Is the Stroud Pound working?

That was the title of this last Friday's monthly Green party sponsored Coffee House Discussion. About 30 people joined the debate that started off with three presentations about the pound including one from Nick Allen, from Star Anise Arts Cafe, giving the view of a local business who uses the Stroud pound (see my blog re the launch of the Stroud Pound here, a guide to the currency here and why we need it here).

Photos: various pics from the evening plus a Brixton pound

Nick (pictured) expressed his support for the project and noted how, he would be using the Stroud pounds he had gained from customers, in local shops like Kane's and the Bookshop to buy Christmas presents for staff. However John Marjoram, who chaired the evening noted that some businesses were still cautious or could not see the advantage. Indeed you can read here in The Guardian comments from concerned traders in Brixton before their pound was launched (see pic below of their pound).

Molly Scott-Cato (pictured), an economist who helped launch the pound, gave a presentation that answered many of the questions businesses might have had. She said: "This recession has been caused by a financial crisis and having our own resilient local currency can help us to weather the storm. If we work together as a community of traders, consumers and charities - as the design of the Stroud pound encourages - then we will be able to support each other in these difficult times."

Indeed where similar projects have been launched overseas I learnt that they have a slow start before really taking off. However Stroud already has over £3600 in circulation in just over two months and only £150 returned so far. The Pound is starting to change the way local people shop and the way local traders think. Certainly having Stroud pounds in my pocket makes me think first about those businesses that take the pound.

There are now over 30 businesses signed up with more interested. The more businesses that sign up the more the Stroud pound can really achieve what economists call the 'local multiplier effect' - that is increasing the number of times money is circulated within a community. Keeping money circulating close to where you spend it is well known to have a significant impact on the local economy. Stroud Pounds are never going to be the whole answer but are part of the shift that can strengthen our local economy.

It is also worth noting that for every Stroud Pound purchased by an individual, 3% of its value is allocated to a local charitable organisation of the individual’s choice provided that it is a member of Stroud Pound Co-op Ltd.

Stroud Pound folk are outside Stroud Valleys Project every Saturday morning 10am to 1pm and now have a few post offices selling the pounds too. Plus the Stroud Pound will have a stall at the Goodwill evening. You can find out more at:
http://www.stroudpound.org.uk/

There will be no Coffee House discussion in December. Lastly I've used some of this blog to send to press to hopefully give the pound some more publicity - hopefully also soon news of two exciting new businesses that are considering joining.

Randwick Cycle route

Rob Palmer, the National Trust Community Warden has been developing plans with the Cyclists Touring Club Off Road group for a route around the woods.

Photo: cyclist in woods last weekend

As regular blog readers will know bikes and mountain boarders in the woods have done a certain amount of damage to the ancient monuments and wildlife - many new tracks made damaging bluebells and more - alot of the time I think people are unaware of what they are doing so a consultation was launched - and also more information put up about the ancient monuments - see here the boards put up to give more details re the ancient monuments.

The Trust is now creating a circular way-marked bike trail which will be visibly unobtrusive - riders would pay a membership fee to include insurance - also riders are being encouraged to tell others about areas of the wood to avoid.

Mr Palmer is also working on a project with horse riders. Meanwhile the Trust is having more of a presence at the old campsite - unfortunately that site still remains unresolved due primarily to vandalism - see previous post here. I would still love to see the possibility of reopening that site but only if vandalism can be cut.

Rewards for recycling?

News that Tories want to reward recyclers by paying them £130 a year in vouchers from big corporations like Marks and Spencers and Tesco is just business as usual - see Telegraph article here and Indy here - we need to reduce first then reuse then recycle - yet here seems to be a plan to encourage us to spend more at the big stores with all their packaging nonsense.

Photo: View of Whiteshill

We are still recycling only a third of what we throw away - yet all the research shows that the overwhelming majority of us think recycling is a good idea and want to recycle more. How can we bridge the gap?

Consumer research shows that encouraging recycling - making it easy to do the right thing - is the best way to increase rates - fines are not the answer. Research also shows that folk want to know that, like in Stroud, the materials are being recycled - not sent to China or an incinerator.

Reward schemes being developed by councils in Windsor and Halton do deserve consideration - but we know from research that good recycling schemes are not just about rewards.

Here is what WRAP say: "The biggest lesson our research shows is that when it comes to designing recycling and collection schemes there is no one size fits all solution. Decisions about what will work best are, and should be, local decisions. Supporting recycling in a leafy suburb is a very different matter from on a high rise estate with huge social challenges. WRAP’s role is to provide solid evidence to support those decisions and help spread the good practice created by other authorities. This same principle of “no one-size fits all” solution will I’m sure be also the case with reward schemes."

The government have allowed us to become the dirty man of Europe, and have continually dragged their feet on implementing EU meausures outlining waste targets. In many ways measures like this reward system are panic measures that are ill-thought out - instead we need investment in developing those local answers rather than the 'one size fits all' - especially this scheme that is about increasing our consumption.

More Hall Curry Day tomorrow

Here is one ad I'm happy to place on this blog:

Photo: Your District is in Safe Hands - me winning the cow milking contest at More Hall in 2007 - see here.

More Hall Convent Curry day tomorrow between 2 and 5pm. They do excellent chicken and vegetable curries and samosas. All home made of course and to their own recipes. The funds raised help to support the work of the Friends of More Hall to provide extra facilites and entertainments for the residents.

Of course it is also a day full of other activities like Wynstones amazing Christmas Market 10.45am to 4pm, Stroud Mencap Fayre at Beeches Green 10am to 2.00 plus that Heavens Gate William Blake Birthday celebration and of course Star Anise Cafe for the send off of Issy, Annie and James to Copenhagen.

Water Saving tips - and why we need to

Here below is the Ruscombe Brook Action Group's public information leaflet about saving water - we have been working on it for a while and it has now been sent to a number of local Parish newsletters and other local press.

Water resources are under pressure: save water, save energy.

About one third of the water each person uses on a daily basis is wasted – it runs straight down the plughole. We must cut that waste.

Already, despite a seemingly wet climate, almost 25 million Britons live in areas where there is less available water per person than in Spain or Morocco. The South East of England has less water available per person than Sudan and Syria. Many of our rivers already have reduced flows and climate change forecasts suggest the amount of water available will be reduced even further at key times. It is also likely to lead to more flooding events and it is worth noting that water saving reduces flooding.

The average Briton uses 148 litres (260 pints) of water every day. However there is also a hidden aspect to our water use, in the manufacturing of the goods we buy and the crops we eat. It takes for example 1,000 litres to grow a kilo of wheat or two kilos of potatoes and a massive 24,000 litres for a kilo of beef. We could in effect each be consuming indirectly around 1.5 to 2 million litres per year!

