Vote Green 1st May

It was wet canvassing this evening in Rodborough - despite waterproofs the rain seemed to still manage to get in - anyhow here's a last appeal to vote Green tomorrow - see more re the 17 Stroud District candidates here.

Photo: a drier moment - Phil Blomberg, candidate for Rodborough and Dr Carol Kambites, former Town Councillor earlier this evening

And see blog on 28th April about The Observer saying vote Green in the Mayoral elections and 20th March about the Livingstone-Berry pact in London.

Anyhow I'm not writing more here otherthan to quote part of a letter by Phil Blomberg to the local press last year - it seems appropriate to re-quote as Tories in Nailsworth send out another leaflet saying 'Vote Blue, Go Green'....can they really be serious????

Nationally Tories and Labour both support more road building, doubling airports, Trident, the war in Iraq, GM crops, nuclear power, blocking key EU Environmental legislation and the insanity of ever more economic growth. Scottish Friends of the Earth recently researched all the parties 'green' policies and found the Tories have the least firm commitment to environmental policies and that only Greens have policies to address the issues like Climate Change. Market bases policies that are so enthusiastically endorsed by the three main parties will continue to drive climate chaos: markets work when we consume more yet this is what we need to change.

The Green Party has long called for a return to more redistribution and greener taxes by simply replacing VAT with green taxes. We also need an end to road building and airports expansions. Local production for local need, a huge expansion of public transport and renewables, zero waste and the rest are possible. The most important part of change will be the demand that policy is governed not by the needs of more economic growth but on the basis of what is good for humanity and the rest of nature.

Phil Blomberg, Stroud District Green party

Shelter, NUT and PCS industrial actions all need our support

The last few weeks we've seen several strikes and industrial actions - I write in this blog about the Shelter strike today and tomorrow - see more below - but also last week the National Union of Teachers strike at many schools across the County and the recent walk out by 200 staff at the Land Registry in Gloucester organised by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union.

Picture; May Day tomorrow.

Both NUT and PCS groups have been offered a below-inflation settlement that represents a real-terms salary cut - just as the credit crunch is biting and the cost of living is going through the roof. Labour have presided over a tax and pay structure for the public services that has seen the gap between the richest and the least well-off stretch even more wide than it was under a Tory government. It must surely now ensure that teachers and other public servants, are given pay rises that reflect the work they do and the current level of inflation.

Of course to do so would cost money, but not doing so calls into question the very future of high quality local public services - but there are plenty of ways to find the dosh - like end the war in Iraq, ditch the ID card nonsense, tax those earning £100.000 more and scrap plans for a Trident replacement.

Indeed at the heart of these actions is the extent to which we value the work of our public servants. Forcing another pay cut on them can only make future recruitment and retention harder and in the case of teachers it will threaten to reverse recent improvements in local schools' performance. See more here re my statement re PCS.

Shelter actions

Green Party Principal Speaker Dr. Derek Wall has pledged in the previous months Green Party support for the workers of the housing charity Shelter, who have taken industrial action after rejecting out of hand a revised contract offer from Shelter managers.

The original dispute erupted earlier in the year, after Shelter managers demanded staff work an extra two and a half hours a week without additional pay - lost income worth an average of £1,700 per person over a year, despite Shelter's 2007 annual report revealing an annual income of £49.1m, with staff costs of £27.7m. I am aware that at least one of those effected lives in Stroud.

The charity's Chief Executive Adam Sampson emailed Shelter employees informing them: 'Those who decide that they are not prepared to work under the new arrangements will, with regret, be issued with notices of dismissal.' Staff are being told that if they want to continue in their jobs, they have to sign the new inferior contracts, on poorer pay and conditions. Union members were recently balloted on whether to accept or reject the new offer. Members voted to reject this, which further escalated the industrial dispute and led to this weeks strike.

Dr. Wall, who was a founder of the Green Party Trade Union, said "There are a number of industrial disputes in the news at present, but I don't think we should forget the demand of Shelter workers for fair pay and conditions. Workers at Shelter originally took industrial action because they were told by the homeless charity managers that their wages must be cut. The Green Party of England and Wales supported the staff strikes then, and we support them now. It is very sad that a charity which tries to tackle social injustice is treating its workers in this manner, and we call on Shelter to reject pay cuts for its hard working staff."

This Shelter dispute is deeply disappointing from a charity that I have supported financially - but the dispute effectively arises out of the government policy of commissioning out of public services to the voluntary or "Third" sector. This was a policy pursued very consiously and vigorously by New Labour as a way of getting public services on the cheap. Voluntary sector organisations are now in competition with the private sector in a race to the bottom to provide the cheapest service. Management at many voluntary sector organisations have have chosen to cheapen their bids by reducing their workers' wages and conditions - this appears to be happening at Shelter. As one commentator wrote: "This government policy is forcing a situation in the voluntary sector of 'survival of those most prepared to slash workers' wages and conditions'."

Get GM rice out of the food chain

I have just asked the following two questions off Gloucestershire Trading Standards regarding GM products. Use the search engine on this blog to find previous correspondence on this matter.

Photo: Ruscombe valley

1. You will probably be aware that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has finally declared that illegal and potentially dangerous GM rice found in the UK food chain eighteen months ago is "unsafe". They have now issued a food alert for local authorities to take action on the Bt63 rice from China. As you will know it is now up to local authorities to carry out food testing. I would welcome information about what action you are planning to carry out.

2. Again, as you know, it is illegal for caterers to use GM ingredients unless they are clearly labelled on their menus or displayed on a prominent notice. I wrote to you about 18 months ago on this issue, in particular GM cooking oils, and received assurances that you would look into this. However I understand from Friends of the Earth that still many cafes, restaurants, takeaways and pubs are routinely using GM oil in their cooking without letting their customers know. In fact, they might not even know they are doing it themselves. I would welcome information on what steps you are taking to ensure that caterers stick to the rules, and make them aware of their legal responsibilities.

Cllr. Philip Booth,
Stroud District councillor for the Randwick, Ruscombe and Whiteshill ward

Glos Trading Standards can be emailed: tradstds@gloucestershire.gov.uk

World food crisis: take action

I just got this message below on a Transition Stroud email list. It is full of passion about the need for action - and certainly the message further below from Avaaz should make us all think - a world food crisis is hitting - do please follow the link and sign the petition.

