See us on Facebook or Instagram

STOP PRESS: Our postcard to the Prime Minister has been sent! - see news item below.

'Save Our Green Belt' posters

You can choose and download either of these 3 poster images as a pdf (A4 size) to print off yourself and display in your front window:-

• Click here to download the above poster (pdf).

• Click here to download the above poster (pdf).

• Click here to download the above poster (pdf).

(Click on these news links or scroll down the page)
 

2026 Big Garden Birdwatch results & latest guidance on feeding birds seasonally and safely

SEG's postcard to the Prime Minister

Family Coffee Morning - Wednesday 15th April

Latest timetable for BaNES draft Local Plan

Withies Green reminds us that the local Green Belt is at risk

SEG highlights why the Green Belt is unnecessarily put at risk (letter to MP and consultation response to Government)

Annual Saltford Dawn Chorus Walk, 19th April

90 houses on paddocks in Saltford's Green Belt?

The remarkable Daisies in your lawn

Saltford's Temperate Rainforest reminder

Progress on protecting Saltford's Green Belt landscape

More news in our news archive >>

2026 Big Garden Birdwatch results & latest guidance on feeding birds seasonally and safely

April 2026

The House Sparrow was Number 1 again.

The results for the 2026 Big Garden Birdwatch held on the weekend of 23 - 25 January are now published by the RSPB. The top ten most commonly observed birds across the UK are listed below.

The list is (change on last year shown in brackets):-

   1. House Sparrow (n/c)
   2. Blue Tit (n/c)
   3. Starling (+1)
   4. Woodpigeon (-1)
   5. Blackbird (n/c)
   6. Great Tit (+1)
   7. Robin (-1)
   8. Goldfinch (n/c)
   9. Magpie (n/c)
   10. Long-tailed tit (n/c)

Top spot goes to the House Sparrow for the 23rd year running despite a drastic decline in the UK over the past 50 years, recently estimated as dropping by 71% between 1977 and 2008 with large falls in both rural and urban populations; so much is this decline that they are on the UK Red List for birds.

This year, over 650,000 nature lovers counted 9,473,932 birds. More information on the results of the 2026 Birdwatch can be found on the RSPB website. You can also find more information on social media using the hashtag #BigGardenBirdWatch.

One way to help garden birds is by encouraging insects. Why not let a patch of your garden grow wild this spring and summer?

A full list of the 103 birds that are presently of regular occurrence in Saltford with ID links to the RSPB website for each species can be found on our Wildlife page >>

FEED BIRDS SEASONALLY & SAFELY

According to the RSPB, research has shown a worrying decline in some of our much-loved garden birds due to a disease called trichomonosis. This is a highly contagious disease and can spread where birds gather in large numbers such as at bird feeders.

Greenfinches, for example, have dropped by over 65% in the last three decades - and you may have seen this decline yourself. Back when the Big Garden Birdwatch started in 1979 Greenfinches were at number seven in the top ten birds seen. This year they were down to number 18.

We can help stop the spread of disease among garden birds by making two simple shifts to how we feed birds. Put simply: Feed seasonally. Feed safely:-

1 May to 31 October
Pause filling your bird feeders with seeds or peanuts. You can continue to offer small amounts of mealworms, fatballs or suet.

1 November to 30 April
You can feed your birds a full range of bird foods, including seeds and peanuts.

Feed safely

Busy bird feeders can become hotspots for disease. To help keep birds healthy, it's vital to keep things clean - which is why the RSPB has strengthened its existing hygiene guidance. The RSPB recommend you:

Clean your bird feeders and water baths at least once a week. Good hygiene is essential. Be sure to also clean away any old food or droppings from beneath feeders.

Place your bird feeders in a different spot every week. This will help to prevent any build-up of potentially contaminated debris underneath. If you have more than one feeder, put them in different areas to reduce the number of birds in one place and the mixing of different species.

Avoid putting feeders under places where birds roost, such as under trees. This will help to avoid contamination through droppings.

Don't use bird feeders with flat surfaces, such as bird tables, window feeders and feeders with trays. Research has confirmed that there's a higher risk of disease spreading on flat surfaces, where contaminated food can collect.

