Green Party - Halton

Green's Position on EU Referendum

2011-10-27T07:10:00.000-07:00

Thought this might be of interest - a recent statement made by Caroline Lucas Green MP in the recent debate on the EU and holding a referundum:-

"My starting point is that there are good democratic reasons for those in favour of our continued membership of the EU, albeit a reformed EU, to support a referendum. I believe that it is precisely the refusal to give people a say on the EU that is leading to greater public disillusionment with it. It is precisely that that leads people to think that the EU is an elitist project which is done to them and which is not in the interests of the majority. I do not agree with that position, but I think it right that it should be debated.

I believe that the EU has enormous potential to spread peace, freedom and security, to promote and protect democracy and human rights—at home and throughout the world. It has the potential to be a true pioneer in the transition to low-carbon economies and living more rightly on the planet. I believe that to fulfil that potential, however, it has to change direction and put greater democracy and greater sustainability at the heart of its objectives. I think having a referendum would enable us to debate the end-goal or purpose of the EU. At the moment we have lots of debates about whether we want more or less EU without answering the question, “To what purpose the EU?”

For many Conservative Members, the answer will be that they want the EU, if they want it at all, to have far more of a free trade focus. For my party, we think it has too much of a free trade focus, but that is not the issue. The issue here is the right of the people to say what they want, the right to have that debate and the right for us to differ, as necessary, but none the less to have that debate about the advantages and, indeed, some disadvantages of the EU.

In my experience, many of today’s European citizens are simply no longer sure what the EU is for. In my view, the ambitious free trade project at the heart of its original treatise has become an end in itself. Debates about the future of the EU have been dominated by the idea that the overriding goals of European integration are economic and that the progress of the EU should be judged in terms of economic growth and the removal of market barriers alone. As a result, the EU has failed to address fundamental questions of political culture and strategic purpose and has therefore also failed to inspire the mass of citizens with a sense of enthusiasm and common cause, thus calling into question its own legitimacy.

In order to tackle the new threats and challenges we face today and to deliver a fair, sustainable and peaceful Europe into the 21st century and beyond, the EU must undergo radical reform. It must become more democratic and accountable, less bureaucratic and remote. It also needs to have a more compelling vision of its role and purpose, and a referendum would provide an opportunity to debate precisely those issues. To try to shut down that opportunity is, I think, very dangerous. It is possible to be pro a reformed EU and in favour of a referendum.

I agree that there are plenty of areas where the EU needs reform. The common agricultural policy is in many respects an environmental disaster. The common fisheries policy ends up with enormous over-fishing and the scandal of discards. Unaccountable corporate influence over decision making skews the outcome of many decisions. There is an extraordinary arrogance, for example, in dressing up the Lisbon treaty as something different from the repackaging of the constitution that it really was.

I believe that, more urgently than ever, we need the EU to fulfil its potential for strong environmental policy and for securing energy policy and energy security into the future. If it is to do that, however, it must have the consent of the British people. We need to make the case for a reformed EU. We should not be afraid of making that case. I believe that if we make it strongly, we will win it, which is why I support tonight’s proposal for a referendum".

Help the fight against the incinerator!

2011-07-16T04:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry that this is such a long meandering blog but it is important so please bear with us.

The proposed INEOS incinerator development at Runcorn is now coming to a head. If the Application to vary Condition 57 is accepted it will not just mean an increase in the dangerous emissions that will affect the local area but also a boost to the numbers of HGV's operating in Halton.

All of us in Widnes and Runcorn will be affected. This is of course in an area which has the highest tonnage and widest range of chemicals emitted to the atmosphere. And with the council's plans to make Halton one of the largest distributive hubs in the region the present proposals are going to mean a substantial increase to the numbers of HGV's on Halton's roads already in the pipeline. None of the other political parties are making any fuss about the health dangers inherent in the current schemes. Take a look at the 1/02/11 blog here for a background to the dangers of HGV particulate emissions.

Currently the main group campaigning about the issue HAGATI have recently begun legal proceedings. Jeff Meehan one of the campaigners has recently sent me a couple of e-mails related to the situation.

Jeff says,

"As you will be aware the decision to decide on the Application by Ineos to vary Condition 57 has been deferred until the 15th August, we are working hard to try and hopefully put together a compelling case for the Councillors to refuse the application.

The current major issue is that INEOS have applied for a variation on Condition 57 which Halton Borough Council laid down to ensure the protection and safety of residents. INEOS now want to increase the amount of waste being delivered by road, from 85,000 tonnes per year to a whopping 480,000 tonnes per year. This will result in 384 Heavy Goods Vehicle movements per day to and from the INEOS site alone, (not to mention the traffic for their personnel) contributing to the exceptionally high amount of traffic using the Runcorn Expressway, Westfield Interchange, and the Silver Jubilee Bridge not only affecting congestion and nuisance, but will increase the very high levels of traffic pollution.

It beggars belief that the Widnes Councillors now see this as a purely parochial problem for Weston Point residents. If any of your members could lobby the Widnes Councillors, if only to remind them that the 384 lorries a day, if they are bringing waste from Warrington or anywhere North of the Mersey will in fact pass through Widnes and will certainly not make the situation on the Silver Jubilee Bridge any better, it would be a great help".

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

HAGATI NEEDS YOUR HELP

HAGATI has now begun legal proceedings

and we need everyone's financial help

PLEASE SUPPORT HAGATI

by donating £5 towards our legal battle against the Incinerator

The Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) to which we have previously referred, has agreed to take on our case. Our QC, Mr Stephen Tromans, one of the most distinguished men in his area of specialization is acting on our behalf together with solicitors Richard Buxton. Obviously, we cannot reveal the full details but we can tell you that we and our legal team are confident that our case will be heard favourably.

Legal proceedings do not come cheap, and although we are subject to some legal aid, we have to make a contribution towards the costs. The amount required to initiate proceedings is reachable if everyone who is supportive of our aim contributes at least £5. If you can give more to substitute those who are less able, then please do so. Any amount will help tremendously but please act quickly – we have a deadline to meet !

You can donate in different ways:-

By cash:-

Telephone a Committee Member and we will collect

Jeff Meehan - Chairman 01928 581171

Sue Bowden - Secretary 01928 572311

By cheque / postal order (made payable to HAGATI) to:-

Alan Gorry, Treasurer, 81 Moughland Lane, Runcorn, WA7 4SG

Tel:- -01928 572298

By direct transfer to our Bank:-

Nat West, 53 High Street, Runcorn, WA7 1AW

                                    Payee             Halton Action Group Against The Incinerator
                                    Sort Code 60-18-06
                                   Account             15547809

This may be the last chance to save Runcorn from this terrible mistake

Help keep the environment clean for our children

Thank you in anticipation of your financial support

THE FIGHT IS FAR FROM OVER

The Alternative Vote - why YES!

2011-04-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

I thought Peter Cranie's views on AV ought to be given an airing here:

"This is a choice between a deeply unfair and disproportionate system where you can vote once, and a deeply unfair and disproportionate system where you can express your preferences. The latter is preferable in my opinion, and I will be voting in favour of the change. I think the outlook for an increase on our single MP in the next parliament will be increased by the switch to AV, but my reason for voting in favour will be to keep pushing the door for genuine reform.

AV will show that increasingly people want to cast their vote for parties other than Labour and the Conservatives. In the face of this evidence, further electoral reform will follow. Under FPTP, preferences will remain masked by tactical voting considerations and instead of further reform, the failure of this referendum will be used by Labour and Conservative politicians alike to keep reform off the agenda for another generation. I believe it will be a very close vote and that it will be narrowly won by those arguing in favour of reform, but we shall see".

Please consider voting YES next week.

Budget is "betrayal of our future"

2011-03-23T10:47:00.000-07:00

Caroline Lucas's response to todays budget:

"In his determination to balance the nation's finances, George Osborne has forgotten that living within our means is also about natural resources. This budget is an attempt to return us to the failed policies of the past - unsustainable growth based on dwindling and ever-more expensive resources.

"The Chancellor had five opportunities to deliver a budget for the future, that could have turned the growing crisis over energy resources and climate change into a catalyst for creating much-needed jobs and wealth in new energy efficiency and renewable industries."

The Green Party, with leading environmental and conservation groups, had identified five key areas where the Chancellor could act to help tackle climate change and boost jobs and sustainable growth.

* The Green Investment Bank: this should have been the key to unlocking the £450 billion in finance for renewable energy needed in the next fifteen years. Instead, by creating a bank that cannot borrow, its impact will be limited to the original £3 billion funding.

* Carbon Floor Prices: at £30 a ton, the new levy on carbon will not be high enough to promote low-carbon energy. But it will give nuclear power companies a windfall subsidy of anything from £1.3 billion to £3 billion - paid for by the "hard-pressed families" George Osborne claims to want to help.(1)

* Transport: taxing the excess profits of North Sea oil companies is welcome; but it would have been better spent on protecting rural bus services, which are even more crucial to isolated communities and the poorest in society than the cost of fuel. Instead, by cutting fuel duty the Government is pretending that high fuel prices are temporary, rather than an inevitable consequence of dwindling supplies and unchecked demand.

* Environmental taxes: though George Osborne claims the proportion of revenue raised from green taxes will rise, the decision to postpone the rise in the Aggregates Levy and to scrap the planned rise in Air Passenger Duty will reduce revenue from environmental taxes by £160 million. It will also encourage more people to holiday abroad, hitting UK resorts.

* Zero Carbon Homes: property developers were expecting to have to contribute towards community renewable energy generation in order to offset the remainder of the emissions from new homes, which, from 2016, have to be zero carbon. In the budget, the Chancellor has changed the rules to exclude emissions from appliances, which means that supposedly ‘zero-carbon' homes would in fact create carbon emissions for years to come. It will also undermine many community energy schemes.(2)

In addition, the Chancellor announced a weakening in the protection for the countryside and green space with changes to the planning system, putting precious landscapes and habitats in even greater risk. Caroline said:

"In Opposition, George Osborne pledged that "If I become Chancellor, the Treasury will become a green ally, not a foe."(1). Now he is power, we see the reality. This budget contains nothing to shift us away from our dependency on oil and gas, nothing to take advantage of the potential of new technologies such as wind, wave and tide, and precious little to encourage investment in renewable industries.

"Instead, he has gone for the gesture of a penny off fuel duty. It gives drivers the false comfort that as fuel prices rise, the government will cut fuel duty. The reality is that petrol is a dwindling resource and we need to help people with alternatives, such as public transport. But while Osborne could find £2 billion for petrol, there was not a penny today for buses or trains.

"The depressing truth is that, rather than being the greenest government ever, this Conservative-led coalition is less green that John Major's administration, who introduced the fuel duty escalator, boosted energy efficiency and protection for threatened habitats. That this should be a coalition with the Liberal Democrats is doubly shocking."

NOTES

1) The Government's own analysis (by Redpoint for HMT and DECC) is that the subsidy will be £1.33 billion; WWF estimate it at £3 billion.

2) http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_growth.pdf (p.117)

Will Libya be Cameron's Shot in the Arm?

2011-03-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

I’m pleased Caroline Lucas, our one and only Green MP, voted against continuing Britain's military involvement in Libya.

There are so many valid arguments for not getting involved in the conflict even when it’s just about protecting innocent civilians i.e. hypocrisy,what about similar situations in other countries; the costs of involvement at a time when we’re all tightening our belts; the possible opened ended nature of the involvement; the tricky nature of the tasks involved, and so on.

Also the majority of us see regime change as the ultimate goal. Here I think caution needs to be exercised. For the simple reason that Gaddafi, irrespective of the tyrannical figure he presents, probably has a lot more support in Libya than we want to believe.

A couple of years ago I had some contact with a Libyan family who were staying in Widnes as the father was on a technical course at Halton College (now Riverside). The family had a meal with us and during our conversation I talked to them about Gaddafi and what they thought about his regime.

They seemed to accept the status quo in Libya – as long as they didn’t step out of line they were OK. They had community meetings were any problems they had could be thrashed out in a communal way. They were not particularly pro Gaddafi and were aware of his many faults but they were doing all right - no reason to rock the boat.

Being an extreme liberal with socialist and Green tendencies I found this incredible. But their calm response was that it was an imbedded cultural phenomenon. They kept saying that people were reasonably well off in Libya and Gaddafi was canny enough to exploit this.

A couple of issues – first, revolutions that are successful have to be overwhelmingly popular – is this the case with this revolution? I don’t know. Second - a population which presumes itself to be under assault from foreign forces, even though it might not be particularly supportive of its ruler, will rally to his call in such circumstances.

Anyway, Maggie Thatcher had her Falklands in the early 1980’s to provide her with a new lease of life - will Libya be David Cameron’s and the coalitions shot in the arm given its current stormy passage, or not? Only time will tell.

Halton's Poor Position on Microgeneration.

2011-03-20T13:47:00.000-07:00

Halton has come third from bottom out of 38 council areas in the north west in relation to the amount of energy microgeneration produced in its locality. Microgeneration is energy generated from solar and wind sources (including domestically) linked to the feed in tariff scheme. Have a look at Ofgem data on the 'AEA Energy Consultants' website here for further details: http://www.aeat.com/microgenerationindex/ .

Like in all the other areas in the region Halton's residents have not recieved much help in such endeavours in the form of government grants compared with other European countries ( we're near the bottom of the European league here) from the previous Labour government and I wouldn't hold your breath about what the Coalition is going to do about microgeneration but perhaps I'll be proved wrong. It's a shame really there would be many advantages.

For instance Halton could emulate a scheme that Green councillors championed in Huddersfield (Kirklees) that enabled residents to obtain financial help in the form of loans to assist people in purchasing solar energy panels. This stimulated the local green economy and lowered energy bills for residents in the longer term and helped lower the carbon footprint of the area.

Think Bus!

2011-03-04T08:48:00.000-08:00

There’s just nothing that could drag me from my car onto public transport – my car’s just too convenient. Is this you? Are you one of the vast majority of us who just switch off when we hear about getting out of our cars and trying new ways of getting around.

There are many reasons, apart from the obvious ‘green’ one, to consider if we use the bus rather than travel by car. It means there’s less traffic on our overfull roads, makes for more relaxed travel, it can be healthier (you have to walk to and from the bus stop) and it extends your social contacts as opposed to being stuck in your cocoon of steel and glass normally on your own.

But perhaps more importantly and certainly of great relevance in today’s economic climate it can save you masses of money, particularly if you commute, as oil prices continue to rise and rise with no end in sight.

What masses of money - well ‘Stage Coach’ carried out some research a couple of years ago in relation to commuting to work and came up with a figure of up to £3500 per year! This amount would pay for the typical UK household’s main bills such as council tax, gas, electricity, water, fixed line telephones, home insurance and TV licence (This 2008 figure was calculated by the Citizens Advice Bureau).

Such savings could be achieved just simply by leaving the car at home – the ‘up to £3500’ figure was just related to cost of fuel and car parking charges. Interestingly have a look here at 'Arriva’s' bang up to date fuel calculator on http://www.arrivabus.co.uk./fuel/ It enables you to find out your individual costs of commuting by car to your place of work and comparing this with using the bus for the same journey and also how much your carbon footprint is reduced.

But what about the efficiency and comfort of travelling by bus? Most of you probably feel like I did, that is before my eyes were opened after spending a day last year bussing it to raise funds, that buses are not fit for purpose being inefficient and uncomfortable. This was clearly not my experience.

On major routes travelling to 9 towns in the same number of hours all buses were on time and there were no hold ups. Although the older buses didn’t like the potholes the newer buses took everything in their stride and provided more leg room as well. (see this blog 7/04/2010)

So if you want to save money, potentially improve your health and well being and do a bit more for the environment - think Bus

Death and Climate Change

2011-02-22T03:42:00.000-08:00

Two issues made me move over to the Green Party in 2003 - one local and one massively global with local implications.

The first was health. I was concerned about the health of Halton’s residents. Research was indicating that we had one of the highest mortality rates in England and Wales and a feature of this mortality was disease related to chest conditions and/or cancer.

The council, to their credit, in response to this had initiated a limited research project by Lancaster University. Its conclusions indicated that poor health, as in so many other geographical areas, was linked to lifestyle.

No significant associations were discovered between high mortality and the high levels of pollutants present in the area. Halton has the largest tonnage and widest range of pollutants released to the atmosphere than any other comparative area in England and Wales. However they did suggest caution in relation to developments in the area that might increase levels of atmospheric pollution.

The other issue was climate change and the linked globalisation and economic growth at all costs mantra of most governments and political parties. This issue pushed me the way of the Green Party as I couldn’t see any of the other parties having the political will to grapple with this important issue.

As time has gone on media interest in climate change and its consequences for us all has fluctuated from a high level in the mid 2000’s to a lower level currently. Factors I suppose such as media exposure, apparent debunking of the science and more pressing economic problems has added to this waning.

To me our attitude to climate change is similar to our attitude to death. When we are confronted with death directly it normally has a dramatic affect on us and remains but lessens over time.

It can have the effect of pushing us to live ‘life’ to the full – to get as much out of life particularly materially that we are able to and b****r the consequences. We can be running away from the greatest insecurity promoting factor in our lives - our death.

Also in the sort of lives we live in our small family units our contacts with our extended family particularly our older members are reduced. Death and the process of dying tends to be made remote and sanitised. Culturally we wish to avoid the subject at all costs.

With climate change there are similarities. When it's experienced (ie the media presents examples) some of us are moved to at least recognise it for a time and then its resonance diminishes. It doesn’t affect us, (especially with some saying it won’t even happen) we don’t have to bother. Is this some sort of adaptive evolutionary process to get on with the hectic lives we lead at all costs?

The problem with climate change, as I understand it, is that our adaptive capabilities might be out of synch. with the process of climate change. We haven't the time to respond naturally. We haven’t faced such potentially extinction threatening natural events since the last ice age.

I hope I’ve not depressed you too much. I think facing up to our own death properly can be liberating it puts life and how we ought to be living it into perspective. Equally spending some time considering what is happening globally in relation to climate change can have the same affect on us. It makes us realise more fully our responsibilities to our children and grandchildren, poor third world countries and the planet generally. And last but not least how we might start enjoying the simple things in life that really matter the most.

Stations, and real priorities

2011-02-10T06:19:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago the Widnes Weekly News approached me about a blog I’d written prior to last year’s council elections about Halton Green Party’s interest in looking at the possibility of reinstating and opening new railway stations in Halton.

Rather than being interviewed I sent a statement about the fact that if a candidate had been elected in last Mays elections, with some caveats, that we might have pursued this course of action. This statement is below,

“The extra railway stations issue in Halton is not a new idea. It's been around for some time but there doesn't appear to have been the political will to follow this up to any significant degree.

We had such a strategy as part of our 2010 local election campaign promises but of course because of the squeeze on small parties and owing to the special nature of the general election and of that election being held on the same day we did not obtain seats locally. If we had it would have been one of the things we would have been trying to follow up.

Obviously it's easy to talk about what a particular grouping would attempt to do (and what it realistically could do) if it won seats and so a caveat would be necessary in that we couldn't promise anything but we would certainly be pursuing the matter as much as we could and perhaps in the process encouraging more public debate.

Climate change continues to be the biggest threat we face and it’s important we all try to reduce our carbon footprint for the sake of future generations. In my opinion the second mersey crossing will not in the longer term reduce carbon emissions, the building of extra roads and bridges doesn't reduce motor vehicle usage in fact research shows the opposite to be the case. The sort of project that would have the potential to decrease road usage would be the reinstatement and opening of stations at Beechwood, Ditton, Widnes South. Upton Rocks and Barrows Green.

