Sandra Laville

London, United Kingdom

Senior Correspondent at The Guardian

Sandra Laville, senior correspondent for The Guardian.

Articles

UK government admits almost no evidence nature protections block development

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Sandra Laville

There is very little evidence that protections for nature are a blocker to development, the government has admitted in its own impact assessment of the controversial new planning and infrastructure bill. The analysis by Whitehall officials provides no data or research to back up the government’s central argument that it is environmental legislation that holds up building.
Labour’s planning bill threatens protected habitats, says environment watchdog

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Helena Horton |Sandra Laville

Keir Starmer’s planning bill has been criticised by the environment watchdog, which has warned that the draft of the legislation would remove safeguards for nature and put protected sites at risk. Currently, laws that protect habitats and nature are derived from EU legislation. Since the UK left the bloc, it has been able to weaken these laws that protect specific species and habitats.
Chicken megafarm in Shropshire must not be built, clean river group tells court

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Sandra Laville

Clean river campaigners have told a court that planning permission for a poultry megafarm in Shropshire is unlawful and should be overturned. In the high court in Cardiff on Wednesday, Dr Alison Caffyn argued that the council had failed to take into account all the environmental impacts of the industrial chicken units, which will house 230,000 birds at any one time, in particular the effects of spreading manure on land.
Planning bill would allow builders to ‘pay cash to trash’ nature, say UK experts

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Sandra Laville

Leading economists, former government advisers and ecologists are calling for a key section of the government’s planning bill to be changed because it creates a “licence to kill nature”.
Just 9.5% of plastic made in 2022 used recycled material, study shows

1 month ago | msn.com | Sandra Laville

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
Just 9.5% of plastic made in 2022 used recycled material, study shows

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Sandra Laville

Less than 10% of the plastic produced around the world is made from recycled material, according to the first detailed global analysis of its life cycle. The research reveals that most plastic is made from fossil fuels, predominantly coal and oil, despite rhetoric by producers, supermarkets and drinks companies about plastic being recycled. The research analysed the 400m tonnes of plastic produced in 2022 in order to support attempts to reduce pollution and promote sustainable plastic management.
UK boiler upgrade grants could be extended to heat batteries

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Sandra Laville

The UK government is considering expanding the boiler upgrade grant scheme to cover sources of low-carbon heating for domestic homes other than heat pumps, the Guardian understands. The government has a target of 600,000 heat pump installations annually by 2028. But data from the Resolution Foundation on Wednesday revealed worryingly low uptake of heat pumps.
Campaigners find sewage pollution and E coli in Boat Race water

1 month ago | msn.com | Sandra Laville

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
Campaigners find sewage pollution and E coli in Boat Race water

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Sandra Laville

Water quality along the stretch of the River Thames which will host the iconic Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race has been classified as poor by clean water campaigners, as a result of E coli from sewage pollution. Testing carried out along the four-mile route, which the university rowing teams will tackle on Sunday, has revealed E coli levels which are three times above the threshold for poor bathing water status.
Plan for Norfolk megafarm rejected by councillors over environmental concerns

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Sandra Laville

A megafarm which would have produced almost one million chickens and pigs at any one time has been blocked by councillors in Norfolk over climate change and environmental concerns. Councillors on King’s Lynn and West Norfolk borough council unanimously rejected an application to build what would have been one of the largest industrial poultry and pig units in Europe.