Make our planet rest for five minutes

Tomorrow Thursday 1st February we are being asked to dim our lights between 7.55 and 8.00 PM in an action against the climate change.

Photo: night sky across Randwick

L'Alliance pour la Planète, a group of 72 European environmental organisations calls to all civilians: "Make our planet rest for five minutes!"

They write: "This not only to save energy for five minutes, but to bring out a message that will attract the attention of politicians and leaders. It is time for them to take action and avoid the waste of energy. During 5 minutes we'll give the planet rest: it doesn't take long and it won't cost you a thing. And it will make a statement before federal elections that we as citizens want climate on the agenda."

And why 1st February?

Because on that day a new file from climatologic experts from the United Nations will be published in Paris. Because it is with our neigbours it is impossible to let this opportunity slip! We have to get attention to the urgent matter of the worlds climatological situation. If everybody takes part in this action it will have an effect on media and politics that might have a real influence, this would be good on such short notice before the Belgian elections!

Art: a bigger and bigger business

First congrats to Phil Thompson whose sculpture won pride of place in front of the new Stroud college building - let's not forget that Stroud College school of Art, Design & Media is now regarded as one of the best in the country. Anyhow Phil Thompson's piece aims to suggest people coming together and sharing experiences and emotions.

Photo: mosaic done by local children

There were an extraordinary 42 local entries to the competition - these were wittled down to 6 including Simon Packard whose daughter goes to Randwick School. Then the public voted and a panel of judges decided. Among the judges was Nick Capaldi - Chief Exec of Arts Council South West - he was also one of the presenters as last nights meeting at Twigworth.

So what was this meeting? Well, a seminar for Gloucestershire councillors on the creative industries and art....Nick Capaldi was there to set the scene then Fred Brookes of Comedia shared their huge research project on arts in Gloucestershire - I have to say I was disappointed as I was expecting new stuff but it was a repeat of Comedia's 2005 work - I was fortunate to have read that in connection with some Parish Plan work and it is great that it is now getting pushed to a wider audience. Indeed all councillors should really hear it - and in truth no harm in hearing it again!

“The creative energy that surges through Stroud and the surrounding valleys is extraordinary, stimulating and exhilarating at the same time.” Matthew Fort, journalist and Guardian Food Editor

I'll come to some of the facts and figures in a moment but have to say first it is such a pity that everything has to be analysed in terms of it's economic value and that was the angle being pushed....basically that there is significant potential to develop these industries.....


In terms of the creative industries Gloucestershire has:

- 1900 companies and small businesses ie 9.8% of all enterprises
- 9000 jobs ie 4.8% of all employed
- £808million annual turnover ie 4.2% of total turnover
- at least 600-700 very small businesses/individuals with £11-12 million turnover
- an estimated £50 million economic impact of subsidised art
- turnover increased by 62% in real terms between 1997 and 2005
- strongest were software, arts and antiques, publishing and advertising
- 50 to 60% of residents had accesseda subsidised arts event with 25-44 age group being under-represented

Marcus Moore, a performance poet led the debate at the end and also treated us to two short poems. It was interesting the stories he told and indeed others were often about the self-esteem and confidence that was gained from taking part in art - for some it was literally life changing from a world of crime to a very different more positive place - yet as noted how can you put a price on that?

My concerns are that we tend to focus on the money - and yes it is important but we also need to take risks and see what happens - what abouty instead of another Neighbourhood Warden in Stroud we appoint a Community Artist or theatre group to work with different sections of the population??

Art is too often provided for people rather than involving them - it is no wonder not all sections of the population get involved - participatory arts is what we need more of - as local Cashes Green-based artist Lis Parker says: “Art by the people as opposed to ‘art for the people’ is a good way forward.”

Certainly things are getting better but there is still a lack of recognition amongst many about the role the arts can play. As someone else wrote: "Good art, design and cultural events can all enormously enhance an area and help celebrate the cultural expression, history and values upon which economic and social confidence depends."

The County seem to be seeing the unelected Gloucestershire First group, made up mainly of local businesses, as being the ones to take the strategy forward. Clearly partnership working is great but the over-emphasis of business could be worrying.

All of this stuff re arts and development is really common sense and my work on the Shared Spaces project only emphasises that successful regeneration plans have made art a crucial component: promoting local cultural projects, celebrating local distinctiveness, encouraging more contemporary sculptures in public spaces and using art as a tool to promote their area. Research as we heard again last night confirms the social and economic benefits of arts programmes - but we should not expect art to cure all social ills or all artists to be cheap social workers.

"The arts sector is huge around here and makes a major contribution to the local economy. That heritage is one of the reasons I set up my workshop in Chalford."
Damien Hirst, artist

Lastly I cannot finish this hastily thrown together blog without mentioning that all of our creativity is going to be essential if we are serious about moving from the way we live now to something else. Art is surely one of the most important ways to communicate - there are projects out there but we need much more to tackle and help people get over the fears and dismay around our future - only by tackling those fears can we galvinise people into action.

Stroud especially should be well placed to do this - The Telegraph a while back said Stroud is to art what Hay-on-Wye is to books. The Open Studio with over a 100 venues in the summer is just one manifestation of that - we also have great theater groups, art galleries and much more - I feel very fortunate living here.

I would welcome thoughts and debate on how best to take all this forward.

Shell hypocrisy over photo exhibition

Yesterday afternoon I was at Twigworth 'Nature in Art' just north of Gloucester for a meeting - more of that in another blog - but arriving early I was able to view the first day of theWildlife Photographer of the Year - I love this exhibition and try to catch it every year - there are some incredibly stunning images.

Photo: this years exhibition at Twigworth

The competition also has a valuable role to play in promoting wildlife protection to the public. It is therefore very sad indeed that this role has been undermined by the Natural History Museum's choice of sponsor - one of the UK's most environmentally destructive companies - Shell.

Last year I publicised this issue on the Green party website and Friends of the Earth had a campaign running to highlight the issue. They do again this year. They write:

"Sadly, it's cheaper and easier for Shell to buy itself a green image through sponsorship of prestigious events, than it is for it to properly address its devastating impacts around the world."

Friends of the Earth have written to all the Directors of the Natural History Museum outlining Shell's impact on wildlife and asking the Museum not to continue with Shell's sponsorship. Dr Michael Dixon, Director of the Natural History Museum refused even to meet Friends of the Earth. Astonishing! I would urge all to email the Musuem - can be done easily from FoE website here.

A by no means complete list of Shell's 'Corporate Crimes' can be found here.

Severn Tsunami 400 years ago

Today 400 years ago a tsunami - some 8 metres high and travelling at nearly 40 mph came up the Severn and hit most of the lowlands - some 2,000 people died. More info here. This was possibly England's worst 'natural disaster' - but nothing compared to the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2 years ago.

Photo: Severn from second crossing bridge

That tsunami that led to over 250,000 deaths and 1.8 million people being homeless was caused by a massive earthquake off the Indonesian coast that had a terrifying ripple effect across thousands of miles of the ocean. Earthquakes, asteroids or even volcanic eruptions might produce such tsunamis with devastating consequences for coastal regions in their path - but there is also growing evidence that climate change could lead to more tsunamis - see article in The Independent. It is certainly true that many things we are doing made matters much worse in SE Asia.

One example is the loss of the mangroves - this was one of the reasons for the tsunami having had such a devastating effect; the lack of these protective coastal ecosystems meant the tsunami hit the coast much harder and left very much greater devastation in it's wake. It is our appetite for shrimps that is partly responsible for the loss of over 35% of the world's mangroves in the last 20 years. One study found shrimp farming accounted for over a third of the mangrove destruction and there are other well documented serious ecological problems associated with shrimp farming - a year ago on the anniversary of that tsunami I wrote to supermarkets about the sourcing of their prawns and shrimps - sadly where they bothered to reply their responses were not great.

It seems we come in this blog entry to where we were in the last entry - we urgently need reform of our trade system.

Blood Diamond, blood Coltan and blood gold

The Hollywood release locally of Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio highlights some important issues. The film has received widespread media attention because it highlights how the illegal diamond trade has helped to fuel and finance armed conflict in parts of Africa.

I've not seen the film yet but at last this issue is getting wider coverage - but it is not just the diamonds. Over 5 years ago I had a letter in The Ecologist - dead chuffed at the time as it was my first in a national magazine/paper - anyhow in that letter I highlighted the issue of coltan and it's role in conflict in Africa. Mobile phones contain coltan and this mineral is more profitable than gold. It is the massive increase in mobile phones that has led to warring rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) exploiting coltan to help finance war. Sadly coltan still plays a big role there.

Gold mining, too, bears the scars of conflict, destruction, and human rights abuse. DRC is again an example of where armed groups are fighting for control of gold mines and trading routes - civilians have been tortured and killed and gold sales are used to buy weapons. This is another issue Greens and others have been trying to highlight - see Glos Green party news release from 18 months ago.

Rather than bringing prosperity to the nation, gold has been a cause of enormous human suffering in the DRC. It is one of the dirtiest industries in the world. The production of a single gold wedding ring generates 20 tons of mine waste. As with "blood diamonds" and coltan, gold mining bears the scars of conflict, destruction, and human rights abuse - fuelling war in the Democratic Republic of Congo that led to more civilian deaths than any war since World War II. Indeed in places as diverse as Guatemala, Ghana, Peru, and Indonesia, local communities and indigenous peoples have encountered intimidation, abuse, and even violent suppression when voicing opposition to mining projects.

The majority of gold is used to make jewelry. Jewelers should ensure that they are not selling their customers gold that has been produced at the expense of communities and the environment.

In the US Jewelers are being encouraged to take an important step by endorsing the No Dirty Gold campaign's "Golden Rules" and supporting an independent certification system to weed out "dirty gold." In Britain we can do that too. Indeed as a result of this film there is already a greater awareness - let's hope it grows and all of us can ask if the jewels we buy are 'conflict free'.

Interestingly the World Diamond Council (WDC) - see the WDC's diamondfacts.org has in the past suggested that conflict diamonds are a historical anomaly. Lately they are found to be saying that less than 1 per cent of all diamonds now sold, are of the conflict variety. Clearly that is still too many - but the whole process still has no independent verification or enforcement systems. A recent UN report claimed that thousands of diamonds were still illegally entering the international market, smuggled through the legitimate markets of Ghana and Mali.

The WDC also makes much of the fact that '10m people globally are supported by the diamond industry', but when the typical daily wage of an African diamond miner amounts to 50p and a cup of rice you have to ask how equitable such support is, especially compared with the profits of the De Beers cartel.

Martin Rapaport (diamonds.net) in New York has just established the first fair-trade diamond mine in Sierra Leone. He says: 'Every member of the diamond and jewellery industry should see Blood Diamond'. He's right. This industry is urgently in need of a fair trade make-over - indeed as Greens have been arguing isn't it time all trade was fair and took account of issues like the environment??

Cuckold's brook, drains, kerbs and more

Heres some other bits of very local news:

Whiteshill Kerbs dropped: Whiteshill kerbs have been dropped in several places to improve access for wheel and push chairs. The Parish had set up a meeting to discuss the exact location of the kerbs to be dropped - it was therefore with some surprise that a week before that meeting John Rogers, the Parish Chair and myself who were out looking at something elsestumbled across Highway contractors already at work!!! I do sometimes wonder....and have to question the location of some of the drops....

