August Team news
Posted : August 9, 2019

DCF NEWS

We are pleased to announce that Nikki Parker-Goadsby has been appointed to the Support Officer role; she will switch roles as of September 9^th, and will be your first point of contact when you contact the Forum. Nikki has been with us for just over two years working on the Dorset Coastal Connections project and is delighted to be staying with the Forum in this new role. She has a wealth of experience in similar roles prior to DCF and we’re sure she’ll continue to be a real asset to Rhiannon and the team going forwards.

Natalie recently ran a ‘Deep Dive’ workshop for Dorset LEP to inform their forthcoming Local Industrial Strategy about coastal issues, strengths, needs and opportunities in Dorset. The workshop focussed particularly on how the coastal parts of the county are different to other rural and urban areas, with unique challenges and opportunities, and how these might be addressed in the LIS. Similar ‘Deep Dives’ have been carried out on specific sectors (e.g. small business, tourism and others) by the LIS, and the body of evidence they gather will be used to write the final Strategy due for draft release around Christmas.

It’s reports season for DCF at the moment as we are writing up a number of other workshops and projects we’ve been working on with Dorset Wildlife Trust, Southern IFCA, Cefas and our own projects funded through the FLAG and MHCLG; thank you to all those partners and stakeholders who have contributed to each of these projects and are helping us pull the data together.

Dorset Coastal Connections (DoCC)

• Litter Free Food & Drink: ‘Leave only footprints’ sculptures were installed at Bournemouth, Weymouth, West Bay and Lyme Regis beaches at the end of July and will be on display until the end of August. It is great to see families and visitors to the beaches stopping to take in the sculptures, together with the facts and options of how to be more plastic clever and reduce their single use plastic waste.
• Fossil Forest access: Construction work to rebuild the steps leading to the Fossil Forest started on the week of 22nd July. Access to the Fossil Forest will remain closed whilst work is taking place.  Dorset Council Highways are the contractor and will be working to repair the steps whilst the MOD (Ministry of Defence) ranges are open during the summer holidays. Any remaining work that does not happen over the summer will take place during the Autumn when the ranges are open at weekends. It is expected the improved steps and viewing area will be open for all visitors by December 2019.
• River Lim path: The final element of the project is now complete. The restoration of a stone ramp leading to the Ford at the end of Millstream provides the final touch by enhancing both the natural character and restoring the natural heritage of the path.  This specialist stone work on the Ford was carried out by Tom Trouton.
• Poole Seafront: Plans for Shore Road and Branksome Chine improvements as part of the Poole Seafront Development project have taken a step forward with the appointment of the contractor, construction specialist Stepnell Ltd. Work is planned to start early September 2019.
• West Dorset Walkers Welcome: Local artists have been invited to create concepts for ten parish boundary markers, each celebrating and telling stories about parish boundaries in West Dorset. The first element to improve sections of the South West Coast path in West Dorset is now complete.
• Weymouth Seafront artistic lighting: Engineers have conducted important on-site testing of the new artistic scheme. This involved testing the installation methods, the electrical equipment and the wireless technology; all of which need to be fully tested before the team can plan the full installation. Installation of the scheme is expected by November.

Dorset and East Devon Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG)

• FLAG has now paid out just over £300,000 in claims to projects that have completed and Martin is continuing to work with project managers to process even more claims.
• The FLAG Board will be meeting on September 17^th for a retrospective look at the work the FLAG has achieved over the last two and a bit years.
• The Future of Inshore Fisheries Conference is being held in London on October 8^th and 9^th and Seafish are offering bursaries to commercial fishermen who wish to attend that will help cover their travel costs. If you know or are a commercial fisher and would like to attend, please contact Holly Kaiser at Seafish via e-mail at: holly.kaiser@seafish.co.uk. You can find out more about the conference here.
• Martin will be attending the Aquaculture Common Issues Group meeting in September in London. These meetings focus on issues that direct affect the aquaculture sector in the UK and with the High Potential Opportunity for Aquaculture in Dorset currently being promoted through the Department for International Trade the ACIG meetings give the chance to ensure that Dorset is in the forefront of the sector’s thinking.
• The final Dorset Coastal Stories short film “Aquaculture: Open for Business” was premiered at the Portland Port open day last week and is now available to view on the Dorset Coast Forum website and YouTube channel here. The film has been well received by the aquaculture sector in the FLAG area and the Dorset Growth Hub team.

Litter Free Coast and Sea (LFCS)

• Sustainable Swanage continues to gather momentum, with Project Officer Sarah Spurling working with the community and supporting the community social pages with tips, experiences and best practice on how to help make Swanage a Plastic Free Town. Find out more about Sustainable Swanage here.

