Weymouth and Portland (Local Environment Profile 2011)

KEY FACTS

> Weymouth and Portland produced 302 kt of end user CO2 in 2008, the equal lowest (with Christchurch) for a local authority in Dorset.

> Between 2005 and 2008, end user CO2 emissions decreased in Weymouth and Portland by 4%.

> Weymouth and Portland produced the second lowest amount of Industry and Commercial and road transport emissions in the South West.

> Weymouth and Portland residents were responsible for a total of 4.7 tonnes of CO2 per capita in 2008, lower than both Dorset and the South West. This was the lowest recorded by a local authority in Dorset and in the South West.

> Between 2005 and 2008 per capita emissions reduced by 4% in Weymouth and Portland from 4.9t to 4.7t.

> There are 2 river water bodies within Weymouth and Portland. Our latest assessment of these classified 100% as moderate.

> Weymouth and Portland Borough Council had the second lowest amount of residual waste in the South West with 345.47 kg/household. This was the lowest to be produced in Dorset.

> Weymouth and Portland Borough Council in 2009/10 against the other South West Councils, was in the top half of the recycling league table with 43.02%.

> Dorset County Council landfilled 103,893 tonnes, which was the sixth highest amount of tonnes landfilled in the South West. However, this was also the fifth lowest percentage landfilled (47.94%) in the South West.

> The population of Weymouth and Portland was estimated to be 63,500 in June 2010, 1.2% of the South West’s total population of 5,273,700.

> Between 2008 and 2033, the number of households in Weymouth and Portland are predicted to increase by 14.3% from 28,000 to 32,000. This is considerably lower than both the 30% increase predicted for the Region, and for England (21.1%).

> Weymouth and Portland is covered by one CAMS - the Frome, Piddle and West Dorset CAMS.

> In 2006, Weymouth and Portland had the lowest Eco footprint in Dorset with 4.58gha.

> Dorset County Council had an allocation of 82,565 tonnes and only landfilled 72,865 tonnes (88.3%) of their Biodegradable Municipal Waste.

Dorset County (showing all districts, plus Bournemouth and Poole)

Act to reduce climate change and its consequences

CLIMATE CHANGE

Dorset County Council has a Climate Change Plan. For more information on this, please click here.

CARBON DIOXIDE - END USER

Weymouth and Portland produced 302 kt of end user CO2 in 2008, the equal lowest (with Christchurch) for a local authority in Dorset. The highest in Dorset was West Dorset with 843 kt.
Between 2005 and 2008, end user CO2 emissions decreased in Weymouth and Portland by 4%, from 316 kt to 302 kt.
The highest proportion of end user emissions in Weymouth and Portland in 2008 was Domestic, accounting for 46.7% (141 kt), followed by Industry and Commercial with 28.1% (85 kt). Weymouth and Portland produced the second lowest amount of Industry and Commercial and road transport emissions in the South West (the Isles of Scilly had the lowest in both cases).

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CO2 Levels 2005-08: Weymouth & Portland

Weymouth and Portland residents were responsible for a total of 4.7 tonnes of CO2 per capita in 2008, almost 35% lower than the 7.2 tonnes per capita average for Dorset and 40% lower than the South West 7.8 tonnes. This was the lowest recorded by a local authority in Dorset and in the South West.
Between 2005 and 2008 per capita emissions reduced by 4% in Weymouth and Portland from 4.9t to 4.7t.

Please note- we are reporting on end user CO2 emissions, which are used as the National Indictor for Sustainable Development for the UK. An alternative measure of CO2 is available from the Stockholm Institute. As the data presented is from 2008, the local authority comparisons for the South West include district authorities in Cornwall and Wiltshire which have now been replaced by Unitary Authorities.

Source: Sub-national energy consumption statistics, DECC

ENERGY CONSUMPTION

There were 31,100 domestic electricity meter points in Weymouth in 2009, 1% of the regional total of almost 2.4 million.
An average of 3,781kWh of electricity was used per consumer in Weymouth during 2009, 15% (667kWh) lower than the regional average of 4,448kWh and 9% (371kWh) lower than the Great Britain average of 4,152kWh. This was the lowest recorded by a local authority in Dorset and the second lowest by a unitary or district authority in the South West.

