The Greener Gloucestershire Festival

The Greener Gloucestershire Festival is happening at the University of Gloucestershire, Park Campus, Cheltenham this weekend from 12pm – 5pm!

Come along and join the celebration of all things sustainable in Gloucestershire – from local community initiatives and projects to local beer and face painting.

The festival aims to find out more about putting sustainable living into practice, with advice, information and support from many local experts, as well as interactive talks and discussions on topics such as G.M., carbon reductions, faith and sustainability and communications skills for effective sustainability.

The first event of its kind is organised by the Greener Gloucestershire Team at UoG Students’ Union, hopes to bring Gloucestershire communities together with staff and students to celebrate the amazing work in sustainability done by volunteers, organisations and businesses working to keep Gloucestershire a healthy, green and beautiful place to live. There will be something to meet the needs and interests of everyone, young and old – green and blue! The festival will be host to workshops, music, real ale and cider and the a chance for bakers and makers to exhibit at the impressive Cheltenham Connect Village Show

Stall holders from across the county will be selling their local produce and sharing their green initiatives and campaigns. This looks to be an eclectic event with delicious food, local cider and ale, and music from local bands including UkesAnon and Talis.

Greener Gloucestershire is a partnership between Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (GFirst LEP) and the University of Gloucestershire Students’ Union, and aims to enhance the student experience while they live and study in the county. The project was funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) backed National Union of Students (NUS) Students’ Green Fund.

Greener Gloucestershire project manager Rachel Purdon is looking forward to the inaugural festival: "We're delighted to be hosting the inaugural Greener Gloucestershire Festival on Park Campus. It is a perfect opportunity to come along and ask some questions about what sustainability really means, and have your say on what you want the future of Gloucestershire to look like – as well as trying some delicious

food and drink.

“Everyone is welcome to come along - whether you're interested in gardening or electric cars, saving bees or football – we’d love to see you there.”

Groups who will be present at the festival include Global Footsteps, Vision 21, Transition Towns, Allotment Society, Zero Carbon Britain RSPB, UOG Beekeeping Society, Sustainable Direction Ltd, Gloucester Bike Project and many more!

The Greener Gloucestershire Festival will be held from noon until 5pm at the Park campus, The Park, Cheltenham, GL50 2RH. To find out more, please visit www.greenergloucestershire.co.uk/festival

Greener Gloucestershire an independent group not affiliated to the Green Party. We support them because we share their green vision for a better future. We are glad to host news, press releases, events and announcements from any group, organisation, charity, or business that share our aims and beliefs. 

GlosCAN press release

Climate Change: “we can climb it!”

Gloucestershire Climate March, linked to People’s Climate March in New York, Sunday 21^st September in Stroud.

On Sunday 21 September, people of Gloucestershire are invited to come together in a public statement on the issue of man-made climate change. The aim is to place pressure on governments to develop binding policies to curb CO₂ emissions and to encourage humanity to adopt low carbon initiatives. Since 2007, scientists have developed better tools, and drawing from the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Reports we can be certain about how humans are changing the climate.

The starting point at 12.00 noon is to be Stroud Subscription Rooms forecourt from where the march will progress up to Rodborough Sports Field. Here the plan is to make a large heart-shape to symbolize the things that are cherished: people, habitats and planet, which are under threat from the destabilising build-up of CO2 in the atmosphere. Participants will join in singing, music and picnics!

It takes place on a global day of action, spearheaded by climate campaigning groups 350.org and Avaaz. In New York United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is hosting a Climate Summit to engage leaders and advance climate action and ambition. The Kirklees campaign against climate change argue that globally this will be ‘A weekend to “bend the course of history”’

Participants will sign a declaration and petition, which will be the start of many actions by GlosCAN.

Two planning meetings include one on Tues 9^th Sept, 7 – 9 pm at The Exchange, Brick Row, Stroud, and a preparation day on Sunday the 14^th Sept, 10am to 4 pm, at the same venue, where flags and banners will be made.  Volunteers with an artistic leaning are needed to help make inspiring cloth flags and banners, in green and blue that depict the connections between all forms of life.

GlosCAN committee member, Arun Cappi said, "The event is an opportunity to share information with the wider public, to help the evidence become clear; and to show that it is a fair and scientific assessment of the impact that we are having on the atmosphere."

Event planner, Fred Miller said, "The mountainous challenge that is climate change reminded me of the Bear Hunt story: ‘You can't go round it, you can't go under it, you have to … climb it’ … and ‘Climb it’ sounds like Climate, so that is what we called it."

Fellow GlosCAN committee member, Nick James, said, "It will also be a call to local government to 'up its game’, and commit to 100 percent clean energy for all its operations, and to urgently develop a sustainable zero carbon, local economy."

“It is also a call for leadership from our national government at the United Nations talks that are being held in Paris in December 2015. These talks are a last chance, very late in the day, to put in place global limits on more carbon emissions”, said Vaughan Webber, one of the GlosCAN organisers.

