Newsletter, November 2008 |
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Contents this month
Project News
The Commission are starting to develop their three-year equality scheme and three-year strategic plan both of which will be published in April 2009. They are also consulting on their grants programme and holding a series of consultation events.
Dialogue by Design have been asked to host an online consultation on behalf of the commission and have produced a website to very high standards of accessibility. Features include a range of different background colours, scaling text sizes and a parallel Welsh language version. A variety of other methods of participation are also available and we hope this leads to access to participation for all. For more information or to take part in the consultation please go to the website.
On 3rd November 2008 the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority launched its draft Business Plan 2009/10-2011/12 for public consultation. The draft Business Plan outlines the key challenges and priorities for the NDA for the 3-year period. This consultation on the draft Business Plan is due to close on the 26 January 2009 and can be accessed via the consultation website.
The seventh meeting of the National Stakeholder Group (NSG) took place over a day and a half on 5-6 November 2008 in Manchester. Over 130 people attended the meeting, including representatives of national organisations, Site Stakeholder Groups (SSGs) and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).
The main objectives of the meeting were to discuss key challenges facing the NDA and discuss topics in the NDA’s Engagement Programme.
The small coastal village of Overstrand in North Norfolk this week became host to a workshop organised by the North Norfolk District Council to discuss issues surrounding the management of their coastline and how coastal communities can respond as it changes. The area is experiencing rapid erosion and increased risk of flooding, likely to be exacerbated by climate change and it has been predicted that parts of the coast (including the building we held the workshop in) will be lost to the sea in the next 50-100 years.
The District Council is developing a Coastal Management Plan - one of the first in the UK - and is pioneering this new way of planning for coastal change. Its progress will be closely watched by other coastal local authorities.
Dialogue by Design were commissioned to design and facilitate the workshop and fielded a 6-strong team headed up by one of our experienced associate facilitators, Penny Walker. The workshop was a success, bringing together around 60 stakeholders from across the district to discuss visions and options for the coast, and the kind of issues they would like to see considered in the coastal management plan. This workshop marks the beginning of an extended period of consultation for the communities of this fast-changing coastline; see the council’s website for further details.
The Waste Protocols Project Team has drafted a Quality Protocol for the use of pulverised fuel ash and furnace bottom ash in construction materials. We have helped the project team – composed of staff from the Environment Agency and WRAP – to engage stakeholders and to collect their views on this topic.
The online consultation on this Quality Protocol will close on the 1st of December. Besides this consultation, we have organised two stakeholder workshops. At both workshops, a considerable number of producers and users of the ashes were present, as well as experts from an academic or conservation background. The Waste Protocols Project Team received valuable input for the Quality Protocol and benefited from the occasion to respond to stakeholders’ questions and remarks. As a result, several details in the draft Quality Protocol are currently being reviewed and updated.