• LFC&S Business Awards It’s good to know there are businesses out there going that extra step, and we’ve had four more businesses apply to become accredited since the end of July. The common denominator is that they know how important clean beaches with high bathing water quality are to the local communities, tourism and the environment and by making simple changes, recognise how they can support and help create cleaner seas and beaches. If you are, have or know a business that that would be eligible; click here and go from good to great with simple measures that make all the difference.
• Beach Cleans Summer heralds a marked increase in enquiries from individuals and large corporate groups, all wanting to ‘do their bit’ and help keep our beaches clean. We’ve been busy coordinating beach cleans up and down the coast with our beach clean partners and volunteers from Highcliffe to Lyme Regis working with; HMP Avon & South Dorset Prison Group, Planet Bofa, Utility Point and the Chiesi Group. It’s great to help, either with a conversation or by sending our step by step guide to organising a beach clean…it as easy as A B Sea!  See what our beach care groups have been up to here.
• We want you to help spread the message! We can all do our bit to help look after our beautiful beaches by :
  • Not pouring fats/oils/greases down the sink
  • Picking up dog poo, even if it’s not near a beach
  • Taking part in a #2MinuteBeachClean
  • Switching to reusable plastics
  • Taking your litter home

• The Art of Food and Drink…’Leave Only Footprints’ Take only memories, leave only footprints…If you go down to the beach today, you’re sure of a big surprise! This summer Litter Free Coast and Sea are encouraging visitors enjoying the Dorset coast, to be plastic savvy and ‘litter free’, to reduce the amount of rubbish entering the sea and littering our beautiful Dorset beaches. Architectural designer Jack Raisey was commissioned after an open call for submissions and has designed and built 4 installations which will reside on Bournemouth, Weymouth, West Bay and Lyme Regis beaches until the end of August. Leave only Footprints is part of the Dorset Coastal Connections portfolio, and involves working in partnership with our friends at Dorset Food and Drink and the Arts Development Company as well as Dorset Council, Lyme Regis Town Council, West Bay Harbour Master’s office, Weymouth Town Council and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. Read more about the project here.
• For news and updates about our work, why not subscribe to our Litter Free Paper ?

Tags: Dorset & East Devon FLAG, Dorset Coast Forum, Dorset Coastal Connections, Litter Free Coast & Sea

July Team news
Posted : August 9, 2019

DCF NEWS

DCF is recruiting! As readers will be aware, our previous Support Officer Sophie Franks has moved on to pastures new, and we are looking for somebody to fill her post. Full details of this exciting opportunity to work in our small, fast-paced team are available here. Application deadline is 7^th July.

It has been another busy month for the DCF team, as we have been working away behind the scenes to progress a number of projects and DCF core work.

Natalie attended the Climate Change Adaptation Framework for Dorset workshop, run by Dorset LNP, and a workshop hosted by Natural England on ideas to reduce the environmental pressures of recreational boating in the Solent (with a mind to sharing experience of Dorset’s successes, and how other ideas might be applied in Dorset).

Dorset Coastal Connections (DoCC)

• The Weymouth Promenade Artistic lighting scheme is now back on track and will be installed during the autumn. Unavoidable delays have been due to cost and technical issues during the tender process for the manufacture and installation of the scheme, which have now been resolved. The final cost of the project is £265,000, with Weymouth Town Council approving a contribution of £5000 following a presentation by Natalie at their meeting on 26th June.
• Carved timber seating and wooden animal homes designed by local furniture maker, Alice Blogg are now in place at three locations along the River Lim path that runs between Uplyme and Lyme Regis. The new seats are inspired by the local mill industry and the animal homes have been created for birds, bees and bats as part of an animal architecture workshop for local students.
• Groundworks at the West Bay ‘Hub’ are progressing well with the paving and concreting creating a circular design and radiating lines which are now complete. Contractor, Dorset Highways, pressed on during recent wet weather to complete the ground surfacing and re-opened the hub area on 25th June for everyone to use, including motorcycle parking. Installation of the hub’s artist-designed circular seating has been delayed due to additional modelling requirements needed by the fabricator for their casting process. Work to install the seating, central bronze orientation feature, and lay the resin bound aggregate surface to the outer circle, will require the area to be closed again for a few days in early September.
• Also in West Bay, improvements to the shared route along the old railway line are coming along well with the section from Burton Road to Meadowlands subsurface grounds works complete with the top, natural gravel layer to be laid shortly.  Works along the section from Meadowlands to West Bay Road car park will take place in July.  All improvement works will be put on hold over the summer holiday to be completed early September.

Dorset and East Devon Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG)

Martin has been busy supporting applicants to get their claims submitted to the MMO for payment, as well as continuing to assist with working up applications to the core EMFF fund.

He has created an infographic which shows the key achievements of the FLAG to date. You can view this on our website here.

