Brook talks microbial soil conditioners

Ruscombe Brook Action Group have met a couple of times and I don't seem to get a chance to write it up here. We've had a fascinating speaker about the history of the brook - Lionel Waldon - and last week we had Julian Jones talk about microbial soil conditioning in Australia where he had just been on a sponsored tour to share information about ways of working with water.

Photos: Lionel talking to the group re the history of the brook

Well both talks were great - I am still hoping Lionel's will be written up a as a local history is being compiled at the moment. Julian's talk was also wonderfully fascinating - from the Italian Maremma sheepdogs that looked after flocks of 2002 chickens to the hopes of one group of scientists that 2% of Aussie farmland could sequestrate 100% of that country's CO2 emissions.

They have a long way to go but certainly the results of using microbial soil conditioning have been remarkable - 10% of Queensland now use it as it leads to a massive increase in soil humus water retention and up to 30% extra crop yields over chemical farming plus pesticide and herbicide use is massively cut. I've just started reading more about this and there seems to be much to offer hope - but also as always caution with so many claims - I hope to return to this in future blogs - it certainly fits with what biodynamic farmers, no-dig gardeners and permaculturalists are saying re the microorganisms within the soil.

Kitchen composters??

This is all interesting stuff that links with the use of Kitchen Composters that allow you to turn all food waste - including cooked foods - into fantastic nutrient-rich material. There are various versions - one of the best known is the Bokashi system - there is even a Youtube video here as to how to make the bran stuff - I have for some while been seeking info as to whether this could work in more homes - we don't currently offer these at a reduced price to residents - this would cut down collection of food waste - of course at the moment we aren't collecting it locally but to me it seems a much better solution than all that transport. Are there any trials or pilots elsewhere?

Certainly in the past reduced compost bins have been issued and water butts so why not this longer term solution?

Other stuff re brook

Of course we had lots more on the Ruscombe Brook meeting agenda including our next work day on Sat 15th August to clear out the sofa etc - plus the plans for a new student to work on plans for the Ruscombe valley and the latest on Puckshole works - still delayed but will go ahead and news re our website which is still awaiting a revamp (currently offline).

Randwick resident writes I-Spy Stroud

St Peter's RC High deputy head Philip Rush, a Randwick resident and illustrator Nadine Faye James have published just 250 copies of I-Spy Stroud, a faithful homage to the Michelin I-Spy books of the 1950s and 60s.

Photo: Stroud Bookshop window and below Citizen photo

Philip is quoted in the Citizen saying: "They were quite nice little old books when we were young. Looking at them now, they seem quite funny in appearance." And of his book he says: "As you go, you fill the details of what you have spotted, and the little book becomes a journal of your exploration of Stroud."

I had a look at the book this week - it is great and had me smiling - but should be read with, a pinch of salt - as the Citizen note according to Philip, Shakespeare renamed Stroud's pubs when he visited the town on a stag weekend in 1594.

Michelin – which owns the rights to the brand – has its approval to the project, on the condition that only 250 copies are produced. Copies from Stroud Bookshop - only £6.

LGBT: Bad vote in Gibraltar and Tories crazy new alliance

I've been helping this week the LGBT greens in the South West get out some of our Green party news releases - it was good to see one of our releases make the Gibraltar Chronicle - I have to note I was astounded to discover the gay equalisation at 16 vote was defeated and think all pressure needs to be put on Gibraltar.

Photo: View from Whiteshill

The Gibraltar Parliament, which is part of the UK South West region in the Euro elections, this week voted to defeat the gay age of consent equality bill, which would have established an equal age of consent of 16. SW Greens have joined Green party spokesperson Peter Tatchell in calling for the UK Government to intervene.

Ryan Cleminson, Coordinator of the SW Greens LGBT group, who has written to David Milliband, said: “The Government of Gibraltar is required by European Court of Human Rights rulings to equalise the age of consent for same-sex relationships. I urge David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, to intervene and let Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Peter Caruana know that Gibraltar cannot be allowed to evade its human rights obligations."

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said: "The equalisation legislation should have been sponsored by the government and not introduced as a private member’s bill. I am very surprised and disappointed that this was a private member's bill and not a government bill. The government gives the impression that it is trying to evade its responsibility to uphold equality and human rights. As a British Overseas Territory, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has ultimate responsibility for ensuring Gibraltar’s compliance with human rights law. Why was the legislation suddenly rushed through parliament, when a number of MPs were overseas and when there was insufficient time for a considered debate and amendments?"

Meanwhile there was another shock to discover the new Tory Euro alliance - basically Tory MEPs Giles Chichester, Ashley Fox and Julie Girling have formed an alliance in the European parliament which has a not very pleasant agenda. They are among many Tories taking their seats after the June 4th Euro Elections - here is what Ryan had to say: "The proposed new alliance between our elected Tory MEPS and far right Poland’s homophobic Law and Justice Party (PiS) calls into question David Cameron’s so-called conversion to progressive Conservatism. Jewish, gay and women voters will all be appalled to see the Tories planning to work with such a bigoted party.” See Guardian report here.

Indeed already this new anti-federalist group in the European Parliament led by the British Conservative has suffered a setback after one of their MEPs reversed his decision to join its ranks. However the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, spearheaded by the British Conservatives, have successfully surpassed the threshold required to form a group (25 MEPs from a minimum of seven EU countries) - however commentators say that the group is fragile as it has a large number of UK Tories and from the Polish group - let's hope so - I do not think it is good for Cameron to be mixing with such views!!

Meanwhile, the celebrated Swedish Pirate Party MEP, Christian Engström, has decided to join the Greens instead of the Liberals as they "had gone furthest in their work relating to 'the politics of information".

Greens Co-Presidents Rebecca Harms and Daniel Cohn-Bendit welcomed the new member, saying they were "delighted to welcome the Swedish Pirate Party, which shares our principles and values in defending internet users' rights. Christian Engström will have an independent status within our group and he has indicated he will support the Greens/EFA position in areas where the Pirate Party has no agenda."

Video: What is Peak Oil?

The whole discussion of oil supply and demand can be complicated. How long will it last, and when can we expect to see serious impacts on our everyday lives?

Pic: Russ adapted this to wink a little!

This is an entertaining feature length documentary online of this topic - a chance to learn about the history, present and future of global oil production and consumption. It will hopefully 'change the way we plan our tomorrows' as the US Organic Consumers Association website says - see the film here. Meanwhile Greens have been trying to raise this issue at every opportunity at the District Council - at last we are starting to see more articles in the mainstream news - see here the excellent article re food here in the Sunday Times and it's mention of Stroud.

This week I got an email from Lester Brown - see his interesting article about the oil intensity of food here. It surprised me that packaging accounted for 7 percent of food system energy use - it is apparently not uncommon for the energy invested in packaging to exceed that in the food it contains. Fertiliser is 20%, irrigation and transport can also be huge - indeed I hear this week the Government is all set to encourage with big money supermarkets to buy from developing countries - so much for shop local and supporting local economy - indeed there is evidence that many of the crops grown overseas do not lead to benefiting the poor - it may have been OK if it had been investing in fair trade....

Happy 10th Anniversary Home Start

Last night was Full Council so I missed the first meeting of our allotment group in Whitsehill (still haven't got allotments yet but looking evermore hopeful) - anyhow Full Council wasn't the most riveting last night - I'll come to Home Start in a moment - the Council meeting was lots on budgets, Green party questions on where we were with tackling SDC's emissions - you'll be able to watch it all on webcast - there was also some stuff on researching whether Dursley should be a no drink zone in public places...