The Green Party is opposed to the severity of the Coalition cuts that are on the cards at the moment. It argues that we must be concentrating on investment in such things as improving a more sustainable and less polluting transport infrastructure. So any proposals for developing locally sustainable transport would be a great plus in terms of helping the local economy and making some inroads into reducing carbon emissions.

You can view such plans for reinstated and new stations in Halton's 2009 "Core Strategy - preferred options" p172 'Preferred policy option CS28 encouraging sustainable transport'. See also related Green Party policy 'jobs and living wage' section at www.greenparty.org.uk/policies"

The article was published in the paper last week. It didn’t include in the write up that it was part of council policy (albeit given low priority) to look into the possibilities of opening stations, there was also no mention of the caveats included in the statement to the paper, and it didn't include the section on Green Party national policy.

In today’s ‘Widnes Weekly News’ there appeared a letter headed “Stations Idea is Off the Rails” from a T.M. in Runcorn. It ridiculed the proposed sites one by one including the Barrows Green Lane proposal where T.M. stated that it,’… would bring traffic to the area when residents were trying to keep traffic away from their houses and you would want to increase it.’ My response to this would be that the stations we would be promoting would be locally focussed and the expectation would be that residents would walk.

Obviously factors such as potential demand and suitability in terms of infrastructure build would need to be properly considered. The essential ingredient would be that such stations would be really local request stops. As usage would be seen as primarily local, car parking would be limited. This would have various benefits, healthier lifestyle, less traffic and congestion etc.

Certainly from my position Halton’s Labour Party development schemes of building bridges which ultimately increases the volume of traffic, creating a Widnes town centre that’s one mega sized cark park, and promoting Halton as the HGV hub of the north west is not what our real priorities in relation to climate change, sustainability and health should be.

Its important that we consider what our real priorities ought to be. Improving public transport has a role to play here. There are obvious advantages as mentioned above. Climate change hasn’t gone away and we need to be doing everything we can to combat it.

Climate Change - latest

2011-02-09T11:18:00.000-08:00

Last year tied for the warmest since data started in 1880, capping a decade of record high temperatures that shows mankind's greenhouse gas emissions are heating the planet, two U.S. agencies said.

Global surface temperatures in 2010 were 1.12 degrees Fahrenheit (0.62 Celsius) above the 20th century average, tying the record set in 2005, the National Climatic Data Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Wednesday.

"These results show that the climate is continuing to show the influence of greenhouse gases. It's showing evidence of warming," David Easterling, the chief of the scientific services division at the NCDC, told reporters in a teleconference.

Many places, such as Russia and Pakistan, suffered from heat waves and floods that killed thousands, scorched crops and inundated countless farm acres. Those events, caused in part by a shifted jet stream in the atmosphere, helped lead to record global food prices and threaten to lead to food riots like those seen in 2008.

It's not possible to directly link global warming as the cause of one weather event. But the trend of rising temperatures since 2000 increases the possibility of extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts and floods, Easterling said. Every year since 2000 has ranked as one of the 15 warmest years on record, he said.

Last year was also the wettest on record and a warmer atmosphere holds more water, which in general can result in more floods, he said.

FUTURE

The report did not predict weather in the future. But the U.N. climate science panel says weather is likely to be more extreme this century because of a build up of gases released by burning fossil fuels and forest destruction.

James Hansen, the director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said "if the warming trend continues, as is expected, if greenhouse gases continue to increase, the 2010 record will not stand for long." His office also released a report on Wednesday that said 2010 was tied for the warmest year on record with 2005.

Jay Gulledge, the senior scientist at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, said farmers and others can adjust to expected warmer temperatures, but preparing for extreme weather is harder. "We've got really immense potential right now to have even bigger impacts from the direct effects of extreme events," he said.

As the weather warmed, the world did not do enough to prevent future climate change, scientists said.

At U.N. climate talks in Cancun late last year nearly 200 countries agreed to set a target of limiting a rise in average world temperatures to below 2 degrees C (3.6 F) over pre-industrial times.

But promised emissions curbs by big polluters such as China and the United States are not enough to achieve that goal and tougher actions are needed, climate scientists said.

NOAA's and NASA's reports were the first of four major ones on global 2010 temperatures. The UK Met Office's Hadley Center and the U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization are expected to issue reports later this month.

PARADOX

Frigid winters in parts of Europe and the United States in 2010 may be a paradoxical side effect of climate change, some scientists said. Rising temperatures mean a shrinking of sea ice in the Arctic, heating the region and pushing cold air southwards during the winter, according to a study last month in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

Warming of the air over the Barents and Kara seas, for instance, seems to bring cold winter winds to Europe.

"This is not what one would expect," said Vladimir Petoukhov, lead author of the study and climate scientist at Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. "Whoever thinks that the shrinking of some far away sea-ice won't bother him could be wrong."

The release of the NOAA report itself was delayed one day by an unusually hard snowstorm in North Carolina.

"These anomalies could triple the probability of cold winter extremes in Europe and northern Asia," he said. "Recent severe winters like last year's ... do not conflict with the global warming picture, but rather supplement it."

(Additional reporting by Alister Doyle in Oslo; graphic by Emily Stephenson)

(Editing by Marguerita Choy and Lisa Shumaker)

HGV's - Urgent action needed

2011-02-01T03:14:00.000-08:00

Ineos have applied for a variation in conditions regarding the planned incinerator in Runcorn which according to Halton Action Group against the Incinerator (HAGATI) will have the potential to significantly increase HGV movements in the borough.

Ineos, as I understand it, are now requesting an increase in waste moved on Haltons roads from 85,000 tonnes to 480,000 tonnes annually. This will, according to HAGATI, involve a total of 384 HGV's movements per 24 hour cycle on the roads in the borough.

This will mean that the estimated (mine from figures provided by the council) 800 HGV's increase per 24 hour cycle on Halton's roads in the next 10 years related to other projects will now stand at over 1100 HGV's every day and counting.

Halton is in an area of high incidence of chest disease and comes at a time when a select committee in the House of Commons last year received research evidence that suggested we ought to be reducing such movements by up to a third in pollution hotspots.

I'd urge people to consider objecting to this variation in the application. Below is a copy of the email I received from HAGATI with relevant information.

"Hi everyone. Yes HAGATI does still exist. In fact, we have been working so hard since INEOS received their Planning Permission by the Secretary of State we have not had time to keep everyone up to date and our old Web Site has expired. We believe that, although INEOS won the first battle, they have definately not yet won the war. INEOS have NOT got their Environmental Permit to run yet and there are a lot of reasons why they should have it refused, so if we stay positive, with all the evidence we have now collected, HAGATI still believes that the gamble INEOS took by starting all the work will backfire on them.

The current major issue is that INEOS have applied for a variation on Condition 57 which Halton Borough Council laid down to ensure the protection and safety of residents. INEOS now want to increase the amount of waste being delivered by road, (they got their sums wrong in their calculations as to how much could come by rail and canal) from 85,000 tonnes per year to a whopping 480,000 tonnes per year. This will result in 384 Heavy Goods Vehicle movements per day to and from the INEO site alone, (not to mention the traffic for their personnell) contributing to the exceptionally high amount of traffic using the Runcorn Expressway, Westfield Interchange, not only affecting congestion and nuisance, but will increase the very high levels of traffic pollution.

HAGATI believe that, if permission for a variation to Condition 57 is agreed in this instance, it will not only add to the existing problems mentioned above, but will set a precedent to further applications for variations being made to these most crucial Conditions by INEOS, therefore removing the limited protection to residents which Halton Borough Council insisted upon.

At the least, if you agree with us that permission should not be granted, write to Halton Borough Council letting them know. Email dev.control@halton.gov.uk or write to Environment and Regulatory Services, Rutland House, Haton Lea, Runcorn, WA7 2DR. You must do this to be received by them before 3 February 2011 if possible although we suspect that later letters will be accepted. I have attached a copy of the letter from Halton Borough Council for your information, as this Application will affect more than the amount of people who received it".

Green Party founder member orbituary

2011-01-28T11:21:00.000-08:00

David Fleming was a founder of the Green Party and chairman of the Soil Association, but may come to be remembered as one of the first whistleblowers to highlight the dangers of “peak oil” — the idea that oil supplies will (perhaps soon) enter terminal decline, and humankind revert to some kind of pre-industrial way of life.

Writing in Prospect magazine in 1999, Fleming argued that the International Energy Agency’s most recent report represented a coded warning of an impending energy crunch. Soon afterwards the future chief economist of the IEA, Fateh Birol, suggested a meeting and told Fleming: “You are right ... There are maybe six people in the world who understand this.”

The encounter gave renewed impetus to Fleming’s idea of a personal carbon allowance, or Tradable Energy Quota (as he called it). The British Government funded a pre-feasibility study into quotas in 2008; next year will see the publication of a further report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil.

Peak oil also largely explained Fleming’s personal commitment to a frugal life in a modest flat, and his enthusiastic participation in grassroots initiatives to prepare for a future with fewer resources, such as the ever-growing Transition Town movement. His commitment to localism was absolute. “Localisation stands, at best, at the limits of practical possibility,” he often said. “But it has the decisive argument in its favour that there will be no alternative.”

David Fleming was born in 1940 at Chiddingfold, Surrey, to Norman Bell Beatie Fleming, a Harley Street eye surgeon, and Joan Margaret Fleming, an award-winning crime writer. He had three sisters, of whom the second would die as a toddler.

He grew up in Gloucestershire and Hampstead, where he was still living when he died. His recollections of the communal gardens and orchards that flourished abundantly behind Belsize Park Tube station were an inspiration in recent years to groups trying to reestablish food-growing in urban North London.

After reading history at Trinity College, Oxford, from 1959 to 1963, he worked in manufacturing, marketing and financial public relations before earning an MBA from Cranfield University in 1968.

In the 1970s Fleming was one of the founders of the Ecology Party, which later became the Green Party, and served in the late 1970s as its economics spokesman and press secretary. But his radicalism was balanced by a profound conservative streak that puzzled many people, especially when he told them he always voted Tory.

He urged friends in the green movement to learn the language and concepts of economics in order to confound the arguments of their opponents; and did so himself, completing his PhD at Birkbeck College, London, in 1988. With his close friend Jonathon Porritt, Fleming established “The Other Economic Summit” (TOES) to coincide with a meeting of the G7 countries in London. This and subsequent TOES events would lead to the establishment of a new think-tank, the New Economics Foundation.

But Fleming’s real passion was community, and its basis in tradition and ceremony. This was not merely an academic interest: Fleming was a lifelong, active member of groups as diverse as the English Song and Dance Society, his local church in Hampstead, the Oxford and Cambridge Club, and the ancient guild The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers. He was a passionate advocate of the critical importance of pubs, and when once asked how best to improve the resilience of one’s local community, he replied: “Join the choir”.

In conversations and in public talks, Fleming spoke rapidly and eruditely on a broad range of subjects, at once enlightening, bewildering and side-splitting. He could be blunt with people who disagreed with him, and did fall out with some, but was a remarkably attentive listener and willing to change his mind.

He was always polite, sometimes elaborately so. His lengthy, goodhumoured letters of thanks were celebrated, and despite being frugal on his own account — he never looked as if he ate enough — when it came to others he was generous beyond his budget. Family and friends remember him giving a case of wine when a single bottle would have sufficed.

He enjoyed the company of children but never had any himself. In later years he formed a strong attachment to Miriam Polunin, a food writer, but lost her in tragic circumstances in 2005. She was visiting her elderly mother in Macclesfield when a man set fire to their house — with no motive, the courts later found. Miriam, 59, her mother and a carer all got out safely but Miriam went back inside to rescue a cat and was overcome with smoke, and died in hospital. She had a teenage son from a previous relationship.

In recent years Fleming was working on a book, Lean Logic, that pulls together the various strands of his thinking. His perfectionism led to numerous delays, but he was making final preparations for publication before his death and the book will be published posthumously.

David Fleming, ecologist, was born on January 2, 1940. He died on November 29, 2010, aged 70

Published in The Times on the 30th December 2010

Climate change action, second mersey crossing and the need for precaution.

2011-01-15T07:33:00.000-08:00

In 2008 Jim Hansen one of the world's leading climatologists said that we had but four years to act on climate change. Pretty heavy stuff especially from a leading world scientist. Where's the caveats, the objectivity?

A clue is that, according to Robin McKie (Observer science editor),on Hansen's office wall which is devoid of any other personal matter are ten A4 size pictures of his grandchildren, Sophie, Connor and Jake.

Over the past couple of years doubts have been cast on computer predictivity regarding the rapidity of global warming and its effects. Computer modelling is of course not an exact science. The response to this is that the uncertainties make things really scary. (Take a look at BBC's Richard Blake's blog) We could be underestimating. So it partially comes down to how cautious should we be - how far do we go?

It was interesting looking at the public inquiry report on the second mersey crossing in this respect. Climate change as an issue in its own right as the inspectors report suggests currently is not a consideration in major infrastructure projects. This is obviously partly related to the inexactness of climate science in relation to global warming. This is on the surface a reasonable response but we are dealing with a not so straight forward phenomenon.

The comment from Jim Hansen back in 2008 was,"We have only four years left to act on climate change - America has to lead". One year left then - with Obamas problems and the lack of significant progress at the Cancun talks - a pretty tall order.

For the sake of our Sophies, Connors and Jakes we mustn't put this issue on the backburner.

The New Year - going away until the next time?

2010-12-28T08:32:00.000-08:00

My internet connection has been down on and off for the last 3 weeks and I've had to go through the rigmarole of speaking to numerous technical advisers.

I'm with BT which is fortunate in one way as when your router is not working, for instance because of an exchange problem, you can re-route via BT's 'open space'. But one of the problems with BT, like all other providers, is that it's privatised with competition rampant and profit the god at which all worship (or so it seems) and this can cause real difficulties.

In the 'good old days' when BT was a state concern service to the consumer via accountability was the key. So the issue which I'm confronted with now probably wouldn't have occurred then.(Although maybe the developments that have occurred in the last 20 or so years couldn't have happened without companies like BT not going private but that's another issue!)

My problem according to a BT engineer (who's been out to see me) is primarily an exchange one. A card at the exchange which my service is routed through needs to be replaced (?) owing to the volume of traffic. But such replacement will costs thousands of pounds. So its a waiting game. When the volume of complaints reaches a certain height then change cometh I get a better service...until the next time. (Shades here of a problem we have in this region related to local railways ie overcrowded trains!!)

OK you might say I could change my provider but I'm told by my BT adviser they'd probably be using the same equipment so no change!

It brings to mind the global quest for development growth at all cost with profit the driving force. The difference between this macro situation and mine is that my short term problems will probably clear up until the next time. However in the global context there's a massive danger if unsustainable development (notwithstanding economic cycles) continues - it'll create difficulties for us all which will be catastrophic for our children and grandchildren which won't go away - until the next time!

I'm hoping to highlight international hotspots related to these problems that are a real cause for concern in this blog next year.

I wish all readers a happy and peaceful new year - thanks for reading. And hopefully this year more and more of us will be questioning the viability of the sort of global economic development that charges along with profit as the prime mover without much care for our precious humankind and other species.

Headteacher top of the league!

2010-11-20T10:04:00.000-08:00

I recently read in the local press about the response of a headteacher of a local primary school following the school being placed in the top 100 primary schools in the country.

She said that of course she was pleased with the achievement but questioned the value of such standardised testing and suggested that schools offer children so much more than the ability of the individual child to move from one standard level to another.

Her concern was optimising the individual child's positive accomplishments and experiences. Such attainments are not easy to discern in league table results.

Am not sure about the reaction of the local education authority to her comments but I say what a person of integrity and common sense.

There are so many variables in how one school performs against another not least the catchment areas children come from. A good school is one that caters fully to bring on the whole child not some narrow yardstick that can be misleading and open to manipulation.

Lorry Watch - latest

2010-11-08T12:33:00.000-08:00

At the last Lorry Watch session we observed 5 possible infringements of HGVs using Barrows Green lane and Moorfield Rd. These were passed on to the police and they have sent the following response:

"I have spoken to Jamie Simmons and he is following up the companies involved with these incidents. He will keep an eye on the situation and also ask our Roads Policing officers to pay attention to the area when they have the opportunity".

Although we are only able to provide cover for a minimal amount of time a week our experience has been that it does seem to have an effect on the number of infringements - presumably word gets round.

However in this vein we are still short of volunteers to help so if you are able to spare an hour or two a week please get in contact.

Green Campaigning - the Future

2010-10-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

We're all stuck in the middle of the big cuts phenomenen. Its impossible to get away from it - we're all going to be affected. Given the coming shocks particularly to the poorest and most vulnerable, which we obviously must be very concerned about, what chance for continuing to keeping our eye on the ball of the biggest threat to future generations including our children and grandchildren - climate change.

Caroline Lucas MP has some interesting things to say,

" This is a challenging time for progressives. We have a coalition not only introducing savage cuts, but seeming to enjoy wielding the axe.

And that enthusiasm - with George Osborne and Danny Alexander competing to give the best impression of Freddie Kruger - gives the lie to the idea that these cuts are necessary because of the current recession.

We can see that they are ideologically driven. Many Tories, and some Liberal Democrats, want a smaller state and will use the financial crisis as the excuse to achieve it - even at the risk of plunging us back into recession.

And even at the risk of making the much greater environmental crisis that we face even worse, by slashing spending on green technology, on incentives for renewable, on the potential to create hundreds of thousands of green jobs.

I don't often find myself quoting Tim Yeo, but his comments over the weekend about this were spot on, when he pointed out that despite the national debt, spending on defence went up by 125% between 1930 and 1939. In the run up to the 2WW, we were running an even bigger deficit than today, but would never have won the battle of Britain if spending on defence had been sacrificed.

The point he's making, of course, is that we won't win the battle against climate change if we slash spending on it now.

And we need to make the case that not only are these cuts socially divisive, and environmentally disastrous, they are also economically completely illiterate.

The Ed Balls Bloomberg speech is something around which many progressives can unify - the speech where Balls made the case that it's through getting people back to work that we stand the best chance of addressing the deficit, through keeping people paying their taxes, rather than seeing tax revenue drain out of the economy, followed by redundancy payments and benefits payments.

But there's almost no discussion about the kind of work we envisage them doing, no debate about the kind of growth we need to see.

Yesterday, I spoke at a TUC conference which was entitled, without irony, Alliances for Green Growth.

Something about the alliteration seems to trick people into thinking the two ideas are compatible - green growth - it's like trade ministers talking about "free and fair trade", with no apparent recognition that just because free and fair start with the same letter, they're not the same things. Most free trade certainly isn't fair.

And if there is a form of growth which is genuinely green, genuinely sustainable, I'm not sure we know what it looks like yet.

So I think the challenge for progressives when it comes to the environment is to accept that our current economic system is economically and morally unsustainable. In other words, it only works by cheating future generations out of their birthright and by exploiting the vulnerable here and abroad.

So when we talk of a green recovery, we're not talking about a traditional economic recovery boosted by selling some home insulation or building some windmills.

We're not talking about business as usual, with a few green trimmings.

It's not about finding new products to sell, and sticking a green label on them.

We're talking about a recovery based on green principles and insights; one that is rooted in social justice and which balances our needs, against those of the developing world, the natural world, and those of future generations.

There's a lot of talk about fairness at the moment. Not just by the coalition government, who have stretched it to mind-boggling new limits, but now by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and their new report.

Yet there's very little debate about intergenerational fairness.

I'd argue that one of the fundamental challenges for progressive politics in the opening years of the twenty first century is that we haven't not yet come to terms with the full meaning of equality.