GlosCAN is an independent campaigning group not affiliated to the Green Party. We support them because we share their sense of urgency that climate change is a serious issue that must be faced responsibly. We are glad to host news, press releases, events and announcements from any group, organisation, charity, or business that share our aims and beliefs. 

Stroud events

Here’s the current list of things we know about that are happening in the near future.  Where relevant, we’re also listing events a bit further afield that you might be interested in, too. These are local events that are (unless it says otherwise in the listing) run by assorted local groups – these are all independent of the Green Party.

If you are aware of other talks, events, workshops or other community activities in the coming week or so, please do mention them in the comments. If there’s an event you would like our support in promoting, please email the details to brynnethnimue (at) gmail (dot) com.

The Peregrine Falcons of Gloucestershire By Steve Watson Friday 5th September, 7.30pm - approx 9.30pm Cost: £5/adult & £3/child We are very lucky to have Peregrine falcons living close by in the wilds of Symonds Yat over in the Forest of Dean. Few of us may have been lucky enough to see, in real life, one of the fastest animals on the planet.  On 5th September Stroud Valley’s Project is offering you the chance to see this illustrated talk.  ‘The Peregrine Falcons of Gloucestershire’ is a fascinating presentation by Steve Watson, who has been studying the Symonds Yat peregrines for 30 years. This talk will cover the biology, ecology, hunting strategies, UK population dynamics and the pesticide story of the peerless peregrine falcon. Steve will also discuss the Symonds Yat breeding performance and convey some personal anecdotes. The talk will include high quality photographs and video clips. We hope you will be able to join us for this unique and interesting evening. Refreshments will be available. Booking and paying in advance is essential as places are limited. Please call Stroud Valleys Project on 01453 753358 to book or find out more Sumptuous Syrian Supper - a fundraising evening for Syrian Refugees on Saturday 6th September at Star Anise, Stroud from 7.30pm - a night of fantastic food, fun and laughter - there will be an auction and other Middle Eastern inspired fun! Tickets £17.50 from Clare Skivington clareskivington@gmail.com 0788 4021067.  In Aid of Hand in Hand for Syria Registered charity in England and Wales (no. 1145862) Help mobilize a law of Ecocide  a day of local & global direct action planning Where Lansdown Hall, Stroud, Gloucestershire , UK, GL5 1BB When  6 September 2014  Time 10am-3.30pm Polly Higgins has recently moved to Stroud and is organising this event. She says: "For me New Law - Ecocide law - sits at the heart of how we choose to govern our world. It's our choice: sit back and let the wheels of destruction continue, or stand up, speak out and say 'enough, no more'. It's a choice-point where each of us can choose. Which is why I choose to speak out. I choose to host a Day of Action on the 6th of September (see below), to mobilise local and global action for a law of Ecocide. I'd love you to join me - either in person on online for the livestream. The guys at Facing Crossroads shall be there to film it all, and shall be helping message out this one story that looks set to become truly a global story in the making. Come help me as we step into the next chapter!" The event is free. Email support@eradicatingecocide.com to let them know you can attend, or join the livestream on the day at eradicatingecocide.com + facingcrossroads.org People from across the world shall be joining us, both online and in person. Everyone is a participant. 12th September  Kings Stanley market, held in the Village Hall between 3pm and 6.30pm. There is a mix of local produce, including Popes sausages, Godsells cheese, Days cider, Stroud brewery, bread, cakes, honey, plants etc, also a variety of craft stalls, books, bric-a-brac, memorabilia and collectables. There is also a community table where anyone can sell plants, fruit and veg with no upfront fees. The playgroup organise a cafe with drinks, cakes and ice-creams. This is the second year we have been organising the market and it has been very popular. We usually have about 28 stalls and it is generally well attended. . 'Economics & Transition' The next meeting of the Transition Stroud Book group Where Black Book Cafe, Nelson St, Stroud. When  Saturday 13th September  Time 4-6pm This month the Transition Stroud book group will discuss a theme rather than a single book: Economics & Transition. Last month we read ‘The Burning Question' by Mike Berners-Lee and Duncan Clark, a key issue of which is that of a 'carbon bubble' - overvalued fossil fuel companies - that would burst if we keep fossil fuels in the ground as we must in order to avoid catastrophic climate change. So this month we will look at 'Economics & Transition' -  texts which present alternative economic models for the future, or at least offer further insight into the problems of our current economic system. Rather than a single book, we have 3 key recommendations, and a longer list of possible readings (as we cannot offer multiple copies of any of the 3 key books). The Bioregional Economy by Molly Scott Cato (the South West Green MEP based in Stroud) "In a world of climate change and declining oil supplies, what is the plan for the provisioning of resources? Green economists suggest a need to replace the globalised economy, and its extended supply chains, with a more ‘local’ economy... The concept of the ‘bioregion’ — developed and popularised within the disciplines of earth sciences, biosciences and planning — may facilitate the reconceptualisation of the global economy as a system of largely self-sufficient local economies." You can read pages 1-30 online for free. Prosperity Without Growth by Tim Jackson. "No one denies that development is essential for poorer nations. But in the advanced economies there is mounting evidence that ever-increasing consumption adds little to human happiness and may even impede it. More urgently, it is now clear that the ecosystems that sustain our economies are collapsing under the impacts of rising consumption. Unless we can radically lower the environmental impact of economic activity - and there is no evidence to suggest that we can - we will have to devise a path to prosperity that does not rely on continued growth." You can read/download the report for the Sustainable Development Commission on which this book was based online for free (pdf). Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein. "Sacred Economics traces the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, revealing how the money system has contributed to alienation, competition, and scarcity, destroyed community, and necessitated endless growth. Today, these trends have reached their extreme - but in the wake of their collapse, we may find great opportunity to transition to a more connected, ecological, and sustainable way of being." As well as being available in hard-copy at a 'pay what you like' rate, this book is available for free online, in both PDF and epub formats. In other words, if you have one, you can read it on your computer, laptop, tablet or kindle. A copy of each of these books is available from the Transition Stroud Library at the Black Book Cafe. As we only have one copy of each, we below supply a list of our other economics titles which we encourage you to read instead. We'd obviously like you to read one book in full if possible, but if you can't, feel free to come and hear what other people learned from the books, and contribute to the discussion. If you can't read any of the books, please read one of these short pieces by our key authors: "New economic model needed not relentless consumer demand" by Tim Jackson, published in The Guardian "Let's replace our fixation on growth with a steady-state economy focusing on lower consumption, leisure and ecological health" by Charles Eisenstein, published in The Guardian Pages 1-30 of Molly Scott Cato's "The Bioregional Economy" You can read about what happened at the 2nd meeting of the book group and join the discussion at the Transition Stroud google discussion group (you do not need to be a member of this group to read the posts, but you do need to be a member to contribute – it is possible to set this up so you do not receive additional emails but visit the forum at times of your choosing).

