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SEG Home > About Us
About Saltford Environment Group
Saltford Environment Group is Saltford's local community group championing all that's great about Saltford and aiming for a better future. SEG's information, advice and projects cover a wide range of issues - there's something of interest for everyone! Check us out on this website to see what we do.
The historic village of Saltford lies in the unitary authority area of Bath and North East Somerset and is situated alongside the River Avon between the cities of Bristol and Bath. Click here to find Saltford >>
SEG has 550+ members
(& over 1,000 followers on Facebook)
SEG is an independent non profit-making unincorporated association. We are politically neutral. We were established in 2011 following the results of the Parish Plan questionnaire circulated in September 2009. Many responses to the questionnaire had expressed concerns about pressures on the environment in our village.
One of the action points in the Parish Plan was to set up a sustainability group for Saltford. 'Saltford Environment Group' was thus formed by volunteers in early 2011; the name was chosen as they felt it had more resonance with the community.
SEG's role is not to replicate the efforts of national environmental campaign groups but is primarily about helping to protect and enhance Saltford's natural environment. It is Saltford's rural setting within the Green Belt that makes Saltford so pleasant for residents and visitors alike; the range of native wildlife species contributes to our quality of life and future food security.
If you live or work in Saltford and care about the future of your village, join SEG's correspondence email list to be kept informed of our campaigns, news and themes. See below for (free) membership details.
Purpose and policy
The purpose of SEG, as set out in our constitution, is to:
- raise awareness of environmental issues in Saltford with particular emphasis on how the community can respond to the climate and ecological emergencies;
- encourage activities that make Saltford a more sustainable community;
- foster links with other similar organisations;
- involve as many sections of the community as possible; and
- liaise with local government and councils to lobby for environmental issues.
SEG focuses on key themes that support our objective to help make Saltford a more sustainable community and a better place to live and work; protecting the Green Belt and wildlife habitat are particular priorities.
SEG maintains close and supportive links with organisations like Saltford Parish Council, Saltford Community Association, Saltford Wombles, etc.
Click on each link to go straight to a theme page:-
We also have web pages on specific projects or topics, for example:-
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Development Planning
Please note that SEG is not in a position to comment on all planning applications affecting Saltford, but where possible we will make representations to the Parish Council or directly to the local planning authority (B&NES Council) on those planning applications or Local Plan issues that have the
potential to have a significant environmental impact on our community.
Where we provide comment or lobbying on an issue it will be in support of the objective that Saltford should become a more sustainable and environmentally sound community.
Information about Saltford's Green Belt can be found on our Green Belt page where you can also find our policy statement incorporating core principles concerning Green Belt development in our area.
Sustainable Development - a definition*:-
"At its heart sustainable development is the simple idea of ensuring a good quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come. It is about
living within the carrying capacity of the environment so that how we live, work and enjoy leisure activities, does not harm or put undue pressures on the environment. It is about ensuring everyone has the opportunity to have a decent education, a quality environment that they take pride in, good health and a decent job."
*Definition first published in 1999 on www.oursouthwest.com.
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Website (& facebook)
Our website is the main way we record and promote our activities (many of our news stories are also repeated in summary on our popular facebook page). Our website is updated regularly with content and layout kept under constant review, and is proving popular with our members and third parties. Our Website Editor can be contacted via our home page contact section.
Our facebook page is our social media Notice Board where we also post information that we think will be of interest to members and others who share our aims and objectives. It is not a public debating forum, which would be time-consuming to moderate, so SEG's postings generally do not have a comments facility.
Cookies and Privacy Policy Statement
SEG respects the privacy of visitors to our website. We do not use cookies to collect personal or other data about visitors to our website; the only data we collect via our ISP's hosting service, and without the use of cookies, is the number of visits to each of our web pages but not who the individual visitors are.
Monthly volume of website traffic
2023 visit data:-
- Unique visitors: typically c.2,000/month
- Page hits: typically c.9,000/month
Views, opinions and copyright
The views and opinions expressed on SEG's website are not necessarily the views and opinions or official position of SEG's Executive Group or membership.
All material on our website is copyright Saltford Environment Group or others where indicated. Please have the courtesy to name source if reproducing our photographs in your publication/website.
Third party copyright material
Saltford Environment Group is a voluntary non-commercial organisation that encourages positive care for nature and the natural environment for the benefit of present and future generations and not for any monetary gain.
SEG is organised and managed by volunteers, who work for SEG and the local community, giving their time free of charge.
