Farmers at Sandwell Valley are working on a special breeding programme to increase a stock of very rare goats on the fields in West Bromwich – and to preserve the breed for ever.

The attractive black-and-white Bagot goats are part of a special conservation effort to increase their numbers, because there are now fewer than 200 registered breeding females left.

The council is helping with the scheme to breed the goats naturally and by artificial insemination methods in a project run by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST).

Melissa Underwood-Grattage, working farm manager at Sandwell Valley, said the Bagot goats are owned by the RBST and in the care of Sandwell staff to care for as an approved farm park.

She said: "We have successfully managed to harvest four grade A embryos from four of our nanny goats.

"These have been frozen and put into the RBST’s gene bank and we are pleased with the result because this was the first time that this has ever been tried with primitive goats."

Farmers at Forge Mill Farm in the Valley helped with the work during a month-long fertility programme.

Melissa added: "In theory, by storing frozen embryos we have helped to preserve the breed for ever.

"We have also successfully bred the other four nanny goats and the first of them gave birth on 28 February. The offspring from these goats will form part of our breeding stock here at the country park in years to come.

"The goats which are at Sandwell Park Farm and Forge Mill Farm are particularly popular with our visitors and do an important job in managing some of our land through conservation grazing."

Tom Blunt, the field officer co-ordinating the project, said: "We are extremely happy with how the work has gone and would like to thank the team at Sandwell Park Farm for their part in helping us achieve a successful outcome."

Councillor Richard Marshall, Sandwell Council's cabinet member for leisure, said: "It is pleasing to know that the work our staff have been doing to protect this breed is proving to be so successful.

"I am sure that the visitors to the Valley attractions will be pleased to see these very attractive animals in the fields and to know that they are part of a scheme to save a species."

The Bagot is believed to be Britain’s oldest breed of goat with records of them being around in 1389 at Blithfield, the Staffordshire home of Sir John Bagot.

The exact origin of the Bagot is unknown and there are two leading theories.

One is that they were brought to Britain during the Crusades in the Middle Ages and the other that they originated from native goats in medieval times.

Birmingham City Council is launching the Zero Hero Challenge for students to make their mark on how to reduce waste and there’s £500 Amazon vouchers up for grabs for the winner.

Birmingham is a student city, with over 65,000 students from over 150 countries currently in Higher Education. In a bid to reduce waste across the city, Birmingham’s students are being asked to enter a new competition, the Zero Hero Challenge, to create their own social media video providing ideas on how to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible, both at their places of study and where they live.

For the last year, everyone who lives or works in Birmingham has been encouraged to become a Zero Hero and reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible.

The campaign has been developed in conjunction with the Cleaner, Greener Streets initiative, and is committed to providing online and offline resources supported by the dedicated CleanerBrum website to support those keen to help make Birmingham a Zero Waste City with a target of no waste to landfill by 2035.

The Zero Hero Challenge offers a great way for some of the brightest minds in the city to get involved in the campaign.

Cllr Lisa Trickett, Cabinet Member for Clean Streets, Recycling and Environment explains the rationale behind the Zero Hero Challenge: “Students comprise a large proportion of Birmingham’s population, so it’s important that they help to create a zero waste city. Given the high calibre of students across the city, we have no doubt that there will be some fantastic ideas for videos, all with the potential of becoming a viral sensation!

“The £500 Amazon vouchers are not only being given as a prize but as an acknowledgement of the winner’s support for the cause. We’re looking for really imaginative ideas that will have measurable results, so we can see the real impact of the winning video.”

Any students wishing to take part should create a video around two minutes long and upload it to Facebook, YouTube or Twitter with the hashtag #ZeroHeroChallenge, preferably with Birmingham City Council tagged in too (@bhamcitycouncil on Twitter). The closing date for entries is 31^st March 2017.

A new vision for canalside living in the heart of the City of Wolverhampton has been revealed at MIPIM in Cannes. City of Wolverhampton Council is working with the Canal & River Trust, Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), Network Rail, and the West Midlands Combined Authority in the Canalside Delivery Partnership to develop the city centre’s canalside area.

Canalside lies just minutes away from the £132 million transport Interchange, with the majority of sites in the ownership of the partners. As part of the scheme, a city centre living proposition for more than 600 new homes is this week being showcased to investors and developers at the international property forum in France.

Other ideas for Canalside include an anchor leisure scheme clustered around existing historic buildings, which could include restaurants and a micro-brewery.

Creative workspaces and a marina development are also being considered, and LED and feature lighting around the canals and tunnels is being progressed.

City of Wolverhampton Council Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for City Housing and Assets, Councillor Peter Bilson, said: “Canalside is a large and exciting opportunity that will require determined and skilful leadership to realise the opportunity.

“The new image gives us a glimpse of how spectacular this area of the city could look.