..... I voted against that - I am unhappy about the creep of yet more laws - I respect the request of Dursley Parish to seek this but it is a vast zone they want and there was absolutely no evidence about why it was needed - no figures from police - and also no consideration of what alternatives have been considered - drinking in public is complex - underage drinking needs tackling - we need more checks on off-licences, a campaign to stop adults buying children drink, more vocal campaigns against the drink companies that sell these vodka drinks, work with neighbourhood wardens etc etc - and why just Dursley? The paper presented was poor and was sadly passed committing the Council to money and time to research this - I hope that happens properly and that the children and drinkers are consulted, taxi drivers and more - several of the councillors there said they did not perceive it as a problem as serious as described by the paper and said why aren't existing anti-social behavior laws being used? Indeed why?

But I'm getting side-tracked I wanted to use this quick blog to celebrate the wonders of Home Start (Stroud and Dursley) - see more on their national website here - they celebrate locally their tenth anniversary and had some sandwiches and cake just before the Council meeting - as I had another meeting at that time there was only the chance to join the beginning and end of the celebration....and good to meet one of the volunteers who lives in Randwick.

Home-Start is a voluntary organisation offering support, friendship and practical help to families at home. They also run groups and hold social events - indeed they apparently just had a celebration with all the volunteers and families. Typical areas where help can be offered are to lonely or isolated parents, families with multiple births, mums who may have postnatal depression, single parents or families where there is ill health or disability. The service is free and confidential and is provided by trained volunteer helpers - indeed they are looking for more volunteers.

I applaud this service - so often in this crazy world life is all too hard for some - those early years are particularly important for a child's life and parents have a key role in creating a secure childhood - sometimes they need a bit of help - a volunteer going in say once a week for a couple of hours can be invaluable - talking support, maybe practical help like reading to the children or cooking a meal, going to the local park or help finding out about services....anyhow three cheers for those volunteers and the service. Congrats on 10 years.

Contact details for more info: Home Start, Willow House, Slad Road, STROUD, GL5 1QJ Tel: 01453 759911

US Doctors say avoid GM foods

On May 19, 2009 the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) released a landmark position paper signed by physicians across the U.S. calling for a moratorium on GE foods: "Avoid GM (genetically modified) foods when possible... Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food... There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation...The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies."

See more here. Cartoon from Russ (one of my favorites)

What will the UK Climate be like?

The new website has just been launched with climate projections - see it here. See more here - basically scientists believe winters will be wetter, particularly in the north, and summers drier, especially in the south. The projected impacts are "worse than the government had feared," according to a source familiar with the project. See the press release I sent out yesterday here on this with quotes from myself re the report by Kevin Anderson to MPs.

This project has collated data from 400 variations of the model developed by the Hadley Centre, part of the Met Office. Each variant has been checked to see how well it predicted the climate of past decades; and the numbers have been compared with projections of other computer models. This allowed scientists to assign probabilities to various forecasts.

It is alarming stuff - yet last month a report from the Global Humanitarian Forum, the think tank chaired by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, said that the UK was among the 12 countries likely to be least affected by climate change. It is worrying to think how others will face the impacts - of course as we import so much of our food and energy the impact on other nations will still effect us severely.

This should all be food for thought for those writing into the SNJ recently denying climate change even exists - depressing to see the paper printing such material? Is it ignorance that leads to folk giving so much space to those who have not even a handful of scientists to back their cause? I am perhaps being unfair but it is nevertheless astonishing when you really look at what the scientific community are saying....

It is also depressing to read that a decent deal on the climate at Copenhagen looks unlikely - see here. Japan has also just set a week climate target - see here - but on the up side: China makes renewable power play to be world's first green superpower - see here. Plus here read about the 'green supergrid' that could power Europe on an electricity supply based entirely on renewable energy by 2030.

Plus here was that great spoof to show what really might be possible - see here the spoof International Tribune.

Ecotherapy: Slowing Down to Nature's Pace

Linda Buzzell sent this piece which appeared in the Huffington Post - Ecopsychology does not get enough discussion amongst Greens so I have copied it here - there is nothing that hasn't already been discussed on this blog but it is pulled together very nicely - also see Linda's blog here.

Photo: Randwick Woods

Ecotherapy: Slowing Down to Nature's Pace

Not so very long ago, humans -- like the rest of the animals and plants on earth -- moved through our natural cycles at nature's pace. Time was marked by the passing of the seasons, the life cycles of human, animal and plant life and the yet grander cycles of the moon and the other celestial bodies.

Homo sapiens, a late-appearing species in the long history of our unimaginably ancient planet and universe, evolved during the recent (as the universe views these things!) Pleistocene era, adapted for a life intimately connected with and expressive of our natural surroundings on the African savannah and beyond.

And this is how we lived for millennia.

In the last 150 years, however, the human relationship with time has radically changed. Some say the problems started earlier, with the development of agriculture or writing, but it was really the Industrial Revolution -- the rise of the Machine -- that put humans in thrall to mechanical processes and machine time. And the recent exponential speeding up into Cybertime has accelerated the process still further. Industrial time was bad enough (Charlie Chaplin did a wonderful job of visualizing that "cog in the wheel" feeling in his film "Modern Times") but Cybertime can be dizzyingly discombobulating for a Pleistocene primate.

And that's how many modern people feel -- completely frazzled and out of sync with our deepest selves.

The results of this disconnection from nature and nature's pace show up in therapists' and doctors' offices every day. Living under unnatural time pressures causes a myriad of psychological, social and physical ailments. De-linked from the natural rhythms of our bodies and the rest of the planet, we struggle with diminishing success to adapt to the strange mechanical and disembodied world we have created.

As a practicing psychotherapist and ecotherapist, when I see patients who are suffering from depression or anxiety I ask them to keep a time-journal in which they record the hours and minutes spent each day outside, as well as the hours spent inside in front of a screen. My clients are often shocked to realize how disassociated they have become from nature and our species' natural ways of living, and the effect this disconnection is having on their psyche. In fact, a 2007 study from the University of Essex shows that a daily "dose" of walking outside in nature can be as effective at treating mild to moderate depression as expensive antidepressant medications that can sometimes have negative side-effects.

Time poverty is now a recognized psychological and social stressor. In a sped-up, highly complex society, there just isn't enough time for everything: our demanding jobs, our interlocking bureaucratic responsibilities (taxes, insurance, legal issues), our loved one, kids, our community (including the rest of nature), plus commuting and keeping up with traditional media and endless 24/7 online communications. Constantly rushing to keep up as we inevitably fall further behind, we find ourselves destroying not only our own health, but our habitat and the habitat of the people, plants and animals with whom we share the planet.

In my recently published book, Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind (Sierra Club Books, 2009) therapists and experts from many backgrounds discuss some of the ways that nature can help to heal problems like stress and anxiety. What suggestions can ecotherapists offer to help us slow down to a more natural pace of living? Here are a few simple things that can make a difference:

* Reconnect with place. We can learn to resist the constant rushing around and settle into and tend a beloved location, taking time to learn its secrets and hear its whisperings.

* Reconnect with companion and wild animals. Animals slow us down to our natural animal rhythms, which is why animal-assisted therapy works so well at lowering blood pressure and healing psychological ills of many kinds. The simple act of petting a cat or watching the birds flit through the trees is profoundly healing.

* Reconnect with plants. A simple pot on a windowsill slows us down to the pace of a seed, a seedling, a leaf and a flower. A tree on the street, if contemplated and touched, offers its blessings during a busy day.