Source: AEA for DECC

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Energy Consumption 2005-09: Weymouth and Portland

TRANSPORT

3,776 million vehicle kilometres were made in Dorset County authority area in 2009.
This was the sixth highest recorded by a unitary or county council (behind Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Cornwall), accounting for just 7.7% of the 48,588 million km total for the region as a whole.
Between 1993 and 2009, the total number of vehicle kilometres travelled within Dorset area increased by 21% (665 million km). This was lower than the average increase in the South West of 26%.

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A graph showing estimated traffic volume in Dorset (1993-2009)

Source : Department of Transport

COMMUTING

Driving to work is the most popular way to commute. In Weymouth and Portland 55.4% commute by car compared to the South West average of 58.7%.
Walking to work in Weymouth and Portland with 12.7% is higher than the South West average of 12.1%, and higher than the UK average of 10.0% of commuters.

Source : Office of National Statistics

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A graph comparing methods of travelling to work in Weymouth and Portland, SW, and UK (2001)

Protect and improve air, land and water quality

AIR QUALITY

There is no area in Weymouth and Portland designated as having poor air quality, requiring an Air Quality Management Area.

Source: DEFRA

WATER QUALITY

There are 2 river water bodies within Weymouth and Portland. Our latest assessment of these classified 100% as moderate.
This compares with 148 river water bodies within Dorset. Our latest assessment of these classified 2% as bad, 15% as poor, 40% as moderate and 43% as good.
The main reasons for less than good status include: high levels of phosphate, impacted fish communities, low levels of dissolved oxygen and physical modification.

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A map showing Water Framework Directive (WFD) water bodies from Dorset

For information on the activities taking place to help your local river improve, please see the Earth Chattering pages for an interactive map and much more information.

Please note - Water bodies do not fit exactly within local authority boundaries. The figures have been derived from those water bodies whose centres are within the district in question. If all water bodies within a district had been included, double accounting would have taken place. Some water bodies have yet to be classified. For the purpose of this exercise, these have been removed from the figures published.

Source: Environment Agency

LAND USE

In 2005 both the South West Region and the UK, the largest landuse came from Greenspace with 90.7% and 87.5% respectively. The next largest area of land cover came in the form of domestic gardens with 3.07% in the South West, and 4.3% for the UK average.
In Weymouth and Portland, the two largest land uses are the same, however domestic gardens is significantly higher with 15.0% and greenspace is significantly lower with 65.9%.

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A graph showing the Landuse in Weymouth and Portland (2005)

Source: Communities and Local Government

QUALITY OF LIFE

The ninth Local Environmental Quality Survey conducted by Keep Britain Tidy, was carried out between April 2009 and March 2010. The Summary Report key messages included:

~ Overall Standards within England remain the same as last year, with no change in the Cleansing Index score, which is 76, out of a possible 100.

~ 63% of standards for all LEQ indicators were either Good or Satisfactory.

~ The South East joins the South West as top performing region overall, for the first time this year.

~ The South West has been either the top performing region or joint top performing region since the 2007/08 Survey.

The survey carried out between April 2006-March 2007, is available down to Local Authority Level. Please click here for the detailed report on Weymouth and Portland

Source : Keep Britain Tidy

NITRATE VULNERABLE ZONES

Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) are areas of land that drain into waters polluted by nitrates, such that the ecosystem is at risk of being disturbed, or the water is likely to exceed 50 milligrams of nitrate in each litre.

Within Weymouth and Portland, there are a few small areas designated NVZ with no areas of deferred slurry storage.

NVZ regulations come fully into force on 1 Jan 2012, except in deferred Slurry storage areas which have until 1 Jan 2013.
For more information on NVZ, please see Environment Agency pages.
For detailed maps relating to NVZ areas, please see source pages.

