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Leading environmental figures have condemned Government plans to drop debate about climate change from the national curriculum for children under 14 as "unfathomable and unacceptable".

In a letter to the Sunday times, signed by academics, politicians and business leaders, they warn the proposals are shortsighted as the loss of wildlife and habitats is ongoing. Under the new draft national curriculum for England, education on the environment would start three years later than at present and all existing references to care and protection would be removed.

The letter, signed by 96 people, including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Sir David Attenborough and Chris Packham says the Government has a commitment "to nurturing our children's love and respect for nature" under two binding international agreements:

• UN convention on the rights of the child; and
• convention on biological diversity's Aichi targets.

The Guardian revealed last month that draft guidelines for children in key stages 1 to 3 had removed discussion of climate change in the geography syllabus, with only a single reference to how carbon dioxide produced by humans affects the climate in the chemistry section. All references to sustainable development have also been dropped in a move widely interpreted as the result of political interference.

Critics argue that the dangers of waiting until GCSE courses to teach about climate change in any depth is that only a minority of pupils study geography at that level. The Government's former science adviser, Professor Sir David King, denounced the proposals as "major political interference with the geography syllabus".

However, the Department for Education has dismissed the claims, insisting "climate and weather feature throughout the geography curriculum".

Undercover surveillance by the Environment Agency has helped to expose the activities of a married couple running an illegal waste site.

Nicholas Simon Panks was ordered at Norwich Crown Court to hand over proceeds worth £108,000 from his activities, plus £7,821 in costs, under the Proceeds of Crime Act and to carry out 120 hours of unpaid community work.

Evidence was gathered between December 2011 and June 2012 from King's Lynn Skips at Moat Farm. The site was operated by Panks, who admitted carrying out waste operations including the deposit, treatment, storage and disposal of waste without an environmental permit. He was helped by his wife, Susan Panks, who admitted sorting waste and setting fire to a skip of waste. She was fined £500, along with £500 costs.

The investigation began after a police helicopter showed several skips full of waste being stored at Moat Farm in December 2011. An Agency officer made a pre-arranged visit to the site in February 2012, but found hardly any waste. A follow up letter was sent to him explaining the rules and regulations of running a waste management facility. Covert surveillance in April and May 2012 however, showed that waste was systematically being tipped, sorted and burned at the site. On 20 June 2012, Agency officers and Norfolk Police visited Moat Farm, where they found skips of waste and waste transfer notes which recorded 34 loads collected by King's Lynn Skips between 4 April 2011 and 5 April 2012.

Nicholas Panks was arrested and claimed he was aware he should not take waste back to Moat Farm to be sorted. He also claimed he had burned only small amounts of his own waste. Burning waste of the types found could harm human health or pollute the environment. Moat Farm is within 150 metres of a residential property and is in open countryside with many small watercourses.

The site has now been cleared.

For more information, see the:

• Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations SI 2010/675.

The Government has been consulting on controversial new plans to extend permitted development rights to allow the construction of extensions of up to eight metres for detached houses and six metres for other houses to be built without planning permission.

Ministers believe this extension of permitted development rights will help the construction industry. However, the Local Government Association (LGA) has urged MPs to give individual councils the power to opt-out of the rules, as the plan could "open the floodgates" to thousands of "unsightly and unsuitable" extensions.

Last month, the House of Lords voted through an amendment on a separate proposed piece of legislation - the Growth and Infrastructure Bill - which would allow local authorities to be given the option of rejecting the planning rules for extensions if they are adopted on a national level. This opt-out will be debated by MPs, with some parts of the coalition expected to rebel and vote in favour of it.

Councillor Mike Jones, Chairman of the LGAs environmental and housing board, said, "Imposing a home extensions free-for-all on the whole country risks opening the floodgates to thousands of unsightly and unsuitable extensions which create disputes between neighbours, impinge on garden space and increase flood risk."

It would appear that Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith is opposed to the plan. He said, "It will guarantee disputes between neighbours. I don't think anyone doubts that. It will be very unpopular and there is no evidence, as far as I can see, that it is going to solve any problems at all. It seems like very bad, clumsy politics."

Although the Coalition still insists the plans to allow the extensions will create jobs and kick-start local economies.

For more information, see the:

• Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order SI 1995/418.

Environment Minister Alex Attwood has announced a substantial funding boost for projects that will divert waste from landfill, and has called for eligible applicants to apply.

£500,000 in total has been set aside, with £250,000 allocated in 2013/14 and the same amount for 2014/15. The Rethink Waste revenue grants are aimed at projects that will contribute to the reduction of waste to landfill through recycling or reuse. Applications are invited from community and voluntary groups, the private sector, councils and the three waste management groups. Applicants can apply in their own right or in conjunction with a council.

Mr Attwood said, "Diverting waste from landfill is a real win-win. It benefits the environment and assists the economy by easing the burden on ratepayers, businesses and councils who ultimately pay for increasing landfill taxes. These funds also provide much needed employment, training and volunteering opportunities in communities. I am genuinely impressed with the highly effective work of the community and voluntary sector, businesses and councils in seeking ways to minimise waste and boost recycling and reuse across Northern Ireland, and i encourage all relevant organisations to apply."

This is the fourth year of funding from the Department of Rethink Waste revenue funds, and over the past three years 27 grants have been awarded for projects aimed at targeting behavioural change to encourage the reduction, reuse and recycling of waste.

Further details on the application process are available from: http://cedr.ec/qm.

Lamps and Tubes Illuminations Ltd has been fined £5,950 and was ordered to pay £10,000 in costs after admitting to breaching the Work at Height Regulations SI 2005/735. The particular breach relates to an incident in 2011 when an employee broke his arm and lost several teeth following a fall from a ladder.

Ryszard Zolyniak was fixing bunting outside a supermarket as part of the celebrations for the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge when he slipped and fell from the ladder. Following the five metre fall, Mr Zolyniak suffered five broken bones in his wrist, lost teeth and trapped a nerve in his leg.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that a director from Lamps and Tubes Illuminations Ltd had attended the site and advised Mr. Zolyniak and a co-worker to use a ladder despite the fact that other employees nearby were using cherry pickers. The use of a ladder was unnecessary when a safer way of working was available - a point the company makes clear in its own written procedures.

Followng the hearing, HSE Inspector Stephen Faulkner said, "Falls from height pose a frequent risk for Lamps and Illuminations Ltd employees due to the nature of the company’s work. So the bunting project should have been better managed. The company had in place a written set of procedures, which included not using ladders if another more suitable method of working at height was available. However, these were seemingly overlooked on the day of the incident, resulting in painful injuries for Mr Zolyniak that could have been avoided."

For more information, see:

• INDG401 - The Work at Height Regulations 2005 (as amended);
• INDG402 - Safe use of ladders and stepladders.

Donmac Farms Limited in Coagh, Co Tyrone, has been fined £1,500 and ordered to pay £28 costs at Dungannon Magistrates' Court for making a polluting discharge to a waterway.

In November 2011, a Water Quality Inspector acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) inspected a waterway in Coagh and observed dark grey fungal growth covering the bed of the waterway. In addition, foam was seen on the surface of the water.

The discharge affected approximately 500 metres of the waterway, and the polluting discharge which affected it, which was traced to the premises of Donmac Farms Limited, contained poisonous, noxious or polluting matter which was potentially harmful to fish life in the receiving waterway.

For more information, see the:

• Water (Northern Ireland) Order SI 1999/662;
• Control of Pollution (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) Regulations (Northern Ireland) SR 2003/319.