* Reconnect with the cycles of human life. Instead of demanding that we remain in perpetual-teenager mode (the preferred state in our society, it seems), allowing ourselves to become true initiated adults and then elders honors the natural pace of human life rather than fighting it. Nature teaches us that seeds emerge, plants flourish, bloom, fruit and then wither and slip away -- valuable wisdom for our own lives when we encounter the inevitable transitions in our own and others' lives.

* Reconnect with our wild bodies. Untamed nature is to be found not only in far-away wilderness but in the wilds of our bloodstream, our digestive processes, our breath. Any practice that brings our attention back to our bodies is wilderness ecotherapy. Yoga and ecstatic dance offer release from the controlling modern ego and access to what ecopsychologists call "the ecological self." And once we reach peace with our animal bodies, our souls naturally open up to the larger Spirit in which we are embedded.

* Spend more time outdoors in wild nature. Most of us are indoors most of the time. Our bodies and souls cry out for long walks on a beach, contemplation in a forest or a few minutes in a nearby vacant lot near a stream. These times slow life down to a healing, natural pace.

Making just a few of these simple changes can radically shift how we feel. Ecopsychological research is now proving that reconnecting with nature and more natural living performs a host of psychological miracles, including lowering depression, improving our sense of well being, calming our anxieties, raising self-esteem and giving us a sense of belonging to the great whole of which we are a part.

Linda Buzzell, M.A., MFT is the co-editor with Craig Chalquist of the new anthology Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind, just released by Sierra Club Books (May 2009). She is a psychotherapist and ecotherapist in Santa Barbara, where she specializes in helping clients with career issues, financial challenges and the transition to a simpler, more sustainable and nature-connected lifestyle.

Happy 21st Birthday Stroud Valleys Project

On Monday after work I was delighted to join Stroud Valley Project's 21st Birthday party at Slimbridge - it was for all the volunteers that are involved in their projects - some 70 joined the festivities that started with either a canoe paddle down some backwaters or a guided bird watch. A great afternoon which ended with food and birthday cake.

Photos from birthday celebrations incl Mayor Andy Reed taking the photo of us volunteers

SVP's "mission is to inspire the people of Stroud District to cherish, care for and repair their local environment for everyone’s benefit."

It is a community development charity which operates throughout the whole of the Stroud District - there is much they are involved in - see their website for details - most recently I joined them on their newt watch - some will have seen them on telly doing Springwatch at The Lawns - much has improved there - see here - indeed that was one of my first introductions to SVP when through the Ruscombe Brook Action Group we called all the relevant groups together to work on the improvements some four years ago - sadly we didn't get all we wanted but that was not due to SVP! It was British Waterways who weren't listening...but that is another story...

Indeed the support and expertise from Stroud Valleys Project to improve the biodiversity at both the Hamwell Leaze site and The Lake at the Lawns site (both of which are part of the Ruscombe brook) has been invaluable. These two sites have seen very significant improvements in wildlife and use by the community in the recent years and I am hoping that if recent grant applications are successful then their work will continue to improve those sites.

As I have noted before Cainscross ward is the highest concentration of housing in Stroud District and has the least amount of green spaces. Both The Lawns and Hamwell Leaze have been under-used by the public due to access and awareness of the sites. It is great that the work of SVP is engaging with individuals and community groups (like the brook group) to increase awareness and use of the sites.

It is also worth mentioning that on their public workdays and on visits to other sites their staff like Ivi Szaboova Baxendale and Nadine Smykatz-Kloss have all been excellent - their enthusiasm, knowledge and abilities to engage with a wide range of members of the public is first rate - indeed it would be hard to better.


Anyhow since those early days I have also been delighted to support several of their grant applications - it is tragic that organisations doing important work with many different people within our community, including many vulnerable folk, are facing funding cuts - they have been hit like arts funding locally - anyhow I must dash but should also mention this year they have also helped with planning the Eco-Renovation Open Homes project set for September - more of that another time - see here our website under construction for this year: http://www.stroudopenhomes.org.uk

Green bits of interest

Going through my emails I picked out several that might interest....

Photo: view from Whiteshill across to Stroud

What's in a name? There has been much discussion about whether it is better to use Global Warming or Climate Change - or Climate Catastrophe or even Climate chaos to best describe the science and it's impacts....a PR firm in the US says "our deteriorating atmosphere” is what we need to use?? The report’s authors especially like the phrasing, “Local temperatures always fluctuate naturally. But when the 10 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1990, we have a problem.” See more here.

Pluralistic leftwing politics anyone? In 'Labour's rub of the Green?' John Harris writes in The Guardian about Caroline Lucas at the Compass conference - see here - there is room for pluralistic leftwing politics. He concludes - and I agree - "Caroline Lucas, for what it's worth, offered this vision-cum-soundbite: 'Not a big tent, but a campsite of smaller tents.' It's maybe not the greatest of analogies, but I quite like it."

A single issue party? In 'There are many shades of Green' Jenny Jones comes back at Leo Hickman who claims we are a one issue party - see here.

Law and Your Environment - I've just added the link to this website to my blog role - it is a new plain guide to Environmental Law, mainly covering England and Wales. The kind of problems covered are: fly tipping; noisy neighbours; graffiti; litter; dog mess; pollution; planning; wildlife; rights of way. You can find out where to go for help, who the regulator is and how to approach them, how the legal system works, and follow links to the original laws. This is great stuff and hopefully will improve access to environmental law information and empower more people to participate in environmental matters in line with the objectives of the Aarhus Convention 1998. It also promotes a culture of environmental citizenship by providing helpful information on environmental rights and responsibilities.

The Independent on Sunday - two articles by Jonathan Owen on Stroud Greens - the first on Kathy Dimock, aged 101 and Britain's oldest green campaigner - see here and the second featuring John Marjoram at 70 in 'The seven ages of green' - see article here.

Urgent: call for transparent inquiry on Iraq

Tomorrow parliament is voting on whether or not the Iraq Inquiry should be public. A popular outcry against a secret inquiry is already causing Gordon Brown to waver. A good result in Wednesday's vote will help force his hand.

It's going to be close [see here], and many MPs haven't yet decided which way to vote - in the next couple of days our input can make a real difference. So there are plans by 38degrees to flood parliament with copies of petitions, asking MPs to ensure that this inquiry won't be another stitch up.

Sign here: http://38degrees.org.uk/page/s/IraqInquiry

Evidence has just emerged that Tony Blair is the main figure pushing Brown to keep the inquiry secret, to protect his own reputation. Meanwhile a vast range of experts, including former senior government and military figures, have now spoken up to say there's no justification for keeping us in the dark [see here]. Last week, Brown tried to pass the buck by telling the inquiry chairman to choose which bits to make public. We know that's not good enough - only a genuinely public inquiry will guarantee a proper process we can trust. The Prime Minister who just announced a new "era of transparency" must use his power to guarantee this.

Pig Business

On 30 June More 4 will broadcast PIG BUSINESS - an exposé of the secretive world of corporate pig farming. We will see who pays the true cost of ‘cheap’ pig meat – the appalling conditions of factory farms endured by animals, workers and neighbours, environmental pollution and the destruction of rural economies - at least those with tellies will - I still don't have one and seemed to have managed for 7 years but will try and catch this if it comes out online?

Photo: this made me smile

Swine Flu has apparently recently emerged just downwind of a swine plant owned by Smithfield, a giant multinational corporation and the world’s biggest pig meat processor - for those of us who consider overcrowded pig factories as being a possible place for incubators of disease and superbugs this is no surprise - see my previous blogs here.

