Fair Fares Now campaign

I've been meaning to publicise this campaign - see: http://bettertransport.org.uk/fairfares/

We already have some of the most expensive train fares in the world, and each January we are faced with astronomical fare hikes. Now the Government wants to change the rules to make us pay even more. A big shake-up of our railways has been proposed in a high-level report - the good news is that it advocates a fares review and a ‘3-day-a-week’ season tickets to benefit part-time workers - but there are also threats. We could lose some off-peak discounted fares, see staffing cuts and face reductions in service levels for regional railways. The report recommends cost-cutting strategies that could benefit train companies and the Government, but leave passengers out in the cold.

This Government promised us fair fares when they came to power, but they’re now planning the highest fare rises in a generation, and failing to tackle overcrowding.Meanwhile also see my blog on the threat to local buses here.

Now let's follow Germany

Germany's coalition government has announced a reversal of policy that will see all the country's nuclear power plants phased out by 2022. Italy, Thailand, Malaysia and Switzerland have already said no to nukes recently. Kate Hudson of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) said, "If a high-skilled society such as Germany - with a strong industrial safety record - says it can't justify the risk to its citizens from nuclear power, why should it be any different here?"

Photo: Oldbury nuke viewed with my camera from top of Ash Lane, Randwick

Germany will build their energy security by investing in renewables and this can only be good for it's export market. We could be doing just the same if our government would only listen to common sense. It is vital that we build up renewable energy and energy efficiencies.

News this week regarding carbon emissions could not be worse - see Guardian here -a record rise in emissions despite the recession and news that we will miss stopping the temperature rise more than the all crucial 2 degrees target.

"These figures indicate that [emissions] are now close to being back on a 'business as usual' path. According to the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's] projections, such a path ... would mean around a 50% chance of a rise in global average temperature of more than 4C by 2100. Such warming would disrupt the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people across the planet, leading to widespread mass migration and conflict. That is a risk any sane person would seek to drastically reduce." Professor Lord Stern of the London School of Economics, the author of the Stern Report in 2006

Even now there are possibilities to avert disaster but as John Sauven, the executive director of Greenpeace UK, notes: "This news should shock the world. Yet even now politicians in each of the great powers are eyeing up extraordinary and risky ways to extract the world's last remaining reserves of fossil fuels – even from under the melting ice of the Arctic. You don't put out a fire with gasoline. It will now be up to us to stop them."

Nuclear power is not the answer to tackling climate change. As this blog has noted nuclear will not be ready in time - we need to act now and to divert resources into new nuclear will only impact negatively on our abilities to invest in renewables - furthermore as growing evidence shows climate change is likely to seriously effect nuclear power plants - in France the hot summer meant their nuclear reactors had to close - similarly sea water rises threaten many sites - and see here evidence re growing costs.As the government's Committee on Climate Change reports, large onshore windfarms are "already close to competitive" with burning natural gas, and are likely to get there by 2020.

20 mph update: will County act?

Well much has been going on behind the scenes re hopes for a 20 mph in the ward. Tony Blackburn, the local County Councillor, has been pushing hard to get a result. There have been meetings and many emails. First some feedback re the inquiry then more re local possibilities...


Photo: Citizen report last year about 20 mph - see my article here.

We had high hopes for results of the 20 mph cross-party inquiry at County Hall - initiated by Sarah Lunnon and chaired by Tony. It came up with sensible solutions which were backed by evidence. However Cllr Stan Waddington, the Cabinet member responsible at the time, produced a response that I can only describe as disappointing. While he endorsed most of the recommendations, finances he argues, stop him from proceeding to roll out more 20 mph schemes. He also talks about the need for the Council to act on the basis of objective evidence rather than just community perceptions.

Well if that latter line is the case then he should reread the report as it contains a wealth of evidence from other areas. Here are some other facts that have been made many times before on this blog and to the inquiry in various different ways. This list was from Tony but could also be from my report to the County here:

- Speed kills – a pedestrian struck at 30 mph has 80% chance of survival, at 20mph it is 97.5%
- Excessive speed was a contributory factor in 26% of road casualties in 2007
- in London 20mph zone road accidents and particularly child accidents were reduced by 70%
- in Portsmouth a blanket 20mph zone reduced speeds by 7mph accidents by13% and casualties by 15%
- 4/5ths of child deaths could be saved if the 30mph limit was reduced to 20mph in residential areas

These are the statistics why so many of us have requested blanket 20mph limits and zones throughout Gloucestershire. But for me there is an additional point about how 20 mph makes communities more liveable - there is growing evidence to show that 20 mph leads to more walking and cycling as people feel safer.

Of course finances play a part but let us also remember that road traffic accidents cost many millions of pounds a year to our communities. A major factor regarding Portsmouth is that the 20mph zone is self enforcing and has no traffic calming features and therefore costs LESS than previous enforcement (and police) costs and street furniture which is no longer necessary.

Another point that seems to have been missed is that communities have offered to pay towards costs of any 20 mph. Indeed it seems strange in a climate at GCC where we are being asked to run and pay for  Libraries and Youth centres that we cannot initiate  and pay for our own Traffic schemes!



This discussion about policy direction at the county looks set to continue - Well done to Tony - and indeed Sarah for continuing to push for this!

What about Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe?

There have also been discussions locally. A report came back to Parish Councils about the speed tests. Highways seem to see no problem.

As one person in the Parish commented in response: "I am certainly not going to patronise the 355 residents who signed a petition in favour of a 20 mph limit by telling them not to worry as the recorded speeds are well inside the existing 30 mph limits. We have always said that the issues is not people breaking the 30 mph speed limit, it is that the 30 mph limit is too fast for the village." See blog re demo last November here.

The recorded speeds in the areas of Ruscombe Rd, Church Rd - Randwick, Main Rd – Randwick, Bread St, Main Rd – Whiteshill, and Humphries End are within the range where evidence from trials suggests that a 20mph limit can be effectively implemented without implementing additional traffic calming measures. It is also completely unrealistic to consider the speed at the boundary of a zone to be indicative of the speed within it.

The Chair of Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish Council, John Rogers (who has just stepped down), made a very robust response to Highways.