Source: Environment Agency

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Weymouth and Portland Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs)

CATCHMENT SENSITIVE FARMING

Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) gives advice on dealing with diffuse pollution from agriculture and the impact on water courses.
CSF is a voluntary initiative, where as NVZs is a statutory obligation. CSF looks at: best practice on manure and pesticide usage; Promoting good soil structure; protecting watercourses from run-off and best practice on stock management.
There are no Catchment Sensitive Farming Projects in this area.

Source: Environment Agency

SOIL

Weymouth and Portland in a broad soil landscape with shallow chalk limestone soils making up the entire Isle of Portland and clay rich heavy soils dominating the mainland area.
Soil type is a major factor in determining the type of agriculture that can be supported. Generally light textured soils support cereals and horticulture while shallow chalk limestone soils support grazing and cereals. Clay rich heavy soils often underlie dairy pasture.
The latest detailed (2007) DEFRA agricultural census data available for Weymouth and Portland reveals little since much of the DEFRA data is commercially suppressed due to the small sample size. The limited data reveals 12 farms carry out lowland grazing (sheep and beef) with 6 specialist poultry farms also listed.

Source : DEFRA

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A map showing Weymouth and Portland soils

POLLUTION INCIDENTS

For the period April 2005 - March 2010 inclusive, there were no incidents of major impact to land, air or water in Weymouth and Portland. There were two incidents of significant impact to water for the same period.
For the period April 2010- March 2011 inclusive, there were no incidents of major or significant impact to land,air or water in Weymouth and Portland.

Source: Environment Agency

FLYTIPPING

During 2009/10 there were 167 reported incidents of flytipping in Weymouth and Portland, the lowest in Dorset and second lowest for a district or unitary authority in the region. This was a 30% decrease from 239 incidents in 2008/09.

Source: DEFRA

Please note: incidents of fly tipping are reported differently by each council. One may log black bin bags out on an incorrect day as a fly tipping incident where another council do not log this. Please be aware of these reporting discrepancies on Flycapture when looking at the data in comparison to other councils.

MUNICIPAL WASTE

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council had the second lowest amount of residual waste in the South West with 345.47 kg/household. This was the lowest to be produced in Dorset.
In 2009/10, South Hams had the lowest level of residual waste in the South West with 341.04kg/household. The highest in the South West was Isles of Scilly Council with 1,452kg/household.

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Recycling in the South West (2009/10)

Recycling and composting has increased significantly in the South West, from 14.9% in 2000 / 2001 to 43.5% in 2009 / 2010.
Weymouth and Portland Borough Council in 2009/10 against the other South West Councils, was in the top half of the recycling league table with 43.02%.
The highest rate of recycling in the South West was Cotswold District Council with 60.4%, and the lowest rate in the South West was Isles of Scilly with 18.9%.

Source : DEFRA

TOTAL MUNICIPAL WASTE LANDFILLED

Dorset County Council landfilled 103,893 tonnes, which was the sixth highest amount of tonnes landfilled in the South West. However, this was also the fifth lowest percentage landfilled (47.94%) in the South West.

Bournemouth Borough Council landfilled the least percentage waste in 2009/10 (37.8%). Plymouth City Council landfilled the largest percentage of waste in 2009/10 (64%). Devon County Council however landfilled the largest amount in tonnes with 194,720 tonnes.

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Waste disposal 2009/10 in Dorset

Source: Environment Agency

Put people and communities at the heart of what we do

POPULATION

The population of Weymouth and Portland was estimated to be 63,500 in June 2010, 1.2% of the South West’s total population of 5,273,700.

Of this population , 17.0% were aged under 15, 61.4% were aged 16 – 64 (of working age), and 21.6% were of pensionable age (65+).
At 21.6%, the proportion of the population of pensionable age was only slightly higher than in the South West region (19.6%).

Source : Office of National Statistics

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Population Growth in the South West: 2008-2033

NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS

Between 2008 and 2033, the number of households in Weymouth and Portland are predicted to increase by 14.3% from 28,000 to 32,000. This is considerably lower than both the 30% increase predicted for the Region, and for England (21.1%).