We have not properly thought through what it means, or how we can make it a reality.
And the reason for this is the way we have gone about forging a progressive consensus for the last 2 centuries.

Progressive politics have depended on ever rising economic growth and prosperity in order to bring about a redistribution of power.

And as the economy has grown, so elites have been persuaded to give up a little bit of their wealth and power.

They have accepted a little more taxation and redistribution; they have allowed political power to be spread a little more thinly.

That's not surprising. It's easier to ask people to take a smaller percentage of an ever growing cake.

But it has two consequences.
First, it gives the illusion of greater equality, while allowing for greater concentration of power and wealth in the hands of the few.

And so Britain can, after 13 years of a Labour government, be more unequal than before they came to power.

Second, the prosperity itself may be built on rotten foundations. Already, we in Britain consume three times more than the world can sustain on an equitable basis.
The growth that has paid for our welfare state is built on the exploitation of natural resources and on the exploitation of people here and around the world.
And so often with the best intentions, the pursuit of increased national economic growth and wealth as a means to promote equality carries with it the seeds of its own failure.

The heart of the problem is a failure of imagination.

We are all equal.

And equality does not stop at the borders of the UK. Nor does it stop with the present generation.

And those whose world we are destroying, whose precious resources we are burning up, whose species we are making extinct, whose seas we are poisoning, and whose beauty and tranquillity we are sacrificing - those who are yet to be born - we owe them just as much as those around us today.

In business terms, we are treating our capital as income.
We use up our resources and say we are better off.
In the real world, if a business does this, it will go bust. In the parallel world of economics, we are supposed to carry on like this forever.

We haven't considered that by any rational measure, we are becoming not richer, but poorer. That economic growth is becoming uneconomic.

We don't think of the consequences of our actions in years to come.
This is seen most clearly in the approach to climate change.

And here I get to the crux of what I want to say.
The challenge for progressive politicians is to grasp that an incremental approach to tackling climate change is doomed to fail.

That the next 8-10 years are going to be absolutely critical in terms of getting our emissions in the industrialised world to peak, and start to come down, and that if we don't act within that briefest of windows of opportunity, then the chances of avoiding the worst of the climate crisis get very much slimmer.

And that means fundamentally challenging our current growth model.
Yet the number of politicians or civil society organisations focused primarily on the implications of today's growth model remains tiny. Worse, millions of environmental campaigners seem to seriously believe that we can address climate change, slow the loss of threatened species and habitats, manage chronic water and resource shortages and put an end to over fishing and continuing soil erosion, whilst pursuing pretty much the same kind of economic growth that brought these natural systems to the edge of collapse in the first place.

In other words, the trade off appears to be to ignore the inevitable long-term consequences of business-as-usual growth in order to help to protect short term organisational effectiveness. It may make sense from a tactical point of view, but strategically it's unsustainable.

So how do we make this shift from incremental change to systemic reform?
How do we build that public and political momentum for change fast enough?
What chances are there for civil society organisations to coalesce around the challenge to make the case for a very different kind of economic model?

And what role for progressive politicians?

I look forward to the debate".

Second Crossing Gets the Go Ahead!

2010-10-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

Well the Mersey Gateway finally has been given the green light. I don't think anyone will be surprised and of course it's the Tory Party's beneficiaries that will be gaining the most ie big business.

I believe that we should be investing to create jobs in infrastructure but not of this variety. Whatever anyone says it will increase air borne pollution in the long term. Pollution that will contribute to climate change. Climate Change is the biggest challenge we face. The monies being spent on a second crossing should be being spent on industries that are likely to counter climate change directly.

Speaking selfishly and locally the majority of Halton's residents will not benefit at all from a second crossing. There will undoubtedly be costs - tolls on the new bridge which will have to reflect the likely soaring costs, tolls on the existing bridge and many environmental negatives.

But in this blog I'd like to highlight local health. We are blighted here by much higher than average rates of morbidity and mortality. No doubt lifestyle factors come into this and also that the borough has some areas of high social and economic deprivation.

Against this background the council is forging ahead (no doubt with the good intention of attracting industry here) of making Halton THE Freight Distribution hub of the north west. (See other blog material in archive regading this subject). The second crossing would seem to be an integral part of these plans.

According to council figures if all the planned freight distribution projects in the pipeline come to fruition there will be an increase in HGV traffic on Halton's roads of at least 500 vehicles every 24 hour cycle. This is a very conservative estimate. My calculations suggest double this amount. Now keep these figures in your head and consider the following.

Earlier this year (February 2010) the House of Commons Environmental Audit cttee considered research evidence that looked at what the most recent studies were indicating about the effects of increasing levels of traffic diesel emissions in the UK. (see 23.3.10 blog for further information on this research). It suggested that we have completely underestimated the health consequences of these emissions

Incidences of cardiovascular and lung disease related to mainly traffic emissions has increased dramatically in the UK. Of specific concern is the increase in childhood lung disease and complications in pregnancy in areas where there is high exposure near (within 500 metres of) major roads. According to research this applies to 12 million homes in England alone.

Giving evidence Prof Frank Kelly, Kings College stated,

“that the govt …and local councils had to act decisively in the same way as they had over obesity and smoking…we need to reduce the number of diesel vehicles on roads by 20 – 30%".

The second crossing, which is very much the cornerstone of the council's economic development plans for Halton, is certainly not going to be of assistance in tackling this particular problem here in Halton.

Lorry Watch Coming Up...!

2010-10-15T09:17:00.000-07:00

Been rather busy of late with one thing and another. The nicest bit of the busy- ness has been the birth of our fourth grandchild a boy on 13th October - Name maybe Alex or Jake not yet confirmed. Now we're one short of a five a side team!!

This and other happenings have stalled our planned Lorry watch campaign for September. Hopefully in the next few weeks we can do a limited watch. It does have an effect as the word swiftly passes round to HGV drivers about the observations.

Initially we had been contacting the HGV companies ourselves but it turned out to be more effective passing them on directly to the police who have cooperated very well.

Watch this space...

Second Mersey Crossing Poll - Only 1.89% of Halton Residents Sign Petition for New Crossing

2010-09-02T11:07:00.001-07:00

I'm unsure just how many signatures the pro new crossing lobby considered they would obtain when their petition went public several weeks ago. But the total number of signatories (2252 ie 1.89% of the approx.118,700 residents of Halton) announced today must surely be considered a tad disappointing for supporters of a second crossing.

Our poll (a total of 13 votes) giving respondents the chance to vote for a new crossing, on the other hand, showed that 77% wanted better and cheaper public transport and congestion reduced now on the existing Silver Jubilee bridge rather than an expensive new bridge.

Now, as mentioned briefly in the last blog the biased slant of the statements in our poll might have tended to push people into either voting for better public transport and getting to grips with the congestion on the existing crossing or ignoring the exercise completely and not voting at all. If I were a betting man I'd go for the latter explanation without even thinking about it.

But I'm not going to pull the wool over my own eyes and for one moment believe that people have been accessing our poll in their droves. We have apathy and both the Weekly New's petition and our meagre poll surely indicates this.

Take notice of these words Phil Hammond, George Osbourne and Danny Alexander in London and the various business and political interest groups here on Merseyside the majority of people in this area are not interested in a new crossing, it doesn't figure or come come into their lives one shred. The people of Halton have other more pressing concerns. So why, oh why spend all that money especially at this time?!

Its proponents no doubt I can see will be pointing their differently motivated fingers to, in their words '...the economic and social benefits to the region'. But I would suggest that this has never been a convincing argument especially in view of the longer term ramifications of climate change for instance and its possible effects of making us look more radically at the economic paths we might be taking in the future.

Given the strong showing on local public apathy about this topic and the incredible costs involved of the project I would suggest we drop the idea of a new crossing and get to grips with planning a more realistic approach to our social and economic well being locally and globally. And I would hope that this would factor in more equitable solutions at both these levels.

Clear Majority Against New Crossing

2010-09-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

The results of a recent Green Party poll on this blogsite which closed today has shown that a majority are against a second mersey crossing (77% against).

The poll asked whether people supported better public transport in the area and less congestion on the present bridge now OR a new crossing which would not benefit the majority of Halton residents and would be very costly.

The outcome of this poll might seem a surprise given the assumptions of Halton Borough Council and the very biased Weekly News petition. The result makes it clear that the way questions are worded makes a difference to the result.

Given that the Weekly News petition gave no possibility of being against a proposed second crossing any results from it will be useless as an indicator of real support.

I hope decision makers will take note!

Poll on second Mersey Crossing

2010-07-21T13:16:00.000-07:00

The bridge issue has been an extremely one sided affair with the council (£500,000 spent on promotion by the council to date) media and businesses supporting it to the hilt with, until recently, limited objective public debate on the matter.

A couple of weeks ago following the postponement of the decision regarding a second crossing the Widnes Weekly News started a campaign for residents to back the bridge and part of this relates to encouraging people to sign a petition.

In order for a little balance in the matter I've started a poll on this blog for people to consider and respond to - please consider participating in this but before you do, particularly if you feel strongly about having a second crossing, I'd suggest that you take a look at the verbal evidence the Green Party presented to the recent public inquiry (see this blog 26/6/08) then vote - thanks.

Record Artic Ice Melt

2010-07-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

The ice melt on the Arctic Sea continues apace. Latest information is suggesting that 2010 is sizing up to be a record breaking year. It seems that the ice melt will be higher than the record levels observed in 2007. (See,http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/N_stddev_timeseries.png)

We are a party with policies on nearly every area, but we came into existence to do something about the long term future for our society. On a day when the Independent reports that we are not really making any underlying dent on our CO2 emissions, it truly is a worrying future not just for generations unborn, but for all the people that share this planet today.

Thanks to Peter Cranie for this alert

Abusive comments

2010-06-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

Have had to take off the comment facility on the blog owing to semi abusive personal responses related to my family.

Sorry to all the genuine people who've responded over the past couple of years. I hope normal service will be resumed asap.

Alternative Queens Speech

2010-06-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

A little late but... as reported by Channel 4:

My government's overriding priority is to modernise the British economy for a low-carbon future, to create an economy more balanced between manufacturing and services, more resilient in the face of financial crises, where wealth is more equitably distributed and the more vulnerable in society are offered greater protection.

My government will bring forward a bill to initiate an emergency investment package, to cost £44bn, which will be intended to create over one million new jobs and training places.

This investment programme will result in significant improvements to public transport, including fare reductions of up to ten per cent. It will provide free insulation for all British homes. It will transform Britain's renewable energy sector into a world leader, which in turn will support the restoration of domestic manufacturing industry. It will also set our country firmly on the road to a zero waste economy.

In parallel with this bill, my government will continue the previous government's efforts to tackle Britain's budget deficit by 2014, but with greater emphasis on raising tax levels on the wealthiest thirteen per cent of earners.

The redistributive tax measures will ensure that a non-means-tested citizen's pension may be introduced at the level of £170 for individual pensioners and £300 for couples. This will ensure that no British pensioner is living below the poverty line.

My government will cancel new road building plans and transfer £30bn from the road building budget towards public transport and measures to promote and facilitate cycling and walking, including safe routes to school programmes.

Other fiscal measures my government will bring forward will include measures to ensure that the costs of high-carbon modes of transport better reflect their costs to society.

My government will introduce a bill to prevent any further private finance initiatives, and to keep the Royal Mail in public ownership, as the first step towards reversing the privatisation of public services.

My government will seek effective global and European collaboration to combat climate change, in a globally equitable manner, which will involve 90 per cent cut in UK CO2 emissions from 1990 levels by 2030, starting with a ten per cent cut in the coming year and following with successive year-on-year cuts to ensure the overall target is met.

My government will complete the reform of regulation of the financial services industry to ensure greater protection for savers and taxpayers, but will bring forward further legislation for the establishment of a nationwide network of not-for-profit community banks, and to separate retail from investment banking. Those banks which are wholly or partly state-owned will pay no bonuses above £25,000, and a permanent tax on bonuses will be introduced. A "Robin Hood tax", a tax on financial transactions, will also be established.

Recognising the international nature of the problems in financial services, my government will actively pursue with our European partners regulation at an EU level.

My government will introduce legislation to bring about wide-ranging political and electoral reform, including a fair and inclusive voting system which will be extended to a fully-elected second chamber.

My government is committed to making Britain a fairer and more inclusive society, and to this end will bring forward legislation to promote this. This will include a requirement for all companies to have at least 40 per cent of their boards of directors made up of women, and to penalise employers who implement unequal pay. The same legislation will strengthen the protection of disabled people and those with mental health problems against discrimination.

My government will bring forward plans for a very early withdrawal of British forces from Afghanistan. At the same time it will seek international support for the establishment of a peace conference involving all Afghanistan's neighbouring countries, and measures to enhance economic and political stability in Afghanistan.

Legislation will be brought forward to decommission Britain's nuclear weapons.

Other measures will be laid before you.

I pray that the blessing of almighty God may rest upon your counsels.

Austerity not the way out of recession

2010-06-10T12:38:00.000-07:00

"Austerity is not the way out of recession" - Caroline Lucas gives speech at Conway Hall rally
27 MAY 2010
Austerity measures are not the way to build a more stable economy or a fairer society, said Caroline Lucas last night.

The Green Party leader and Britain's first Green MP told a packed public meeting at Conway Hall that "the government's cuts programme will result in greater unfairness, fail to tackle inequality and do little to build the kind of strong and thriving public sector needed to provide a steady and genuinely sustainable economy."

At the Can't Pay, Won't Pay rally, Caroline said that "Being part of [the] fight for fairness means looking at how we have arrived at where we are today - with rising unemployment and rising home repossessions, dwindling wage levels and dwindling aspirations, an unequal society riddled with unfairness.
"All of this hasn't happened by accident.
"It is a direct and inevitable result of years of financial deregulation overseen first by Margaret Thatcher, then by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. And now Cameron and Clegg have taken charge - and do we expect anything different? Not if they have their way."

The MP for Brighton Pavilion continued, "I think we need to be very clear that it's precisely business as usual that has created this crisis - and that we need a very different model as we go forward. A model that is fair and sustainable, and which is based on a steady-state economy, rather than chasing ever more economic growth for its own sake.
"Because of course we don't only face an economic crisis - we face a triple crunch, which includes the accelerating climate crisis, as well as the impending crisis of peak oil. And unless we address them together, we'll miss a vital opportunity to shift the economy in a truly sustainable direction, and we'll risk simply storing up an even bigger collapse in the future."
Instead of a programme of cuts, Caroline called for "programme of green spending that kick-starts the shift to green energy" which, she said, "will produce countless new jobs, and keep money circulating in the economy where it is needed most, when it is needed most."

The Green Party's 2010 general election manifesto contained a proposed £44bn investment package intended to slash CO2 emissions while creating over one million new jobs and training places in the UK. The investment would be funded by a package of measures to include scrapping such things as Trident and ID cards, switching £30bn from the roadbuilding budget to public transport investment, and a number of radical financial changes - including a redistributive tax reform that the Greens say would leave 87% of Britons better off.

Lib Dem Let Down on Electoral Reform

2010-05-18T01:43:00.000-07:00

Something Caroline Lucas had to say recently about Nick Clegg's reneging on Lib Dem policy on electoral reform:

'Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MEP today condemned Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg for reneging on his "absolute precondition" of making electoral reform a centrepiece of any hung parliament deal.

Only a week ago, Clegg gave his assurance to an electorate crying out for the kind of change that will rejuvenate the political process. Electoral reform would be "a first step which any government of any composition needs to introduce to start restoring public trust in the political system ... Electoral reform is an absolute precondition for renewal in this country."[1]

The Greens say this commitment to progressive reform of British democracy led in part to the poll boost that has seen the Lib Dems regularly placed higher than a moribund Labour Party.

Now, with what the Greens say is "breathtaking disregard for the voters who have been calling for an honest approach to politics," Mr Clegg "has allowed himself to be swayed by the promise of power and has backtracked on his pledge to stay tough in the event of a Lib Dem-Conservative government.

Speaking on Monday 4 May to the Financial Times, Clegg said: "I've never talked about preconditions. What I've said is it's unavoidable. Of course it's a vital element to the renewal of politics that we need in broad terms. That's all I've said."[2]

The party of change - or of changing its mind?

Responding to what the Greens see as Nick Clegg's "astonishing flip-flop," Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MEP said: "The Liberal Democrats have made a huge noise about being the party of change but when it comes down to it all they really are is the party of changing their minds."

"It's common knowledge that the Tories don't want electoral reform. Any coalition negotiations that don't set out electoral reform as a deal breaker will lead to five more years of the same old system and it's the voters who will suffer," added Lucas, who has been tipped by pollsters YouGov and ICM to win the Brighton Pavilion seat in tomorrow's election.

"Green Party MPs will not compromise on the issues that are essential to giving every voter a voice, whatever their party of preference," concluded Ms Lucas.

Green Party members have been consistent advocates of wide-ranging electoral and constitutional reform for years and it is again a central element of this year's election manifesto.[3]

Notes

[1] Press Association report as published in the Independent newspaper on Monday 26 April 2010

[2] As reported by the Financial Times in their interview with Nick Clegg on Monday 4 May 2010

[3] The Green Party is committed to introducing PR for parliamentary elections. The Greens would also introduce fixed parliamentary terms and a fully elected House of Lords'.

Share

Message from Caroline Lucas

2010-05-12T06:48:00.000-07:00

Caroline Lucas MP, leader of the Green Party, last night wished outgoing prime minister Gordon Brown well - and once again drew attention to the urgent need for electoral reform.

In a statement issued yesterday evening the newly-elected Green MP for Brighton Pavilion said:

"Tonight, Gordon Brown has laid down the burdens of the office of Prime Minister with good grace and I wish him well for the future. David Cameron now takes up those responsibilities and faces four challenges.

"First, bringing in comprehensive political reform, including letting the public choose how politicians are elected, that will help restore people's faith in politics. If the Lib Dems have failed to secure a genuine commitment on this, this is the biggest betrayal of the British electorate in a generation.

"Second, dealing with the crisis in our public finances while protecting those in the greatest need.

"Third, replacing rhetoric with real action on climate change.

"Fourthly, and finally, for Britain to become a force for good in the world, and to bring our military involvement in Afghanistan to an end.

"We do not underestimate the difficulties ahead. We will support where we can; and always provide a principled and progressive alternative."

Elections how we got on - disappointment and hope

2010-05-10T05:26:00.000-07:00

Local Election results in wards in Halton that the Greens were contesting:

Birchfield - Jane Fitzpatrick - Green - 122, Lab - 1539, Con - 1190, Lib Dems - 546 (Labour gain from Con)
Farnworth - Peter Stead - Green - 193 (120)*, Lab 1532 (391), Con - 1392 (992), Lib Dems - 563 (185) (Labour gain from Con)
Grange - Jim Craig Green - 118, Lab - 1375, Lib Dem - 764, Con - 418
Halton View - Derek Mellor - Green - 622 (528), Lab - 2121 (658), Con - 538 (213)
Hough Green - Miriam Hodgson - Green -114 (107), Labour - 2002 (630), Con - 601 (403), Lib Dem - 411 (148)
Kingsway - Linda Mellor - Green - 793 (92) Lib Dem - 907 (87), Con 480 (217)
(* Figures in brackets 2008 election results)

Overall a disappointing result and in hindsight (and I suppose its always easy to say this sort of thing after the event but...) the results of the election were inevitable given our lack of resources here compared with the other parties and other significant factors eg general and local elections held on the same day. This tends to favour the main parties but particularly the Labour Party in areas like Merseyside. With the Labour Party seen increasingly as the underdog in a very competitive and different general election than recent ones, possibly had the effect of galvanising Labour voters even more.