Replies have been given and discussions are on-going. I remain optimistic!! At the recent Randwick Parish AGM Highways came to hear concerns and see if further action might be possible. Another development is that Cllr Will Windsor-Clive has taken over the Highways brief from Stan Waddington. There is also a new development in terms of funding - the 'Big Society Highway' offer is very much in its infancy with only a few pilot schemes running at the moment but maybe an option. I am intrigued to learn more about this!

It is all very frustrating - and we are not alone here - across the county local groups want traffic calming and slower speeds. Indeed last week I've had correspondence with a local Ebley group who want a 20 mph and are similarly facing frustration with money being spent on Westward Road in the next couple of days that will not bring the calming that is wanted (indeed the road is closed 31st to 3rd June).

Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish Allotments Video!

We have just had the opening of our allotments - see here - well below is a film about how we set them up and includes shots of the opening. What a wonderful space that has been created. Folk will be able to visit the allotments as part of the Edible Open Gardens project on Saturday 9th July 2-5pm.

Neil Carmichael MP is happy to add poison to our water

OK the headline is emotive but hexafluorosilic acid is a class 2 poison. In 2007 Neil Carmichael, Parliamentary candidate for Stroud, said: “My position is that much more research needs be undertaken and... I am sceptical about the effectiveness of consultation processes undertaken by SHAs.”

Indeed he gave the impression at a meeting that he was not in favour of water fluoridation - certainly not until more research was undertaken - a position taken by many. However in a letter (17/6/2010) to the Safe Water Campaign group, of which I am a founder member, he said: "In broad terms I am in favour of the fluoridisation of water. However I am very willing to discuss the matter with you......."


We have had a number of Safe Water Campaign meetings since then and having correspondence with Neil and the Minister - See here. I really am not clear why he seems to have shifted position unless it is because Anne Milton, the Minister, who is so pro-water fluoridation? It makes no sense ethically or in terms of teeth. The evidence just does not stand up - even the Government's own reports show that.

"No physician in his right senses would prescribe for a person he has never met, whose medical history he does not know, a substance which is intended to create bodily change, with the advice: 'Take as much as you like,to but you will take it for the rest of your life because some children suffer from tooth decay. ' It is a preposterous notion."

Dr Peter Mansfield,  a physician  and an advisory board member of the recent government review of fluoridation.

You can sign an e-petition against water fluoridation in Southampton here. 72% of consultation respondents were opposed to the plans but the Strategic Health Authority is going ahead anyway. You need to log onto their site to sign - there is also a paper version that has collected many signatures. If it happens there it will be all the easier to fluoridate Gloucestershire. See here blog re Southampton being used as guinea pigs. See here a leaflet I did some 6 years ago re water fluoridation.

Oldbury evacuation zone advert!

Today's Bristol Evening Post apparently has an advert - a map. The Shepperdine Against Nuclear Energy group have created this map (see left) which shows the 30km evacuation zone which might have to be put in place if anything happened at the Oldbury nuclear plant.

Below the map reads: "One million people live within 30kms of the proposed supersized nuclear power station twelve miles outside Bristol. This nuclear power station cannot be designed to be protected against flooding, other natural disasters, terrorist attacks or human error. This is an expensive and dangerous proposal, and highly toxic radioactive waste is likely to be stored on the site for up to 160 years."

Reg Illingworth from the campaign group, is quoted saying (see here): "If we had the same 30km zone around Oldbury as we had around Fukushima; then Newport would have to be evacuated, Bristol would have to be evacuated, the Cotswolds would have to be evacuated going right up to Tewkesbury."

As this blog has shown in the past there is little confidence in authorities being able to evacuate that number of people in the time available - let alone distribute potassium iodate tablets. Indeed in the past I have raised concerns with our emergency planning officers - see for example here issues re nuclear and other concerns. Most of those questions were never answered despite repeated attempts. So well done to the campaign group for highlighting this issue - part of me dislikes using the threat of disaster in such a way but having repeatedly raised concerns and getting few satisfactory answers you can totally understand why it is necessary for campaigns to do this. These risks are real and need to be understood if we and the public are to make informed choices about nuclear power.

Threat to our buses: 230, 93 and more

I wrote about the threat to our bus services here - well the county have now published details. See Stroud's here. You can make online comments here. It is total madness to be cutting public transport at a time when we need to be expanding it - we have some of the worst public transport in Europe - where is the vision to tackle climate change, move away from fossil fuels, reduce car use...these cuts will hit the most vulnerable hardest - not those of us with cars or who can ride bicycles.


I urge those being affected to submit their comments.

230    STroud - randwick - ruScombe - STroud
Your service now
Four journeys run on Mondays to Saturdays between 9am and 6.25pm with an additional journey on Mondays to Fridays departing Foxmoor Lane at 7.43am.
These journeys are subsidised and will be reviewed.
Proposal 1:
On Mondays to Saturdays the timetable will be designed to cater for workers and students in Stroud with an additional journey in the middle of the day.
Proposal 2:
Saturday journeys will be withdrawn but on Mondays to Fridays the timetable will be designed to cater for workers and students in Stroud. There will be an additional two journeys running in the middle of the day to provide a better range of times for shopping and access to health services.


93    Forest Green - nailsworth - stroud - Gloucester
Your service now
On Mondays to Saturdays an hourly service runs in each direction between 6.37am (7.10am on Saturdays) and 8.10pm. The majority of journeys run without subsidy and are therefore not affected by this review. However the last journeys each day from both Stroud and Gloucester are both subsidised and will be reviewed.
Proposal 1:
Replace the subsidised journeys by either extending or connecting to and from journeys on the Gloucester – Tuffley service 9 at St Barnabas Church. This will mean your journey could be via Tuffley rather than direct.
Proposal 2:
A community transport type service could be provided in place of the subsidised journeys. Depending on the type of service offered, it may be necessary to book trips in advance. Departure times along with details of pick-up and drop- off points will be confirmed when bookings are made.

First meeting of the Stroud permaculture group

Well we had a great first meeting with 9 people - a third of those already signed up on the new permaculture email list - which is growing all the time (see last pic for email address).

