Temporary Suspension of Licensing for Incineration Plants Rumbling on since 2013 and long before I arrived in the Village the Bilsthorpe incinerator project is now subject to licensing suspension by the Environmental Protection Agency following a letter from The Rt. Hon. Sir Mark Spencer, MP, Minister of State for Food, Farming and Fisheries. Background The £70-million facility at the former Bilsthorpe Colliery, which if built will also include a materials recovery facility and energy generation infrastructure, was proposed by Waste2Tricity and Peel Environmental. The project was given the go ahead by Nottingham County Council in November 2014, but Eric Pickles, then Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), stepped in to delay the project stating it was ‘not yet in a position to decide,’ in December 2014. The reason given for delaying the decision was the recent withdrawal of Air Products from its energy-from-waste (EfW) business. The...

Back At It Out and about today litter picking through Storm Kathleen. Little bits and pieces of rain and a howling gale. My large garden wagon is on injured reserve having broken its left forelock and we were out and about with minor trolley. The pups have become used to the weight of the wagon and like to pull on it which helps me considerably getting round the village. We are not husky fit but they” hike” well. Because minor trolley is so light the pups took time to adjust. The first hour or so they were not stopping on command and that extra step was enough to topple minor to the ground and with cursing I picked up the spilled litter. A halftime talk reset their energy and we got a lot more productive. Litter picked Scarborough Road, The Crescent, and Church Street. It was heartening to see that the land behind the Miners Welfare was clean. Littering is not going to end, just accept it and carry on. I spent forty-five minutes or so clearing out the fenced garden at the junct...

Oh My Giddy Aunt Another Clothes Bag When I got home from a most enjoyable walk with our pups to Out of the Woods, I found another charity clothes collection bag stuffed into our letterbox. Another clothes collection It beggars’ belief that I have so many clothes, that I am such a clothes horse that I change with the wind, that I can find anything to go into this bag. We have a bag filled waiting for R.O.B. to sort their arse from their elbow and come and collect which covers an uncollected bag from a previous charity that failed to collect their bag when we put it out. When I buy clothes, I make a commitment to the garment. I have T-Shirts from 2005 that are still going strong. Unlike my wife who changes her wardrobe on a whim. Helpfully the bag suggests that if we do not use it then we can return to a recycling point in Cheshire at a cost of £0.89 second class postage. I wonder how many will be returned. I suspect most will end up as general waste. Ours will be going into o...

Breaking News Nottinghamshire County Council are proposing to re-organise the recycling centres in the County with plans to close up to nine of the twelve currently serving the community. Notwithstanding my dismay at the Bilsthorpe Tip being called a recycling centre when no actual recycling happens there, acting as a collection point for pre-sorted and washed recyclables its proposed closure amounts to wilful neglect by the County Council. The Current Estate Our Tips are located here: Beeston Recycling Centre           Bilsthorpe Recycling Centre        Calverton Recycling Centre       Giltbrook Recycling Centre         Hucknall Recycling Centre          Kirkby Recycling Centre   Mansfield Recycling Centre        Newark Recycling Centre       ...

Stoneyfield Lane Here at Hive Five, we live adjacent to Stoneyfield Lane, and it has a rather neglected hedgerow that I have decided to adopt. Wildflower Bed 1 Stoneyfield Lane can be considered in three parts. Lower Stoney, from Oldbridge Way to Crompton Road. Upper Stoney, from the Bill Lane access path to Scarborough Road and Stoney Square One, between Crompton Road and Bill Lane. Project equality.exotic.business is looking after Stoney Square One. I believe the work I am doing falls into the small-scale works definition of the Hedgerows Regulations 1997 made under section 97 of the Environment Act 1995. I am basically operating under the umbrella that it is better to ask forgiveness than seek permission. The Vision I poop troop along Stonefield Lane twice a day every day, except holidays. As with anywhere I must dodge the dog shit left by lazy owners which when coupled with the general neglect of the Lane makes it an unpleasant experience to walk along. Infrequent work is undertake...

Plastics in the Environment Be a Superstar You have enjoyed that carbonated beverage, it washed down those salty potato snacks a treat. Oh no, you are the horns of a dilemma!! What should you do with the empties? There is bin twenty feet away. Nah, fuck that, you cannot be arsed to walk twenty feet and use the bin, just chuck it in the bushes. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Well done and thank you. That act of littering is unlikely to kill you but kill someone or something it will. Wildlife will suffer immediately and over time that plastic will find its way to the sea. On that journey the plastics will poison the ground, poison water courses, and leave behind particles that will end up in the food that you will eat. And like smoking and vaping the damage will come knocking in old age. It may not be you. but it will be someone you know dying from a plastic induced disorder. Well done and thank you. Plastic Breakdown in the Environment Once littered plastic starts its...