Transporting, heating and treating water accounts for over 6% of the UK's carbon footprint. Using less water means we cut the energy needed to treat it and we reduce our impact on the environment. It is vital we start to look at managing our water better in our manufacturing and agricultural uses but also at home.


Some water saving tips from the Ruscombe Brook Action Group

Get a 'hippo'! The Hippo reduces the amount of water in your toilet cistern by up to 30%! Alternatively place a plastic bottle in your toilet's cistern. Flushing the loo uses a third of our mains water! Take care your hippo doesn't lead to extra flushing as some cisterns are already designed to reduce flows.

Fix that drip! A dripping tap can waste up to 4 litres of water a day. Replace worn washers or fit a more efficient tap.

Spray more! Spray head taps can reduce consumption by up to 70%.

Recycle! Wash fruit and veg in a bowl rather than under the tap; then use the water for watering plants!

Sprinkle less! Sprinklers use the same amount of water in an hour as a family of four uses in a day! Install a trickle system instead which works from a water butt.

Get an Eco Showerhead! 60% of the world's hot water is for showering: NordicEco, Mira Eco or EcoCamel showerheads all massively cut water use and pay for themselves in weeks.

Reduce paving and concrete! This stops run off water

Count every drop! Support widespread water metering. If applied to all households we could reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to more than 27 times the total UK Carbon Reduction Commitment target.

Ruscombe Brook Action Group encourages responsible water use and seeks a water management strategy in the Stroud area that will properly protect us from floods and drought. We strive for improved wildlife habitats and water quality in our streams and rivers, an end to sewage leaks and a joined up approach to water that includes changes to planning, farming and house building. Call Philip Booth on 01453 755451 or Jo Bottrill on 01453 750063 for more details. Or see our website: www.rbag.org.uk

Latest from Cartoon Kate

Some will have seen Kate Evan's excellent cartoon booklet, "Funny Weather" on climate change - now here is her new one on supermarkets - free to download at her website:
http://www.cartoonkate.co.uk/

It reminds me of the proposals from Competition Commission - it was a long while ago now when they listed at the back of their report particular branches which have anti-competitive covenants (eg restrictions on other shops selling food) - Brockworth was listed but I never had a chance to get the press interested - but you can still download the pdf report here.

Road Safety Week: another call for default 20mph

It is Road Safety Week this week - and I've been putting together a press release that went out today (available on Glos Green party website soon) - it calls for more Safe Routes to School and a default 20 mph. While putting that together I also responded to a letter in the national Good Motoring magazine - see my response below.

I write in response to letters in the recent issue of Good Motoring. One letter suggested I had hidden that I was a Green party District councillor. In fact I am proud to note my membership and the Green party's lead in calling for 20 mph in all residential urban areas and villages. But this should not be party political issue, indeed I know councillors from all parties working for a default 20 mph.

Portsmouth for example now have all residential roads, bar arterial routes, with a speed limit of 20 mph and casualties have fallen by 15%. The picture of reduced casualties in new 20 mph zones is repeated elsewhere. Part of the reason is that 20 mph is the speed when people are more likely to survive a collision. More than half the people hit by a car doing a seemingly harmless 35mph, die, yet reduce the speed to 20 mph and only 1 in 40 of us die. That alone is surely reason enough for a default 20 mph?

Other benefits of 20 mph include lower noise, and a change in the way people engage with other road users when driving. Eye contact with pedestrians is much easier at 20 mph or less. In Portsmouth the scheme has already been judged to have increased the quality of life in the city and made it a better place to live.

One letter to GM said 20 mph doesn't reduce emissions. Indeed there is conflicting evidence: some arguing it creates less congestion as traffic is moving more steadily, while the AA has found it can lead to as much as 10% more emissions on some roads. However the crucial point is that 20 mph is the speed that has been found to increase the number of people walking and cycling. If we are to cut emissions and reduce congestion then we must share our roads more equitably with other users.

Britain's record for child safety is amongst the worst in Europe. We have discouraged cyclists and walkers from our roads. We are long overdue a default 20 mph. My experience from the doorsteps in my area is that people want 20 mph. That is not being anti-car as one letter writer suggested, it is just common sense.

Cllr. Philip Booth, Stroud District Green Party

Check B4 U Pet winners from Whiteshill

The winners of a competition to warn children of the dangers of running up to dogs and petting them visited Ebley Mill last week to receive their prizes. The four winners of the Check B4 U Pet poster competition from Whiteshill and Longney Primary school were all presented with a £20 voucher.

Photo: Poster showed to me by one of the winners, Emily Memory.

The Check B4 U Pet campaign was launched two years ago in response to the increasing number of incidents involving dogs attacking, maiming and sometimes killing children. The council's animal welfare team are running this campaign every year, visiting schools around the district to educate children on how to react if they are under threat from a dog but also to advise them on the correct way to approach dogs if they want to pet them. As part of the sessions the children were invited to enter a competition to create a poster illustrating the correct way to react if they were under threat from a dog.

Well done Whiteshill!

The winners are:
Emily Memory - Whiteshill Primary School
Jack Manley - Whiteshill Primary School
Lilly Brewer - Longney Primary School
William Attwooll- Longney Primary School

Stroud company selling gas to build turbines

Ecotricity is set to use rotting food leftovers and sewage to provide a new source of "green gas" to heat our homes. From yesterday folk can register for Stroud-based Ecotricity's new tariff to buy green gas – commonly known as biogas - and being billed cheekily as 'The Real British Gas.'

This looks set to be a good opportunity for those of us looking to cut our carbon footprint, cut landfill waste and be less reliant on Russian gas that is set to run out in 15 years or so. In the past all we have had is 'green electricity' and had to buy our gas from one of those companies who uses the profits to build nukes and coal-fired power stations*.

As Treehugger comments: "On the one hand, supplying fossil fuels to fund green energy seems a little ironic. On the other hand, a huge number of homes in the UK are heated by natural gas, and use it as a cooking fuel—and that's not likely to change in the near future."

As The Observer notes: "Britain discards about 18 million tonnes of food waste a year, which Ecotricity said could generate enough biogas to heat 700,000 homes. The Conservative Party believes 50% of the UK's natural gas supply could be replaced by biogas."

You can sign up now but it wont start until January - the gas will of course come from conventional "brown" natural gas but the plan is to start adding biogas into the national grid later in 2010. Most of that will be bought from other suppliers but there are hopes to also build a couple of plants to make biogas. Customers signing up are investing in creating a demand and supply of biogas for the future.