Our extensive website and social media (facebook) content has been created and developed over many years (since 2011). The images and information we share online are usually our own, kindly donated to us by our members past and present, contacts and friends, including some who are sadly no longer alive, from voluntary/public sector/NGOs, and similar third parties
whose services to the community we are seeking to help promote for the public good.
If we have inadvertently or mistakenly used a 3rd party image in error without the necessary permission of the original copyright owner, for which we apologise, please bring the specific image or information to our attention so that it can be urgently removed and deleted or the source can be correctly attributed if that is required.
Thank you for your assistance and understanding on this matter.
This is what people have said about SEG's website:
"The history project is brilliant"
- SEG member (2016)
"looks fantastic" (History of Saltford project)
- local teacher (2015)
"What an attractive and informative website SEG has. Splendid!"
- SEG member (2013)
"Must congratulate you on such a well set out and informative site; if only ours was similar"
- Campaign Group Chairman, Nottinghamshire (2013)
"impressed by how much it contains"
- Ecologist, Keynsham (2013)
We carry our regular and latest news items on our home page as an open and ongoing newsletter. News items are subsequently archived into our SEG Newsletter page where you can find past news stories - click here to see archived news stories >>
WEBSITE EDITORIAL POLICY INCLUDING SEO
As a general rule our editorial content is sourced locally in Saltford and NE Somerset or from reputable non-commercial organisations based in the UK.
Will Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), website design, "content providers" and other similar companies please
note that this website has all the SEO ranking, social media links, and smartphone
compatibility that it requires to meet its specific objectives and enquiry emails on this topic including link requests will not receive a reply to save your time and ours.
SEG is not a commercial enterprise therefore companies that produce bespoke marketing materials or sponsored editorial content should also note that marketing emails or requests for placing links to other websites will not receive a reply as it is our policy not to reply to marketing emails of this nature unless they are from a Saltford-based organisation seeking to assist SEG.
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SEG's Constitution & Financial Propriety
Constitution
The latest version of our constitution (version 14 November 2022) can be down-loaded here:
SEG constitution (pdf - opens in new window)
Our website features information about our activities, themes and campaigns as we strive to help ensure that Saltford remains a great place to live and work for this and future generations.
Financial Propriety
Under the terms of our constitution our accounts are required to be audited annually by a "competent, independent person".
SEG is grateful to Saltford resident Neil Cobbold, of Cobbold and Company, Accountants and Chartered Tax Advisers, for kindly auditing our accounts on a pro bono basis.
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SEG Health and Safety Statement
Saltford Environment Group is committed to the Health and Safety of our members and volunteers. Where we operate out in the field (e.g. on habitat restoration) we carry out risk assessments, which we act upon to lower risk. This includes a risk assessment of the premises in which we operate, our activities, and the roles carried out by volunteers.
Whilst seeking to minimise risks wherever possible, we will provide volunteers with any information, training or equipment they need to remain safe whilst carrying out their volunteering tasks.
Volunteers are expected to remember their duty of care towards the people around them, and not act in a way that might endanger those around them. Where tools are used for a project this should be with great caution taking into account the safety of other volunteers and members of the public.
Work by SEG members and other individuals on our projects in, around or away from Saltford is done so at their own risk and all volunteers assisting with SEG projects are expected to take every care and attention to avoid loss, damage or injury.
Children may participate in SEG projects but must be supervised by an adult; SEG cannot be held responsible for children assisting with a project.
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Donate to support the work of Saltford Environment Group
SEG is run and managed by volunteers but we have overheads and various out-of-pocket expenses that need to be covered. Membership is free because we want SEG to be as inclusive as possible.
However if you are able to make a small donation each year, say £5 - £10 per household, that would be fantastic and help keep SEG working for Saltford.
To donate by internet banking please make your donation payable to this account:
Please include your surname and the word 'donation' as your payment reference (e.g. Smith-donation).
Alternatively cash donations can be made (anonymously if you prefer) in envelopes marked "SEG SUPPORT DONATION" and given or delivered to SEG Committee members who will pass these on to our Treasurer.
We regret we cannot thank individuals who make online donations but be assured that all support is gratefully received whether through a financial donation or encouraging us through your membership, positive feedback, your time and other means of support.
Thank you!
Support from local business
We welcome support from local businesses to help cover our costs and keep membership free for our members. If your local business would like to support SEG (e.g. a logo + link on our home page is very inexpensive), please contact our Chairman (see home page for contact details).
We wish to make it clear that SEG is an independent organisation and support from local businesses identified on our website or in our publications does not imply that SEG endorses or is under the influence of any particular business.