Bread Street drain cleared: at last after some months we have got the drain sorted - see 28th September blog - the blockage had led to the neighbours house being flooded on several occasions - the contractors ended up being there for 3 days as the whole pipe was completely blocked - they've done much root cutting and had to dismantle and rebuild a cotswold stone wall in one place. Now we need some rain to test it!

Litter in alleyway: I had a couple of reports re litter but would like to make a plea for people to report to SDC direct - you can use the online service at:
www.stroud.gov.uk/machinery/reportit.asp?did=reportit

Plea for old photos of Whiteshill: we are looking for photos of the Main Road in particular as part of exploring how to improve road safety along there - returing villages to beingvillages has shown in other areas to work well.

Cuckold's brook: is this really the name of the Lower part of Ruscombe brook (see photo)? A Randwick councillor tells me it is so and also is the name of the Randwick Tributary - a check with online history confirms that is indeed the name for the bottom section! Any more thoughts on name of the Randwick bit?? History online write:

"The smaller, western division of the parish, divided from the eastern by a long southern arm of Painswick parish, was known as Paganhill tithing and contained the villages or hamlets of Paganhill, Ruscombe, and Whiteshill, and part of the hamlet of Dudbridge. It was bounded on the south by the Frome, on the east by the Painswick stream, on part of the north-east by a tributary of the Painswick stream, and on part of the west by the lower course of the Ruscombe brook, known variously as the Cuckold's, Woosley's, or Ozel brook."

Landbanking EDM: Early Day Motion 494 was put forward by Lib Dem MP Greg Mulholland - there is little chance this will be made law but it all helps to raise the issue - David Drew MP has signed already - if you know other MPs please get them to also sign. The Ruscombe Valley has already been sold off so we can't stop that but at least we can stop it happening to other communities. See links to Ruscombe Valley Action Group for more info.

"That this House shares the concern of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) about the growth of land banking, the practice of subdividing land into small plots then marketing these plots on the basis that permission for development will be granted; agrees with the CPRE that this practice is having serious consequences for the future of England's countryside; further recognises that investors are encouraged to invest in these land banking schemes despite the fact that in many cases no realistic possibility of planning permission being granted exists and thus stand to lose their investments; notes that Land Heritage UK, one of the country's biggest land bankers, has gone into liquidation; and supports the CPRE's campaign calling for the Government to recognise the seriousness of this problem and the need for a co-ordinated and joined up Government response, involving the Financial Services Authority, Office of Fair Trading and Department for Communities and Local Government to protect both the countryside and potential investors from this practice."

Veil wearing, white poppies and DVD with Wap and Kit & Helen Williams

What a brilliant gem this DVD is - £10 from The Vine Tree pub in Randwick - local award-winning film maker Cliff Smith has a collection of films from early 1970s that include 1972 Wap - great hairstyles, clothes and cars - indeed what a wonderful innocence - at least that's how it seems - or maybe it is just me remembering as an 11-year old child?

Although be careful - I got a scratched copy of the DVD so will need to change it.

The DVD also includes the Cheese Rolling, the uncovering of the Roman Pavement in 1973 and a great documentary about artists Kit and Helen Williams from 1977.

Kit Williams has his studio in Horsley and still has a semi-private opening once a year to show his wonderful latest creation - I first came across him when his book the Masquerade came out in the late 1970s (see photo of one of the pages) - the book, written and illustrated by Kit Williams, could be read as a standard child's fable about the moon falling in love with the sun, but it was designed as a real-world treasure hunt: Follow the subtle clues dropped throughout the book, and you'd discover the location of a very real hand-made jewel, valued at the time at around £5,000 - never understood the clues but it had people digging up half the countryside across Britain.

To see more about Kit visit some of the websites out there like this one:
www.bunnyears.net/kitwilliams

Helen Williams also still lives locally and years ago produced much miniature work - the later more recent stuff is much bolder but last year Helen was inspired to return to her miniature work following a study of Islamic decoration in Egypt and Morocco. In this collection, "An Afternoon in the Garden" she created a blend of delicate painting and embroidery that explores her fascination with carpets and gardens mounted within the intricate arabesques of Islamic windows and doorways.

Last night's cafe Discussion

Last year Helen Williams also illustrated a book about Islam - see BBC report - and it was infact her convertion and experiences of Islam that she shared last night at the Cafe Discussion in Star Anise - the evening explored "Image and Identity" with a particular look at wearing the veil - three muslim women were among the speakers in a fascinating discussion - their openness, honesty and frankness about their experiences of deciding to wear the veil or scarf, the racism experienced and their willingness to share was very special.

One of the other speakers Jeff Coates talked about White poppies - as noted in a previous post I have been happy to wear both - but it did have me wondering more about those red poppies - are they really viewed by some as a justification for war? Or a glorification - certainly there is a fine line....

Jeff also talked about the anger some people felt towards peace - it is indeed a strange thing - when I have been demonstrating for peace in a vigil it has often surprised me how angry that makes some people - not in Stroud as I think people are now used to the weekly vigil every Saturday in the HIgh Street.

New Island appears! Greenland disappearing...

I have to share this 'extraordinary experience' that was sent to me - a new island appearing in front of their very eyes - see the blog here. Is this real or some internet scam? It looks amazing and evidence of the huge powers of nature...

...just read a scary report in The Ecologist re Greenland disappearing at an astonishing rate - 80km3 loss had been expected for 2006 but latest NASA figures show 287km3 has gone. The consequences of this ice sheet melting cannot be overstated - sea levels would rise several metres destroying cities like London and Liverpool. Why is the world not acting? We should all be in a state of emergency.

Sadly some have said it will take several more Katrinas each year for the next few years before Governments really wake up....at least there are many positive responses locally like Transition Towns Stroud (TTS) and the Councils Environment Strategy. If blog readers have particular ideas or want to get more involved in solutions locally then do please contact me.

Stroud Budgets

As noted in the last post the Tories rejected looking at ethical investment last night - astonishing - the rest of the meeting was the District Council budget - and as noted I didn't get to the meeting but have just watched it on the webcast.

Photos: trees in Randwick woods last week

Budgets can be complex - I have spent a couple of hours with the Treasurer trying to get a better understanding and hours looking through the papers - but I'm still a way off getting my head around these figures - indeed parts of the budget are so complex they have to be sent to London for checking by auditors - none of this makes it easy for elected councillors to get a grasp of what is really going on.

In short there are some good bits like the new environmental measures, but they don't go far enough. Two key ideas for example that need exploring over the next year are firstly improving benefit take-up in the area as this is money from central government and will help the poorest sections of our community and secondly the Council borrowing for measures that pay back like renewables. Anyway hopefully will be able to explore more poossibilities for next year.

Stroud Town Council have also set their budget this week - loads less money and power but still making a difference - see news item here. In sharp contrast Greens on the London Assembly hold some of the balance of power and have had an extraodinary success for the third year running. Below is their news release:

GREENS SECURE £150 MILLION POUND BUDGET BOOST FOR GREEN INITIATIVES IN LONDON

Green group on London Assembly ensure Mayor's budget "provides a serious framework for tackling change in London" The London Mayor has pledged millions of pounds towards action on climate change in return for the crucial support for his annual budget from Green Group members Darren Johnson and Jenny Jones. This will be the third year in a row that Ken Livingstone has come to such an agreement.

Darren and Jenny have welcomed the Mayor’s adoption of his package of proposals on energy conservation, renewables and traffic reduction. The projects agreed by the Mayor will cost around £150m in total during the coming year. These projects build on the success of Green's previous budget initiatives.

The £150m includes many projects included in previous budget rounds, which have become a mainstream part of the GLAs work: - Energy in buildings: £8m minimum. - TfL Climate Change Fund: £8.3m - Travel Demand Management: £30m. - Cycling: £38.2m - Food: £1.5m - Green Grid: £0.360m - Road safety: £53.4m - Speed awareness: £7m. - Walking - funding to boroughs: £9.2m.

Darren Johnson, said: "The Mayor has taken on board our key demands and the result is a budget that provides a serious framework for tackling change in London. Any Assembly Member who cares about climate change would be mad not to vote for it."

Jenny Jones said: "This budget agreement builds on London’s success in reducing the proportion of journeys made by car. We want to promote cycling and walking in London as the healthier and more environmental option. We want cleaner buses and safer roads. We want London to lead the way on climate change by showing that an environmentally friendly transport system is also the most efficient transport system.”

Ethical Investment proposal rejected by local Tories

Last night's budget had Appendix D report on ethical investment in the Council papers - this was produced in response to a Green party amendment to a motion a couple of months ago - yet this report rejected the idea of ethical investment for Council funds saying it wasn't possible. A Labour amendment last night called for further investigation - despite strong arguments by Labour, Green and Lib Dems, the Tories rejected this move.

Photo: Moon over Stroud earlier this week

I have to say I am astonished. I was unable to attend the budget meeting but had circulated to Officers and the administration the views of ethical investment advisors saying it would be possible.

Clearly this is a complex area but the advice from experts I have been given is that we can do it. Why don't the Council want to look further at this? One Councillor even suggested that ethical investment meant poorer returns - what nonsense. Many ethical funds are doing better - and even if they weren't I would argue it is wrong to invest in carbon intensive industries, the arms trade, nuclear etc. It is wrong to profit from such practices.

It is certainly not illegal to lend to an institution with a slightly lower rate, local authorities are, in practice, constrained by the implications of the "Guidance on Local Authority Investments 2004" issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The guidance states that authorities should seek the highest rate of return consistent with proper levels of security and liquidity.

But that is not the only point being made here - there are requirements in terms of security, liquidity and yield, but once those have been met then why can't we give consideration to ethical issues? The Coop for example has a very comprehensive ethical policy - the HSBC is streets ahead of Nat West when it comes to Climate Change.

I am not sure the next step but perhaps members will be able to request a Policy Panel as suggested previously to look at this again. I will be exploring how to take this forward. I am still hopeful.

On a more positive note it was great to hear from a Labour party County councillor who picked up this ethical investment from my blog or the Glos Green party website - he was interested in picking up on the ethical investment issue for his Council - have sent some details and hope he will be able to take the issue forward there. It is vital we all learn to pull together on these issues if we are to achieve the changes we need.

An inconvenient gift

50,000 free copies of Al Gore's climate change film, An Inconvenient Truth, have been rejected by the American National Science Teachers Association because the gift might be seen as a 'political endorsement' - they went on to note that accepting the DVDs might place 'unnecessary risk' on their fundraising campaigns - especially with regard to 'certain targeted supporters'.

ExxonMobil Corp, Shell Oil and major motor companies are just some of the supporters of the Association.

Meanwhile The Space in Stroud are showing the film this Saturday at 8.00pm. As noted before I am also happy to lend DVD to those in my ward - a week's waiting list at the moment.

The Lake at the Lawns work progresses

It is great to see progress at The Lawns - all that mud should clear and hopefully reeds will be planted later in the year. This will lead to a very much improved area.

Photos: views of lake yesterday

However following our Ruscombe Brook Action Group meeting last night a number of questions were raised. In particular there were some doubts about whether the work had been done according to the plans discussed with us. In particular there does not yet appear to have been dredging from the centre of the lake or putting the silt to one side of the lake. I have written for clarification. Concern was also expressed re subsoil appearing in woods - again we've written a letter.

Ruscombe brook latest

Yesterday evening after a meeting at Ebley Mill re training needs of councillors it was on to the monthly Ruscombe Brook Action Group meeting....