As folk who read this blog regularly will know biogas is generated in anaerobic digesters, - the organic material is broken down by microbes without oxygen and this releases methane and carbon dioxide - the main elements of biogas. This biogas then makes electricity or, as Ecotricity plans, processed and put into the national gas network. Ecotricity don't plan to use farm waste as much of that is from factory farming.

See The Guardian report here and Treehugger here. See Dale Vince's Zero Carbonista blog to read more about how it works: Continue reading “‘Green Gas’ is here”

*We should not forget that, while Ecotricity is clearly tops in terms of building new renewable sources, many of their 30,000 'lecy' customers are on the tariff that includes non-renewables including nukes. You can see Ecotricity fuel mix here and how it is significantly improving in favour of renewables - remembering also that the money they get they invest - so changing to an Ecotricity tariff means your money goes to building new turbines - or as their ad says - bills to windmills - and don't forget if you change over mention Transition Stroud and TS will get £25 to spend on more low carbon projects locally.

CRB checks: have they gone too far?

CRBs have been in the news recently. We have seen Philip Pullman, Michael Morpurgo and Anne Fine all announce they will not visit schools in protest against the "insulting" criminal records bureau (CRB) vetting system. Why do they object to a measure that surely is ensuring the safety of children?

As folk will know the newly created Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) introduced rules that say any adult who works or volunteers with children or vulnerable adults will first have to be vetted and given the all-clear as a trustworthy adult. The scheme was introduced following the terrible case of the Soham schoolgirls murders by the school caretaker in 2002. At the time the Manifesto Club challenged the Home Office on this new law - the Home Office said that if someone didn't want to be vetted then "there must be suspicious reasons for that."

I already have three mandatory CRB checks in connection with work and running a local youth group - in fact tonight at the Woodcraft Folk group there will be over a 100 of us and a bonfire and 'scary' walk - most of the adults will have had to have been CRB'd to enable them to lead the groups - but I digress... I've heard it suggested that maybe even councillors need to have a CRB check, so perhaps that will make it four CRBs? There is no system that allows you to get one CRB - you have to get one for each activity/job.

However at last there are noises from politicians like Ed Balls, Christopher Grayling and others questioning the system. But where were they in 2006? Even the author of the post-Soham report, Sir Michael Bichard said that this law was not his intention.

As Catherine Bennett notes in a recent article in The Observer, Sir Roger Singleton, chairman of the ISA has pointed out that members of Parliament did not, back in 2006, appear to have any great problem with this law. She goes onto ask where was the scrutiny of this law? In answer she explains some of the reluctance being due to Gloucester MP Parmjit Dhanda, the Minister responsible for the Bill, who suggested that 'such critics wanted to make life cushier for paedophiles'.

Indeed she goes on to say: "As Parmjit Dhanda made clear, the more vetting the merrier. Whatever its lamentable vaguenesses about scope, definitions, enforcement and so forth, no one would ever fault his bill for inclusiveness. 'There are between 7.5 million and 9 million people involved in work with children or with vulnerable adults in one way or another, so it will not be possible to legislate to cover all those people in one fell swoop', he said. 'It will take time.'"

Additions to the list now include Saturday job supervisors, driving instructors and others, bringing the total of those likely to be affected to an impressive 11.3 million of the adult population. Even newsagents may not escape the need for a check.

It is claimed that since 2004 the CRB has stopped 98,000 unsuitable people working with vulnerable groups. This is impressive. However this is not the whole picture. The Home Office in May 2006 revealed that about 2,700 people were mislabeled as criminals during checks and further examples in following years.

It is also suggested by campaigners that many have been rejected for jobs on hearsay - just rejected from the job - it doesn't go anywhere near a courtroom or jury? See for an example Manchester Councillor Richard Baum's comments here about cases he has come across. Indeed there has been increasing concern particularly that the Enhanced Disclosure was reproducing trivial gossip, with the CRB labelled the "Criminal Gossip Bureau". At the very least these needs tightening up seriously to avoid abuses of civil liberties.

There is also the monstrous amount of paperwork - nearly a quarter of a million forms were returned as they were wrongly filled out by organisations. Plus Nacro report thousands of applicants have been subjected to illegal checks for jobs that do not require CRB. Costs are also spiraling and have reached an astonishing £600 million.

Indeed this scheme proceeds from the assumption that none of us can be trusted with children and vulnerable people. Every adult who engages, even fleetingly, with children now has to prove they are not a pervert, and to pay for this privilege where possible No one is presumed innocent. As James Panton writing in the Big Issue South West in August this year, said: "We are assumed to be potential paedophiles until proven otherwise."

Registering a third of working adults will do little to protect children from the small number of individuals who would do them harm. A CRB check may reveal what you have or have not done, but it does not reveal what you have not been caught doing nor what you might do. A CRB is no cast-iron guarantee.

A child's safety is not best guaranteed by subjecting us all to a state-sponsored certification scheme. This surely only adds to the corrosion of the informal relationships of trust and support that are so crucial to communities? Indeed children are becoming “no-go” areas: local sports teams and youth groups are struggling to find volunteers and some teachers are running scared to even put a plaster on a child’s knee.

Some key children's charities like the NSPCC have welcomed the CRB but even they are now questioning whether it has gone too far.

This current scheme is out of control. It needs serious attention. Of course we need to strengthen measures to protect children from potential sex offenders, but there are better ways to protect the vulnerable in our communities. We need to invest much more in teaching adults and children how to recognise warnings rather than relying on a piece of paper.

Interesting news: junk food, green beliefs and we are the deniers

Here are a couple of interesting articles I've been sent recently:

Photo: Fuzzies near top of Ash Lane

Scientists claim junk food is as addictive as heroin - With the rumors swirling that Michelle Obama is a big fan of former FDA Commissioner David Kessler's new book The End of Overeating, it seems reasonable to check in on the science behind an "addiction model" for salty, sweet, and fatty processed food. As it happens, a group of researchers has just released a new study on the subject. The conclusion: the brain responds to junk food the same way it does to heroin. See here.

Green beliefs given same status as religion - Environmentalism gets the same legal status as religion after a landmark ruling gave an Oxford man the right to sue his employer over his green views. The judge said: "If a person can establish that he holds a philosophical belief which is based on science as opposed, for example, to religion, then there is no reason to disqualify it from protection." Mr Nicholson claimed his beliefs affect his whole life and he accused Grainger's chief executive Rupert Dickinson of showing "contempt" for his concerns and claimed he once flew a member of staff to Ireland to deliver his Blackberry which he had left in London. It will be interesting to follow the next stage of this case....See more here.