Spending Gloucestershire’s money

Recently on the website we posted an open letter from Kevin Lister to Gloucester and Cheltenham councillors regarding the economic and environmental mess that is Gloucestershire’s airport.  It makes an interesting comparison with other news for Gloucestershire about how the county council has handled the incinerator project. 

These are two different levels of local government, three different administrations, but comparable attitudes to public money, infrastructure and resources. We might also consider the GCC bid for millions to build a new road when there’s apparently no money to fill the potholes in the old ones.

The gist of these stories (the details are in the links if you want actual figures) is that an incredible amount of public money gets spent on projects that do not benefit the vast majority of us in any way. We don’t need an incinerator. We most especially don’t need one where insane amounts were paid for the land to build it on. GCC gambled on getting funding, and the gamble did not work out. We all pay, and we pay in terms of cash being ever tighter for essential services. That public money has gone into an airport – hardly an eco-friendly choice, and hardly of service to the majority - is also a travesty.

In the Green Party we are very clear that public money has to be spent for public benefit – not on vanity schemes, cloud castles or propping up the habits of the already affluent. We have to respect taxpayers, and recognise that politics is supposed to be about public service. That means really sitting down to scrutinise projects and budgets to see if they measure up to those standards. From Kevin Lister’s letter and reporting, it looks like many of the people making judgements about the airport had not read or understood the implications of what was happening there, and that’s just not good enough. Anyone in office has a duty to do better by the general public, and key to that duty is having as good an understanding as you can get of what’s going on.

It’s not exactly glamorous. Reading through the fine details of contracts and policy documents is frequently dull and often mentally taxing, but how do we make good decisions without all the facts?

One of the things I can say with pride about the local Greens is that we do the reading. We commented in detail on the local plan, we are responding to the minerals policy consultation at the moment. I end up reading all kinds of things to make sure we’re accurate on the media side – the chief medical officer’s report was a memorable one for me this year. I’ve read reports on Staverton airport. We do our homework. Voters and taxpayers (that’s all adults, one way or another) are entitled to expect as much.

We think Green administrations would have handled public money far better than these local councils have done. We’d like a chance to prove that. If you’d like an opportunity to see something a lot more diligent in operation, we’d value your vote.

How you voted

The Gloucester Citizen has published all the figures for how Gloucestershire voted for Europe. You can read it in full here - http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/Euro-elections-Ukip-polls-Gloucester-claims-seats/story-21143192-detail/story.html#ixzz32uDZeY4w

In Stroud...

CON 11,451

UKIP 9,348

LAB 7,071

GREEN 6,528

LIB DEM 2,488

There’s a very small distance between Labour and the Greens. No doubt, that Molly Scott Cato was Stroud’s very own candidate, and we have a strong Green base here impacted on those numbers.

Normally at General Election time, we settle out into being a Conservative/Labour marginal and those who do not naturally belong to either tribe pick the party they find least offensive. Was UKIP a protest vote? Europe plays to their only well-known policy, while voters have tended to be less keen to give them power at Westminster. Will that hold true next year? With such a tight gap between Labour and the Greens, and the way the Conservative/UKIP numbers stack up, assuming that’s really a right/left split, the old ‘vote Green get blue’ line isn’t holding up.

