Car Club and lift sharing - get terminology right

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE can we all be clear about terminology. Even us Greens seem to be mixing things up here. Hopefully this post will put things right - in response to a query from a local person I will endeavour to put myself and others straight...

The Car Club has cars in Stroud that are shared by the 50+ members. Car Club cars are not really used by commuters as you pay by the hour but are a wonderful option if you only use the car occasionally each week. Read more about them on their website - there are also many other schemes springing up around the country.

Lift sharing is a completely different matter, and the national body is: www.liftshare.com

Gloucestershire County Council in conjunction with the Districts, now operate their own mini-version called - just to confuse matters - Car Share Gloucestershire:
www.carsharegloucestershire.com
It is simple to operate - one friend found a regular lift to Bristol for work 4 days a week - although another friend who has tried it on a one-off basis has so far been unsuccessful. Good luck.

Sign global petition to decriminalise homosexuality

I have just signed a global petition on behalf of Stroud District Green party for a proposed United Nations resolution in favour of the universal decriminalisation of homosexuality.

Photo left: Gloucester's first Gay Pride march (see my Blog entry on 13th August 2006 for details).

There is sadly still discrimination in Gloucestershire, but in more than 70 countries, homosexuality is a crime by law, and punishable by death in 12 of them. This petition and campaign has support from thousands including David Bowie, Desmond Tutu, Elton John, Michael Palin, Tom Stoppard, Martin Amis and Ian McEwan. The Green Party of England and Wales has been the first political party to support the campaign, but other main parties will hopefully declare their support soon.

I would urge everyone who supports fundamental human rights to support this petition and to ask their friends and co-workers to do so too. The petition can be accessed via www.idahomophobia.org

In the meantime I have also contacted Stroud District Council and Gloucestershire County Council to see if they would consider supporting this move. See news releases re the recent ridiculous High Court judgement, the Civil Partnership Bill, a local asylum seeker and Gloucestershire MPs poor record on gay rights.

Chicken Licken, Greens, Woking and climate change

Just dashed off this letter below to a local paper - from reading some stories you would start to think this climate change thing will be great - climate like Portugal, cafe society comes to Gloucester, the Severn Riviera, the olive groves of Stroud etc etc - they even had a full page article - front page of their Business section - about plans for Staverton airport and once again not a single mention of climate change! Yes not one single mention. This is gross irresponsibility - how can the press repeatedly get away with it?? Yes I know our economic system, blah, blah, blah....

Anyway a much more positive story is listening to a Green who visited Woking - this Borough is the acknowledged leading local authority in the UK for reducing carbon emissions.

Woking have set up a joint venture energy services company and have found ways of successfully reducing energy consumption without incurring extra costs to tax payers. The Council has reduced it's own energy consumption by 49% in 13 years and achieved a massive reduction of 77% in CO2 emissions. They also had the UK's first fuel cell Combined Heat and Power system.

Another example of their innovation is the off-grid lamps in a car park (see photo above), with a payback time of 2.5 years. There is a battery under every column, each column with a 100 Wp wind turbine in the top, along with four solar panels (each at 85Wp). The battery will keep the lamp going for 3 to 5 days in the event of low ambient light or lack of wind, and this system has proven to work continuously. The higher capital cost is offset by the lack of need to connect to the National Grid. Woking is now considering these lamps for paths in more remote locations that would be expensive to connect to the grid.

There are some who welcome that Gloucestershire's climate could be more like Portugal (Citizen 14/11/06). We shouldn't get too excited. Climate change will bring some short-term benefits to a few of us, but the main price will be paid by the billions of people suffering from the ill-effects of a humanitarian and economic catastrophe on a global scale. Indeed the true magnitude of what could unfold is hard to contemplate.

Greens have sometimes been likened over the last 20 years to Chicken Licken calling "The Sky is Falling". Governments have ignored the cries and ignored the evidence, but it is with a huge sigh of relief that we see things are changing and a recognition that Greens were right all along.

The Stern report by a former World Bank heavyweight has warned us we have little time to act. Many consider this report doesn't go far enough, certainly the Government's new Climate Change Bill is insufficiently ambitious and wrongly targeted. The Green party's Lord Beaumont will be seeking radical amendments when the Bill reaches the House of Lords (i).

In one version of the Chicken Licken story the sky does infact fall in. It doesn't have to be like that, but we need many bold actions like massive investment in renewables and an end to airport expansions like Staverton and Bristol. Then perhaps we can have a happier ending.

Cllr. Philip Booth, Stroud District Green Party.

(i) Recommend reading the peer's news release here.

Furniture recycling project closes

The Furniture Recycling Project (FRP) ceased trading last month from their shop in John Street in Stroud; 4 people were made redundant. I wrote various letters and made phone calls but it was clearly too little time to stop the closure.

FRP are one of the country's leading organisations in this field - the fact that some 15,000 items of furniture have been supplied to Stroud District over the last 7 years is a huge achievement. In this time when we are trying to decrease the amount going to landfill this is a bitter blow - it is estimated that over 400 tonnes will be saved from landfill by FRP this year alone primarily from Gloucester and some 14,000 items reused. Apparently it is estimated that savings of £1.5 million have been made to Councils in Gloucestershire by this project over the last 10 years.

There are also significant benefits of this service to families on low incomes.

While I recognise a reduced service will continue from the Gloucester shop this is a poor substitute for having the local shop. Collections to the area will also be significantly reduced and a van will be sold.

I am now trying to set up a meeting with the District Council and FRP - I know FRP would be willing to talk about any possible options and would even reconsider opening in the District. SDC has been supportive of this project in the past and clearly it would seem a great way of reducing landfill.

There are many issues that need addressing - for example an agreement was set up in the past with Council contractors Greenmoor to work with FRP but it seems FRP were unable to get any joy or indeed a single piece of furniture from the arrangement.

Funding is clearly the biggest issue. The introduction of the EMA payment scheme has meant that when young people join the Entry to Employment training programme with FRP they found that the automatic payment of £45, reduced to £40 in 2005/06 was to be means tested and the maximum payment was going to be £30, or in some cases £0. The reality was that FRP suddenly saw the numbers of young people accessing the programme drop from 30 to under 10. As FRP are contracted to provide the service and receive income for the provision of training for the most disaffected young people, their income from this source, which supported some core activities, was no longer available.

Furniture recycling should, in my view, be an important strand of our Council's approach to waste. The issue is complicated by the fact that many furniture items are unsuitable for reuse. The legislation means many items have to be rejected e.g. 3 piece suites required fire labels; beds should be in a clean and serviceable condition etc.

The FRP model appears to work well - the figures for recycling are impressive and they are committed to the Stroud area. How can long-term viability of the project be ensured? What support from the District Council is appropriate and useful? Could the project be expanded in future? Other projects around the country recycle all manner of goods including household items like televisions, kettles etc. There are also schemes like Second Hand Sundays that could be worth exploring?

Freemasonry and the Green party

This time of year some Greens can be found busy writing motions for Conference. Motions clearly don't automatically get selected - they get sifted, rejected and sometimes composited out of sight. Many motions are bland and break no new ground at all; some are not. It is however very clear that it is party members who write and vote on policy - that has certainly been lost from the big three parties - Labour members vote for the renationalisation of the railways and the leadership ignore it completely.

Many motions at the next Green party conference will be on the big issues like climate change but there are also always a collection of others on the fringe. It is after all in my view important not to ignore how we get to tackle the big issues. Freemasonry is one of those fringe issues that had a brief but very heated discussion on our South West Green party email lists. It raises a number of important issues.