Grangemouth has shown us we are also enormously vulnerable to oil prices and availability - see my letter to local press copied on this blog on Saturday 26th April and the comment re £10 a gallon on my blog on 5th April and the 13th Feb about why the price of peak oil is famine - indeed it is an issue I've returned to regularly - and an issue our Government has completely failed to grasp. Let us hope all this tragedy will awake them...

as you can see from the message below, everything we have talked about is becoming more and more our daily reality. a world wide food crisis is happening out there and is imminent everywhere else. still there are so many folk that brush it off thinking anything they could do would make little difference anyway, that one more shopper in the local supermarket is but a drop in the ocean, that eating out of season veg is normal, that a quick trip to the video store in the car won't hurt much, that government will someday do something... it is this apathy that stifles movements for change. we need to take action and to believe that every act builds the collective act. here in Stroud we have huge potential to create a sustainable local economy. there are so many ideas and projects being developed but we must support them in every way to make them a reality. this is really a plea (and a rant) to get out there whenever you can to join all the positive efforts and events, workshops and talks, and most importantly to bring these messages back into your own home where you can make the most difference... eat seasonal veg (join a CSA)!! (your kids will learn to love it and your bellies and wallets will feel better for it!); dig up part of your lawn; change where your electricity comes from; switch off things you don't need; share your bath water or take a shower!; make your own conserves, preserves and booze; buy local; walk and cycle more; join the car club; rediscover charity shops and swap stuff with friends; carry cloth shopping bags and refuse plastic; get an allotment... and please get yourselves out there to any proactive event you have time for!! xx

Avaaz write: "We're plunging headlong into a world food crisis. Rocketing prices are squeezing billions and triggering food riots from Bangladesh to South Africa. Aid agencies say 100 million more people are at risk of starvation right now. In Sierra Leone alone the price of a bag of rice has doubled, becoming unaffordable for 90% of citizens. Fears of inflation stalk the whole world, and the worst could be yet to come. We need to act now - before it's too late. As Ban Ki-Moon holds a high-level UN meeting on the crisis, we're launching an urgent campaign with African foreign minister and human rights campaigner Zainab Bangura. Click below to see Zainab's video message and add your name to the food crisis petition - we need to raise 200,000 signatures by the end of this week to deliver a massive global outcry to leaders at the UN, G8 and EU. The prices of staple foods like wheat, corn and rice have almost doubled, and the crisis is slipping out of control - so we're calling for immediate action on emergency food aid, speculation and biofuels policy, while asking forthcoming summits to tackle deeper problems of investment and trade."

Please sign: www.avaaz.org/en/world_food_crisis/9.php

The impacts of climate change are clearly going to make the situation worse. Today Green MEP Jean Lambert was speaking at a major event investigating the impact of climate change on mass migration will bring together key environment and population experts tomorrow to discuss how climate change will affect migration patterns and how policy-makers should respond. The conference organised by the IPPR (Institute for Public Policy Research) was at The British Librar and included Secretary of State for the Environment, Hilary Benn, the Minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Kim Howells, and Lord Nicholas Stern, former Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of the World Bank.

As the conference I am sure showed, one of the greatest impacts of climate change that we are going to see in the near future will be widespread human displacement as changing weather patterns cause crops to fail and create food and water shortages. What is unknown is when and where these human crises will unfold and how best to cope with the resulting migration. There are already an estimated 25 million environmental refugees in the world, but they are not recognised as such by the international community and thus have no legal protection. Closing borders is not a long-term solution. Countries that have the greatest responsibility for creating climate change also have a responsibility to deal with the casualties.

See useful analysis here and Paul Rogers good article on the subject here:
www.opendemocracy.net/article/conflicts/global_security/the_worlds_food_problem

No 46 bus partially saved

Gloucestershire County Council has offered to partly reintroduce the number 46 evening bus service between Stroud and Cheltenham. The BBC phoned today about this news as I had been one of those to highlight this issue locally. I gave them a local residents number who had complained to me about the cuts - hopefully her pre-recorded interview will be on the morning news tomorrow.

The no 46 service, which travels from Nailsworth through Stroud and Painswick and onto Cheltenham will be reinstated on Friday and Saturday nights on a five-month trial basis. This service may be extended if passenger use improves significantly - but equally if demand does not increase we are told the service will stop.

This is seen as a victory of common sense by many, but I have to still doubt the wisdom of cutting the evening services - this will impact on the whole service - I would far rather see priorities of the Council shift to put emphasis on public transport - and where is the proper promotion of such services - as I said to the press (and in my blog on 27th March): "Our countryside is increasingly becoming a ghetto for the rich, completely inaccessible for those without cars. Good rural buses need to be an alternative for people with cars as well as a lifeline for those without."

See also blogs on this bus service on 31st March plus 2nd and 21st April - of course what we really need is public ownership of our buses - see here.

2,200 monthly visits to this blog

Regular blog readers will notice I am using a different template/layout. This is at a request from several people to be able to see recent posts more easily. This is great but I messed up on transferring the blog and lost the links. I will be adding them back again but it will take time as need to add one at a time.

Cartoon: ' Local Scribbler Russ' does one of me

Meanwhile a recent check on this blogs statistics shows over 2,200 unique visits to this blog per month - about 600 are people returning to the site and some 200 plus return almost weekly to view site.

300 visitors directly came to the site, 560 plus came directly from other sites - the rest from search engines. Nearly 1,200 of the monthly visitors are from the UK while 550 come from the States - many of the latter no doubt picked up from sources like the Politics Blog listing where I come in at position 126 in an international listing of nearly 900 blogs. The rest of the statistics makes interesting reading - 72 countries - with 3o from Australia, 80 from Spain, 10 from Indonesia, 3 from Russia. I wonder what they pick up on to look at this blog?

Glos bee colony numbers drop by 30% in one year

A year and two days ago on this blog I raised the issue of "AIDS for the bee industry" (by clicking on the 'bees' label below you will see all the other entries on this topic). In conversations with a local beekeeper there was concern re dying colonies but not the level of concern that I hear in the article below...I find the figures this article quotes are shocking - but I am also concerned that varroa may not be the only cause - see Pat Thomas' article in The Ecologist:
www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=1170

Photo: Randwick woods last year - bluebells are just as glorious now

As previous blogs note there is a lack of urgency over this issue - we need more research and discussion of this topic. Indeed please consider signing this petition here:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/BeeResearch/

"If honey bees become extinct, human society will follow in four years." Albert Einstein

Article in The Citizen today:

Beekeepers across Gloucestershire are demanding urgent action to save their dying colonies. Last year's wet summer, this year's mild winter and a thriving killer bug means bee numbers are down to the lowest levels for years. As honey makers across the county see their profits dwindle, many are calling for more government investment, particularly to tackle the plague of varroa mite which is tearing through hives.