We heard about the latest overflowing manhole incident on 10-01-07 by A.S. Cooke's yard in Puckshole - see photo - suspected blockage - possibly root growth - Severn Trent acted pretty swiftly in sorting it but much sewage still got into the brook. Severn Trent are planning some further root cutting and some sections relining - I've just sent another email to them to see when all that can happen.

Bob Nightingale, SDC's Drainage Officer gave the group a useful summary of the state of the sewers after viewing the video work Severn Trent undertook last year. It was reassuring to know that most is not too bad - but clearly work is still needed! RBAG have booked the main Council Chamber for the end of this month to meet with Stroud District Council to explore Partnership possibilities. This must be the way forward - involving local Parishes, landowners etc - hopefully then we can seek funding for more sustainable works like reed beds etc.

A date to pencil in your diary is our AGM - provisionally booked for 1st March with 2 local speakers.

Fat traps - two-thirds of the 150 or so have been distributed with leaflets - favourable mentions in SNJ, Citizen and local Randwick Runner will hopefully raise the issue - see previous blogs to learn more.

Various other issues were raised - one re the work at the Lawns - I'll try and do a Blog entry re that later on as I need to write to British Waterways and others...

Stroud FM gets licence

Stroud's first full-time, community radio station is celebrating winning its licence. Stroud FM, which should begin broadcasting in the summer, will launch with the motto "radio made by the people, for the people". This is great news - Greens were among the many people who wrote in support of their application - read The Citizen article here.

Carbon plans that make you cut down: Transition Towns, footprints and more

That was the title of a piece in The Observer yesterday - and looked at activists making big changes to their lifestyles to limit their environmental impact.

They note that in the past year, seven carbon reduction action groups, or Crags, have started in the UK. Their members commit themselves to measuring their carbon emissions: they agree limits and can be penalised by the group if they exceed their carbon budget. At the launch of the last one, in Leeds just before Christmas, speakers included the journalist George Monbiot.

Carbon allocations vary between groups, but in Warwickshire for 2006 it was 4.5 tonnes, 10 per cent below the UK personal average of 5 tonnes (the UK per capita average is 11 tonnes if you include industry emissions), and the group is looking to tighten it by another 10 per cent every year - a tall order when you consider that the government's own target for CO2 reductions is 60 per cent over four decades.

If members don't meet the target then they pay 4p per kilogram - the price put on carbon by the group. Those who live within their carbon budget will decide what to do with the fund - however not all groups are penalising over-emitters, and some are putting limits on how much any individual can be made to pay. In future, Crags may trade carbon allowances between groups.

Locally in Cheltenham a new project is being launched along similar lines - the One Tonners. Although as yet the details are still to be decided by the group - there first meeting in Feb already has over 30 people interested. Projects like this are exciting as they show others what can be possible.

I've already mention Transition Towns Stroud - our own local project that is a group of people finding better ways to cope with the challenges of Peak Oil (& Gas) and Climate Change. We are working with TT groups across the UK to set up sustainable, satisfying and fun ways of living differently. Infact I've a meeting tomorrow to look at that more.

Many other projects are also springing up like Sustainable Thornbury which is supported by a Bristol University project. They had an excellent conference last year which brought together many other local projects including Sustainable Redland (Bristol) and the Chew Magna Go Zero project. It was very good to meet others from the region and explore different ways forward. Other examples include Sustainable Redhill, Planet Positive and Ashton Hayes Going Carbon neutral.

All have their merits but to me the Transition Towns offers some of the best ways forward - in Totnes hundreds of people have already got involved. Do please join us if you are interested - it is very early days - in the meantime The Observer offered this bit on how to measure your own footprint:

First dig out your gas and electricity bills. You'll need a year's worth, but if you aren't a good record keeper, your supplier may be able to help. If you are a British Gas customer, you can switch to online billing (www.house.co.uk/clickenergy) and see a graph plotting your gas and electricity consumption.

For £60 you can also buy a smart metering device from British Gas called Electrisave that will monitor how much electricity you are using in real time. Remember, if you are on a green electricity tariff (now being offered by British Gas - at no extra cost until March - Ecotricity and Good Energy), you don't have to include electricity in your calculations.

Estimate your annual car mileage. A rough estimate can be made by dividing the number of years you've owned the car by the number of miles on the clock. Then divide by the number of people in your household over the age of 18 before going to the next step: calculating your CO2 emissions. There are several websites to help. The calculator used by carbon reduction action groups is at www.carbonrationing.org.uk. A less complicated tool is at www.climatecare.org.

For air travel there is a drop-down menu that will tell you how much carbon is used for all destinations. The Royal Society's website, www.rsacarbonlimited.org, uses Climate Care's calculator, but also allows you to choose from different energy-user profiles if you don't have your own details to hand. Intriguingly, it also allows you to compare your carbon footprint with the average, and with individuals such as David Miliband, George Monbiot and Jon Snow.

Finally, if you want help reducing your carbon consumption but don't want to sign up to an action group, you can join a 15,000-strong community called the Community Carbon Reduction Project, or CRed (www.cred-uk.org). There you can find out steps you can take to cut carbon, make personal pledges, and receive ongoing online support in carrying them through. The goal of the community, which started out in East Anglia but has branches around the country and in the US, is to cut CO2 emissions by 60 per cent by 2025.

Latest on Bristol airport expansion

A second important meeting took place at the end of last week with North Somerset Council when the Planning and Regulatory Meeting was due to make a decision based on Bristol International Airport’s ‘Masterplan.’

The meeting had been described on the North Somerset Council’s website as the one where a decision would be made about airport expansion. As it happened, the impact of the enormous public response to the December consultation - some 3,700 responses 97% of which were concerned about the harmful effects of expansion - seemed to have had an effect on the North Somerset Councillors. The Councillors resolved simply to ‘note’ the Masterplan, and to register ’significant concerns’ relating to a number of issues including the environmental impacts and the uncertainty of the economic benefit.

North Somerset has also decided that small committees will not be given the full weight of responsibility for decisions about the airport. Given the unprecedented public concern, and the fact that recognition of climate change is growing almost by the week, they want all airport matters to be debated in Full Council. The Council will be requesting ‘independent’ assessments of environmental and economic impacts of the airport’s proposals, although how independent these will be remains to be seen given that they are likely to be funded and possibly even commissioned by the airport.

People who attended the debate said that it this 18 January meeting was more encouraging as the debate seemed to be far better informed than the discussion on 20 December, suggesting that Councillors had studied the consultation responses. What was depressing was the fact that some Councillors argued that climate change was not their reponsibility, and that it was purely for Central Government to solve the problems, even though 3,700 local residents had taken the trouble to tell them that they felt that climate change was the most significant issue in the airport decision.

Time for some smart metering here - Saving money and CO2

Just back from Ebley Mill (see photo) and a brief meeting to discuss the budget on Thursday. Some important steps towards greening Stroud are being made, but really need to go further and faster.

One painless option to consider...

While smart metering has already penetrated many countries across Europe, UK take-up is lagging; apart from one city in the Midlands – Leicester. There, the City Council has installed an energy and water monitoring system in Council-run properties such as schools, leisure centres, community homes and other public buildings. Data is collected at half-hourly intervals by smart meters and relayed by radio communications to a central system where it is logged and analysed.

Software is employed to establish normal usage patterns, factoring in variables such as weather conditions, enabling any deviations or aberrations to be identified and reported on a daily basis. The system cost some £500,000, and since installation the Council has identified annual savings of around £160,000.

The Leicester metering system is modelled on a similar, but larger-scale Swedish installation in Gothenburg, where the municipal housing association, Poseidon, owns some 23,500 apartments, heated for the most part through the district heating system. Poseidon has invested some £8m in a smart metering system that monitors demand, regulates energy supply, and identifies aberrations. As a result, energy consumption has fallen by around 15% without any significant change in temperatures inside the apartments, even during severe winters. Savings come in at around £2m per annum with annual carbon dioxide emissions reductions totaling some 1900 tonnes. Both the Leicester and Gothenburg smart metering schemes have indicated a pay-back time on the initial investment of just three to four years.

Leicester City Council spends over £5 million a year on energy and water requirements for its own premises, approximately the same amount as a small town of 8,500 houses. Its building stock is extremely varied and includes swimming pools, schools, offices, libraries, museums and district heating for housing estates. The Energy Management Team administers more than 3,000 individual energy accounts. Close monitoring of these resources is absolutely essential if costs and consumption are to be controlled properly. Monitoring and target setting represents a very low cost method of saving energy and yields a very high rate of success.

I've already emailed a Glos County Council Cabinet member who has forwarded it to the appropriate officers for consideration - also sent an email to SDC. If Leicester can save so much money then surely we can also save some? And of course tackle climate change.

Randwick Wap and Revellers

Randwick Revellers are putting on Robinson Crusoe and the Pirates this Friday and Staurday - only tickets left for Fridday so sadly will have to miss the show this year - a great pity. Tickets from Vine Tree at usual opening hours.

The Wap this year will be on 12th May - with Cheese Rolling on the Sunday before - tradition means that we have until 6th Feb to complete voting forms - details from Stan Giles on 766782 - posts to fill include Wap Mayor, a high sheriff, a sword bearer, a flag man, a mop man, a flag boy, Wap Queen of the May, a princess, a lady in waiting and a cheese bearer! Go to link to see more about last years Wap.

Last months' Gloucestershire Green party news items

See latest edition of the Green News Network - a summary of the last months news items from the Gloucestershire Green party. You can subscribe free from the Glos Green party website.

Whiteshill and Ruscombe Garden Birdwatch

This year there will be another Garden Birdwatch in the Parish Sat 27th and Sun 28th January. Last year 38 people took part and 30 species identifies - this year there are hopes that even more people will take part.

Photo: view across to Whiteshill from Randwick

All it entails is an hour of watching birds that live in or visit your garden next weekend. Whiteshill and Ruscombe Wildlife Group and Stroud Valleys Project are organising the event - forms can be got from the Village Shop. It is timed to coincide with the RSPB national bird survey.

Last year the Blackbird was the most commonly sighted bird followed by the Blue Tit and Robin. The Blackbird was also the most numerous with an average of 2.2 in each garden. The most noticeable decline from 2005 was Greenfinches.

It is a sad fact that our bird populations are in decline.

As well as disappearances of birds, there has been a serious, countrywide, decline in the numbers of many bird species, including many well known and loved birds such as the song thrush, skylark, lapwing and house sparrow. Thankfully we've still got larks in the field in front of my house.

The RSPB report that the decline in birds has been slow and gradual, rather than sudden. Most of the declining species are farmland birds. On the other hand, most woodland species such as the blue tit, nuthatch and great spotted woodpecker are still doing alright. However, declines may have started in woodland habitat also, with lesser spotted woodpecker and willow tit now red-listed because of their severe declines.

From the RSPB website below - strangely they fail to mention our changing climate in this list - yet elsewhere they have many papers showing how it is effecting bird populations - see here for example how upland birds are particularly suffering. They also have a good report to download here.

Extensive research has shown that these declines are caused primarily by changes in agriculture.

1. Increased efficiency has resulted in:

• grubbing up of hedgerows to create larger fields
• ploughing up closer to the edge of the field to increase the planted area
• drainage to dry out damper areas and remove wet flushes from others, all to increase production.

2. Changes in cropping practices etc:

• shift from spring to autumn sown cereals
• as soon as one crop is harvested, next one goes in - the land has no time to rest and lie fallow.