A motion was proposed that acknowledged the charitable work carried out by Freemasonry, but noting that its closed nature goes against the grain of transparency that is a core green political value. The suggestion was that any member of the Green Party who belongs the Freemasons shall be obliged to declare his membership to Party Office within 60 days of this motion being passed. Failure to comply would result in suspension of membership immediately upon membership of Freemasons being verified, for at least 5 years or longer if so determined by GPRC, unless there is good reason, such reason to be determined by GPRC.

There was strong reaction against this from many members - one even writing: "It is exactly this sort of thing that makes me not want to be apart of the Green Party (or any other political parties)! If I chose to be a Freemason why should I be obliged to tell you. If I wish to be a free mason, then it is entirely my decision and need not be known by the Green Party."

There is indeed much nonsense about freemasonry - plenty for conspiracy theorists - I read the rather sensational book "The Brotherhood" about the Masons many years ago - some of the more factually based elements were shocking but it is always hard to get an idea of the extent of the problem. It was several years later I was able to talk at considerable length directly to one of the very senior Police officers involved in one of the "stories" - he had been in a specialist unit - the stories he told convinced me that while the vast majority of freemasons are no doubt harmless the way the organisation is run is deeply worrying. I don't believe we should dismiss this issue so lightly.

"The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers, which are cited to justify it."

President John F. Kennedy
Address to Newspaper Publishers April 27, 1961

Since 1999 all judges, police, prison and probation officers have been obliged to declare membership. There have been various moves to get MPs, Higher education teachers and more to follow.

This proposed motion is not about barring membership but asking that it be put in the open. It could perhaps be improved by broadening it to include other closed groups like gentlemans' clubs. But to me there is certainly a question of potential conflict of interests. Roger Williams Lib Dem MP who has been seeking MPs to declare interests in freemasonry said: "Re-establishing the public's trust in politicians depends upon being open about interests and affiliations".

I don't think this particular motion is the best route to openness - it would be better in my view to focus on members running for any office (incl within the party) - making it clear that they must declare freemasonry as an interest. We'll have to wait and see how this moves forward.

"The following instruction sets out guidance governing the membership by members of the armed forces of societies such as freemasons: there is no intention or policy to preclude service personnel from membership of any lawful and benevolent organisation. However, involvement in organisations of a secretive nature, such as the freemasons, carries with it the risk of establishing disparate loyalties which may have a destabilising influence on the chain of command, not least by the perception of preferential treatment and undue influence. While membership of such organisations is clearly a matter for the individuals concerned, serving personnel should not encourage or promote membership amongst their colleagues, meetings should not be held on MOD premises, and use should not be made of any MOD property."

Ministry of Defense, United Kingdon
New 2001 Department Policy on Freemasonry in the Military

Perhaps one of the most famous examples of the potential for problems within Masonic lodges is the "P2" incident in Italy. This is reported widely in books like Martin Short's "Inside the Brotherhood" (London: Harper Collins, 1997) - and newspapers (see mention in Guardian). It involved the masonic lodge Propaganda Massonica (recognised by the English Grand Lodge in 1972) and its Master, Licio Gelli. A chance discovery by police involving a financial swindle uncovered a membership of P2 which included 43 MPs (including 3 cabinet ministers), 43 generals, 8 admirals (including all the armed forces chiefs), all of the heads of the security services, and hundreds of public servants and diplomats. A subsequent Parliamentary inquiry established that the lodge was the focus of nothing less than "a right wing conspiracy to take over Italy."

Thoughts welcomed...

37th in Top 100 Green Bloggers

It's OK you are still at Ruscombe Green - readers of this Blog will see the site has had a colour and format change (old version left). I was getting tired with the old format that apparently is used by 25% of Green Bloggers.

Jim Jay of "The Daily (Maybe)" Blog has been compiling the Top 100 Green Bloggers in the UK - his results can now be viewed here - one of his recommendations was to ditch that format if you want to stand out from the others. I hope he's watching and that'll shift me up a couple of places for next year....

Anyhow I've used his Top 100 as an excuse for a press release to local press who didn't cover the Blog when I first started it - few councillors are doing this in Gloucestershire and while I'm not sure how much it adds to the democratic process, it is at least an attempt to be more open about what we do as politicians, to share some thoughts and debate ideas. 37th in the list is pretty respectable considering I've only been going 6 months and most of the issues covered are very local.

Indeed part of the motivation for starting this Blog was that neither Parishes in my ward have a newsletter to all residents - a Blog could help allow for more debate of issues and sharing about what is going on. As for the paper newsletters we are working on it! Infact we were meant to have the first editors group meeting for Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish a week ago - cancelled for some reason that I forget now but can remember being very pleased at the time as it gave me an evening free of meetings! But hopefully we'll be getting something out in that Parish later in new year.

Anyway I'm on the mend after having too many days in bed feeling very unwell - missed the inland waterways demonstration on Saturday and what was apparently a great night on Friday at Star Anise talking about food with the Coffee House Discussions sponsored by the Green party. Might venture outside tomorrow....

Landbanking company goes bust - no tears here!

One of Britain's biggest landbankers has gone bust, leaving investors who paid a total of £7m for tiny slices of farmland, wondering where their money went. Land Heritage (UK) Ltd told 700 land purchasers this week it was going into liquidation on the "advice" of accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In March landbanker United Land Holdings was also shut down for the same reason. Gladwish who have divided the Ruscombe valley into over 180 house sized plots for sale is still operating. A pity in many ways as there are huge issues about how this beautiful land in AONB will be looked after in the future.


How landbanking works

Landbanking firms offer huge potential gains to investors on the premise that the plots of agricultural land they sell will gain planning permission for housing some time in the future and hence soar in value - the small print clauses usually point out that these profits are not guaranteed and in Gladwish's case are upfront about this being agricultural land. Nevertheless the way the plots are sold in house-sized bites and the literature about pushing for planning can all be persuasive to people not in the know.

According to The Guardian last week landbankers have made nothing for investors. The land sold is invariably zoned for agricultural use or is green belt. Some plots have been on flood plains or well away from road access - in Ruscombe there are some on steep slopes or over badger setts. The Guardian say that few investors ever see their sites - landbankers sell anywhere from Dubai to India, China and Australia - in Ruscombe's case we found one of the plots owned by someone in Canada.

The real gainers from landbanking are the landbankers themselves. They buy land at agricultural prices then divide each acre into 10 to 12 plots, selling each one for £10,000 and sometimes as much as £60,000. A landbank deal becomes a collective investment if the landbanker arranges planning applications or offers plots to a developer. In theory, plot owners could apply for planning permission and sell on their own. But this is difficult - no developer would want to deal with up to 300 different investors while selling land back to a farmer would fetch a few hundred pounds a site.

There'll be few tears here in Ruscombe to hear that another landbanker has gone bust. Read more about land banking in Ruscombe Valley here and the threat to Chalford near Stroud here.

Buy Nothing Day today

No chance of me buying anything today - thought I had a cold but it is much worse - have been in bed most of last couple of days. My partner asks why do men seem to get these illnesses so much worse than women. This is clearly sexist talk and I wont even go there.

Anyhow as I was saying it is international Buy Nothing Day - clearly it is a hugely important campaign - infact I often think we don't do anything like enough on this issue as greens - this is one of the most important issues. Indeed all the talk of action to tackle climate change too often conveniently ignores the obvious solution: stop buying stuff! The churning out of all those consumer goodies is what's killing the eco system.

We are all invited to spend more and more and more, buying more and more and more goods which are decreasingly necessary. On Buy Nothing Day people are being asked to just think whether or not the purchases they make are necessary. If not, well just don't buy it.