The number of colonies across Gloucestershire has been declining steadily for more than a decade, but last year dropped by 25 to 30 per cent. There are 275 registered beekeepers in Gloucestershire. In 1994 there were about 5,000 colonies in the county. Last year the figure was between 1,500 to 2,000.

The main cause is the spread of the varroa which feeds on adult bees and larvae and spreads viruses. Defra spends £200,000 a year on bee research, which includes investigating ways to deal with parasites.

Cheltenham beekeeper Michael Hunt said this needed to increase dramatically or the entire British honey industry could be wiped out in 15 years. He has 35 hives in and around the town, down five on last year, and supplies Gloucestershire honey to health shops and garden centres.

"We're fighting a losing battle," he said. "We're having to spend more time and more money to keep our bees healthy and try to combat varroa but really the Government needs to invest much more money. The problem used to be keeping the number of bee colonies down, now it's a struggle to keep the ones you've got. Honey is a luxury food. It's not like petrol where you can just put up prices to cover costs. I used to make £3,000 profit a year. Last year I made £1,500."

Varroa came to England in 1992 and is rapidly spreading. Fears are now rife that global warming might drive other exotic parasites to Britain, such as the small hive beetle, parasitic brood mites and the Asian hornet. The British Bee Keepers Association wants a government research programme of £7.7 million, £2 million of which would fund a project on control of varroa.

A Defra spokesperson said: "There are currently significant pressures on financing across all areas of the Department's work. The fact that funding for bee health has been maintained at the same level over a number of years is a positive indication of the importance government attaches to this area of work."

St George's Day should be a national holiday?

St George's Day should be a national holiday in England? Here are some words from human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. He said: "We should celebrate St George as a symbol of freedom, dissent and multiculturalism. It is time we ditched the myths surrounding St George and celebrated the reality of his courageous life. He doesn't belong to the far right. He represents multiculturalism and rebellion against tyranny. St George wasn't white or English. He was a rebel from the Middle East. His father was Turkish and his mother probably Palestinian. He rebelled against the Roman Emperor Diocletian and was executed for opposing the persecution of Christians by the Romans. An early defender human rights, he is a heroic symbol of protest and the right to freedom of belief and expression. St George's parentage embodies multiculturalism and his life expresses the values of English liberalism and dissent."

Picture: Saint George oil painting by Raphael

Great stuff if we really can get that message across - last night I saw the DVD of the award winning 2006 film "This is England" - a look back at the early eighties of British working-class life through the eyes of young Shaun and his new gang, and dealing with the bitterness of outside influences such as racism and xenophobia, of mass unemployment and the fall out of the Falkland's War - Thatcher's Britain - great acting but heavy stuff - dealing with the appeal of gangs and the National Front - indeed in the past this historical linking of the 'English flag' with racism has made me reluctant to show support for a St George's Day holiday - it is shocking that the BNP are standing locally in Nailsworth in this weeks elections - see my comment yesterday here - but the good news is that times are changing - Lancaster University's Susan Condor commenting on the recent upsurge in flying of the flag at sports events said it "is reappropriating it and stripping it of political associations."

It is clear however problems still persist - in Bradford a St George's Day march was canceled on police advice - I'm not sure that was the best way to handle the event. Then again in many areas I wonder how many people are really interested in celebrating? There is a campaign website to make St George's day a holiday - see here - a holiday is hardly something people will vote against! See also the comment in Guardian here from Ian Williams. In contrast to that view English Heritage have launched a campaign to dispel apathy - see here - and a guide on how to celebrate the day....

Aerial survey to include Randwick area

I came across 'The Cotswold Lion' - a free newspaper from the Cotswolds AONB (a Cotswold Lion is a sheep!) - it gives some useful info about the area and various projects - it also had an update on the lidar project (see previous blog on this - click here and scroll down)...

Photo: earlier photo comparing lidar and google on computer in Randwick

....this is lidar is a very exciting project and I was hoping action could be taken to include Randwick - things looked pretty hopeless when we learnt about the sums of money needed to raise in a short time - however I heard last week that the project has gone ahead and includes parts of our locality - anyhow read on to learn more...

Unveiling Mysteries of ancient landscape
- taken from 'The Cotswold Lion' newspaper (free at various points incl Stroud library).

A LIGHT plane with some sophisticated survey equipment on board has taken to the sky to unearth ancient secrets that lie beneath the beech woods covering a large swathe of the Cotswolds AONB. Airborne laser technology has been harnessed to produce images that, with pinpoint accuracy, will ‘draw’ a map of the archaeological features on the surface of the Cotswold Escarpment over an area stretching from Leckhampton Hill in the north to Stroud in the south.

The Cranham LiDAR Survey is being undertaken in order to broaden the understanding and knowledge of historical features previously hidden beneath the dense canopy of trees that covers much of the Escarpment. LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) uses a scanning radar range finder that bypasses obstructions like foliage to measure the height of the ground surface and other features in large areas of landscape with a resolution and accuracy that provides highly detailed and accurate models of the land surface.

The aerial survey, carried out by specialists Precision Terrain Surveys, was originally commissioned by Cranham Local History Society to chart the Escarpment in their area. However, the scope of the project widened beyond anyone’s expectation as other groups like Crickley Hill Archaeological Trust, Leckhampton Local History Society, Cotteswold Naturalists Field Club and Randwick Historical Society all wanted to become involved because they wanted to know more about their own part of the Escarpment. It did not take long for the total size of the survey to extend to 100 square kilometres. The area was flown over in 400 metre strips in a grid pattern.

The Cotswolds Conservation Board is meeting 70 per cent of the cost of the survey, expected to be around £30,000, while other groups and organisations have pledged to fund the balance. The resulting digital ‘map’ will be put on disc to be made available free of charge to anyone who needs the information, as long as it is not for commercial purposes. Cranham Local History Society have already found previously undiscovered archaeological features as a result of a trial LiDAR flight in 2005. This revealed, for instance, that the fort at Cooper’s Hill was much larger than originally thought.