Smithfield, the world’s biggest pig meat processor, does not want this film to get out. They have already managed to stop the film being broadcast once, by threatening a ruinously expensive legal action. Even national newspapers trying to report on the film have been bullied into silence.

Though The Mail, The Sunday Mail and The Mirror, have all tried but failed to get an article about the film past their lawyers, at the weekend the Irish Independent printed an article that is enclosed below. I have to note I am personally very wary of causing alarm but with the inaction on looking at the causes of swine flu, you have to wonder if we are not moving closer to some very serious challenges.

Intensive farming practices might be breeding more than pigs

Rosita Sweetman believes swine flu may be a wake-up call alerting us to the dangers of animal 'factories'

HERE'S the beef: unless we stop big corporations "farming" animals in factories, we're all going to die.

Actually, we may be going to die sooner than we think if the swine flu virus, incubating for years now in the huge industrial hog farms of the USA and Europe, keeps spreading at its current rate: 30,000 cases (and rising) within three months, across 74 countries, leading to 145 deaths. The latest victim -- a 30-something mum in Scotland -- dying just after giving birth to her premature baby.

I know, I know, I thought it was media hype too, and that maybe the dreadful Michael O'Leary of Ryanair was right: swine flu kills poor people in Mexican slums. No one else need worry. Fly on!

Em, no. Swine flu has been around a long time; its granddaddy is the 1918 Spanish flu which killed between 50 million and 100 million people.

Eerily, it's also behaving in similar ways; starting out as a swine-cum-human virus, spreading quickly, first in a mild form, before mutating and returning in virulent form, hitting under-30s hardest (75 per cent of cases), and killing via a "cytokine storm" -- a massive over-stimulation of the immune system.

Experts have been warning for years of the time bomb that is factory farming. Don't get me wrong, I worship rashers and sausages. But the way pork is produced these days is so horrendous (for the animals) and so dangerous (for us), the swine flu scare may be a timely wake-up call.

Some facts: huge corporations, so big they have bank balances larger than those of most countries, control much of the food business. These guys don't believe in farming. A jolly Mr and Mrs Farmer with their rosy-cheeked children and happy animals on a little holding in deepest rural bliss? What a quaint notion!

Smithfield Foods, the corporation at whose plant in Mexico this outbreak of swine flu is believed to have originated, "processes" 27 million pigs in 15 countries, producing sales of $12bn every year. Smithfield has denied any link to the outbreak.

Serendipitously, environmental activist, the Marchioness of Worcester, Tracy Louise Ward, recently took on Smithfield Foods in her film Pig Business, showing just how brutal these vast "hog farms" are. Smithfield Foods was swift to act, blocking the screening of Pig Business on Channel 4, and trying to block a screening at the Barbican Arts Centre in London (the Marchioness put up her own indemnity and got it through).

Smithfield Foods is also after Robert Kennedy Jnr, who appears in the film, for addressing the Polish Senate: (Smithfield Foods) is trying to "get away with something in Poland, that people in the United States now recognise is a catastrophe".

What scientists and doctors are truly worried about is, what happens if swine flu mixes with avian flu? Then we really are in the caca.

And for those who believe pills are the answer, they are central to the problem. As Dr Michael Greger of the US Humane Society said in a recent File on 4 documentary: "The sheer numbers of animals, the overcrowding, the lack of fresh air, the lack of sunlight -- put all these together and you have this perfect storm environment for the emergence and spread of new, so-called super strains of influenza."

In the Netherlands -- home to more "animal factories" per square kilometre than anywhere else, the long windowless huts horribly reminiscent of Nazi concentration camps-- 30 per cent to 50 per cent of all farmers now carry the superbug MRSA, largely, it is thought, due to the half a million kilos of antibiotics shot into the unfortunate porkers every year.

Tamiflu isn't the answer either. It reduces the time you have the flu by one day. One day! And, if a mutated virus does come back to bite us, brewing up a new anti-viral in time will be tricky.

But do not despair. Natural medicine and natural farming are making a comeback. And Ireland is at the forefront of the development of one of the finest, and oldest, medical systems in the world -- medical herbalism.

Anna Maria Keaveny, architect of Ireland's first degree course in medical herbalism at Cork Institute of Technology, says a Masters will soon be possible, with "clinically trained herbalists ready to take part in research at the highest levels". She is hopeful that the swine flu virus will remain at its current low virulence level.

US President Obama says swine flu is a "cause for concern; not a cause for alarm".

Actually, it seems it is a cause for both

Local news bits: Whitestock, toilets, recycling and Tricorn

Whitestock - The Friends of Whiteshill School hope to repeat the huge success of their first music festival - gates open at school at 6pm on Saturday 4th July with the Whiteshill Samba band then a mix of various other acts including the Johnson and Kempner Partnership teachers jazz band and the Reservoir Hogs - ring Angie Mason on 753461 for details.

Photo: Standish Woods

Our Wonderful World exhibition - Randwick School's exhibition 9am to 5pm in the church until the end of June - pride of place is the Tree of Life.

Randwick Hall Toilet block success - the Glos Environmental Trust have come up trumps with £8,000 for the toilet block - this means the £40,000 phase II of the hall development is now set to go-ahead this year - an incredible achievement to raise all that money since September - special thanks to Val Flack for masterminding it all.

Recycle Week - yes it's recycle week this week - see more here and here - it is good to have these reminders about what we can recycle but none of this goes far enough - we need Councils and the Government to wake up - we are still years behind countries like Germany. Oh and another website that is good is that Love Food Hate Waste site: www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

On street recycling bins launched - lots of hard work by Stroud District Youth Council (SDYC) means that innovative litter recycling bins will be unveiled this week at locations across the local area. Recognised as the active voice for 11 - 18 year olds for the district, the youth council formed a litter recycling pilot project team. They decided to introduce recycling bins around Stroud, concentrating on routes most commonly used by young people such as the paths to and from school. Following extensive design work and consultation with officers at Stroud District Council, bespoke multi compartment recycling bins were sourced, customized artwork produced and locations known to have a high density of litter were identified. Well done indeed to them all.

Tricorn House - Objections to the compulsory purchase of the eyesore Tricorn House will be heard at a public inquiry to start on 14th July. The building's owner Wellfair Holdings will argue against Stroud District Council's plan to buy the derelict office block and hand it straight on to the company Ecotricity - who want to redevelop the site on the Cainscross roundabout as its new HQ. It will be before a government inspector, whose final recommendation will probably go before the Secretary of State for approval. As many will know I have long argued along with most of the local population that this site urgently needs redevelopment - indeed I raised the issue when I was first elected 3 years ago - so I have given a warm welcome to this move at last of compulsory purshase - Tricorn was built in the 1970s and was originally Stroud's Department of Social Security building. In the last 10 years it has not been used and has looked worse each year. See a photoshop of someone elses' view of Tricorn House here.

Cashes Green Hospital - site has got the go-ahead for Outline Planning permission - see previous blog here.

Marine Bill: urgent action before 23rd and check your fish

Some will remember my interest in the Marine Bill (see for example here) well here's an appeal for an important environmental action that might make a real difference. It just needs a few minutes of your time before Tuesday 23rd June. Please have a look at http://www.marinereservesnow.org.uk/

Support the strengthening of the bill to include establishing a coherent network of marine reserves covering 30% or UK waters - and also email David Drew to attend the second reading of the bill this week and help strengthen it to include marine reserves and other measures detailed on the website.