I don't see the idea as a way to change habits just for a day but to encourage us all to think more about the environmental and ethical consequences of consumerism. It is about asking people to consume less, recycle more and challenge companies to clean up and be fair. Tesco, Starbucks, Gap and McDonalds are everywhere - our independent retailers are undersold and out-marketed by these global corporations. Many of us are encouraged to go into debt to buy more - £1,300,000,000,000 of consumer debt in the UK and climbing!!!

Debt is now a big, booming business: the 'debt sale and purchase' market in the UK has been increasing significantly, as financial institutions buy up banks' debts for a fraction of their value to then get the debtors to pay up. Around £4.5billion worth of debt has been sold for a cut price £300million, and so far collectors have squeezed almost £500million out of people in debt. Nice earner! Meanwhile new powers for bailiffs to enter houses will make 'debt recovery' that easier. See some Glos Green party letters on debt here, here and here.

We must challenge this rampant consumerism.

Every item which is sold had to be made (using up finite natural resources), transported (causing air pollution), sold (potentially causing debt), frequently over-packaged (ending up in a landfill) and eventually (or sometimes quite quickly) needing to be disposed of itself (again ending up in a landfill).

We should also question even ethical consumption and Fairer Trade - certainly better but are increasingly been used to justify continued guilt-free consumption. Bono Ltd for example launched the 'product RED' this year. Indian activist Anuradha Mittal writes "It's sugar coating on a bitter pill that can prevent us from focusing on the real issues." Reverend Billy from the Church of Stop Shopping agrees - see his letter to Bono, asking him to ditch his RED card and start giving to, rather than profiting from, African poverty. Read more at www.dearbono.org

So is that item really necessary at all, and if it is, is it overpackaged or recyclable or built to last. The Green Party alone in politics challenges the consumerist nature of our society - and I'm sure we could do it better - policies like green taxes, incentives and carbon rationing could all be used to change these absurd obsessions with buying more and economic growth.

Anyhow all this has well put my temperature up so it's back to bed for me...Oh before I do one gripe I have with Buy Nothing Day is that they always pick this weekend - clearly as Christmas is soon upon us - but it is also the weekend locally of many wonderful Christmas Fayres like at Wynstones School and even in our own local village shop - these are not about commercialism but more about locally hand crafted goods and indeed in some ways a rejection of such commercialism that the Day sets out to challenge. Pick another day please!

See also Buy Nothing Christmas at and more of their great posters like the one above at: www.adbusters.org

Revolt over patient files privacy

The Guardian reports that GPs are expressing grave doubts about access to the "Spine" - an electronic warehouse being built to store information on about 50 million patients. More than 60% of family doctors said they feared records would be vulnerable to hackers and unauthorised access by public officials from outside the NHS and social care.

Photo left: Hawthorn berries on roadside in Bread Street, Ruscombe

Ministers have committed a large slice of the NHS's £12bn IT upgrade to developing the Spine. They acted on the assumption that doctors would provide the information without asking their patients' permission first. The new system has been constructed to upload information from GPs' computer systems automatically, without giving patients a say. But the poll found 51% of GPs are unwilling to allow this uploading without getting each patient's specific consent. Only 13% say they are willing to proceed without consent and the rest are unsure or lack enough information to comment.

I have to say I am not at all happy about this - only a few days ago I did a blog about concerns re fingerprint scanning in pubs. It seems at every turn information about ourselves is being shared with others. Private medical records should be just that - private. I will be asking my GP not to upload records to the government's 'Spine' database system - at the very least until concerns about future access to files, security issues and more are resolved.

Will the growing number of private companies operating in the health fields also be given access in the future? And what if sensitive information was leaked about individuals health records? Who else will have access? Even the purpose is somewhat vague - with the Government pressurising people to sign up or face the possibilities of poorer healthcare. I applaud the majority of GPs who still want to safeguard our privacy.

Read full Guardian article here.

Implications of water company sale and local Green party press coverage

Not sure about the title of this Blog entry - trying to get two items in under one heading - plus a couple of photos of Ruscombe from my house - the colours of the trees are beautiful.

Anyhow to the first item - news about the sale of Thames Water was disturbing - and worse still Severn Trent is also threatened - see Guardian article. Last week I raised this in a letter to the press (copy below) highlighting what I fear the implications will be - sadly the press seem reluctant to print my letters at the moment - or cover Green party news releases (See how that neatly slides into the second item about local press coverage?).

It is always a battle to get coverage - and sadly when green views are not covered then our democracy suffers. And some local papers are clearly better than others....

To see what you've missed in the press go to the News section of our website. Clearly we don't expect every item we've written to be covered but there has been nothing so far in our local press on David Drews vote not to have an inquiry on Iraq, no Green party perspective on Nairobi, Stern or the Government's failure re the EU Climate Directive, nothing re our news releases on Breast cancer or Countryfile which covered Stroud (largely as a result of Greens pushing the BBC to come here), nothing on the Gloucester Sorting Office or the Defra cuts to the waterways - I could go on but you get the picture....

Over the years we've had various problems re press coverage - see for example here and here. However the press have also been good at times - my own win earlier this year got front page of the Stroud edition. It is clearly a challenging job to get the balance right but for lots of reasons the odds are stacked against green voices. Even The Independent Environment editor apparently said they can't do climate change like the should because the paper is funded by car and aviation industries - ads for holidays etc - yet to be fair The Independent covers the issue better than all the other main papers. Anyhow read Chomsky for more on the press.


Dear Sir/Madam,

Thames Water has just been sold to a consortium for £8bn. Severn Trent is also now seen as a target. Should we worry?

Ownership matters profoundly. The water supply of 11 million people should not be auctioned to the highest bidder, in which the long-term intentions of the buyer are allegedly of no concern to anyone. What will be the new company's attitudes to the investment needed to tackle leakages, conserve water and stop raw sewage being dumped in our rivers?

We don't know - but what we do know is, that once again, the demands of shareholders will come before the needs of customers and the environment. The Australian Bank that led the consortium has been described as "unashamedly and aggressively oriented to making as much as it can as fast as it can". Thames Water users can expect the most rapid increase in prices in Britain, for loopholes in the regulatory regime to be exploited and for "surplus" assets to be sold, not to finance improvements, but to further the interests of shareholders.

Conservative and Labour Governments have got it badly wrong. What we need now is to bring Thames Water and other water companies back into public ownership, properly accountable to the electorate.

Cllr. Philip Booth, Stroud District Green Party.

Save Lower Shaw Farm

As readers of this Blog will know I've already mentioned Lower Shaw Farm near Swindon and written to try and keep it open. It is still under threat of closure - it would be very bad news to loose it's educational activities that it provides especially for children. We really cannot put a price on the importance of the unique experiences offered by Lower Shaw Farm.

Tomorrow councillors vote on a motion to try and save it. Conservatives who run the Council have given indications that they may well block this move. Watch the video about Lower Shaw Farm here. Read more about their activities here. And please send a line to the email addresses below expressing your view:

The Leader of Swindon Borough Council Councillor Rod Bluh - rbluh@swindon.gov.uk
The Chief Executive of Swindon Borough Council Gavin Jones - gjones@swindon.gov.uk
Councillor Nick Martin - nick@nickmartinconservative.co.uk
Please copy your messages to SwindonLink:
publisher@swindonlink.com

LATEST NEWS: 22/11/06: AGREEMENT REACHED BETWEEN SWINDON BOROUGH COUNCIL AND TRUSTEES OF LOWER SHAW FARM

An agreement has been reached in principle between Swindon Borough Council and the trustees of Lower Shaw Farm, which it is intended will secure both the future of the activities at the farm, and allow the Council to realise some needed capital from the site. In addition, the Trustees have today signed a 12 month lease, with a possible extension to 15 months, to remain at the farm until negotiations and plans have been completed and agreed.

