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LATEST NEWS :-

Big Butterfly Count (18 Jul - 10 Aug)

Temperate Rainforest in Saltford?

Next BaNES Local Plan: Latest dates for consultation on further options for development

Hope for the Future: A Fairer World for Farmers

Want to be a Wildlife Champion?

Historic fields south of Montague and Manor Roads

VE Day 80: World War II & Saltford

Next BaNES Local Plan housing target and timetable changes

WECA Mayor candidates respond on protecting food security & nature (last updated 5th May with election result)

More news in our news archive >>

Big Butterfly Count (18 Jul - 10 Aug)

July 2025

Common Blue, Painted Lady and Gatekeeper. © Elizabeth Cooksey

The Big Butterfly Count is a UK-wide citizen survey aimed at helping us assess the health of our environment simply by counting the amount and type of butterflies (and some day-flying moths) we see.

Sir David Attenborough is President of the charity Butterfly Conservation that runs this important annual count, and Chris Packham and Nick Baker are joint Vice Presidents.

This year's big butterfly count is from 18 July to 10 August and could be something to also get younger members of the family engaged in over the summer holidays. Participants choose a place to spot butterflies and moths. Watch for 15 minutes. Then record which species they see. You will be able to submit records throughout July and August.

There's even a free smartphone app for the big butterfly count (and/or a handy butterfly ID chart to download) so that you can carry out and submit your count all in one go while out and about watching butterflies. Details at this link >>.

SEG's wildlife page has photographs of all 25 butterflies that occur and have been observed in Saltford in recent years - see wildlife page - butterflies.

More information can be found on Social Media via the #BigButterflyCount hashtag. Thank you for taking part!

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Temperate Rainforest in Saltford?

July 2025

Fallen branch reveals tree-living fern that had been several metres above ground level, 2025

Also known as Atlantic or Celtic rainforests, temperate rainforests are special and globally rare habitats. A higher proportion of temperate rainforest habitat has already been cleared than of the much more famous tropical rainforest. Temperate rainforest's all-year-moist conditions are perfect for 'lower' plants (e.g. mosses, liverworts, clubmosses and ferns), lichens and fungi, as well as for some flowering plants, birds and mammals.

Rainforests occur only in regions of high year-round humidity. The UK's temperate rainforests are therefore on the west side of the country, sustained by the moist Atlantic airstream in areas before and as it sheds this moisture as rain, from the west coast of Scotland down to Cornwall and including parts of Northern Ireland. Even within the UK, the location of this kind of woodland can influence the condition and species present at each rainforest site. The species present in rainforests in southwest England, for example, differ markedly from those in northwest Scotland's such forests.

As for all British woodland, the rainforest was once a well-used resource, providing many products such as timber, charcoal and tannin for tanning leather. But most of Britain's former rainforest has been removed (mostly many centuries ago), and what remains is still threatened by ongoing clearance followed by conversion to other uses, by invasive species, and by inappropriate grazing.

This has left a small and fragmented resource. The fragmentation is particularly problematic because woodland increases ambient humidity and in climatically borderline areas the presence of extensive woodland can allow sufficient humidity for rainforest to form, whereas smaller fragments in the same area are too dry for it.

The effects of the ongoing threats, described above, are compounded by chronic uncertainty over how rural areas and woods in particular will be supported in the future, and equivalent uncertainty over how the rapid climatic change now underway will affect the local conditions necessary for rainforest to form.

Tree disease is another possible threat, although over ecological time it is relatively minor to the habitat, because this is determined climatically and particular tree species are not necessary for rainforest to form: many native British tree species can structure it, so provided climatic condition and human activities allow woodland persistence, the rainforest will survive. That said, specialist species (mostly likely to be invertebrates and lichens) associated with rainforests and tied to a particular tree species devastated by disease may become severely threatened.