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Household Estimate and Projections 1991-2033: Weymouth and Portland

Please note - Figures to 2008 are based on ONS mid-year population estimates and projected rates of household formation from trends in Census and Labour Force Survey data. All projections are 2008-based. The 2008-based household projections are linked to the Office for National Statistics 2008-based Population Projections, and are not an assessment of housing need or do not take account of future policies. They are an indication of the likely increase in households given the continuation of recent demographic trends.

Source: Communities and Local Government

NEW HOMES ON PREVIOUSLY DEVELOPED LAND

The proportion of new buildings built in England on previously developed land, rose 23% between 1994-2009. More than half of local authorities in the South West has an increase higher than the English average.
Over the same period, South Gloucestershire had the highest overall increase with 57%, and the lowest was Isles of Scilly with -10%. The second lowest local authority was jointly Cotswold and Torbay with only a 5% increase over the same period.
The increase in Weymouth and Portland was 7%, lower than the UK average.
For the period 2006-2009, only 4 councils achieved over 90% of new dwellings on previously developed land in the South West. These were Bournemouth (97), Poole (97%), City of Bristol (95%) and Christchurch (94%).

Source : Communities and Local Government

FLOODING

One in six properties in England are at risk of flooding. In the South West over 200,000 properties are at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea and around 6,000 properties are at risk from coastal erosion in the South West.
The causes of flooding in Dorset are varied; rivers, tidal, and surface water or combinations of the three, depending on location.
To see locations at risk of flooding in Weymouth and Portland, please see the Environment Agency flood map.

Source: Environment Agency

PLANNING APPLICATIONS AND FLOOD RISK

The Environment Agency lodged objections to 6,200 planning applications in England and Wales on the grounds of flood risk in 2007/2008 up from 4,750 in 2006/2007. Of these, 1,160 objections were in the South West, accounting for almost 19% of the national total.
An additional 21 applications for minor development were also approved contrary to Environment Agency advice in the South West. One of these was in Dorset County Council.
In 2008/09, a summary report was published which had no detailed information to local authority level.
The number of planning applications to which we objected on flood risk grounds fell slightly to 5,198 in 2008/09 compared to 6,232 in 2007/08, representing 43% of consultations received. This is the first fall in the proportion of consultations objected to since 2001/02.

Source: Environment Agency

Work with businesses and the public sector to use resources wisely

WATER RESOURCES

Weymouth and Portland is covered by one CAMS - the Frome, Piddle and West Dorset CAMS.

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Catchment Area Management Strategy (CAMS) for Dorset

Source : Environment Agency

ECO FOOTPRINT

The ecological footprint is an indicator of the total environmental burden we place on the planet. It represents the area of land needed to provide raw materials, energy and food, and to absorb pollution and waste created. It is measured in global hectares (a hectare of land with world average productivity) and is usually expressed as a per person measure. The Stockholm Environmental Institute (SEI) calculates the ecological footprint of consumption activities.
One of the main features of an ecological footprint indicator is that it is based on consumption, not just domestic production. It takes into account the impact of all products that are consumed, whether they are produced in the country of consumption, or elsewhere in the world.

In 2006, an average UK citizen had an eco-footprint of 4.64gha, which is significantly above the available budget of 1.89 gha. The South West Regional average was 4.74 gha.
In 2006, Weymouth and Portland had the lowest Eco footprint in Dorset with 4.58gha.
The ecological footprint of all local authorities in the UK is significantly above the available global budget. If everyone in the world consumed the same as a UK citizen we would need nearly three planets worth of resources.

Source: Resource Accounting

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A graph showing the Weymouth and Portland Eco Footprint (2006) by themes

LANDFILL ALLOWANCE TRADING SCHEME

In 2009/10 the amount of biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) landfilled by the 16 local authorities within the South West was 1,032,967 tonnes against their combined allocation of 1,134,910 tonnes.
Dorset County Council had an allocation of 82,565 tonnes and only landfilled 72,865 tonnes (88.3%) of their BMW.
Only two councils in the South West exceeded their allocations. They were Gloucestershire County Council and South Gloucestershire Council.

Source: Environment Agency

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Amount landfilled in 09/10 within the South West

Downloads

Please use these images in presentations/reports, but remember to reference the South West Observatory Environment Module Local Profiles 2011.

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