Today’s agreement will mean the council will seek to use some of the existing Lower Shaw Farm land for high-quality sustainable homes. Swindon Borough Council leader Cllr Roderick Bluh says: “Throughout the public debate about the future of Lower Shaw Farm we have been involved in constructive talks with Matt Holland, and I am pleased that we have been able to reach a positive agreement which is acceptable to both parties. What we now have is an agreement which will allow us to get better value from the site, and will allow the valuable work which goes on at Lower Shaw to continue.”

Farm Trustee Matt Holland says: “Through listening to one another, understanding one another's position, plus reasoned, imaginative, and informed discussion between them, the Council and the farm’s trustees have been able to agree a solution which achieves positive results all round. We hope it will offer an exciting opportunity to create an environmentally- friendly development which complements the work we do at the farm.”

More sewage - but we now have manhole numbers

At the end of last week there was another sewage incident in a home in Ruscombe - incident 14 for them - the householders have been regularly having their garden and drive covered in sewage - this time Severn Trent responded within 2 hours - a record time! However jetting the pipes each time is not tackling the cause of the problem - the raw sewage is an unacceptable health risk and we need to find long term solutions to this problem. We will be taking this incident up further.

And talking of sewage we have another Ruscombe Brook Action Group meeting tomorrow night - we now have plans of the sewer network with numbered manholes so we can report incidents specifically after a problem was missed by a Severn Trent team who didn't understand a houseolders description. RBAG members will have copies of plans and we can copy them for people who want them - call me on 01453 755451.

Other issues to discuss at the RBAG meeting will include fat traps, a deal with Ecotopia on their laundry balls, the offer of £3000 to draw up proposals for the brook, setting up a Partnership with other organisations and much more!

Wicker woman burns

Wow what an evening. Woodcraft Folk groups from all over Stroud met at a farm near Aston Down to light a huge bonfire (see left), sing and eat veggie hot dogs - and of course to see the Wicker woman burn. Some 150 to 200 people in all that mud - but the rain held off - at one point in the evening we slid down muddy paths, few avoiding falls as we descended into the woods along a candle lit path to hear scary stories in the woods.

I had taken my partners 6 year old who loved every minute - toasting a marshmallow on the fire, watching older children with fire poi (left) - hot chocolate - then at last it was time for the Wicker woman to burn....

She was some 5 metres tall at least - one evening this week I'd helped make her left foot from wicker and old grass matting - other Woodcraft groups had made other parts of her before she was assembled on site earlier today. She was impressive and it was quite something to see her burn (see bottom photo) - her huge arms had wires attached to them so that people could wave them when they were lit - really amazing.

Too tired to write more now. See more Woodcraft Folk here.

Recycle those Tetra Paks

A Randwick resident kindly forwarded this address for those who want to recycle Tetra Paks:

Recycling - Tetra Pak
c/o Perrys Recycling
Showground Road
Bridgewater
Somerset
TA6 6AJ

You can download labels at this website and read more:
http://www.tetrapakrecycling.co.uk/index.htm

Stroud is not currently among the 7% of Councils who collect Tetra Paks. The Randwick resident also suggests: "The best thing they can do - apart from sending the paks off to be recycled - is phone the recycling officer at stroud county council (01453 754424) and voice their concerns over needless waste. Thanks for your support."

Excellent advice - and hopefully with the new Environment Green paper it will allow for these suggestions to be taken with the seriousness they need to be.

Of course as a society we should be moving more towards for re-use. Regional authorities for example must bring businesses together so that packaging can be standardised to facilitate re-use. An example of what can be achieved can be found in Canada where in 1992 brewers voluntarily standardized bottles so they would be interchangeable. Currently 90% are standardized. There is a deposit on the bottles and return rates in excess of 90%.

In Nova Scotia province, most beverage containers bear a deposit, including TetraPak and aluminium cans. Half the deposit is refunded to consumer on return of beverage container. The remainder funds the collection scheme with the surplus used to finance other waste recovery products. The province has 84% recovery rate. That's the direction our Government should be moving.

Challenging the climate change deniers

I was sent last week "Climate chaos? Don't believe it" from The Telegraph. In this article the author disputes the 'facts' of the impending apocalypse of climate change and accuses the UN and its scientists of distorting the truth. The article raises a few useful points but it is generally provocative and just plain wrong. Some folks like Nigel Lawson and this guy don't want to accept climate change.

This author, Christopher Monckton, was infact a policy advisor to Thatcher. His arguments are based substantially on information from JunkScience.com. Junk Science is a front organisation for Steve Milloy, long time tobacco, drug and oil industry lobbyist. For a rebuttal see: realclimate.org

Just because Monckton has a bunch of numbers to back up his hogwash doesn't make it true... the only numbers that count are the peer reviewed published papers within the climate science community. New IPCC report due early 2007 is set to be quite alarming... and that's the official science.

Monbiot and Gore have both been quite clear recently that the doubters are funded by big oil (and tobacco). These doubters are provided useful source data who want to argue against climate change for whatever reason (profits before everything else is the usual cause). See also: Greenpeace.

It is, however true to say that some 'green groups' have been guilty of expressing unjustified certainty about the science of climate change, but as the Royal Society has pointed out, the overwhelming misinformation has come from lobbyists questioning the need to cut CO2 emissions. 2,000 scientists from 100 countries who make up the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change all agree and their latest report due out next year makes very grim reading. It is worth noting that not one of the 928 climate change-related articles published in peer-reviewed journals during the past ten years has doubted the cause of global warming, yet more than half of the published articles in the popular press have done just that.

If there are still doubters it is also worth noting that Zac Goldsmith, deputy chair of the Conservative party's quality of life policy group who says: "Climate change presents us with an uncomplicated choice. If we are wrong about the dangers, these initiatives come with no downside. But if we are right and we fail to act, the consequences don't bear thinking about."

And remember there are more evolution deniers than there are climate change deniers...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,1946370,00.html

Fingerprint scanning scheme for pubs

Pubs and clubs around the country are introducing fingerprint scanning systems for drinkers. The scheme which is backed by the Home Office was first trialled in Yeovil but plans are afoot to expand the system to Coventry, Hull, Sheffield, Leeds, Gwent, Nottingham, Taunton and possibly Swindon. If they are successful there are plans to spread it across the country.

Drinkers must have their thumbprints scanned and supply their name, address and date of birth to enrol onto the system before they are allowed to enter licensed premises taking part in the scheme.

I can't see local pubs like the Carpenters, Vine Tree or Star introducing such measures, but I am concerned by the increasing number of authoritarian measures are being introduced by UK pubs and clubs following new licensing laws which were introduced in November 2005. Licensees are now subject to increased fines and possible criminal prosecution with a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment for knowingly serving someone who is under-age. As a result many pubs have responded with extreme measures that threaten the freedoms of 'everyone', not just those who happen to look under 18, such as fingerprinting and ID-ing all customers as if they were all potential troublemakers.

Many readers of this Blog will know that I am wholly opposed to the introduction of the new ID cards - they are an extraodinary waste of money and unnecessary and damaging to our freedoms. Greens have campaigned locally on this, held public meetings and joined the national NO2ID card campaign. I have to say I was bitterly disappointed our local MP supported ID cards despite reservations he shared publicly.

If you are in any of the towns affected by this fingerprinting, especially Yeovil, and are willing to do something then send an e-mail to phil@no2id.net (please put "pub fingerprinting" in the Subject). And if anyone knows a pub that would like to take NO2ID beer mats, Newcastle NO2ID has created some with the logo on the front and key counter-arguments on the back, ideal for starting the discussions of the scheme that we need. Beermats are produced in huge quantities, so they need more than a handful to make up an order(if we can make up a total order of several thousand we can produce beermats for £15 per 100). Enquiries to newcastle@no2id.net

Cainscross by-election: Labour win

Neighbouring ward, Cainscross, where Cllr Charlie Burling stood down had a by-election yesterday. Voters have returned Labour. Congratulations - and I lookforward to working with them.