Feed in moderation. Make sure all the food you put out is eaten within one to two days. Adjust the amount you offer based on demand to avoid overfeeding.

Keep food as dry as possible. Damp food allows disease to survive and spread. Choose feeders that prevent rain getting in and limit condensation.

Change water in bird baths daily. Only offer water if you're able to change it every day and make sure it's tap water. A pond is the best way to provide birds and other wildlife with water.

Help birds find their own food. One of the best ways to support garden birds in the long-term is to help them find their own food. So fill your outdoor space with bird-friendly plants - such as sunflowers, teasels and ivy. These help provide natural food sources for birds.

Acknowledgement: RSPB, April 2026

Return to top of page

SEG's postcard to the Prime Minister

April 2026

To mark the National Day of Action for Nature, Parks and Green Spaces on Saturday 18th April organised by the Community Planning Alliance, SEG has posted the above postcard via our wonderful community Post Office to the Prime Minister so that it arrives by the 18th. Here is the text from our postcard:-

Dear Prime Minister

The Green Belt is the countryside next door for 30 million people; its protection is essential for supporting nature, our health and well-being, and the nation's future food security.

The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment; it is not the other way round. Building homes near employment, not in the countryside and rural areas, is sustainable development in its truest sense. Homes for Everyone has proved the national housing target can be met without destroying the Green Belt.

Please will you keep your promise to take a brownfield-first approach, to protect sensible use of the Green Belt, and that only genuine brownfield sites such as disused petrol stations and abandoned car parks will be developed, and there will be no "ploughing through farmland" to build the new homes the nation needs?

Please ensure planning decisions on new housing developments are not made by developers whose interests are different from local communities that have to live with the consequences of poor planning decisions.

We look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely

Saltford Environment Group

#DayOfAction #NatureDayOfAction #VoteForNature

Return to top of page

Family Coffee Morning - Wednesday 15th April

March 2026

Family Coffee Morning

The Saltford Fairtrade Group has organised a Family Coffee Morning from 10.30am - 12.30pm on Wednesday 15th April at Saltford Hall (Avon Room) in Wedmore Road.

Free Admission for: Children's craft activities and face painting, Tea, Coffee & Cake. Donations welcome.

Return to top of page

Latest timetable for BaNES draft Local Plan

March 2026

A new government policy that will be introduced later in 2026 aims to reduce the ability of local authorities to set standards or policies that duplicate or conflict with the national approach. In future all district-wide development management policies that are used in determining planning applications across BaNES must align with the national framework. Where there is a policy conflict, national policy takes precedence over local policy.

The effect of that new government policy is to slightly delay the emergence of the BaNES draft Local Plan. Here are the new target dates announced recently by BaNES Council (all subject to change):-

21 May - A report on the Local Plan will be presented to the Council's Climate Emergency and Sustainability Policy Development & Scrutiny Panel.

10 June - The Draft Local Plan will be discussed at a special Cabinet meeting, where members will be asked to approve it to go forward for public consultation.

Late June (TBC) - If the Draft Local Plan is approved, a six-week public consultation regarding the soundness of the plan will begin in late June giving residents and stakeholders another opportunity to review and comment on the Draft Local Plan.

Autumn (TBC) - Subject to consideration and approval by Council, the Draft Local Plan and consultation responses will be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for independent examination.

Following examination and assuming the Local Plan is found 'sound' it will proceed towards adoption. Once adopted, the Local Plan will guide planning decisions across Bath & North East Somerset until 2043.

Return to top of page

Withies Green reminds us that the local Green Belt is at risk

March 2026

This is a reminder of the current threat to our Green Belt from a planning system that overrules the wishes of local communities that want to protect their natural habitats, rural landscapes, and green open spaces. The top photograph is the Green Belt in Keynsham (East) between Saltford and Keynsham known as 'Withies Green'' in May 2022 and below as it is today (14 March 2026).

If you don't want any more Green Belt to be lost to development, thus threatening wildlife habitat, our health and well-being, and our future food security, make sure you follow SEG on social media and revisit our website regularly to see what SEG and others are doing to protect Saltford's Green Belt - and put one of our posters in your front window. Thank you.