Litter Free Coast and Sea (LFCS)

Swanage

• Sustainable Swanage has launched! It’s a very exciting new community group who already have lots of positive changes already in motion. Driven by LFCS Project Officer Sarah Spurling, who is supporting the community with tips, experiences and best practice, the group is working hard to make Swanage a Plastic Free Town. Find out more about Sustainable Swanage here.
• Swanage also has a new 2-Minute Beach Clean Board. Thank you to Dean from Quay Desserts for hosting it.
• There are new several businesses in Swanage who have joined up to the Refill scheme. Look out for the Refill logo in windows (not just in Swanage- it’s nationwide!) or download the app. You can also fill up from the taps on Shore road. Save money and reduce the millions of water bottles used and discarded every day.
• Litter-free Purbeck ran a ‘Blitz the Butts’ campaign in Swanage town centre, collecting 6 large jars full in 3 hours with 16 volunteers. It’s the most common form of ocean litter, worse than plastic straws, so it would be great to continue this campaign over the summer, encouraging more smokers to dispose of ‘Butts’ responsibly.

Business Awards

• We’re delighted to announce that three more businesses have been awarded a Litter Free Coast and Sea Award. Congratulations West Dorset Leisure Holidays at Highlands End, Teachers Building Society, and The Dorset Wildlife Trust at Lorton Meadows Conservation Centre.
• All our Business Award holders know how important clean beaches with high bathing water quality are to the local communities, tourism and the environment and by making simple changes, recognise how they can support and help create cleaner seas. You too can take your business from good to great with simple measures that make all the difference. Find out more here.

Confetti Gate

• An episode of Don’t Tell the Bride was recently filmed at Castle Cove Beach but a series of unfortunate incidents culminating in a shower of ‘glitter confetti’ as the happy couple tied the knot, was not a happily ever after fairy-tale for the beach. Speaking to the BBC, Renegade Pictures series producer Bob Gowing said “We apologise unreservedly for the upset we have caused to the local community, who had been so welcoming and helpful during our filming period. Renegade Pictures are committed to sustainable filming practices including reducing plastics, however, we will be thoroughly reviewing our procedures to make sure that in future, we have a clear plan in place to avoid unexpected environmental damage, as that seems to have caught us out this time.”
• LFC&S helped coordinate the clear up and subsequent beach inspections with the Portland Port Authority, Dorset Wildlife Trust and the Friends of Castle Cove Beach, and the production company kept their word; paid for a beach clean and came down themselves from London to help! LFC&S has suggested that Renegade might wish to add an addendum to their filming policy re plastics, and have sent information about sourcing sustainable alternatives to glitter confetti.

Beach Cleans

• The LFC&S team have been busy coordinating beach cleans up and down the coast with our beach clean partners and volunteers from Highcliffe to Lyme Regis and working with; UK D-Zero class sailing, the Royal Yachting Association, Teachers Building Society, schools and colleges. We also get lots of enquiries about how to arrange beach cleans, so our step by step guide makes it as easy as A B Sea!

‘The Mary Dwen’ Trommel Launch

• A trommel which was funded by the Highstreet clean up fund was unveiled on Swanage Beach recently. The beach cleaning device which will be used to remove nurdles was named after local lady Mary who has spent thousands of hours sifting nurdles from the sands of Swanage beach. The Trommel will be used by Litter Free Coast & Sea’s Beach Clean Volunteer groups; this launch was in partnership with Litter Free Dorset.

Tags: Dorset & East Devon FLAG, Dorset Coast Forum, Dorset Coastal Connections, Litter Free Coast & Sea

June Team news
Posted : August 9, 2019

DCF NEWS
• Sophie has been attending the public drop in sessions at the Salt House in West Bay to answer queries about the coastal defence works, cycle path and welcome hub projects that are all currently under construction in West Bay. Please do check our website for updates on the coastal defence works.
• Sophie coordinated the second Seaweed Feasibility Study workshop which took place last month, during which Elisa Capuzzo, Elena Mengo and Ian Tew from Cefas updated the stakeholders on the progress of the report and discussed any areas that need to be developed in future work.
• The fourth and final Coastal Stories film has now been completed! The film focusses on several areas of aquaculture that are taking place in Dorset, with particular focus on career paths and opportunities. A premier event is currently being planned, watch this space for more information. In the meantime, the other three films are available to view here.
• The development of the Aquaculture Virtual Hub is now underway. The Aquaculture Mapping Team at Cefas are also working closely with the web developers to bring the mapping outputs to as many stakeholders as possible.
• High Potential Opportunity; A first overseas investor visited Dorset in early May 2019 to investigate potential on-shore sites for recirculation aquaculture systems.  Initial indications are positive that this visit may result in a new aquaculture operation being established.
• Martin Syvret attended the last Seafish Aquaculture Common Issues Group Meeting and, together with Cefas, highlighted the aquaculture work that is ongoing in Dorset and East Devon through DCF and the FLAG.
• A shellfish purification training course is being planned for the Dorset and wider south west region. This course will be run by the Southern Shellfish Training Centre, an Approved Training Provider for the Sea Fish Industry Authority.  If anyone is interested in attending this course, then please contact Martin Syvret on 07966 461810 for further details.
• Martin Syvret attended the SAGB’s 50th Annual Conference. The Keynote Speaker on Day 1 was Alison Austin OBE who is the Chair of Seafood 2040.  Alison’s presentation highlighted and praised the work that Dorset Council, the FLAG, DCF and the LEP are doing in promoting aquaculture.  This work was highlighted as being a pathfinder approach that could well have national relevance and significance.
• Martin Syvret attended a meeting at Exeter University to discuss a potential new project aimed at investigating mitigation approaches for shellfish producers to Harmful Algal Blooms and algal biotoxins.  An Innovate UK approach is being considered.
• After just over two years with the team, Sophie is moving on from DCF. We are aiming to recruit a replacement Support Officer as soon as possible. In the meantime, the Dorset.coast@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk account will be monitored by Natalie.

