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Environment

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Survey – Wildlife & Nature in the Arnside Area

Sustainable Arnside invite Arnside residents to help Westmorland and Furness Council understand the needs of Arnside residents in relation to ‘Wildlife and Nature‘ locally by completing the survey below.

  • What do you think about nature and wildlife in your local area.
  • What are your favourite places?
  • How do you like to spend time in nature?
  • What birds, animals, and insects do you love to see?
  • By letting us know what is important to you, you’ll be helping to develop plans to make more space for nature in Cumbria. We’ll share your priorities and ideas with the organisations who look after local green spaces, nature reserves, and the countryside.

These questions are being asked as part of a process to develop a Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) – every part of England will be producing one as they’re required by law under the Environment Act 2021. Once it’s written, everyone in Cumbria will be able to use it to make sure that work to create and manage wildlife habitat is done in a way that brings the most benefits to people and nature.

Westmorland and Furness Council are leading the work on developing the Local Nature Recovery Strategy, working closely with Cumberland Council, Natural England, Lake District National Park Authority and Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, supported by Cumbria Local Nature Partnership, but want to hear what matters to you.

Whether you love watching the garden birds, enjoy an epic day exploring the fells, or are more at home rock-pooling by the sea, your views on nature are really important.

To complete the survey, click here before 31st May 2024.

Pen & Correction Fluid Recycling

Sustainable Arnside

Sustainable Arnside is gathering strength and gathering a small fan club since supporting the ‘Retrofit made Easy’ event, arranged by Helen Chaffey and CAfS. It was a tremendous success and Paul Bates, the Chairman, introduced the Group to the large audience.

The audience was given the opportunity to have their say as to what they would like the group to focus on as, with so much that could be done, it was felt that local residents should be the guide.

A questionnaire completed at the meeting gave important feedback, and. with that feedback in mind, they can now make plans for the future.

As their first initiative, Sustainable Arnside is delighted to offer Arnside residents and visitors the opportunity to recycle pens and other writing implements.  All spent pens and correction fluid can now be recycled at. Arnside Fish and Chip shop, who have kindly provided a collection point at their premises.  

A plastic collection box can be found just beyond the takeaway entrance on the wall, close to the tin foil/can recycling bin. Its clearly labelled (see below) showing a list of what is accepted and what is not.  For full details see poster below.

Recycle-Writing-ImplementsDownload

New Year, New Hobby?

Its fair to say that regardless of what you might like to do, there’s a good possibility you’ll be able to do it in and around Arnside.

Whether its a dance, exercise or fitness class; local interest such as the Archive Group, Natural History and Sustainable Arnside; sport; music; or join the local branch of a National Organisation such as the RNLI, RSPB etc.

You can find details of all the clubs, groups, societies and organisations in the 2024 Arnside Directory or by clicking here and choosing an option from the drop-down menu.

We are so lucky as a community to have all of this on our doorstep. Most of them are run by volunteers and they can only continue if people are happy to help. You may think you don’t have anything to offer, but you’d be surprised. Most of us have a skill or talent that we don’t recognise as such – be it administration, organisation, computer skills, or just a helping hand.

You don’t have to be on a committee, just a volunteer,a supporter or just join-in!

So please help keep these clubs, groups societies and organisations going and ensure a bright future for them all.

Plans to build a traffic free link between Grange and Arnside are set to take a step forward.

Members of the South Lakeland locality board for Westmorland and Furness Council are set to recommend £99,999 from the local sustainable travel and transport fund goes towards the project to adapt the Arnside viaduct to enable walkers and cyclists to cross the Kent Estuary.

A report from Morecambe Bay Partnership says: “The proposed construction of a 5.5km raised boardwalk along the railway embankment and a cantilevered bridge over the viaduct creates a new leisure space that also limits the current harmful encroachment by people and dogs onto the highly sensitive saltmarsh. The enclosed trail route can play an important part in reducing bird disturbance and preventing damage to sensitive flora and fauna. These are all factors of concern locally to us and our partners Natural England and RSPB who are tackling this problem.”

“We believe the trail provides an opportunity to bring people closer to nature and educate them to care about the special environment and wildlife of the Bay.”

According to the report, feedback for the proposed scheme was ‘incredibly positive’ with 99.6% of the 6,000 respondents to the consultation supporting the proposal.

If the funding is granted, the partnership intends to progress the Arnside to Grange trail scheme to outline business case (OBC) status which is the planning phase of the project and acts as the final technical assessment stage prior to the initiation of scheme procurement.

The partnership will commission consultants to provide the technical engineering, environmental, active travel planning and place making expertise to achieve support for the scheme which provides a ‘compelling’ case for construction funding.

Members of the South Lakeland locality board for Westmorland and Furness Council are set to recommend the funding for the project on January 25 at Kendal Town Hall.

Arnside & Silverdale National Landscape

Arnside & Silverdale AONB becomes Arnside & Silverdale National Landscape

As of today, 22nd November 2023, all the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty become National Landscapes, so Arnside & Silverdale National Landscape is the new name for Arnside & Silverdale AONB and we congratulate them on the rebrand. The new name highlights the national importance of this special place and we look forward to continuing to work with the team.

Each National Landscape has a new logo that reflects their landscape or one of its iconic species. The new logo for Arnside & Silverdale National Landscape is above and I’m sure will be easily recognisable as the Bittern. There is now a suite of 39 logos (including the National Landscapes Association logo) representing all the National Landscapes throughout the country.

National Landscapes teams have been at the forefront of delivering natural solutions to the main challenges facing the nation for many years. The new brand underscores their commitment to redoubling their efforts and engaging with a wider audience. In 2019, teams set themselves the most ambitious targets for nature and climate in the sector (the Colchester Declaration) and continue to work to meet them. The rebrand marks the next step in fully realising the National Landscapes’ vision to be the leading exemplars of how thriving, diverse communities can work with and for nature in the UK: restoring ecosystems, providing food, storing carbon to mitigate the effects of climate change, safeguarding against drought and flooding,
whilst also nurturing people’s health and wellbeing.

New Group For Arnside – Sustainable Arnside

‘Sustainable Arnside’ is a new community-led group in the village that is planning to support Arnside village when facing the challenges of Climate Change. While aware that everyone is on their own journey regarding the contributions of humans to climate change and what to do about it, and certainly not telling anyone what they should believe or what they should do, these are personal choices. However, if you believe the amount of carbon we are producing, nationally and locally, is dangerous and needs to be addressed, they are here to help.

The Government has set deadlines regarding how we heat our homes and how we use our transport, and these deadlines are looming ever closer. Households in Arnside and beyond now need to visualise how they might meet those deadlines, which is often not an easy task. The group aims to offer guidance and help to those who are trying to make those changes – you might even save some money by addressing your carbon footprint!

If you have any great ideas or suggestions but don’t have time yourself, they would be delighted to hear from you. Contact them by email at: p.bates@lancaster.ac.uk with Sustainable Arnside in the subject line.

You can view, download or print their Mission Statement below.

Mission-Statement-Sustainable-Arnside-1Download