3. Specialisation of farms and regions to either arable or livestock production, resulting in loss of the habitat diversity that many birds need to survive.

4. Increase in the use of farm chemicals - fertilisers and pesticides.

5. Increased efficiency in grain and animal feed storage, and exclusion of wild birds from cattle feeding stations etc. because of Government policy.

6. Changes in farm buildings to exclude birds, replacement of old buildings with modern ones.

Although the actual factors that cause the decline are similar to most species, the exact way they act differs, which is why some species have been declining for 30 years, while in others the decline has only become prominent in the past 10 years.

The following lists percentage declines of some bird species recorded in Common Bird Census between 1970 and 1999:

• Tree sparrow -95%
• Corn bunting -88%
• Willow tit -78%
• Spotted flycatcher -77%
• Woodcock -74%
• Starling -71%
• Turtle dove -71%
• Song thrush -56%
• Bullfinch -53%
• Skylark -52%
• Cuckoo -33%

Changes in agricultural practices have had a devastating effect on farmland birds, and this process has been fuelled, particularly in north-west Europe, by European agricultural policies.

The 2003 Common Agricultural Policy reform is a step in the right direction, breaking the link between subsidies and production, and we think the new policies will help to make a significant difference for farmland wildlife. Today we understand more about the causes of these bird declines, and we are working to devise new management techniques to reverse the downward trend and benefit farmland birds. Many people don't think that this would be the reason for the decline of birds in suburban and urban areas. However, as 80% of this country is farmland, what happens there, will affect birds in all habitats. This is especially true of urban populations, since in most cases, the urban and suburban populations are an overspill from the better habitats in the countryside.

The house sparrow is an exception to this. Its populations in city centres are self-sustaining, and the exact way that the exceptionally great declines in centres of large cities are caused may differ in some respects from the surrounding countryside. As yet, the definitive cause for the city centre declines has not been determined.

Speed dating at High School??

I wasn't at all sure what I'd let myself in for this morning - 'political speed dating' at Stroud High School. What is that?

Well I was introduced to the concept in the Schools' main hall - a cheesy pop video of DJ Dee Mocracy described to the 40 girls and the 10 councillors present what would happen. Councillors would be sitting at a table, 3 girls would then sit and have 3 mins to ask us questions, they would then move to an empty table for 3 mins before meeting another councillor for another 3 mins and so it went on - councillors having an hour of non-stop questions - when the girls were at their empty table they scored each visit to a councillor on how well they answered the question, their approachability and more - scary or what? Results not out yet - will add them here if I dare!

(Update 30th Jan: no results out so suspect too embarassing to publish?)

After an hour of that, we had a break before another 40 or so girls were let loose with another set of questions.

It was a great opportunity to talk a little about local democracy, communities and of course green issues - it was so very inspiring to here how passionate many of the children were about the issue of climate change. Infact it was a huge boost to my own hopes about the future - and a boost to renew my own committment to tackling climate change. We can do this, but we need more people to take it seriously - it is slowly happening...let us not hope it is too slow.

Whiteshill Village Green: opportunities and challenges

I'm freezing - my own fault - it was such a lovely sunny afternoon I went out with a coat that wasn't warm enough - and then it got cold - infact that's just what I want really - some proper colder weather rather than all this weird warm stuff.

Photo: Cllr Sarah Lunnon in paper re plans for a possible Stroud centre Shared Spaces scheme

Anyhow 2 hours of walking around the Main Road and around Whiteshill Village Green (that's the area in front of the Woodcutters Arms) - what for? Well the Parish are exploring what can be done to improve that lump of tarmac - more 'Village Tarmac' than 'Green' - Whiteshill children did some excellent presentations last year on what they wanted - but it is all so slow to make it happen...

One option is to explore a Shared Spaces approach to the road or at least build in opportunities for that approach to be considered by the community. Clearly we need more consultation but there are not many options - a crossing is not feasible according to County due to sight-lines and gradient of road, speed signs have limited value - what is needed is a change to the road to encourage slower driving.....I'll talk for hours on this - but not now!

Cllr Sarah Lunnon, who has done work on the Shared Spaces approach met with myself and John Rogers, chair of the Parish Council - we looked at some very draft options but plan next a meeting to discuss the approach with councillors, the school etc.

More on floods

Must say this photo in The Citizen on Wednesday was a little shocking - water surrounding Tewkesbury town centre - and near Tirley a resident described going out in a see-through boat and went boating over apple trees! News today notes 14 now dead in the UK and some £14 billion of damage across the country!

Locally more trees down - and the road in front of More Hall Convent has been closed. The brook has been close to flooding and I've had another incident reported from last week of a manhole overflowing raw sewage into land near Puckshole.

In my bit on floods a couple of days ago I wrote about solutions - have been putting another article together - this time for The Edge - produced by Gloucestershire's Vision 21 - pity none of these groups have money to pay for all the words!! Anyhow I approached Water21 - another local group who have spun out of Vision 21 - they are the ones we are hoping will look at the Ruscombe brook. They have added some bits about poss solutions - this diagram represents a Willow bed. They write:

"A reedbed-biomass-lake system for sewage treatment, costing less than 10% of conventional sewerage costs, and producing a major (biomass) energy byproduct. Such systems have now been constructed in other countries very successfully treating over 8 million gallons of waste per day at single sites. In the UK they are not presently permitted by the water industry regulators! They are an ideal approach for community based groups like RBAG."

We really do need to start looking at these solutions - the Government seem unable to wake up to the problem or the possibilities and opportunities - Minister Ian Pearson has failed to even respond to my second letter re Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems - there doesn't seem to be any national campaigning organisation looking at issues like this properly - maybe we will see Water 21 grow into something like that - certainly it's time has come.

TTS, broken glass, clay rabbits and no bus in The Lane

With a blog title like that I'm bound to bring in the punters - be warned this is one to send you to sleep......a sort of collection of bits and pieces from this week that might be of interest...

Photo: view across Cashes Green from near Carpenters Arms

It's been a few days of catching up on the correspondence and the huge number of emails plus:
- cleared glass from a path that I'd received several emails about - it wasn't even in my ward but it was easier than trying to get the appropriate authority to find it and respond
- had a meeting with 2 women from Randwick in Whiteshill Village Coffee Shop with Village Agent Pam Thorne to explore ways forward re the Randwick bus not going down The Lane
- raised a host of issues at the Randwick Parish meeting this evening where Calvin Williams was voted and co-opted onto serve on the Parish to replace Tracey Waite who resigned last year (Calvin's energy over coordinating the Parish Plan and youth involvements will be a great addition to the team)
- read papers for the upcoming SDC budget - more of that for another blog
- met other councillors at a Sites Panel re the Folly Park Farm footpath
- attended a meeting with 35 others to explore one of the most exciting projects around - Transition Towns Stroud (ended up taking on coordinating one of the sub-groups - more of that soon)
- made clay rabbits and other animals at Woodcraft Folk this evening with 6 to 10 year olds...OK this is the point where I'd better sign off...

SNJ: Goat milk, sculpture and woodland play

The Stroud News and Journal had 3 local stories worth a mention here. First, 7 year old Eloise Nixon-Malaure from Whiteshill will feature in the 2007 national publicity drive, Thank Goodness For Goats. The article notes how her story maybe told on cartons and the internet - how switching to goats milk helped tackle her chronic eczema.

Second was the story of Simon Packard whose daughter goes to Randwick School - he's up as one of the finalists for Stroud District Council's 2006 Arts award for sculpture - the winner will have their piece grace the new Stroud College building - people can see the pieces and vote until Saturday 20th at the Musuem in The Park. My vote is for Simon's piece - not because I've met him but reckon it will look the best. He is in the photo on the left pushing the pram in last summers health cuts march.

Lastly good on Callowell Primary School for their new wild woodland area - a new 'outside classroom' - great stuff - children don't seem to spend anything like enough time outside thesePublish days.

Floods, winds and more

The flooding last week highlights some of what we can expect in the future. The by-pass was closed, Ebley car park was under a foot of water in one corner - see photo - the meadows seen in the background were also under water. Others faced floods in their homes - please note the Environment Agency have a free service to warn people of floods on their mobile phones - their website also has details of flood warnings and maps of the flood plains.

The high winds have also meant trees were down locally - Bread Street and Ruscombe Road both had trees across them - The Citizen reported Ruscombe resident Mel Rodicq sending in a photo of the Ruscombe Road tree - missed her house.

The Government has at last brought in more mandatory national flood plain advice for Councils - it is extraodinary they haven't acted sooner - Greens were making this point years ago - infact I came across yesterday an article from The Times (27/10/01) reporting that house builders had almost doubled the number of homes they were developing in flood zones in a year - this is total craziness: that year saw homes being built in threatened areas rise from 13,700 to 22,800 ie one sixth of all house building!!!! And the value of homes in flood plains rose more than 5 fold to £16 billion. What are they now and how many more hosuses have been built?

Local planning authorities seem to turn a blind eye to such developments even when the Minister at the time said that it would take years to build defences to protect those houses. And at waht cost?? Furthermore many authorities including Stroud ignored the advice of the Environment Agency. The Times highlights Slad Mills converted into 22 loft apartments - but there are also the many houses built on the plain.

Photo: Developments at Ebley - now nearly completed

Climate change will mean more unpredictable and severe weather conditions - we've also heard that many of the flood plains need reassessing as some have underestimated the severity of the situations arising.

Julian Jones, local water expert from Water 21 notes that flooding is the result of poor land management. He says "we ignore the model of the natural water cycle at our peril" - he points out how we supply water and manage sewage and rainwater are largely done in an unsustainable fashion - and contribute to droughts and flooding.

Julian Jones suggests that farmers should be largely responsible for running our water infrastructure - farming that uses chemicals exacerbates problems - killing off soil microbes reduces the humus content and the ability of the soil to hold water - another problem is that draining of natural wetlands and marshes to provide more farming land and developments means we have lost our natural water storage sponges.

This all seems to make much sense.

Stroud has seen mill ponds filled in and building on flood plains - The Severn Trent water company estimate their area sees 4% more of the land turned over to hard surfaces each year!!! All this means excess water runs off land faster than ever with fewer places to go. Ebley flood plain - see photos above - plays a vital role in the water system around Stroud.

In the Ruscombe Brook Action Group we have, among other problems, seen our sewage system being unable to cope with excess rainwater - I have too many photos of raw sewage in the brook and surrounding fields! One of our hopes in RBAG is to look at some of these wider issues as well - restoring areas of wetlands, replanting trees etc.

In the meantime in my role on Development Control Committee I have raised Sustainable Urban Drainage and flood plains at every opportunity - the Planning department are even altering the way they do their forms to make this issue clearer. I've also repeatedly requested training for councillors re the new regulations - hopefully we'll get it later in the year - in my view these new rules still go no where near far enough - but more of that for another Blog another day!

I've heard it said that perhaps like Noah we should heed the floods as a symptom of something fundamentally wrong in the way we treat our planet.

A very 'inconviennient truth' and local artist

I was shocked to read that a set of schools in the Seattle banned Al Gore's climate change film 'An Inconviennient Truth' - read more here - it was a surprisingly good film - I hope to have a DVD of it soon - if anyone in the ward is interested in borrowing for the night do please give me a call.

Meanwhile I was in Minchinhampton this week and saw these great wire horses in 'The Kitchen' (good cafe with excellent food - the only Gold awarded cafe in Glos - mind I can think of a few others that are also v good) - artist Bryony Leatherbarrow lives in Woodchester and can be contacted via the cafe. There are also some excellent other pics there by one of the chefs at the restaurant - apols but forgot her name - worth a look.