Unless of course a lot of traditional Labour voters picked UKIP.

What’s missing from these figures is the number of people who did not vote for anyone. We don’t know if that’s a silence of apathy, dismay, disgust, or not knowing enough to feel able to choose. Across the country about two thirds of voters did not vote. From what I picked up at the count, Stroud districts tended to do slightly better with a lot of 40-50% turnouts. It’s not much of a democracy if less than half of those who should have a say actually make their choice known.

Your vote will make a difference. Your absence of a vote will also make all kinds of differences, and not ones you get much say in, which is not how it should be. In fact Stroud is beginning to look like a four way marginal  which might mean will get more national coverage in the run up to the General election. 
 

Green inspiration

Are you building a better future and seeking a sustainable way of life? Worn down by the deniers, and naysayers? Feeling overwhelmed by social injustice and destructive, short-term political thinking? In need of some inspiration?

Storytelling for a Greener World is a book rich in inspiration. Practitioners discuss ways of using stories to engage people with landscapes, and each other, to create meaningful change. The book is peppered with stories which will encourage, challenge and inspire you. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a ‘story teller’ we humans are in essence story telling creatures. We tell each other stories all the time – little anecdotes, memories, aspirations and ideas. All of us can harness that storytelling to support, encourage and inspire each other. The sharing of stories about how we really can create a more sustainable future, is an important part of how we’re going to get there.

Several contributors to this book are Stroud based, while a number of others have Gloucestershire connections, and the launch will be at the Sub Rooms on the 11^th of April.

More information about the book and the event here - http://www.anthonynanson.co.uk/Storytelling_for_a_Greener_World.html

Stroud events with a Green flavour

Gloucestershire Green Fair
Sat 1st March, 11.00am - 3.00pm
Blackfriars Priory, Gloucester, GL1 2HN
FREE ADMISSION

The day will be a showcase of local businesses, producers, suppliers, charities and community groups sharing ideas and expertise on green living. There will be kids activities including arts and crafts by Global Arts, story telling by Ropert Mckenzie and animals from St. James City Farm along with cookery demos focusing on allotment grown produce from Natural Cookery School, shabby chic furniture refinishing by Reclaim and advice on bike repairs from Gloucestershire Bike Project throughout the day, admission is free. Vision 21’s Get Up and Grow More project officer Erin Baker will be on hand to offer top tips on growing your own ranging from a full-on allotment to growing in containers.

 Seed Swap SVP Eco Shop Saturday 1st March, 10-30am - 1pm, Start your gardening year with the Stroud Valleys Project Seed Swap! Bring along any seeds that you have saved from your garden, or any packets of seeds that you have spare, and swap them for some different varieties. Free event, donations appreciated For more information please contact Clare or Tamsin on 01453 753358

Fukushima Day, Tuesday March 11^th, 2014 

It really can’t be as bad weather as last year can it!!  We really hope for a good turnout. Please tell your friends about it and bring along everyone you can.  We will be right opposite the Nuclear waste site at Berkeley and just upstream from Oldbury. So we think the press and TV cameras will be interested in the spectacle.

Here are the plans: 3.30 pm  We meet at the Standing Stones and picnic tables at Lydney Harbour. (See later for directions). We shall collect up messages, poems, drawings, etc, that people want to send to the people of Fukushima. Best if these are done before we get there – just in case it is raining – though there will be an opportunity to write messages using the picnic tables to lean on if need be. They will all be collected in a ‘radioactive waste bin’ – (good visuals for the TV cameras). These messages will be translated into Japanese for us and sent to the Mayor of Fukushima. 3.45 pm We will read out a personal message from Jonathon Porritt (unfortunately unable to be with us) and hear short speeches from Molly Scott Cato, Green candidate MEP for the South West and Steve Parry-Hearne, Labour candidate for the Forest of Dean. 4.00 pm We will take the short walk to the harbour wall where we will throw flowers into the river to a background of Japanese music.

In case you don’t know Lydney Harbour or the harbour area, Head for Lydney Station, cross the level crossing and just keep going until the main road ends just before it turns into a narrow lane by the sign to Lydney Golf Club. You can park your car in the main road alongside the small concrete blocks by the closed down factory. Take the first bridge over the canal and straight ahead of you there is a short slope up to the standing stones. There is wheelchair access (though it might be a bit muddy).

So. You need to:

a. Write a message to the people of Fukushima if you wish.

b. Bring a flower with you.

c. Work out transport for you and others. We hope that people with cars will be able to offer lifts to others from their area. 

Please email me or telephone if you are able to offer a lift – saying how many spare seats you have and where you are coming from, or if you need a lift, saying where you live. I’ll try and put you all in touch with each other.

There is no direct bus service to Lydney Harbour so it is best if you can get a lift. If you are arriving at Lydney Bus Station or Lydney train station let us know the time of your arrival and we will arrange for someone to pick you up.

Please join us and help to make this an important and memorable day for the people living in the shadow of Oldbury and Berkeley.