“The partnership is working together to bring about a nationally significant development at this wonderful heritage location.”

Cheryl Blount-Powell, Senior Development Manager Midlands and North West, Canal & River Trust, added: “We strongly believe that waterways have an integral role to play in helping people to lead happier, healthier lives.

“By combining our in-house waterside regeneration and development skills with those of our consultants we form a really effective partnership, and Wolverhampton’s Canalside certainly has a very exciting future ahead.”

The doors of five new luxury boutique accommodation offerings have opened in Regional NSW, upping the ante of accommodation available across the State.

According to the STR Global Tourist Accommodation Snapshot, the demand for accommodation in Regional NSW has experienced strong growth, increasing 6.5 per cent in 2016 with 2.2 million room nights sold and occupancy rate growing from 62.6 percent in 2015 to 66.4 percent in 2016. Overall, Regional NSW received over 20.6 million domestic overnight visitors in the year ending September 2016, an increase of 6.8 percent on the previous 12 months.

Destination NSW Chief Executive Officer Sandra Chipchase said, “There is a demand for accommodation in Regional NSW, including luxury accommodation which gives travellers the chance to relax and recharge. Increasingly travellers, particularly those visiting the State's food, wine and beach destinations, are after stylish and bespoke accommodation that lets them switch off and feel refreshed.”

“Travellers to NSW are always on the hunt for great accommodation, be it luxury, eco, unique, or in an impressive location. I'm delighted that visitors to NSW now also have these stunning properties to choose when booking a getaway.”

Spring has sprung at the iconic Orangery at Blenheim Palace and to celebrate a new seasonal Menu, they are hosting an exclusive wine tasting dinner on 5th April, with spectacular views of the Duke of Marlborough's private Italian Garden.

The art of 'Wine pairing' will be a key part of the event, and wine specialist John Ferguson-Smith has selected a range of unusual wines that pair perfectly to the flavours of each dish carefully designed by Head Chef Billy Bush.

On the evening, John and Billy will discuss each course's flavours and John will go on to explain why he has selected each wine. Grapes have been identified from unusual regions, or for their particular style, so that they are a little out of the ordinary to provide an interesting culinary match. An example of this being the choice of Albarino from New Zealand. This grape is nearly always associated with Spain, so this dinner is designed to offer a different perspective and a twist on the 'standard' wine choices we make.

The evening will start at 19.00 with a champagne reception followed by three courses, with a choice of two dishes per course and a wine specially selected for each dish. There will be an element of competition as guests at the event will be asked to vote for their favourite pairing at the event between dish and wine.

John works for Hatch Mansfield, which is one of the key wine and champagne suppliers Searcys work closely with. John has enjoyed his whole career in the wine industry, and his knowledge spans across the range of regions and styles. Searcys have previously run a range of wine pairing dinners which have always been very well received.

More than 500 delegates from across the East and West Midlands attended the first Midlands Engine Trade Summit in Birmingham. Businesses keen to start exporting or step up their global reach took part in the day-long event at The Vox, to learn how the Midlands Engine can support their plans for international business growth.

International Trade Minister Mark Garnier, who delivered the keynote speech, said the Midlands Engine is a commitment to harness the region’s 11.5 million people, a fast-growing economy and to create jobs and growth that spread prosperity.

He said: “When it comes to the Midlands, it is clear that with great potential comes great expectation. If the Midlands matches its predicted growth over the next 15 years, it will; create 300,000 jobs and inject £34 billion into the UK economy. The Midlands Engine is how we go about meeting that expectation.”

More than 27,000 businesses in the Midlands export nearly £40 billion worth of products to over 100 countries and that the Midlands Engine will provide practical support for businesses, including 20 trade missions by 2020.

Already 80 Midlands firms have taken part on missions led by DIT across the globe, which should generate £5 million worth of deals over the next 12 months.

Mr Garnier added:

“We are putting companies into rooms with buyers from Shanghai, New York and Dubai. A simple face to face meeting with the right contacts can be a game changer.”

Afterwards, delegates took part in specialist workshops, where they heard from a range of experts about how they can export their goods and services overseas. Dozens of one-to-one meetings were also booked with experts in the fields of finance, overseas markets and export.

Ian Harrison, acting director of the Midlands Director of Exports, said:

“We were extremely pleased to see more than 500 attend the first Midlands Engine Trade Summit. It is testament to the fact that there are many ambitious businesses across the East and West Midlands that want to tap into the opportunities overseas.”

Twenty-eight Export Champions were unveiled at the Summit, all exporters from the East and West Midlands. They will engage with SMEs and local businesses, promote the Department for International Trade’s Exporting is GREAT campaign and digital tool great.gov.uk, which helps UK businesses break onto overseas markets.

The Export Champion programme will provide practical advice and support to drive further growth in exports.