Thursday Afternoon Weeds This morning was washed out, so I had time for some Administration. Looking at the forecast our next pick will be Saturday afternoon without the dogs picking Eakring Road from Swish Lane to Deerdale Lane. After a wonderful lunch of Use it up Soup, with the pups in attendance I did a little bit of weeding. We have an annoying strip of decorative stone separating our private drive from the public pavement. It serves little purpose other than to furnish children with ammunition when they get full on biblical and start stoning each other. No Weeds We will be getting a Service Contract at some point for the maintenance of the communal grounds on The Pastures, it remains unclear if that contract covers this arsey bit of ground. So far, we neighbours have been pitching in and weeding it. Now that it is weeded it looks so much better. Free from weeds our little cul-de-sac looks and feels warm again. The upside was a bucket load of nitrogen for the Hotbin. Poor th...

Administration My litter  picking has broken into two distinct phases. Washing Station There is the Picking, the actual out in the world, humping through bushes, fighting the thorns and dead animals to get this stuff out of nature and away to downstream processing. As I pick, I sort the recyclables. Not every recyclable is kept. I have learnt that some are just not worth the effort to clean. Indeed, some have a disgusting mollusc type slime that stinks. Those I will leave behind. Half Full I take the recyclables home and clean them before taking them to their recycling points. This activity I have come to call Administration. Administration covers the washing, storing and transport of the recyclables. Washing is well tedious, but I decided to do it, so no real complaints. When I get home the recyclables are sorted again into plastic, metal and glass and given a prewash with the hose to knock the worst of the muck off. Our picking currently is removing historic rubbish, so some ...

 Echologika We have been using Echologika Bins for four weeks now and we have adapted to their discipline. I had wanted to move away from using plastic bin liners for the longest time when their advert popped up on to my Facebook feed. Simple and easy to order, the most difficult challenge was the origami of setting the first bin up. Once that was done, we were off to the races. In the first two-week period we used two bins and in the second just one. We used two bins first time round because we didn’t fill the first one right up. We were acting as if the bin were in fact a plastic bag!! Second two-week period we hit our stride and just one bin used. We have had to think about what we throw away and whether there is a viable recycle point for that item. We are reducing the amount of kitchen roll we use by “going back to” washable cloths. We are becoming more like my dear Grandmother. When I think about that statement something settles inside me and I know everything wil...

A quick look at what we did in March The costings are in part based on NSDC published budgetary figures for street cleaning and on average figures for fly tip clearance. If I get any further clarity I will amend and re-issue. As with all things the human cost is the one to limit. The nominal figure of £3700.00 is charged out at £70.00 for picking and £35.00 for the various admin tasks like cleaning the recyclables and transport to and from various recycling points. So, the numbers published are “what ifs” rather than hard and fast budgetary items. We are far too small and lack the accommodation to sort and store tonnes of recyclables so we will never be able to sell any of what we collect. The satisfaction remains taking out eight-year-old cans and glass and getting them downstream. What I can say is that we have saved Newark and Sherwood District Council (NSDC) and the Bilsthorpe Parish Council (BPC) money. I understand that our general waste is sold to an incinerator in She...

Tuesday’s Gone with the Wind Stars & Bars on the wings of Freebird. Freedom is where you find it. Many find it but do not recognise it; do not sit and wait, be the change you want. Miners Welfare - Before I dithered over breakfast and decided on a return to Eastwell Court rather than the Golden Path. Both locations have a lot to give up so no harm, no foul, the Path can wait for another day. Another day may well be in May. Have you seen the forecast? Widespread snow in Scotland and rain for the rest of us. The pick began behind the Miners Welfare. The amount of broken glass is phenomenal, how no-one has been cut beggars belief. I think someone had dumped a sofa or such like as there was much stuffing knocking about, some of it taking root amongst the weeds. Scaffolding, a vacuum cleaner, nitrous oxide cannisters, an office chair. Miners Welfare  - After  Someone on the Crescent really likes the White Monster energy drink, I recovered eleven empty cans. Mind you ...

  Easter Monday The weather forecast having improved  overnight I knew that we would have an  afternoon window to get out and about.  The morning was spent prepping the  recyclables for recycling, a chore I find  decidedly tedious but as I said to the          raised eyebrows of my dear lady wife,  “it  is a commitment.” The first quarter of the year is over and the celebrations for 40-60-80 seem like yesterday. Here at Hive Five, we entertained some of the family on Sunday and we pushed the boat out and choc-a-holicked when the company left. Beer and chocolate are my new favourite thing. I have agreed to the camouflaging of the recyclables outside. I appreciate they are an eyesore and nothing to be done unless someone can sponsor an industrial unit for me. I had planned to pick The Crescent and then up and down Church Street. I need to be less ambitious!! I got a third of the way round The Crescent and stuc...