Deniers of climate change are amateurs compared to us. Activists, environmentalists, scientists, and certainly Copenhagen politicians are in denial far more insidious and subtle. See here article that reads: "The reality we’re denying? We’re denying that we’ve put so much carbon into the atmosphere already that positive feedback loops are well on their way to amplification hell. We’re denying that time lags between carbon emissions and their effects are frighteningly relevant, and that the disastrous effects we’re seeing now are from emissions of 30 years ago. We’re denying that non-linear responses of physical systems cannot be calculated and therefore are perilously ignored. We’re denying that our consumption and waste have far exceeded planetary capacity, possibly irreparably so."

Councils must not invest taxpayers money in Airport growth

The more I thought about the nonsense going on over Staverton Airport the more I felt the urge to write - here is the letter I sent earlier this week:

The Citizen/Echo report that Cheltenham Borough and Gloucester City Councils, who each own a 50 per cent stake in Staverton Airport, will make a decision on 14th December and 7th January on whether to borrow £2.4 million to fund runway improvement plans. The lack of scrutiny about these plans to attract more corporate jet-setters is shocking.

A toothless "Green Management Plan" was introduced last year to appease campaigners that the airport would limit CO2 emissions. However it appears to have been dropped, as it conflicts with this latest plan to increase flights. These Councils are setting an appalling example to residents and businesses, by using taxpayers money to support increases in CO2 emissions when they should be cutting them by more than 80%.

However it gets worse. The economic arguments for expansion also just don't add up. Indeed the Government's own advisors, the Sustainable Development Commission, earlier this year called into question the economic benefits of aviation in terms of wealth creation and called for a review on policies of expanding airports.

News this month that world oil reserves have been seriously overestimated is an indication that we will be facing significant fuel price rises. This will encourage more companies to shift away from flights to more responsible alternatives. It also cannot be long before the public are not prepared to subsidise aviation anymore.

Already '"bizjet" aviation, which includes a high proportion of celebrity and leisure flights, is exempt from fuel tax. Aviation is also exempt from protection against noise nuisance claims and a whole host of other subsidies like paying for the radio spectrum which mobile phone, Emergency services and others all have to pay.

Yes, borrow £2.4 million, but invest it in renewables and energy saving measures: the return in terms of social, economic and environmental benefits will be significantly greater than anything wished for by this airport plan.

Cllr. Philip Booth (Green party), Stroud District councillor for the Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe ward

Notes:

(i) Tewkesbury Borough Council, which has planning jurisdiction on the site, in September approved the extension despite huge opposition and policy statements noting that aircraft emissions are material to planning applications.

Freecycle, Freegle and whats going on?

The excellent Ecologist website carried an article recently about Freecycle - and where it all is now - you see changes have been afoot and I wasn't understanding where this Stroud Freegle came from and why that had replaced Freecycle - now all is clear - well you can find the article here or I've taken the liberty of copying below:

What went wrong with Freecycle in the UK?

Sarah Lewis 30th September, 2009

The recycling network has seen its UK groups halve in number after members lost patience with its 'autocratic' US leadership

Since its inception in 2003, the online world of Freecycle has looked to many like a paragon of an environmentally conscious grassroots movement. But over the last month, simmering tensions in the network have boiled over, resulting in more than 40 per cent of the 510 UK Freecycle groups breaking away to form an independent network called Freegle.

Freecycle is, in essence, a giant internet-based swap shop, made up of thousands of localised groups allowing users to give away stuff they don't want any more, and receive stuff they do want. The rules are simple: whatever you give away must be free, and you can't keep taking without giving.

The aim is to keep useful things out of landfill, and although there are no official figures as to how much waste the network has kept above ground in the last six years, with nearly 5,000 groups in over 70 countries, and a total membership tipping 6.5 million people, it's hard to deny its success.

'Autocratic'

So why has it all gone wrong? Cat Fletcher, one time moderator of Brighton Freecycle and creator of replacement group GreenCycleSussex, says the founding US network was becoming increasingly 'autocratic and unreasonable'.

'We'd been trying to negotiate with the Americans for years but it wasn't successful. The guys in the US just didn't reply,' she says.

The Freecycle concept began innocently enough. A man called Deron Beal started the first group in Arizona and as the idea spread, anyone was allowed to set up with the name Freecycle using the Yahoo Groups messaging service.

Just over a year later, in August 2004, The Freecycle Network (TFN), which acts as a central administrative body for all Freecycle groups, filed an application to trademark the word Freecycle and imposed stringent rules on its usage. Genericisation in any form was forbidden. Anyone claiming to be an 'active freecycler', or to be in the process of 'freecycling some old stuff', would be guilty of trademark infringement.

In 2006, groups on Yahoo using the word freecycle, or any similar sounding word, were targeted and told to shut down. Yahoo itself deleted one group on the request of TFN, but Freecycle Sunnyvale retaliated, bringing a trademark opposition lawsuit against the network, which in turn responded by bringing a law suit against Freecycle Sunnyvale owner Tim Oey for trademark infringement.

The rulings in both cases said the word 'freecycle' could be used generically. But Beal kept this quiet, with Oxfordshire moderator Andy Swarbrick insisting no one was told about the court decisions and strict rules as to the use of the word held in place.

Moderators

While all this was happening, moderators who contacted the American network to question decisions or make suggestions for improving Freecycle in the UK - such as implementing a Freecycle area at local tips - were told to leave their positions.

‘Any moderators expressing opinions not exactly in alignment with what the Americans wanted were being deleted from their groups and asked to step down,' says Fletcher. 'These people started groups out of the goodness of their hearts and devoted thousands of hours of time. All of a sudden they were told to go, just for expressing an opinion’.

Neil Morris, who resigned as director of the UK Freecycle Network in September, and is now an active member of Freegle, says: ‘Volunteers were being told they didn't fit within the organisations. I didn't think it was right. You just don't do that. I had more or less managed to prevent people being forced to leave, but when I scaled back from being so active to work on my PhD it became very clear that the people filling the space were going to work the way Deron wanted them to, rather than to speak for the autonomy that had been building up.'

Brighton breakaway

Tensions came to a head when a combination of internal and international politics caused Cat Fletcher to feel she had no choice but to delete the Brighton Freecycle group and invite its 16,000 members to join GreenCycleSussex.

Fearful that Beal would delete their accounts and ban their free-recycling activities, and buoyed by the actions of Fletcher, moderators across the country began removing their groups from the Freecycle Network. The following day, a group of moderators decided the exodus of some 190 groups was large enough to warrant creating an independent network - Freegle.

The future

Morris insists Freegle wasn't premeditated, but a logical response to an immediate need.