Please email barbara@standagainstoldbury.org or ring 01291 689327 to ask for lifts or to offer them.

Best wishes,

Barbara, for STAND against Oldbury

For your information: there will be a Rally in London on the following Saturday organized by London CND. March and Rally: Remember Fukushima: no to Nuclear Power 12:30pm, 15th March, Marching from Hyde Park Corner to Parliament On 15th March we will mark the 3rd anniversary of the Fukushima disaster with a march and rally from Hyde Park Corner to Parliament. Meet at 12:30pm at Hyde Park Corner near the exits to Hyde Park from Hyde Park Corner tube. March starts 1:00pm, will go past the Japanese Embassy and the offices of the Tokyo Electric Power Company, finishing outside Parliament. Join us for the whole march or find us from 3:00-4:30pm at a rally with speakers and music on Old Palace Yard opposite the Houses of Parliament.

For further info contact London Region CND on 020 7607 2302.

 

Storytelling for a Greener World with Jonathon Porritt and Alida Gersie: 11 April, 7.30pm; Stroud Subscription  Rooms. How can environmental organisations use storytelling to engage visitors, students, members, staff and the community with nature? And enable pro-environmental change?

Stroud Events

Here’s the current list of things we know about that are happening in the near future.  Where relevant, we’re also listing events a bit further afield that you might be interested in, too.

If you are aware of other talks, events, workshops or other community activities in the coming week or so, please do mention them in the comments. If there’s an event you would like our support in promoting, please email the details to brynnethnimue (at) gmail (dot) com.

TODAY! STAND (Severnside Development Against Nuclear Development) – www.nuclearsevernside.co.uk – is specifically campaigning against the proposed nuke at Oldbury.  Wrong place, wrong technology etc., there is every chance that it can be seen off, but, of course, we have to keep the door firmly shut. The STAND roadshow on 1^st February is the follow-on to a similar event that brought Stroud Calling Forest-side. There will be 5 speakers each speaking for 10-15 mins – health, flooding, latest developments regarding Horizon, alternatives etc. etc. – and then some music.  And stands and more information on Fukushima Day on March 11^th.  And I hope a really good opportunity for people from both sides of the Severn to meet and catch-up. I hope that you will all be able to come – please let all your friends, family, groups and connections know.  Everyone welcome.

TODAY! 1st February, 10.00 – 4.00, Merrywalks Centre, Stroud
Once again Transition Stroud and Down to Earth will be organising their annual Stroud Potato Day.

Amanda Godber from Down to Earth said, “this is such an exciting time of year with the promise of many a happy hour getting your seed packets sorted and ready to sow. Now you can buy your selection of seed potatoes to plant and have a delicious variety on your table throughout the summer.”

Come and join us at the Merrywalks shopping centre between 10.00 and 4.00 and you might even be able to taste a delicious lemon drizzle cake made with mashed potato.

You don't need a big garden or allotment to grow potatoes, you can grow them in containers even on a patio or by your back door!
Varieties available will include:

1st Earlies:  SWIFT, INTERNATIONAL KIDNEY, CASABLANCA,  ROCKET, ARAN PILOT, COLLEEN

2nd Earlies: CHARLOTTE, KESTREL, NADINA, MARFONA, VIVALDI, NOVELLA, ORLA

Main:  KING EDWARD, DESIREE, PINK FIR APPLE, SARPO MIRA, ROBINTA

You can read some interesting stories about potatoes as well as pick up some lovely recipe ideas on the Stroud Potato Day blog.

Your Green Future is being held on Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 February at Stratford Park Leisure Centre in Stroud. This event will see industry thinkers and experts offer advice and inspiration to over 400 secondary school students from across Gloucestershire on developing a low carbon, sustainable future.

Any businesses wishing to find out more or schools who may also wish to attend should call  01452 835076 or email cecilye@severnwye.org.uk Further information is available at www.yourgreenfuture.org.uk

Monday evening the 17th February 7.15 for 7 30pm at Open House-Next to "Star Anise" at the bottom of Gloucester St.  Stroud There will be a Public Meeting entitled, "The increasing power of Corporations , implications for democracy and what can be done about It"   Speakers will be Nick Dearden -World Development  Movement- Gloucestershire Molly Scott Cato  Stroud District Green Party. This is a crucial issue for the World

Sunday 23rd February, Cake and Conservation, Westley Farm, Chalford 10am-3pm
Enjoy being outside? Want to learn new skills, have fun and meet like-minded people? Then come along to our conservation taster day to see the kind of conservation work we do. We’ll be cutting and burning scrub to recreate links between two wildflower-rich areas, to encourage more butterflies and surveying for marsh fritillary caterpillars. Westley Farm will be providing a delicious home-cooked lunch. May not be suitable for young children under 8 due to nature of the work, parental discretion advised.

Ellen Winter (Stroud Community Wildlife Officer) writes: "I really hope you'll be able to join me, and please do pass this on to your friends and family, the more the merrier! If you'd like to book on any of these events, simply contact the office on info@gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk or 01452 383333.  Full details and directions are sent to everyone booked shortly before the event."