Also the preliminary survey showed clearly the triangular earthworks of the Witts Enclosure – built in that shape to minimise the number of vulnerable corners. Now it is hoped to discover more about the Roman forts and Iron Age hill settlements scattered along the Escarpment. It is also hoped to find remains of conflicts as far apart as the Cromwellian Civil War and the Second World War, during which anti-aircraft gun emplacements were positioned in the area.

Will Handley, treasurer of Cranham Local History Society, said: “There has been a tremendous amount of interest from organisations in other areas, and their pledges of support enabled us to extend the survey area.

“Local schools have expressed great interest in using the survey to teach young people about local history and local geography.”

Information gathered by the survey will help other ongoing projects, such as the management of the Cooper’s Hill Local Nature Reserve by Gloucestershire County Council and the restoration of the Painswick Rococo Garden. Martin Whitaker, chairman of Cranham Local History Society, said: “The last public meeting about the survey was very well attended by about 80 people of all ages, some as young as six.

“That shows how this project has captured the imagination of so many people.”

The Society has created an informative website about the LiDAR survey. Log on to
www.cranhamsurvey.org.uk

Download The Cotswold Lion here. And also more info on LiDAR here.

Woodruffs Organic Cafe: 10th birthday

I've made all sorts of positive comments in the past about this wonderful cafe - their food is amazing - and that comes from the brother of the guy who set up the countries leading vegetarian restaurant, Cafe Maitreya.

Woodruffs was the countries first fully organic restaurant - open during the day and occasionally for evening meals - on Saturday they celebrated 10 years of being open - sadly I was too exhausted after Nailstock to get to their party - but sent a card and strongly recommend folk to catch one of their evening openings as you will not be disappointed. Congrats to Holly and her team - brilliant job!

Photo: Green party secondhand books on sale at Woodruffs here.

See the restaurant near the top of the High Street - 24 High Street - Telephone: 01453 759195

Bread oven making

I covered the wonderful Nailstock in a blog entry on Saturday - a great event indeed - but didn't mention there much of the other exhibitions going on in the town...all sorts of crafts and more...one I wanted to highlight was the fun going on in the Somerfield carpark....

Making a bread oven - Sam Mukumba (see photos) talked onlookers through the process - and some helped mash the clay, straw and sand then mould the oven over wet sand...love it all...have wanted to build one for a long while - maybe later this year!

Also found this website on building ovens:
www.traditionaloven.com/

Photo: more crafts in Somerfield carpark on Saturday

The Bread Oven was part of the Ruskin Mill Exhibition 'Transition' which runs for three weeks - and offers a great opportunity to dig deep in your closets for fragments and stories to contribute towards a growing collective creation through the familar lenses of clothing (Thu1st-Sat3rd May), shelter (Thu8th-Sat10th May) & food (Sun11th-Tue13th May) - there is also a wheel of ideas to be added to throughout the next three weeks so they ask folk to bring any leaflets or pictures you might have that spread the word about positive and proactive projects...

Ash Lane mast planning application has gone in

I've just spoken with Planning, Orange, Parish Council chair and others re this mast application which has now gone in - see my letter to the Randwick Runner below.

Cartoon: from "local scribbler, Russ"

Proposed Radio Base Station, Land Adjacent Ash Lane, Stroud: S.08/0862/FUL

Orange have now put in a planning application for a 15 metre high mast at land adjacent to Ash Lane. By the time the Runner goes to press, the District Council should have put full details on their website. I have requested that this planning application is withdrawn from the delegated schedule as this will allow more scrutiny of this planning application.

To make comments or objections on the application, quote the reference number and get them to the District Council within four weeks.

It is my view that the mast could have a serious negative visual impact on our beautiful countryside from some key angles. This, is also, in my view the strongest grounds for objecting to the mast. Several residents have already contacted me to express strong opposition to this location.

The need for a mast in the area has apparently arisen due to Stroud College not re-siting an Orange mast from their old building to their new one. However many people report reasonable Orange coverage despite the lack of a mast. Apart from questioning the need I am also concerned that Orange have not done enough to find alternative sites. I am told by Orange's agent that the mast within Standish Wood already has an Orange connection and that the Prince of Wales mast is not suitable. Is there an alternative site that will not impact on people or our countryside?

A health risk?

Planning regulations make it very difficult to challenge masts on health risks: indeed I have been told by some planners that it is not worthwhile raising health concerns. The Government's Stewart Report sets out that the maximum beam of intensity should not fall on any part of a school premises. However, as I've discussed on my blog, the Government guidelines fudge this by leaving loop holes that allow masts to be built on schools. In my view if there is concern about schools then we should also be concerned about homes.

We should at the very least see the precautionary principle applied - the Precautionary principle states that in the event of doubt, risk should be avoided or minimised. In a telephone call with Orange's agent I have sought more information regarding the beam intensity of this proposed mast. My initial information would indicate that the beam is away from people's homes, but I await confirmation.

Other concerns raised

Additional traffic on Ash Lane: Orange note that they make only six maintenance visits a year.

Access to the mast: the proposed access track area could become a place for cars to park at night listening to loud music like in other local areas.

Visual impact: the Parish Council noted that they would wish Orange to use one of the masts designed to resemble a tree. They have done this in other areas but only when insisted upon by Planning.

New nuclear power station for Gloucestershire

Words nearly failed me when I read the news this morning that proposals are going forward for a new nuke at Oldbury - yes I know it is at 'high risk of flooding' and makes no sense on many, many counts - see my hurried news release this morning here.

Green party endorsed by The Observer

The Observer came out yesterday endorsing the Green party's campaign for Siân Berry to become Mayor: Siân 1, Ken 2 recommendation is the Greens first ever national newspaper endorsement. Following Siân's own recommendation, they are also asking their readers to give their second vote to Ken Livingstone.

Photo: Sian launching policies in free insulation that have been tried and tested in Kirklees

This historic endorsement is the first from a national newspaper for any Green candidate, and comes after a Siân met with the Observer political staff last week for a 90-minute grilling on her policies. The paper says: "A respectable score for Ms Berry, an intelligent and articulate advocate of her cause, would send a clear signal to whoever wins the mayoralty that London cares about environmental policy. It would also deprive the British National Party of fourth place, a small but notable step towards the mainstream."

Read the full leader article in The Observer's online edition.

The Observer also praises the work of the Green members of the London Assembly, saying: "The party has already used its toehold on the London Assembly to wring green concessions worth millions of pounds out of the mayoral budget."