Among the easiest ways to recognise rainforests are their high numbers of epiphytes, those plants growing up in trees (Epiphytes do not include climbers like Ivy and Old-man's Beard, which are rooted in the ground), particularly 'lower' plants which require high humidity to establish themselves. This moisture requirement is why in most of lowland England rich assemblages of ferns, mosses, etc. are seen typically in shady margins of fast-flowing surface water like beside rocky woodland streams and, particularly, the splash-zones of waterfalls.

In most of lowland England, woodland is insufficiently humid to support any but a few moss and fern species away from such spots, with many fewer species on even the shadiest parts of the woodland floor, and very few epiphytically. This is the typical situation of woods in and around Saltford: they show no approach to rainforest.

Species of Moss and Lichen photographed in Saltford's rainforest conditions, 2020

But in one small area of Saltford, a particular combination of circumstances has allowed a moderate epiphytic community of mosses and ferns to develop (see montage image above). This is along a few hundred yards of the former LMS line (now the railway path that is recognised as a Site of Nature Conservation Interest) around the bridge over it from Avon Lane.

The steep cutting dug to allow trains to pass under the bridge, and the young woodland developing with the cessation of railway maintenance activities since the 1960s, now provide an area shaded from sunlight particularly during the most important, i.e. hottest, time (summer, when the trees are in leaf) and shielded from wind: air movement and sunlight are both reducers of humidity.

Moreover, substantial water from the adjacent farmland flows for parts of the year down the cutting sides, further increasing humidity. Fortunately, the excellent construction of the trackway means that this waterflow is rarely a problem for the people using the line. The result is a remarkable display of tree boughs, branches and twigs festooned in mosses and lichens and even some ferns.

This display is best appreciated in winter and early spring, when the trees - all deciduous - have lost their leaves. The display can be found between points 1 and 2 on SEG's History Walk #7 (on LH side when walking/cycling towards Bristol after passing under the Avon Lane bridge).

While this epiphytic community undoubtedly gives some approach to a rainforest 'feel' in this small area, it is debatable whether it should correctly be considered a patch of rainforest. Also uncertain is whether, before humanity cleared the natural formerly extensive woodland of lowland England, this woodland would have generated additional humidity sufficient for Saltford formerly to have been rain-forested. Equally, it is uncertain whether ongoing climate change, predicted to have profound effects on rainfall in lowland England, would allow for rainforest conditions in the future, on any such woodlands as are present then.

A tree-living fern in Saltford showing the effects of a long hot and dry spell, July 2025

You can also read this article from SEG as a short reference paper "Temperate Rainforest in Saltford?" that can be downloaded from this link.

FURTHER INFORMATION
The Woodland Trust works to protect the UK's temperate rainforests - information can be found from this link.

FUTURE REFERENCE
SEG's reference paper "Temperate Rainforest in Saltford?" can also be downloaded from the Trees section of our Wildlife page.

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Next BaNES Local Plan: Latest dates for consultation on further options for development

July 2025

SEG has become aware that further options for housing developments in the Local Plan (to meet higher housing targets set by Government) will be made known on 3rd September in agenda papers ahead of the September BaNES Cabinet meeting on 11th September. The public consultation that will follow is now scheduled to take place from early October to mid-November 2025.

Ward Councillor Duncan Hounsell is organising in Saltford Hall a public meeting to be held on the evening of Saturday 4th October. The meeting will be on the Local Plan Options and Saltford with a small number of guest speakers and a Q and A session. Although booked in the name of the Saltford and Keynsham Lib Dems, this will be a non-political meeting. The objective will be information sharing, not a rally for or against any outcomes.

Please note all these dates are liable to change. SEG may organise its AGM to fit with the options consultation timetable.

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Hope for the Future: A Fairer World for Farmers

June 2025

On May 14, one of our members attended Hope for the Future: A Fairer World for Farmers, hosted by the University of Bath Fairtrade Community. The event spotlighted the impact of Fairtrade and the urgent challenges faced by farmers around the world.

Rosibel Ruiz, a Fairtrade coffee farmer from Nicaragua, shared her inspiring story. With Fairtrade support, she has been able to cope with climate challenges - receiving mosquito nets, polytunnels to dry beans in heavy rain, and guidance on companion planting to improve soil health. Diversifying with pineapples has helped boost her income, while new seedlings, food parcels, protective equipment, and access to credit have helped her recover from plant disease and economic pressures.