Thur 27 Feb Subscription Rooms Stroud How to Occupy an oil Rig,  How to blend in on a march. How to crash a boardroom meeting. How to avoid becoming romantically attached to an undercover police officer. That sort of thing. In this playful and provocative show about protest, you'll learn how to do all of this and more. Funny, surprising, and not a little sad, How to Occupy an Oil Rig is for everyone who ever wanted to change anything. And that's everyone. You get to play with plasticine too. Written by Daniel Bye and the company

Making sense of emissions

Every year, our local airport, Staverton, publishes its green policy - http://www.gloucestershireairport.co.uk/AboutUs/Environmental.aspx and the latest review is here

http://vmcommin/documents/g2090/Public%20reports%20pack%2010th-Dec-2013%2018.00%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10

We noticed in a report in the Gloucestershire Echo that there was consideration of ‘recalibrating’ the cap on emissions from Staverton. It’s worth noting that the emissions cap is pretty much a voluntary arrangement, and that they are free and able to move the goalposts should the airport so desire.

Curious as to what was going on, and wondering if we needed to take action on this, I started poking round. I read the green policy, and then went on to look at how emissions are assessed.  Defra methodology can be read about here - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/224437/pb13988-emission-factor-methodology-130719.pdf

Calculating emissions is not an exact science. What this means is that the method we use at any given time to calculate said emissions is a best guess, so we cannot be totally confident that what we think we are putting out has been accurately gauged in the first place. There is also an element of averaging involved – it is not a precise measure. The methods of calculation are being fine-tuned all the time.

I made contact with the council in Cheltenham, to try and find out a bit more about what’s going on here. What I learned is this: There was no formal method for calculating CO2 available when the airport’s green policy was first developed, so a method was devised by an independent consultant. The methodology is shown in the green policy and if you’re curious, do go and have a read. It’s quite manageable for the non-expert (eg, me!). National guidance has since been issued that adds consideration for planes flying at high altitude. I was told the effect of this would be that if 100 tonnes of CO2 was previously reported, this would now be reported as 190 tonnes under the new system. Not all planes from Staverton fly at the relevant altitudes, so there are more calculations to do before any decisions are made.

The airport has operated within the 4.000 tonne CO2 target it’s been set. In 2012/13 it showed a 16.6% reduction on the previous year due mostly to another small change in the national guidance. Some of the improvement can be attributed to more efficient aircraft. That impression of an improvement may be misleading though, given the direction new guidelines have taken.

The new method of calculating emissions means that the same activity will result in a much higher figure in the future. It is my understanding that the emissions ceiling may be recalibrated in response to this. Or to put it another way, having worked out that flying creates more CO2 than previously thought, the response is not to reduce the number of flights out of Staverton or to insist on more efficient planes, but to just move the goalposts so that ‘business as usual’ continues.

I’m not sure what the point is of trying to ascertain our actual emissions, if the response will be just to change the rules so that what we were doing continues unaffected.

Local Enterprise or Wipeout

Below is a letter recently sent to Stroud News and Journal. We’re sharing it here in case you missed it.

 

Dear Ed,

While radio stations still play Jesse J telling us its not about the price tag, 'expert' in local economies, ex-Citizen editor Ian Mean, broadcasts that retail is the answer to Gloucestershire's problems. So this, he suggests, is where our shiny new Local Enterprise Partnership, an unelected quango, should concentrate its
efforts.

In another brilliant example of coalition localism, millions of tax payers' money will be handed over to these local "Dragons Den" figures, to drum up ideas for decimating our local businesses by tempting some big retail chains to build shops we don't need all over our green fields.

Having shut the libraries and youth clubs, sacked thousands of public sector workers and frozen the pay of the rest, the coalition has plenty of money to fund this, while neatly providing private profit for the banks and investors who back the Tory Party.

Sacrificing our public services and assets in exchange for pursuing the twin gods of growth and shopping, treats us like consumers who have no other way to be content except buying more stuff and promotes envy in those who can't afford to.

We have to make the best of this set up, so let's tell them we want support for existing and local businesses that deliver some real benefits that serve local people and keep their cash in the local economy. Insulating homes and installing alternative energy sources, provides jobs, reduces energy demand, improves home comfort and saves on bills. It makes far more sense than Ed's Freeze or Cameron's do nothing approach.

Regards
Gerald Hartley

Burning issues

What happens to your waste? In an ideal world, it would be good to reuse and recycle or compost everything that goes into the bins. It’s cleaner than landfill, and more sustainable. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that reclaiming materials from waste saves resources, and as we have finite resources and just the one planet, it seems a good idea to recycle as much as we can. That should be a no-brainer.

We all know that burning things releases carbon dioxide. More often than not, it also puts other unwanted chemicals into the atmosphere, too.

 

So with that in mind, you’d probably think that no sane person would suggest burning rubbish as a solution to household waste. It’s so 19^th century, and we’re so much wiser than that, right?

