East Devon’s glorious beaches have never been cleaner. But behind the scenes much hard work has been carried out between East Devon District Council and the Environment Agency to ensure that the new high standards set by the EU are both met and maintained. As natural environments, beaches can be badly affected by weather, particularly storms, so the heavy rainfall that the South West is currently experiencing has an impact on bathing water quality, by washing polluted water into the rivers and drains that lead into coastal waters. It can then take days or even weeks for this surface water...
An Exeter public relations consultancy will be helping to tell the story of the South West’s ever-changing coastline after winning a major new contract.
KOR Communications – who have just been nominated for two major industry awards – will be providing strategic advice and services to the South West Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme, a joint initiative of the Environment Agency, Defra and local authorities.
Approaching its tenth anniversary, the programme has been gathering information on the Westcountry’s shoreline since 2006, sharing data with scientists, councils and...
The Dartmouth Steam Railway, First Great Western and the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership have joined forces to launch a new South Devon Walking Festival which will take place between 9th and 17th May.
The Festival aims to encourage people to try one or more of the self-guided walks from Paignton, Torquay, and Kingswear stations contained in the “Walks from the Riviera Line” or the Dartmouth Steam Railway’s “Railway Walks” booklets which are available from local staffed railway stations or online.
Walks on offer range from easy town walks in Torquay and Paignton to more...
The completion of seven coastal access schemes along parts of the South West Coast Path, and the addition of 40 extra walks on its website means that now, for the first time, thousands of people with limited mobility and those with young children in pushchairs are able to enjoy stretches of the breathtaking National Trail that were once impassable.
Newly accessible walks include parts of Padstow where a £24,000 project to improve the surface and widen the path in Stile Field, which both Cornwall Council and Padstow Town Council helped to fund, now means that as well as enjoying the...
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has appointed an academic from the University of Exeter to Chair the South West Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (RFCC). Professor Robert Van de Noort’s appointment is a reflection of his extensive research in the dynamics of coasts, rivers and peatlands, and how people have interacted with these landscapes over a period of more than 10,000 years, in addition to his various roles across the sector. The Regional Flood and Coastal Committees were set up under the Floods and Water Management Act 2010 and play an important local role...