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Volunteer with SEG
 Do you care about Saltford and its future as a thriving, more sustainable community? Want to help make a positive difference?
You don't need to join a formal committee to help SEG and get involved with our projects. We welcome people of all ages and levels of experience to help us make a difference in Saltford.
The first step is to join us on our email membership list (see below) so that you can be kept informed of our campaigns, news and themes.
If you would like to get involved, you can contact us from the home page.
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Membership & How to join SEG
SEG has two levels of membership:
- Ordinary members who join our email membership list, and
- Executive Committee members (incl. Officers - Chair, Secretary & Treasurer). It is the Executive Committee that represents SEG in public communications (or persons chosen by them for that purpose).
If you live, work or have a particular interest in Saltford and wish to join our email membership list please send an email to us. Please include your name, address and contact telephone number in your email application. Our contact details are on the home page.
By joining SEG you are by implication in agreement with our overall purpose, to seek a more sustainable future for Saltford, and you agree to abide by our constitution's simple code of conduct*, i.e. you will not bring SEG into disrepute by your conduct or use any position in SEG or SEG's resources for improper purposes.
*Extract from SEG's constitution: "To be a member a person must agree to the objectives of the group and to agree to abide by a simple code of conduct (treat others with respect, comply with equality legislation, not bully or intimidate anybody, not disclose confidential information, not bring SEG into disrepute by one's conduct, not use any position in SEG or SEG's resources for improper purposes)."
Membership of SEG's email membership list is free of charge, informal and is open to all individuals, irrespective of age, gender or ethnicity who live in the area of Saltford or have a stake in Saltford (regular visitors, past residents, employed here, etc.). Members receive occasional invitations to meetings and events or are advised of important environmental news or campaigns that SEG is involved with. Our popular website carries our latest news.
We try not to bombard members with lots of emails, so do visit our website regularly to see what's happening in your village and how SEG is working on your behalf.
If you know of a resident of Saltford who would like to become a member but does not have access to email, please contact us on that person's behalf and we will see what
arrangements can be put in place so that they can be kept informed. You may wish to co-join on their behalf, for example, and pass on news etc that we send out.
Please note. If you have stopped receiving our occasional emails this might be because your email address has changed or our records are incorrect. Please do contact us if this is the case. You may wish to add our email address(es) to your email system address book so that our emails are not treated as junk mail by your software.
See next section concerning "Membership data protection & right to be informed".
Membership data protection & right to be informed
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) SEG is obliged to process our membership records fairly (known as 'fair processing information') and to be transparent with our members in how we use their personal data.
Our membership database records usually contain no more information than each member's name, address (usually just house no. & street name), telephone number and email address. Some records may be annotated with special interest information such as membership of SEG's Executive Committee, or a supporting interest in a specific project or theme.
If there is specific personal information about you that you do not want SEG to hold within its membership records please advise us & make your request to our personal data contact identified below.
Data protection
Under the terms of our constitution (section 4) the data protection afforded to our membership records is as follows:-
SEG's membership database/records shall be password protected and shall not be made available to anyone other than the Chair and the holder and manager of the database/records. Its use shall only be for the purpose of administering SEG and contacting the membership by the Chair and also the holder and manager of the database/records. The membership database/records shall not be used to directly promote the products and services of commercial organisations.
Right to be informed
SEG's members have a right under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to know what personal information is held about them by SEG.
If individual members wish to know what personal data about them is held by SEG within its membership records database system he/she should contact the holder of the records (see below) who will normally provide the information to him/her as soon as possible. In the interest of protecting your personal data, requests for such data may require proof of your identity before personal data is divulged.
Cookies and Privacy Policy Statement
See our Privacy Policy Statement in the Website section above re. the use of cookies and our policy of not holding personal data from website visitors.
Contact SEG about your personal data
If you want to know what personal data SEG holds about you in its membership records, please contact our Chairman (see home page for contact details).
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SEG Executive Committee & our Advisers
Officers
Phil Harding, Chairman
(& Website Editor)
Andrew Stainer, Treasurer
Executive Committee Members
Adrian Betts
Pauline Boardman
Frances Eggbeer, Social Secretary
Gary Graveling
Caroline Howard
Advisers
We also have within our wider membership specialist expertise/experience that the Executive Committee can and does call on for some of our themes and projects. In addition to our resident Wildlife Surveyor & Wildlife Conservation Adviser and our Education, Schools & Youth Adviser, we can access expertise on, for example, bee keeping, geology, and transport including cycling and railways.
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