Nailsworth climate blog prompts me into a letter

Just came across Kev's Climate Change Blog - have seen some of his articles in Nailsworth News - anyhow in one entry he has his correspondence with David Drew MP over airport expansions. I have to say I am more than a little surprised by Mr Drews comments. For example he writes:

"On restricting air travel the increase in airport capacity represents the rise in demand. Again you cannot stop this unless you are prepared to say who you wnat to stop from flying and how this will be done. I am quite happy to constrict growth but you can't just stop any expansion at present unless you are prepared to take enormous risks in safety as well as the wrath of stopping people from flying without putting alternatives in place or attempting to build a consensus on why this should be done. The latest poll indicated that 98% of people would oppose this - indicative of how far we have to travel in this area."

Kev's column answers these points and I have covered similar in the past here and on the Glos Green party website. As I have said before the facts speak for themselves: unless the government’s decision to double the size of UK airports is reversed, the rest of its climate change programme is a waste of time.

I will be writing to Mr Drew in the hope of understanding better his position - Government's are meant to lead and while they claim climate change is the greatest threat they do precious little to show they take that seriously.

Meanwhile well over 3000 people sent in objections to North Somerset Council’s public consultation. The Council meet tomorrow night to discuss that matter in Weston-super-Mere.

Still too warm? Green strategies

It is just too warm - where is winter? Borage, roses, irises and more are flowering in the ward - hedgehogs are waking up too soon. Of course there are natural cycles in weather patterns but already the warmest years ever recorded are nearly all in the last few years....it was with these thoughts over the last couple of weeks that I've been writing a report to the Diocese and helping with another to SDC....

Photo: Hips in Randwick yesterday

Report to Diocese

I've finished comments on a draft of a report to Bishop’s Council : "Sustaining and Renewing the Earth" - it is currently being put together and should come out on March 6 2007 - I've made various recommendations - the Church is clearly in a wonderful position to influence and lead on climate change - it is exciting that they are now looking at these issues but my own feeling is that they need to be bolder.

To that end I put together various thoughts building lots on my previos Blog item on 26th August that had some suggestions re a poss Environment policy for Randwick Church. Clearly I'm not involved in the internal workings of the organisation so it is hard to make specific recommendations but important issues like education, targets, monitoring etc all need to be addressed. In my section, for example, on having specific targets I included suggestions like:

- Ensure all new housing developments in the Diocese are carbon-neutral by 2008 plus incorporate Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems.
- 100% of all churches recycling by 2008
- 80% of churches composting green and kitchen waste by 2008
- No polystyrene or plastic cup use by 2008
- All electricity purshased by the Diocese comes from a green energy company by 2008
- Use eco-cleaning products in 80% of churches by 2008
- End pesticides and fertilisers use in 70% of church yards by 2009 - these are high in fossil fuels to manufacture and damage the environment
- Increase the number of people walking and car sharing by ?
- No increase in non-permeable surfaces from 2008 ie no tarmaced carparks - use of permeable surfaces

These may need adjusting but it gives some tasters as to what might be possible.

SDCs Environment Strategy

Greens have once again met to look at the latest version of SDC's Environment policy - our comments can be found here. There are Scrutiny meetings to take this forward and we will be hoping to ensure the document is improved.

SDC received unprecedented levels of correspondence boosted by the good media coverage. There were nearly 500 submissions from local people, agencies and bodies. It was far more than expected - every idea received was recorded and the top 10 suggestions (or areas) were as follows:

1. Increasing the number of recyclable waste streams (eg cardboard)
2. Encouraging and supporting household recycling
3. The promotion of energy efficiency products and appliances (including within council properties)
4. Encourage businesses and Stroud District Council to reduce waste
5. Promotion & support (including planning policy) for sustainable transport (walking, cycling, public transport, rail and canal)
6. Facilities for commercial waste reuse and recycling (including waste exchange)
7. Planning policy – improving energy efficiency
8. A one-stop-shop for advice on energy efficiency and micro-generation (including alternative ways to accessing grant aid)
9. Promoting alternative vehicle fuel use generally (LPG, bio fuels) including council and contractors
10. Promotion and support (including planning policy) for community-led and appropriate industrial-scale renewable projects

It is wonderful that there is so much enthusiasm and interest locally - it is vital though that the changes made are the ones that bring the most benefits - it can be fun to do certain high-profile projects but ultimately we need to make cost-effective cuts to our emissions.

Micro-generation in Stroud

I was recently asked whether you needed planning permission for solar panels - basically if in doubt phone Stroud District Council's planning department - the Council have produced a brief planning guidance paper re micro-generation - if you are interested click here to download pdf file.

Photo: Nympsfield turbine: clearly such turbines do need planning permission!

Latest on Lower Street

Here is latest on the Lower Street closure:

"...I have made enquiries with our Geotechnical Engineers on the current situation. It seems there were delays in receiving the soil testing results from the ground investigation company that undertook the work. However, the results were received just before Christmas, so now the Geotechnical Engineers will spend about a week modelling the area to understand what's going on in the general area and then say another week to report. At that point we can agree what works to do...I appreciate that this is all taking some time and that there is the on-going inconvenience of the closed road, but I thank you for your patience."

Meanwhile Puckshole lane is being repaired yet again today - filling holes which includes one that must be nearly a foot deep. It will appear again as the road is built over a spring or water course and the underlying drainage problems need to be tackled. However as I've said before there is an argument to say those holes are great - they slow down traffic on that stretch wonderfully - however clearly such deep holes are dangerous.

Parish meeting in Lady Chapel

The Whiteshill Village Hall was double-booked so it was very nice to be in the Lady Chapel of the church: loads of apologies meant the meeting went quicker than usual, although I missed the last bit...basically a chance to update on various items like the campsite, 20 mph, Folley Park farm footpath etc. I'm hoping to set up further meetings with Highways but sadly the crucial person has been off sick - until we get her we can't move this forward with police etc.

Other issues raised at the Parish included a darft piece of work looking at improving the dropped kerbs in the village, the plans for a newsletter plus a presentation by the Village Agent, Pam Thorne - discussed possibility of holding joint surgeries with her for parishioners. One issue of concern was the 12 break-ins in Upper Kitesnest Road - they disturbed the 3 involved and police managed to catch a suspect - however 2 escaped across fields - fog meant the helicopter didn't get to fly otherwise they would very likely have caught them like a similar recent incident in Stroud. Anyway you can catch all that in the minutes I'm for a glass of wine...

UK Poli Blogs

Just got myself added to this list of political blogs - UK Poli Blogs - this huge list is just the tip of the iceberg - well over a year ago Blogs were being created at one a second - apparently even more now - over half die very rapidly but an amazing 13% are updated at least once a week. Who reads them?

Photo: Randwick woods last week

Stratford Road bus shelter

A while back a comment on this Blog asked whether we could get a bus shelter outside Tesco on the Stratford Park Road - see 19th September Blog. The Town Council had been working on this but it is quite extraodinary how Tesco appear to ignore letters or take ages upon ages to answer - I've still not had a reply to my own letter - I will write again but the Town Council have had some contact and are talking to others - one reason apparently given (not sure if this was from Tesco) was that only a couple of people wait there.

This is plainly not true so I've sent the two photos here to the Town Council to use in their negotiations. I don't go that way lots but on many occasions I've seen people waiting - and quite often many more than two people - in one of these photos you'll see people waiting at both stops and in the second you'll see a crowd of people waiting for the Tesco free bus - not in the photo that time were at least 5 others waiting at the other stop. Let's hope Tesco move on this one soon - surely it is in their interests to support such a measure.

In the meantime if you've not responded to the Competition Commission re supermarket hrowth you can do so easily by following the link from my press release here.

Green AGM, Hildegard Bingen, Goethe and more

10 Greens sat down in the evening to pull together our response to the latest version of the Councils Environment Strategy paper - various ideas, some debate and eventually agreement on the issues we want to raise. For our initial responses see under reports at Glos Green party. This is still a great opportunity to get these issues imbedded into policy and really work together to tackle climate change.

It was then all down to the Old Town hall where 50 to 60 Greens and some others came to hear Aonghus Gordon talk. This inspiring man established the Ruskin Mill Educational Trust with it's three bases - now employing 500 people.

Photo: Aonghus (centre) demonstrating use of prism to see how the colour green is centre of the spectrum.

The talk wasn't quite what I expected or quite the usual AGM talk - but it was fascinating, very wide-ranging and challenging and included touching on the role of spirituality in politics - something I personally don't think we talk enough about - but I'll save that for another Blog - the talk also came with some interesting slides. Aonghus despite rumours that he has moved to Sheffield still remains a Stroud Council tax payer - his talk looking at 'what it means to be Green' took in Greek gods, Goethe, Francis Bacon, Ghandi, Ruskin and Rudolf Steiner but one of the most interesting was Hildegard Bingen who affirmed the power of the feminine in the natural world and got herself into a fair bit of touble with the Pope and others. Here is one of her pieces that was read out:

I, the fiery light of divine wisdom,
I ignite the beauty of the plains,
I sparkle the waters.
I burn the sun and the moon and the stars,
With wisdom I order all rightly.
I adorn all the earth.
I am the breeze that nurtures all things green.
I am the rain coming from the dew That causes the grasses to laugh With the joy of life.
I call forth tears, the aroma of good work. I am the yearning for good.

Hildegard of Bingen 1098-1179

While Hildegard got lots of support for her radical stance it was Francis Bacon who got the blame for setting us on the road to GM crops and vivisection. Goethe was another that came in for praise - the German concept anschauung and it's lack of a good english translation was interesting - but hey it's too late now for that...

Photo: Goethe - "a genius of embodied perception"

Aonghus also talked about th extraordinary success of Heartmath in treating disturbed children and the Ruskin Mill project he started in Nailsworth and how that was created based on principles from Steiner, Ruskin and Morris - he finished with a call for a Transition Town Stroud project - the very thing we are in the process of setting up - infact next Thursday is our first semi-open meeting at Star Anise.

Aonghus also mentioned that he was among the 1971 campaigners to stop our water being fluoridated in Stroud - yesterday I was at a meeting of the Safe Water Campaign - the group I helped reform a few years ago to tackle the latest threat of fluoridation to our water supplies. Anyhow wine, savories and cakes - all very yummy indeed - were followed by the AGM and election of Officers - I was again elected as Press Officer and Gloucestershire Green party representative.

I'll finish with Goethe's poem which was printed in the first edition of 'Nature' in 1869 - click here. Great stuff!

Blog gets listed on International Centre of Excellence

This Blog is now listed as one of 15 blogs including David Milliband and Boris Johnson on the website for the International Centre of Excellence for Local eDemocracy. The site has many useful tips for improving democracy - many great suggestions but think we need great care when it comes to electronic voting - see my blog on 17th November 2006.

Furniture recycling hopes

The Furniture Recycling Project (FRP) ceased trading in October from their shop in John Street in Stroud (see my Blog on 28th November). At the time I got on the phone and fired off various emails - it has surprised me that so little fuss has been made among other parties - this is a great way to stop stuff going to landfill, save all that energy used in manufacture and provide second-hand furniture to the community - particularly great for low-income groups as prices are very good indeed.

Today after my requests last year to see if anything could be salvaged, we finally were able to have a meeting between SDC officers, representatives of the FRP and myself.