Marine reserves have been shown to work at our only reserve near Lundy and all over the world. It only takes a few years to see massive increase in fish size and numbers and restoration of much of the marine natural habitat. The fishing industry can also benefit as larger fish spawn much more and fish, crabs and lobster all move out from the reserves into areas where fishing is permitted. They really do seem to be one of those rare examples of an achievable and relatively quick environmental fix.

From the campaign website: The oceans are losing their biodiversity at an accelerating rate. In UK waters there are 22 species of wildlife considered to be facing the threat of global extinction. Once common species such as Atlantic Cod and Halibut are on lists of threatened or endangered species and only eight of the 47 fish stocks found around the British Isles remain in a healthy state. Marine habitats and fish stocks continue to be damaged by destructive fishing techniques, e.g. it has been estimated that for every 1kg of North Sea Sole caught by beam trawl, up to 14kg of other seabed animals are killed.

Watch out also for the film, 'The End of the Line' - see trailer here - it is the first major feature documentary film revealing the impact of overfishing on our oceans and had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Filmed over two years, The End of the Line follows the investigative reporter Charles Clover as he confronts politicians and celebrity restaurateurs, who exhibit little regard for the damage they are doing to the oceans - as it says in the blurb this is a wake-up call to the world. Already M and S have banned unsustainable tuna as a result of the film.

The End of the Line also developed the widget below which allows you to check whether the fish you are planning to buy or eat is caught or farmed in a way that is sustainable.

Simon McCorry and 'When The Lights Go Out'

This blog regularly features local folk - here is another guy who lives in Ruscombe, Simon McCorry (at first put McCurry - think I was hungry?) - he is currently making a short film about 'Wild Swimming' - should be ready v soon - as one of those folk who loves to swim in the sea or rivers I look forward to that muchly.....

Simon according to his website "has worked on many theatrical productions over the last few years, as a sound designer, engineer, composer and sometimes as a cellist. His music covers a range of styles, from soundscape to techno, from baroque to hip-hop, from live to recorded music". One local project included him being the Musical Director in the recent play 'When The Lights Go Out' by the Stroud Theatre Company - listen to a track here. Chris Garner, the artistic director of the Company also lives in Ruscombe .

In fact it was a hugely successful play that has led to a rerun being planned for the Autumn and an exhibition until the end of the month at the Museum - Randwick School children have already been up there to learn more about the war years.

See his websites:
http://www.creativecabin.org.uk/
http://www.roomofpotential.com/
Includes link here to his last film 'Tracker'.

Jackie Garner, Louise Van Den Moysenberg and Roger Jones

As always the Open Studios have been a triumph this year - over 300 artists in Stroud District exhibiting - as some may know I have been away for a few days with family - very good - but still managed to get around a few - also many of the exhibitions (as opposed to the studios) are open until 30th June. Below I feature the three artists that have opened in this area...

Photos: Jackie Gardner earlier today

Jackie Garner has recently moved into a house in Humphreys End and opened her workspace over the last two weekends as part of the Open Studios - great to meet this artist who has recently spent time in the Falklands documenting wildlife and is now involved in a project "investigating the wildlife species depicted in ancient Egyptian art" - see more about her work here. Great stuff.

Louise Van Den Moysenberg, who lives in Ruscombe and recently supported the Whiteshill and Ruscombe Arts and Crafts Show, (see here) was also open - love some of these paintings and the colours - in fact picked her out of the Open Studios guide book as one to look at. See Louise's website here.

The third artist in our area to open this year was Roger Jones - I didn't have time to visit this year but see more here. See also more re Open Studios and exhibitions here:
http://www.sva.org.uk

'Play by the Lake' is back

This year the amazing Jenny Wren Productions are returning with 'A Child in the Forest' - based on the true story of Winifred Foley's Forest of Dean childhood...

Photo: July 2007's play by the lake

'Few people visited the Forest of Dean. They thought us primitive, and looked down on us.' Winifred Foley grew up in the 1920s, a bright, determined miner's daughter in a world of unspoilt beauty and desperate hardship, in which women were widowed at thirty and children died of starvation. Living hand-to-mouth in a tumbledown cottage in the Forest of Dean, Foley - 'our Poll' - had a loving family and the woods and streams of a forest 'better than heaven' as a playground. But a brother and sister were dead in infancy, bread had to be begged from kindly neighbours and she never had a new pair of shoes or a shop-bought doll. And most terrible of all, like her sister before her, at fourteen little Poll had to leave her beloved forest for the city, bound for a life in service among London's grey terraces.'

Follow Poll as she grows from girl to her departure to work in service.....sadly Winifred passed away in Cheltenham this March aged 94. This looks set to be a treat - previous performances like 'The Importance of Being Earnest' have been very wonderful - and the setting is perfect in the open air by the Lake (bring blanket or chair) at Court Lodge in Randwick on Sat 18th and 19th July. Tickets are £8.50 (£6.50 concessions) from Smiths on 763485 and Sawyers Estate Agent on 751647. I am deeply disappointed that I will miss this event due to a conference that I've already booked to attend. However all you folks out there enjoy lots!!!

New website on badgers and Bovine TB

Local badger expert Martin Hancox has just launched a website with his views on badgers and Bovine TB - as someone who has looked at the issue at some length I am still convinced that a cull is the wrong (see many previous blogs) - it is therefore disturbing to see both Tories and Lib Dems come out in favour of a cull - I am also certain that Martin's views need proper investigation. Anyhow here is his latest letter to press:

After nearly 40 years, as with much progress in politics and science, The Great Badgers and Bovine TB Debate has been resolved by serendipity .. although like the Emperors New Clothes no-one can "SEE IT" !!?? Cattle TB Peaked at 40,000 TB cattle last year .. a 42 % rise on 2007 , which is worse now than it was back in the 1950s before GB's textbook Area Eradication Scheme from 1960 nearly wiped out TB by the early 1970s apart from small recalcitrant south-west hotspots (Without ANY badger culls).

SO , farmers and vets have YET Again urged a mass badger cull .. and have persuaded both the Tory's and LibDems at the 4 June local elections to promise .. as in Wales, a cull. Labour continue to claim a cull cannot make any meaningful contribution to solving cattle TB because of the infamous (and rather silly badger perturbation effect .. the 23 % rise in reactive areas happened BEFORE the cull even though the experts then said it was due to the cull ISG 2007). The Greens are the only party anti-cull.

SO what has actually gone wrong ?? It seems beyond belief but no-one can see that the explosion outwards from SW hotspots when there were 89 herds and 600 TB cattle in 1979 ..to 7000 herds and 40,000 TB cattle in 2008 in an area including everything west of a line up from Dorset to the Midlands .. is SIMPLY spread within the cattle herd ..spurred on by relaxation of cattle controls due to Mad Cows/Foot & Mouth 2001 . So, 190,000 TB cattle, amongst 25,000 new herds since FMD (including 11,000 UNConfirmed , the True hidden TB reservoir.. NOT badgers after all).

With that amount of TB swirling around amongst the cattle population no badger cull or vaccine strategy will have the slightest relevance . There were 15 or fewer TB badgers per 100 sq.km. trial area in half the Krebs/RBCT culls .. a mere 166 superexcretors out of 11,000 culled which MIGHT have posed a risk to cows .. although no-one has shown how badgers might give cows a respiratory lung infection !? Badgers simply catching TB from cows. Victim not Villain. ALAS Poor Brock. www.badgersandtb.com

M.Hancox, Stroud

France cracksdown on mobile phone use

I am delighted to hear that France has cracked down on children's use of mobile phones - this has been done amid growing fears that they may cause cancer and other diseases.

