The Return of the RIDBA Building Awards

The Rural and Industrial Design and Building Association (RIDBA) has launched the RIDBA Building Awards for 2019. In what is a bi-ennial event for RIDBA, the awards remain the highlight of the industry calendar, recognising innovation and excellence amongst members in the industrial and agricultural buildings industry.

Entries are now open for four award categories covering the full spectrum of the industries that RIDBA represents:

• Rural – Cattle, Equestrian, Captive (zoo) and Domestic
• Industrial – Light, Medium or Large
• Other – Retail, Manufacturing, Leisure, Education and MOD
• Training – Schemes and Projects or Managers and Apprentices

The deadline for entries is 9 November at 5:00pm and the winners will be selected by a panel of independent industry experts who will be looking for high quality workmanship, technical complexity and environmental qualities amongst additional criteria. The RIDBA Training Award will recognise the commitment of RIDBA members to investing in a qualified and skilled workforce.

The winners will be announced by a special guest in front of over 100 industry guests at an Awards Dinner taking place at the De Vere East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham on Friday 15 March 2019. From securing a competitive edge to being recognised for outstanding work, there are several reasons to enter the Awards. Award winners are also highlighted in RIDBA promotional materials and wider industry publications so the Awards are an excellent opportunity for RIDBA members to raise their company profile.

RIDBA Chairman, Mike Hammond said:

‘It is exciting to be a part of the RIDBA Awards for 2019. After the success of 2017, I am looking forward to seeing the projects that members are going to enter, as I have seen some truly remarkable work. I’d encourage all members to get their projects in; a RIDBA award will be the sign of a true industry benchmark and demonstrate the excellence and diversity within our industry.’

The RIDBA Awards 2019 are open exclusively to RIDBA members as well as suppliers, architects and specifiers working with RIDBA members. The Awards entry form can be completed here.

Critical moment to reverse the decline of nature

Today, The Wildlife Trusts publish, Towards a wilder Britain – creating a Nature Recovery Network, which shows how new laws could lead to the creation of nature recovery maps and reverse decades of wildlife declines.

The new report details how a Nature Recovery Network can be established by mapping out important places for wildlife, which need to be protected, as well as key areas where habitats should be restored. The Wildlife Trusts believe new laws are needed, including an Environment Act, to ensure this happens. Local Authorities must be required by law to produce local Nature Recovery Maps to achieve the new Government targets that we are calling for. It’s vital that we increase the extent and quality of natural habitats – to turn nature’s recovery from an aspiration to a reality.

The report launch comes at a critical time for wildlife. It coincides with the final week of two key government consultations which present a rare opportunity – the first in living memory – to influence the future of both national farming and planning policy and how these impact on nature in England. Precious wild places and the species that depend on them have suffered steep declines over the past 70 years; intensive farming and urbanisation have been significant causes.*

Now the public has a chance to call for change – so that planning rules, farm support and regulation work together towards the recovery of nature and wildlife. The Wildlife Trusts are urging people to respond to both consultations. The Government’s 25 Year Plan for the Environment proposes the creation of a Nature Recovery Network. To take this forward Nature Recovery Maps should be at the foundation of future farming and planning policy, guiding habitat creation by farmers and housing developers to ensure it achieves government targets for wildlife’s recovery.

Protection for Local Wildlife Sites – important havens for wildlife that are supposed to be recognised in planning policy – have been dropped from the draft National Planning Policy Framework. This is backward step that would undo basic protection for 42,000 of these special places for wildlife.

Stephanie Hilborne, Chief Executive, The Wildlife Trusts, says:
“Nature is valuable for its own sake and is the foundation of our society and of our economy. Yet we have neglected its value for too long. We need to substantially improve our farming and planning policies which are currently up for review; and we need an ambitious Environment Act that puts nature’s recovery on to a statutory footing. The only way any of this can work is if there are Nature Recovery Maps in every part of the country. This can help build the Nature Recovery Network that future generations deserve.”

The consultation on the future for food, farming and the environment closes on 8th May. It asks where public money, in the form of subsidies to farmers, should be spent in the future. It will also help to establish how the rules and standards for land management should be set and enforced. Farming practices are one of the key reasons for wildlife decline in the countryside, so if we want nature’s recovery we need a revolution in the way that farmland is managed. What works for wildlife will be good for people, too. Farmers need healthy soils and large populations of pollinators, like bees, to grow crops. We need clean, healthy water running into our rivers. We need a wildlife-rich countryside to relax in. To ensure this, The Wildlife Trusts want to see rules that:

• Reward farmers and land managers for the benefits they provide for society, like clean water, healthy soils and a wildlife-rich countryside
• Replace the Common Agricultural Policy with a system that supports public benefits and environmental outcomes for society
• Changes the culture of regulation, making it easier for farmers to help nature without being weighed down by unnecessary paperwork, inspections and bureaucracy.

The consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework closes on 10th May. The rules that guide planning for development will shape the future of housing. About 36 square miles of land are used by new developments every year and so the outcome of this consultation is hugely important for wildlife. The Wildlife Trusts want to see rules that:

• Protect wildlife and secure recognition of Local Wildlife Sites (which lose protection under the current proposals)
• Integrate wildlife habitats into new developments – for wildlife and people
• Commit to an improvement for wild species and habitats from all development (‘net biodiversity gain’)
• Require that new developments contribute to a national ‘Nature Recovery Network’ by including this in local planning strategies

Find out about The Wildlife Trusts’ #ActSwiftly campaign urging people to respond to the two consultations. Swifts arrive back to the UK in late April and early May. The swift is a bird that needs towns and the countryside to nest and feed in; it is emblematic of the need for wildlife-rich habitats in both environments.

See our campaign to save Local Wildlife Sites.

*Featured image attribute: Kieron Huston

Editor’s note
*For information about wildlife decline see the latest State of Nature report 2016. It shows more clearly than ever before that nature is in serious decline across the UK. Over the last 50 years, 56% of species have declined, while 15% are at risk of disappearing from our shores altogether. For the main drivers of decline turn to pages 12 & 13 of the report. The Agricultural Management and Climatic Change Are the Major Drivers of Biodiversity Change in the UK – academic paper published alongside SoN is more specifically focused on the causes of nature’s decline.

The 6th Edition of the National Structural Steelwork Specification for Building Construction (NSSS) has now been released.

The NSSS is the national standard for specifying structural steelwork for use in building. The 6th edition supersedes the 5th edition (CE Marking version) of the NSSS and tender documentation and construction contracts should be changed to reference the 6th edition of the NSSS for the steelwork specification.

The 6th edition can be used for all types of building construction designed for static loading and is based on Execution Class 2 structural steelwork designed in accordance with BS 5950-1 or BS EN 1993-1-1 (including BS EN 1993-1-8 and BS EN 1993-1-10) and executed in accordance with BS EN 1090-1 and BS EN 1090-2.