Having a go to set of screening criteria for more complex chemicals has been something that the industry has been in need of for a long time. However, as the work requires expertise, time and reliable toxicology data, along with a dose of pragmatism they are demanding to derive. So it is a huge achievement...

Walking outside for my permitted daily exercise, I noticed that, along with the usual crisp packets, cigarette butts and fast food packaging, a new item was now plaguing the neighbourhood’s street verges; the disposal mask. As I stared down at the masks covered in mud and trampled on, I suddenly realised that the lasting impacts...

Last week the Scottish Environment Protection Agency was called to investigate a ‘toxic’ Glasgow burn that was pictured glowing luminous yellow . Clyde Gateway, who are undertaking remedial works to address the polluted burn, previously warned politicians that contaminated land nearby the river posed an immediate risk to human health. The striking colour in the...

Covid has given us cause to pause and think and realise that paradigm shifts are possible and that now is the time to embrace a net zero future. Words like the green industrial revolution and green new deal are being talked about with enthusiasm and now real projects are beginning to move on from last...

Most developers, councils and people do not want to harm biodiversity, however, it remains threatened in the UK. National drives for new developments and affordable housing have been a major contributor for habitat and biodiversity loss within the UK. Biodiversity is the variety of life on earth in all its forms and all its interactions,...

Brighton is famous for lots of things but surfing is not one. The surf in Brighton is small and infrequent however that does not mean there is a void of impassioned surfers wanting to get in the water at every opportunity. After a long lockdown, the first really swell and surfable waves came to Brighton...

The proposed changes to Planning Use Class Order are like marmite. Some like the opportunity to repurpose and redevelop unused commercial properties for residential use. Others will see it as a carte blanche for unregulated, poor quality development. In my mind it raises the question, what is planning for? Is it unnecessary bureaucracy, or does...

Mining and stability covered in every transaction – why take the risk? Groundsure is delighted to announce the launch (on Monday 7th September) of a new suite of ground stability and mining reports:    and    Created with Mining Searches UK (MSUK) – which Groundsure acquired in January this year – GeoRisk was developed following...

The story starts around  360 million years ago in the Carboniferous period when dead plant matter in former wetlands, now known also as coal forests, decayed, accumulating enormous deposits of peat, which over time,  changed to coal.  Fast forward to 12,000 years ago and we see the earliest evidence of coal extraction, but it wasn’t...