The election had seen some controversy over an election leaflet and yesterday it was reported that polling cards had not been received across the ward. Stroud District Council were initially unable to trace how the problem had occurred, as both our printers and the royal mail could not find any problems their end. Due to this, local radio stations were asked to advertise the election throughout the day and explain that it was not necessary to have a polling card to vote.

Royal Mail have since notified SDC that approximately 1000 polling cards had been found in their Gloucester sorting office. They were asked to deliver the cards immediately and this was carried out by lunchtime yesterday. However reports at the Parish Council meeting last night would seem to suggest that many cards had still not arrived.

What a waste

Just heard: SUEZ Environment and Cornwall County Council have signed EUR1.5 billion waste management Private Finance Initiative contract - SITA UK, the waste management subsidiary of SUEZ Environment, and Cornwall County Council have concluded a 30-year Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract to manage the county’s household waste. Over its duration, the PFI contract is worth more than EUR 1.5 billion and has an operational and management scope that covers existing and future waste treatment facilities.

Photo above of Katrina: What a waste - Copyrighted photo reprinted here with permission of Seattle-based photographer Chris Jordan. See more photos of Katrina.

Greens in Cornwall will hopefully be onto this - I've emailed them to offer support - this PFI will be a total disaster for the people of Cornwall. Cornwall does not have enough waste to justify such a big incinerator. The waste in Cornwall is highly biased towards the summer. Most councils have about 20% more waste in some months than others. Other Green party members are seeking under the Freedom of information to obtain the monthly totals for Cornwall. It would be a good guess that the summer waste is about twice that in winter. And a billion pounds is about £2000 for everyone in Cornwall.

This whole process can't be right. From the initial reports it looks like the council will now be unable to drastically reduce the amount of waste it produces over the next 30 years - it will have to feed the incinerator - if not it is likely that like other Councils it will be fined. The amount of change that has happened to recycling in the UK over just 4 years lead me to hope that we can get to and then exceed the recycling levels found in Europe. Even more importantly we can cut the total amount of waste produced. Cornwall produces 569 Kg of household waste per Head. The best comparable counties produce around 480Kg now. A long term aim should be to drop that to around 300Kg of which most is recycled or composted.

Infact in the same batch of emails as the Cornish news arrived came one from a woman in Randwick - it is a perfect example of how people are willing - and that there are many ways to reduce waste. She writes:

"Just to let you know that I have today contacted Stroud Council re recycling of Tetra Paks and they are going to look in to the company name (below) who also have a website. I am fed up of sticking Tetra Paks in the bin and although I can send them away to be recycled believe that they should be collected by our council. Most households get through numerous Tetra Paks each week - the amount of soya milk we personally get through is astonishing -and I have made it my mission to get it sorted. Thought you would like to know, I will keep you posted on my progress."

We must fight these Waste PFIs as they burn all our bridges as far as waste is concerned. I hope I'm wrong on the contract but we've seen too many of these getting approval - and too many are ending up with these damaging contracts. The more that get approved - esepcially without sustained opposition the easier it becomes for these waste companies. Locally we have recently completed a submission on waste to the County Council - one of the key points we made was about incinerators - they really are not good - better than they were in terms of dangerous emissions but still hopeless when you look at them overall.

No to e-voting pilot

I have sought assurances from the Chief Executive that Stroud will not be part of piloting e-voting in next May's elections. There have been problems with previous e-voting pilots, and we would do well to avoid having to contend with any of these.

Electronic voting is being rushed upon voters around the world with little regard for the risks and the costs to our democracies. Many countries already have trials underway and the UK has seen various trials take place.

However voters and candidates must be able to feel certain that voting intentions are accurately recorded. If any doubts do arise then all stakeholders must be able to verify and audit all aspects of the election. I fully support the appropriate and careful use of technology to solve problems and make our lives easier if the risks have been fully accounted for.

I have endorsed the following campaign statement: "Computerised voting is inherently subject to programming error, human error, equipment malfunction and malicious tampering. Due to the opaque nature of the technologies involved, which few understand, it is crucial that electronic voting systems provide a voter-verifiable audit trail. By this we mean a permanent record of each vote that can be checked for accuracy by the voter before the vote is submitted, and is difficult or impossible to alter after it has been checked. This must be achieved without compromising the secrecy and integrity of the ballot thus, to prevent vote selling or coercion, the vote records cannot be kept by the voter. It must be noted that such an audit trail is only useful if it is used regularly for recounts to verify the electronic result. Without a verifiable voting system every election is open to allegations which will raise doubts over the results that administrators will be unable to disprove. However an audit trail alone is not sufficient - all aspects of the voting process need to be made secure. Providing a voter-verifiable audit trail should be one of the essential requirements for any new voting systems."

Photo: taken in Stroud: graffiti with a message our Government could do well to listen to - we are the most centralised democracy with very little power in local communities.

Thames Water sold: return to public ownership needed

I got sidelined before I could get to bed and ended up writing a letter I've been meaning to for a few days - regarding the sale of Thames Water - read it here.

Randwick Parish meeting

It gets too much trying to keep on top of this Blog - and let's face it alot of this may only be relevant to a few - perhaps need to keep the entries shorter or miss out items like this one? Do people want to know that I spent 3 or 4 hours at Development Control on Tuesday - discussing issues like Badbrook Hall in Stroud just along from the cinema - or will be on site visits next week to look more carefully at some key developments? Or that an hours meeting was spent discussing canals and cycle paths? I can feel you readers out there glazing over already.....

Tonight Randwick Parish Council had a meeting - more relevant to local readers of this Blog - a brief summary will be in the Randwick Runner but lots of the discussion revolved around how much the precept needed to be raised to maintain footpaths etc, plus we also met Pamela Thorne, the new Village Agent for the area, Mort noted he has now taken over as Chair of the Village Hall Redevelopment committee - they are looking now at how much can be raised as the latest plans seem to be too ambitious, there was a discussion re the MUGA and how much the Parish could support it financially - a token £1000 looks set to be put aside as many of the village will benefit especially those in Lower Randwick.....also discussed how to look at Parish Plan and implement it...plus an updated list of grit bins has been created with the hope to get ones with lids...and much more...but perhaps the sadest news was that Tracey Waite, a Parish councillor who has done huge amounts for Randwick is stepping down as her work committments have changed - she has been tireless in helping with the Parish Plan and indeed the Parish as a whole - councillors all noted regret at her leaving - good luck in your changed of direction!

Enough writing, I have the distict feeling you've already drifted away and I'm writing to myself! Time for sleep!

Climate Change Bill disappointment

Disappointment doesn't go far enough at describing my feelings! In the face of massive support for binding targets the Government has failed us and quite clearly ignored what needs to be done. I am disgusted! See my more evenly tempered press release here.

The Independent (pictured) with one of their great front pages made it clear how isolated Blair is on this issue.

A Social Enterprise to run health services?

On Thursday night at Full Council Greens gave a welcome to the move to look at Social Enterprise to run local Health and Social Care services.

In the face of repeated threatened cuts to our local services we need to explore the alternatives. As I've said before we cannot let Weavers Croft close - and at the moment there is still a chance - the decision rests with the Secretary of State. If that fails Social Enterprise looks the best option at moment - but we need to move carefully: Social Enterprises require more sophisticated management skills than the average private businesses and we would also need to see proposals being supported by local health professionals.