The disappointment felt has been hightened by our perception that we were in with a good chance in Halton View because of the result in 2008.

Our candidate in Kingsway ward did extremely well considering this special general election and its affects on votes cast. Although Labour were not standing the Lib Dems had the advantage in the fact that they were a main party, had the resources and they had been on a roll following the televised debates - well done Linda!

In the general election our candidate Jim Craig obtained more than the national average Green % of the vote for a first time general election candidate (and even more than some longstanding candidates.

For the Greens the sort of disappointing results we’ve had up and down the country have been balanced by what the Independent newspaper described as a “...shining moment” for the Green Party (and the country) as Caroline Lucas was elected as the country’s first Green MP.

The Commons now has a much needed true Green voice and a female leader of a political party.

As Caroline remarked in her post election address the Greens in parliament will be promoting the politics of hope rather than fear.

Thank you for voting Green in last weeks general and local elections.

Battle Lines - two sword blades length

2010-05-04T04:57:00.000-07:00

I didn't know this until recently that the government and opposiion benches facing each other in the House of Commons are separated by two sword blade lengths. Lines are drawn in red to indicate the distances. This harks back apparantly to the times when gentleman, inhabiting Parliament, wore swords and it was considered reasonable to keep govenment members and opposition members at least two sword blades length away from each other.

It's an indication that from earliest times the chamber has been adversarial, combatant and very much a male domain with no quarter given. And political parties need sufficient majorities to ensure that they rule. Any movement away from this seems to create all sorts of anxieties about system collapse and inability to get things done from the we know best all the time parties. And hung parliaments therefore are really not good to be hanging around for any length of time or are they?

Ok its a crude analysis. Parties do perhaps work together more behind the scenes in the Commons but not to the same extent that balanced (Alex Salmond's term for hung which I think is better) parliaments do. The SNP have run a minority government relatively successfully for the last three years. They have wheeled and dealed themselves around the Scottish Parliament offering collaboration and compromise to all parties. They've carried through legislation by offering concessions to the other parties including minority parties like the Greens (they got concessions on energy efficiency projects) and the Lib Dems (on student funding).

An article today in The Guardian (Saverin Carrell) suggests that it has worked because the Scottish parliament is designed to promote collaboration unlike the confrontation which the Westminster model exudes.

It uses proportional representation so that in a country with four major parties and a number of minority parties it's not very likely that there will be a government with an overall majority. It has bipartisan committees to work out legislation a fixed budget and fixed term parliaments.

We need change, electoral reform, more working together - lets get rid of those red lines of demarcation in the House of Commons - lets go for balance.

General Election and the need for change in the real sense!

2010-04-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

I've not yet in this blog mentioned the general election. I think there are very few of us who aren't turned off by the competitive banter of all the main parties. Each attempting to show the electorate what they'll individually gain by voting for their party.

I know the parties have to do this to present their policies and show the political acumen and personality strengths of their main actors. It's an expectation driven by the media. But we all are aware that it's all a bit of a game that's very much related to point scoring.

With this in mind it was refreshing to hear on BBC 4's programme 'Saturday Live' the candid views of Lib Dems Matthew Taylor one of the MP's who'll be leaving the Commons after 23 years.

He wasn't leaving because of any particular scandals but partly owing to his perceptions of how backbenchers ability to scrutinise legislation in the last couple of decades had declined. And again his perception of how overt cabinet rule, owing to large majorities and changes in the organisation of the legislative process in recent years, had produced negative consequences. To him the House of Commons was not fulfilling its necessary scrutinising role.

Another interviewee, Claire Short, who's also leaving this year thought that a hung Parliament would actually be beneficial in relation to combatting these recent developments. It would mean that the party that managed to form the government would have to listen to other positions more readily and as a matter of course.

It seems to me though that obviously a more fundamental change in the system is necessary to promote a consensual base to politics in the UK.

Greens consider that if we want a fairer political set up were the electorate's voting patterns were echoed in the make up of the Commons we must move to a form of proportional representation that would produce this. Such a system would not provide huge majorities. Governance would have to be more consensual. There are many examples of really effective PR systems in Europe eg Germany.

With faith in our political system at a low ebb such changes would seem to be much overdue.

Nine hours later...

2010-04-07T05:39:00.000-07:00

After my experiences on the busathon (Tuesday) I think that we should have a national, 'Use the bus day'. (perhaps we already have one!)

I can almost hear people saying I knew he'd say that. And I must admit that I thought I would be saying positive things about the experience before I even put my foot onto the Arriva 110 service Widnes to Warrington. But the whole experience was really an eye opener. More about this later.

I managed to visit 9 towns in nine hours. Warrington, St Helens, Ashton in Makerfield, Wigan, Bolton, Blackburn, Preston, Southport and Liverpool. Now I do use the bus when I can so it wasn't such a culture shock to spend 9 hours on them.

Was I surprised about who bus users were? Not really mums and young children, older people using their passes (after 9.30) and what I can only describe as poorer people especially in the old industrial towns - St Helens, Wigan and Bolton. And the friendliest and most considerate people? (this could be a bit subjective, coincidentalist and bordering on the patronising) those poorer people, particularly from Wigan.

I felt more relaxed in the Wigan part of the trip than anywhere else. Not that the trip I was taking was anything like skirting down the Amazon avoiding dangerous exotic tribes. But it was just the reassuring 'Are you awreet?' banter and the spirit of this phrase which seemed to be everywhere.

What was really interesting was meeting a man at St Helens who got on the bus I was getting. He was travelling to Ashton and told me he'd lived there all his life. He was the same age as me. His family had been bakers for generations and had a bakery in Violet Street Ashton.

One of the reasons I'd chosen Ashton as a stop was that I'd been born there. My family moved to Liverpool when I was 5 or 6. So it was great meeting him. He stayed on the bus longer than he'd intended showing me the sights. Filling me in on details about the infant school I'd attended (British School Bolton Rd - hadn't known that it was called that - now no longer there, a swish private older persons home stood in its place - is that significant in some way?)

If your not into sad statitics then avoid this paragraph. All the buses were on time and there were no hold ups. There were lots of pot holes on the urban routes which the older buses didn't like but the smoothie new double deckers (Stagecoach) which run from Preston to Southport took everything in their stride, much more leg room as well.

This effecient running of the buses I encountered reminded me of industrial action I'd taken as a social worker in Ormskirk/Skelmersdale in the 1990's. There was a dispute about car expenses so we refused to use our cars and used public transport. (Used taxis for urgent work but buses normally for other stuff) We assumed or at least I assumed it would really impact on our work - but it didn't at least the relatively short distance travel didn't.

People are put off using public transport because of time factors. My experiences in the 1990's and on Tuesday reminded me it isn't necessarily so. Which brings me onto something maybe a bit more important in terms of the positives. Bus travel offers - another world experience.

Like, in a car there's normally just you or if there's someone else with you, you probably know them. On a bus it's maybe someone you know but also other interesting people you just don't know. Conversations are easily overheard and you get a snapshot of real people's lives.

By car its the same old thing, in a bus well it's up to you. It can certainly be mind expanding seeing how the other half lives. If you have to get a couple of buses the chances are you'll have to wait for a short while. There's no real opportunity to be carrying out some contrived task to pass the time away (apart from maybe mindless texting which we all do sometimes.) But what bus queues do offer, and its not rocket science to work out, is the sort of close proximity to people you don't know, who you could actually talk to.

So buses can equal: getting more exercise, slowing your life down just a notch or two, potentially meeting interesting people and moving ourselves away from our self centred lives and getting a smattering of understanding about other peoples experiences and problems. And that's before we start talking about reducing our carbon footprints.

Now to me that sounds quite valuable, but maybe that's just me?! If you want to view all the other bus photos (to show that I really did visit all those towns) email me at haltongreenparty@hotmail.com and thanks for your support.

Wigan bus station

Bus a thon!

2010-04-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I'll be on several buses for about 12 hours. Why? - well although I do like buses - for 12 hours! But, needs must and doesn't must need!? I want to see how many towns I can visit in one day using buses and am asking people to sponsor me per town to a maximum of £10.

I'm hoping to raise money for the forthcoming election campaigns. This year in Halton residents will be able to vote Green for the first time in a general election and also we're standing a candidate in over a third of the wards .

All this needs extra money compared with other years. As the Green Party only accepts funding from ethically screened organisations and its supporters compared to other minority parties, like UKIP etc, our funding is really, really limited.

Although the first few sentences of this blog might sound a little negative I'm secretly looking forward to having a go. It's an adventure. Intend to take photos of places visited and produce a sort of quirky diary of events.

It'll be interesting to see what you can do in one day on a bus, how do buses and everything to do with them perform (could be nerdish this!) What are bus users up to etc. It could be a damp squib in more ways than one but you won't know unless you check out this blog in the next couple of days.

My daughter Clare has kindly placed an item on Facebook about the event so anyone reading this after picking it up on Facebook I particularly challenge you to comment.

Anything goes, within reason - it would be good to see peoples views about things like local politics - how relevant are they to you? or about buses (buried feelings about public transport do you have something burning to say?) or anything that matters to you - the subject matter could be endless its up to you! (email me if you prefer - haltongreenparty@hotmail.com)

I personally don't think anyone will respond, prove me wrong if you dare!

Rebuttal: Labour's unjoined up thinking!

2010-03-29T07:11:00.000-07:00

I found Labour's piece about HGV's in their latest "Talking Points" both welcome and interesting.

Welcome as it indicates that Labour do really sense that we could take the seat from them in May. I cannot remember a 'Talking Point' in the last 6 years that has carried as much about the Green Party as the present issue does.

Interesting in that reading the item you would think that the Labour group of councillors in Halton View are against HGV's travelling unecessarily on the roads in Halton.

Not so if Labour's plans for making Halton a distribution hub in the northwest go ahead as planned. The borough will find itself faced with an increase of up to an estimated 1000 HGV's every 24 hour cycle.

The 'Talking Point' article suggests that the Mersey Multimodal Gateway (3MG) development will reduce HGV traffic but this reduction only relates to long haul national travel. It will in fact increase local traffic on Halton's roads. HGV's from neighbouring areas will be accessing the road/rail head etc.

The Green Party, for several years, has been objecting to planning proposals to a range of developments which relate to this plan of creating in Halton one of the most important distribution hubs in the region, whereas Labour have seen such developments as economically important to the bourough. This is questionable if we are talking specifically about the economic gains of residents living in Halton and does not take into account other important factors like health and safety.

Air pollution in Halton

2010-03-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

Evidence given at a Commons Environmental Audit committee meeting in February this year would suggest that we are underestimating the adverse health effects that particulates emitted by diesel traffic and pollution from power stations like Fiddlers Ferry is having on the population, particularly in urban areas.

The report was critical of Government action in failing to tackle the issue suggesting that up to between 35,000 to 50,000 early deaths per year nationwide are caused by such emissions. Responding to this latest research Professor Kelly Kings College London giving evidence to the environmental audit committee suggested that in areas that have high concentrations of particulates emitted there should be reductions in the movement of diesel powered traffic( HGV's etc) by between 20% to 30%.

This latest research is relevant to Halton council's position on the Mersey Multimodal Gateway. Although Halton Council maintain that their plans for the Multimodal Gateway would reduce HGV road traffic this reduction only relates to long haul travel. In fact HGV movements in Halton would increase dramatically in an area which has high incidences of chest related problems. I am all in favour of moving HGV traffic onto rail but I would question actually using Halton as a hub for such a distribution link because of its health related problems.

Its reckoned, in fact, that developments like the Multimodal Gateway in Halton along with other proposals will create a situation where there will be a possible increase of up to at least 600 vehicles (this figure has been obtained from information provided by Halton Borough Council and estimates from other sources) but more likely 1000 vehicles every 24 hour cycle. Maybe there will be employment for some but it is not going to have a beneficial effect on the majority of residents here when health is factored in.

It's important that the council has joined up thinking with regard to their strategic planning in the health and economic development fields.

The Lancaster University's 'Health in Halton study 2003' recommended that,"...all reasonable efforts should be made to work with industry and other organisations...to further reduce levels of pollution within the borough".

In view of the most recent research this adoption of the precautionary principle would seem to be even more relevant. The council has a duty of care to ensure that its economic development plans don't take precedence over other issues of legitimate concern to the citizens of Halton.

Earth Hour 2010

2010-03-09T08:15:00.000-08:00

The WWF are arranging an earth hour on Saturday March 27th at 8.30pm (its second earth hour). This is a world event aimed at publicising their activities in relation to climate change and have the world act together in one big gesture to reduce carbon emissions for one hour or more.

So if you're inclined/able please switch off all unnecessary electrical appliances get those romantic candles out and invite friends around for a drink. For further info check out their site wwf.org.uk/earthhour

WWF blurb sums it up:
'Climate change is one of the most serious threats facing people and nature, and demands urgent global action. Unless we prevent average temperatures rising 2°C above pre-industrial levels, we face a high risk of severe and irreversible changes in the planet’s natural systems'.

Dog Fouling - the answers?!

2010-03-04T10:50:00.000-08:00

I got a response from the Environment Dept about my email to them. But it was not in the form that I'd expected.

It was a card through my door. An environmental operative had called when I was out and had left his calling card. For a split second I thought - what has my dog been up to? My dementia hasn't gone that far has it?

I later found a letter he'd dropped in at the same time which contained info about what to do if you're affected by dog owners acting irresponsibly. I summarise some of the contents of the letter below:

There's a fixed penalty of £50 for dog owners concerned and failure to comply with this carries a maximum fine of £1000.

If you observe dog fouling or have noticed an area where dog fouling is a problem you can report it to the dog warden - phone 0303 333 4300 (24 hour line).

You need to provide details of where the offence occurred, address of dog owner if known, the time of day the offence usually occurs, a description of the dog if the owner is not known.

All the information you provide will be treated in the strictest confidence.

I haven't had a chance to talk to the environment dept about the other issues I raised but I'll keep you informed. Also check out in the previous blog what to do about getting the mess clearded up.

Dog Fouling - again

2010-02-24T07:28:00.000-08:00

I was indirectly accosted by an irrate resident when I was out walking my dog today. An awful mess had been deposited by a dog owner on someones pavement and as I passed with my dog she shouted something like 'I wish they'd walk their dogs elsewhere'. I always feel a bit guilty in such situations even though I am a responsible dog owner.

We've been here with this one before and its a very annoying problem for most of us although I'm sure there are only a few offenders. We did contact the Dog wardens a couple of years ago and they stepped up their patrols at the time. But the problem remains and the incidents seem to be increasing.

So I've contacted the dog warden again with a question about the possibility of getting the community more involved with dealing with the problem - see below.

"There seems to have been an increase in dog fouling in the Barrows Green Lane and Moorfield Rd area. I wonder whether it would be possible for patrols to be increased.

Is there any such scheme as 'Dog Watch'? You could leaflet an area with a particularly high incident of fouling and get people to report incidents type of dog, description of owner date time of incident etc.

I'm sure you'd build up a picture of the offending owners which could be pursued by yourselves and the CPO's in the local community. Perhaps residents associations could help in the organising of such schemes".

What do you think - any (sensible) ideas? Don't forget that if the pavement outside your home is subjected to fouling contact the Highways Dept at the council (Council's general inquiry number - 0303 333 4300) and they should have it cleaned up. This will also act as a survey for the council in relation to fouling hotspots with such information being passed to the dog warden - hopefully!

Housing Development on ‘Wildlife’ area

2010-02-19T06:12:00.000-08:00

There’s a proposal to build up to five houses in Moorfield Rd Widnes on land that was understood by local residents to have had a covenant placed on it by the previous owner to ensure the site remained a wildlife and natural habitat area.

It seems that the housing planned will be private rather than social housing - so somebody will be making huge profits at the expense of this local amenity.

Letters of objection should be sent to Pauline Shearer, Planning Dept.,(Re Planning Application 10/00052FUL) Rutland House, Third Floor, Halton Lea, Runcorn. If you need any help with such letters please contact the Green Party.

Derby Rd Residents meeting

2010-02-09T08:07:00.000-08:00

Attended the Derby Rd Residents meeting last night. The DRRA is now an official group but have changed their title to Widnes North Residents Association (WNRA) to broaden their catchment area. They elected a committee during the evening which is to be chaired by Peter Brewin.

There were about 40 people there - quite a few of them I hadn't seen before. Phil Drakely the Conservative councillor for Farnworth was present and he was eager to let residents know, as far as he was able, the up to date situation in terms of the council's position.

He stated that as the proposals had been passed by the council's planning committee and the work was to start in 12 days time that there was unfortunately little the group could do about the matter. This was unless the appeal that Friends of the Earth (FoE) are involved with actually went ahead. He thought it would be appropriate for the group to meet with the developers and the council to discuss the remediation process.

Peter Brewin and some other members of the newly formed committee were not too happy about this. They considered that not very much could be achieved at such meetings. It would be a case of the "wool being pulled over their eyes". A vote followed and it was agreed that residents would meet with council officials and the developers to discuss the remediation process. The consensus was that there would be no harm in having such a meeting to clarify issues.

There was a great deal of heated discussion about the fact that any movement of asbestos would carry risks and that although the developers and council would be following stringent health and safety procedures there was always the chance of dangerous particles escaping to the atmosphere. Linked to this was the matter that no environmental impact assessments had been produced by the developers.

Had a quick chat with Peter after the meeting and got the impression that an appeal would be mounted by FoE and that the planned work on the site wouldn't be commencing in 12 days.

We shall see. I remain uneasy about developers plans. As far as I'm aware the sort of specific plans proposed for the work are relatively new and there are few examples of such remedial work.

Check earlier blogs for further discussion about the issues involved.

Nuclear Weapons - the Green response

2010-02-08T09:13:00.000-08:00

There was a letter recently in one of the local papers asking for the general election candidates views on nuclear weapons, particularly the replacement of Britain's 'Trident' system.

I think the Green response to the issue would take as its starting point the reasons for certain nations in the world arming themselves with such devastating weapons. Putting it simply these seem to be linked to foreign policy agendas which invariably places the interests of the particular nations first and foremost.

Such interests do not directly relate to those of the average citizen but more to the differing vested interests groups within these nations, political or economic.

In terms of foreign policy the Green's stand is internationalist that is it starts from a position of cooperation between states rather than concentrating on national self interest, looking for equitable solutions to world problems. Considering that in the end only solutions that take into account the needs of all parties are viable and enduring.

Here's a quote from a recent Green Party policy document which sums this up:
"International organisations today reflect power rather than democracy. The Green Party will work towards democratising the international community, sharing power, influnce and wealth more fairly more widely. These are the foundations of peace and security for all. And secure peoples at ease with themselves seek peace rather than war".

Given this position the continuing possession of such expensive and immoral weapons is unacceptable. There would be no concievable circumstances in which they would be used.

Sure Start Challenges

2010-02-03T03:07:00.000-08:00

I heard via the radio recently that Sure Start does not appear to be reaching the children and families it needs to be reaching.

Research is indicating that children accessing Sure Start programmes tend to have already received a 'sure start' owing to their family's encouragement.

Apparently it's ethnic minorities and families from low income/deprived groups who are loosing out. They are not taking up Sure Start provision because of low self esteem and not feeling comfortable in the percieved 'middle class' provision that Sure Start might represent. It's these particular groups though that such schemes were primarily designed for.

I know from personal experience that the different schemes in Halton have been beneficial to large numbers of children and families including low income/deprived groups. But perhaps now we ought to be looking at how we can target more the groups that are missing out - this might be happening in Halton I'm not sure.

