Daily Archives: 14 Jun 2021

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14 Jun 2021

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Planning applications validated by EDDC for week beginning 31May

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14 Jun 2021

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Headache and runny nose linked to Delta variant

A headache, sore throat and runny nose are now the most commonly reported symptoms linked to Covid infection in the UK, researchers say.

BBC News www.bbc.co.uk

Prof Tim Spector, who runs the Zoe Covid Symptom study, says catching the Delta variant can feel “more like a bad cold” for younger people.

But although they may not feel very ill, they could be contagious and put others at risk.

Anyone who thinks they may have Covid should take a test.

The classic Covid symptoms people should look out for, the NHS says, are:

  • cough
  • fever
  • loss of smell or taste

But Prof Spector says these are now less common, based on the data the Zoe team has been receiving from thousands of people who have logged their symptoms on an app.

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“Since the start of May, we have been looking at the top symptoms in the app users – and they are not the same as they were,” he says.

The change appears linked to the rise in the Delta variant, first identified in India and now accounting for 90% of Covid cases in the UK.

Fever remains quite common but loss of smell no longer appears in the top 10 symptoms, Prof Spector says.

‘Off’ feeling

“This variant seems to be working slightly differently,” he says.

“People might think they’ve just got some sort of seasonal cold and they still go out to parties and they might spread around to six other people.

“We think this is fuelling a lot of the problem.

“The message here is that if you are young, you are going to get milder symptoms anyway.

“It might just feel like a bad cold or some funny ‘off’ feeling – but do stay at home and do get a test.”

Muscle aches

Similarly, the Imperial College London React study of more than a million people in England – when the Alpha or UK variant was dominant – found a wide range of additional symptoms linked to Covid.

Chills, loss of appetite, headache and muscle aches were together most strongly linked with being infected, alongside classic symptoms.

Government advice says the most important symptoms of Covid are:

  • new continuous cough
  • a high temperature
  • loss of or change in smell or taste.

“There are several other symptoms linked with Covid-19,” it says.

“These other symptoms may have another cause and are not on their own a reason to have a Covid-19 test.

“If you are concerned about your symptoms, seek medical advice.”

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Illegal sewage discharge in English rivers 10 times higher than official data suggests

Weak regulation, self reporting and failings in enforcement. What do you expect? – Owl

Sandra Laville www.theguardian.com 

Water companies are being allowed to unlawfully discharge raw sewage into rivers at a scale at least 10 times greater than Environment Agency prosecutions indicate, according to analysis to be presented to the government.

The number of prosecutions of English water companies for unlawful spills from sewage treatment plants in 10 years are just a tiny fraction of the scale of potentially illegal discharges, the research presented to the environment minister, Rebecca Pow, this week will suggest.

Prof Peter Hammond, visiting scientist at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, will tell Pow that weak regulation, underreporting by water companies of potentially illegal discharges and a failure to hold companies to account mean there has been unchecked dumping of untreated sewage which would have resulted in ecological damage.

His analysis covers a 10-year period from 2010, when the regulations changed to allow water companies to self-report spills from storm overflows which might be illegal.

The Environment Agency issues permits to wastewater companies to allow them to discharge untreated sewage into rivers after heavy rainfall to relieve pressure in the system.

The conditions include a requirement that water treatment continues to a minimum level set down in the permit, while raw sewage is being released into rivers.

Hammond has examined the scale of breaches of this permit requirement and he believes there is gross under-reporting by water companies.

His data has been drawn from environmental information requests (EIRs), examination of permits issued by the EA to sewage treatment works, analysis of the rates of flow of untreated and treated sewage at treatment works, and the stop and start times of raw sewage discharges which are recorded on telemetry known as event duration monitoring.

In response to an EIR, the EA catalogued 174 prosecutions of water companies between 2010 and 2020 for breaches of this condition across more than 1,000 sewage treatment plants.

But Hammond’s analysis snapshot of 83 sewage treatment plants suggests in the same period there were at least 2,197 potential breaches.

The permits do not require the companies to measure or record that they are continuing to treat a minimum amount of effluent. This was a “calamitous error”, which suggests water companies were allowed to carry out potentially illegal discharges of raw sewage on a scale 10 times greater than the Environment Agency has prosecuted, said Hammond.

Growing pressure on the government and the EA as a result of investigations by the Guardian and Panorama led to the creation of a storm overflow taskforce by Pow. She has asked for Hammond to present his findings to her at a meeting next week.

“The evidence suggests that in the last decade, ‘early’ dumping of untreated sewage to rivers has been at least 10 times more frequent than EA monitoring and prosecutions suggest,” said Hammond.

“For rivers, wildlife and environment there has been unchecked dumping of untreated sewage which would have resulted in ecological damage.”