Two and a half hours of useful discussion and sharing produced a number of possible ways forward. FRP will still collect furniture in the area and will also deliver to anyone - however at the moment to view furniture you will have to visit Gloucester or Cheltenham. The hope is to restore a shop one day to Stroud but in the meantime other ideas for diverting furniture from landfill are being explored - hopefully will have more news here in the future....

.....perhaps the most frustrating thing here appears to be the lack of coordination between District and County Councils on this - and for that matter the Government's failure to lead and simplify a crazy system that works against commonsense solutions. I will be interested to explore more around this as we must remove these blocks if we are to get serious about issues like climate change.

We have to fly less - Government action is vital

Talking of letters to the press - I was annoyed by the Western Daily Press suggesting campaigners would lose the fight to stop Bristol airport's expansion that I wrote another letter a couple of days ago - Let us all hope that their analysis is very wrong. The facts speak for themselves: unless the government’s decision to double the size of UK airports is reversed, the rest of its climate change programme is a waste of time.

Last month Greens quizzed Mayor Ken Livingstone on airport expansions and he made a dramatic u-turn and said he would rule out any expansion in the South-east, arguing that the aviation industry had told him "a pack of lies" about the economic benefits of expansion. It is time others also woke up. Why should every industry have to make cuts in CO2 emissions so that aviation can be excluded?

Incredibly Environment Minister Ian Pearson, who has a collective responsibility for this massive expansion in aviation, said this week that the Government is powerless to face down airline lobbyists! It simply beggars belief that he admits that the Government isn’t up to the job of facing down unelected industrial apologists. This is despite a recognition that climate change is the biggest single security threat facing us today. Mr Pearson should consider resigning from the government in protest and let someone else take on this vital task.

I'd just sent that off to the press when I see Mr Blair in The Guardian saying he wont tackle flying! Tony Blair’s lack of political leadership on this one is astonishing.

Research by the Tyndall Centre on Climate Change, shows that if we don’t act to limit the airlines’ projected growth (doubling by 2020, trebling by 2030) then flying is likely to account for the UK’s entire carbon emissions in just a few decades!!

As Green MEP Caroline Lucas has said: "Leaving the job to the airlines themselves and hoping for a ‘techno-fix’ that will enable them to increase flights whilst cutting emissions is like crossing our fingers and hoping for a miracle: efficiency savings are running at about 1-2 per cent a year whilst actual emissions are growing three times faster. The figures simply don’t add up."

Basically we have to fly less, and, uncomfortable as it might seem, this requires government action. While Mr Blair's Government refuses to take legislative action to limit aviation growth, all the Government is left with is showing leadership and setting a good example. Tony Blair has signally failed to do even this.

Call to stop giving money to beggars is wrong approach

A new poster campaign in Gloucester suggests that giving money to beggars will lead to them using the money on drugs or alcohol and will effectively "kill with kindness" - this is the wrong approach - read my letter to press here.

DCC: Folly farm footpath and other applications

The Folly farm footpath in Paganhill - or Folley farm as the sign on the gate says - returned to the Development Control Committee meeting today and was deferred for a month so that a Sites Panel of councillors could visit the site themselves.

Photo: Ebley Mill - not today - it was grey and damp and still too warm for this time of year

Use the search facility on this website to see previous entries re Folly Farm. DCC had three options re this footpath on the table today - the first to not go-ahead with the footpath changes, the second to call for a Public Inquiry and the third to see if each of the 17 official rejections by members of the public could be removed - ie to get those people to withdraw them officially.

This last option would seem impossible; especially as the reasons for objections are serious and clearly not like in some other disputes where people object to changes in Rights of Way as a matter of course. That leaves the other two which both have cost implications and have to take account of many issues like the fact that this footpath change has already had support from some.

To me this mess could have probably been avoided if the process had been different - the Council followed procedures so I'm not criticising them but clearly the procedures themselves are absurd. Certain bodies are consulted like the Ramblers then it goes to DCC - this one went in the summer - at the meeting I specifically asked if consultation had taken place and was assured it had and that no objectionjs had been made - well it had - but only to those certain bodies like the Ramblers - I voted against the changes but the application was passed - understandably as other councillors heard there were no objections.

I then learnt that the public are informed after the vote by notices - this is the first they had heard about what appears to be one of the longest running footpath disputes in the District. Why on earth aren't these people - the local landowners and neighbours involved in the process earlier? Many of them had useful and important points to make.

Anyway we are now where we are and I would love to have this footpath along the brook edge - indeed opening up and improving access to the brook is partly what RBAG is about - but - and this is the biggest 'but' - we can't have this footpath at the expense of the other one being lost - I have mentioned the various concerns before including loss to biodiversity and flooding issues - many of these can maybe able to be got around to some extent but the main issue that cannot is the fact that this new route is longer, follows a potentially muddy brook-side path and goes down a steep slope - it is this slope that I object to most as it will exclude less able walkers - and I know for a fact that the current route is used by people who are less able walkers who like a flat, dry surface to walk along.

There are various other issues that should be taken into account but I was not able to make many of these comments at DCC due to the deferral for a Sites Panel. Some argue that the current owners of the farm bought the property knowing the footpath was there so should learn to live with it - I see that point but I can also see the argument that if an alternative acceptable route can be found then it would be good for all. It does seem a great shame that a solution cannot be found - a couple of the objectors made very good alternative suggestions that warrant attention. I do hope that at some point we will all be able to explore the best way forward together so that all the concerns are taken into account.

Other DCC stuff

Anyhow I'm running out steam - a little more - as for the rest of the DCC meeting I was struggling a little today to get all the points made - there were several extra amendments I was able to make on a number of planning applications like including conditions of Sustainable Urban Drainage.

One application that surprised me most was for 61 sheltered apartments in Bowbridge - the garage there - we need sheltered accomodation urgently in the District but have to say I was shocked by this application and it's disregard for design - one councillor described it as a cruise ship being plonked down near the canal - otherthan the poor design it also ignored the fact that this was an employment site - and if we don't have those we are going to end up with more unsustainable commuting, it was also in a Conservation area, it had no affordable housing element, no renewables, no habitat improvement and no contributions re the canal or it seems proper regard for traffic considerations. I have to wonder how these companies work - is this to some how soften us up so we will welcome their nexy proposals?

Stroud History website

The intention of this Stroud History website is to provide a range of historical information relating to Stroud and links to other resources. It includes some items from Ebley and Cainscross. At present the focus of work is on developing theStroud Dictionary of Biography using newspaper reports to identify people active in business, community activities, politics or provide an insight into the lives of people in Stroud. Information about significant Gloucestershire people is included. If you have material which you feel could be included please visit the website here and send in details.

Local photographers website

These 'wabbits' are part of a series of great photographs from Ruscombe resident Mike Gallagher. His website can be viewed here - the site has many local photographs all of which are also for sale.

I recognise these rabbits from the field behind my house - they have some secret route into my garden where they have any of the lettuces left by the slugs and snails.

Incidently Stroud District Council are planning the first ever Stroud Festival of Photography in October - their 2007 arts award will also be for photography - exhibition and platinum prints planned by Paul Caffell - call organiser Fred Chance on 01453 755686 - also of course there will be the famous Open Studios (which include photography) in June for people to exhibit in their own homes and/or visit others. Call Artspace on 01453751440 if interested.

Obesity Statistics Don't Stack Up: new local walking website launched

Five days before Christmas the Department of Health released its official statistics on obesity. They shockingly showed that although the proportion of men classed as obese increased from 13.2 per cent in 1993 to 22.1 per cent in 2005, and from 16.4 per cent to 21.9 per cent for women.

The statistics also showed that the amount of calories we consumed has fallen by 20 per cent since 1974, and that we eat 7% more fruit and vegetables than in 2004. So how come? What is the missing factor?

An answer that makes alot of sense and clearly needs more consideration is proposed by Pat Thomas, the Ecologist's Heath Editor. She said: "The most frustrating, or perhaps underhanded, aspect of this new report is the statistician's refusal to analyse their own data. The 162-page report amounts to little more than a series of tables and figures which if subjected to scrutiny tell us that we are eating healthier, taking in fewer calories each day than in previous study periods, and yet as a nation we are becoming increasingly fat.

"The only way such figures can begin to make sense is if we begin to look at weight gain and weight loss as a result of a person's whole environment, and specifically their exposure to industrial pollutants which can severely disrupt the body's weight control systems. It's good to see that once again, the Ecologist is ahead of the game; we exposed this devastating connection in our November cover feature, 'The Big Fat Fix', and proposed that chemicals are at least as influential as calories in the fight against obesity."

All this makes it all the more disappointing that Green moves to tighten legislation in the EU have been thwarted just before Christmas by chemical companies. See letter to press on the legislation.

Another factor must surely also be the increase in our sedentry lifestyle: children walk less to school and elsewhere, there are less sports at school, more TV watching and computer playing, less cycling on our roads...the list goes on.

Of interest to anyone looking to walk more maybe the new website: www.strollinginstrouddistrict.org

This provides information on walking in the Stroud District. The site’s main role is to provide people with information on the benefits of walking, but most importantly enables people to find out what walks take place in their area. The site also offers advice on how people can become volunteers and lead walks within their own community. Additionally, the site enables people to apply for a pack of 44 circular walks from across the district.

Safe water campaigner dies

As a founding and still active member of the Safe Water Campaign fore Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire this is a sad loss. Nic Brugge, died after a brief illness at 79 - he was secretary of the National Pure Water Association (NPWA) for many years and ran the Safe Water Information Service until 2001. As the Guardian writes: "He probably did more than anyone else at the time to counter what he saw as misinformation about fluoride and public water fluoridation proposals...Among decisions that he influenced were the refusal of Tyneside water authority to accede to any fluoridation requests and the formation of the North West Councils Against Fluoridation. He had persuaded John Colquhoun, the Auckland principal dental officer - and former fluoridation advocate for the New Zealand government - to write and speak out against public water fluoridation proposals in the UK." See Guardian obituary here.

Ruscombe Brook: building a partnership, fighting the fat and more!

Here is an article produced for a magazine - a more complete update on the Ruscombe Brook Action Group project:

Ruscombe Brook: building a partnership, fighting the fat and more!

Our local brook near Stroud, Gloucestershire is less than 2 miles long and I never dreamt I would learn so much about water when I first helped set up the Ruscombe Brook Action Group (RBAG) two years ago.

I had discovered that raw sewage was repeatedly overflowing from local sewers into the brook and surrounding farmland. Children play by the stream, cattle feed on the grass and dogs are walked in the fields. I thought it would be fairly easy to put a stop to this health hazard and improve the brook. I soon realised it was a lot more complicated.

One of the biggest initial challenges was in trying to establish the causes of the poor water quality. It wasn't just sewers that were the problem: the situation was far more complex and compounded by the extraordinary fact that sewage can in many instances be legally discharged into brooks and rivers. Amazingly there is not even a proper public health standard of water quality for local brooks.