I remember in the 1970's similar schemes ("Portage" and others) being run in the United States to improve educational attainment/access to community resources for particularly poor black families. They were quite succussful.

A main difference between our Sure Start programmes and these schemes was the focus in the Portage scheme for instance on providing educational and social support within the family's home. It was not so much the throwing of money in the direction of infra structure but more directing such funding to workers/teachers on the ground assisting directly with the family within the family home. Portage also tended to employ people from these communities directly in their programmes

I'm sure both centre focussed and work within families have a role to play but following this latest piece of research on accessibility to Sure Start schemes there seems to be a need for more emphasis to be placed on educational/social help within the family.

The other issue is income levels. If you are in relative poverty you have that much more of an uphill climb in all areas of living. It's obviously important to consider this factor in any attempt at improving educational attainments in low income/socially disadvantaged groups.

The Green Party X Factor

2010-02-03T02:45:00.000-08:00

Just heard that residents at Hargreaves Court have received blue bins a few days ago.

This is great news. We wrote to the council (see previous blog) when the problem had been picked up from residents during recent leafleting of the area. Was it coincidence or was it the ever encroaching Green Party X factor effect!! The bins have been produced just like that!

It seems that whenever there is a whiff of the expression of Green Party's legitimate concerns about anything in Halton View ward weird things start happening like the council doing something right away. There have been other incidences, Fiddlers Ferry fallout a few years ago, HGV traffic etc

Although it could all be my wishful thinking - but it's great that its happening and I suspect that this particular X factor effect will become even more significant when we get our first Green councillor on the council and not just in Halton View ward.

Roll on that May day!!

Blue Bins Needed

2010-01-20T11:21:00.000-08:00

I was asked by a resident of Hargreaves Court about blue bag recycling collections recently. Theirs had not been collected since the beginning of December and they wondered what was happening.

It also is the case that currently Hargreaves Court residents have not been provided with blue bins which obviously are much easier to use and less messy than bin bags.

I contacted the council about these matters and received this response:

"Thank you for your enquiry regarding the blue bag collections at Hargreaves Court. All blue bag paper collections have been suspended until Monday 25th January. After this date the bags will be collected on the usual day- weather permitting. The next paper bag collections for Hargreaves Court are Monday 25th January, Monday 8th February and Monday 22nd February. Once again these collections are dependent on the weather conditions at the time. Despite our best efforts, it may not be possible to collect all bins and bags in some parts of the borough, due to risk of injury to refuse collectors and members of the public. Please bear with us during these exceptional circumstances.

In answer to your other question, for the time being, Hargreaves Court will remain on a paper bag collection. However, it is our intention to work towards multi-material recycling bins throughout the borough.

I hope that this information is helpful".

I'd suggest that residents keep contacting their local councillors about the provision of such bins.

Eternit Planning Meeting

2010-01-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

As you might have heard via BBC local news the council has given the green light to the Eternit proposals.

I attended the meeting and it seemed to me that such a result was a forgone conclusion. There were a couple councillors who asked questions about the remediation work but both were in favour of the projects.

Jason Addy the spokesperson for the residents (DRRA) had the usual five minutes to represent the residents position. He concentrated on requesting that the matter be deferred and that an environmental impact assessment should be carried out prior to the proposal coming before the committee again. This, he maintained, would be a win win situation for all parties.

He suggested that the planning expertise, UK wide, in relation to asbestos remediation work and its consequences were not very developed and that current practice relating to assessing types of asbestos concentrations on sites was inadequate.

One conservative councillor who was not on the planning committee and spoke in favour of two of the proposals praised council officers for their diligent work concerning the matter. He generally could not fault the detailed plans that had been drawn up to ensure the projects safety and felt that residents had had access to the detailed planning involved in the proposal. He suggested that the capping option favoured by the DRRA was not viable. I understood this to mean that it would be too costly.

The councillor went over the 5 minute time limit and several residents complained about this but were informed that councillors were allocated more time than the general public.

I think it was useful for everyone that the councillor was provided with this time and was enabled to finish what he wanted to say. Unfortunately this contrasted with the way Jason Addy was dealt with in that he was unable to finish his presentation. This seemed to me to fly in the face of natural justice.

A minor point perhaps particularly as it seems unlikely that whatever he had said in his conclusions would have made any difference to the outcome of the meeting. Also perhaps it was a situation that was unavoidable given the council's protocol. But it did not add to residents feelings that their views had been properly considered. I suspect they came away from this meeting very disillusioned with local democracy.

I don't know whether the proposals that have been accepted by the council are the most viable and safest way, given the circumstances, of dealing with the site - perhaps they are. What I do feel though is that in situations were health and safety is an important factor, particularly in dealing with the emotive issue of abestos material, that an environmental impact assessment on each of the three proposals should have been carried out - for the sake of everybody.

I understand that the DRRA are considering to appeal against the decision.

Eternit and the Council - is it Fair?

2010-01-11T01:18:00.000-08:00

The council's planning development committee will be meeting tonight to discuss the Eternit proposal.

Council officers have considered the proposal and will be recommending it goes through given that certain conditions are accepted by the developers.

The Derby Road Residents Association (DRRA) is very concermed that an environmental impact assessment (EIA) has not taken place prior to a decision being made about the proposal. The DRRA has been questioning the council about the reasons why it is going ahead without carrying out such an assessment. The council has to date not responded to these requests.

The Green Party too has been in contact with the council about it's concerns regarding the proposal and has requested that among other things an EIA ought be carried out before any decisions are made regarding the matter.

I am unsure of council procedures but think it unfair that the council have not been able to provide the DRRA with their reasoning regarding it not being necessary for an EIA to be carried out before the proposal is considered. If they had provided such information the DRRA would have been in a better position at tonight's council meeting to argue their case.

It could well be that on balance the council's arguments outweigh those of the DRRA's and that taking everything into consideration that the proposal provides the safest way to deal with the asbestos contamination. Let's face it this proposal, if it goes ahead, will cost the council tax payer less than it would if the council had to deal with the site in the future. But Derby Road residents should be given the opportunity to argue their case fairly for their sakes and our's.

The meeting tonight is at Runcorn Town Hall at 6.30pm - please attend if you can. Its important that the council are made aware of people's concerns about the issue. It could well be that the DRRA might legally challenge a decision for the proposal to go ahead if such were made tonight - so its important for local democracy that as many people go along to the meeting to show the extent of feeling about the matter.

Happy New Year Reflections

2009-12-30T23:43:00.000-08:00

The old year has gone - but what a year. Even though Peter Cranie the NW Green candidate was unsuccessful in winning a seat in the Euro elections the Greens nationally did so well being one of the few parties to increase their overall vote (the BNP vote declined).

It's a real shame though that Nick Griffen took the seat with just 6000 more votes than Peter and that he is now one of our representatives here in the NW. But it's not just the fact that Nick Griffen got in but that Peter would have been an extremely hardworking and competent MEP. He has all the attributes of a caring and knowledgeable politician with the nouse of thinking on his feet!!

Then there was Copenhagen - we'll have to wait to see what happens on this one! And also the continuing economic downturn and the effect it's having on people's lives.

The good news (particularly in relation to these challenges) is that the Greens, according to opinion polls, are on course to win Brighton Pavillion in this year's general election.

Now for me this is the brightest note to start the new year on. A trully green point of view in Parliament will shake things up substantially. It'll be a concentration on real social justice issues both nationally and internationally without the constraints of big business lobbyists. For instance a Green Party input is going to assist on crucial issues like the low payed, poverty, climate change, clean and more democratic politics, getting the green economy properly up and running, and our responsibilities regarding the developing world.

Locally some of the campaigns we have been supporting have not been successful eg Bold Heath Quarry and the incinerator Inch Marsh Frodsham but others have gone well. For example Halton Lorry Watch were our contact and the police's contact with certain hauliers has tended to reduce these firms vehicles from local roads, although the problem is ongoing.

All of these issues and others that are just around the corner in this new year would have been/will be perhaps more effectively dealt with if we'd had Green representation on the council. Well we have a good chance of achieving such this year in Halton View ward were the Greens are just 130 votes behind Labour.

Also for the first time ever in Halton people will have the opportunity to vote Green in a general election.

As usual in life there are challenges we perceive as having either positive or negative outcomes. However it's never the case to say that in any given apparent negative situation that there aren't positives and vice versa - something that makes life that much more interesting and livable.

I sincerely wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope that you will consider voting Green this year for so many positive reasons.

Copenhagen Christmas Present!

2009-12-20T11:21:00.000-08:00

Was it a Christmas present? - well perhaps to start off positively everybody was there, present, including a US president. All agreed that global temperature must not rise beyond 2C and as a consequence recognised the need for substantial cuts in carbon emissions. There was the first formal financial commitment by richer nations to help poorer ones to adapt to climate change and the accord committed everyone to adopt within six weeks binding emissions targets for 2020.

But there were no global targets for cuts, no incentives for countries to pollute less and no sanctions for those who pollute more. And many of the commitments are to be "enacted as soon as possible" not a phrase suggesting the sort of urgency needed to avoid perhaps catastrophic climate change.

It could be argued that the developed countries have greater potential than others in pushing an effective climate treaty forward. But the peoples in such countries, with a few exceptions, have not been severely directly affected by the real impact of climate change like some in third world states eg desertification in sub saharan Africa.

We are probably not going to be so severley affected for a couple of decades. However the time for action it seems is now ie within the next six years years. By then if there is no effective global action we will have reached a point were our control of events will be restricted. Carbon in the atmosphere can stay around for up to 100 years. Its not a case of in 10 years or so saying, well this IS really going to affect ME the individual we must stop now! This is the dilemma.

The accord is disappointing but ending positively perhaps out of its percieved failures might come a determined resolve by all concerned to redouble their efforts.

What about us, what can we do? Write or email your MP and prospective parliamentary candidates every month at least till the next general election asking them to ensure that their parties are playing their part in this process.

Perhaps in this you could point out that the current up-personship games being played in the lead up to the election by the different parties attempting to gain the upperhand should place this issue at the top of its must do list. I wonder if any will? I hope to be proved wrong!

One last thing you could do is to vote Green in this year's general election. That would really send a powerful message to the other parties. You now have the opportunity in Halton to do just that!

Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year!

Eternit Meeting

2009-12-16T05:27:00.001-08:00

Attended the Derby Rd Residents Association public meeting last night that was arranged to update residents on the state of play re the proposed Eternit development.

Unfortunately I was only able to stay for a short time but it was long enough to hear Jason Addy talk about his concerns regarding what was going on in relation to the council's handling of Eternit's proposals.

Several requests have been made by the group for information about how the council came to the decision that an Environmental impact assessment was not necessary. Such requests to date have been declined. The group seem to be regarding this response as not being in the public interest.

It was also mentioned that the council owns part of the land. This information I understand is in the public domain. But obviously it places pressure on the council to ensure that the financial gains from any development are optimised. This of course is in the interest of all of us who pay council tax. This said it's to be hoped that this does not unduly influence the council in its decision about the proposal.

The questions I would like answered are as follows:-

What could be done with the site if this development doesn't go ahead? What's happened in other areas? Given the dangers, are unused buildings and other infrastructure just left standing? Are there any cast iron solutions in relation to how to deal with such a situation?

The chances of contracting asbestiosis apparently are minimal but if there's even the slightest possibility should we not act? On balance and without being an expert I feel that the site should have the least amount of remedial work carried out on it given the inherent dangers. I think we should be putting the case strongly for alternative ways of dealing with the site. Unless, that is, council officers can provide sufficient evidence that the present proposal would provide similar safeguards.

Peter Brewin has requested that if anybody who worked at the old Everite site and knows where any material has been dumped to contact him. See earlier blogs for contact details

Halton, HGV paradise?

2009-12-12T00:59:00.000-08:00

Recent deals involving Eddie Stobarts (Unilever Widnes and Manor Park Runcorn) it seems will mean even more HGV's using Halton's roads over the next ten years.

These developments and others before and no doubt in the future are part of the council's plans to make Halton a major distribution hub in the north west. Take a look at the very wordy Core Strategy Plans consultative document on the council's website. It would seem that such developments have all party support.

This is occurring in an area which has some of the highest morbidity and mortality rates in relation to chest conditions in England and Wales. It also comes at a time when reports published over the past two years indicate even stronger links between particulates, one of the main emissions of diesel engines, and chest problems in children and older people. Such research indicates that the levels we are currently permitting are too high and should be reduced.

The latest figures regarding the increase in the numbers of HGV's in the next ten years on Haltons roads would seem to be around 1000 HGV's every 24 hour cycle (500 of this figure relates to the Halebank Freight Park which is in the pipeline), if all the developments go ahead.

The council has genuine problems in relation to attracting employment to the area which is out of their control (eg skills base) but it seems to me that their strategies in relation to health and employment are not joined up.

There is going to be an explosion in Green jobs. Maybe the council is looking into this area of potential growth - I hope so, for many reasons

The Wave - Climate Change Demonstration London

2009-12-06T01:24:00.000-08:00

Attended the London Climate Change march yesterday.

At Marble Arch on our way to joining the demonstration we came across a monument to animals killed in the second world war with an inscription something to the effect that they had no choice.

Taking a short cut to Grosvenor Square where the rally was to begin we walked through a Mews. There was a tall leaveless tree with a crow's nest at its top. Everything from it gone, although a crow was calling from a nearby place.

These two images made me think that our children, grandchildren and the whole living natural world doesn't have a choice in deciding how the world deals with climate change.

Niaively, I thought, this being the case all the streets of central London ought to have been thronging with demonstrators even though there was an impressive 20000 at the rally.

My memory of the event returns to the plaintive crying of the crow.

Eternit Proposals

2009-11-30T00:54:00.000-08:00

Residents have 21 days to send in comments and objections regarding the Eternit Derby Rd development(see earlier blogs). Letters should be sent to Glen Henry, Environmental & Regulatory Services, Rutland House, Halton Lea, Runcorn WA7 2GW or email, dev.control@halton-borough.gov.uk

The proposal will be considered by the development control committee probably early January.

Plans can be viewed at Halton Directy Link and council libraries. Also at www.halton.gov.uk by clicking on the planning applications banner which will take you to the search page.

If anyone wants to know more about the matter give Glen Henry in Environmental Services a ring 0303 333 4300 or contact me

The Age of Stupid

2009-11-29T00:36:00.000-08:00

It was a strange sort of day for me yesterday, a morning Green Party meeting in Bolton. Early morning central Bolton was cold grey and surprisingly quite deserted for a weekend in the run up to Christmas.

Early evening I saw the film 'The Age of Stupid' attended by about 16 people. It was competing with 'Strictly come Dancing' not much of a contest although I suspect numbers would not have been significantly different if the film had been shown during an hours long TV political broadcast!

Straight after The Age of Stupid it was a late attendance at a 25th wedding anniversary. We arrived of course to find joviality and that innocent cheeky fun that's so precious that you can get at such events. The contrast of course was striking with the heavy mood I'd been left with following the viewing of the film.

The film suggests we have only 6 years to plan applying the breaks solidly to halt what could be a devastated world in the last half of this century. So every possible means of reducing our carbon emissions should be pursued to the hilt.

One of the facts the Age of Stupid highlights is that only 20% of the applications for wind farms in Britain had been given the go ahead in the last ten years. If this figure had been 100% we would now be producing 10% of our energy by sustainable means.

People argue that wind farms at sea are preferrable to those on land for various reasons - maybe. But I'd argue we don't have the time and given that all the environmental and technical planning requirements are met all wind farm developments should go ahead.

Locally we have the issue of a Wind Turbine facility on Frodsham hill. There is a fairly vociferous opposition group who are fighting this proposal and whatever their sincere objections are I consider that the serious nature of the situation we find ourselves in should have a weighty bearing on the outcome of the proposal.

Eternit proposals - debate

2009-11-12T10:23:00.000-08:00

Peter Brewin has received a response from the council to the effect that an environmental impact assessment re the site would not be necessary under schedule 2, section 10 of the Town and country planning regulations - Infrastructure Projects and (b) urban development projects.

The council also considers that with regard to the 'likely characteristics and location of the proposed development, sensitivity of the receiving environment and significance of environmental effects an Environmental Impact assessment is not required...' in relation to the proposal.

It would seem that from the information the council have to hand about the characteristics of the site and the sort of developments planned they do not consider that a full environmental impact assessment is necessary.

I think obviously its necessary now that the residents group confer with their 'expert' advisers regarding this response. I am no expert but presume that a decision by a local authority that a particular development does not justify an environmental impact assessment can be appealed against at some stage. But obviously there would have to be grounds to support such an appeal.

However I don't read from their response that council officers have come to any firm decision about the matter. They are still at the stage of considering the developers plans regarding remediation and whether these are sufficiently viable.

Eternit Proposals - debate

2009-10-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately the demo as planned did not go ahead today as the Granada Reports team were unable to make it. There might be some sort of repeat but don't hold your breath!

However I'm sure the developers will be aware of what's been happening and this will have the effect of focussing minds!

One of the main issues in this of course is the chance of airborne contamination via any proposed remediation work that might pose a direct health hazard to local residents.

Who should we listen to - the developers and their experts (obvious financial interest here), council officers and the expertise they have and can call on (there is some obvious and understandable financial interests in this but hopefully a sincere concern for the well being of residents) ranged against activists who might have a lot of research experience and hands on knowledge?

Please keep checking this site for further informaton and to follow the debate. Please leave any comments here you might have about any of the issues involved.

Eternit Demo

2009-10-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

Granada News will be covering this event on Friday (tomorrow) at 12pm. Peter Brewin Derby Rd Residents group is asking as many people to make themselves available at this time. They will be meeting at the site opposite Clairemont Drive.

There are some views being expressed that the Derby Residents Group should wait until the council have thouroughly looked into the matter of remediation and decided whether to proceed with the proposals - I disagree with this position - balanced publicity opens up issues to further debate and scrutiny and the earlier this happens the better.

I think its important that in the interests of a balanced debate we should consider what the council's current position is. I spoke to Will Watson in the Environmental Health Dept recently and the following is an account of how he interprets the situation.

I wanted to get some idea of (i) the extent of the problem (ii) how it compared with the Rochdale case were the proposed development was turned down and (iii) what were the Environmental Health Depts current views.

Coincidently Will Watson was working with Rochdale Council at the time of the problems of the TAC site there so he is in a good position to give a balanced view in relation to comparisons.

He told me that there hadn’t been any in depth surveys carried out by the council on the Derby Rd site although he did mention that in the 1980’s the council had capped what had been a tip on the south side of the railway (not sure whether this related to work regarding to By Pass)

(i) Will said that the proposed plan would involve on the hotel and commercial units site the removal of all obstructions piping etc that contained a mixture of concrete and white asbestos. A main issue in this area is the brook that has material impacted with different types of asbestos down to a depth of 100 metres. This depth creates difficulties in relation to excavating the material so the area is to be capped

In the location were residential units are proposed, were it is considered there are less materials present, it would mean the removal of soils impacted with concrete and white asbestos material under what would be the sub base of the residential units. Some of these materials would be moved across the site to be capped with other materials in the hotel site/commercial units area. The remainder would be transported to specially designated landfill sites (not apparently Bold Heath Quarry)

(ii) The Eternit proposal compared with Rochdale differs in terms of the amount, predominance of the more dangerous types of asbestos and the depth of the material. In Rochdale there are greater amounts of asbestos material and a predominance of the more dangerous types of asbestos present and the depth of the materials tends to be greater. In contrast on the Derby Rd site the bulk of the material is on the surface and consists predominantly of the relatively more safe white asbestos bonded with cement.