There is much political hype around Social Enterprises - indeed all parties now view them as having almost magical properties. It has become, almost overnight, one of the key hopes that will reform public service - a mix of business methods and social idealism. Indeed they do provide many opportunities and I welcome the Council's commitment to explore this option further. Local people have demonstrated clearly they want to see local health services - this is one route that may mean we can keep them, but far better would be proper investment in our NHS to continue to run them. It is wrong to open up this sector to companies to make profits that should be invested in services. Greens are the only main political party to support the national campaign backed by health professionals to Keep Our NHS public. See my most recent letter to press re health cuts.

Health services are regarded as one of the most likely markets for social enterprise, but as Richard Lewis of the King's Fund has pointed out, purchaser haste to introduce competition into the health service, coupled with an underdeveloped, under-supported social enterprise sector, may see for-profit private enterprise "sweep into primary and community care unchallenged".

What is a social enterprise? The DTI’s ‘Social Enterprise - a strategy for success DTI, 2004’ describes a social enterprise as: "A social enterprise is a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners. Social enterprises are diverse. They include local community enterprises, social firms, mutual organizations such as co-operatives and large scale organizations operating nationally or internationally. There is no single legal model for social enterprise. They include companies limited by guarantee, industrial and provident societies and companies limited by shares; some organisations are unincorporated and others are registered charities.”

How does a social enterprise operate financially? “A social enterprise is a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners. Delivering high quality public services is a key goal of government. Social enterprises’ combination of enterprise, social purpose and customer focus makes them an effective method of delivering improved public services. They can balance the needs of public service staff and users without being driven by the requirement to maximise profit for external shareholders.”

Ward work: Mange, water, MUGA, hedges and planning

I know I go on about Randwick Woods but they are so beautiful - this entry includes pictures taken in the last three days there.

Someone asked me yesterday what sort of things do I get involved in - they meant in terms of the ward and local residents. Well to give an idea here's a list below of some of this weeks items - but clearly in many cases, as a councillor, all we can do is to add our voice and perhaps make a few calls - no magic! But sometimes that extra voice can help...

Mange: a very, very sad looking fox was seen and reported by a resident to the RSPCA. The RSPCA drove down from Coventry with a trap (see picture) to see if they could catch the animal and either treat or if necessary put the animal down. I ended up helping set the cage up after a cat got caught in it - but have to wonder if this is the best approach?

Water: incredibly 3 houses have been left with only a trickle of water to their properties for over 6 months. One house with an older couple often had no water and have had to resort to purshasing bottled water - I only heard about this at the end of last week - it seems several mistakes have been made and the problem not properly recognised. Severn Trent were by no means the only ones who could have responded quicker but after various phone calls they have sprung into action, we have also rushed through a temporary road closure so that it can be sorted and hopefully water will be connected today.

MUGA: what's that? You may well ask - it is jargon for a multi-use games area and one has been planned for the playing field near Humphreys End. Some residents are unhappy about the siting and approached me - it appears it meets all the legal requirements and Crime and Disorder Partnership apparently also approve - the hope is to reduce crime. District Council officers have apparently not yet made a decision but the Parish Council hopes it will go forward. Clearly we urgently need such facilities - and this area more than most is short of good play facilities - however consultation re siting may need more work. Plans are available at the Parish Offices.

Hedges: these can often be problems with neighbours. Today I have confirmed that the one I went to visit at the end of last week is not considered a problem in terms of the law - nothing can be done except Highways ensuring the roadside is cut back - they have that down on their lists to ensure it happens anyway. Otherwise whether or not the hedge gets cut is down to the land owner. However that should not deter others from checking their own position if they have difficulties re hedges especially Leylandii which are covered in the recent legislation.

Planning: various issues come to me re planning and mostly I can only advise taking the issues to the planning department as I sit on Development Control Committee - we are not allowed to get involved as that could prejudice later decisions. However on occasions I do and one case this week has involved a disagreement over a particular planning application. Hopefully it may yet be resolved.

Report pot holes and 20 mph

The County Council have a new hotline at:

www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/pothole

In an effort to improve roads the County have introduced this new system to make it easier to report online. Last year 2,254 people called the County to report a pothole - only 97 used the website which is cheaper for the County to process.

Clearly holes in the road can be dangerous and need sorting - but have to say on a few local roads the potholes have actually reduced traffic speeds - the holes are easily visible, well known and are a cheap way of making walking safer!! Indeed since one of those roads has been repaired cars have returned to travelling too fast. Not sure what the answer is except that we should be designing all residential roads for speeds of no more than 20 mph.

As for our local 20 mph zone I have been again on the phone and look set to organise an onsite meeting in December to see if difficulties can be overcome. It is vital we reduce traffic speeds.

Green news email celebrates fifth birthday

Can't believe it but 5 years ago I started doing a regularly email with info about the letters and news releases we send out from the Gloucestershire Green party - it has grown and changed shape over the years with various people being involved - the latest edition can be found here. Also follow that link to get it free each month. This one includes as usual all sorts of local stuff and our bigger campaigns and issues - a must read for anyone in Gloucestershire!

Left is a photo looking down on the old chicken sheds from Randwick woods - they are so beautiful at the moment that I wont be able to resist putting more photos up on this blog! And what a beautiful day again.

Remembrance Sunday

I was at a church this morning in Cotham, Bristol (beautiful icon left) for a Remembrance Day Service and christening of my brothers daughter (apols for poor photo) - a very special service and lovely meal afterwards where the god parents said a few words - poems and even a song. See here for more re Remembrace poppies. A very special day and great to see my niece seem to love the day so much.

For those who don't know my brother runs a vegetarian cafe in Bristol - Cafe Maitreya - it has won loads of national awards including best veggie - and is indeed quite the very best place to eat - yes I am biased as my brother runs it but I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Addition: evening spent with DVD of 'The Pianist' - appropriate in the light of it being Remembrance Sunday - quite a film - and shocking to be reminded of the horrors people can do to one another.

Christmas Fayres

Saturday 25th November 2006 - Christmas Fayre at Ruscombe and Whiteshill Village Shop 9.30 to 12.00 - Christmas crafts, preserves, toys, carols, cards, stocking fillers, festive food and tombola. See you there!

And Saturday 18th November - Christmas Bazaar at the Maypole Hall, Paganhill 10.30am - 2.30pm - stalls, games, raffle, coffee and cakes, light lunches - proceeds to St Paul's Church, Whiteshill and the Church of the Holy Spirit, Paganhill.

Red and White poppy

The reasons for wearing a red poppy for remembrance are reasonably well known - but the white poppy is much, much less common.

The later are for peace without violence - it came about in 1926, just a few years after the red poppy came to be used in Britain. A member of the No More War Movement suggested that the British Legion should be asked to imprint 'No More War' in the centre of the red poppies and failing this pacifists should make their own flowers. In 1933 the Co-operative Women's Guild produced the first white poppies to be worn on Armistice Day (later called Remembrance Day). The Guild stressed that the white poppy was not intended as an insult to those who died in the First World War - a war in which many of the women lost husbands, brothers, sons and lovers.

The White Poppy symbolises the belief that there are better ways to resolve conflicts than killing strangers. From economic reliance on arm sales (Britain is the world second largest arms exporter) to maintaining manifestly useless nuclear weapons Britain contributes significantly to international instability. The outcome of the recent military adventures highlights their ineffectiveness in today's complex world.

Now 85 years after the end of the ‘war to end all war’ we still have a long way to go to put an end to a social institution which in the last decade alone killed over 10 million children. I choose to wear both red and white poppies - although I accept there are some difficulties with red poppies for some people - in Northern Ireland, for example, it became regarded as a Protestant Loyalist symbol because of its connection with British patriotism. And a growing number of people have been concerned about the poppy's association with military power and the justification of war.

I, and I suspect most people, do not see the red poppy as a justification for war but I do think we need care and to be alert - I hope that by wearing both red and white poppies that makes it quite clear what I think!