‘Everyone tried to stay within Freecycle,' he says. 'The people who left were the people who had taken leadership and grown Freecycle to make the UK the country with the highest proportion of freecyclers in the world. I quite honestly don't know why Deron has done what he's done. I'm actually gobsmacked that someone would allow an organisation that has such great potential to be run the way it is run. You need to enhance the enthusiasm and efforts of volunteers, rather than hold them back.’

By the end of September, Freegle had gained about 43 per cent of the original UK Freecycle membership and is continuing to grow. Deron Beal and the US Network made no comment.

John Barnes will be missed

I was very saddened to read news of John Barnes death in the SNJ today. I've copied the article below as it captures some of the energy and passion that I also experienced in conversations with him.

Photo: John at the recent Open Homes Installers fair talking LED

Indeed it was great to meet someone with such a passion for green stuff and ideas to make it happen. John had, for example, offered to put in LED lighting at cost price to all of Stroud High Street if we could find some funds for a half or whole day of consulting - I had already had discussions with the Town Council about a project that we had hoped could be launched early next year. It would have meant up to 95% savings in energy for the shops involved. I was looking forward to working more with John on this project.

This is a great loss to Stroud and I all my sympathies to his family and friends.


Tributes paid to John Barnes - By David Wiles - see SNJ here.

INNOVATIVE, full of energy and a fantastic father - those are just a few phrases used to describe popular Stroud character John Barnes.

John was always buzzing with ideas and was known as a friendly face around the town. But he also suffered from bipolar disorder, a serious mental health problem involving extreme mood swings. Sadly, John took his own life recently aged 36.

His mother, Christine Rogers, 61, said: "I would like him to be remembered as he was, a very kind, caring young man. If you wanted his help, he would be over straight away. He was innovative and very creative."

Born in Wigan, Lancashire on February 9, 1973, John soon moved to Wales where his parents ran a pub. He relocated to Gloucester in 1988 when the family took over the Golden Cross in Southgate Street. John started an electrical engineering course at Gloscat's Park Campus in Cheltenham but left to be an unpaid helper at a small business in Oxford, providing sound and lighting at local gigs. His break came at the age of 18 in 1990, when he was invited to work as a lighting technician at rock concerts in Germany.

John returned to Gloucester in 1992 and then spent the next 10 years touring the world with acts including Iron Maiden, Sting and Blur. He met his wife-to-be, Emma Ordonez, during a night out at Gloucester Guildhall in 2002. The couple married at Gloucester Register Office in August 2003 and celebrated the birth of their son Ruben in April 2005. They lived on a canal barge for a short while and relocated to Chalford in 2006. The couple divorced amicably in 2007 and John, a volunteer with the Samaritans, moved to live above the Retreat in Church Street, Stroud.

His friend Annabell Walker, 35, said: "He was a fantastic father. He had lots of energy and was a lovely person to be around."

Over the last three years, he freelanced around Britain and was also employed to help large corporations develop new ideas. Among his ideas were a pushchair which could be folded to carry on your back and a washing line cover.

John was also passionate about green technology, particularly LEDs, and organised a carbon-neutral festival in Bank Gardens in August 2008. He also installed lighting in the Retreat and organised the light show on the closing night of the Greyhound. John died on October 23. A humanist funeral was held at Gloucester Crematorium on November 5 and the ashes will be spread locally.

He is survived by his mother Christine Rogers, former wife Emma Ordonez, son Ruben, four, brother David Barnes, stepfather John Rogers, stepbrother Peter Rogers and stepsister Lara Rogers.

Vote Earth

Add your vote at:
www.earthhour.org/
It will be taken to Copenhagen to help call for positive action on climate change - all the more needed after reading Guardian - see here - a new study shows that we could be seeing a 6 degrees rise in temperatures by the end of the century - this is way serious stuff.

Drama over Puckshole flood measures

Yesterday evening it was our monthly Ruscombe Brook Action Group meeting. Amongst topics was an update on Puckshole - see below. Here was our agenda resulting from a meeting I had with some RBAG members last month. I've also included some quick comments.

1. Works at Puckshole (phases I, II and III) - phase one is going ahead (see below) - phase two is tackling a water pipe that is damaging the brook and up for discussion in January. Phase three looking further at attenuation is on hold at the moment.
2. Severn Trent sewer works. A lengthy discussion on the huge progress since our first meeting some 4 years ago - we drafted a letter to seek an update on their plans as we have still seen little evidence of capital works going ahead.
3. Wider community involvement in the group and the brook - like involving schools again - our latest project is our water saving tips list which is ready to go out.
4. The Ruscombe Brook water standard - this is on hold.
5. Wider catchment issues and the Stroud Valleys Water Forum - we fed back from the recent Water Forum group - I don't think I've covered that yet on this blog - basically it was stuff about how we can develop the group to get bodies to take wider catchment issues more seriously - our planned speaker from the NFU didn't materialise but we were able to catch up on where each of the action groups are - see the meeting before that here.

Puckshole drama

For those who don't know for some years we have sought measures to reduce the flooding at Puckshole. The flooding continues to damage the road and in the past has flooded cars and cut off a small group of houses. We were delighted to get some funds from Stroud District Council to clear the culvert and put in a grill as part of our initial efforts. Then a couple of weeks ago the contractor got on site and found part of the culvert collapsed - the work was stopped and no funds available to restart.

I contacted various people and I know others also wrote and we are now delighted to learn yesterday that the District has managed to locate another source of funding to enable the culvert under the access road to be replaced - and the headwall/screen can be constructed as originally intended. A start date hopefully before Christmas - well done to Stroud District for coming up trumps on this one.

It should be noted that in funding the replacement culvert, the Council is not accepting any riparian responsibilities for ownership or maintenance of the culvert in the future as it is seen that this should lie with the owners of the access track. All this sounds so simple but behind the scenes it has meant yet more talks with the Environment Agency, the contractors, residents and lots more.

On a positive note, the culvert has already been carefully cleaned by "365 Environmental Ltd" and a CCTV record made of the culvert condition. The survey shows the "oil drum" culvert through the builders yard to be intact and of a good circular shape. Flow through this section is also good. The survey did show that there were two sections where the metal drum had rusted and fallen away from the concrete surround, but the concrete left behind is still supporting itself.

Sign Tobin Tax petition

I have repeatedly called for a Tobin Tax - see most recent call here - now I see there is a petition set up by a Green colleague on the Downing Street site.

Photo: Stroud 'bankers' launching the Stroud Pound

It would be great to see many folks sign:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/TobinTaxThanks/

Please sign, blog, tweet and generally disseminate this petition. Brown is going to get a huge amount of counter-lobbying from the banksters, so he needs a positive push. It is one of the rare petitions that is actually supporting what he is saying!