 

Sadly  not.

Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) and Urbaser Balfour Beatty want to build a huge waste incinerator in the Severn Vale. It’s already been turned down by planning permission, so they’re fighting it.

To quote from the petition site, “It would burn recyclable materials and discourage recycling, produce persistent organic pollutants in its residues and cost local taxpayers c.£500 million over 25 years. We prefer cheaper, safer, less visually intrusive, environmentally friendly alternatives such as small MBT and AD plants. The Cotswold Conservation Board, CPRE, Natural England, Stroud District Council and thousands of local residents object to this proposal.”

You can sign the petition here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43257

In a recent press release, Cllr Sarah Lunnon said, “GCC’s fascination with burning our natural resources is political – the new Tory administration in 2005 cancelled the Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT) waste project that was being developed. It could not then be seen to choose the Lib/Lab solution again during the replacement tendering process. In fact that MBT solution would be operable by now, saving considerable amounts of landfill and landfill tax.”

Building an incinerator is not about science, or saving money. It’s not about safe and sustainable solutions to waste, or the good of the community. It’s about the Tories refusing to back good ideas from other parties. It is not the job of politicians to try and score points in this way.

However, it’s not all bad news. These insane, polluting monsters can be stopped, as campaigners in London have recently proved.

LONDON Green Euro-MP Jean Lambert has welcomed the decision to scrap plans for a massive rubbish treatment plant in north London, in the face of opposition from community, environmental and human rights groups. Ms Lambert, the capital’s Green Party MEP, said: “I am delighted that the North London Waste Authority has decided to ditch the proposals for Pinkham Way treatment plant. It’s a massive victory for local campaigners. Now the North London Waste Authority should think about using existing sites more effectively, working to reduce household waste levels, and building smaller sites, closer to where the waste is being produced, where these prove absolutely necessary rather than developing systems that rely on on-going waste production.”

Challenging Martin Surl

Gloucestershire’s Police and Crime Commissioner’s recent comments about snooping have not gone down well. Here is John Marjoram’s response in a letter published by Stroud News and Journal.

 

25^th September 2013

I have only met our new Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire, Martin Surl once, and that was at the Stroud Show this year. I was very impressed by his pleasant demeanour and his progressive views. Like so many people, I voted for him because he stood as an Independent, and I wanted politics kept out of such a critical post.

It was therefore disappointing and alarming to find that he is now calling for, what your headline called a “Snoop” Charter.(SNJ 18^th September)  Especially as the Home Secretary Theresa May dropped the idea six months previously. His reasoning was to help catch paedophiles serious criminals and terrorists. However he knows as well as I do, this intrusion will also be used against people who actively oppose Badger culls, Fracking and certainly those who oppose nuclear weapons.

Martin, I have been in the peace movement, and CND for 50 years or more and have used my right to non- violently protest against weapons of mass destruction at military bases. However, I know that my telephone had been tapped. It seems to me that Governments see people who try and stop war as a greater threat than people who plan wars!

The definition of terrorism of course can change at anytime, and could encompass anyone who gets in the way of growth and profit, whatever the real cost to the planet. With finite resources becoming rarer, the search for materials will become more desperate and opposition will grow as can be seen in the Arctic. Russia is classifying the Greenpeace activists who were intercepting drilling rigs in the Arctic, as terrorists. They are expected to get 15 years jail term for trying to defend the ecological fragility there.

As was pointed out, in your story, by a spokesperson from “Big Brother Watch” the police make thousands of requests a year for information about online services already. Files leaked by the whistle blower Edward Snowdon show that not only does our GCHQ and its American counterpart NSA snoop on other countries’ Heads of State but has the capability to undertake mass surveillance of the web and mobile phone networks.

A good friend of mine who was bugged in the late eighties said that she didn’t mind being bugged about what she believe in, but hated “them” listening into her personal conversations.

Commissioner Surl, people don’t like being spied on but what they would like is for you to persuade all other Commissioners to call on this Government for a stronger police force on our Streets for our day to day safety. You would get a lot of Brownie point for that!

Green District Councillor John Marjoram.

Green Party leader to join badger patrols this Saturday

While we've had Brian May out in Gloucestershire, Green Party leader Natalie Bennett will be visiting the North Somerset badger cull zone this weekend and joining badger patrols as they carry out a nocturnal vigil on Saturday evening.

Ms Bennett’s expression of solidarity with anti-cull protesters comes in the wake of Green Party members voting overwhelmingly in favour of an immediate end to the badger cull pilots currently taking place in Somerset and Gloucester. A motion, passed at the Party’s recent conference in Brighton, reaffirmed the Green Party position that the culls are unscientific, unethical and will cause great suffering.

A key aim of the pilot cull was to assess the humaneness of free shooting but Greens claim the methods being used to assess humaneness are completely inadequate and unscientific. In particular they point to an admission by the Government's Chief Veterinary Officer that 'there are no definitive criteria for determining humaneness'. This, say the Greens, undermines the whole project.

