How a South African billionaire is turning a corner of Somerset into ‘one man’s estate’
Koos Bekker’s Newt estate encompasses luxury hotels, pubs and high street business, with local concerns including floodingWhen South African billionaire Koos Bekker bought an old country estate in a sleepy corner of Somerset to turn it into a luxury…
Revealed: the ‘black box’ wastewater trade that rakes in millions for UK utility companies
Exclusive: Firms made more than £340m last year from processing industrial and commercial wastewater at sewage works that are unable to remove many chemical pollutantsWater companies in the UK made more than £340m in revenue last year by pouring billions…
British government ‘complacent about food as a national security matter’
Experts say country does not have plan to feed people in a crisis and is unprepared for future shortagesBritain does not have a plan for how to feed people in a crisis and is unprepared for potential future food shortages, according to a warning from…
Even George Osborne might be a nimby if an AI datacentre was built next to his home | Letters
The quality of life for people living next to one would be destroyed, writes Moira Brewer; plus a letter from Mark DavisSo, George Osborne thinks people who don’t want an AI datacentre on their doorstep are nimbys (OpenAI’s George Osborne says datacentre…
‘You can taste the land’: the Somerset farmer bringing wildflowers back to cheddar
Tom Calver has sacrificed milk yields to give his cows a more varied diet of plants and believes the result is better cheese and richer farmlandIn the rolling hills of Somerset, hundreds of thousands of cows placidly munch lush green grass to produce…
Most of UK’s essential food supply grown in drought-risk areas, report warns
Keys crops such as cereals, potatoes, sugar and oils grown in areas with moderate to very high riskThe vast majority of the UK’s essential foods, including cereals, potatoes, sugar and oil, are grown in areas of England rated as having a moderate to very…
‘We can’t ride this storm’: the English farmers facing uncertainty after sustainability funding runs dry
After the available money ran out after just six hours, some fear they will have to reverse efforts to boost natureOn Tuesday morning, farmer Peter Hatley logged on to his computer at 10am. England’s 2026 sustainable farming incentive (SFI) was opening…