Latest news and articles

    As a result of programme changes along the whole line of HS2, HS2 and their contractor Belfour Beatty Vinci, now have a surplus of different species and quantities of tree saplings available to communities. These saplings are available to all community and voluntary organisations, including parish councils and charities. These have become available as nurseries...

  Join Warwickshire Wildlife Trust for a cuppa and cake on Tuesday 5th March 10:30 - 12:30 at the Benn Hall, Newbold Rd, Rugby, CV21 2LN and find out more about #TeamWilder.   This will be a great opportunity to meet others taking action for nature in Rugby, share your aspirations and concerns for nature in your local patch and let them know what support you might...

Many of us will be looking forward to a Christmas filled with great food and exchanging gifts with family and friends. But the good times also mean the amount of waste produced typically increases by around a third over this period – that’s around 3 million tonnes extra across the UK. However, with a little extra planning it’s easy to reduce your festive debris, and you...

We want to ensure that retailers, suppliers and manufacturers are aware of the changes coming into effect, when they will be required to make them and why the ban is coming into force.   The upcoming ban includes polystyrene cups and food containers, single-use plastic cutlery and single-use balloon sticks. There will also be a restriction to the supply of single-use plastic trays...

By Alex Becker, Waste Services Development Officer Plastic is a great example of a double-edged sword; incredibly helpful in so many ways, yet also causing so many difficulties.   It’s a miracle material in many ways: cheap, lightweight, can be made tough, soft, flexible, see-through or any colour, water-proof and non-toxic! Imagine a world without plastic and we have to think...

Each week, early in the morning, you drag your bin out to the kerb. Later that day you bring it in again, empty. It's one of life’s little routines that we take for granted. But how often do we stop and think about our waste? Mission to top the league I joined Rugby Borough Council in April with a mission to increase Rugby’s recycling: since 2016 our recycling rate has ...

The Environmental Improvement Plan (2023) for England   Following on from our recent article relating to the government’s net zero review, this blog focusses on the latest publication from government. The 25 Year Environment Plan was published in 2018 and set out ten environmental goals to help natures recovery. These included delivering clean air and...

UK Net Zero Review   The UK Government has published Chris Skidmore MP’s much anticipated independent review of its strategy for achieving net zero by 2050. Chris Skidmore, is an MP and environmental campaigner who was commissioned to review the government’s strategy for achieving net zero by 2050 – a target which the UK is required by law to reach. ...

Like most people, I’ve found it harder to find certain fruit and vegetables in supermarkets and greengrocers recently. Peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce……..all seem to be harder than usual to find and Rugby’s supermarkets have not been no exception, with a some having empty veg shelves and others limiting purchases. Reports have suggested that the UK imports up to...

The council's cabinet will consider the Climate Change and Sustainable Design and Construction Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) at its meeting on 6 February and will recommend that councillors adopt it at Council in February. The SPD was the subject of a public consultation in autumn 2022, with feedback incorporated into the final document. Topics it covers include energy...

From the desk of Cllr Ian Picker, Portfolio Holder for Growth and Investment. As we move forward with our ambitious plans to tackle climate change and build a sustainable future here in Rugby, the planning system undoubtedly has a significant role to play. That is why, as a member and then Chair of the Planning Committee at Rugby Borough Council I always sought to ensure that the...

Are you hearing messages about climate change, but not sure what you need to know? Want to make a difference, but not sure where to start? Want to know more about the role you can play in the climate and nature crisis? Climate Change can be an overwhelming topic but we all have an important role to play, and informing yourself is such an ...

The draft strategy has been developed alongside voluntary and community organisations and reflects their shared ambitions to deliver a net zero carbon borough. Cllr Emma Crane, Rugby Borough Council portfolio holder for Communities, Homes, Digital and Communications, and the council’s Climate Change champion, said: “I would like to thank the cross-party working group on Climate Change that has...

Clean Air Day this year highlights the role that personal transport has in reducing air quality locally. Tailpipe emissions from petrol and diesel-fuelled vehicles make an obvious contribution to particulates in the air, but a recent report also highlighted that particulates from tyre degradation also play a role. Electrification and the switch to EVs will not clean up our air to the extent...

Tackling climate change can feel like an insurmountable challenge and with so many other pressing concerns to deal with, like energy price and cost of living crises, many people feel there’s little they can do on a personal level. But taking steps to reduce emissions in our homes can also bring benefits such as lower energy bills.  Heating is responsible for around 14% of the UK’s total...

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the global climate conference COP26 in Glasgow in November, which with over 40,000 delegates, was the biggest COP ever.  Whilst the pledges made in the final Glasgow Climate Pact are expected to put the world on a path to global warming of less than two degrees, this will only happen if all of the promised emissions targets are actually...

Is flood risk really increasing?  The short answer is yes!  In their latest State of the UK Climate Report, the Royal Meteorological Society state that ‘For the most recent decade, UK summers have been on average 15% wetter than 1981–2010 and UK winters have been 11% wetter.’    The size of the future risk is significant too, with...

The final theme for COP26, sees Thursday’s focus shift to the very broad matter of Cities, Regions and Built Environment and the conference will examine how we can advance action in the places we live, from communities, through to cities and regions. We know that climate change causes sea levels to rise, increases the number of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and storms and...

With road transport accounting for 10 per cent of global emissions, and its contribution to emissions rising faster than any other sector, the need to switch swiftly to zero emission vehicles remains a key element of the world’s efforts to tackle the climate emergency. Electric vehicles appear to offer a comfortable evolution, raising the prospect of maintaining a transport status quo while...

Entering the second week of COP26, the conference today moves to focus on gender.    It is widely recognised that there are differences in the ways which men and women contribute to climate change, the impact that climate change has on men and women and the ways that men and women respond to and adapt to climate change.  The United Nations...