Here's a blog from a Somerset councillor which really digs into the problematic technical details around the cull - http://mikerigby.org/2013/09/27/badger-cull-2-update/#

Another Gloucestershire Green, Forest of Dean Green Party member Sid Phelps has been involved in wounded badger patrols in the Forest of Dean. He said:

"The government target is to shoot 5,000 of the estimated 7,200 badgers in the two trial cull areas, killing over 70% of the badger population! Along with over 300 others I have been out on regular patrols looking for dead and wounded badgers. Fortunately we've not found many so it’s clear this ill-conceived plan is not really working. Exterminating badgers is simply not the way to successfully eradicate this dreadful disease."

As we've commented before, there are real animal welfare issues for cows infected with TB, and real livelihood issues for farmers whose herds are struck. The badger cull is not going to help with this. It is not a viable answer to animal or human suffering. We need to deliver a solution based on the best research available, for the good of all.

 

An open letter to Martin Surl

Open letter to Police and Crime Commissioner

 27^th September 2013

 Dear Mr Surl,

At the time of your election we supported your candidacy as an independent and the following statement appeared on our website soon after your election:

 Gloucestershire Police

The Green Party did not stand a candidate in the November 2012 election of a Police & Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire. We believed it was a distraction from the serious reduction in the police authority's budget at a time when serious questions are being asked of many forces' performance and integrity.

We hope that our support for the winning independent candidate will not be a matter of regret as we look forward to his efforts to minimise the impact of cuts, improve the image of the force as impartial and implement a non-party political strategy.

 We write an open letter to you now on two matters:

 1. We are concerned to hear that you are in favour of further intrusions into private electronic communications. We do not believe that the essential work of the security services and police in protecting us from terrorism will be sufficiently advanced by this measure to justify the infringement in privacy entailed.

 2. We wish to know what you intend to do about the Chief Constable who could face criminal charges for her role in witness handling while at Staffordshire police in a conviction for murder which had to be overturned. We appreciate that she should be considered innocent until proven guilty, but cannot see how the circumstances of this particular case allow her to enjoy the confidence of the force or the public while her prosecution is under consideration.

 Yours sincerely

Martin Whiteside and Carol Kambites

Joint external coordinators - Stroud Green Party

Stroud events

Stroud is a very active place at the moment, with a great deal going on. Here’s a list of things we know about.  If you are aware of other talks, events, workshops or other community activities in the coming week or so, please do mention them in the comments. If there’s an event you would like our support in promoting, please email the details to brynnethnimue (at) gmail (dot) com.

 

Thursday the 26^th of September: Waste Not, Want Not - the Future of Radioactive Waste and Nuclear Safety in Gloucestershire.  Nuclear engineer John Large will talk about radioactive waste and the threats to Gloucestershire. , 7.30pm, Old Town Hall, The Shambles, High St, Stroud GL5 1AP, Free admission to this informative event. Teas, coffees and cakes to cover costs.  Sponsored by th Green Party

 

Friday 27^th September Fracking the Cotswolds at the Bingham Hall, Cirencester, Gloucestershire. Friday 27^th September, 2013. Doors open 7 pm. Open to all. The Government is attempting to win public support for fracking by purposefully keeping the public in the dark and avoiding revealing the true nature of fracking. For something that affects our health, our lives and our landscape, this planned secrecy is not acceptable any more.

 

Saturday September 28th Transition Stroud AGM, Bisley House Café, Middle Street, Stroud, GL5 1DZ, 2-6pm. The AGM is an enjoyable celebration of the past 12 months and an energising look ahead for the next year.

 

Sunday September 29^th TRASHED sponsored by Stroud Town Council Lansdown Hall, Lansdown, Stroud, GL5 1BB 7pm prompt screening (Doors 6.30pm) Free entry.

In this stunning documentary, Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons explores the world’s most environmentally polluted places to reveal how our rubbish is affecting us and our planet, before going in search of solutions. From individuals who have changed their lives and produce almost no waste, to increasing anti-waste legislation, to an entire city that is now virtually wastefree, he discovers that change is not only essential, but happening.  For more information see: www.trashedfilm.com

 

4^th October 7.15pm, Open House, British School (near Star Anise) Stroud, members of campaigning group 38 Degrees have arranged to speak with Neil Carmichael regarding concerns over the proposed gagging laws.

 

Saturday 12^th October Jumble sale, Maypole Hall, Pagan Hill, Stroud.

 

Friday October 18th in The Old Town Hall in the Shambles 7pm The meeting will be about the harmful effects of Mobile and Cordless Phones and Smart Meter Radiation.

From 7.00 pm until 8.15 pm groups will share information and action on:  Protecting our children from Wi-Fi in Schools. Protecting our family health and homes. Impact on bees, birds and our food. Campaigning to lower mobile mast radiation to align with the EU and stop smart meters.

At 8.15 pm there will be a talk by Dr. Andrew Tresidder on The Dangers and Symptoms of Microwave Radiation.

For more information phone 01453 840175 or 01453 752751.