Temporary permits issued by the EA to water companies to allow them to discharge raw sewage are 11 years old, in some cases. For example, the Oxford sewage treatment plant owned by Thames Water has had the same temporary permit since September 2010.

The wording reveals how the watchdog allows the company to release solid waste into rivers – including faeces, sanitary towels and condoms – as long as they try to clean up afterwards.

The permit reads: “Where the discharge … results in unsatisfactory solid matter being visible in the receiving waters, or on the banks of the receiving waters, beach or shoreline … the permit holder shall take all reasonable steps to collect and remove such matter as soon as reasonably practicable after the discharge has been reported.”

Pollution from raw sewage discharges by water companies directly into rivers, chemical discharges from industry and agricultural run-off are key sources of pollution, according to data released by the EA last year. Only 16% of waterways – rivers, lakes and streams – are classed as in ecological good health, the same as 2016. Recent research by Prof Jamie Woodward has suggested untreated sewage is the main source of microplastics found in river sediment.

The EA said: “Where there is evidence, the Environment Agency uses a full range of enforcement options ranging from advice and guidance through to prosecution.

“We know the impact major pollution incidents can have and, while water quality has improved dramatically over the last decade, we are committed to improving it further – so far in 2021 the EA have concluded 2 prosecutions against water companies with fines of £2.3m and £4m.”

Sewage wastewater discharges by water companies into rivers account for damage to 36% of waterways, and runoff from agricultural industries is responsible for 40% of damage to waterways, according to the EA.

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Police break up rowdy teens in Exmouth

New dispersal orders used

Adam Manning www.radioexe.co.uk

Police have broken up partying youths on Exmouth seafront, using recently introduced powers.

A Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) covering the town centre was extended to cover Exmouth seafront at the beginning of this month. It allows police to act when they find people drinking or behaving anti-socially. 

On Saturday, around 100 drunken youths were seen fighting, urinating and selling and taking drugs on the beach as temperatures stayed high into the evening.

Bottles of beer quickly disappeared into rucksacks before furtive youths left the area as the police presence increased.

Four police vehicles, two riot vans, around ten officers broke up remaining revellers and escorted them along the seafront.

An eyewitness told Radio Exe at the scene, “We have been here all afternoon enjoying the sunshine and have seen the group get rowdier throughout the day, drinking selling drugs and urinating on those bins up there by Orcombe Point”. 

“As you can see there are families on holiday here sat on the beach and they have had to watch all this unfold so we thought enough was enough and called it into the police”

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Property tycoon donates £150k to Tories 48 hours after housing development is approved

A billionaire property tycoon gave £150,000 to the Conservative Party 48 hours after a government minister approved a controversial housing scheme for him.

By BritFinanceNews www.thelondoneconomic.com 

In a move that smacks of the Richard Desmond affair, John Bloor plunged an eye-watering sum of money into the Tory coffers after the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, the department run by Robert Jenrick, green-lighted his Sandleford Park development.

Bloor Holdings Ltd had their application to build 1,000 new homes at Sandleford Park in Berkshire repeatedly rejected.

But that was overturned when Jenrick exercised his powers to ensure he and his ministerial team made the decision instead.

“Selling out communities”

Yesterday Labour accused the Tories of “selling out communities to pay back developers”.

It comes after figures showed 13 per cent of recent Tory donations are from property tycoons and firms, The Guardian has reported.

Based on information from the Electoral Commission, Labour said companies gave £891,984 to Tory central office and eight local associations.

This makes a big part of the £6.4 million coming from 36 developers donations that the Tories reported for the first three months of this year.

Tory response

A Conservative party spokesperson said: “Government policy is in no way influenced by the donations the party receives – they are entirely separate.

“Donations to the Conservative party are properly and transparently declared to the Electoral Commission, published by them, and comply fully with the law. Fundraising is a legitimate part of the democratic process. The alternative is more taxpayer funding of political campaigning, which would mean less money for frontline services like schools, police and hospitals.”

The spokesperson added that “working with the housing industry is an essential part of getting new homes built and regenerating brownfield land”.

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‘Tiny forests make a big difference’

A team of volunteers is hoping a “tiny forest” planted at a community farm will make a big difference to the environment.

www.bbc.co.uk  (Watch short video on this site)

Rachel Richards designed the Miyawaki-style forest, inspired by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, which has been planted at the farm in Screveton, Nottinghamshire.

“Akira Miyawaki found trees naturally grew much faster if planted closer together than ones that were planted and spaced out on soil that had been cleared,” she said.

“The reason why I decided to design a forest like this was because it absorbs 30 times as much carbon as a normal forest because it’s so densely planted.”