Bournemouth and Poole Greenpeace calls on Government to “Make Polluters Pay” as Shell announces bumper profits. Activists from Bournemouth and Poole Greenpeace staged protests outside two Shell petrol stations on July 30, 2026, calling on the government to make major fossil fuel companies pay for the damage caused by the climate crisis. Campaigners gathered outside […]
I have now spent some time trying to suppress my urge to call this piece ‘How a small group of people managed to persuade the government to sacrifice the wildlife, farmland, communities and the most vulnerable in Devon to further their own interests.’ Obviously, that’s overly histrionic, possibly inaccurate and definitely not helpful, but it […]
Let’s face it: a lot of us are worried, aren’t we? We can see that there’s so much that needs to be fought, fixed and/or changed, whether it’s the climate emergency, or the return of fascism, or wars, or wealth inequality at the global level. Or perhaps you are kept wake at night by anxiety […]
Like so many of our readers, we were horrified to hear of plans for a massive data centre in the North Devon countryside. Anyone who follows environmental and human rights campaigners in North America will know that data centres are responsible for appalling effects on the environment and people’s lives. But many will not. So […]
The UK experienced its wettest winter in over a century in 2023–24. Scientists described it as a stark reminder of the impacts of climate change, which continued in the wet winter of 2025-26. On Thursday 26 June, Extinction Rebellion Wimborne will be hosting a free public screening of ‘The People’s Emergency Briefing’ at the Allendale […]
There’s been a deluge of misinformation recently about ponies on Dartmoor. Dartmoor Nature Alliance’s Tony Whitehead looks at the origins and potential impacts of the current “pony campaigning”. He starts by looking at the origins of agri-environment schemes, which are central to this “debate”, and then how the campaigning in itself poses a threat to […]
“Ponies could be put to death” shrieked the Times, using language that conjures some barbaric, medieval ritual punishment. ‘Keir Starmer’s incompetence has allowed the Dartmoor ponies to be led to slaughter’ howled Victoria Atkins (Conservative MP from Horncastle, 190 miles away). Honest Bob Jenrick (Reform UK, MP for Newark, 260 miles away from Dartmoor), and […]
Dorset CPRE, the Dorset branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is celebrating CPRE’s centenary and plans to mark the milestone anniversary by planting hundreds of trees this autumn, including endangered species. Planting more trees is essential to offset climate change, restore wetlands, and replace trees in Dorset afflicted by disease, such as ash […]
I am feeling nervous. I am standing in the town centre of Newton Abbot with fellow community activists from a group called Common Ground. We’re all powerfully concerned with democracy and with how it is working (or not working) in our local communities. As a group we have no allegiance to any of the political […]
Dear Editor Last year, Church Beach in Lyme Regis was successfully re-designated as a bathing beach after a concerted effort by River Lim Action (RLA), Lyme Regis Bluetits and others. This case study is now being used by Surfers Against Sewage as part of a legal challenge to changes to government regulations on the designation […]
Dear Anna I have long been disgusted by the indisputable fact that South West Water wilfully and regularly dumps sewage as a profitable policy. I was again reminded of this as I watched the TV drama ‘Dirty Business’, and the scale of it is even worse than I ever imagined. SWW are not only committing […]
Ecoanxiety… the chronic fear of environmental breakdown. Sounds horrible, doesn’t it? It’s a word that’s been bandied around a lot recently, as the “strong” men (and it is largely men) of the world tear down the policies that science and reason that the human race needs to survive. What we’re really talking about here is fear… of the […]
The people of Ottery St Mary recently gathered together to show their support for Ottery’s library. Devon County Council is proposing cutting the opening hours to just 13 hours a week and closing the library entirely on Mondays and Fridays; the library’s busiest days. The library is so much more than a place to borrow books.It […]
As every farmer, horse/livestock-owner knows, this incessant and heavy rain has been a nightmare for keeping animals healthy and happy. Hay, haylage and silage stocks are running low because any grazing has disappeared under the mud and the prospect of turning animals out looks further off than ever. Sheep and cattle farmers have barns and […]
It feels as though 2025 has been another tough, ugly year and worse than the last. Empowered by Trump, Musk and a large portion of the media, racism, misogyny, environmental destruction, fascism, cruelty and greed proudly strut the world stage, trampling the vulnerable and attempting to silence opposition. It is tempting to disngage from this […]