Read more about red and white poppies here.

Green successes at Full Council - Environment paper and ethical investment

Wow.... Thursday night was a long one - started at 6 with a brief Green group meeting then 6.30 a mock Council meeting so that the BBC can have a member of the public ask their question - finally Council got going at 7 and didn't get home until well after 10.30 - but some good news...

Read about a successful green amendment that binds the Council to looking at ethical investment - something they've avoided for years - plus targets on the Environment Green paper are now being introduced - see our two press releases here.

And read our response to the Green paper here - I finally managed to pull together the report at the beginning of the week with Martin Whiteside, who is leading on this in the Green group - we've spoken to many experts and people to produce our draft - and yesterday I went to one of the first Scrutiny meetings to start working with the other parties on this. It is a real opportunity - meanwhile you can now view the Full Council meeting on webcast - see the Council in action here. And don't forget to see Martin Whiteside on the BBC Politics Show on Sunday talking more re the Environment paper.

Iraq inquiry, Nairobi and Israel

Have tried in vain so far to get a number of important issues reported in the local press this last week - David Drews' vote against calling for a public inquiry on Iraq. I find this odd the press seem so reluctant - this was a big issue nationally - and especially locally - will challenge press again to cover it - if only to find out David Drews' reasoning for his vote. The international conference in Nairobi is another important news item - but despite it's huge potential impact on the lives of all of us, it is seen as an international issue not for local press...

Anyhow before Breakfast I also dased off an email re the 19 more Palestinians who were killed by Israeli shelling. I have to say I am appalled by the continuing violence - my email calls on Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett to end British government collusion with the Israeli government's aggression and occupation. Even before this latest atrocity, Israel has killed over 63 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in just a week. Yet Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has still refused to call on Israel to end its assault. I understand there is a protest today opposite Downing Street, London.

But have to say it is a gorgeous morning - the cobwebs looked incredible (see photo of my garden that doesn't do justice)!

To the Foreign Secretary :

Ms. Margaret Beckett

Foreign and Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, SW1A 2AH, London

Dear Ms. Beckett,

You demonstrate clearly in your press release dated 3rd November that you and the British government disregard the lives of the Palestinian people who are constantly under attack from the army of an occupier deemed illegal under international law. In response to the murders by the Israeli army last week you stated: “We call for an immediate end to the launching of rockets against Israeli civilian targets, and to all forms of violence. “

The death toll in Gaza since last week has now reached over 50 Palestinians including medics, teachers and children going to school as well as the women protesting at the attacks on their mosque and their menfolk.

Would you please explain:

1. Why the British government does not call for an immediate end to the use of fighter jets, missiles and rockets by the Israeli army?

2. Why the British government does not condemn these latest killings by the Israeli army?

3. You state that “We deeply regret the deaths of civilians on both sides” can you please inform us of how many Israelis have been killed by the rockets you mention?

Finally, you state “any action should be proportionate and in accordance with international humanitarian law”, please inform us of what steps the British government has taken to bring pressure upon the Israeli government to act within this aspect of international humanitarian law.

Yours sincerely,

Philip Booth

Gloucestershire mail centre to close

Royal Mail has recently announced the closure of Gloucestershire’s Mail Centre with plans to relocate the work 34 miles away to Swindon. This decision appears to have been taken with the minimum of consideration to maintaining a quality service to businesses and residents of Gloucestershire and also, of the environmental impact of the extra distance involved in transporting mail out of, and back into Gloucester, via Swindon.

The closure of Gloucestershire’s Mail Centre will affect anyone living in the county. We need to get as many residents of Gloucestershire to tell Royal Mail and the Government that their plans are not acceptable. To help with the campaign we suggest that you register objects to Royal Mail’s about their decision to close Gloucestershire’s Mail Centre, by writing to Allan Leighton, Chairman, Royal Mail, 148 Old Street, London, EC1V 9HQ.

You can also visit the campaign website for more information and up to date news at www.savegloucestermailcentre.co.uk where you will also be able to sign the on-line petition and see the Early Day Motion in the House of Commons objecting to the closure. Copy of my letter below:

Allan Leighton,
Chairman, Royal Mail,
148 Old Street,
London,
EC1V 9HQ

6th November 2006

Dear Mr Leighton,

I am very concerned regarding the intended closure of Gloucester Postal sorting office. This is yet another attack on local service provision which will result in the loss of many jobs. As you know some of these jobs will be relocated to Swindon and these workers will have to drive the 34 miles each way on a daily basis to do the same job for which they previously travelled only a few miles.

A significant number of letters sent in Gloucestershire are sent to local addresses in Gloucester: these currently travel a few miles in total as opposed to around 70 miles to Swindon and back. We have just had the Stern report and it is now more than clear we live in a world where we need to reduce emissions.

Indeed the Post Office website has details of its 'Corporate Responsibility' where it identifies 17.5% of its CO2 equivalents emissions coming from people commuting to work; and its business travel by road as contributing 41% of its CO2 emissions. The Post Office expresses a commitment to cutting these emissions and yet wants to move workers from Gloucester to Swindon and carry local letters to Swindon and back. This is purely short term financial gains.

Gloucestershire’s Mail Centre is known within Royal Mail for its excellent productivity. It is vital we retain local centres and reduce our carbon footprint.

Yours Sincerely,

Cllr. Philip Booth, on behalf of Stroud District Green Party.

Wyatt House, Paganhill set to close

I've always like Wyatt House in Matthews Way - see it regularly as it is on the way to my partner's daughters house - always liked the shape - round - and that it is something otherthan houses in this estate. Sadly it is set to close - I went to the consultation today - only 6 of us there and maybe 11 officers and offiials presenting their case - read my news release here - I managed to raise a couple of issues of concern to the relatives of someone at Wyatt House - but to be honest the improvements planned in the new buildings will mean a significant improvement in caring environment - indeed it seems both residents and staff are keen to see the move - but a pity to loose it from Matthews Way - and will we see yet more houses there???

Stroud as the Greenest town in the UK?

BBC Politics Show, Points West and BBC Glos radio have all been running bits on Stroud going Green - it was initiated by Green Parliamentary spokeperson Martin Whiteside who approached the BBC to cover the story - elsewhere on this blog I've raised concerns re the Environment Green paper - but let's face it it is a start and the administration are working with all parties to improve it.

Photo left of the moon over Whiteshill - some of these skies recently have been amazing.

Greens can clearly take a credit for pushing Stroud into acting - and of course we couldn't do it without those voting for us - some 20% across the District voting Green although the electoral system means we only get 9% of seats - but Stroud is not alone - where there are Green councillors you will see Green issues being taken more seriously - a few more Greens in Stroud and we can really paint the town Green and make Stroud a real Green leader!

That is not to say that Greens have a monopoly on Green policies but we have after all been calling for action on climate change for some 20 years - tempted to point out that if we'd acted then we wouldn't be in the mess we are now. Easy to say and of course the picture is more complicated than that.....

Greens have also been in contact with Countryfile who filmed yesterday and will be back next week - they are looking to see if Stroud is the Greenest of them all......ummmmmh....certainly we are doing well but some other places are also doing well. Infact have just helped organise a trip to Woking on Monday to look at their fuel cell - sadly I can't make that day but have offered a place to a Tory Cabinet member - hope they can go as it would be a great opportunity to see their successes.