Photos: from Dept of Health Guidance leaflets

As I've stated on this blog and to local press we simply do not know enough about the damage that such technology is causing to children's health and development. It is time our Government followed the French - a long while back they produced the guidance below about children limiting calls on mobiles but I've never seen even this advice published in the places it needs to be.

This is from Geoffrey Lean's article in The Independent: "The clampdown represents the most comprehensive action yet taken by any government worldwide. It contrasts sharply with the stance of British ministers, who have largely ignored the recommendations of an official report nine years ago that people aged under 16 should be discouraged from using mobiles, and that the industry should be stopped from promoting them to children. Since then their use by the young has almost doubled, so that nine out of 10 of the country's 16-year-olds own a handset.

Swedish research indicates that children and teenagers are five times more likely to get brain cancer if they use the phones, causing some experts to predict an "epidemic" of the disease among today's young people in later life. But consideration of the threat to them has been specifically excluded from Britain's official £3.1m investigation into the risk of cancer from mobiles."

According to researchers in Russia children using handsets are prone to the following disorders: weakening memory, decline of attention, reduction of mental and cognitive capacity, irritation, sleep violation, increasing epileptic possibility. The other possible far-standing consequences are brain, auditory and vestibular nerve tumor (at the age of 25-30), Alzheimer's disease, 'acquired dementia', depressive syndrome and other forms of neuronal degeneration of brain structures (at the age of 50-60).
The Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (RNCNIRP)

Headteachers award

Three cheers for headteacher of Foxmoor County Primary School, Nanette Maycock - she scooped a distinction for primary headteacher of the year in the West of England. She has been head at Foxmoor in Cashes Green since 1987 - and was nominated by parents. Judges then visited the school to gather evidence and information about her role. Meanwhile at the same ceremony Rick Rutter from Archway School in Stroud was awarded a distinction for lifetime achievement at the event.

Cashes Green Hospital site gets go-ahead

I have a number of disappointments about this exciting project - it is great that last Tuesday it has got to this point after so very long - indeed I must have attended 6 or 7 consultation events and submitted views many times on the design and layout and more.

Photo: Entrance to Cashes Green Hospital site

However you will see my two main comments re allotments and traffic below - sadly it seems they were overruled - this is despite a last-minute petition that failed to sway councillors who voted in favour of the development of 78 homes at the former Cashes Green Hospital site in Stroud. For me the allotment issue is crucial - however the project remains exciting as it has 50% affordable and will become the country's largest Land Trust.]

Another comment is that once again councillors are having to determine an outline planning permission on such a large site - the argument being that we were awaiting a developer to come on the scene. However I have seen too often where the illustrative plan bears no resemblance to the final development. Let us hope this really is the showcase plan it has been billed.

Stroud Life report Cllr John Marjoram (Green Trinity) saying at the meeting that to grant permission would be a tragedy. He said Cainscross, where the hospital has lain derelict for 15 years, had taken enough development. "I don't think it will enhance the Cainscross community."

Cainscross Parish Council had also objected that the dense social housing suggested at the old hospital was a lost chance to upgrade the area's facilities.

Two key comments re outline planning permission

1. Opposition to the proposed reduction of allotments at the Cashes Green Hospital site.

I would like to note my concerns about the reduction of size in the area of allotments compared to the original site. Cainscross Parish has the highest density of housing in Stroud District and according to research by the Stroud Valleys Project the least number of green spaces. While I welcome the move to 50% affordable housing I consider we should be seeking to protect the whole allotment site from development.

I understand the community and the Parish Council have sought to protect these allotments and indeed provided support for Policy RL9 in the Local Plan which ensures these allotments are again available to people.

2. Concerns about the increase of traffic relating to the development of the Cashes Green Hospital site.

As you will know the community have been involved in a very lengthy consultation process with various bodies. However one consistent concern relating to this development has been the additional traffic it will generate. There are several key concerns:
- the speed of traffic at certain times of day on Cashes Green road up through to Randwick which includes the school
- concerns that the additional traffic will exacerbate the divide between communities on one side of the road and the other
- concerns that the additional volumes of traffic will reduce the level of cycling and walking

I have in the past argued strongly for a Shared Spaces approach to this development and am disappointed this has not been developed more. I hope nevertheless that this significant development is an opportunity to develop a plan that will reduce dangers from vehicles and encourage a more pleasant neighbourhood that supports more walking and cycling. I note at present the Highways report is not available so hope that you will consider these points when making your recommendations.

One key factor in creating 'living streets' is a 20 mph - as you will know this is the speed at which drivers can have eye contact with other users of the street. It is the speed at which pedestrians feel more confident about crossing the road, children play outside their homes and it is quiet enough to hold a conversation. Research shows that 20mph limits are a critical success factor in promoting walking, cycling and public transport as alternatives to the private car. This means less CO2 emissions and healthier residents.

We should also note again the well reported fact that when a pedestrian is hit by a car at 40 mph they only have a 15% chance of surviving, at 30mph, 55%, but at 20mph the chance of survival increases to 95%. This is more than sufficient justification for a default 20 mph in urban areas. Amazingly even a 1 mph drop in average speed is estimated to reduce accidents by 6% in urban areas.

All good reasons to seek a mandatory 20 mph, however I note that just putting up signs does not go far enough. Further measures would be needed. I hope that Highways will be able to consider what those measures might be. They could include on-street parking areas, possible narrowing of the road, changes to road surfaces for safer crossing areas and more.

I do not consider that it is satisfactory to increase the level of traffic on this road without taking some significant measures. Any increase in traffic will impact negatively on residents living on that road and using it to walk and cycle. Too often it is neighbourhoods that are poorer that end up with measures that do not go far enough. It is a shocking fact that four times as many poor children as rich children are killed on Britain's roads.

Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish meeting: update on various local issues

Well it is early and I've got a busy day so just a quick update on some of the items that were discussed on Thursday....

Cartoon: from Russ

- following the sad death of Michael Lakin there is now a vacancy on the Parish Council - it will be advertised shortly.

- the plan for allotments moves closer - I've been on the Parish Working Party Group - the site has been identified, many draft plans drawn up and a couple of weeks ago we had another site meeting this time with the local Crime Prevention Officer to see what others issues we need to consider - however the Parish rightly want to see what interest there is from those on the waiting list so they have been invited to a meeting on 25th - sadly that is also the night of Full Council so I can't be there - then the next step is agreeing legal stuff with the landowner, drawing up contracts and then clearing the site - the latter will be a major task - and suspect the site will only be for 6 allotments? We'll see but it is an important start and I am hoping this will work and lead to other similar projects with private landowners around the District - see here some background and more why we need allotments here

- the Parish agreed with me that changing the AONB covenant was wrong - see here

- they again agreed the ward name change - see here

- the Basketball hoop moves closer to being installed - all sorts of problems have transpired but after another quote it looks like we will proceed - see some background here

- the 20 is Plenty scheme is approved - signs have been ordered and soon to go up with stickers for all parishioners recycling boxes - see more here

- the Parish also added it's support to Save Our Green Spaces campaign - see Greens joining the local campaign here

AONB Covenant proposed change?

Currently there exists a covenant that the District Council uses in the sales of its properties in the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to restrict the persons to whom such properties can be transferred on subsequent sales off. There are planned changes to which I am opposing.