We started in the brook group by trying to educate ourselves. We were fortunate to have several local water experts including the District Councils Drainage Officer, who talked and engaged with our group at our regular monthly meetings. Here is what we've been up to:

- A clean-up day produced dozens of bags of rubbish including two buckets of sanitary wear!
- Publicising our activities in the press along with mapping, photographing and recording the problems. We found that many incidents in the past had not been reported to authorities so they were not aware of the full extent of the impact of the problems.
- Talking to local groups and schools to raise awareness and build our collection of memories of the brook from years gone by: one group painted a 15 meter mural of the brook at a school and one one class got involved in testing the water quality.
- Organised a conference which was attended by 70 local people and various local authorities
- Encouraging the Environment Agency to do more water quality testing
- Working with British Waterways and local Parish Councils over plans to dredge a lake (situated almost at the end of the brook). Reedbeds are currently being installed there as part of a £35,000 project to improve the water quality before it goes into the canal which is just beginning a multi-million pound restoration.
- Organised a specialist seminar on the brook for over 25 people.
- Started to consider the impact of cattle and salt grit bins. Cattle can add to the silt problems by churning up the brook and the grit bins have been regularly overturned leading to additional contamination to the brook.
- Met and worked with Severn Trent (the local water company) to see how the local sewer system can be improved: already we have seen some sewer pipes replaced, considerable root cutting in sewers and pipe misconnections being tackled. It is has been surprising to learn how many washing machines are misconnected and go straight into the brook. Severn Trent are now planning further works in the area.
- Meeting university researchers to discuss projects to look at how water quality can be improved.
- Discussed with health professionals about the potential dangers of raw sewage.
- Severn Trent have agreed to do a joint leaflet later this year to raise awareness of issues locally.

Next steps

Perhaps the most important step we are taking at the moment is to set up a more formal partnership of ‘stakeholders’ to find lasting solutions for the brook. The group has always believed a partnership approach is the best way to achieve our aims to improve water quality and biodiversity. We have already had some initial meetings about how best to do this. We hope soon to be able to formalise the partnership and move forward with land owners, Severn Trent water, British Waterways, local Councils and other interested bodies.

We were fortunate to have members of the Bourne Stream Partnership come to Stroud to give us some key advice on how to move forward. They have already established a partnership of key agencies in Dorset and have embarked on a considerable programme of works to the Bourne Stream.

RBAG have just had the generous offer of £3,000 seed funding from a local group, Water21, that promotes and provides sustainable solutions for water and sewage. If we get agreement from other parties they will embark on an initial project with us to assess what are the best options available for the brook and look at some estimated costs. We hope to consider the suitability of reed beds, restoring mill ponds and look at whether private sewer outflows should be improved. We will also look at sewer capacity and how best to encourage householders to stop roof and other surface run-off from going into sewers and indeed whether it might be possible to treat some of the householders sewage in the area.

After this we can then look at priorities and seek funding for particular projects. Our hope is to sort out some of the problems in our area and use it as a model for other local river courses. Sadly the reality is that most streams in the country face many problems that are not dissimilar from those here in Ruscombe - many also face additional problems like the runoff of pesticides and herbicides.
Help fight the fat!

One problem common to many sewers is fat and other 'discarded' items. Sewers just weren't designed for many of the challenges that are presented today: cotton buds, sanitary products and cooking fats all help clog the sewers and can contribute to problems like the overflowing sewage. It is also true that many of the detergents we use for ourselves, dishes and laundry contain oils, fats and phosphates that can add to the problems.

Our latest local campaign has seen us at local schools and knocking on doors with a leaflet urging people to:

(i) Put fat in with household waste or use a ‘fat trap’. RBAG have been given a 150 of these traps by Severn Trent to encourage people not to put fats down the sewer - but basically an old yoghurt pot would do and can be used to make a fat ball to hang out for the birds.

(ii) Use environmentally friendly detergents or better still consider detergent-free laundry balls. Stroud-based Ecotopia helped with our leaflet printing costs and also gave members money off the laundry balls (See: http://ecotopia.co.uk ).

National picture

Awareness of the need to improve our local waterways is growing. There are now quite a number of local groups around the country. The UK Rivers Network, which sadly does not appear to be contactable at the moment, lists some of the groups on their website. One good example of a project not listed is the River Quaggy in South East London where flood protection and biodiversity have both been improved significantly.

There are also big national projects like the WWF's "Better River Basins" and the national advisory group, the "River Restoration Centre".

Sadly in many areas people are still not aware of their local waterways and even where there is an awareness they are not always seeking the most sustainable solutions. One local group for example wants to see a brook put into concrete culverts to stop the flooding.

Challenges ahead

RBAG have only just begun on the journey to improve our brook. We are still learning much, but the more we understand the more we can see the importance and urgency of getting this right.

Climate change is set to bring increasingly more challenges: more extreme weather conditions and sea level rises will lead to more flooding while we also need to look at reducing the very significant amount of fossil fuels currently used to pump and treat water and sewage. Sustainable solutions like reed beds not only give a biomass crop each year but also can produce water of higher quality than most sewage treatment plants. It is vital we start to use these cost effective, well-proven techniques or we will see the problems only getting worse.

Our group has written to Government Ministers as their plans to develop sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) more widely seem to have stalled. Severn Trent report that each year 4% more of their region is covered with hard standing areas. This can only lead to further flooding and other problems in the future.

The Government have started to introduce policies to tackle flooding and potential water shortages but are not moving anything like fast enough. For example the new Code for Sustainable Homes is voluntary instead of mandatory and homes continue to be built without 'greywater' systems even in areas with current chronic water shortages like the South-East. This is little short of madness.

The health implications of raw sewage in our waterways is another challenge. Last year the Environment Agency found a third of male fish in English rivers are changing sex due to pollution from the contraceptive pill and HRT. The Research Professor noted that there was "the potential for it to have an effect in humans - and possibly a marked effect."

Surfers Against Sewage have also drawn our attention to some of the potential dangers of sewage but too readily such concerns have been cast aside as not important. A local university research project has been established to look at this whole issue further. Some senior doctors have recently suggested that sewage could be responsible for many more serious illnesses than it has been given credit for in the past.

RBAG can see there are many challenges ahead. We would welcome people along to our meetings. Please call or email me for further information.

Philip Booth is Secretary of the Ruscombe Brook Action Group, a Stroud District councillor and spokesperson for Gloucestershire Green parties.

Lark Rise, Bread Street, Ruscombe, Stroud, Glos. GL6 6EL
Tel: 01453 755451 E-mail: philip.booth2@virgin.net


Further information from:
- Ruscombe Brook Action Group (planned revamp mid-January) http://www.rbag.org.uk - Bourne Stream Partnership http://www.bournestreampartnership.org.uk - Water 21 website soon to be developed http://www.water21.org.uk/ - Surfers Against Sewage http://www.sas.org.uk - UK Rivers Network http://www.ukrivers.net - Better River Basins http://betterriverbasins.wwf.org.uk - The River Restoration Centre http://www.therrc.co.uk - Quaggy Waterways Action Group http://www.qwag.org.uk

Another Mayor signed up to Peace

Just before Christmas we sent out letters to all Mayors in Gloucestershire inviting them to join Mayors for Peace - we now have news that Nailsworth are looking to join and The Citizen report yesterday that Lydney are now signed up. Great stuff - let's hope we can get the others signed up. Plus if you haven't signed the Downing St online petition against Trident Renewal please consider doing so. Online Petition at: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/trident

Local Green party press report

I'm in the process of drafting a Press Officer's written report for the Green party AGM next Wednesday - see here for more details of the AGM as the first half with speaker is open to anyone. The draft still needs some work - but maybe of some interest to Blog readers.

Photo: near Haresfield Beacon last week

As I've noted before, while Greens do get much more coverage than ever before, it is still noticeable how much more work is needed - local papers repeatedly carry full page spreads about Staverton airport without a mention of climate change plus pages of car articles - yes I know we aren't going to change that overnight - I understand even the Environment Editor of The Independent said we can't do climate change otherwise all those car and holiday adverts that fund the paper would go elsewhere - infact The Independent is probably best of the national papers at tackling the issue....and that sadly is still inadequate.

I've talked before re media and how it works or doesn't - the pressures on it etc - yesterday I read a useful article by David Edwards entitled "Dangerous Minds".

It is worth a read if you have the energy - it also has some particularly useful insights into our education system. Anyhow here's that draft summary of my role over the last year as Press Officer for the local Green party:

1. Gloucestershire Green party website and Blogs

This last year has seen nearly 500 news releases and letters sent to local press: 470 of these can be viewed on our website. The website is updated most days and the site has also seen regular redesigns by Dave Cockcroft like the edition of a new section about the Coffee House Discussions and 3 local Blogs. The Blogs include my own with nearly 300 posts since May 2006 mainly about my work as a councillor and the Green party's Economic Spokesperson Stroud-based, Molly Scott-Cato - a fascinating look at the world of Green economics.

2. Media

2.1. Newspapers - Around 70% of the news releases get picked up in at least one of the 6 local newspapers. We've maintained a steady presence in all the papers: averaging at least a couple of mentions in SNJ each week, three in The Citizen and one in the Western Daily Press. A Green party member has made front page quotes in around 20 papers this year and we've written a 'Comment' piece for The Citizen on 5 occasions.

Journalists are also phoning more often for comments on particular issues: still only traditional 'green' issues like nuclear power and recycling but it is very positive that we are starting to be seen more as having important contributions to the arguments. Indeed we are also getting criticised by other political parties - great stuff as Mahatma Ghandi said:

“First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.”

2.2. Broadcast media - In terms of TV Stroud Greens got the BBC's Politics Show interested in covering the Environment Green paper. Martin Whiteside was able to comment on the show and Principal Speaker Keith Taylor was interviewed about the Severn Barrage. Greens were also central in providing the evidence to get Countryfile to do their whole programme on the area - asking 'Is Stroud the greenest in the West?' Martin Whiteside spent some 3 hours showing them around and being interviewed. Green party members, particularly Martin, have also been interviewed for nearly 20 broadcasts by local radio for various items through the year. It is great we are being able to use the broadcast media more, but it could still be better!

2.3. Campaigns - We've been involved in many campaigns including hiring a coach to London's Climate Change march, Gloucester's first ever Gay pride march where we were the only political party, keeping Gloucester's Mail centre open, helping organise the 3000-strong march against Stroud health cuts and repeated protest at the privatisation of the NHS, renewing passports early to protest at ID cards, lobbying to stop Bristol airport's expansion and the Gloucester Docks demo against the cuts to inland waterways. Some Greens even purshased a virtual title, mine was 'Baron Booth of Bread Street' to highlight the deeply disturbing fact that 17 out of the 22 individuals who have donated more than £100,000 to the Labour Party in the past few years have received an honour.

2.4. Reports and submissions - Government at all levels has gone crazy on consultations. I question sometimes how useful it is to spend time on these but unless we put forward our views it is much harder to argue our case. We have participated in 15 major consultations or submissions and particular thanks for help must go to Rosie Reed, Dave Cockcroft, Martin Whiteside and Jan Bayley.

The biggest of these has been the Council's Environment Green paper: a team of some 10 members have been enormously helpful in pulling together ideas and pushing this forward. Another huge project was responding to the Draft Regional Spatial Strategy (possibly the most important planning document in the SW) which if implemented will lead to an increase in CO2 emissions. We are sadly very lone voices on this issue but managed to persuade Stroud District Council to also raise this issue in their submission. These projects are on-going.

We have also done a handful of submissions regarding nuclear power: our main submission to CoRWM by Jan Bayley has been acclaimed as one of the best by those outside the nuclear industry. We have also submitted reports to the consultation on GM co-existence, the DTI's Energy Review, the County's waste strategy and regarding the proposed expansion of Bristol airport.

