After a further delay to the start of mandatory BNG for major developments we now have a start date of February 12th 2024 - just 11 days time from writing this news. It will be interesting to see how the system evolves as the market forms.

It has been a wet winter in Halford where the river has been out of bank and across the meadow four times so far. We have had some cold weather with it which should help vernalization of some of the seeds - if there are any left! Vernalization is needed in some species for the seed to geminate and then flower in the spring, the process happens when temperatures are between 1 and 7°C, so there has been plenty of that, certainly in January.

While we are playing the waiting game for spring and BNG, we decided to lay 60m of hedge that we planted six years ago. The hedge runs from halfway down Bell Hill, from the pub in Halford down the old Fosse Way to the river. The hedge laying style is Midland Bullock and creates a thicker hedge which is a better habitat for wildlife.