At the meet-up this Wednesday were Jenni from Springhill, Julie from Butterow, Seb from Rodborough, Josie from near Horns Road, Dom from Chalford, Carla from Lightpill, Adrian from near Horns Road, Peter from Springhill, and myself from Ruscombe. Special thanks to Peter for organising and putting together the group (and for most of the info in this report) - and to Jenni for hosting the first meeting in her garden.

We drank tea, swapped plants and seeds, potted up and distributed the Nine-Star Perennial Broccoli seedlings (can't wait to see how this grows!), experimented with novel techniques to make pots from Tetrapaks, and ate the world's heaviest and most delicious chocolate flapjack (thanks Jenni).

Various plants were swapped - including Siberian/Welsh Onions, Babbington Leeks, Cherokee Trail of Tears bean seeds, and the Nine Star Broccoli plus some more conventional but none the less useful plants including squash, courgette, marjoram, tomato etc. 

I think this group could be alot of fun and a chance to learn more - it seems amazing that in Stroud that such a group has not already appeared - well it is here now! And some of the Edible Open Gardens in July will be showing off permaculture - see here.

The next meeting is in July but there's talk of a possible one in June.

How to use a Tetra pack - from Pete! Cut in half then cut a slit along the bottom two long sides at the bottom of the pack for drainage and to make the pot slightly more rounded.

Protest at the cuts to legal aid

The proposed cuts to Legal Aid will threaten access to justice for millions of people, with legal areas such as medical negligence, employment, immigration, welfare and family law being affected or taken completely out of scope. How can this be right? Access to justice is a cornerstone of democracy and these proposed cuts will be a further blow to the most vulnerable in our society.

Photo: Ruscombe lake

The reforms are designed to cut the £2.1 billion legal aid bill by £350 million within four years and by more than £400 million within a decade. The Law Society says this is "ill-conceived and unfair" and will leave half a million people a year with the prospect of fighting battles without legal representation.

The Bar Council, which represents barristers, said it will actually cost the country up to £350 million a year rather than save it because a rise in "DIY cases" where people represent themselves is likely to clog up the courts.

The Green Party passed an emergency motion earlier this year to challenge the cuts. Joanna Lumley has already joined the campaign and I urge folk to go to the link below to send a letter to Kenneth Clarke. In Gloucestershire the central government cuts to legal aid could affect the challenge re the libraries. Yet I hear the challenge has a very good chance of being won. It is vital it doesn't miss out because the law commission will not fund the whole case.  Meanwhile Cllr Noble seems to have had the library portfolio taken away from her.

Sound Off For Justice (the campaign for the positive reform of Legal Aid) has consulted lawyers and those that will be directly affected by the proposed cuts. They are now proposing alternative reforms to the current system. Importantly these reforms will ensure that the required savings can be made whilst safeguarding the public right to legal support and access to justice. Please send Kenneth Clarke a letter protesting from the campaign website at: http://soundoffforjustice.org/sign-our-letter

Whiteshill and Ruscombe gardens raise over £2,000!

Sunday saw Whiteshill and Ruscombe alive with people when 13 gardens opened to the public - see here. Well I've just had a quick email from Vanessa Price, one of the organisers with some of the feedback. She has given me permission to copy it here:

The day was very successful with over 430 visitors from far and wide (Swindon, Bristol, Coventry to name a few). We made £1740 on gate sales alone and £315 on refreshments at the Chapel. The feedback we had from visitors was so positive with people saying the villages were so pretty and that the views are amazing.

We were so surprised at peoples comments and how they were so pleased to see normal gardens and how we have dealt with the difficulties of gardening up steep banks etc. They appreciated the fact that they were gardens that had developed often over  many years and little availability of funds rather than going to large homes with vast amounts of money spent on them to be showpieces. One person said it was the best open garden event they had been to and what made our event special was the welcome they received from the garden owners.

Everyone who took part really enjoyed themselves and we have already been approached by people wanting to add their garden if we do it again.

Well done indeed!

Call for amendments to Energy Bill

I wrote to our MP Neil Carmichael a while back re the Energy Bill. Well I didn't get a great answer so I've written again - you can also send an email calling for him to support crucial amendments to the Energy Bill by clicking here for the Friends of the Earth campaign. Click read more to see my letter.

End the war on drugs!

Avaaz has launched a new campaign to end of the ‘war on drugs’! This expensive war has completely failed to curb the plague of drug addiction, while costing countless lives, devastating communities, and funneling trillions of dollars into violent organized crime networks. The Green Party back in December supported Bob Ainsworth's call for the decriminalisation of drug possession, as a step towards opening up dialogue on the issue.

Photo: Ruscombe valley

This policy, as outlined by Bob Ainsworth, has been Green Party policy for some years now. The Green Party believes a policy of regulation would cut crime and remove the motor of drug profits from gangs, cutting knife and gun use in urban England. Sadly our approach to  drugs is based on criminalisation rather than harm reduction - as Caroline Lucas said this has been "an epic failure". Drugs can and do cause misery to many it is high time we got policies right on this.

Here is what Avaaz write:

Experts all agree that the most sensible policy is to regulate, but politicians are afraid to touch the issue. In days, a global commission including Kofi Annan and five other senior statesmen will break the taboo and publicly call for new approaches including decriminalisation and regulation of drugs.

This could be a once-in-a-generation tipping-point moment - if enough of us call for an end to this madness. Politicians say they understand that the war on drugs has failed, but claim the public isn't ready for an alternative. Let's show them we not only accept a sane and humane policy -- we demand it. Click below to sign the petition and share with everyone - if we reach 1 million voices, it will be personally delivered to world leaders by the global commission:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/end_the_war_on_drugs/?vl

Colour: Travels through the Paintbox

'Colour: Travels through the Paintbox'. Here's another book that I read a while back and loved - thought I would share. It's a great pleasure to join Victoria Finlay on her journey to discover pigments and dyes - loads of stories and anecdotes that bring her quest alive. It is part travel book as she crosses the world, part history and in my view a 'must-read'!

