Protecting the environment is one of the greatest challenges of our generation and a core concern to many who live in and around Newbury.
I would like to assure you that I am committed to leaving our environment in a better state than we found it. In government we set stretching new targets under the Environment Act 2021 to protect our natural environment. This included measures such as the Species Survival Fund to create, enhance and restore habitats, as well as plans to support a transformation in the management of 70 per cent of our countryside through incentivising farmers to adopt nature friendly farming practices. When in government the Conservative Party invested more than £750 million in tree planting and peatland restoration through the Nature for Climate Fund.
The Conservative government also agreed a legally binding target to halt the decline of nature by 2030, which requires action in our protected sites as vital wildlife havens. In its Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), Ministers restated its commitment to restore 75 per cent of protected sites to a favourable condition by 2042, while also setting an interim target to check progress by 31 January 2028.
Through the Sustainable Farming Incentive, farmers are financially rewarded to support food production and improve farm productivity and resilience, while also protecting the environment. This includes actions relating to soil health, hedgerow management, providing food and habitats for wildlife, and managing pests and nutrients. These actions will significantly contribute to the environment and climate targets, including the aim published in the EIP of between 65 and 80 per cent of landowners and farmers adopting nature-friendly farming on at least 10 to 15 per cent of land by 2030. I have worked regularly with farmers from across West Berkshire on environmental matters and food production, to ensure that there is a constant dialogue between farmers here and DEFRA Ministers in Westminster.
I also welcome the Conservative Party’s ambition that everyone should live within 15 minutes’ walk of a green or blue space. Through the £14.5m ‘Access for All’ programme, the former Conservative government put in place targeted measures to improve access to our protected landscapes and countryside. Locally, I have also been advocating for a new national park for West Berkshire, alongside Sir Robert Buckland and other colleagues to upgrade the North Wessex Downs ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ into a National Park. This would mean significant extra protection from housing development and town expansion, and a greater funding entitlement from DEFRA for the protection for this beautiful landscape which includes the Ridgeway and Lambourn Valley.
I also wanted to take this opportunity to set the record straight on water quality. I did not vote “to dump sewage into rivers”. In fact, the first time any Government created laws to force water companies to reduce sewage overspills was through the Environment Act (which I voted for). Before 2014, no one really knew what went into rivers. That changed when my predecessor, Richard Benyon, who was an Environment Minister in 2013, realised that there was hardly any data showing water quality in public waterways and set about creating a complete monitoring system. As of last year, we monitored water quality in 100% of rivers, and I entirely agree that some of the results are completely unacceptable.
The Environment Act compels water companies to take the necessary steps to sort this out. In Thames Water’s case, the law requires them to reduce discharges into sensitive rivers (like the Kennet, the Pang and the Lambourn) by 80% by the year 2030. I have driven Thames Water over the pace and transparency of committing to this 80% reduction in sewage discharge into our rivers, particularly after their performance this winter. I want everyone in West Berkshire to know what they are going to do and when, so that we can report them to the regulators if they fail.
I hope these measures have reassured you that I would continue to protect nature in and around Newbury and ensure that it is easily accessible. Upholding and improving environmental standards is something I have also consistently voted for in Parliament and it is something that I care deeply about. I also know it is a core concern of many that I represent in West Berkshire which is why it formed such an important part of my work.
(June 2024)