Return to top of page

SEG highlights why the Green Belt is unnecessarily put at risk

March 2026

SEG has written to our MP asking him to take a robust stand for nature, parks and green spaces and that new homes should be built near employment and not in the countryside that benefits everyone - city and rural dwellers alike.

Points made by SEG in our letter of 3rd March 2026 included:-

• New "Grey Belt" rules are already prompting developers to target large areas of Green Belt countryside and farmland.

• Councils unable to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply or meet the 75% Housing Delivery Test would lose the ability to refuse speculative housing outside settlements. Yet the Government's five-year housing calculation for BaNES Council, for example, results in a doubling of the previous housing target for BaNES - likely to be undeliverable at pace due to the shortage of construction workers thus allowing developers to pick and choose where they can most profitably build homes, not where they are genuinely needed, but where the profit margins are greatest for the developer, i.e. green field sites in the Green Belt. Green Belt protections are weakened yet again.

• It is proven that it is not necessary to destroy our countryside, parks and nature, to provide the homes we need - as Homes for Everyone can testify.

• More than 3 million homes could be delivered through empty homes, brownfield land, commercial conversions and unbuilt planning permissions in the Homes for Everyone approach. Food security and biodiversity should be at the heart of planning - and not a single acre of green space needs to be sacrificed.

Footnote:
'GREY BELT' RISK TO SALTFORD - SEG RESPONDS TO HMG CONSULTATION ON PLANNING POLICY CHANGES

In addition to SEG's letter to our local MP, due to our serious concerns over the threat to Saltford's Green Belt from proposals to reform the planning system - the National Planning Policy Framework, on 7th March 2026 SEG also responded to the Government's consultation (16.12.2025 - 10.3.2026).

The text of SEG's reponse can be downloaded from this link >> (pdf opens in new window).

Return to top of page

Annual Saltford Dawn Chorus Walk, 19th April

March 2026

A Saltford Wren - small and perfectly formed with a loud song(!)

The annual Dawn Chorus Walk in Saltford will be held again this year.

The Keynsham Branch of the Avon Wildlife Trust will be listening to, and watching, the birds get up after a night's roosting for this year's Dawn Chorus Walk on Sunday 19th April, starting at 4.30am at Saltford Shallows car park.

This is a great way to learn how to identify from their songs the many birds that are found in Saltford. Songs of all common species will be pointed out and their identification features clarified. The walk will be along part of the railway path cycle track (and back). Warm, waterproof clothing is advised and bring binoculars for once it gets light.

This event is free but an optional donation to support Avon Wildlife Trust funds would be appreciated.

For further information and to confirm your attendance, contact Dave Sage on mobile 07899--716068 the week before the event.

Return to top of page

90 houses on paddocks in Saltford's Green Belt?

February 2026

The developer Crest Nicholson has announced its intention to apply for planning permission to build 90 houses on Saltford's Green Belt, on the paddocks south of Manor Road (pictured here).

Residents will re-call the previous failed attempt by Crest Nicholson in 2013 to obtain planning permission to build a development of 99 houses on this parcel of land, the campaign led by SEG objecting to the proposed development and loss of our precious Green Belt. BaNES Council refused planning permission and after the appeal inquiry in August 2013 the appeal was dismissed by the Secretary of State and planning permission refused (in March 2014).

SEG will not pre-empt this planning application by making any public comment at this stage; we await the formal (speculative) planning application to be submitted and the associated consultation by BaNES Council. We shall keep the community informed on our website etc. and provide members of the community with response advice and guidance at the appropriate time (as in 2013).

Likewise, as stated publicly by Saltford Parish Council (SPC) on its website, prior to being consulted by the Planning Authority on an application, SPC does not comment on, provide feedback about, or share information regarding potential or pending planning applications, regardless of their size or scale. This includes speculative larger-scale planning applications - SPC will not engage with any developer about a proposed application or respond to any developer's own feedback or consultation requests.

Return to top of page

The value of Daisies in your lawn

February 2026

From March through to September, the Daisy can be seen in lawns and other short grassland from road verges to meadows. Each flower has a rosette of small, thin white petals surrounding a bright yellow centre that is actually over 100 tiny flowers. This common sight, that can go unappreciated, is incredibly important.