Elena Fernandez Lee from The Fairtrade Foundation spoke about Fairtrade tea and how the system ensures decent working conditions, trade union access, and no forced labour. However, she warned that climate change is threatening tea production - especially in Kenya, which supplies nearly half the UK's tea. By 2050, worsening conditions could cut yields by 25%. Adding to the pressure, most tea is sold at auction to a handful of large buyers who can drive prices down.

Gary Ayley from Café direct discussed how the company was founded to give coffee farmers a fairer deal after a global price crash. Cafédirect buys directly from growers, helping them keep a bigger share of profits. Still, 80% of coffee farmers today don't earn a living income.

Thanks for supporting Fairtrade! If you'd like to get involved, drop our Fairtrade Group an email - our contact details are on the top right-hand side of our Fairtrade page >>.

Together, we can help create a fairer future for farmers.

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Want to be a Wildlife Champion?

June 2025

The Avon Wildlife Trust has launched its Wildlife Champions Programme for 2025-2028. This is a calling to all nature lovers. If you would you like to do something positive for nature with your community and would like support to help make your vision a reality, this could be for you.

The Wildlife Champions Programme is a free training programme and peer support network that is here to help you bring more nature into your neighbourhood.

From planting for pollinators, bringing people together to share their memories of nature, creating a community garden, or organising walks and talks, their year-long monthly training programme can help you bring your ideas to life. Training sessions include: 'An Intro to Basic Ecology', 'Community Engagement & Organising', 'An Intro to Wildlife Monitoring', along with seasonal events such as dawn chorus walks and Solstice celebration.

If you would you like to find out more there is a Wildlife Champions Taster Day on Saturday 28th June (10am - 12pm). See the dedicated AWT webpage for further information from this link: AWT - Wildlife Champions >>.

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Historic fields south of Montague and Manor Roads

May 2025

The historic fields south of Montague Road and Manor Road exhibit characteristics which contribute to the distinctiveness of the village of Saltford. Saltford Parish Council has produced a paper on the importance of this area, which supports SPC's request for additional landscape protection for the Green Belt at 'Saltford South of the A4'.

You can find SPC's 'Locally Distinctive Historic Fields, South of Montague Rd/Manor Rd, Saltford South' paper and its ANNEX (a photographic record with LIDAR images) on SPC's website page on "Protecting Saltford's Green Belt" from this link >>

For future reference, copies of these important and historical record papers can also be found in SEG's Document Library that is part of our 'History of Saltford' project.

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VE Day 80: World War II & Saltford

May 2025

To help Saltford mark the VE Day 80th Anniversary, SEG has produced via its "History of Saltford" project a pictorial presentation on 'World War II & Saltford' to run continuously in a loop at the Saltford Community Association's "Afternoon Tea with Entertainment" event at Saltford Hall from 2.30pm on Saturday 10th May.

A copy of the presentation was also provided to Saltford School who showed it to their pupils during school assembly on VE Day, 8th May. The pupils respectfully observed a two-minute silence during the presentation for those Saltford residents that gave their lives during the war (they are listed within the presentation and in our History of Saltford project's Online Museum).

• You can download a pdf version of SEG's 'World War II & Saltford' presentation that is held in our History of Saltford Document Library from this link >>

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Next BaNES Local Plan housing target and timetable changes

May 2025

SEG is aware from information made available by Ward Cllr Duncan Hounsell at the SPC meeting on 7th May, that the mandatory government housing target for BaNES has increased further to 1,489 dwellings per annum (up from 1,466 p.a.). This increase is a consequence of a change in the "affordability factor" locally and the "standard method" figures that will apply from 2024.

The next BaNES Local Plan is likely to run from 2025 to 2043 (previously 2022 to 2042). There will be a small change in the new Local Plan development timetable so the new consultation on options for development (to meet the higher housing targets) is likely to be in the autumn, rather than the summer, 2025.