The Armada Way tree-felling fiasco has certainly put Plymouth on the map. It was a disaster, not just for Plymouth’s canopy cover, but for our city’s reputation and the relationship between the public and the local authority, which wasn’t great to begin with. It was described as “environmental vandalism” by many, resulting in the then […]
This December, Bournemouth Foodbank is bringing festive cheer to communities across the town, with a full programme of events and the launch of a brand-new hub in Winton, St Luke’s Hub. Across two weekends — 6–7 December and 20–21 December — from 10am to 4pm, the Foodbank will be hosting Festive Fun at the Sovereign Centre. Families […]
In freezing temperatures on Thursday 20 November 2025, and again in persistent rain on Sunday, members of Extinction Rebellion (XR) Wimborne gathered on the footbridge over the River Allen near Wimborne Library to mark COP30 by reading aloud real testimonies from people already living with the devastating impacts of climate breakdown. The group’s action aimed […]
More than two hundred people packed the Civic Hall in Totnes to hear an outstanding line-up of panellists discuss the links between democratic systems and climate [and social] justice. George Monbiot, Klina Jordan, Anthea Simmons and Jonathon Porritt, all well-known for their work in different areas of political and environmental campaigning and journalism, started the […]
Yes, young people have too much pressure and expectation and it feels like nobody listens to you. We get it and we want to help. Share your voice, get published, and pocket some (not much) cash in the South West Future Journalists Awards. West Country Voices, Totnes Pulse and the PRSD have put their collective […]
The south-west of England is a hotbed of newly evolved tree species. There’s a sentence you probably thought you would never read, but it is true. In Britain, we have numerous tree species that are endemic to these isles; they are unique species found nowhere else on the planet, species that evolved here after the […]
84 per cent of Cornish residents support a ban on bottom trawling in marine protected areas (MPAs) Bottom trawling, which destroys reefs, seagrass and marine life, remains legal in all Cornish MPAs in the consultation despite bans elsewhere in the UK Iconic fish stocks are collapsing: cod in the Celtic Sea is down 98 per cent since 2012 and mackerel is down 78 percent over the last decade A new Cornwall-wide […]
Annie Hill-Smith: On 7 November at 10.00a.m. the Dartmoor National Park Authority’s Development Management Committee will hear the Tree Protection Order relating to the trees at Kenwyn. The Park’s Tree Officer is recommending that the order is granted. Hurray! The meeting will be at the DNPA’s office at Parke, just outside Bovey Tracey. I’ve lobbied […]
There was no serious tradition of cider-making in New Zealand [where the author lived for several years before returning to Dorset]. I pretty much gave up drinking cider there, as it was usually too sweet. Though I love to drink cider, West Country cider-making is something I knew little about. I probably know more about […]
One And All Aid is a small charity based in Penzance, Cornwall, but one that punches above its weight. Its trustees, Shelley Meister and I set up the charity in 2018 after a few years spent collecting tents and outdoor kit for refugees in Greece, where Shelley spent a week sorting aid in the early […]
WHAT: The Pilgrims: Our First Undocumented Immigrants demonstrationWHEN: Sunday 17 August 2025 1:00pm – 3:00pmWHERE: Mayflower Steps, The Barbican, Plymouth, PL1 2LR Protesting immigration raids, detainment camps, and deportation in the USAPlymouth, England – On Sunday, 17 August 2025, Indivisible Southwest and Americans for Action Bristol will join together to host a demonstration at the Mayflower […]
For 51 weeks of the year, Tolpuddle is a sleepy, picturesque village nestling quietly in the South Dorset countryside – but for one weekend each July, it erupts! The Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival is loud, busy, musical, thoughtful and, often, offers an insightful celebration of trade unionism. It is held in remembrance of the events that […]
We hear a lot from politicians about immigration, and the debate is frankly toxic. So last week I went to Common Flora, near Diptford, to meet a group of asylum seekers who come here once a month to work on the land, share a communal lunch and sing together. I met a young man who’d […]
The scheme for five affordable homes by Darren Wills of Classic Builders was REJECTED. The community’s need outweighed the need for more housing. Statement from the Open Spaces Society at the bottom of this article. Please read! In the north of Plymouth, surrounded by a housing estate, there is a small, triangular patch of grass, […]
You may have heard about the ‘flex-collect’ three-year trial currently under way, which involves kerbside collections of specified soft plastics as part of the usual weekly collection by some councils. Recoup reported that the UK produced 309,000 tonnes of flexible plastic packaging, but only 8 per cent of this was collected for recycling. The aim […]