York Climate Commission (YCC) has appointed two new co-chairs - Jennifer Potter and Henrietta Stock. They will lead the commission’s efforts to advance climate and nature action in York, reports Tabitha Wilson at the York Press.
❓I love this! North East Bylines now has an ‘eco-agony aunt’! Melody Bird takes your queries and most recently she got into the thorny issue of Electric Vehicles.
That’s it for this week but don’t forget there are updates on the website and via social media through the week too!
Next week we’ll have the regular end of month reading recommendations from Claire and Alan so - see you then!
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