It reads:

Preamble: The PM has put forward the idea of a Tobin Tax at the G20 meeting in November. This is a tax on financial transactions, which will be hypothecated to poor countries, to which the PM has not unreasonably added a clause to put some to meeting the cost of the next bank bailout. The US and Canada have already talked sown the idea, but many poorer countries and nearly all NGOs will welcome it, and we encourage our PM to persist against all odds.

Petition: We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to persist with his praiseworthy plan to persuade the G20 to place a Tobin Tax on financial transactions, designed to aid poorer countries and increase financial stability.

Tricorn House demo today

Lunchtime today I joined the protest picnic against the Government's decision to refuse a compulsory purchase order which would have seen derelict Tricorn House transformed by energy company Ecotricity into their HQ.

Photos: sent to me by other protestors and the group shot taken by Stroud Life reporter on my camera

There were some 20 of us there including at least one protestor on the roof. Here's some of what I said at the picnic: "Over 4 years ago I interviewed over a 100 people in the area for Cainscross Parish and time and time again in the interviews Tricorn House was raised unprompted. Without exception thoughts about Tricorn House were negative and it was repeatedly mentioned as what people would most like to change about the area. Virtually everyone I speak to still wants action. For over 10 years this building has lain empty with no attempts by the owners to engage with local people. I joined this demo to show my support again for a deal that will enable local wind-energy company Ecotricity to build a new HQ, where more than 300 people will work. This could have a huge positive impact on local businesses in this area. It is time we had a better deal for Cainscross."

The CPO has overwhelming public support. Many have been outraged at the decision of John Denham, Minister at the Department for Community and Local Government, to block the purchase of Tricorn House which has long been a vandalised eyesore on a prominent a Stroud gateway site. Denham has indicated that he has no commitment to either local communities or local government. He has ruled bizarrely that the CPO did not strike a fair balance between the public interest and the human rights of the owner, and that the HQ could be located on another site.

Here is what Martin Large said: "Millville Ltd (owned by Wellfair Holdings) the offshore, Guernsey based owner, has kept Tricorn House mostly empty since 1996 for ‘property investment’. It is now derelict, vandalised, with broken windows. Stroud civil society would like to see the site brought back into productive use, by SDC vigorously continuing its CPO bid to secure the site for Ecotricity. A letter to John Denham has been signed at this picnic, inviting Mr Denham to come and see Tricorn House for himself, and to personally help SDC remove the blockages to reclaiming the site for business and the community."

“Tricorn house is an abomination, that ranks even worse than Stroud Police Station, as the most ugly lump of concrete in the district. The graffitti on it says it all: ‘Please Knock Me Down.’”
Local resident

Anyhow I brought donuts along for the picnic and proceeded to bite into a jam one that shot the jam up my sleeve where it remained when I went to work - agh well it was still tasty. Here is how the SNJ already describe the demo with picks on their website (How dare they beat this blog with the news!):

Concerned residents gathered outside the derelict building in Cainscross to show their support for Stroud District Council's CPO. One protester climbed onto the roof with a banner proclaiming 'Power to the People' will others, who gathered for a picnic, held banners including 'Tri Harder', 'Land 4 People' and 'Reclaim Tricorn'. After a three-day public inquiry into the CPO in July, John Denham, Secretary of State for Community and Local Government, said this month that he did not think there was not a compelling case for a CPO in the public interest. At the picnic, a letter to Mr Denham was signed by protesters, inviting him to come and see Tricorn House, and to personally help SDC remove the blockages to reclaiming the site for business and community. Martin Large, a member of Stroud Common Wealth, said: "Organisations and members of the community now have the chance to make a renewed CPO bid. This could be a community buy out plan with much needed housing, community facilities, offices and a green gateway to Stroud on the Tricorn House site."

As a last note I think it is very unlikely that the community would have the chance of putting in a bid - Ecotricity are already refining their previous bid. I am hopeful that this time they can provide all the info needed to ensure a successful bid. As I said above it is time that local people had a better deal.

Tesco's Greener Living website

Tesco has launched a new Greener Living site, which they say "has been set up to help shoppers become more environmentally-savvy" They wrote to me asking whether I'd "be interested in writing a review or letting your readers know about it".

Pics: Left a Tesco ad and below art from Russ inspired by this blog entry!!!

Well I have real serious problems with such sites - yes they may reach out to people who perhaps wouldn't get that info or want to find out more - a sort of cuddly feel good very pale, pale green sort of thing.....but I think they can do more damage by making folk think they are doing what is needed....hey just a brief look has me very worried...under food they are talking about satsumas and lots of meat - how is that all green? And where is the mention of buying locally?

Indeed you have to question how serious Tesco are with there special airmile offers and this ridiculous ad above. As Ed Gillespie commented in The Guardian: "Supermarket's offer of air miles in exchange for low-energy light bulbs is like giving away a pack of Benson and Hedges with every Nicorette patch."

Indeed giving away air miles to incentivise the lightbulb swap is well just plain madness.

Green Party MEP Caroline Lucas has said in the past: "Did Wilberforce ask people to cut down from two slaves to one? Or Emmeline Pankhurst politely suggest that husbands might consult their wives before going out to vote?"

We need sweeping changes to our carbon emissions, not tweaks. The signs running up to the UN summit in Copenhagen, are not great. Playing down hopes is not what I want to hear - we need to maintain ambition that we can have a deal that is based on fairness and science. To have even a 50/50 chance of keeping global temperature rise below two degrees C, the industrialised countries need to adopt binding targets to reduce emissions by at least 40% by 2020, based on 1990 levels. Importantly, these reductions should be made domestically – not ‘outsourced’ to poorer countries.

I'm not sure Tesco will be asking me to review their site again - but let's face it if we are to tackle climate change we need to all be on board. If those Greener Living folks are reading this I would urge you to really develop the site to take account of what we know needs to happen. Tesco have made some steps but we need some serious moves in the right direction not playing at the edges.

Gloucester Nightstop Host Recruitment

Here is just a v quick blog about the 'Supported Lodging Scheme to accommodate young people aged 16-19'

Pic: view across to Cashes Green

One young person commented after a Nightstop: “They (the hosts) were very nice people and made me feel very welcome. I was grateful of their hospitality. If Nightstop wasn’t there, I would be walking the streets, cold and hungry”.

Do you have a spare room that could make this sort of difference to a homeless young person? We are looking for people that have an empathy with young people and are able to offer a room and support for up to six weeks. In return you will receive training, support and payment of up to £160.00 a week. If you are interested please call for more details on 01452 331330.

Peak Oil: Stroud starting to get it but where are the actions?