The specific criteria of the covenant are set out in section 157 of the Housing Act 1985 but there follows a précis of the Council’s policy as regards such properties :

Where the criteria are met – in the Council’s case, where the applicant has lived and/or worked in Gloucestershire (NB. This does not include South Gloucestershire) for the three years prior to the application for consent, or has worked or lived in another A.O.N.B. or National Park – consent cannot be withheld, and is given by the Head of Housing Standards under delegated authority. If the proposed purchaser has not lived or worked in Gloucestershire for two years prior to the application for approval, consent will be automatically denied. Where the applicant has lived or worked in the county for between two and three years, the matter will be considered by the Head of Housing Standards under delegated authority. Where there is more than one purchaser, only one has to meet the criteria.
The Council has apparently recently received an increasing number of applications for consent where the applicants do not meet the criteria and given the economic climate it proposes to review its policy in relation to the AONB covenant. As part of this review the Council is consulting with local agencies. Here is what I think...

On the basis of the evidence available to me I would strongly note that the policy should remain: ex-social housing is more affordable and in villages where we do not have much social housing it at least puts a preference for local people.

I understand that there is a desire to keep the housing market alive but I am disappointed that such a proposal should come forward with no real evidence in favour of a change. Does the current policy mean that properties are sometimes cheaper as there is less competition for the sale of those properties? Does it reduce second-home ownership? I would welcome more information as to how the current policy operates, how many houses this entails, how often the policy is overturned under the delegated authority, whether there has been follow-up research on homes sold and even for example, if there are ways the policy could be more strictly followed rather than less?

The lack of affordable housing in many villages is a serious problem and we need to be doing much more to address this issue. This policy is one very small part of what is needed although I suspect it has only a marginal effect. However in my view, having not seen evidence to the contrary, it is part of the limited ways we can try to address more fairly the housing needs of local people.

Cllr. Philip Booth

Greens ahead of Labour and Lib Dems

We had a bit of a celebration party-come-meeting last night for Greens - celebrating Sarah's win and looking forward. Indeed it was also great to read in the Stroud Life: "The Greens, in the shape of district councillor Sarah Lunnon - nursing a dog bite and feeling several degrees under the weather - have picked up their first, and some might say long-overdue, seat in Shire Hall. It is sure not to be the last as more embrace the eco message. History has meed made and e should remember that."

Photo: From SNJ who also reported the win

There was also a further look at some of the statistics - basically Green party results for Stroud District show we got 19% in the County elections and were just ahead of Labour and a point behind Lib Dems - however when it comes to the Euro votes for Stroud District we are ahead of both Labour and Lib Dems: BNP 3.1 %, CON 30.9%, GREEN 15.6%, LD 12.6 %, LAB 11.7% and UKIP 17.0%. Guardian Euro results are here.

See also Ricky Knight's thank you letter to local press here. See other election results stuff here. Meanwhile great to hear Greens gained an MP in Australia - Adele Carles used her maiden speech in the Legislative Assembly to push for an end to live sheep exports.

Support for moves to 20 mph

The press back in April publicised moves by the Government to consider more 20 mph zones - see my comment here - it annoys me that this move is being portrayed as just about safety - well of course that is good enough reason in itself but we should not forget some of the other benefits - especially if we are serious about encouraging more walking and cycling.

Photo: tomorrow at the Parish Council meeting we will hear back from Highways about the next stage of the '20 is Plenty' plans for the area - something we have been pushing for some years.

Letter sent to Good Motoring magazine earlier this week:

You report that the Government is considering reducing speed limits from 30 to 20 mph in urban areas and 60 to 50 mph in rural (GEM newsround). These measures are long overdue: as you note only one in 40 people who are hit by a vehicle at 20 mph dies compared to one in five at 30 mph. Britain's record for child safety is one of the worst in developed nations and cyclists deaths on our roads continue to rise. Casualties are also three times higher in more deprived areas.

How can we justify anything other than 20 mph in our urban areas?

However lower speeds are not just about reducing deaths and injury. There is also evidence that 20 mph can lead to better flows of traffic, less congestion and less emissions. However most importantly research shows 20 mph are a critical success factor in promoting walking, cycling and public transport as alternatives to the private car. Lower speeds help create 'living streets' as pedestrians feel more confident about crossing roads, children play more outside and it is quiet enough to hold a conversation.

Councils like Portsmouth, Newcastle, Oxford and Leicester, are already introducing 20mph speed limits. But we se should not forget that speeds alone will not be enough. We also need Safe Routes to School programmes everywhere that include more comprehensive measures like rearranging junctions and crossings to increase safety.

Cllr Philip Booth

Local campaign against an incinerator

Just a note to highlight the newish Gloucestershire campaign website against a large incinerator. It is great to see a non-party political campaign developing. Now that we have a Green party voice at the County Council Greens we will be able more easily to call to account any attempts to move towards incineration. Greens have had considerable correspondence with the County on this but we still have very real concerns about the direction they are going...

Photo: pinched from The Citizen re the recent march against a large incinerator.

Meanwhile see our recent letter to the local press here......ooohps nearly forgot to leave the link for the new website:
www.gloucestershire-against-incinerators.org.uk

Sad loss of Michael Lakin

Michael Lakin, a Parish councillor with Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish, sadly died on 25th May aged 62 after discovering he had oesophageal cancer only 6 weeks ago. His funeral was yesterday - it was a beautiful service in Whiteshill followed by the burial. Michael was a very special man and he will be very missed - his passion for justice shone, as did his interests in animal welfare and the environment.

On 21st May Michael Lakin married Elizabeth Redvers-West in Stroud hospital 34 years after meeting her - the first time in Stroud hospital such a celebration has taken place. They had lived together in Ruscombe for many years. Thoughts go to Elizabeth and other family members.

Essential viewing: 'A Farm for the Future'

As the download of this extraordinary film takes time I have put the five sections of it here. I strongly recommend it - it has also fired me to look at other ways we might be able to increase local food production - anyone interested please do contact me - we already have an allotment project and a community orchard being planned but there is much more we can be doing.

South West Euro results comments

This blog kicks off with Greens in the South West, other UK Green Euro results plus European Greens and a comment on the BNP.

Photo: Sarah's win in Stroud East - see more photos here
- and graph below of votes in Stroud District

In the European elections, the Green Party's vote increased by 44% compared with 2004 - yet the Greens still returned only 2 MEPs. But the party's results show considerable promise for the coming general election, with the Greens having defeated all comers in the parliamentary constituencies which will be contested by the party's leader and deputy leader.

In the South West region, the Green Party increased its vote for Ricky Knight by 2%, to 9%. However despite increasing the Green share of the vote and pushing Labour into fourth place we missed the chance to represent over 144,000 Green voters in the South West. Ricky led a wonderful campaign that saw him meeting voters in every part of the constituency. This would have been enough to have won a seat last time when there were 7 seats in the SW. In fact we were the only party from last time to see our vote share rise - even UKIP's share fell - and with 17 parties standing, including some that may have taken some votes directly from us, this is a more than commendable performance

Nevertheless hopes have been high for a breakthrough - so it is disappointing. Greens were 12,070 votes short of a seat. Spread across 49 parliamentary constituencies that is 247 votes short per constituency - if each constituency is about 60,000 electors, typically divided into 20 wards of about 3,000 for local elections then all we needed was the equivalent of an extra 12 votes per ward - and many hundreds in each ward didn't vote. However SW gains of seats in Devon and Sarah Lunnon in Stroud give cause for hope (see graph of vote in Stroud District where Greens got 19% in County elections across the District). Results from the six-hour count in Stroud which were interestingly lower than our scores in the County election across the District (i) and full results below for all parties in the South West (ii).

