12th October 2026

Last week Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch vowed to scrap Natural England as a separate body, transferring its functions to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
“When we are in charge, no-one from Natural England will turn up with a clipboard to count all the bats and newts,” Mrs Badenoch told the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.
Now Alistair Carmichael, chairman of the powerful Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, is demanding sweeping changes to the watchdog.
“Natural England needs radical reform. Agencies like this should not work without accountability,” he told GB News.
“The culture of Natural England is obstructive to development as well. They can be very dogmatic and it’s not healthy.”
He warned its approach was at odds with ministers’ ambitions to boost housebuilding and economic growth.
“This is a time when the Government says it is supposed to be on a mission for growth,” he said.
Mr Carmichael also accused the organisation of failing to listen to farmers who have spent generations managing the countryside.
“The farmers might not have the degrees, the masters, the PhDs and the rest,” he said. “But they know about the countryside.
“So many people tell me they feel unheard by Natural England; they feel ignored when they raise concerns and they are required to do things that don’t make sense to them.”
His intervention comes as Natural England undergoes a change of leadership.

Career civil servant Neil Hornby has taken over as chief executive following the retirement of Marian Spain. Chairman Tony Juniper, a former Friends of the Earth director, reaches the end of his current term in April 2027.
“The new team coming in at the top must reset the way Natural England engages with the rural community,” Mr Carmichael said.
One of the biggest controversies involves environmental rules blamed for holding up thousands of new homes.
Under so-called “nutrient neutrality” rules, developers in affected areas must prove new housing will not increase pollution in protected rivers and waterways.
They can do this by buying credits to fund wetlands or changes to farming practices that offset pollution from sewage.
But developers complain the system adds thousands of pounds to housing costs and delays construction.
Natural England itself sells nutrient credits, prompting accusations of a conflict of interest because it advises on the environmental requirements while also offering developers a way to meet them.
Its Government-funded scheme was launched in 2022 with an ambition to help unlock 40,000 homes.
But figures reported in December 2025 showed £28million had been spent while certificates had been issued for just 2,999 homes – fewer than one in 13 of the original target.

Henri Willmott, who leads environmental projects at Biocore Agri, a British organic fertiliser manufacturer, accused Natural England of marking its own homework.
His company is challenging the watchdog over plans to let farmers earn pollution-offset credits by switching from chemical fertilisers rather than taking land out of production.
He said: “You wouldn’t let the Financial Conduct Authority run a hedge fund or the Civil Aviation Authority run an airline so why is an environmental regulator participating commercially in the nature markets it oversees?”
Biocore Agri claims Natural England initially accepted its proposed scheme before reversing its position over how pollution savings would be calculated.
“They create the problem and they sell the solution,” Mr Willmott said.
“Natural England are acting as judge, jury and executioner.
“They decide who can enter the market, set market standards whilst milking their own rules as a revenue stream. That is the conflict of interest.”
The Government has already moved to reduce planning bureaucracy.

On October 1, ministers announced reforms after Government figures suggested nearly a third of the 22,500 planning consultations referred to Natural England annually were unnecessary.
The watchdog has also come under fire over expensive measures to protect wildlife on major infrastructure projects.
At Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, developer EDF says it is spending more than £700million on three fish protection systems.
These include an underwater “fish disco” using sound to scare fish away from the plant’s cooling-water pipes.
On high-speed train development, HS2, Natural England gave advice and licensed a £95million structure near Sheephouse Wood in Buckinghamshire to protect rare Bechstein’s bats from passing trains.

Farmers have also clashed with the organisation over restrictions on grazing and controlled heather burning.
On Dartmoor, Natural England advice to reduce grazing sparked fears of a mass cull of the moor’s famous ponies. Ministers intervened after protests and ruled that ponies would no longer count towards grazing limits in new environmental agreements.
And in the north of England, Moorland managers are warning restrictions on heather burning are increasing wildfire risks by allowing dry vegetation to accumulate. Mr Carmichael said increasingly restrictive rules on rural land could also threaten Britain’s food security.
“Natural England needs to have a sense of stewardship that farmers do, which runs deep into the farming psyche,” he said.
“Food security is national security and we need to do more to protect and grow food and too often Natural England is standing in the way of this.”
Natural England maintains protecting wildlife, supporting farming and enabling development should go hand in hand. It says its statutory duties require it to safeguard vulnerable habitats while helping developers and land managers find practical solutions.

DID YOU KNOW? OUR MOORS ARE A HOSPITAL FOR WILD BEES

To the casual observer, a purple heather moor is just a beautiful view. But to a wild bumblebee, it is a life-saving hospital.

Research from Royal Holloway and Kew Gardens has uncovered a remarkable secret hidden in the nectar of common heather (Calluna vulgaris). It contains a natural substance called callunene – a powerful medicine that protects bees from the deadly intestinal parasite Crithidia bombi.

But here is the catch: The medicine runs out if we don’t manage the land.

As heather plants age, they become “degenerate” – woody, leggy, and grey. They produce fewer flowers and significantly less of this medicinal nectar. To keep the pharmacy stocked, we need fresh, vigorous plants.

This is why we burn.

Controlled burning is a precision tool that resets the clock on the heather’s lifecycle.