Polls show Green numbers on the Assembly could be set to double from two to four - putting Siân in City Hall. To do that, you have to vote GREEN on the PEACH ballot paper. The peach paper is for the proportional representation Londonwide constituency, and it's marked "Election of the London Assembly - London Member".

Bread Street slippage and temporary road closures

Bread Street slippage: The road leading out of Bread Street towards Stroud has noticeably slipped especially near one of the cottages. Locals may recall a little further up the road collapsed into a garden some years ago. There are clearly concerns that the same could occur - this time the road could also slip direct into the house. In my conversations with Highways they tell me they are monitoring the slip with pins in the road and an engineer is due to look at it - may have even done so already. Let us hope it does not entail closing the road like they did with Lower Street in Ruscombe for some many, many months...clearly this is different in that a home is also threatened by the slippage.

Photo: Not a great photo of the slippage - other angles would show it better!

Temporary road closures:
- Randwick Main Road - 27th to 30th May - at last essential drainage repairs
Call John Roberts at Glos Highways if you need further info: 08000 514514.
- Roads between The Ryelands and The Vine Tree and The Lane and Ocker Hill will be closed for the Wap on 10th May Noon to 3pm. Queries re this to 759116 (daytime only)
- Bread Street - closing for party hopefully 1pm to 11 pm on 28th June.

Greenshop opening

The Greenshop in Bisley started out 20 years ago from a garage forecourt and has now become a multi-million pound business. Yesterday saw it's official opening of it's new £700,000 green HQ - congrats and more to them all working there.

Bisley garage owner Roger Budgeon said in the press: "It reflects the way we believe we must all interact with our environment. It's designed to be as close to carbon neutral as possible, which businesses across the county need to work towards. We all have to be less energy-demanding."

The Greenshop group employs 55 people and has a turnover of £3.75 million. It commissioned the new HQ from eco-architects Architype in order to bring together the five branches of its business - Greenshop, Auro Paints, Consolar UK, Greenshop Solar and Rainharvesting Systems Ltd. A major part of each branch's work is assisting local businesses to 'green' their own HQs, with eco-paints, solar panels and water systems. It features log and solar thermal heating, photovoltaic solar panels on the roof producing electricity, wonderful green and brown roofs, with plants and miniature 'bio-systems' for wildlife, a rainwater harvesting system, natural insulation, natural paints and finishes, natural lighting and ventilation, oak, bamboo and recycled tyre carpet and flooring.

Outside, the Greenshop has landscaped grounds featuring natural ponds and flow-forms. The building needs no air conditioning in summer and is heated by sustainable wood and solar power and super insulated. It also needs almost no artificial lighting, so it is much less reliant on non-renewable energy. The wood-burning boiler will cost £200 a year to run and solar panels on the roof will provide electricity.

More info and photos at: www.greenshopgroup.co.uk

Nailstock: amazing free festival

Nailstock is a community-run free music festival, celebrating local bands and musicians. This year I went for most of the afternoon - what a great atmosphere.


Huge thanks to all the organisers for an amazing event - the procession was great and loved the bands, dancing and cafes and more...

....and the events continue all week with the Nailsworth Festival.

See more photos of Transition Stroud Folk hard at work recycling and giving out info to festival goers here.

For more details see:
http://www.nailstock.com/

Transition Stroud Library

Yesterday I met with Library staff and Transition folk to help set up a special 'Transition' section in Stroud library - I've been collecting donated books for the last few months and it looks like we will be able to launch the project in June. See more here.

Do let me know if you have any possible books - and especially DVDs - we are still collecting.

To me this is great - as I've noted before to library bosses at County - I think rather than being increasingly commercial libraries should be promoting more of Council policies - like tackling climate change....thanks to all donations so far.

Oil strike: Government failure on energy security

It is increasingly looking like we will go from oil strike to oil shock to oil famine before Green solutions are adopted - and they must - see below my letter to the press last night - and also below an answer to a query on a new oil find.

Photo: Bakken oil field (see discussion below)

Before all that I must mention the fascinating and at times heated Coffee House Discussion at Star Anise last night on biofuels - Colin Hygate from Green Fuels (Europes largest biodiesel equipment supplier) in Stonehouse, Dave Cockcroft, a Green party Town councillor who has been researching energy and John Meadley all talked. Plus there was input from Biofuelwatch and many others - there seemed to be general agreement about the damage that palm oil is doing - and indeed a majority of the people there also were totally against the corn being used in the states - and against the Government's recent targets - See my recent comment on that here. However the role biofuels played should not be underestimated - a third of the world uses biofuels of one sort or another (incl wood etc) - and new technologies are looking at algae or crops that could only be grown in certain arid conditions.

But could we feed ourselves and drive cars (see my recent posts on this by clicking on label below)? Dave Cockcroft had calculated if all Stroud District was put down to rapeseed it would still only provide 25% of our current use - and there is clearly no way rapeseed could grow across the whole District - and of course that would leave nothing for food. Biofuels have a place - only a small place - extreme caution is needed before considering their use (except of course waste oils like chip fat etc). Anyhow to the letter....

The strike at the Grangemouth oil refinery, with it's possible month long fuel shortage in Scotland and the north of England, highlights our Governments inability to ensure energy provision. In 2006, Green MEPs failed to get sensible answers from Government ministries, when they asked what steps were being taken to prepare for a decrease in national fuel supplies. It seems clear now that the Government have no serious plans.

This week, oil reached its highest price ever. Some oil traders are betting on it doubling by the end of the year. Even if this doesn't occur, many recognise that oil production is probably nearing its peak. Some consider it has peaked. If so, we are in for a rough ride. If producers start keeping their fast-dwindling resources for their own economies then the forecast oil shock will become an energy famine.

The need to tackle our energy use has never been greater. Yet it is still only Greens that have the initiatives to protect us from the consequences of a sudden decrease in fuel supplies. Policies like free insulation and sustainable energy would mean that our homes would be increasingly off-grid and not dependent on fossil fuel supply. While locally sourced food production would ensure food security for communities is not dependent on long haul transport and the whims of the fuel market.

We must surely wake up to this issue and act. We can only do this together.

Cllr. Philip Booth,
Stroud District councillor for the Randwick, Ruscombe and Whiteshill ward

And what of the new oil find?