The Options document will be in the agenda papers for the BaNES Cabinet meeting taking place on 11th September with public consultation on the Options document taking place from mid-September until the end of October. The draft Local Plan will go to full BaNES Council in April/May 2026.

On a related matter, SPC discussed the response it had received from Baroness Taylor of Stevenage, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Local Government, to its letter "New housing without compromising food security and nature" sent by SPC on 10th February 2025 to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner MP (via the office of our MP, Dan Norris).

SPC resolved on 6th May to publish the official response on SPC's website and accompany the response with the following statement:-

   "Saltford Parish Council acknowledges and is grateful for the response from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. However, it remains deeply concerned that there has been no acceptance of the need to take a long-term stewardship approach to land use planning to simultaneously help the recovery of nature and to improve the resilience of the nation's indigenous food supply by providing better safeguards for the Green Belt and farmland.

   The Parish Council will be looking to Bath and North East Somerset and the newly elected West of England Mayor to set a national example by ensuring that no Green Belt or farmland in the area they control or influence is lost to development in the planning process and to therefore use other, more sustainable, means to meet genuine housing need and in the right places."

SPC also resolved to publish supplementary landscape evidence it has agreed to submit to BaNES Planners for its landscape designation request for Saltford south of the Bath Road (its publication and submission was delayed by the WECA Mayor pre-election period that prevents Parish Councils taking an active public role on policy issues that may be relevant to the political campaigns of candidates).

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WECA Mayor candidates respond on protecting food security & nature

March-May 2025 (last updated 5th May with election result)

We are posting here the answers (up to 60 words was the request by SEG) to our question to the candidates standing in the election on 1st May for WECA Mayor - see previous news story for further information. The question SEG asked was:-

   "In view of the Saltford Parish Council letter "New housing without compromising food security and nature" and if elected as WECA Mayor, how will you in the decisions you make and the policies you implement and support protect the West of England's Green Belt and farmland from development including making the case to Government Ministers that taking a longer-term stewardship approach to land use planning must be a priority so that negative consequences for food security and nature are not a result of where we build new homes in the West of England?"

In order of receipt, the responses received were as follows:-

Ian Scott (Independent candidate):
I am not going to make any commitments but my voting record on the Green Belt includes voting against the South Gloucestershire Local Plan in 2011 because of the loss of Green Belt in Patchway and against the South Gloucestershire Local Plan in February 2025 - a new Frenchay Community Hospital is needed before we can agree extra housing east of the Ring Road on Green Fields or Green Belt (summarised by SEG as reply exceeded 60 words).

Steve Smith (Conservative candidate):
Protection of the Green Belt is one of my top priorities. I will focus on "brownfield first" to ease the pressure on the Green Belt. Prioritising, and where necessary funding for, regeneration sites for new homes. Additionally, using the Mayoral role to support Green Belt campaigners at a national, regional and local level - resisting the current intense attack upon it.

Helen Godwin (Labour candidate):
I would balance new housing developments with protecting our Green Belt, farmland, and natural environments... requiring all new developments to deliver at least 10% biodiversity net gain across our region. I would protect nature by prioritising brownfield development first. I would create a comprehensive brownfield register for the West of England and secure funding from Labour's £8.3 billion affordable homes program to remediate these sites. I would also establish stronger protection for high-grade agricultural land.(summarised by SEG as reply exceeded 60 words).

Oli Henman (Lib Dem candidate):
I am strongly committed to long-term environmental stewardship of our farmland and rural areas. I would prioritise taking forward the Nature Recovery Strategy across the West of England region and would work with local environmental organisations. I am clear that new development should be focused on brownfield sites as a priority so that people can reach good transport connections.

Answers were not received from the other two West of England mayoral candidates, Mary Page (Green Party) and Arron Banks (Reform).

Following voting on polling day (1st May) with only a 30% turnout, Helen Godwin (Labour) was elected Mayor of the West of England Combined Authority.