There were plans in Rochdale to build 600 units on the site but the major concerns about the project were not so much about the dangers inherent in moving the asbestos material but that the developers could not satisfactorily demonstrate that the plans they had for remediation were viable. There actions were such that they tended to put the main players in the process off.

(iii) The view in the Envirnonmental Health Dept seems to be that if the developers can prove that at each stage of the remediation process they will be applying certain measures and they are able to substantiate the efficacy of this remediation than they would have no major objections about the proposal.

They are currently considering remediation plans put forward by developers and have involved a third party consultancy to ensure greater scrutiny.

I hope this is an accurate record of our discussion.

The health hazard issue about the development seems to come down to what are the chances of wind blown strands of asbestos occurring during the remedial work? If the proposal doesn't go ahead what is to happen to the site - it seems that the council will have a responsibilty to carry out remediation work on the site any way. Would this work follow similar lines to what has been proposed by the developers?

Its a dilemma for local residents in the area - if the development goes ahead would you like to live just yards away from such remediation work, even given assurances about the extremely minimal chances of being exposed to asbestos?

Eternit Development - Demonstraters Needed!!

2009-10-27T01:28:00.001-07:00

Peter Brewin from the Derby Rd Residents group phoned me last night to let me know that Granada Reports might be doing a slot on this issue.

Digging by Peter has revealed that a similar proposal at an identical site in Rochdale (same previous firm TAC as on old Everite site producing items containing asbestos) was opposed by local residents because of the possibility of acute health hazards. Their case was taken on by the Daily Mirror and was covered by regional TV companies. They were able to stop the proposal from going ahead.

Peter says that he's hoping to find out today if, and when, Granada will be doing the filming. If they do Granada has suggested that we have as many people (children included) as possible to be around during the filmimg and have placards etc (Peter is arranging for these to be made available.

If you can help let Peter know on 423 3941

Keep accessing this site to keep up to date

Green Pressure Pays Dividends!

2009-10-26T05:17:00.000-07:00

I've just heard that the council is to carry out a survey in Barrows Green Lane regarding what the residents think about the installation of speed humps along the lane.

The Green Party along with other residents have been campaigning for over a year about HGV's and speeding traffic using the lane and one of the spin offs of this has been the setting up of the Lorry Watch scheme in 2008. The scheme has provided the police and the council with information about haulage firms contravening the weight restrictions on Barrows Green lane and Moorfield Rd.

The Green Party have been in touch with the council about other ways of combatting the problem - one of these has been considering the provision of different types of speed humps but this would obviously have to be with the consent of the majority of residents.

Initial reaction from the council didn't seem to be very positive. They indicated that there weren't sufficient monies available to consider such a project. But it seems that the pressure placed on the council from Lorry Watch and the Green Party and individual residents has paid dividends.

This is a clear example how Green Party involvement in a community can get things moving particularly when the main council administration, in this case Labour, is under pressure electorally.

In the Halton View ward situation the fact that the Greens are 130 votes behind Labour and stand a good chance of taking the seat next year seems to be galvanising the Labour Party into action in the ward.

Green Party Goes General in 2010!

2009-10-25T14:10:00.000-07:00

Breaking and fantastic news (for me) - the opportunity to vote Green in a general election! There are so many reasons to be considering voting Green in the General Election next year at such a crucial time for us all. Please take time to have a look at the Green New deal policies on the Green Party's national website, see below, and if you want more information please let me know.

Here's the press release we're issuing this week.

"Halton Green Party is to stand a candidate in the 2010 general election. This is the first time that a Green Party candidate has stood in a general election in Halton.

Jim Craig, is a founding member of Halton Green Party. He was born in Liverpool, and grew up and went to school in Runcorn. He is currently a resident of Halton Lodge in Runcorn.

Jim is concerned about how much politics has been devalued over recent months owing to the expenses scandal and would like to see it cleaned up thoroughly.

He believes that the Green party has the right policies for the challenging times we face,

“Green policies help create a stable economy, jobs and a healthier and safer way of life. These form part of our Green New Deal and tackle the most pressing problems of today:

· Fixing the financial system so banks are no longer too big to fail
· Energy efficiency measures for homes, schools and hospitals to create 80,000 jobs, cut fuel bills and reduce harmful emissions
· Free social care for the elderly, improving quality of life and creating 60,000 jobs
· Creating 200,000 jobs through a massive increase in the amount of energy from renewable sources, such as wind power

The message for the general election is clear, you don't have to choose between jobs and the environment. The Greens offer the best of both worlds”.

Learn more about the Green Party in Halton here www.haltongreenparty.org and read more about the Green New Deal here http://www.greenparty.org.uk/policies/economy.html

(For further information please contact Derek Mellor on 0151 423 1692 /07772381933) or Peter Cranie on 07875492072

26/10/09

ENDS

Everite Plans, Health Hazard Issue

2009-10-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

Halton's planning committee are to discuss a proposal to develop the old Everite now Eternit site probably within a month and they are wanting queries/objections re the issue to be received by the end of this week. I hadn't picked up on this until somebody living in Farnworth contacted me last night for my help.

The development would include a hotel and one hundred and twentythree residential units and apparantly involve the capping of contaminated land where the hotel is planned to be (Everite offices) and removal of possible hazardous material (asbestos) where the housing units are going to be sited (nearer the village centre).

I'm extremely busy at the moment and explained to the person I couldn't give a detailed response in such a short time although I did suggest if he hadn't already covered the following to consider using them as a template for a response:

1) Concern about the issue of the moving of hazardous material on local roads.

2) The expectation would be and should be stated in objecting or querying the matter that a full environmental impact assessment should be carried out in relation to this together with mitigation measures and a full Health Impact assessment.

3) The short term impact of works HGV's related to the project using roads in Halton - It's estimated that if the various distribution and other industrial developments that are in the pipeline in Halton at the moment go ahead there is a potential for an increase of up to around 800 HGV's per 24 hours using local roads. (600 HGV movements from the proposed Halebank rail freight development alone - figures from Halton Council) - the Eternit development could possibly add to this dependent on the timescale of all the other projects involved

4) The impact of the number of dwellings planned and related infrastructure on the "village feel" of Farnworth village centre.

5) Concerns re road access.

I'll be sending a brief response along these lines to the council - if you want a copy of this plse phone me on 0151 423 1692

If you want further info re matter contact Peter March on petermarch31@hotmail.com whose campaigning against the development.

Also send your emails querying or objecting to proposal to Planning at dev.control@halton-borough.gov.uk

Quarries/Landfills and missed opportunities?

2009-10-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

I was saddened to hear the result of the public inquiry into Bold Heath Quarry/Landfill.

The fight against this development has been going on for years and supported by a range of residents organisations and political parties including Halton Green Party particularly the work of Maureen Miller. The result shows how relatively recent legislation is really operating in the developers favour.

Local democracy has been clearly swept aside by this decision and seems to count for nothing. And there's nothing we can do about it. At the end of the day if the developer perseveres, crosses the 't's' and dots the 'i's' that's it - end of the line.

It's also yet another development in the area that will see the increase of HGV's on local roads. See earlier blogs for discussion on how the council seems to be creating one big hub of a logistics and distribution centre in Halton. Do we really want this?

The green revolution in relation to the accelerating demand for alternative energy technologies is on our doorstep the opportunities are there but are we?

Maybe the fact that Halton is in the lowest 5% in the country in relation to skills levels of school leavers is why we seem to be bearing the brunt of this focus on a low skills economy. OK technically we have Daresbury and what goes with it but that's Daresbury a far away world from the lack of opportunity epidemic that blights some of our more deprived areas.

Maybe the council is working on attracting the booming alternative technology industry here, maybe its not that easy and there are sound reasons for the way it is - I don't know. Do you?

Spillage in Barrows Green Lane

2009-09-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

Today has seen quite a few tipper trucks over the weight limit travelling up and down Barrows Green Lane laden with what looks like building waste, some with cement. The Lorry Watch scheme have sent information to the police about one of the lorries.

Later in the afternoon I noticed that one of the trucks had stopped and the driver was examining his load as if he had had a problem with it. As I went past him and travelled further along the road I noticed spillage on the road's surface and the grass verge - presumably coming from the lorry I'd just seen. By the time I'd put two and two together the lorry had moved on and I'd not been able to get the reg number. This was at about 5pm. Also going further along the lane at its junction with Derby Rd I noticed more spillage.

We've informed the police about this incident but it would be useful if anyone else saw this vehicle at 5pm parked up on the lane that they contacted me on 0151 423 1692.

"The Age of Stupid" and Halton

2009-09-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

I'd advise anyone who's interested in one possible version of the future to try to see "The Age of Stupid" which was premiered in March this year - the year of the Copenhagen UN meeting on Climate change (December 2009). I saw the film last Thursday in the Community Church in Frodsham

Its another topic I go on about and worry whether I'm putting people off. But I think it should be shown by every council in the country to their elected members and officers to push the debate on in relation to what we can all do at so many levels.

The film, a sort of documentary plus, if you don't already know stars Peter Postlethwaite (I didn't know until recently he grew up in Warrington or was it Wigan) who in the year 2050 following catastrophic climatic events looks back at "The Age of Stupid" ie now at what we weren't doing to tackle climate change.

At this very moment I'm thinking of Halton Council's core strategy document - strategical planning for the borough until 2020 and particularly its economic development plans which seem partly to be ensuring that Halton becomes a major centre for logistics and distribution (means heavy goods vehicles etc). This includes its support of expansion of Liverpool airport as part of this strategy.(not exactly a plus in terms of tackling climate change - maybe in vote winning though!)

Without being privvy to exactly what Halton council is doing regarding economic development and I must say I've not looked at the core strategy document in any depth (only just received it) and I'm certainly no expert, it begs the question what are we doing to attract what will become one of the biggest growth industry's in the next decade to the area - sustainable energy. Perhaps sincerely I'll be pleasantly surprised at the work that's going on or indeed I'll be made to recognise that attracting any industry per se to Halton is difficult!

The Green Party and other organisations are hoping to show the film in Widnes in November this year. It is not going to be a Green Party thing the subject matter is too important (sorry if I sound holier than thou but am thinking of my grandchildren) We would like to invite everyone to the viewing including council members (and officers of course). Please come, we all really need to be acting together!

Will be posting dates and times in due course

HGV's and speeding again!!!

2009-09-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

Attended the Lorry Watch meeting on the 21st September and it was agreed to follow up the possibility of using speed and weight sensing humps (these humps are only activated when vehicles are exceeding speed limits or are over a certain weight) and also seeing whether the Sat Nav systems that are sending non local vehicles our way can be changed in such a way as to make the routes down Barrows Green Lane and Moorfield RD 'no go areas'.

I've discussed these ideas in blogs before but we are going to try and do something concrete about them. Regarding the retractable humps we'd obviously have to survey people on Barrows Green Lane and Moorfield Rd about such a possibility. Maybe it's going to be a non starter because of lack of funding we'll see!! I've written to Highways section about it and will let you know the result.

Hoping to speak to police about the Sat Nav issue as well.

The other thing is that the group is sending out a press release of some sort and contained in it will be the offer of our group helping residents to form similar groups in other areas with problems. With the plans the council have to make Halton a centre for logistics and distribution there might be an increasing need for such schemes!!

In the meantime Lorry Watch will be continuing in the area in October and possibly every three or four months to keep the Hauliers on their toes. Residents have also been asked to report incidents at any time.

We need volunteers - if you can help plse let us know

Lorry Watch meeting

2009-09-19T02:46:00.000-07:00

There's to be a Lorry Watch meeting on Monday 21st September at 10am in Widnes.
We'll be discussing progress made to date and whether and when we'll be starting a new observation period. Police and hopefully Trading Standards will be in attendance.

Its notable that since our last observations in July HGV traffic in the area has increased. This of course could be purely coincidental.

The consensus is that we should be considering more effective long term solutions but it doesn't rule out observational periods. Anecdotal evidence suggests that our contact with hauliers has been positive and educational from both theirs and our points of view.

If you're able to attend or want to comment and prefer to speak to me directly please phone me on 0151 423 1692

Then, Now and Wow

2009-09-15T01:44:00.000-07:00

The last time I attended a Liverpool Green Party meeting was in 2004. Then they were held at Liverpool University's Students Guild in the city centre. If I'm served appropriately by my memory, not sure of this these days, the membership seemed to be prominently young people, particularly students.

Peter Cranie was the work horse of the group, always enthusiastic full of ideas and supportive of all in a positive way.

I think I saw a little of the fruition of his work (and others) when I attended a Liverpool Green Party meeting at the beginning of this week.

A little aside at this stage before I get to the core of my ramblings. The meetings are now held at the Aigburth Bowling and Cricket club next door to St Michaels station. I mention the station not only for purposes of orientation but to relate a story about how easy it is to fall into the cultural trap of relying too heavily on the car.

I'd mentioned to several people about my intention to go to the meeting and was hoping somebody might take me up on the offer of transporting them there. This would resolve my conscience about using the diesel monster to get to Liverpool and back. But nobody responded and I was left to my conscience and pretentious and untried principles.

Could I go by train - the meeting might end late, could I get my connections - who would pick me up from the station. Its that mindset that's difficult to shake off. But I resolved to do it and to my relief found it to be incredibly easy and cheap to use the train (£2.70 return). I've got a rail card - not telling you which type!!

Whats more I discovered a way from Widnes to Southport via Liverpool Southparkway by train which would be relatively direct and inexpensive. Just shows you what can happen when you do something different!

Back to the meeting - I was struck about the quality of the debates which occurred. It seemed a much more settled group than the one I had witnessed in 2004. Its composition was more varied with more greys present including me of course. In 2004 it seemed I was the only grey in the village. It was more secure, more assured (two councillors in the bag) and this was allied by a definite vision of the way the party was heading.

I actually felt proud to be in the Green Party and to be among people who were really concerned about people who lived in the locality as much as being concerned about furthering the Green Party in Liverpool. To me this is what the Green Party is all about. (Is it the same in other parties - maybe it is) This was brought into sharp focus a couple of times when people felt that the emphasis in such and such a topic area should really be on working with other parties rather than involvement in inter party bickering.

Well done Peter, well done everybody. Hope I don't sound too sycophantic, but I mean every single word!!

Planes, Dotty and Joe

2009-09-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not my dog Dotty a springer spaniel is instinctively 'Green' by nature.

The only things she barks at are shapes she's not familiar with, in response to other dogs and aircraft. She's very familiar with aircraft as they fly low over where I live every day so its not the unfamiliarity angle that activates her, its her green nature.

I have, of course, not encouraged this behaviour in any way! But she looks up on hearing the sound of aircraft and runs along an imaginary grassy flight path as the object looms overhead. I must admit I kind of like viewing planes but I don't like flying and will do everything in my power not to fly, partly because of the high altitude affects re the carbon emssions of commercial jets as well as my anxiety.

I think the way people in the Green movement are percieved as kill joys in terms of everyday activities like flying is a shame. It's partly our fault in not showing a more positive side to changing our behaviour. Like how much more healthy (and fun) to walk with the children to school or get the bus etc. Doing everyday things in a different way or becoming involved in community activities which are healthier and more environmentally friendly. Bringing the 'F' word fun back into living - rewarding people for recycling (something which Halton Council to their credit are piloting in Widnes).

But there is also a need for the Green movement as we all know, to be constantly making people aware without being too holier than thou of the immense challenges we face in relation to climate change and the fact that we all have to pull together in order to lessen the negative effects of it.

But lets step up the positives in changing behaviour, for instance let local communities create think tanks composed of you and me and those who might know a little more about the subject and work out how we can creatively enjoy and own the changes that will have to come.

Joe my grandson 4 started primary school today in Widnes. When he can officially leave school aged 16 it'll be 2021. We'll have a little more knowledge then about the problems we will be facing. Dotty won't be around cavorting along grassy flightpaths I probably won't be here but Joe will be starting his adult life.

What we do in the next ten years is apparantly going to be crucial in whether the effects of climate change are going to be either severe or catastrophic. Between now and then we all have a duty to ensure a reasonable future for him as well as all the other children starting school today - they don't have a say. Neither do peoples in the third world who are now being directly affected by climate change and who will increasingly suffer in the near future.

Lorry Watch project for summer ends

2009-07-26T03:43:00.000-07:00

The Lorry Watch which has been operating on Barrows Green Lane Widnes over June and July finished last week.

It has differed from the previous project last year in that residents have been involved in contacting hauliers directly themselves. It seems that there has been a good response from this with Hauliers appreciating our direct contact.

Time will tell how effective this last stint has been but the group is hoping to follow it up with a months session later in the year. Some residents will be continuing 'the watch' whenever they have time and this no doubt will send a message to hauliers that we are really committed to ensuring a reduction of HGV traffic on the weight resticted routes in the area.

One of the issues the project has thrown up regards the use of Sat Nav systems by HGV's, particularly non local traffic. At the review meeting we will be holding on the project in September we will be discussing this point with the police. I know that is some areas Sat Nav systems have been altered to bar the use of weight restricted roads.

The Lorry Watch scheme is particularly relevant in that it links in with one of the main policies being pushed by the Green Party nationally relating to "Safer Streets": 20 mph speed limits on all roads in residential areas; a greater awareness of pedestrian needs and practical measures to implement such policy.
So Halton Green Party is fully supporting the Lorry Watch Scheme!

Set out below are basic details of the results of the project:

Lorry Watch operated on Barrows Green Lane Widnes for one month during June and July 2009.

Volunteers spent 8 hours per week observing traffic movements and 31 observations of possible HGV contraventions were noted.

Of these 14 definite observations of HGV’s were made the remainder we were not able to ascertain because of lack information.

We contacted 8 firms by phone and email regarding their contraventions and received a positive response from all.

With six of the vehicles we were unable to identify telephone numbers or website addresses. However photos were taken of these vehicles, which had registration details on them, and these were passed on to the police for further investigation.

If you're interested in getting involved, including attending the review meeting in September, please contact Jane Fitzpatrick via 0151 423 1692

'Green' reunion - reflections

2009-07-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks back we had a party to celebrate ourselves - everyone who's been involved in Halton Green Party.

It's been 5 years (early 2004) since Jim Craig and I, with others, started the Green Party in Halton and Jim managed to get up here to be with us for this celebration (Jim started the party in Runcorn at the same time but had to move down south following his employment late 2004).

Jim's departure was a big blow to me personally as he is a hard working really creative person and was the main link in Runcorn. Its difficult basically being on your own and starting a local political party. My wife (Linda) has really helped and I've had support from various people over the years (even some friends who might not necessarily have voted Green - I really thank them!) But it's not the same as having a political activist soul mate, to hear you out, to bounce things off and bring you down to earth sometimes, who's always physically near - its different than phone calls.

It seems to me that this has been the experience of other Green Parties starting off up and down the country. There are not too many activists out there especially in non city areas. Nevertheless the Green Party has grown nationally at some rate over the past decade and now we are the fourth party numerically in terms of numbers of councillors in the country. It's almost as if the Green Party's time is now. There are signs currently, for instance, that the party is on the verge of winning its first seat at the next general election (Brighton Pavillion - Caroline Lucas).

In the areas where the Green Party has established itself locally and started to win seats it has tended to stir things up politically and motivate other politicians of different political colours to become more active in their local wards which has got to be good for local democracy.

Anecdotal evidence in the Halton View ward where the Greens are virtually breathing down Labour's neck (130 votes behind Labours top candidate in the ward) would seem to indicate that this is the case. Not only this, but Halton Council appears to have become more acutely aware of Green issues and has been initiating some really useful projects in relation to energy saving and recycling initiatives - Phil Harris one of Halton Council's Executive Board members has done some stirling work in this area which I would applaud. I wonder though, how much of this has been related to our presence? This of course could be wishful thinking on my part!