The US imported about 14 million barrels of Oil per day in 2007 , which means US consumers sent about $340 Billion Dollars over seas building palaces in Dubai and propping up unfriendly regimes around the World....I read with some interest that: "America is sitting on top of a super massive 200 billion barrel Oil Field that could potentially make America Energy Independent and until now has largely gone unnoticed. Thanks to new technology the Bakken Formation in North Dakota could boost America’s Oil reserves by an incredible 10 times, giving western economies the trump card against OPEC’s short squeeze on oil supply and making Iranian and Venezuelan threats of disrupted supply irrelevant."

Some gave the figures even higher and talked of a 25% increase in oil for the states...

A 25-fold increase? That's huge – or so it sounds. But then you start comparing numbers. Assuming all 4.3 billion barrels could be retrieved, it would represent nine months of oil consumption in the United States. Here is one report: "...let's consider the nature of the Bakken oil. It doesn't sit in big underground pools where you can just pop in a metal straw and suck it out. This oil is trapped in layers of shale – a sedimentary rock – up to 3,000 metres deep. Getting at it is expensive and difficult, and certainly damaging to the surrounding landscape and environment. You thought the oil sands were messy and energy-intensive? Bakken is tough oil. You have to drill down and then horizontally through rock, which has to be fractured to release the oil that is tucked away in small pores....Now, with oil at $110 (U.S.) a barrel, some of those Bakken reserves just might make it into our vehicles one day. What's perplexing, however, is the oil industry's determination to go after this expensive, dirty stuff when other, cleaner alternatives do exist."

Hermann Scheer, president of the World Council for Renewable Energy commented: "The reason is very simple. The oil companies have tied all of their investments to transportation, refineries and distribution. That means they're prisoners of their own energy supply chain."

So all in all while it maybe nice oil, but it is still difficult to extract and no serious delay to any peak oil...

Woodcraft in Randwick Woods

I've mentioned a fair few times Stroud District Woodcraft Folk - I am currently one of the leaders of the Willow Elfin group - and on Thursday I led a group of 14 children through Randwick woods - the bluebells and wood anenome are amazing - and it was a glorious evening,

We had the quiz you see in the photo - the answers have been filled in although not easy to read or view!! It was part of identifying some flowers and trees and more for a badge - indeed we have a fun programme of events this term that include den-making, learning about animal tracks, swimming, raft-making, a sausage sizzle on Selsey common and bugs, flowers and ice cream on Rodborough Common.

There are possibly some spaces for children as several have moved up but we do need some more adult help - CRB checked etc. Do get in touch if interested.

Porsche: an emblem of all our environmental crimes?

Porsche has founded its business on the promotion and supply of highly polluting vehicles. Along with the rest of the German car industry they are desperately resisting the strong measures needed to tackle the car industry’s contribution to climate change. According to FoE figures, 44 of the 46 models in Porsche's range would face the £25 charge. Its most polluting model, the Cayenne Turbo S (see photo), emits 378g of CO2 per kilometre, about four times as much as the most fuel efficient vehicles on the market.

Here is my letter to their Customer Service department prompted by a letter by local campaigner Matt Archibald:

I was horrified to read that you are mounting a legal challenge to the decision to raise the London congestion charge from £8 to £25 for the highest-polluting vehicles.

Drivers of more environmentally damaging vehicles should pay proportionately more for the privelege of owning and driving such vehicles, especially within an urban environment. Why should Londoners face unnecessary levels of pollution and greenhouse gases from a tiny minority? No-one is allowed to throw their rubbish in the street and Porsche should not be allowed to impose gas-guzzling, polluting cars on Londoners who do not want them.

Have you not read the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that spells out in no uncertain terms that we need to massively cut our emissions? Even Nicholas Stern said last week: "We badly underestimated the degree of damages and the risks of climate change. All of the links in the chain are on average worse than we thought a couple of years ago." Our Government and even Ken Livingstone (who is better than most) are failing dismally to understand the enormity of what the scientists are saying. We need much greater moves than a pitiful £25 charge if we are to make a future for ourselves and future generations.

I urge you to read those reports: already we see the impacts of our CO2 emissions are impacting on the world's poor. All the forecasts indicate this will get much worse and impact severely on our own economy.

The congestion charge is one of the few measures to actually help reduce congestion. It is no wonder that climate activists are starting to target your showrooms. Instead of spending time on trying to reduce the charge, it would be more appropriate for Porsche to put its effort into making a new generation of much less polluting vehicles. If not Porsche will become forever seen as a dinosaur of the car industry: as one commentator put it "an emblem of all our environmental crimes".

I look forward to hearing your views. Cllr. Philip Booth, Stroud District councillor for the Randwick, Ruscombe and Whiteshill ward,

Others can write to: customer.assistance@porsche.co.uk

Obama and Clinton condemn Brown over human rights deportations

I'll come to Obama and Clinton's condemnation of Gordon Brown, but first I want to express outrage at the European Commission's decision to scale back anti-discrimination. They have indicated that discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, age and race or belief will no longer be covered and that they will now only focus only on disability.

Photo: Gloucestershire Pride (previously known as 'Rainbow Day') will be on Saturday 9th August this year with march, bands, stalls and more.

Green MEP Jean Lambert, who has been working with the Commission and other MEPs to develop a wide anti-discrimination directive says the Commission is concerned that such a policy would not be supported by all member states. Jean said: "Age and LGBT campaigners are sorely disappointed by the lack of leadership that the UK has taken, instead having chosen to develop its own legislation outside of the European process. This now leaves UK citizens open to discrimination across Europe and little hope of a horizontal directive coming back to the table in the short-term. I will continue to demand that this situation is reviewed with the intention of developing a directive covering all types of discrimination as soon as possible."

Meanwhile Gordon Brown has been condemned by Democrats - the Hillary Clinton's campaign team has condemned him for the UK governments policy to deport LGBT people to countries where they face persecution. This is an issue I have raised several times in the local press and wider, so I am delighted Clinton and Obama have also picked up on it (although we wont discuss here why, if I had to choose in the Democrats, I'd be going for Obama).

Malcolm Lazin, head of American gay rights group, Equality Forum, has urged the prospective presidential candidates to write letters to Gordon Brown to urge him to change his stance: "Equality Forum calls on Senators Clinton, McCain and Obama to send letters to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown opposing the deportation gay and lesbian Iranians in the UK to Iran. The Kazemi deportation is an opportunity for the presidential candidates to affirm their administration’s commitment to a policy opposing human rights deportations."