Anyhow thought it might interest this Blog to enclose below one of my initial emails to Countryfile to encourage their visit - it was written in haste and picks on some key Green projects:

This is very exciting and I am sure you have come to the right place to look at Green issues here in Stroud - the area has a long history of radicalism: the anti-slavery arch (1833), the Tolstoyan anarchists who purchased land, then burnt the property deeds at Whiteway Colony (1898), William Morris had his Company were here, the Arts and Crafts movement flourished here, Stroud's first Health food shop was establish in 1927 and still popular today - in the 1980s Stroud was one of the first to elect a Green party councillors. Today it is the only Town Council with a majority of Green party councillors - and has had a Green Mayor for 9 or so years. Stroud's reputation as a “green centre” is expressed in many ways. There are lots of issues and ideas you might like to explore. I enclose some suggestions below and would be happy to talk more.

Issues and ideas to give flavour of area:

- Cohousing and CoFlats. I understand you have already spoken with David Michael, Green Town councillor re this project.

- Farmer Markets - Strouds has consistently won awards for this amazing market - it has now just gone weekly (Saturdays) - this is the way of the future - local, less food miles, organic, community, in season, local economy, local regeneration, information source, etc - all that is Green! Local Food writer Matthew Fort raves lots about this market.

- Community Composting project - a hugely successful local project - local artist in residence Dominic Thomas claims to be the first Community Compost Artist in the world!

- Art and crafts - micro-businesses and local economy - Daily Telegraph wrote “Stroud is turning itself into the artistic equivalent of bookish Hay-on-Wye” while local resident Jilly Cooper wrote “Stroud has always been an artists' place and is very bohemian.” There are several 'green' artist groups like "Walking The Land" plus many local festivals.

- Coffee House Discussions - in the 17th century the local coffee-house was the centre of urban life and indeed played a key role in the explosion of political, financial, scientific and literary change that took place in the 18th century; the stock market, insurance companies, political parties and the scientific symposium should all give thanks to the coffee-house. Today Greens have revived this with monthly discussions in a cafe on topics like 'Can we make poverty history?', 'The End of Oil?' and 'Is Britain a democracy?'. These hugely successful and popular talks are held on the fourth Friday of each month. Details on homepage at: http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk

- A massive canal regeneration project has got funding - work is just about to begin - a slower life style, low impact holidays and maybe future cleaner transport?

- Stroud District Council is in the process of consulting on it's new Environment policy. Green councillors are keen to see that it is radical but realistic.

- Community Supported Agriculture: a Community Co-operative pioneering a new economic model of organic and biodynamic agriculture - people pay a set fee regularly and get produce from farm weekly so ensuring farmers income. There are also days when all 'members' help the farm - see more of this 'green' initiative at: http://www.stroudcommunityagriculture.org

- Green technology - The Green Shop - award winning - a huge range of products plus the Green Shop is a leader in rainharvesting systems and solar technology. Other green businesses in Stroud include Ecotopia with a shop and large mail order business,

- Fair trade - Stroud and neighbouring Nailsworth were amongst the first in the country to become a Fairtrade town - businesses like Bishopston Trading and local cafes.

- Ecotricity - the world's first green energy company - based in Stroud - building wind turbines and selling electricity across the country since 1996 - one local turbine.

- Community Land Trusts - home to a number of local projects, in the spirit of Whiteway Colony - projects incl looking at a new way to provide affordable homes, community farms and more:
http://www.communitylandtrust.org.uk/

- Complimentary and alternative therapists - lots of them!

- Non- violent direct action - various local examples in past include at Fairford USAF base ('Weapons' Inspectors'), stopping the shipment of low level radiation from Sharpness dock for dumping at sea, saving Stratford Park Trees from Tesco, stopping the Stroud inner ring Road, sitting on High Street Buildings to stop their demolition. Today over 3000 marched this summer to save local health services like the Maternity Hospital.

- Car Club

Ruscombe Valley Action Group

This evening's meeting of the group raised many issues - including;

- the land banking near bussage - we talked about going to talk to residents there to share our experiences and maybe show our DVDs of various programmes on the topic.

- maintenance of the fields - they are being cut once a year - not as good as grazing but adequate - problems arise only when weeds/scrub starts to appear - apparently 8 weeds are listed as particularly bad incl nettles, dock and ragwort.

- the walk was noted as a huge success that we plan to repeat next summer.

- the route being followed by Greg Mullholland MP to change the law has failed so far so we talked about next steps - writing to MPs, national organisations etc to take this forward. We need to try and prevent this happenning more.

- started to look at possibilities for future - what about a charity for landowners to donate their land to when they realise it has no value?

Letters, loos and Nottingham Declaration

A morning of catching up with post - examples include:

- written to support Lower Shaw Farm, a project near Swindon that is threatened by the local Council who want houses there.
- a letter supporting two Tory MPs that have come out against Bristol airport's expansion - although not yet on grounds of climate change.
- contact with media over the climate change march
- support for a new Stroud project - Stroud Valleys Energy Descent Action Plan - a Community Response to Peak Oil and Climate Change.
- Severn Trent re a sewage incident in Slad Road.
- Countryfile re their visit to Stroud - arranging various things for them to see locally - more in another blog soon.
- Organised a meeting to discuss a residents planning problem.

Loos win awards!

There are now 3 Public Conveniences (Berkeley, Stonehouse & Painswick) that have undergone refurbishments in the last two years in Stroud District. All 3 facilities were entered into the Loo of the Year awards this year hoping to retain the 5 star status for Berkeley and hopefully achieve the same status for the two newer facilities.

I am pleased to advise that Stroud District Council have achieved 5 Star Status for each of the three facilities! There is apparently an award ceremony in December where there is a chance to compete for the 'Gold Loo Seat' for the overall winner!


Nottingham Declaration

The Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change calls for Councils to work with central government for reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. It was launched over 6 years ago (October 2000). Stroud Town Council signed it soon after it was launched (April 2001) but the District Council has been very slow to respond - and indeed have still not yet joined the 135 or so principal authorities who have so far signed

I was going to ask a question at Full Council re this but Stroud has now committed itself to tackling climate change in the Environment Green paper. Instead I've phoned the Cabinet member responsible and am assured signing is planned - I've therefore followed that up with an email asking for a rough date. Despite the targets not being sufficient I think it is still important to make such a public statement to tackle climate change in addition to the statements in the Environment Green paper. Stroud District Council are moving in the right direction.

Ruscombe Green joins top 100 Green Blogs

There is an unofficial list of UK green bloggers on the site of Green Party member Jim Jay, The Daily (Maybe): http://jimjay.blogspot.com

Look in the righthand column under UK Green Bloggers. Jim is aiming for a list of 100 (to match a certain other insignificant list floating around the blogosphere), so if you're a green blogger who isn't there, or know of a Green blogger who is missing, please drop Jim a line.

Index of Human Rights - what is it??

I was at one of the very first meetings where this idea was proposed some years ago - it is exciting to see it moving forward with more groups adopting it. The initiative arose initially from within the Green Party in England and Wales, modelled on the Index of Human Rights which was published in the Observer newspaper in the mid 1990s. It has so far gained support from six small Human Rights NGOs.

I am now using this Blog to see if there is anyone out there able to take it forward in their organisation??

Synopsis

Regrettably, abuses of human rights takes place on a routine basis in many regimes around the world, including those that like to describe themselves as "democratic". The United Nations and some NGOs publish reports of these activities, but their details are available only to scholars and specialists. This enables abuses to continue, and allows political leaders to describe certain states as "evil", when there may be other states with whom they have good relations who have worse records.

By ranking all states according to their performance, an Index of Human Rights published annually by the UN would exert a steady upward pressure on governments' human rights performance. Any government concerned at its standing in this UN Index of Human Rights will be offered assistance in improving their performance by the UN Human Rights Council. A specified number of governments with the poorest record of human rights as measured on this Index could have their performance subject to legal investigation in a competent international court.

The full background to this proposal can be found here: http://www.greenhealth.org.uk/Index%20of%20Governance.htm