The Fire: Clears dead, woody vegetation and creates a mineral-rich ash fertilizer.

The Regrowth: Fresh, green shoots emerge, rich in nutrients and producing the abundant nectar bees need to “detox” from parasites.

The Mosaic: Gamekeepers burn small patches to create a patchwork of old and new heather – providing shelter for insects in the tall crops and food in the new ones.

Why not just mow?

Mechanical mowing leaves a thick mat of “brash” (rotting vegetation) that smothers the soil and stops delicate mosses and seeds from growing. Fire creates a clean seedbed and the micro-topography insects need.

Farmers regain right to trigger ragwort enforcement 18 December 2025 by FarmingUK Team

The Weeds Act 1959 is designed to prevent the spread of injurious weeds such as ragwort

Farmers and landowners will once again be able to trigger enforcement action on ragwort from 1 April 2026, after Natural England agreed to reopen its complaints process following pressure from the Countryside Alliance.

The move means Natural England will resume accepting complaints under the Weeds Act 1959, after suspending new cases in September despite being the body responsible for enforcement in England.

The legislation was introduced to prevent the spread of injurious weeds, most notably ragwort, which is toxic to humans and highly poisonous to grazing livestock including horses and cattle.

Where weeds spread from neighbouring land, affected owners can insist they are controlled at source, but only once Natural England has taken enforcement action.

Concerns escalated after Wiltshire farmer and Countryside Alliance member Christopher Jenkin contacted the organisation for support after ragwort spread from a neighbouring field left him unable to seek enforcement.

The issue was raised in parliament when Liberal Democrat MP Dr Roz Savage, who represents South Cotswolds, tabled a written question to Defra seeking clarity on Natural England’s approach.

In its response, the government said: “Natural England (NE) is dealing with historic weeds complaints but is not currently taking new complaints.

“This is a temporary measure whilst NE reviews with Defra the approach to addressing injurious weeds, to improve access to appropriate advice and guidance and ensure enforcement resources are targeted most effectively.”

The Countryside Alliance questioned why such a review could not have been carried out during the existing off-season for Weeds Act complaints, which already runs from October to March.

Following continued pressure, the government has now updated its guidance to confirm that Natural England will reopen its complaints procedure.

New complaints will be accepted between 1 April and 30 October 2026, with the off-season remaining in place. Natural England says it will aim to respond to valid complaint forms within 10 working days.

The Countryside Alliance said it would continue to monitor the process to ensure enforcement responsibilities are properly carried out and that farmers and landowners are not left without recourse where weed spread poses a risk to livestock and land.

James Legge, director of public affairs at the Countryside Alliance, said: “We were deeply concerned at the sudden suspension of the complaints process back in September and took action to ensure it was eventually re-opened, providing much needed clarity to farmers and landowners.”

The text and photographs below were made and written in 2024 but it is exactly the same in 2025

The Hollies

Path up through the Hollies from Lordshill. In the winter this is terrible with tracks everywhere.

The Paddock

Path from Blakemoor Gate to The Paddock. This is a very wet patch (always has been) but when a Quad bike goes through it leaves this. People are now going up the hillside to avoid this. This was done by probably the people who cut the fallen tree down more towards The Paddock. Why they were here i have no idea. How about a little bit of water mangement.

Blakemoor Gate (above)

This building site is by Blakemoor Gate and was for a borehole. This is how it has been left for a considerable time. The topsoil was not put seperatly to the subsoil and the one area is of foreign gravel brought in for some reason. This is one of the poorest ideas of “management” i have seen in this Area of Oustanding Natural Beauty AONB.

If you actually use your brain and ask locals there is plenty of water on the Stiperstones especially if you have livestock of the original breeds which were grazed here and not Texel sheep and Limousine crossed cattle which are actual natives of mainland Europe and not the Stiperstones. My mother was very proud of her Clun sheep instead of the native Welsh sheep which tended to be the norm.

Blakemoor Gate

This is Blakemoor Gate with fields of Mountain Pansy etc with tracks of a 4×4 across original hedge and ditch features and across fields. Also a messy attempt to cut thistles etc. This is not management it is vandalism.

The Paddock

The above are 2 pictures of the remains of 2 houses in The Paddock Nos Nos 9 and 10. Feeding trough in the middle and tractor tracks everywhere. In the other parts of The Paddock are Tractor tracks across hedges and banks.

The Hollies / Blakemoor Gate

Picture of the field towards Blakemoor Gate this on July 14th 2024 was covered in White and Red (some) Clover and the smell of the Clover was intense but only 2 Bees which i could find without going into the grass. Something is wrong because at this time of year you should be able to hear hundreds of Bees because the perfume should have attracted bees from a great distance.

Blakemoor Flat

This is meadow grass not made into hay and left for the sheep to gaze !

Land above Blakemoor Flat with part of a stand of thistles which have not been cut back to “tame” them and prevent the seed from blowing onto the fields.

Grass growing on the hillside instead of heather where the heather has been cut with a flail mower making an evironment to encourage grass and lots of fungus detrimental to the natural environment.

Above 2024

This is the verge outside the office block where in one of the offices is occupied by Natural England

A good example of “rewilding” in other words do nothing. Quite frankly Craven Arms Council and Natural England should be taken to task about this.

Below 2025 the Rewilding is going well