Hillary Clinton's campaign national security director said that it was tracking the case of Mehdi Kazemi, a 19-year-old gay man living in Britain who faces execution if returned to Iran. See some of the Green party actions on the Kazemi case here. At present the deportation order for Mr. Kazemi has been deferred and is now "under review."

Obama's campaign team have also spoken out - they said: "The United States and countries around the world have both a legal and a moral obligation to protect victims of persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Under an Obama administration, the United States will lead by setting a strong example, which includes making clear that asylum for persecuted people is a bedrock principle of American and international law. Moreover, Obama will exert diplomatic pressure and employ other foreign policy tools to encourage other nations to address human rights abuses and atrocities committed against LGBT men and women."

The British government needs this wake up call and others - they seem more inclined to believe
Iran than human rights groups on the issue of how gay people are treated in that country. In March Lord West of Spithead, Home Office minister in the Lords, said: "We are not aware of any individual who has been executed in Iran in recent years solely on the grounds of homosexuality, and we do not consider that there is systematic persecution of gay men in Iran."

Yet in 2005 Iran sparked international outrage when it publicly executed two teenage boys. Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni were hanged because according to the regime they were rapists, however gay campaigners insist the boys were killed under Sharia law for the crime of homosexuality.

Stern, Bush and why the number 350 needs to be stamped into every mind

After a look at Stern and Bush we come to why 350 is the number we all need to know about...

Photos and action postcard: from 350.org: see more below

Nicholas Stern at last has come out and said what Greens were thinking at the time - ie climate change is worse than he thought. Nicholas Stern is the British economist known for a major report in October 2006 in which he declared that combating climate change would cost less than ignoring it. Even though at the time he noted grave concerns, he now admits he was wrong about how bad the problem is.

He said last week: "We badly underestimated the degree of damages and the risks of climate change. All of the links in the chain are on average worse than we thought a couple of years ago." He went onto say that thawing permafrost is releasing methane, oceans are acidifying faster than expected, and carbon sinks are becoming less effective. He urges nations to come up with a stringent global climate treaty taking food production into account, and reiterated that the world should aim to produce zero-carbon electricity by 2050, saying: "This is about buying down risk. Starting now, that means it requires at least 1 percent of world GDP. That is small relative to a planetary catastrophe."

Meanwhile President George W. Bush took his unambitious views and goals on climate and stuck them into one mediocre speech last week - he called for U.S. emissions to "slow over the next decade, stop by 2025, and begin to reverse thereafter," an aim far short of what other developed countries are suggesting and what experts think is needed.

If Bush had any hopes at all of convincing other countries that he's working to attack climate change, they were dissuaded the day after at the meeting of major economies in Paris, where Germany said the speech was a step backward, South Africa declared the Bush administration "isolated," and an unnamed European official told Reuters, "This is disappointing. But Bush will be leaving office soon. What he says doesn't matter so much any more."

But on a much brighter note as a sign of things changing for the better - the great author, activist, and the mastermind behind the Step It Up marches, Bill McKibben kicks off 350.org - a new international grassroots climate campaign.
The aim is to stamp 350 into the minds of everyone on Earth, and McKibben wants you to help. The number 350 is the parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere that we must aim for if we want to keep the planet relatively safe and sane, according to climate scientist James Hansen and others.

Lib Dem confusion over airport plans

It seems we have Lib Dem councillors supporting and indeed pushing plans to expand the airport, we have a Lib Dem MP sort of on the fence and now at last a Lib Dem candidate against expansion. Read Cheltenham Green party's response to this here - the letter also calls into question the absurd York Aviation report commissioned by Tewkesbury Borough Council. This is a supposedly independent report yet as noted on my previous Staverton blog entry York Aviation are about promoting airport businesses not looking at how the site could be used or any environmental considerations. You can also see a report about Lib Dems supporting airport growth in many other airports around the country (scroll to bottom of link here).

Below I enclose Airport campaigner, Kevin Lister's initial look at the report which he sent to York Aviation. It easily could be expanded as the report is shocking in it's lack of real analysis of the longterm economics and environmental considerations. Anyhow here is what Kevin wrote:

I have taken a quick read through your report which was commissioned by Tewkesbury Borough Council. Given the evident bias of your report to the aviation industry and the complete omission from your analysis of the climate change impacts from the development, can you confirm that the council has actually paid for this work. My comments follow below against extracts in bold italic from your report which I trust illustrate the ill-considered and ill-informed position of your report.
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Section 1.1“York Aviation LLP has been commissioned by Tewkesbury Borough Council to undertake a technical appraisal of four planning applications submitted to the Local Authority by Gloucestershire Airport.”

How does Tewkesbury Council expect to receive an unbiased report from an aviation consultant? As Cheltenham and Gloucester Council have already commissioned reports analysing the airport proposals, why did Tewkesbury not refer to these rather than wasting further council tax payer’s money.

Section 1.2 “A view as to whether there is a genuine need”

The report does not define what a genuine need is. Instead, the report takes the default position that a genuine need is based around compliance with CAA regulations. However, many of the flights operating from the airport are for weekend breaks in the Chanel Islands and Isle of Man, as well as private jets being used by the ultra wealth of this area for skiing holidays in the continent. None of this can be described as a genuine need.
Section 2.3 “These scheduled services are currently operated by 19-seater turbo-prop aircraft1, though this type of operation forms only a small element of the Airport s business.”

It is the intention of the airport and Manx to expand schedule service operations and the introduction of ILS will provide an important facility to enable them to do this. The initial business plan that was submitted with the planning applications talked of building a new terminal building as part of the long term strategy for the airport. Put simply, there is no way the airport will be able to make a return on its investment with out expanding service operations.

Section 2.4 “In 2007, the Airport handled 80,855 movements, which represents a decrease over 2006, in which the Airport handled around 88,000 movements. Much of this reduction has come from fewer training and private flights. The increasing costs of fuel have made these sectors of the market increasingly expensive.”

It is welcomed to see an aviation report finally stating the obvious and recognising that increasing fuel prices are reducing the demand for flights. However the report has not considered that the fuel prices are continuing their rise and this will lead to further falls in demand and thereby undermine the business case for the airports plans. Many medium to small airlines in the US, similar to the types of companies that will use these facilities, have now filed for bankruptcy.

