Greenwashing
Greenwashing happens when people or organisations appear to be concerned about promoting the flourishing of nature in order to obscure the damage they are causing to the environment.
Who controls our water?
Water Resources East is the organisation charged with finding solutions to our water crisis. They have attracted a large membership of water companies, local authorities, business interests and wildlife charities.
https://wre.org.uk/our-members/
It is important to note that the members only have as much power as the funding board of directors are prepared to give them.
Water Resources East was set up by the Chief Executive of Anglian Water . The board of directors has complete control of the decision making process, and can choose which decisions can be voted on by members and which should be made by themselves. The board is made up of paying members and is dominated by water companies and business interests. The incoming chair of the board is the Chair of the OxCamArc Local Natural Capital Plan Partnership Group, who worked for the Environment Agency for 17 years, latterly as Director of Enviroment Protection and Operations and then as Chief Executive. He is now Professor of Environmental Assessment at Cranfield University ( a member of the OxCamArc Universities group) and a director of the government backed insurance company FloodRe . There are 2 non-paying members on the board, representing the RSPB and the Rivers Trust. Alone, they have no power to overrule the vote of the monied interests. The Technical Director of Water Resources East is a former longstanding employee of Anglian Water while WRE's Communications and Engagement Adviser put the case to a government inquiry for an agritech park which would impact one of Cambridge Water's main chalk aquifers. The Independent Chair of the National Water Resources Framework Senior Steering Group recently retired from being Director of Strategic Growth at Anglian Water.
Accelerater Parks, Green Site 'Opportunities' and 'Doubling Nature'
While there is no attempt at factoring in effective restraint on any growth plans in the short and medium and even longer term, the focus instead is on accelerator parks and creating green site “opportunities” for linear river parks, nature farming and designated bathing areas as ‘doubling nature’ and greater public amenity.
This is the strategy for ‘nature recovery’ described as “Nature’s Arc” for mitigating the impact of the OxCamArc and building over one million houses and related infrastructure by 2050.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/24/how-did-wildlife-g...
Gter Cambs planning service is shared with South Cambs see link below to South Cambs DC Doubling Nature Strategy Report
https://www.scambs.gov.uk/media/16668/digital-final-doubling-nature-stra...
‘In a novel move which underlines the priority we are giving to our biodiversity and green spaces theme we included a Call for Green Sites in our Call for Sites process. A Call for Sites is a normal part of plan making, providing a way for landowners, developers, individuals and other interested parties to suggest sites for development’
Water
“We are working collaboratively with a number of bodies on this, including Water Resources East “
‘The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Doubling Nature Investment Fund. This project is led by the Combined Authority and Natural Cambridgeshire and aims to establish a fund to provide resources for doubling nature’
Appendices and maps at the end of the Gter Cambridge Green Infrastructure Report record four Technical Workshops and list attendees see p 185
https://www.greatercambridgeplanning.org/media/1400/greater-cambridge-gr...
The technical maps refer to riverscape opportunities and pocket parks. For example on Map 1 there is a suggestion that Cherry Hinton Chalk Puts, a sensitive nature reserve owned by the Wildlife Trust and home to protected, vulnerable species should be landscaped and include water features to enable more public access.
The strategy for doubling nature has been endorsed by a number of NGOs, some of whom will benefit from funding opportunities via environmental land management schemes(ELMS) that they have prioritised for investment as “nature recovery”.
Businesses and citizens are being asked to pledge for nature and give money to the Doubling Nature Investment Fund set up Natural Cambridgeshire and the Combined Authority.
https://naturalcambridgeshire.org.uk/news/pledge-for-nature/#:~:text=Our....
Membership of Natural Cambridgeshire involves formally endorsing their mission.
The Wider Cambridge Visitor’s Project, a consortium that includes Fitzwilliam Enterprises Ltd (the Univ), the councils, Cambridge Bid and King’s College cites social value uplift, land-value uplift and economic opportunities" as a way of achieving funding from the govt, business and philanthropists, for the Consortium's Wider Cambridge Visitor Project, and the plans for parks and open spaces.
https://democracy.cambridge.gov.uk/documents/b15887/Additional%20informa...
p 2 II4754 -New Business Opportunities on Parks and Open Spaces
p 11 CAP4787 Market Square Project