'A treasure trove of human history and obsession...the breadth of research and insight is dazzling.' The Glasgow Herald

'This is a rare and wonderful book - a model of erudition and charm, the writing elegant and precise, and with at least one new and fascinating revelation on every single page. I could not be more enthusiastic.'Simon Winchester, author

'Full of forgotten facts and beguiling anecdotes . . . it would be hard to confront a painting ever again without seeing in it a kind of coded map of the world' Telegraph

Read The Independent's review here. Order through our local bookshop here.

Whiteshill and Ruscombe gardens open truimph!

 Wow wow wow! What a success today - there were literally hundreds of local people and people visiting our villages to see the 13 open gardens - it was part of the national gardens open for charity scheme ('yellow book').

We are incredibly fortunate to live in such a great place - it was wonderful to walk, talk and see all the gardens - be inspired and jealous! Big thanks to organisers and those opening the gardens - a great event! Even the threatened rain held off although oh how we need that rain....

Photos: 1. Ruscombe Chapel at a quieter moment! It was teaming with people - teas and cakes virtually sold out by 5pm! 2. Lower Street garden 3 and 4.  Every roadway and footpath seemed to have groups of people! 5. Webcam in Ruscombe garden 6. Ruscombe garden


Don't forget next open gardens on weekend of 9th and 10th July - Edible Open Gardens - I think 37 now signed up - see here. See also video of the amazing recent Village party here. Click on read more to see more photos.

The Unofficial Video: Whiteshill and Ruscombe Village Party

I covered the party in an earlier blog - see here. A video by John Kerry of the day is in production, but I also produced a short film, now on YouTube, to celebrate the day. It contains video clips and photos mostly from other people - most of the pics are by Maggie Booth - the Official Photographer for the event (no relation!). I think photos will be available in the Village Shop very soon if they are not already there. This version is the short version of the film as opposed to a longer film that had more clips and photos. Thanks again to all who made it such a fun day. Click YouTube to open in YouTube then square with arrows in bottom corner to make it large.

Guest Blog: Village Shop report to Parish AGM

At the Parish AGM this week one of the reports was from the Village Shop (pic left). I've enclosed Mary Dunford's report below - see here for Village Shop advert earlier this year and last years report here. As I've said before it is the cafe with the best views in Stroud - and decent cafetiere coffee - plus prices at the shop are good. A big thanks to all the volunteers who make it run - a great hub for our community.

SHOP REPORT -  WHITESHILL & RUSCOMBE PARISH COUNCIL AGM May 2011

This has been a successful year for the shop as sales in both the Shop and Coffee Bar were up and we now have more helpers. We had two periods of heavy snowfall, which always result in excellent shop and coffee bar sales.

It was also less eventful, although there was an attempted break in. The electricity supply was cut in the early hours of the morning of March 12th, and an attempt made to crowbar the shop door.  The shop alarm, which has a battery back up, activated, and the thieves fled empty handed. Click read more to see the rest.

Blue and yellow does not make green

Here is my letter in response to Neil Carmichael's column this week in Stroud Life:

Photo:posh shop in London - go for growth/consumption even if it damages the environment seems to be the mssage from government

I write taking issue with Neil Carmichael's claims to be the 'greenest ever government' (18.05.11). Hardly an ambitious task. Jonathon Porritt, former head of the Sustainable Development Commission, has just carried out a Friends of the Earth-funded review of 77 key policies (i). He found there has been little or no progress in 55 policies with "the birds singing" for just six. He concludes we are "all in all, as close to a nightmare as one can imagine" with the government's chance of being the "greenest ever"  being  "vanishingly remote".

The government has tried to sell off our forests, cut investment in flood defences by 27%, delayed on the waste review and Water White Paper, abolished the Sustainable Development Commission, scrapped a planned rise in aviation tax, opened up our coast to deep water oil-drilling, failed to create a green investment bank with immediate borrowing powers, authorised hugely damaging "hydraulic fracturing" to search for natural gas, watered down schemes promoting small-scale renewable electricity and failed to curb the Treasury's fixation with economic growth, whether it damages the environment or not.

The fourth carbon budget is to be welcomed for it's targets, but the government's own independent advisors, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), describe it as the "absolute minimum" necessary. It is also seriously flawed on three crucial points; refusing to toughen up the existing targets for 2013-2023, adding a clause which will allow the Government to backtrack in 2014 and shunning the CCC's recommendation that the budget should be met through domestic action alone. Outsourcing our emission reduction responsibilities to other countries means weakening the drive to achieve more green technologies and industries in this country. Indeed the number of UK green jobs looks set to shrink not rise.

Sadly, in this case, blue and yellow does not make green.

Cllr Philip Booth, Stroud District councillor for Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe ward (Green Party)
(i) Report downloadable at: http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/greenest_gvt_ever.pdf

Allotment threat averted

Having raised on this blog the threat to allotments and raising it at the recent opening of our allotments, I have been meaning to blog that we won. The threat to allotments from the Government’s review of the 1908 Allotments Act has been averted. Big thanks to the huge response from the public and the media. 

The Prime Minister commented: "It is extremely important that allotments are made available. Many Members will find that when they ask about that in their constituencies there are massive queues for allotments, as many people want to grow their own vegetables and food and understand more about where food comes from. It is a great movement, and it has my full support.”

The National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners comments here. See also Independent article here.

Hope for badgers?

The government's planned badger cull may not now happen. The BBC report that in an interview for the Politics Show South West, minister Jim Paice said there was a "question-mark at this moment" over a cull. The government confirmed that a decision was still due to be made. So there is still a chance they will see sense - see previous blogs on this topic by clicking the label below.

Copyright photo: Badger by Tony Evans Nature Picture Library reproduced with permission from Stop War on Badgers

GCSE in British Sign Language

Gloucestershire Deaf Association are seeking support for a petition regarding developing a GCSE in British Sign Language (BSL). As the Petition says: "BSL is the first language of an estimated 70,000 Deaf people in the UK. A GCSE in BSL would give Deaf people the chance to achieve a qualification in their first language and give their peers the opportunity to learn valuable visual communication skills. The GCSE in BSL would enhance an individual's employability and open up a wealth of career opportunities for young people they may have previously not considered. There is a shortage of qualified interpreters and other professionals who work with deaf people and well established career progression pathways. Learners with the qualification could put these together to get higher level qualifications and work towards a satisfying and rewarding career."