What have we been up to in the past 5 years?

Well in practical terms among many things we've been involved in:- Successfully campaigned over safety issues at Runcorn Docks (2004/6); ensured that the council complied with legislation in relation to providing public seating in Halton that could be accessed by older people and people with disabilities (2005); provided written evidence at Public Inquiries against proposals for incinerators at Ince Green and Weston Point (2006/7); Helped residents in their campaign to try to stop a mental health secure unit from being set up in the Halton View ward (2007/8); provided written evidence to the Second Mersey Crossing Public Inquiry in opposition to the proposal in terms of it's not being the appropriate solution re congestion (2008/9); helped initiate a residents Lorry Watch Scheme in Halton View (2008/9)and provided written evidence to a public inquiry against a proposal for quarrying and landfill site near Halton View ward (2008/9)

In terms of opportunities we've provided for people - perhaps we've brought likeminded people together to start asking questions about what they're able to offer their community; hopefully, without sounding pompous, we've got people to think about the real challenges we are facing in today's world and different ways of solving such challenges; provided people with an opportunity to vote for an ethical party which is just as much concerned about people in other parts of the world as it is in our community that sees linkages between how they fare and how we fare socially, economically and ecologically.

Perhaps all this is too grand and if we asked a Green Voter in Halton View ward why they have voted Green in the last few elections it might just be that its provided them with a real possibility of voting in someone new in the ward, an event which has not happened for some considerable time.

This is a real possibility in May 2010!

Lorry Watch - update!

2009-07-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

Lorry Watch is up and running on Barrows Green Lane Widnes which tends to be the main local road route that HGV's use.

We've already identified two firms and had direct contact with them. What we are doing is in a polite way warning them that their details will be passed on to Trading Standards if they are observed in the area again.

I've been in contact with the police (community support) and they've asked us to forward photos of errant lorries. We'll do this if there is a registration number on the vehicle concerned and we have not been able to contact the firm.

On the second observation photos will be sent to the police and trading standards.

We're looking for more volunteers - it's an activity were you really feel your doing something for others and it can be fun - so come and join us!

Bold Heath Quarry/Landfill Proposal

2009-06-29T13:06:00.000-07:00

Objections to the Bold Heath Quarry proposal are going to be heard by the Inspector concerned at an Inquiry in the Council Chamber St Helens Town Hall Victoria Square St Helens WA101HP on 25th August at 10 am.

It's now too late to send in letters objecting to the proposal but its possible to hand in written objections or speak at the Iquiry if you present yourself at St Helens Town Hall on the first morning.

St Helens Council is now only contesting the proposal on health grounds.
The Green party is objecting in relation to silica emissions, a known cause of silicosis, heavy goods traffic emissions and perceptions of public concern and anxiety regarding the links between pollution and health in Halton.

If anybody wishes to submit written objections and needs material please contact me. Also if you're not able to attend the Inquiry we might be able to get your objections to the meeting on the day, again give us a ring on 0151 423 1692

Lorry Watch - up and running again

2009-06-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

Residents held a meeting today to discuss how they ought to proceed with the Lorry Watch scheme in the Moorfield Rd and Barrows Green area that was piloted last year by Halton Trading Standards.

Unfortunately Halton Trading Standards has merged with Warrington Trading Standards and at the moment are not able to provide any support.The problems continue so the Lorry Watch scheme will start up again this Wednesday 24th.

We will have to carry out the contacting of offending haulage companies and whereas before on the advice of Trading Standards we were just noting down information we aim to take videos and photos this time.

One of the things we might be considering with companies that continue to flaunt the restrictions is to liaise with the local paper to start a 'name and shame' monthly item that would include photos. We'd prefer not to do this. It's obviously better to get people working alongside us rather than alienating them!

I'm unsure how much people are aware in Widnes but in the next ten years or so, particularly if the planned Second Mersey Crossing, (this seems to be the king pin for these new proposed developments) Ditton Rail Freight Park, Waste Recycling Plant Widnes Water Front and Bold Heath Quarry go ahead, we will be fast becoming not only the capital of waste dumpage in the UK but also Lorry World!

I emailed David Parr Cheif Executive Officer HBC a few weeks ago to ask him about his estimate of how many more HGV's there would be on Halton's roads if the Rail Freight Park went ahead. He stated that the total would be about 580 more HGV's per day.The breakup of percentage figures of HGV traffic in terms of road usage is as follows as follows:-

1.61% A56 from Liverpool

45.98% Runcorn-Widnes Bridge

4.36% M57

42.99% M62 East

5.06% M62 West

So it looks like from the Rail Freight Park development alone there will be up to 580probably plus HGV's per day. My understanding is that the Waste Recycling plant on Widnes Waterfront would be in the region of 200 extra HGV's per day.

Recent research is suggesting that 7% of children in the UK are likely to develop chest conditions owing to particulates at child height level. These fine particulates are emitted mainly from diesel vehicles (as well as incinerators) HGV's being one of the main culprits. I'm unsure whether such health statistics are factored in when decisions are made about such schemes.

Lorry Watch is going to have its work cut out!

Shame, and hope not hate

2009-06-08T11:01:00.000-07:00

I feel ashamed that people in the north west have elected a BNP candidate to represent them and all this entails.

The further south you go it seems that on balance the BNP vote diminished and the Green vote increased. I've always thought of us northeners as being really warmhearted and welcoming as a people and so I found the results of the election very saddening.

But then I think about what I perceive as the differences in the rates of ethnic minorities residing in the south and north and can bring myself a little to understand what pushes someone to vote BNP.

I remember a van driver last week in Widnes who told me he'd be voting BNP - because the simple mantra he'd received from all sorts of sources had told him he'd lost his job because of others from elsewhere.

I think of some 'good' people in Burnley I know who didn't vote BNP not because they weren't sympathetic to what the BNP was going on about but because they considered that they didn't want any blood baths on their doorstep.

This is reality and I'm sure we've all come across such reasoning.

What of the future - well its too early of course - we need to reflect. A couple of simple things struck me last night when I was watching the results programme. (Or maybe it's me whose simple - Linda nods!)

I felt uneasy about how all the candidates snubbed Nick Griffen. I too would have walked off the podium but I would have felt uneasy. I had this feeling even more so a couple of years ago at election time when I'd gone to the local election office for a run down on procedures. After the meeting as I was going out of the door I noticed a few BNP members coming out as well. I felt the urge to let the door shut in their faces but I couldn't. I didn't know these people - but they were human.

The other thing was the fact that the Green vote nationally was up and as Caroline Lucas said if the system of PR in Germany had been operating (national poll plus candidates in regional areas) we'd have obtained about seven or eight seats. And what about the Green result in Norwich definitely bodes well for the by - election.

Well done everyone particularly Peter.

Polling Day!!

2009-06-04T11:08:00.000-07:00

Polling day came and I thought I wouldn't be able to do anything apart from voting owing to childcare commitments. But I did get the two people who benefit directly from such services to phone all their friends 30 plus to vote Green and ask their friends friends to do the same.

The response was overwhelming so Green candidates all over the country hopefully will benefit.

Got the message this afternoon that the Greens were on 15%, ahead of Lib Dems but we'll have to wait and see.

Green Bus?

2009-06-01T12:21:00.000-07:00

Did anyone see a Green Bus in Sefton Park late yesterday afternoon? Well if you did it was the Green Party's Green Bus travelling the country to spread the good news!

It was red actually (photo to prove this) - a bit of a disappointment as a couple of people sunbathing in the Park mentioned. However one of their party was wearing a straw hat and as I was too he wanted to have his picture taken with me. After getting the promise of the ten people in the group to vote for Peter I gave in to their request. Does this count as buying votes?

More seriously looks like the BNP(7%) is catching up nationally. In the latest poll they're a couple of points behind the Greens(9%). So even more reason for voters to really think about voting tactically for the Greens as the remaining seat in the north west region is likely to be between them and us.

Re the canvassing last night at the Green bus event - reception all very positive with a couple of people saying they lived locally had voted Green before and would be doing so this Thursday.

Since I started leafleting a few weeks ago spoken to about 40 people with only two of them stating they'd be voting BNP. This poll very straw (hat) so still a lot to be fighting for and I really can't stand the idea of being represented by someone from the BNP.

Out in the Widnes area today and tomorrow. If anyone's interested give us a shout!!

Second Mersey Crossing - importance of the Green perspective

2009-05-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

I note in the past month or so there have been several letters in the Widnes Weekly News regarding the second Mersey crossing. Some of these letters have been opposed to the new bridge but the majority have raised various points in relation to the consequences of the project but at the same time not opposing it directly.

The Green Party maintains its opposition to the second crossing on three main premises. The major threat of climate change with the consequences of more rapid change than what is currently anticipated, completely throwing out of the window all the figures relating to use of the new crossing. That building more roads/ bridges does not really solve the long term problem of congestion - there are many examples of this nationally and internationally. Finally the socio economic arguments that the new crossing will be of real benefit to local residents in my opinion does not hold up to detailed analysis.

No matter whether you agree with the views expressed above it’s possible that you’ll appreciate that the really sad thing in the whole process relates to the apparent power imbalance between the proponents of the second crossing and those who object to it wholly or selectively. That imbalance is to do with finance and therefore the ability to present as best a legal case as possible.

In some ways, and in an ideal world, the better way of dealing with such a proposal that has uncharted consequences for residents in Halton would have been to have had a proper balanced public debate and inquiry. With financial provision for objectors as well as proponents to make their case in the most effective way possible. And at the end of the day to hold a referendum on the matter – as was the case regarding the congestion charge in Manchester.

The only other suggestion I can make would be that a Green presence on the council might have ensured that the proposal from the beginning might have been subject to greater critical appraisal. This might have encouraged the important issues being raised at this late stage to have been aired earlier. This could have affected the evidence that will be considered by the inspector at the public inquiry over the next few weeks.

Halton Euro Campaign trail 7

2009-05-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

Today in a district of Halton that has a huge Conservative majority. Struck by the interest shown by residents - very positive.

I approached two people chatting outside a house and gave one of them a leaflet. The other person said, "Can you let me have one please just in case I miss it?"

Hot day again and talked to quite a few people gardening - only one refusal out of 25 contacts.

Halton Euro Campaign trail 6

2009-05-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

What a fantastic day for leafleting in Widnes with temperatures in the mid 20's and quite a few people out gardening.

It's interesting how many people seemed to want to see the leaflet obviously considering voting Green.

Most people were very friendly although there was one group of people one of whom refused a leaflet, another in a car with the engine running said to me it wasn't very Green to be delivering leaflets. I said in my best Columbo voice that she might have a point but could she tell me another way of getting the really important Green view to as many people as possible.

An uplifting incident was when someone recognised me from a picture that was published in the local press last election. I wasn't in my local ward so it shows you the interest that people seem to have in the Green Party.

Out tomorrow again hope the weather holds

Halton Euro Campaign trail 5

2009-05-23T10:18:00.000-07:00

At it again today - haven't had a chance this week owing to child care commitments!

So finished off Hale on a beautiful day with those May blooms and smells - it really is an attractive place and very much removed from the nearby urban sprawl which isn't to say that such doesn't have its own advantages.

Hale seems to be a close knit community, the village itself an island in a sea of green belt and arable land. Everybody knowing everyone else and their business which of course like everything has its plusses and minuses.

An issue here as mentioned before is the long protracted subject of Liverpool Airport's (John Lennon Airport) runway expansion. A decision on this has been on hold for some time.

It seems to me that Green Party acitivity in the village could produce fairly positive results in terms of both residents and the Green Party's interests particularly in view of the runway issue. Unlike the Greens none of the parties in Halton are against runway expansion because of isues like climate change although at times the Lib Dems appear ambivalent on the subject.

But its also struck me from chatting to people here because of the closeness of the community and the popularity of the councillor (Labour) who has held the seat for some time that the likelihood of taking the seat in the near future would be minimal.

But as I've mentioned in a previous blog several people in Hale have expressed an interest in having the opportunity to vote Green at local and general elections.

So we'll see what comes of my tentative contacts with a few local residents that I've had in the past couple of weeks.

The Greens position in the polls continues to be encouraging and over the next few days I'll be concentrating on other areas of Widnes. Please help if you can - 0151 423 1692

Halton Euro Campaign trail 4

2009-05-18T11:45:00.000-07:00

Unable to leaflet last Friday in Hale owing to family committments. But Linda and I did manage to do some in the pouring rain in the Farnworth area of Widnes Friday evening.

Several people have said that apart from the leaflets through the post no other party has been out leafleting to date. And at least one person mentioned that they'd vote Green because of this.

I'm sure that when people saw us wandering round in a sodden mess they either thought we were mad or believed strongly in something!

Went out for a short period today - seemed to be warmly received by people.

Recent opinion polls augur well for Greens polling around 11%. The BNP are currently on 4% - this could change and particularly as Nick Griffen is lead BNP candidate here in the north west more BNP resources could be used to push and bolster their campaign in this area. So no time for complacency - if there was ever a candidate who should win a seat here it's Peter for all sorts of reasons - so I'll be out leafleting hopefully till June 3rd. Please join us if you can!

Halton Euro Campaign trail 3

2009-05-11T05:23:00.000-07:00

Day 4 of leafleting - still in Hale.

Positive vibes today. The majority of people I spoke to, with all the revelations in the press about expenses, were talking about considering voting for the Greens in the Euro elections. Including a couple of gentle 60ish men. A bit more of a balance compared with yesterday!

It makes a real difference though talking with people if they are around and they are with this current sunny spell. I'm sure I half persuaded some people to consider voting Green voting tactically to keep the BNP out.

Probably the best bit of the session was meeting a woman who wished she could vote Green in both general and local elections in Hale. Apparantly her children who live away are both Green voters. Will be following this up.

Discovered that the national Green Party election material had been delivered in the Hale area. It was interesting to note that several people had actually read the leaflet and key words like 'fourth party' sprang to mind. And without being a sexist a lady actually related to me where Peter lived and that he had a young child. So I guess on this limited anecdotal evidence the message is getting through!

Unable to leaflet now for three days owing to child committments. If there's anyone one out there in Hale who's received our local leaflet I'd love to hear from you even if you're not a Green supporter.

Back in Hale on Friday!

Halton Euro Campaign trail 2

2009-05-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

Third day of leafleting in beautiful Hale with the sun shining and those delicious aromas of May buds bursting out all over the place with tempting smells of herbs.

As elections mostly occur in May surely we should latch onto the idea of providing free local aromatic floral tours to people who'll leaflet for us. We must have mapped out these ward routes many times all we need to do is list the flora en route something the Green party should be eminently capable of doing!

No I've not taken to the madness of the May hare although I was saddened not maddened on meeting my first Halean resident who was a mild sixtyish person who lived in a tidy bungalow which smelt of those Sunday lunches when mum was around.

I explained the reasons for tactically voting Green to keep the BNP out when he said that's the Party he'd be voting for. I was speechless but he gently took the leaflet off me and I'm sure would have offered me a bite of lunch if I hadn't looked so well fed.

Linda (my wife also leafleting) said that's perceptions for you and that it was also the beauty of life - full of surprises.

To her the mild mannered person was hankering for the fifties when he was young and things made sense and most things were black and white (pardon the colourism). I added patronisingly that he probably read the tabloid press and his views had been moulded over the decades.

It was just that he was so nice and definitely going to vote and I thought of all those other so nice voters dotted all over the place and was saddened.

Still we delivered a weighty number of leaflets including some of our own local ones. The latter we're hoping will encourage local residents to get involved with us in time for next years council elections - Here's hoping!

Euro Campaign trail

2009-05-09T12:38:00.000-07:00

Out yesterday and today in the Heath ward area Runcorn leafleting.

Some good feedback in relation to Peter's campaign. When I was discussing the ins and outs of tactical voting in the Euro election (as if i know!) and the reason why the person I was speaking to should vote for the Greens, ie partly to stop the BNP, the potential voter intimated that he'd read the article in the Observer and he was having a good think about voting Green.

Yet another, a Conservative councillor, was aware of the need for tactical voting but whether this is transmitted into a vote for the Greens who knows!

Leafleting in the beautiful village of Hale tomorrow - we'll be putting out our local leaflet as well as the regional one.

Green Party candidate for the Euro Elections interviewed in the Independent Newspaper

2009-05-04T08:02:00.000-07:00

Peter Cranie the North West Green Party's candidate for the Euro election this June was interviewed in the Independent newspaper today.

Peter, who was leafleting last Friday with me in Widnes, will be contesting one of the seats in the North West region against Nick Griffen of the BNP. He has knowledge of our local problems and was involved in our campaign in the council elections last year.

He's very hard working, committed to social justice and green issues and has also been involved directly in the Merseyside Coalition against racism and fascism.

Here's the unedited version of the article that appeared today,

"An anti-racism campaigner has emerged as the candidate who could stop the British National Party chairman Nick Griffin winning a seat in the European Parliament next month.
Peter Cranie has been chosen by the Green Party to stand in the North-west, where the BNP's hopes of winning its first seats in a nationwide election are highest. Respect, the left-wing party headed by the Bethnal Green and Bow MP George Galloway, has stood aside in the region and is urging its supporters to vote Green to stop the BNP.
The Greens, who already have two MEPs, are making a major push in the North-west. They are convinced that that the proportional representation (PR) system used in the 4 June elections makes voting Green the best way of denying the BNP victory and the significant boost in funds from the Strasbourg parliament that would follow.
Under the PR formula, all votes received in a region are added up and the first seat is given to the party with the highest number. The votes for that party are then divided by the number of seats it has already won in the region plus one (for example, if a party has won one seat, its remaining votes would be divided by two). The party which then has the highest number of votes gets the next seat. This process continues until all the seats are allocated.
At the last European elections five years ago, Labour and the Tories each won three of the North-west's nine seats, the Liberal Democrats two and the UK Independence Party (Ukip) one.
Ukip's fortunes have declined since and election experts believe the crucial battle affecting the BNP's chances will be the one for fourth place behind the three main parties. The region will elect eight MEPs this time.
Mr Cranie, a 36-year-old father of one, has been preparing for next month's fight with the BNP for three years. A leading member of the Merseyside Coalition Against Racism and Fascism, he stood down from his job as a lecturer so he could devote more time to the European elections. He now works for the parenting support charity Parentline Plus.
The three main parties insist that the voting system is such a "lottery" that supporting them is the best way to beat the BNP. But the Greens are appealing over the heads of the three parties in the hope of encouraging tactical anti-BNP voting. They are also working hard to mobilise the ethnic minority vote.
Mr Cranie told The Independent yesterday that he could not "guarantee" that a vote for the Greens would prevent the BNP from winning a seat, but insisted that it offered the best hope of achieving that. In the 2004 European elections, the BNP won 6.38 per cent of the votes in the North-west and the Greens 5.55 per cent, so the Greens claim they are the most likely party to overtake the extreme-right group.
Mr Cranie, the Green Party's national spokesman on children, schools and families, has jobs as his main campaign theme. "A Green vote is a vote for jobs," he said. Accusing the BNP of "dog whistle politics", Mr Cranie added: "In an environment of economic fear and insecurity, the seeds are being sown – racism and intolerance – by a party that in its constitution bars any person because of the colour of their skin and the home of their ancestors."

Scaremongering and Antartica!

