Bexley Council has just given planning permission for a 30m high wind turbine to be built on the former Pirelli site in Church Manorway, Erith.

The turbine will have a maximum installed capacity of 250kw and will last the next 25 years.

Its height compares with the 85m high turbine put up on the former Ford site, visible in the north of the borough from across the Thames.

The turbine is part of a legal agreement with Bericote Properties, the site developer, to achieve 68,000kg of carbon dioxide savings a year.

  • Gardeners and pond owners are being urged not to buy plants such as New Zealand pygmy weed and floating pennywort, which run the risk of taking over England's ponds and rivers.

A Government plan to reduce non-native invasive species is about to get under way, but people can help by ridding ponds of them and composting, burying, or drying and burning them.

It costs up to £3m a year to try to eradicate them.

  • People can save on their heating bills and help save the planet by dividing their home into zones, and only heating each zone when it is in use.

Why keep the heating on in a bedroom or bathroom all day, when a couple of hours a day will do?

If you are at work during the day, just heat the living room when you use it in the evenings and at the weekend.

  • With heavy downpours becoming a regular occurrence this summer, now could be the time to invest in a water butt.

It can help save on water for tasks such as watering the garden or washing the car.

They are available for a variety of outlets and Bexley Council occasionally holds a sale when people can save on the cost of buying one.

  • With a crisis hitting the UK's population of honey bees, people can help by planting their gardens with bee friendly plants.

The British Beekeepers' Association has leaflets on bee friendly trees and shrubs.

To find out more, visit its website at britishbee.org.uk