In March this year, a report entitled “Unfinished Business” was published by The Scottish Campaign for National Parks (SCNP) and the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland (APRS). The report makes a strong case for the establishment of additional National Parks in Scotland and suggests that one of these should be the Cheviot Hills in the Scottish Borders.  The case for this is based on the Northumberland National Park stopping at the border while the landscape clearly marches on, and many would say the landscape quality is greater on the Scottish side. Obviously there would be difficulties in establishing and managing a cross-border National Park with differing legal and administrative structures to be dealt with either side of the line. Efforts have been put into exploring this before and the Southern Uplands Partnership believes that now is a good time to revisit the idea. On August 14th, there will be a chance to hear about the pros and cons of National Parks from people who know.

John Mayhew runs the Scottish Campaign for National Parks who wrote the report.
Graham Taylor has been closely involved with the Northumberland National Park.
Come along to hear about the pros and cons of running a business within a National Park and what the status could mean for you.

Yetholm Youth Hall. August 14th 7pm to 9pm.

For further information please call 01750 725154.

SUP AGM

The SUP AGM took place at the Gordon Arms Hotel on July 4th. The Board welcomed Andy McNab as a new member. Andy has a background in planning and sustainable rural development in which he has been a consultant for many years. Members attending the AGM heard Julie Nock give a presentation on her work in the Ettrick and Yarrow Valleys, where, thanks to ongoing LEADER funding, a number of feasibility studies have been commissioned following the development of the community plan. Members also heard that for the time being Pip Tabor will be working for 2 days a week as a member of the Land Reform Review Group.

Wild Seasons

Iain Wilson the Wild Seasons project officer is working with consultants Bowles Green to run a series of workshops and ‘fam’ visits to help businesses across D&G develop new strategies that engage with Wildlife Tourism. The workshops will focus on what you can do to help market your business and its associations with local wildlife, whilst the Fam visits (Familiarity) will involve a tour of local attractions that you could be promoting to your customers. The events will take place throughout October and November and are all free.

For more information contact or to book a place contact iain@sup.org.uk

EAFS – Environmental Arts Festival Scotland 30th August – 2nd September 2013

The whole of the Dumfries and Galloway region is the location for the first Environmental Art Festival Scotland. Your are invited join in for a creative, stimulating and fun programme of events that will inform and challenge feelings and thoughts about landscape and places within it.

In Dumfries and Galloway people live closely with the land, this relationship is always changing and evolving. The creative arts are breathing new life into the region, helping to celebrate its special places and making innovative links with other walks of life to make Southwest Scotland a positive, progressive place to live.

Much of the local, national and international artwork commissioned in recent years focuses on our relationship with landscape environment, exploring new ways to connect with nature. This year’s Environmental Arts Festival Scotland (EAFS) will further explore this relationship through temporary commissions, debates, discussions, musical events and performance by artists from the region and round the world. Our ambition is for EAFS to grow into a biennial event – cementing Dumfries and Galloway as an international centre for environmental art practice.

For more information go to www.environmentalartfestivalscotland.com/

Riverbank Listening – a World Listening Day Project

Do you want to join international artists and environmentalists in a global listening project?
Are you interested in contributing to a creative celebration of the River Tweed and its tributaries or of your own nearest river system?

If so, we welcome you to participate in Riverbank Listening on Thursday 18th July. This is a World Listening Day  project in which people from all over the world are invited to spend some time during the day listening to their environment, be it urban, rural or wilderness.

http://workingthetweed.co.uk/2013/06/30/riverbank-listening-a-world-listening-day-project/

Renewable Heat Incentive

Householders could get paid hundreds of pounds a year for heat generated by solar thermal panels, biomass boilers and heat pumps, Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker confirmed today.

The tariff levels have been set at 7.3p/kWh for air source heat pumps; 12.2p/kWh for biomass boilers; 18.8p/kWh for ground source heat pumps and at least 19.2 p/kWh for solar thermal.

The new Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for householders is designed to drive forward uptake of renewable heat technologies in homes across Great Britain to cut carbon, help meet renewables targets and save money on bills. The scheme is a world first, and has been up and running for the non – domestic sector since November 2011.

Today’s announcement follows extensive consultation on how a financial incentive would work best for householders and takes into account lessons learned from the Renewable Heat Premium Payment grant scheme (RHPP) and the RHI non domestic scheme.

Note the requirement for Green Deal assessments and the life of the scheme, 7 years.
·  Read the press notice in full
·  View the Consultation Response documents