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Families and business leaders could hold the key to protecting the environment on the Norfolk Broads - and officials are seeking new ideas which could be backed up with a share of a ï¿¡200,000 grant.

The Broads Authority has today called on local people, companies and organisations to come forward with solutions which could help protect wildlife and reduce the carbon footprints of the tens of thousands of tourists who visit the Broads every year.

Each year since 2002 the government has provided ï¿¡200,000 to each of the UK’s National Parks to inspire communities to come up with bright ideas which will benefit the area.

The Broads Authority has used the money to form a sustainability fund, helping promote sustainable tourism, with green business, boating, biking and canoeing projects, education programmes and projects to help disadvantaged people.

Funding has also now been given for a study and carbon audit of the Broads to be carried out by the Cred carbon reduction programme, based at the University of East Anglia.

The study will provide a picture of where carbon emissions come from and how much is produced, so the Broads Authority can draw up a carbon reduction plan to comply with government targets.

In the past the cash has helped launch the Broads Society’s Go Electric! campaign which gave grants for eight private boat engine conversions from diesel to electric.

Subsidies have also been given to help fund the only Green Boat Show in the UK, held on Salhouse Broad in September last year.

The Hewett School in Norwich has also been given an ï¿¡8,000 grant to pilot a project, landscaping the grounds and building allotments, an amphitheatre and a wildlife garden.

A spokeswoman for the Broads Authority said: “The projects we fund are wide-ranging but have several things in common. They are all innovative, sustainable, and improve the life of people living in and working in the area. The Broads Authority is keen to help young people and support projects which do not qualify for other public funding. No project is too large or too small.”

Some of the organisations which have benefited from funding in the past include the Norfolk Schools Sailing Association which was awarded a ï¿¡15,200 grant to buy five new Wayfarer dinghies to help introduce schoolchildren to sailing.

The boats will replace 20 year old boats which were beyond repair.

David Wrenn, commodore of the association, said: “The help and support we have been given from the Broads Authority is brilliant. It is fantastic that they are helping projects like ours that bring a benefit to the community.

“Everyone who works here is a volunteer and gives their time for free so having the grant and being able to upgrade the boats has been a big boost for us.”

A leaflet, Bright ideas wanted, explains who and what qualifies for funding. It is available from the Broads Authority office at 18 Colegate, Norwich and at information centres.

The project follows the launch of the Broads Tourism Forum 2008 A Day in the Broads campaign with Visit Norwich, supported with funding from the Broads Authority’s sustainable development fund.

The focus of the campaign this year is to encourage green tourism with prominence being given to activities such as cycling, walking and nature spotting.

In December last year, the Evening News revealed how The Broads Authority had been awarded an extra ï¿¡1.3m of government funding over three years to be spent on important conservation projects.

Tags: allotments, amp, boat engine, broads society, carbon emissions, carbon footprint, carbon reduction, engine conversions, footprint, government targets, hewett school, Landscaping, money, norfolk broads, private boat, rta, support projects, sustainability fund, sustainable tourism, target, university of east anglia, wildlife garden
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The vegetable patch has become the most fashionable home improvement accessory, a makeover for the credit crunch era that should add value to your property in the long term. The “home allotment” (its virtues are extolled by Jamie Oliver) is not only proof of your impeccable green credentials, it is also a source of cheaper food Landscaping Stone. The cost of staples such as rice, bread, eggs and meat are rising relentlessly around the world, with no sign of let-up, and consumers are increasingly being forced to opt for less expensive fruit and vegetables to make their household budgets stack up.

But all that sowing, mulching, watering and reaping to grow your own may not be as much of a chore as you suppose, and fruit and veg simply tastes better if you eat it fresh from the ground. It’s all to do with the sugars: the natural sugars in a courgette, for example, will start turning to starch within minutes of it being cut from the vine, a process that will rob the courgettes of much of their beautiful sweet flavour.

Can anyone grow their own fruit and vegetables? The answer is yes. Even someone with a window box or small balcony can cultivate a wide variety of herbs, vegetables - or even fruit. Home allotments are easy to get going and now is the perfect time of year to start.

First, you will need a growing area. This can be a few large pots or a couple of grow bags. If you have the space, build a raised bed using timber. In my work as a garden designer in southeast London, I build stylish raised beds for my clients using untreated French oak railway sleepers, which are bolted together. These raised beds are normally 480mm (19in) high by 2.6m long by 1.3m wide, but they can be virtually any size.

A raised bed is prepared by first adding a layer of shingle for drainage. It is then filled with a mixture of good landscaper’s loam and farm manure. Choosing the right location for your raised bed can be difficult within the restrictions of most gardens, but try to find the sunniest spot and not under overhanging trees.

The principles for large pots, grow bags and window boxes are the same: just remember that the smaller the container the more watering they will need. One useful tip for containers is to stand them on a tray or saucer filled with gravel. This helps to stop the soil from drying out, while the gravel stops waterlogging around the roots. Now you have prepared your planting area, you can choose what to grow. The options are vast, from exotic pak choi to the humble spud. My choice for the garden allotment would have to include courgettes, French beans, strawberries and sweetcorn. You could also try an apple tree. Or why not be adventurous and give blueberries a go?

Courgettes (Cucurbita pepo): these are among the most productive vegetables you can grow. Aim to have three or four plants and to stagger the planting. Start by sowing the seeds in 7.5cm pots, 3cm deep in moist compost, placing the pot on a warm windowsill. When well-established, plant out in their final position and give them room to grow.