This just makes so much sense - it is an issue I hadn't given much attention and, if I had, I think I would have assumed it was already in existence. Anyway to help promote the GCSE, 'Signature' who are developing the course, need your support and input in a petition. See: http://www.signature.org.uk/gcse.php

District Council AGM this evening

Back now from the meeting - Conservative Cllr Frances Roden was elected as Leader and then we went into voting for the various committees - Tories holding the majority were able to decide who chairs committees. Labour got a motion passed almost unanimously to get an extra seat allocation on one committee - without going into details it was right in terms of the numbers of councillors elected and I had no hesitation in supporting the change.

Photo: Card spotted: thankfully that approach is not in Stroud

The main committee I will now be sitting on will be the Strategic Overview Scrutiny Committee. This will be an interesting change from the Performance Overview Scrutiny Committee and I will share more when we meet and the other various meetings.

The mood of the council has changed given the Tories narrow majority and it has a more fiesty feel. It will be interesting to see what links and liaisons are made between group...but more of that another time - must put feet up as don't seemed to have stopped all day. This evening was also Randwick Parish Council AGM which I have missed.

Health Bill is fatally flawed and must be stopped

The NHS Support Federation have been urging people to make submissions to the NHS Modernisation Listening Exercise. The government has at least “paused” its health plans, but are they willing to see that the health bill is fatally flawed. A health system based on profit-driven competition - where commercial companies can limitlessly take over NHS services - will undermine patient care and the values of the NHS. This idea is not backed by evidence or most of the medical professions and should not be the basis of our health service going forward.

The Federation have designed a letter which can be sent to the chair of the NHS Future Forum, Professor Steve Field. The letter is worth a read as it covers many key concerns. Click on read more to see that. Please also consider sending your own concerns.

Make mud for swallows!

In the news is a report that the warm, dry spring has meant that the birds are swallows and house martin's are struggling to find enough mud to make their nests. Indeed England and Wales have recorded the lowest rainfall in March and April since 1938 with the warmest spring in centuries. The water levels in some rivers are already being compared to those during the record drought of 1976. April was also the 11th driest month, with on average just half the usual rainfall. And in parts of south-east England, there was less than 10% of normal precipitation.

At last night's Parish AGM is was suggested I blog on this as we can all play our part - pouring buckets of water onto dried-out soil to make muddy patches for the swallows or better still filling seed trays with mud. See the RSPB's news release calling for mud makers here (photo of house martin pinched from their website).

Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish AGM

 Last night was the Parish AGM in the Village Hall (left) - below is the agenda and my scribbled notes of the two bits I did - as always it is a good evening when we find out what else is going on in the Parish during the year.

The minutes will be out soon so I wont repeat those but you get to hear bits of news like the Village Shop has had a better year, the Churchyard has seen their wildflower area flourish but may have to see some trees come down, the Village Agent is trying to set up a once a month meeting for older isolated people, John Rogers has stepped down from being chair of the Parish Council (v sorry as he has been great but good to hear Rebecca Charley has taken over that role), the Parish Plan is going really well etc etc.

It was all finished with wonderful food and wine - a very nice evening indeed.

WHITESHILL AND RUSCOMBE PARISH COUNCIL ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
Whiteshill Village Hall, Tuesday 17th May 2011 at 7.30pm

Agenda

1.            Introduction
2.            Approval of Minutes of meeting held on 18th May 2010
3.            Chairman’s Report ( John Rogers) for 2010/11
4.            Report from our County Councillor Tony Blackburn - didn't attend?
5.            Report from our District Councillor Philip Booth
6.            Report from Chris King - Parish Plan
7.            Report from Dilys Warren - WaRbler
8.            Report from Robert Kempner – Head teacher Whiteshill Primary School - report sent
9.            Report from Michael Bailey - Churchyard
10.        Report from Angela King – Village Agent
11.        Report from Rebecca Charley – Playing Field Working Party
12.        Public Rights of Way report
13.        Report from Ruscombe and Whiteshill Village Shop Association
14.        Report from Sue Dance – W and R Allotments Association
15.        Report from Philip Booth – Ruscombe Brook Action Group
16.        Open Forum

Latest: Tories no overall majority on committees in Stroud

The Conservatives had at the election 25 seats, Labour 11, Greens and Lib Dems both 6 and there was one Independent and two Tory Independents well now one of those has returned to the flock while I've learnt this morning that it seems the other has registered as a “Conservative no group”. If this is so, then the numbers are now 26 Tories the rest of us 25 - meaning that the Tories have no overall majority on any major committee, only the casting vote of the chairs. Photo; election night with Molly Scott Cato winning

We will have to wait until Thursday night for any of this to be official. Certainly political groups have been having lots of discussions - we've had a couple of Green Group meetings to consider which committees to sit on and how best to move forward in the changed Council. Will there be more possibilities for the changes we need?

Pip Pip and Wild: two of my favorite books

I was fortunate earlier this year to hear Jay Griffiths read some of her book about the anti-road protests (see photo left). It was at 'Soundbites' at the Great Oak Cafe in Llanidloes in March - a bit like Stroud's Coffee House Discussions except they have three artists - this time it was a couple of bands and Jay - loved it all and the food!

Well I read her book, 'Pip Pip: A Sideways Look at Time', a while back and loved it - it explores the political nature of time, and looks at all the different ways in which indigenous cultures perceive time. It is as the website says, 'a polemic against the play-less, life-denying ways in which modernity sees time.' The book cover has even been used in student protests last year - see here.

Well that was a favorite and I can't think why it took me so long to pick up her book, 'Wild: An Elemental Journey'. It is just as wonderful - if not more - it took seven years to research and write. And again as the website says: 'It is an evocation of the songlines of the earth, the result of long journeys among indigenous cultures, including staying with Amazonian shamans and Inuit people, visiting sea gypsies and staying with the freedom fighters of West Papua. It explores the words and meanings which shape ideas of wildness, arguing that wildness is intrinsic to the health of the human spirit.  It is about necessary nomadism and the truant heart.' But that doesn't give half of what the book is about....