While our submissions may have not always have produced the results we want, they have provided an opportunity to get the views in the media and I am also convinced they are helping change the way many view the world. For example we have seen local Tories for the first time question airport expansions publicly and others visibly uncomfortable around issues they would have dismissed in the past as 'green propaganda'.

2.5. Other issues - The vast majority of our news items are Stroud-based but we are continuing to cover the whole of Gloucestershire. Looking back over the issues we've covered shows a huge range of topics, but clearly number one has been climate change. Indeed rarely a few days goes by without trying to raise the issue again in some new way which includes highlighting what needs to be done. It is vital that we can empower people to act and help us make the changes that are needed in Government and locally.

Many of our news items are in response to items in the press while others are issues we want to get covered more. Other local issues have included the canal, the Environment Green paper, Aston Down, nuclear waste trains, Bisley composting, health cuts, the Severn Barrage, mobile phones at school and much more. We've also managed a huge range of wider issues like anger at David Drews failure to support an inquiry into Iraq, updates on the 'Fairford Five', Trident, nuclear waste, sex-trafficking, Lebanon, Seal products, dairy farming etc. Infact I urge anyone interested to use the search engine on our website to find what you want. Are we missing any key areas? Could you help around any topic area?

3. Web-based news

This is an area we've not made the most of - only a few of our news releases have also been posted on other websites and to other groups. Some of those sites, like Indymedia are strict about the content not being party political. We need to explore this area more and advertise our own website better. Another area we've only just touched on is the numerous web Discussion Groups - there are a few large ones based in Gloucestershire. I have made very small steps into this area but we need to develop our presence more on these sites.

4. GNN: Green News Network

I continue to produce a monthly summary of our news releases and letters. Anyone can sign up easily to GNN on our website: www.glosgreenparty.org.uk

5. Summary

We continue to build a solid media presence here in Gloucestershire in the newspapers but there is still room for much improvement and we still need to do more on the broadcast media. Martin and Kevin are to be particularly thanked for their help in this area. We will also need support of more members if we are to sustain and develop our media and campaigning work: whether it be responding to a letter in the papers, phoning a local radio or helping research a campaign we would love to hear from you.

I would like to finish this report with a huge thank you to the many, many members and supporters who have helped me through the year - it is, as always an exciting, challenging, frustrating, inspiring journey. Green politics is having a significant impact locally and nationally - bigger than ever before. We must build on this rapidly, time is running out, it is vital we get more Greens elected in May.

Warbler due to land in February

Just back from a meeting of what could be best described as the editorial board of the soon-to-be-launched Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish newsletter - currently titled "The WARbler, notes from Whiteshill And Ruscombe." It plans to be a quarterly A4 newsletter delivered to all the Parish with local news.

Photo: view of Ruscombe yesterday

The meeting was helped along with a glass of wine and nibbles - definiately an improvement on DCC meetings - if anyone is interested in helping with articles we would welcome hearing from them.

Recycling electronic equipment - Government should act

First it was the fridge mountain, then it was the tyre mountain. Now discarded computers. Why are the Government failing us again and again?

See a news release here that I sent out today highlighting Government failures to properly implement new legislation on computers and other equipment recycling.

Scientists at the UN university in Tokyo estimate that to make a new computer requires at least 10 times its weight in fossil fuels and chemicals. The manufacture of one computer consumes 240kg of fossil fuels, 22kg of chemicals and 1,500kg of water.

This is an issue with which I have had a fair bit of involvement - some years ago I supported Richard Drake who was living locally in starting a not-for-profit company to deal with old computers. He had already done the same in Canada where he had founded a hugely successful project: computers that worked or could be made to work would go to charity projects here and abroad while the rest would be recycled.

The CompuCycle project in Canada, started with a series of public computer collection events held on Vancouver Island in 2001 and 2002 – the first of their kind. At each event a 53ft van was filled, and sent to a recycler who guaranteed ethical recycling. A number of working machines were also collected for donation to Third World countries. Since then the project has grown lots.

I attended various meetings locally with the aim of setting up a similar project in Gloucestershire. One fascinating visit was to Stourbridge where Aonghus Gordon (see Blog below) had just purshased the Glass works - they included a machine - the first of its kind that managed to process more safely the heavy metals and all in computer monitors.

Sadly personal reasons led to Richard returning to Canada where he now runs a business collecting and processing cooking oils to convert for use in cars - his Christmas greetings show none of his enthusiasm and passion for the environment have gone. I'll have to ask Aonghus next week if the machine has been put to use.

Anyway during all that time it was already clear how the Government were failing to consider the EU requirements - indeed the implementation was put back several times - there is no excuse for the current failures.

The Conservative Parliamentary candidate was in the papers last week pictured with computors to send abroad as part of a Rotary Club project. IT for Charities also can find a home for unwanted computers. These are great projects but what is urgently called for is leadership by the Government on this to develop comprehensive solutions - businesses and IT uses need training so that they can comply with the rules.

The current failure is not just disastrous for the environment but also for winning the 'hearts and minds' of the public. The Government cannot continue saying one thing and doing another. Tony Blair talks of exercising global leadership on climate change - but he is failing to properly implement existing EU environmental legislation.

What does it mean to be Green?

Well come and find out one persons view - join us on Wednesday 10th January at 7.30 at the Old Town Hall in Stroud - the Stroud District Green party are throwing the doors open to anyone to join them for the first half of their AGM meeting to hear Aonghus Gordon's personal view around what it means to be green.

Photo: beautiful moon going down over Randwick this morning.

Aonghus Gordon, was winner in 2006 of the coveted Social Entrepreneur of the Year award in England for his work in providing educational opportunities for young people. He has founded three 'schools' for young people 18-25 years of age. Each school provides a curriculum to develop practical, social, and life skills. Ruskin Mill is the largest employer in Nailsworth and emphasizes land, nature, crafts and agriculture. It is set in over 100 acres of Horsley Valley and includes a working farm and fish farm. The second, the Glass House in Stourbridge, mainly uses glass related activities while the most recent school, The Freeman School in Sheffield’s silver-smithing industry offers a range of trainings including a cultural program associated with the Merlin Theater.

Aonghus Gordon's inspiring vision knits together the philosophies of John Ruskin, William Morris and Rudolf Steiner into a coherent arts and crafts based curriculum. It uses organic and biodynamic principles and an awareness of the wider issues of environmental sustainability. In this world today when nearly everyone is claiming to be green it should be very interesting to hear his views on what he considers it means to be green. We are looking forward to a fun thought-provoking evening. See more re event here.

See also a nice piece on the BBC today re the Green party and our new Principal Speaker who talks about other parties and their 'greenness':
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6203821.stm

GM cooking oils in the County

Before Christmas I wrote several emails and made a number of calls after hearing about GM cooking oils being used by many catering establishments. This is illegal unless it is labelled as such for the consumer. Pembrokeshire County launched a campaign to make people aware in their district, I was keen to have assurances that our County would also look at this issue.

I've now had those assurances - and sent out a news release welcoming the move and encouraging consumers to also check. Sadly it seems there are increasingly cases like this - poor labelling and also cases of contamination - like US rice contaminated this summer. All this, whether intentionally or not, wears the consumer down - I've heard it said "Well there is now so much of this GM in the food chain we can't stop it and it must be OK?" Indeed the Government plan to relax GM laws further - see my report re GM from 3 months ago.

Infact although we've seen the billioneth acre of GM planted huge problems are coming to light across the world (see 'best of 2006' here) - and many farmers are rejecting the technology. We urgently need tougher rules to prevent GM contamination of our food, farming and environment. The irreversibility of this technology means that once the GM genie is out of the bottle, it will be impossible to put it back in. I notice a new book looking at this subject is out - not sure if it is any good - but the write up about it raised some interesting issues about how the biotech industry works and the dangers.

Anyway enough of this for now - I've got a whole bundle of Development Control papers to read for next week so it's time for a coffee - and a couple of Mum's mince pie - yes still a fair few left - but they are good - Mum makes especially good pastry - and they are GM free....well I thought I ought to link in someway to the Blog subject matter...

Litter-pick in Ruscombe valley

I'd been grumbling to my partner that the field opposite the back of my house had become a litter nightmare around the big tree - children having great fun building a tree-house and all the rest - infact apart from wood and old bits of kitchen cupboards to make the tree house nearly all the rubbish was soft drink bottles and crisp packets. Anyhow ended up this afternoon collecting 3 sacks of rubbish just from that one site with my partner's granddaughter. There is still more to go but it looks loads better and no need to grumble more about the view!

Another litter spot that seems to need regular attention is the farm gateway on the right as you almost reach Humphreys End on the Bread Street road. People park there for snacks late at night - and during the day and dispose of rubbish out the window.

If excessive litter is on the streets then do report it by calling the SDC Environmental Contracts Division on 01453 754424. The Council are required to maintain the cleanliness of an area. Legislation sets out grades of cleanliness so if an area becomes dirty, there is a legal response time that it must be restored to an acceptable level of cleanliness. There is an obligation to keep highway land clear of litter and refuse so far as is practicable. All incidents of dumped rubbish should also be reported to the above number. Alternatively you can use the Report It service to notify cases of fly tipping on-line. Click the Stroud District Direct link below to go to "Report It" and select "Fly Tipping" from the drop down box.

Campaign to save Weavers Croft continues: please write to Patricia Hewitt

It is great news that Stroud Maternity and Cheltenham Maternity will continue to provide their excellent maternity services. A huge thank you to all those who worked so hard work, campaigning, marching, writing letters and so much more.

However many of us are still deeply unhappy about the proposed changes to the older peoples inpatient services for the mentally ill. We need your support locally regarding Weavers Croft.

The Gloucestershire Partnership Trust propose to transfer the inpatient services at Weavers Croft (Stroud), Colliers Court (Cinderford) and Holly House (Gloucester) to a single site at Charlton Lane (Cheltenham).

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee, after in-depth discussions with the Partnership Trust, have decided to refer this proposal to the Secretary of State for Health. The OSC have published the reasons why they have done this on the Gloucestershire County Council website.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee believe that the proposal to centralise the older people's mental health inpatient services will have a detrimental effect on the health and experience of the local residents due to:

- The significant negative impact that the proposal will have in terms of access
- The reductions in community staffing levels in the same localities that are losing
locally based inpatient services
- The negative medium term impact associated with undertaking major refurbishment
work at Charlton Lane whilst the centre is occupied

David Miller, Chairman of Save Stroud Hospitals Taskforce has written to all Town and Parish Councils saying:

"Reflecting the views of local residents we agree with the OSC appraisal. We believe that one of the most fundamental needs of an older person with a mental illness is the need to be in contact with familiar people, situations and places to reduce anxiety and increase the sense of wellbeing. To transfer the care of these older people away from their communities would be fundamentally wrong.

"The centralising of these services also goes against Government policy outlined in the White Paper "Our Health, Our Care, Our Say" published in January 2006, which has the clear vision of locating services within local communities and engaging with the people of those communities to ascertain their needs and wishes. We are writing to you to request that you consider supporting the retention of the Weavers Croft inpatient services for older people with a mental illness by writing to: The Rt. Hon. Patricia Hewitt MP, The Secretary of State for Health, Richmond House, 79, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2NS.

"We believe that she is concerned about this issue and will listen to the sincere observations of our community."

David Miller also asks that individuals write to the Secretary of State about this important service. We can still save our local services - please flood Patricia Hewitt with letters. My Blog from 14th July may also provide some useful info.