Other Green gains

Party leader Caroline Lucas was re-elected comfortably, with the South East Green Party vote up by half, from 8% to 12%, finishing ahead of Labour. Dr Lucas's bid for election to the Westminster Parliament received a huge boost from a vote of 33.7% in Brighton and Hove. The Greens came first in Brighton and Hove, almost 6,000 votes ahead of the Conservatives, and with more than double Labour's vote across three parliamentary constituencies. Caroline Lucas will be contesting the Brighton Pavilion seat in the general election.

Jean Lambert successfully defended her London seat, overtaking UKIP. In Lewisham, the Greens polled 22%, close behind Labour on 25%. This looks promising for the Lewisham Deptford target constituency in the general election, a seat to be contested by Darren Johnson AM, the current chair of the London Assembly.

Rupert Read narrowly missed election in Eastern region, where the Green vote increased from 6% in 2004 to 9%. In Norwich, the Greens came a comfortable first throughout the city, on 25% - good news ahead of the general election, when Green Party deputy leader Adrian Ramsay will contest the Norwich South target seat.

Other results

In Yorkshire and the Humber, the Green vote went up from 6% to 9% - narrowly missing out to the first BNP MEP. Ironically, the BNP's new MEP lives in Harrogate, a borough where the BNP polled only 1,887 votes compared with the Green Party's 3,845. The North West Greens very narrowly missed winning a seat where the BNP leader was elected. In fact the Greens candidate Peter Cranie was only 0.3% short of defeating the BNP leader. Highlights of the Green vote in the North West included Manchester, where the Greens finished in third place, on 13.6%, ahead of the Conservatives. Ironically, while the Green vote was up from 6% to 8%, the BNP vote actually fell numerically compared with 2004.

In the North East - the first result announced, as there are only three seats - the Greens polled 6%, 1% up on 2004, in the English region where the Green vote was always most likely to be squeezed. In East Midlands, the Green vote increased by 1% to 7% and in West Midlands up 1% to 6%. In Wales, the Green Party vote increased by a third, from 4% to 6%.

Dr Caroline Lucas MEP, Green Party leader said: "The Green Party is definitely continuing to move in the right direction. In the last decade we've won our first seats in the European Parliament and the London Assembly and we've got more councillors elected every year. This year we broke through onto four more county councils where we hadn't previously been represented. We've gone ahead of Labour in two Euro-regions and ahead of the Tories in two of England's biggest cities and ahead of everybody in Brighton and Norwich. Near-misses in the Euro-elections this year will translate into more council seats next year. And I think we have very good cause to be optimistic about a breakthrough to Westminster in the next general election."

Electoral system

Overall turnout is under 35% - so around 4% less than last time. No electoral reformer would wish to see the closed list system in place for electing MPs (see more here). Nevertheless 3 out of every 4 votes counted and elected an MEP. So while it is not the best system of proportional system it at least means that a large majority of voters will be represented by an MEP whom they voted for. However as the Make Your Votes Count campaign note "there were some losers; in particular Green voters missed out narrowly in several regions from electing a Green MEP."
European Greens

The European Green Party has had an excellent result in the election to the European Parliament. A total of 46 Green MEPs have been elected, up from 35. The Greens/EFA Group is now likely to have 53 MEPS (46 Greens and 7 EFA MEPs), up from 43, although the exact formation of the Group is still to be confirmed

EGP Co-Spokesperson Philippe Lamberts, who has been elected a MEP for the Belgian French-speaking Green Party Ecolo, said: “To have increased the number of Green MEPs from 35 to 46 is a great success. Our showing is even more remarkable when you consider that we have 11 more seats than before in a parliament with 49 fewer MEPS and that all other groups have shrunk. Countries which deserve a special mention from our point of view include France where Europe-Ecologie obtained an amazing 16% of the national vote and so will have 14 MEPs and Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Finland which will all have more Green MEPs than last time round and Greece which now has its very first Green MEP. What our 31% increase in seats proves beyond any shadow of a doubt is that the Greens are a major political force to be reckoned with and that we are gaining the trust of more and more voters, not only in our traditional areas like the environment and climate policy and human rights, but also economics and social policy."

This Guardian piece re Greens here - it gives a helpful European perspective.

Comment on the BNP win

The BNP gaining two MEPs is being viewed as the ultimate protest vote against the 3 main parties. The simple fact is that this Labour government has done more to create inequality, entrench poverty, and not provide poor communities with a positive vision for the future. That has been a major contributory factor in the increase of the BNP vote.

Indeed this is sadly the biggest step forward for the far right in British history. The BNP achieved what Oswald Mosley's fascists failed to achieve in the 1930s - success in national elections. Media coverage during the campaign has pointed to BNP members' links with neo-Nazi parties in other European countries, holocaust denial, criminal convictions and so on, but there has been little scrutiny of their most outrageous policies - that includes for example its flagship policies of 'voluntary repatriation' and the dismantling of racial discrimination laws. These BNP wins signal the even more urgent need for a complete reform of British democracy in ways that will involve and engage people far more, and make sure parliament really reflects the views of society as a whole, not just those of the biggest two parties.

There is already a petition in response to the BNP gaining the seats:
http://action.hopenothate.org.uk/page/s/notinmyname

Locally in Stroud District the BNP hardly rate a mention - it was good to see cross-party civic leaders (including Greens John Marjoram and Sarah Lunnon) making a public stand to support the recent statement of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. Here was their statement: "We're proud that our many ethnic and national communities live in harmony together. We treasure this and are glad of the contribution they make to the life of our towns. We're aware of the BNP's ultimate aim to 'repatriate' black and Asian British people and how this can foster divisions between our local people simply because of their differing faiths or racial roots. We urge electors to avoid supporting any candidates who would foster prejudice and hate."

Now more than ever we need a Green New Deal to tackle the recession and lay the basis for an economic system that's fairer as well as sustainable for future generations.

Notes:
(i) Results from the six-hour count in Stroud:
Conservatives - 11,864
UKIP - 6,516
Greens - 5,995 (16.8%)
LDs - 4,845
Labour - 4,499
BNP - 1,186
Plus 11 others.

(ii) MEP Seats in South west:
SEATS: 6 TURNOUT: 1,549,708 ELECTORATE: 3,998,479
Votes MEPs
Party Total % Total +/-
Conservative 468,742 30.2
(-1.3) 3 +1
UK Independence Party 341,845 22.1
(-0.5) 2 0
Liberal Democrats 266,253 17.2
(-1.2) 1 0
Green Party 144,179 9.3
(+2.1) 0 0
Labour 118,716 7.7
(-6.8) 0 -1
British National Party 60,889 3.9
(+0.9) 0 0
Pensioners Party 37,785 2.4
(+2.4) 0 0
English Democrat 25,313 1.6
(+1.6) 0 0
Christian Party-Christian Peoples Alliance 21,329 1.4
(+1.4) 0 0
Mebyon Kernow 14,922 1.0
(+1.0) 0 0
Socialist Labour Party 10,033 0.6
(+0.6) 0 0
No2EU 9,741 0.6
(+0.6) 0 0
Independent - Katie Hopkins 8,971 0.6
(+0.6) 0 0
Libertas 7,292 0.5
(+0.5) 0 0
Fair Play Fair Trade Party 7,151 0.5
(+0.5) 0 0
Jury Team 5,758 0.4
(+0.4) 0 0
Wai D 789 0.1
(+0.1) 0 0
Conservative - 3 SEATS (CHANGE: +1)
* Giles Chichester
* Julie Girling
* Ashley Fox
UK Independence Party - 2 SEATS (CHANGE: 0)
* Trevor Colman
* William, Earl of Dartmouth
Liberal Democrats - 1 SEATS (CHANGE: 0)
* Graham Watson