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Current areas of local volunteer assistance sought by SEG

Whilst our partner organisations such as Saltford Wombles (for tackling litter), Saltford4Nature (for making for Saltford's green public spaces more pollinator friendly) and the Fairtrade Group always welcome volunteer assistance, SEG sometimes has specific roles or posts that need filling. Here are the current vacancies:-

Updated July 2024

Executive Committee: Want to help steer SEG?

SEG is seeking new Executive Committee members to help steer and develop SEG's role in the community as we address the environmental concerns of our members at the local level. If you think you might like to get involved and join our Executive Committee (enthusiasm and a "can do" attitude is more important than expertise!), please contact our Chairman, Phil Harding, for an informal non-committal chat.

The Executive Committee only meets 4 times a year and its working method is more about sharing ideas and getting things done in a friendly and productive atmosphere than being bogged down with time-consuming administration.

Website skills wanted!

Our website is a popular resource for our members and others which means that in addition to keeping it relevant we want to make sure it continues to function as it should.

If you live in or near Saltford, care about your local environment and have current knowledge of website design and might be interested in using your IT skills for a bit of IT volunteering to help us behind the scenes please get in touch with our Chairman by email to philharding27@gmail.com for a no-obligation chat on possible volunteer help.

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Contact Us

All general, membership & urgent (e.g. Press) enquiries by email to our Chairman please from whom SEG's postal address, if required, can be obtained on authenticated* request *(to avoid junk mailing etc.).

HOW TO JOIN SEG: If you live, work or have a particular interest in Saltford & wish to join our email membership list please send an email to our Chairman. Please include your name, address & contact telephone number in your email application. NOTE: We provide information about membership including our simple code of conduct for members and personal data protection by SEG on our "About Us page".

CONTACTS:

Chairman: Phil Harding
philharding27@gmail.com (Tel: 07814--720763)

Website Editor is Phil Harding but see website editorial/contact info. below BEFORE contacting SEG about this website

Secretary: Vacant post

Treasurer: Andrew Stainer
andrew.stainer@outlook.com

SEG Green Belt Campaign: Contact our Chairman (contact details above)

Saltford Station Campaign: Chris Warren
cherokee1883@live.com

Saltford Fairtrade Group:
saltfordfairtrade@hotmail.co.uk

History of Saltford
Project Curators: Phil Harding & Andrew Stainer (contact details above).

Saltford Wombles is independent of SEG but contact details can be found on our Less Waste page.

Saltford4Nature community gardening group is sub-group of SEG; contact details can be found on our Gardening page.

Cookies and Privacy Policy Statement

SEG respects the privacy of visitors to our website. We do not use cookies to collect personal or other data about visitors to our website; the only data we collect via our ISP's hosting service, and without the use of cookies, is the number of visits to each of our web pages but not who the individual visitors are.

*EDITORIAL POLICY including SEO, web design and marketing for www.saltfordenvironmentgroup.org.uk

As a general rule our editorial content is sourced locally in Saltford and NE Somerset or from reputable non-commercial organisations based in the UK.

Will Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), website design, "content providers" and other similar companies please note that this website has all the SEO ranking, social media links, and smartphone compatibility that it requires to meet its specific objectives and enquiry emails on this topic including link requests will not receive a reply to save your time and ours.

SEG is not a commercial enterprise therefore companies that produce bespoke marketing materials or sponsored editorial content should also note that marketing emails or requests for placing links to other websites* will not receive a reply as it is our policy not to reply to marketing emails of this nature unless they are from a Saltford-based organisation seeking to assist SEG.

*SEG is not in a position to authenticate the accuracy and legitimacy of third party websites and/or third party editorial content.

Do you care about the village of Saltford, its environment, wildlife and future as a thriving, more sustainable community? Then join us and also follow us on facebook. See our 'About us' page for how to join (membership is free!).

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SUPPORT FROM BUSINESS:
We welcome support from local businesses to help cover our costs and keep membership free for our members. If your local business would like to support SEG (e.g. a logo + link on this page is very inexpensive), please contact our Chairman (see above for contact details).