'Wild is like nothing else I’ve ever read: thrilling, troubling, frightening, exhilarating.  Jay Griffiths’ courage and energy are formidable, but so is her sheer intelligence and literary flair.  This is a truly necessary book, and we are all lucky that the subject found a writer worthy of it.’ Philip Pullman

"A vital, unique and uncategorisable celebration of the spirit of life itself, Wild is a profound and extraordinary piece of work." The Observer, 20 May, 2007

"A major book by a major writer ... she writes like four kinds of gorgeous ... Wild is the book that shows how it should be done." Bill McKibben, The Ecologist, May, 2007

 See her in The Ecologist talking about Wild here. Order them through our local bookshop here. Thank you Jay for two wonderful reads!

Graduate Gardeners make gold at Malvern

I was fortunate to have the day at the Malvern Spring Gardening Show - never been to such a show before. A little too much consumerism and shopping for my taste but still great fun - and especially enjoyed the two gold winning gardens....Graduate Gardeners of Bisley and Hannah Genders - the latter was particularly good re veg and I am sure such gardens can only encourage folk to grow more.  The video is a little rough as it is only a small digital camera and I haven't quite got the hang of it - but hopefully a flavour of the two gardens.

Guide on how to run Open Homes now available

As folk who read this blog will know we are into our fourth year of Eco-Renovation Open Homes this September. In fact this week had another planning meeting - hoping to focus a bit more on some of the cheaper solutions people can take to eco-renovate their homes and save money.

Photo: Very draft leaflet plans for this year!

Well anyway I was able to talk and send info to the Energy Savings Trust earlier this year and share some of our experiences on putting the events together. The EST have produced, 'The Guide', which is aimed at supporting new events across the country and includes 7 Steps which cover issues such as Finding Homes, Funding, Publicity and Evaluation.  Please circulate as you see fit. As it says in the publicity: "The Guide was put together with input from some of the existing annual events in Brighton, Bristol, Norfolk and Stroud."

It is a great guide but didn't take on all my suggestions. One issue it does not address properly is regarding people on low income and fuel poverty. If we are seeking to make these projects inclusive then it is vital we pay attention to this issue - we do not want to reinforce any thoughts that green is only for wealthy people. The 'DECC report: Annual Report on Fuel Poverty Statistics 2010' notes that fuel poverty now effects 18% of the UK’s population. This to me is a huge and growing issue that I hope we can at least raise awareness about during the weekend - one of the most common comments was that visitors had not appreciated how much they could do re energy saving - often low cost stuff. We also organised a talk on insulation last year which was totally brilliant and have thoughts for more this year.

Another miss in the report was our installers fair - we have had this each year on one day in an eco-hall that was near the town centre (and once in Randwick Village Hall) and we were able to get a load of suppliers to have stalls plus a cafe. This was a great place for people to start and talk to installers - or to come to after they had visited houses. The installers all reported it was a good day for them with many inquiries - they paid a small charge to cover the venue costs. We also had electric bikes, led lights and other stuff to encourage people. We are planning more of that this year but with a difference....to be announced soon! Click on read more for more and link to download report.

Our local bus threatened

Bus routes are again under threat across Gloucestershire as the council plans cuts - our 230 also faces cuts as does the 93. Back in 2007 the bus route was changed to avoid the village centre of Randwick - this led to a drop in users. A campaign tried to get the decision reversed but I can see now they had no plans at all to return it to the village.

See the review details here. There are 170 bus routes are under review 'because they are too costly' - but details of route proposals are not out until tomorrow. Basically it will mean cuts to services of £2m - a massive cut when we are seeking to cut carbon emissions, reduce energy security issues, encourage people to get out and get jobs etc. This is a step backwards indeed.

The previous Government at least provided an annual grant that was ring-fenced for transport subsidies. It was scrapped by the coalition.

Public consultation starts on Monday, with 23 roadshows taking place, and finishes on June 27. The changes will start in September and October. Stroud area buses affected include: 8/8a, 12, 14/14B, 22B, 23, 25, 26, 28/28A, 29, 35, 36, 40, 46, 54/54A, 91A, 93, 227, 230, 232, 242, 256, 261, 262, 263, 264, 267

Disabled marchers anger at £9bn cuts in welfare support

Congrats to all who join London's biggest ever 'disabled march' to highlight the cuts. Up to 6000 protestors marched to draw attention and challenge the cuts. On the news reports I saw placards with slogans such as “Blame Banks Not Disabled People”, "I didn't chose to be disabled", "Easy Target: cuts to disabled disgraceful" and “Don’t Leave Me Stranded”. See The Guardian report here and see a blog here earlier in the year on The Guardian. See Green Party comment re cuts here and my blog earlier re cuts here.

Pic:  rainbow over Ruscombe

Jaspal Dhani, chief executive of the UK Disabled People’s Council  (UKDPC), said that the government's policies “are not just affecting a minority group of disabled people but the whole disabled community. This is about protecting disabled people’s  futures. It is not just about the cuts taking place today, it is about maintaining rights and independence and promoting an independent living agenda into  the future. Disabled people have fought long and hard over the decades for those  rights and if they lose them now it will take decades to re-establish them.”

One third of working age disabled people already live in poverty, but that figure doesn't account for the higher cost of living they face, so they have a far  lower disposable income than most  people in England.

Stroud Eco-Renovation Open Homes joins 4 other festivals!

OK a few days ago I said I would say more re the Eco-Renovation Open Homes event....well follow the link for basic details about the event on 10th/11th September but here I want to announce that it looks like we will be joining the Festival of Nature which will be in Stratford Park on the Saturday.

Indeed for the Eco-Homes and the Nature Fesitval will also link with the Food and Drink Festival plus Fringe Festival and Walking Festival. Five Festivals for the Five Valleys! Great stuff and what a great place to live! We are in process of sharing info to put together a festival booklet....lots of exciting stuff like as this is the International Year of the Forest 500 trees will be planted during the Festival (Incl Oak, Maple, Whitebeam, Rowan, Walnut, Hazel, Hawthorn, Blackthorn and others).