Dorset Coastal Connections (DoCC)
• Highcliffe Zig Zag Path was officially opened by HRH the Duke of Gloucester in May- a well-deserved celebration of a really good result for the community in re-establishing this important access link between the clifftop and beach.
• The “Art of Litter Free Food and Drink” project has appointed Jack Raisey as artist for the project. Jack will be working closely with the project team to develop his vision which draws attention to the issues around single-use food and drink packaging, and the simple, positive things users and businesses can do to reduce its harmful environmental impact.

Dorset and East Devon Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG)
• Martin and Natalie were up in the far North East of England in May at the North of Tyne English FLAG networking event. Two of the Scottish FLAGs also joined us there. The MMO gave an update on the national replacement for EMFF and Martin has been invited to a FLAG stakeholder consultation event later this month at the DEFRA offices in London.
• Claims are progressing well and over £130,000 has now been paid back to completed projects
• The FLAG was successful in a bid for a further £154,000 worth of funding and this will support three more projects across the FLAG area. Keep an eye on the website for details as the projects progress. There will be a FLAG board meeting on June 11th to appraise the three projects.
• You may have seen the marketing campaign through social media and local press highlighting low cost loans for applicants to the EMFF programme. If you know anyone who wants to start a project but is having trouble finding the funds to do so, please ask them to call Martin on 01305 224766.
• Martin attended the first All Party Parliament Group (APPG) on Fisheries meeting in London in May. This meeting focused on the problems with recruitment into the sector and was a great opportunity to highlight the fishing careers films that were funded through the FLAG. If you’ve not seen the films they are available on the Dorset Coast Forum website here: https://www.dorsetcoast.com/resources/dorset-coastal-stories/ check them out! The second event is coming up on June 12th and will focus on the seafood sector. Places are very limited but if you wish to attend please contact the APPG secretary via e-mail secretariat@fisheriesappg.org

Litter Free Coast and Sea (LFCS)
• It’s has been a busy few weeks for the Litter Free Coast & Sea team. The Great Dorset Beach Clean rubbed shoulders with #Storm Hannah over the weekend of the 27 & 28 April, but it didn’t stop 725 volunteers removing more than 214 bags of rubbish from Dorset beaches. Amazing! This year saw us partnering with Purbeck Ice Cream who gave away FREE scoops to the beach clean volunteers at Holes Bay, rewarding the use of reusable containers for more generous portions! We even ‘re-purposed’ a stash of Purbeck Ice Cream’s blue plastic bags for litter picking, supplied by them to give the recycled packaging a second-life. Nice one guys! If you missed out and want to get involved in a beach clean near you, then take a look at the beach clean calendar on our website.
• We busted oodles of FOG (fats, oils & grease) myths at our Clean Seas Weeks event in Swanage. We delivered a fun filled fortnight of events, activities, walks, talks and displays, celebrating the life and love of our seas and how we keep them clean and safe for people and wildlife.
• Dates for your diary. The Great British Beach Clean 2019.  20 – 23 September. Find out more about the biggest beach clean and survey in the UK here.
• Our NEW FOG (Fats, Oils and Greases) fridge magnets are going down well with holiday rental businesses in Swanage.  If you’d like some for your holiday cottage, hotel or caravan site then please get in touch
LitterFreeCoastSea@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk These informative eye-catching postcard sized reminders are great for gently reminding guests to do their bit to help prevent ‘fatbergs’, by properly disposing of FOG, causing blockages which pollute our seas & contaminate beaches.#binitforbeaches

Tags: Dorset & East Devon FLAG, Dorset Coast Forum, Dorset Coastal Connections, Litter Free Coast & Sea