Over the last six weeks I've had a dozen meetings in various guises for Scrutiny - I'm now involved in two scrutiny inquiries which I think I've mentioned on this blog - domestic energy efficiency and planning delegation plus the usual work of scrutiny and the quarterly meetings with two Heads of Service. More of all that in future blogs but for this post I wanted to cover peak oil...

Photo: Planning Delegation Scrutiny meeting interrupted on pink day by staff raising money - very welcomed scone, cream and jam!

You see at last within Stroud District Council at some of those scrutiny meetings and in conversation with officers there seems to be a shift occurring and a move to more understanding there is a threat posed by Peak Oil - it is a long while since Prof Richard Heinberg talked to Stroud District Council's Cabinet in 2007 about Peak Oil - I still think we have a long way to go to translate it into policy but there is a shift and the latest news items on oil reserves can only help...

The Guardian for example had an article, "Key oil figures were distorted by US pressure, says whistleblower" - see here and graph below - basically the news is that a "senior official claims the US has played an influential role in encouraging the watchdog to underplay the rate of decline from existing oil fields while overplaying the chances of finding new reserves." This is seriously serious stuff.



The IEA has repeatedly reduced it's predictions - in 2005 they say oil supplies could rise as high as 120m barrels a day by 2030 then it was 116m and then 105m last year. The claim is that in reality "Many inside the organisation believe that maintaining oil supplies at even 90m to 95m barrels a day would be impossible but there are fears that panic could spread on the financial markets if the figures were brought down further."

The trouble is that the British government, among others, always uses the IEA statistics so argue that there is little threat to long-term oil supplies. John Hemming, the MP who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on peak oil and gas, said in the article that the revelations confirmed his suspicions that the IEA underplayed how quickly the world was running out and this had profound implications for British government energy policy.

Meanwhile as far back as 2004 people like Colin Campbell, a former executive with Total of France have warned: "If the real [oil reserve] figures were to come out there would be panic on the stock markets … in the end that would suit no one."

Another report last month also argued that Peak oil before 2020 was a 'significant risk' - see Ecologist article here. experts. The report, entitled 'Global Oil Depletion: An assessment of the evidence for a near-term peak in global oil production', comes from the UK Energy Research Centre, an independent group funded by the Research Councils, whose mission is to resolve contentious technical issues and deliver clear guidance for policymakers.

The report puts the excitement over recent ‘giant’ oil discoveries into perspective and directly contradicts the British government’s position. It also warns that failure to recognise the threat of peak oil could undermine efforts to combat climate change.

The key discovery for example last month was BG’s Guara field, containing 2 billion barrels of recoverable oil and was lauded as a ‘supergiant’, prompting some pundits to claim such finds would banish peak oil for decades. However, the UKERC argues that each additional 1 billion barrels delays peak oil by less than a week. To postpone the peak by a year would take 7 times what was discovered in 2007. We’re unlikely to explore our way out of this.

The Government and indeed local authorities need to wake up to oil depletion and start planning, because it’s going to mean major changes infrastructure, investment and lifestyles. Stroud may have started to wake up but we are a long way from the policies needed.

Christopher Patey, chairman of the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre, and a former executive with Mobil, said of the report: "This excellent report exposes the British Government’s position on peak oil for what it really is – obstinate denial in the face of the growing evidence, and a reckless gamble on all our futures".

Latest nonsense on airport from Cheltenham Borough

A local airport campaigner attended this week the Cheltenham scrutiny meeting looking at Staverton Airport and their latest Business Plan - that outrageous meeting is covered in a moment but also below I note more on the latest plans the Airport are putting forward and Cameron on aviation.

Pic adapted by local artist Russ from unknown author - as featured in the latest edition of Flying Green of the Aviation Environment Federation

Well you can read the campaigner, Kevin Lister's letter to the councillors here - and here below is a letter he writes to the press making some fundamental points that councillors have failed to raise:

The Cheltenham scrutiny committee approved Gloucestershire Airport’s business plan last night. This was another example of lies and vested interests triumphing over reason, which has been the pattern of this entire debacle.

Councillor Les Goodwin presented the Airport’s business plan to the committee. He completely omitted the commitments that the airport made only a year ago in their “Green Management” plan to limit CO2 emissions to 4000 tonnes per year. When I challenged Councillor Goodwin at the end of the meeting, he said with a smile, “I did not know this had been left out.” Either he is stupid, or he pretends to be stupid. The CO2 emission target was the most serious restriction to growth and one of the most important factors in the planning application; it stretches the imagination to breaking point to think that he did not check to ensure this was included in the business plan.

His attitude of making a joke out of the legitimate concerns that many people in this area have on climate change and our increasing emissions is reprehensible.

Worse, not one councillor in the scrutiny committee asked the obvious question as to how the huge growth in profits that were predicted in the plan could be managed whilst maintaining the CO2 ceiling.

This ambivalence is made even worse when the main target market for this development is private jets. It comes at a time when we are being told to expect our electricity bills to increase to cover the costs of carbon free electricity and when we see East Africa collapsing because of climate change. There is clearly one world for the rich who have no moral scruples and another for the rest.

However, we should not be surprised. The airport has claimed climate change did not exist, it still claims the development is safety related despite not having producing a single piece of safety evidence, and it claims it has no expansion plans despite previously talking of extending its terminal building. When a project is so evidently based on falsehood, it is time for our councillors to show courage and do the honourable thing in rejecting it.

Kevin Lister

More on the Business Plan

A final decision will be made at full council meetings on Monday, December 14, in Cheltenham, and Thursday, January 7, in Gloucester. So where are we - well The Citizen wrote a week or so ago that "Long-standing plans to boost business at Gloucestershire Airport could be about to take off." It was written without reference to the huge and sustained campaign against the Airport and seemingly ignoring the fact that their plan will increase CO2 emissions.

The article starts: "Leaders of Cheltenham Borough and Gloucester City Councils want to borrow £2.4 million to fund runway improvement plans and attract more corporate jet-setters and professional pilot training programmes. If approved, council chiefs believe the airport would generate about five times its current income, and attract new businesses to the area...Each council owns a 50 per cent stake in the Staverton-based venture, which is operated by a private business...After a decade, each hopes to make at least £123,000 a year from the scheme – significantly more than the existing annual revenue of £25,000."

As regular blog readers will know Tewkesbury Borough Council, which has planning jurisdiction on the site, approved the extension proposals in September.

Well as noted before a central part of the Green Management Plan was a commitment that CO2 emissions would not exceed 4,000 tonnes per annum, but the new business plan deliberately ignores this target. When the Green Management Plan was issued the airport director, Mark Ryan, claimed climate change was their number one agenda item at all board meetings. There was also a commitment to review the Green Management Plan on an annual basis. No review has been carried out.