Appropriately enough 2011 is the 50th anniversary of the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust - they will be present at the Festival, to celebrate this milestone - plus a talk by biologist turned conservationist, Ian Redmond, who has dedicated his life to observing and protecting some of the planet's most endangered species, in particular, gorillas and elephants.

Anyway more of all these events in the future but that weekend is looking good for Stroud. In terms of eco-homes I came across a while back the two videos below - worth a watch! 

Eco-homes: Living the good life
Following his trip to the self-sustainable Lammas in Wales, Heydon Prowse visits Pembrokeshire national park to meet two families living in low-cost, environmentally sustainable dwellings:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2011/mar/24/eco-homes-good-life-video


See Lammas visit:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gardening-blog/video/2011/mar/22/lammas-eco-village-off-grid-video

Call Helen Royall on 01453 755509 - Philip

The Garden - inspiring film

I've just seen the Garden on DVD - well worth a look - it is about the largest community garden in the US. It all started after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992 - gradually the South Central Farmers created a miracle by growing their own food and building a community. Then come the bulldozers....See the trailer and more at their website: http://www.thegardenmovie.com/

It has won various awards as best documentary and I am sure will inspire many to create urban gardens....it also shows some of the worst and best aspects of politics....

Anyhow I've just been talking to folk who are interested in a new allotments in Randwick. Any other folk interested? Also edible open gardens project is getting larger by the minute - getting close to 40 gardens opening in July. Hopefully might also inspire some more community gardens?

More quotes

Some more quotes that inspire and made me think, smile or cringe - for more click on the 'label' below.

Photo: rainbow over Ruscombe earlier in week

 "Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open." James Dewar.

“War is stupid. Nobody wins. You might as well talk first: you have to talk last anyway.” Henry Allingham, who died aged 113

"Every man who is not helping to bring about a better state of affairs for the future is helping to perpetuate the present misery and is therefore the enemy of his own children." Tressell, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

“Progress is not made without persistent effort, ignoring set-backs. We are lucky in that campaigning is not life-threatening in England! But not campaigning could be!” Zena Bullmore, MBE, Chairman of Dacorum Hospital Action Group 


"After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul.
And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaving and company doesn’t mean security.
And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts and presents aren’t promises.
And you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes open, and with the grace of an adult, not the grief of a child…
And you learn to build all your own roads on today because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans.
After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much.
So plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure … that you really are strong and you really do have worth."
Anon

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else." Teddy Roosevelt

HSBC to fund nuke in earthquake zone!

I just received an email from BankTrack - a member of Greenpeace - well while Japan has said this week they wont build any more nukes you would think others had learnt some lessons?

Fukushima suffered the both earthquake and tsunami. As this blog has noted radioactivity is still leaking into the environment and there is no guarantee that the reactors are under control. So as BankTrack say: "One thing is certain, though! No one would build a reactor in a high risk earthquake zone on a coast now. Not after Fukushima. Would they? No one would take the risk? Regulators would not approve it. Citizens would fiercely oppose it. Banks and markets would not be prepared to take the risk; they would not be prepared to pay for it. Would they? Apparently, yes!"

Indeed astonishingly two of the world’s biggest banks, HSBC and BNP Paribas, are doing just that. I've mentioned before the campaign in India - well these two banks are funding the world's largest nuke facility at Jaitapur on India’s earthquake prone coast in Maharastra State. French company Areva still plan to build the reactors despite in the last two decades alone there being three earthquakes above 5 points on the Richter scale in the region. In 1993 the region suffered a quake measuring 6.3 which left some 9,000 people dead. See more at: http://www.banktrack.org/

Please join me in taking action here.

AV - what happened?

Well earlier this week I was at a meeting with Chris Owen, a Ruscombe resident who coordinated the local non-party political 'Yes' Campaign. Much of this blog is based on stuff he raised.....and as he noted this campaign was a victory for lies and mis-information over truth and reason. Indeed it does seem to be a testament to the power of Murdoch press to disseminate stuff that basically isn't right - and worse still have people believe them! The AV vote was very disappointing - for those who missed it the “Noes” had it, by 68% to 32%. In Stroud it was close to 65% 'No' and 35% 'yes'.

Photo: count last Friday



So what happened? Well it seems there may have been 4 main reasons for voting no:

  - party allegiance

  - protest against Lib Dems and Clegg in particular

  - conclusion that that would help minority parties

  - mis-understandings bolstered by "no" mis-information (in fact spoke this week with a woman who voted no because she thought it would cost millions more as all the ads claim yet a leaked Treasury report shows it would cost no more)
 
The votes does seem to show that the electorate has negative feelings towards people who vote for minority parties (equated with BNP).  Interesting regrading our Green Party position on PR: AV gives power to people who are inclined to vote for minority parties, without necessarily giving power to the parties themselves; whereas PR actually gives power to  minority parties.

So what are some of the points to take out of all this? Click Read More for the rest of this blog.

I'm one of 130

In Stroud we re-elected our 5 councillors making 6 with me. See my blog here - and Stroud District Green party comment here. Well this evening we have just had a Green Party meeting debriefing and are already looking to local target seats next year.

Photo: count last Friday

Nationally we went into our election campaign with 116 councillors on 42 councils and have come out of it with 130 on 43 councils. Norwich fought off Labour in two wards, as well as gaining an additional seat, to bring their total seats on the council to 15 - adding to its tally of city councillors at every election since 2002.  We also gained seats in Bolsover, Bristol, Herefordshire, Kings Lynn and West Norfolk, Malvern Hills, Mid Suffolk, Reigate, Solihull, South Hams, Stafford and St Albans! The outstanding Brighton results were also a real highlight: we gained 10 more seats, taking our total to 23 and making the Greens the largest party on the council.

In Wales, despite doubling the share of the vote, we sadly missed out gaining our first ever seat on the Welsh Assembly and having been squeezed by a Labour bounce-back in Lancaster while in Scotland we have two MSPs.See Green party results here.