Section 2.8 “In terms of possible commercial scheduled services, the facility would be limited to smaller regional aircraft, such as those 19-seaters already seen, but also some larger aircraft such asDHC Dash-8 aircraft (36-78 seats dependent upon variable), ATR-42 aircraft (50 seats) and a small variety of regional jets (Avro RJ70/85 and Embraer ERJ170/190) seating from around 70 to 90 passengers.”

Use of planes in this size range is seen by the aviation industry as a major growth sector, see here for example. This section will thus become a major emitter of greenhouse gases, despite the higher fuel efficiency of the planes.
Section 2.9 “Overall this is a small facility and unlikely to be capable of handling more than 50 passengers comfortably at any one time”

A crude estimate would suggest that given a 15 minute departure frequency, the 50 passenger capacity limit of the airport’s terminal building would be sufficient. Thus the facilities could probably support in the order of 4 planes per hour at a maximum which is a signifiicant increase on todays operations.Thus, there is clearly significant capacity within the terminal building to accommodate more passengers and planes. Furthermore, the airport has already suggested that if growth materialises they will seek to extend the terminal capacity. This can also be done quickly and cheaply in the short term with additional portacabins. Thus to say that airport will not expand operations due to limitations on terminal capacity is false.

Section 3.20 “As with the restrictions on runway 27, this can lead to some operators having to reduce the weight of their aircraft on departure, either through offloading passengers or fuel. Again this, in our view, appears to be a legitimate problem for the Airport.”

This is only an issue if the airport decides to operate and schedule larger planes from the runway. If the airports operations were restricted to only small general aviation, this would not be a problem.
Section 3.26 “The first is the provision of traffic controls on Bamfurlong Lane. These controls will be used to prevent vehicles of a height greater than 2m from travelling past the runway end when an aircraft is de parting or landing at the eastern end of runway 09/27.”

The proposed works will significantly increase the risk of an incident on Bamfurlong lane. As such, it is hard to understand how the airport’s proposals can be called safety related.
Section 4.7 “The LDA(Landing Distance Available) is also highlighted as being restrictive to other existing operators, although they are continuing to use the facility in the short term in the hope that the LDA will be increased further.”

This statement sums up the strategy of the airport and its operators. They are prepared to push operational and safety envelops to the limit so they can then say that they needfurther facilities to continue safe operations. The only reason why this debate is happening is because airliners want to increase the number of passengers using the airport.
Environmental section 5 – general comment

It is outrageous that this section of the report has not considered the climate change impact from the airport when this is the main focus of many objectors. This was a principle objection that the Gloucester Scrutiny committee made against the airports plans. If cuts in emissions are going to be made and if the aviation is subsequently included in the climate change bill the only possible result is that aviation activities will be significantly reduced. If aviation is not included in climate change bill in a way that reduced emissions, the only way to curtain its further damage to the environement is to curtail airport expansion.

In fact the reports statement in section 5.14 “Typically, much of the environmental impact of Airports is associated with surface access rather than aircraft operations,” is simply wrong and misleading.

It is vitally that this repport recongnises the IPCC conclusion that we need to make cuts in the order of 80% in our CO2 emissions to reduce the risk of runaway climate change.

Section 6.9 “There is also a risk that any annual movement level imposed today might in the fullness of time restrict important business generating movements in the future from operating once the annual movement rate reaches any imposed limit.”

It is a predictable response from an aviation consultancy to oppose any operating restrictions that will prevent the maximisation of profit. It again makes a mockery of the airport’s posit ion that they are not planning to expand and that the investment is simply targeted at improving safety.

Section 7.5 “Future airport operations will then likely remain similar in type to those of today with environmental benefits attained, over time, from the evolution of new technology as new and improved engines and air frames are introduced by operators.”

It seems to have escaped the reasoning of the authors of this report that despite a continual improvement in engine and aerodynamic efficiency of planes over the past 40 years, the total emissions have continued to rise as the expansion in the aviation industry totally outweighs any improvements made. Furthermore there is a plateau beyond which further improvements become more and more difficult. Basic science and mathematics shows that are planes are currently almost as efficient as they ever will be.

The fundemental position that we need to grapple with is that what we are doing today is far from sustainable, so it makes no sense to suggest that in the fullness of time it is acceptable for emissions to stay the same as today.

Wap, Shop, Archway, Tricorn and more

Here's another handful of local news:

Stan to be Mayor: Stan Giles will take over from Sheila Bliss as Mayor of Randwick - not an official Council Mayor but one voted on by local folk who register with the Wap. He will step down after 12 years as chair of the Wap committee to take over the post. Good luck to him!

Photo: Great photo of Stan in Stroud Life

Whiteshill Village Shop: Whiteshill Primary School children have raised £166.00 towards the £3,000 needed to replace the burnt toilet - they produced a great picture in the playground made from pennies. The Playgroup had earlier raised £400.00 from a welly walk and local Shop volunteer Damian is hoping to encourage support from local builders to help with the rebuilding of the loo.

Photo: View of Vine Tree, Randwick from Laggers last night

Bread Street Street party: Last night more residents met in the Vine Tree to make further plans - we have at least one band sorted and a road closure has been submitted. More coming soon.

Archway revamp: A further £1.5 million is going to Archway School for a new accommodation unit for the school's Learning Support Department and Inclusion Centre, further new teaching spaces and increased music, office and admin - this all comes on top of the much needed £5 million first phase which included a new technology block, new student entrance area and biomass boiler.

Tricorn House: Stroud district councillors voted unanimously to approve a move to wrest the building from its owners - they would then sell it on to wind power market leader Dale Vince of Ecotricity. About time too - as regular blog readers will know this is something I asked for some years ago - the building has been empty for 10 years. However I don't expect the fight is over - Wellfair Property Investment Holdings Ltd say SDC's attempt to force it to sell for £1.3 million is not enough - and a fence has gone up around the former DHSS building in Cainscross Road. But as Councillor John Marjoram (Green, Trinity) said at the meeting: "People have put in offers for this building and every time the price goes up. To my mind this is the only route we can follow, if we are not bullied by the person who has put the fence round. It's a prime site." Dale Vince said to the press: "We'd like to build something special here. It would probably involve knocking down the old building but we haven't written off yet using what's here. What we would like to end up with is something special, a zero carbon building that's somewhere great for our people to work and something that looks beautiful as well."

Whiteshill Plant Sale: 17th May at the Village Shop 9am to 1pm.

Wap stalls wanted: Book your stall now for Saturday 10th May - call Steve on 752478.