Sweetcorn (Zea mays): freshly picked, they are a treat. Again, sow them in pots or trays indoors and stagger the sowing, so that you get a steady flow of ripe cobs and not a flood. Sweetcorn is a hungry plant, so before planting out make sure to add plenty of organic fertiliser to the bed. Plant sweetcorn in blocks and not rows, so that they crosspollinate. Try them straight on to the barbecue - just fabulous.

Beans: French beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus) are a must in any home allotment. They like well-drained soil and need support: dwarf French beans require a few twigs to support the plants, while runners need a framework of bamboo poles or similar. Sow the seeds in 7.5cm pots, 4cm deep in moist multi-purpose compost, and place on a windowsill. Once germinated, harden off by placing outside in the shade during the day, and plant out two to three weeks later. Water well.

Strawberries (Fragaria x ananassa): Fruit such as these are best bought as plants in late summer or early autumn. Choose a good all-round type such as “Cambridge Vigour” or a perpetual fruiter like “Aromel”. I like to plant strawberries through a landscaping fabric. Simply spread a sheet over the area to be planted and secure it with pegs to the raised bed surround. Cut holes in the fabric and then plant into the prepared soil beneath. This will keep the soil around the shallow roots moist and warm, ensuring an early crop of fat beautiful strawberries. I have tried the landscaping fabric planting method on many plants, and it also works well for courgettes, tomatoes and sweetcorn.

Apples (Malus Sylvestris var. domestica): To achieve the best results you need a sunny, sheltered spot. Apples are best grown in the ground, but there are some varieties that can be pot-grown. The height and size of an apple tree is mainly determined by the root stock; ask your garden centre for advice on which variety to choose. Most apples require a second tree for pollination, so buy two trees of similar varieties. After planting, water well throughout the first two summers and thin out fruit as they develop.

Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum): Landscaping Stone For the more adventurous gardener, these fruit bushes prefer acid soil and slight shade or sun. Blueberries are also good in pots: use a 38cm or bigger pot and plant in ericaceous compost. One tip is to use collected rainwater and to feed with organic seaweed extract regularly throughout the growing season.

Tags: advent, allotments, amp, balcony, bushes, compost, containers, gravel, herbs, landscape, landscaper, Landscaping, Landscaping Stone, mulch, plants, railway sleepers, soil, vegetables
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BOISE, Idaho The Idaho Fish and Game Commission has approved an interim plan to prevent bighorn sheep and domestic sheep from mingling by creating buffer zones between the two species.

The plan, approved Thursday and immediately attacked by environmental groups, sets a March 1 deadline to create the buffer zones based on domestic sheep grazing allotments.

Those buffer zones will be determined by domestic sheep growers with grazing permits, Idaho Department of Fish and Game and state Department of Agriculture officials, and possibly federal land managers.

The plan, which does not allow public comment, also calls for hazing, capturing or killing bighorns in the buffer zones.

“It’s not going to be a knee-jerk reaction to put buffer zones out there to eliminate bighorn sheep,” said Brian Oakey, Agriculture Department deputy director. “I don’t see that happening.”

Dale Toweill, Fish and Game’s program coordinator for bighorn sheep, was unsure whether buffer zones might be created that resulted in killing bighorns.

“I’m not sure anyone has an answer to that,” he said. “In some areas the plan is going to work to the benefit of bighorns. In some areas it’s going to work to the benefit of domestics.”
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Tags: allotments, program coordinator
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The

problems experienced by some of the recent IPOs have exposed the flaws in the

way primary issues are being sold. At one level it is simply a case of

investors, spooked by a falling market, suddenly taking a closer look at

valuations.

But there are

structural weaknesses that need to be fixed. Sebi would do well to look at the

whole process, in particular the price band-based book-building process. Some

recent IPOs have become akin to an end-season sale. A company makes an offer,

which it thinks is attractive, but on not finding enough takers announces a

discount. When that doesn’t work, it extends the date for which the offer

is open.

The point is that

IPOs are often more expensive than their listed peers — this is clearly

the case with Wockhardt Hospitals and Emaar MGF, both of which are asking for

much higher PE multiples than that of their comparable companies listed in the

secondary market. A small premium in IPOs is justified — but not the kind

demanded in the recent ones — because a large number of shares are

available at a fixed price to institutional investors.

If they were to buy the same

number of shares of already listed counterparts, their prices would rally

sharply. The strong institutional demand, meanwhile, ensures a good listing and

often large short-term profit for retail investors. A secondary market purchase

of a reasonably priced alternative would not yield such short-term gains to

retail investors. This game, however, lasts only in strong markets. But the

market eventually catches up with distortions. The sharp correction in the

secondary market warranted an equally sharp reduction in IPO premiums, which is

what has happened and why IPOs are suddenly struggling.

The core issue is the price

band-based book-building. The price band is decided by the interested parties,

merchant bankers and the company. It is not a discovered price, which was the

idea behind book building. What is needed is free bidding for the QIB portion

with 100% margin requirement. The discovered price could become the basis for a

fixed-price offering to retail investors. Yes, there is a risk of aggressive

bidding in exuberant times. But a 100% margin-based bidding should serve as a

check, as bidders would be exposed to the risk of getting large allotments at

high prices.

Tags: allotments
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