'Climate Change Farm' on radio

I just heard the BBC Food programme on the Climate Change Farm near Honiton in Devon. You can listen to it here. Well worth it - inspiring stuff about the Forest Garden there and the importance of perennial plants. See more at their blog: www.otterfarmblog.co.uk/

On a related issue, Lester Brown had a recent article, here, that looks at the issue of international food scarcity - and here how making the changes is still possible.

Academies are not the answer

Tom Johnson, a resident of Ruscombe, writing in the SNJ last week questioned the move to academies as they lack accountability. I totally agree. It seems locally Marling School are already considering the move.

The Green Party has always spoken in favour of greater freedom for the school to decide how it is run. However this does not and must not mean putting the running of the school into the hands of a private sponsor who may know nothing or very little about education, and taking the power away from parents and teachers who have little representation on the governing body at an Academy. We should be improving the quality of every local school for all children -  rather than speeding up Labour's programme of academies to deepen divisions between schools.

Rachel Fryer, the Greens' education spokesperson, said last year: "Time and again Greens and others have asked why the freedoms and funding attached to Academies cannot be given without the strings of creeping privatisation and millionaire sponsors attached. Yet no answer is given."

Caroline Lucas attempted to make a number of amendments to the Bill last summer - see here. Sadly none of these sensible additions were adopted. It is no wonder that the National Union of Teachers have described the bill as an "attack on the very existence of democratically accountable, free state comprehensive education."

You can read more about the cross-party campaign against academies here.

'Greenest Government Ever' claim is becoming a sick joke

The government's chance of being the "greenest ever" - as the prime minister has claimed - is now "vanishingly remote". Jonathon Porritt, former head of the Sustainable Development Commission and Green Party member, carried out the review which was funded by Friends of the Earth. He examined 75 policies, finding little or no progress in 55 with the 'birds singing' for only 6 policies. See Porritt here and BBC at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13312901

As Porritt says it is "all in all, as close to a nightmare as one can imagine. Especially for the Lib Dems who must take their full share of responsibility for the dereliction that this Report reveals."

Meanwhile report after report shows what could be possible. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for example has just published a report showing that close to 80 percent of the world’s energy supply could be met by renewables by mid-century if backed by the right enabling public policies a new report shows. Yet we see Lib Dems seemingly watering down our own targets - see Stroud blogger and now District councillor, Molly Scott Cato here.

Stroud Edible Open Gardens - 34 gardens signed up!

Last week we had a meeting to pull together plans for Transition Stroud's big Edible Open Gardens for 9th and 10th July - see previous blogs here. We now have 34 gardens signed up and on the weekend before we are planning stalls and more to publicise the event with various partner organisations.

Folk might also have read about the new project initiative by Ben Spencer to turn Stroud into an Apple town - more of that soon - a meeting on 18th May in Stroud for those interested.

I also came across this video which covers some of our thoughts about food locally - don't agree with all but it is inspiring: 'How Can We Grow More Food Locally?' Transition Bath made the film from an excellent talk by Pam Warhurst from Incredible Edible Tormorden http://bit.ly/localfoodbath

Pam talks about bringing together Community growing, learning and the local economy in projects - arguing that you need all three for real change. I agree - and the series of videos of the talk are inspiring.

Lastly I came across this video about peak oil - see film here. It is with Rob Hopkins and it raises a question about how much a litre of oil is worth in labour. Rob says FEASTA report says a
“a 40 litre fill-up at a petrol station is the equivalent of about four years of human manual work”. However other calculations suggest this figure “overstates the energy value of a liter of petrol by almost a factor of four”. Which ever it is it is still massive1

Kevin Lister's video on Fairford

A while back I reported on the Nailsworth resident who faces jail for a spoof website - see here. Well Kevin has now produced a video regarding Fairford and some of his legal case:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KhTCyHBiiI

See more about the plans here for a cycle ride to Fairford. This is what he says of the ride: "We will by cycling on mass to the Fairford Air Tattoo on the 17th and 18th July in aid of "The Cancer and Birth Defects Foundation" which funds research into the effects of Depleted Uranium on places like Fallujah and the supports care for the innocent victims, which are generally children born with horrific birth defects. Despite the horrifc impacts of DU, the Air Tattoo's proud boast this year is that the A-10 will be displaying, which is based around a DU gun. "

You can also see his latest blogs on Birmingham Airport's expansion here with a link to a Facebook site calling for prosecution of the airport for suspected Environmental fraud. Meanwhile I was also interested to see here a 16 year old take a legal case against the US government over climate change.

New Stroud cycle report out

A new cycling report was prepared for Stroud District Council and Gloucestershire County Council, by John Franklin, a Cheltenham-based Government advisor and specialist in cycling skills and safety - he is also the author of the Cycle Trainer's Bible 'Cyclecraft'.

Photo: cycle from the Stroud Cycle Campaign

The survey of routes for commuter cycling has identified obstacles and barriers to cycling that currently exist along those routes and puts forward options for dealing with those problems. It is worth a look.

A series of recommendations has been made that aims to boost cycle use across the area surveyed. The report will be used as evidence by the two councils, in the future, to developing their planning and transport policy.

One local action identified is that absurd bit on Main Road in Whiteshill which I have raised before with Highways....the width restriction has an uphill cycle bypass, but at the time of inspection of the report (and indeed most of the time I've seen it) it was littered with debris and mud and not inviting to use. The recommendation is to: "Ensure that there is a maintenance and cleansing regime that keep facilities of this kind in good condition."

It's a long and detailed report, which makes many sensible suggestions that would not cost too much to implement. Sadly, however, I expect the cost may still be considered too high by the council...the Tories nationally may have said they want to invest more in cycling but there seems little evidence to date - but let's not prejudge - this report is an opportunity and I look forward to seeing what the actions are that come out of it. We urgently need to address the failures to encourage and support cycling.

Transition Stroud get a mention - and regular blog readers might remember I put together a film of one of their projects - see my blog here re The Cycle Trainers.

The full report can be viewed by clicking the following link:
http://www.stroud.gov.uk/docs/lp/options_cycling.asp 
Download from:
http://www.stroud.gov.uk/info/planning/Stroud_cycling_options.pdf