Here is what Kevin Lister says for the campaign group, Plane Stupid said, “It was clear to any fool the Green Management Plan was Greenwash. It is impossible to expand an airport without increasing greenhouse gas emissions. However, the councillors played along with the airport management the whole way. They are no different to the sheep bleating in support of the pigs in Animal Farm.”

The newly released business management plan claimed that the expansion would, “double the enterprise value.” Neil Marshall of CASE (Campaign against Staverton Expansion) has commented: “This means many more planes flying over head.”

Is this fraud?

Kevin Lister, who recently made headlines for being arrested for holding to ransom the airport's PV lights, also commented to press that he has been investigating a possible fraud: “We have already brought this to the attention of the police and we are working with our solicitors to take a civil action against the airport and councillors for possible fraud. On one hand we are told we must accept higher electricity bills to cover the costs of renewables, then we see our council using our taxes to support an expansion aimed at private jets. This is a case of the poor paying for the rich." He added that he also thought that "the airport had been withholding information about the true nature of the expansion of flights from the Tewkesbury Planning Committee.”

We know that no safety assessment has ever been done looking at the risks of planes over Churchdown - despite this project resulting in more fully laden planes taking off over Churchdown and the airport justifying the work as a safety project. Why?? We don't know, but some might surmise that the extension was more about expansion than safety?

A miss quote from me got to the press while I was away, but fortunately it seems they have not published it - here is what I actually said in response: “The airport even had the audacity to claim that climate change did not exist. The problem was that some councillors in Gloucester and Cheltenham appeared to believe them. After protests, the airport issued a Green Management plan and claimed it would address the environmental issues. This was critical in getting the Councils to approve their plans. It later turned out the plan had no penalties if the ceilings for CO2 emissions and flight numbers were exceeded. Now we see a new business plan for expansion. So what of their promises of a year ago to tackle emissions? It is looking more and more like a deliberate deception to gain approval from Councils. I welcome the civil actions by Kevin Lister of Plane Stupid to get to the bottom of this.”

David Cameron's attitude to aviation growth

I have been angered by the latest noises coming from the Tory party - once again Cameron likes to try to talk "green", but he has no real intention of acting green.

Emissions are dangerous wherever they occur, but for Mr Cameron it seems it depends which city you build your airport next to. He pledges to stop Heathrow's third runway in order to help cut greenhouse gases, while simultaneously promoting the growth of regional airports despite the corresponding increase in greenhouse gases, simply doesn't make sense????!!!!

There is a growing consensus that the world must cut CO2 emissions by a minimum 80% from 1990 levels by 2050. Sooner or later this will translate into a much higher price for carbon, and surely the aviation industry doesn't expect to be forever exempt from paying its way? Indeed the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution pointed out years ago that aviation growth was being driven by artificially low prices, thanks to the huge tax breaks given to the aviation industry.

The effects of climate change are becoming more and more severe - already the UN is saying those effects include 300,000 premature deaths and $125bn worth of economic damage every year - we can expect the international community to become more concerned to keep air transport at a sustainable level. And yes, we can expect the price to go up and demand to fall. So perhaps BAA should move on from its current short-termist wishful thinking about perpetual cheap oil, and start diversifying its business into sustainable alternatives.

Green within a few votes of being elected leader of Stroud District Council

At Full Council of Stroud District Council meeting on 12th November 2009 at Ebley Mill (pictured) Green Cllr John Marjoram was put forward as leader of the Council by Labour leader Karon Cross and seconded by Independent Cllr Janet Woods. The motion fell by a handfull of votes and Cllr Francis Roden (Conservative) was elected Leader of Stroud District Council.

John Marjoram (pictured left) said after the meeting: "This was a move to try and change the way Council business is done, to be more open, involve backbench councillors more and for us to develop a Council of All Talents."

What else at Council??

Call for investigation into allowances

Well also during the evening a motion was put forward by Tory Nigel Studdart-Kennedy calling for a full investigation into some serious allegations he made about an alleged draft auditors report that implicates a particular councillor. The motion he supported failed - but only by 4 votes as a handful of Conservatives joined him in the call.

Here is what Fi MacMillan, the Green Group Leader had to say on the failure of the motion: "This is disappointing as many councillors and the public would like to know that these allegations are properly and fully investigated. The proposal by Nigel Studdart-Kennedy would allow for the most transparent and open investigation and would have come up with recommendations to improve and make the whole business of allowances much more open. Stroud District Council needs to be more accountable - it is time that all expense claims were fully published and audited - unless we can show we are open we will further loose people's faith in politics - it was at the last Council meeting in September that Greens walked out in disgust at the failure of the Council to apologies to tenants for the overspend of the housing revenue account and poor services they have been getting. It is unacceptable that again we leave the Council chamber disappointed."

The Council has agreed to look at this matter in Audit committee and I hope this will be a thorough investigation but have concerns that we learnt at the meeting that when the matter was raised at that committee recently the chair ruled it was not to be looked at. I don't think that will happen again after this Council meeting.

Indeed it is very sad that we had to spent our evening debating this issue at such length when there was a reasonable motion on the table. Stroud District faces very many serious challenges yet we heard no mention at the meeting of the recession, fuel poverty or climate change or many of the other key issues.

Glos Waste Partnership

Well at the same meeting we had to vote on accepting the recommendation to adopt a vision statement of the waste partnership. I wont go into details here as they will all be in Council papers - one question I asked was about whether they would have an opinion or say on different waste technologies - in particular a large incinerator. The answer I got from the Cabinet member was ambiguous and led to grave concerns - however in response to another Green question the former leader of the Council gave a robust answer saying we would still have a chance to comment on whether we wanted a large incinerator if that was proposed - however I do have concerns about what that might really mean - comment perhaps but how much real say??

Voluntary 25p per mile gained

Earlier this year Green party District councillors failed to get a motion passed to ensure that councillors only get 25p per mile for car journeys rather than up to 58.7p per mile for larger cars which Greens considered excessive. They were then refused a voluntary arrangement when they sought to claim only 25p. At Full Council this Thursday they were informed they could claim 25p.

Martin Whiteside, who raised the issue again at the meeting, said afterwards: "We are very clear that councillors should be reimbursed for key expenses otherwise we will further limit who is able to stand as a councillor, but the 58.7p car mileage rate is excessive. Greens think around 25p a mile to run a small fuel efficient car is reasonable. Greens have agreed they will voluntarily claim 25p but are disappointed that the Council has still failed to support the 25p being fixed for all councillors."

Anyway there was much else discussed from anti-money laundering to licensing but I have to say, as noted above, not many real issues.