The humble Daisy helps support a wide range of wildlife, from pollen for bees, hoverflies, butterflies, beetles and moths as well as the plants themselves providing food to larvae, snails, caterpillars and rabbits. Dried Daisy heads are sometimes enjoyed by foraging birds such as Finches.

Given their long bloom time they are a vital resource to wildlife at times when not much else is in flower. So, when you see Daisies in your lawn or elsewhere, take time to appreciate and value the important role this delicate wildflower has in local ecosystems like ours here in Saltford.

Acknowledgement: Plantlife

Return to top of page

Saltford's Temperate Rainforest reminder

February 2026

Temperate rainforests are also known as a known as Atlantic or Celtic rainforests. Saltford's temperate rainforest is worth visiting in winter and early spring to appreciate the moss and lichen species - details can be found on our "Wildlife" page in the 'Trees' section >>

Return to top of page

Progress on protecting Saltford's Green Belt landscape

February 2026

A short summary of the meeting on 2nd February 2026 between SPC and BaNES Council shows that real progress on protecting Saltford's Green Belt has been made. This is the summary published by Saltford Parish Council on its Facebook page (and shared on SEG's Facebook page):-

L-R: Cllrs Gary Graveling, David Halton (SPC Vice Chair) and Phil Harding (SPC Chair of Planning) at Saltford Golf Club, 2 February 2026. Photograph courtesy of SPC.

Protecting Saltford's Green Belt:
Today [2.2.2026] SPC Cllrs met with BaNES Council's Cabinet Member for Housing and senior planning officers at Saltford Golf Club, overlooking landscape our community cares so deeply about.

BaNES Council described the papers and evidence produced by SPC for its landscape bid as "exemplary" - recognition of the careful, persistent work being done by SPC on behalf of Saltford residents to protect our Green Belt

SPC's made real progress - but there's more to do. The maps linked shows how SPC's work has already shaped changes to the proposed NE2A (e.g. additional Green Belt protection) landscape setting around our village [SEG comment: for which further progress has been made in expanding landscape protection] - while also showing why SPC continues to push for further safeguards.

View maps here: link to pdf on SPC website >>

More about the maps in SPC's article here: link to SPC website >>

Additional landscape protections within the Green Belt don't provide complete protection, but they do add an important and valuable extra layer of safeguarding.

For SPC's papers and actions since January 2023 visit here: Protecting Saltford's Green Belt - SPC >>

With sincere thanks to Saltford Golf Club and its Chairman for generously hosting the meeting today - and for the wonderful views from the clubhouse!

FURTHER INFORMATION (from SEG)

The set of extensive evidence papers, e.g. landscape setting assessments and related reports, produced by SPC for making representations to BaNES Council can be found in SEG's online Document Library (History of Saltford project) from this link >>

The draft Local Plan with development site proposals, including any proposed changes to Saltford's protective landscape setting designation, is due to be agreed by BaNES Council's Cabinet in early May, and will be published with the meeting papers in late April before the Cabinet meeting is held.

Following a limited consultation on the draft Local Plan it will probably be submitted for public examination by the Government's Planning Inspector(s) in October/November 2026. Final adoption of the (new) BaNES Local Plan after the Public Examination will be in 2027 - but these dates are subject to change.

The BaNES Local Plan timetable can be found on the BaNES Council website from this link >>

Return to top of page

Worried about your home heating and energy costs?
Check out our Energy page for energy saving tips, sources of advice, grants and more.
 

For previous news stories from SEG visit our

Find us on facebook >>

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 January 2025

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 local community. 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 local community 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.

Return to top of page

Contact Us

All general & 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.).

CONTACTS:

Chairman: Phil Harding
philharding27@gmail.com

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 a 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 follow us on Facebook, look out for our news items in Saltford Association Community News (SCAN) and regularly visit our website. Sometimes we have vacancies on our Executive Committee, so if you are interested in joining the committee, contact our Chairman for advice.

Find & like us on Facebook >>

Find & like us on Instagram >>

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).