2009-04-10T08:50:00.000-07:00

I was a little surprised and disheartened to see a letter a few weeks ago in the 'Weekly News' which was captioned in large print accompanied by photos "Greens Case on Speed is Discredited"

The thrust of the letter relates to previous letters in the paper from un-named persons about speeding and HGV's in Moorfield Rd and Barrows Green Lane Widnes. These letters were critical of the council doing little about the problems and in one of them mention was made of the fact that only one person (ie yours trully) was the only one trying to do something about the issue (The lorry watch scheme I presume).

The writer went on to say after a preamble, which talked about how the Green Party was against another Mersey crossing and was in favour of tolling the existing bridge and how this would bring more HGV's to the area, that the council and the Halton View Action Group plus police had done quite a bit (flashing speed restriction signs and speed guns) in relation to the problem of speeding. The Green Party according to the writer was nowhere to be seen in all this activity but, "... are quite prepared to frighten people by overstating the case".

The assumption by the writer was that the letters were politically inspired, The writer states, "The danger of speeding is not one to be used by un-named letter writers from Barrows Green Lane for political purposes".

I have to say that I am not behind any of these letters and have no idea who the writers are.

I think the second mersey crossing issue is a complicated one and the Green Party's position on this can be viewed in an earlier blog(26/06/08. It would seem (note seem) though that the second Mersey crossing is tied up with many development schemes (eg Eddie Stobart) in the area which undoubtedly if they all come to fruition will probably (note probably) increase not decrease the potential HGV usage of local roads.

The writer of the letter in my opinion was right in saying that local politicians have been trying all sorts of ways in improving traffic problems in the area but the other issues she raises in my opinion are not quite correct. I am not going to respond directly to this letter (I think?) and join in a round of personal criticism with few of the players listening to alternative points of view. I'm sure there'll be others willing to take up these particular cudgels - maybe!

I can only assume that the writer (I could be wrong with paranoia taking over)herself is politically motivated and her response might be related to my involvement with the "Lorry Watch Scheme" which local residents and myself set up in partnership with Halton Trading Standards at the end of last year. I can only say that the scheme is not a Green Party domain - it's community inspired and community run and we have tried hard to involve everyone living in the area.

One of things that I dislike about party politics is the attitude of the proponents of party's that their position is the correct position that they're the only ones with the truth, whatever that is. It's also the competitiveness the need to win votes to be seen as the only body in the locality doing anything about this and that.

I find it difficult personally because of this, sometimes, to become involved in a particular local activity without a voice within me saying "Am I doing this to win votes or what!" To counter this I try to ensure that whatever I get involved in is ethically sound and where my heart is - I think that's all that anyone can do. Whether you're winning votes or not is by the way really - that's my justification - sorry to sound greater than thou!

If I am to be accused of any scaremongering however it's not in the area of speeding but, I have to admit, on the incredibly important topic of climate change. Now somebody writing to the paper about this little sin of mine I'd applaud!

Something happened Tuesday last, April 7th, that has pushed my scare mongering to untold heights. None other that The Times newspaper on page 2 (leading articles column - I never thought this day would come so soon!) headlines were, 'A Sudden Chill - An ice bridge in Antartica has disappeared from the map. This is a defining moment that means the world must move much faster against climate change'

Briefly it commented on the fact that last weekend a 25 mile strip of ice believed to be stabilising the enormous Wilkins ice shelf collapsed. What's alarming to scientists is the speed of events taking place in Antartica. The ice shelves are collapsing far more rapidly than anticipated 15 years ago. Scientists such as Jim Hensen of NASA fear that predictive models of how the climate is changing could be misleading as recent evidence is showing much more rapid change with unknown consequences.

As individuals, local and larger communities we must act now to ensure that leaders at the UN summit in Copenhagen this December take the necessary dramatic action that will move away from the incredibly slow pace that world governments are progressing at on this issue. Otherwise, I believe, we leave ourselves in a very dangerous position.

A non party political group of us are hoping to arrange some events this year in Halton to highlight the issue and to look at what we can do ensure that we and our politicians are doing as much as possible to tackle the challenges that lie ahead.

For further information keep reading this blog - please!

The Age of Stupid - what can we do?

2009-03-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

Not sure how many of you are aware of the world premiere of 'The Age of Stupid' (docu drama) recently which involved the reminiscing of an old man (Peter Postlethwaite) 50 years into the future about whether we could have prevented climate change.

Liverpool Green Party are organising a meeting at 'The Fact' cinema 88 Wood Street (behind Bold Street Liverpool) on 31st March 6pm to 8.30pm to discuss what we can do about the issues raised in the film.

John Coyne Liverpool Green Party councillor in a press release sums up what the meeting will be about:-

"We are running out of time if we want to avoid an irreversible climate catastrophe.

Many of us are already taking steps in the right direction to change the way we live. The Green Party offers the challenge to do more. There are political routes to avoid climate chaos..

Using your vote is a low-carbon action. Working to elect more Greens in local, national and European government sends an eloquent message to today's decision makers and serves notice on them that they will be replaced by tomorrow's Green decision takers.

There can be plural political routes. Sincere activists in other parties can use the credible electoral threat from the Greens to move their own parties' programmes in the right direction.

There are fundamental differences. In the current economic crisis, the other parties are desperate to have us rescue the world trading system by buying more stuff – and accepting the extended debt to do that. On the contrary, the Green Party sees no future in endless economic growth – the planet cannot sustain it. We need to find ways to have more fun with less stuff.

Because the climate crisis is so urgent, the Green Party is entitled to ask any environmentalist to suspend their dislike of party politics and, for a few crucial years, to lend their support to the Greens.

Some people will not be comfortable with engaging in party politics of any persuasion. Maybe the imminent threat of climate chaos changes our comfort zones?

Our meeting will explore all political routes to avoid climate chaos".

The issue of climate change was one of the main reasons I became involved with the Green Party and this continues to be the case.

I shall be going along to the meeting. If any one else is interested in attending please let me know. I reckon its going to be a really interesting and creative event!

Derek 0151 423 1692

Landscaping what do you want? me moaning!

2009-03-10T00:23:00.000-07:00

Halton council are going through a process, presumably like several other north west region authorities, of developing areas of their landscape ensuring that it 'fits in' and dovetails with regional needs.

They had a meeting, open to residents, which I attended a couple of weekends ago. A presentation was given about the aims of the project and then participants were asked for their views about their local area, what landscaping features they wanted maintaining and future developments etc.

The event had been publicised in the local press and various relevant organisations had been contacted about it. There were 10 participants!

It's a shame that so few people attended. However I'm not sure whether this figure could have been increased substantially by for example mailing all residents about the event even if it were viable in terms of costs. When we tried to get people involved in a Lorry Watch scheme in Halton View recently by leafleting and personal contact, out of approximately 200 residents we got one response!

Of the people who were present there were none from areas that perhaps were more in need of landscaping and improvements in street furniture. The environment we live in effects us on so many levels and according to research is fairly crucial in relation to our feelings of well being.

It was a case of the voices being listened to being the ones who had more direct access to the resources available. I thought of one estate area in Halton - Halton Brook were apparantly there are no landscaped garden areas only a run down green area in the centre of the estate. Maybe there are plans for some initiatives in Halton Brook but the council reps did not give me the impression that any were planned.

It seems that the development team, a private consultancy agency plus the council's 'landscaping' section will be talking directly with other groups in Halton. Lets hope they get to the parts others can't reach.

Having said all that another feeling I had was that it was good to be living in a community were you did have an opportunity to have your say - we need to take care of our democracy by supporting it!

Council response: Multi-recycling blue bins in Moorfield Rd

2009-03-02T03:58:00.000-08:00

I got this response from Halton council regarding the multi-recycling blue bins situation in Moorfield Rd Widnes (see blog 24th February).

It seems that residents in a part of Moorfield Rd are able to multi recycle but not so in another part.

However as stated in the text below the council will be writing to residents not covered once they know more about availability.

"Many thanks for the information regarding Mr...

I have spoken to the section once again and they have confirmed that at present the only collection for Mr .... is the paper and green waste collections and NOT the multi recycling. We needed the address to be totally sure of this.
As yet there are no definate plans to extend the multi recycling to specific areas but we are hoping to acheive this is the near future.

I apologise for not being able to give you a more positive answer but we will write to the residents of Moorfield Road once we know more information on plans to extend the service to them.

Kind regards
Customer Service Advisor
Halton Direct Link"

I think we'll have to keep asking the question!!

Stop that Carrot from Sinking!

2009-02-25T10:52:00.000-08:00

Recent research on the rate of global warming has given me some semi sleepless nights recently and prompted this particular blog.

Prof Chris Field told the American Science conference in Chicago in February 2009 that global temperatures will be beyond anything previously predicted. He said that even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had underestimated the rate of change, and that warming is likely to cause more damage than has hitherto been forecast.

The IPCC projected only last year that the world needed to reduce its carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 based on the assumption that Artic summer ice may be gone by the end of the century. However recent research is indicating the summer ice could be gone within 5 years - so this figure needs to be radically readjusted.

Apparently for the world to be relatively safe it’s necessary to keep the temperature rise estimated for the end of the century at less than 2%. Currently we are heading for a projected 6% which will have devastating consequences for us all - ie without sounding melodramatic the end of life as we know it!

How is the UK performing? If we consider all carbon emissions including aviation, shipping and carbon emitted in other countries for goods consumed in the UK then we have increased our emissions by 8% since 1990. Even without including the latter we are barely breaking even.

What should we do? - well shout about it to all and sundry, lobby your MP, organise email petitions to Gordon Brown (or find out if there are any active ones currently), contact your councillor ( is our council aware of these recent findings and if so what initiatives are we planning to do about it is as a council). The list could go on…

In the final analysis if we are to tackle the problem effectively head on it’s obviously got to be at international level.
As Danny Chivers (New Internationalist) put it, “Imagine ten rabbits lost at sea in a boat carved out of a giant carrot. The carrot is there only source of food, so they all keep nibbling at it. The boat is shrinking rapidly but none of them wants to be the first to stop, because then they’ll be the first to starve. There’s no point in any of them stopping unless everyone stops – if even one rabbit carries on eating, the boat will sink”.

That’s why the Copenhagen talks on climate change at the end of this year are going to be so crucial. With a new US administration in toe perhaps there will be real progress who knows? But we all have a responsibility this year to push for the international single mindedness necessary to meet the challenges facing us all. We owe it to future generations.

So shout as loud as you can, stop that carrot from sinking!

Blue Bin Recycling Scheme - Wrong Post Code!

2009-02-24T09:38:00.000-08:00

The issue of the new blue bin recycling scheme being available to as many residents as possible continues.

An older person in Moorfield Rd Widnes asked if I could help him in recyling tins bottles etc as he was very keen to do as much as possible re reducing landfill use.

He does not have a car and his nearest recycling area is a 30 minute walk away. So at the moment he has a mountain of cans and nowhere to put them!

I've emailed the council about the matter as follows,

"I have been approached by a resident in Moorfield Rd Widnes in his eighties who is trying desperately to recycle tins bottles etc but is hampered because of not living in an area that is part of the new blue bin scheme.

Could you tell me if his property will be receiving this particular blue bin service in the near future?

Derek Mellor"

I think the council should respond positively to people in this person's position by perhaps looking at other ways they could help in the short term.

I'd like to hear from anyone wanting this service and not receiving it at the moment. Give us a ring on 0151 423 1692

Lorry Watch - progress report.

2009-01-29T12:22:00.000-08:00

The pilot Lorry Watch scheme which had been set up as a joint venture between residents and Trading Standards and ran from October to December last year has resulted in approximately 40 firms being contacted by the council regarding HGV's using local roads that have weight restriction orders on them.

Following on from information provided by volunterers Trading Standards are currently writing to keepers requesting details of drivers in order to issue warning letters.

It was a pity that a press release at the beginning of the scheme was not released as it might have encouraged other people to become observers. As it worked out there were only 4 of us able to offer any time and this unfortunately was limited.

Trading Standards has promised to contact us to review the project and to see whether it can be extended.

Halton seems to becoming the mecca of the HGV with such developments as Eddie Stobarts and the proposed Rail Freight terminus at Ditton in the offing. We need to take action now as this problem is not going to go away. So if you want to do something about the ever increasing numbers of HGV's on our roads locally and you have some spare time please consider helping out.

We can make a difference as other Lorry Watch Schemes in the country have shown and it can be enjoyable and satisfying (and I'm not sad) doing something in the community for the community rather than sitting back and complaining expecting others to do it!

Contact Geraldine Marchment Trding Standards at Halton Trading Standards 01925 442445 or ring me for a chat 0151 423 1692.

Derek

Obama and Widnes Resident's Success!

2009-01-20T12:10:00.000-08:00

Two things that happened today have genuinely uplifted me.

First, I’m sure like millions of others, I consider that the inauguration of Obama offers the world a new start in a shift from the old politics of seeking self interest to a new era of pushing for a more sharing and caring world.

But for me personally it’s also the emphasis that Obama placed in his inauguration speech on meeting the challenges of climate change. If he is able to stick to his prime goals in this area then the future security of the world, particularly of the poor of the third world, will be enhanced.

The other uplift came in the form of the success of Derby Road area residents in persuading a St Helens Planning committee meeting to turn down yet another proposal for the restart of quarrying and subsequent land filling at Bold Heath quarry.

Councillors at the meeting accepted the arguments put forward by residents that the development should not go ahead on health grounds and the increase of heavy goods road traffic in the area.

London Airport Expansion - what a disaster!!

2009-01-17T07:43:00.000-08:00

Caroline Lucas sums the decision up

'The Green Party said this evening that the decision to allow Heathrow to build a third runway was indefensible and
immediately put Britain in breach of European air quality guidelines.

Green Party leader Dr Caroline Lucas MEP said the announcement was "irresponsible, deceptive and environmentally disastrous."

Dr Lucas said: "This decision demonstrates a complete contempt for the environment, for the health of UK citizens and for our democratic processes.

"A third runway will have disastrous consequences for residents in my South East constituency - leading to serious environmental damage and social upheaval through increased pollution, and the destruction of local communities."

Dr Lucas warned that the Transport Secretary's proposals for Heathrow would condemn the UK to an unsustainable future of significantly higher noise and air pollution - and to accelerating climate change. "Any government which, on the one hand pledges to make a significant reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020, and on the other gives the green light to the greatest expansion of aviation in a generation, is guilty of either the most shameless hypocrisy, or the most unforgivable ignorance and stupidity," she said.

The MEP and long-standing campaigner against the expansion of the aviation industry added, "Despite the promises which were made to limit further expansion, this Government has persisted in a deceptive campaign for a third runway
which its own figures estimate will almost double the number of flights using Heathrow each year.

"Whichever way you look at the Government's proposals on aviation, they are a social and environmental disaster. What we need is a sustainable transport policy which incentivises train travel, makes aviation pay its true costs and restricts airport capacity."

The Tories and Lib Dems have quite rightly expressed their opposition to the announcement. It's a shame that locally they don't oppose in a similar the expansion of Liverpool airport if they are really serious about tackling climate change. Check out Peter Cranie's blog at www.petercranie.blogspot.com re further discussion.

The Good, the Bad and the wake up call?

2009-01-08T11:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

As life’s about positives and negatives, the negative first in these first few weeks of the new year.

Apart from the credit crunch, and what a fine mess some people have got us in, I was saddened to see the latest figures related to how the UK is doing in relation to reducing carbon emissions and the fact that, contrary to what the present government is suggesting, we are moving away from our Kyoto targets.

Check out “Measuring Progress towards Carbon Reduction in the UK” in “Britain in 2009”, an Economic and Social Research Council publication. Research featured in it suggests that we continue to miss our targets for Kyoto if we take into account emissions from aircraft and shipping and goods consumed here but produced elsewhere.

According to Kyoto reporting, UK carbon emissions have fallen by around 6% since 1990 If we include aviation and shipping emissions this 6% is wiped out. Furthermore if we look at figures linked to goods consumed here yet produced abroad the UK’s carbon emissions have risen by at least 8% since 1990. As the author comments, “Policy must consider all carbon emissions induced by UK consumption. Viewed in this way the UK’s task ahead is truly daunting”.

The positive - our children – Linda and I are blessed by having 3 beautiful grandchildren. Joe, now 3, is my soul mate and makes me think there could be something in reincarnation, he’s been here before! The other two Oliver and Oscar are now 9 months old and truly are quickly becoming themselves if that doesn’t sound too much like stating the obvious, but I think you know what I mean!

We spend a lot of time with them, it’s tiring but mostly very rewarding. It’s all that wonder of new discoveries and often this brings into dazzling focus the beautiful world we live in.(if we look for it in those terms).

If we put these negative and positive images together it’s surely a wake up call. It’s certainly the main reason I got involved with the Green movement 6 years ago and it continues to be the main motivation in my involvement with the Green Party. Climate change is bigger than the threat of terrorism and the credit crunch (easy to say I know if you’re not too effected) but we’re talking about all our children and grandchildren’s future safety and even possibly, given the worst scenario, their survival.

The more Green candidates that are elected at whatever level, the greater the pressure on governments here and abroad to recognize the fact that more and more people are waking up to the dangers of climate change and are prepared to alter their behaviour. This will further ensure the greater likelihood that Kyoto targets are met.

In June this year we’ll be voting in the European elections. Our Green MEP candidate for the north west is Peter Cranie (a new dad!). He lives in Liverpool and is aware of our local problems. Apart from being a new dad he is an experienced political activist and commentator. He has an academic and social work background and his professional and lifetime experiences have equipped him to be aware and sensitive to people's needs. His organisational abilities are first class I know personally as he helped us here in Halton with our successful 2008 campaign.

We have a chance to respond to this wake up call, by voting Green, by voting for Peter Cranie.

(If you want to know more about Peter's vision and views check out his blog at www.petercranie.blogspot.com - see bottom of this page for a link)

Bold Heath Quarry - update

2008-12-17T10:41:00.000-08:00

I attended council planning meeting re Bold Quarry at St Helens last week along with members of Bold Heath Residents group.

The news isn't good as the scheme was not turned down on a majority vote as it was on the last occasion but councillors have opted for a site visit before making a decision.

The Bold Heath Residents group need to obtain professional consultancy advice if they're to be as effective as they are able to be in stopping the development. I don't think that St Helens council will consider an appeals route if it's not seen as being viable

I give a brief outline of what I think transpired at the meeting:

The developer has applied for planning permission several times in the past but has been turned down mainly on the grounds of ambiguities in the application details (ie insufficient infill material available during the time scale of operations) and on health grounds. The proposal includes the quarrying of sandstone to a certain depth and the infilling with waste building material. The developer has had previous permission to quarry on this site.

Opponents have argued on grounds of increase traffic, pollution noise and health issues (silicone dust) and water table problems in relation to the quarry being used as landfill site.

At other attempts in the past the developer has not been able to prove that there would be sufficient infill as mentioned above. However according to council officials advising the meeting the regional Waste DPD plan is indicating the need for more landfill space for inert material (do images of the second crossing come to mind!)

One of the main arguments used by opponents in the past has been the dust issue. There is a potential for crystaline silica dust, if unchecked, to be spread widely in the area. Inhalation of such dust can cause silicosis a health condition which is of course irreversible.

Ironically, officials argued that the provisions attached to the present permission that the developer had does not have the level of safety checks and enforcement re the dust that the current proposal has. Thus voting against the proposal would mean that the existing permission that the developers have would have fewer safegaurds than the proposal currently before the committee. (The quarry however has not been worked for some time)

In their arguments opponents discussed the situation in the local geographical area in relation to airborne pollutants and the relative poor health of residents in the wider St Helens and Halton communities although no direct causal inferences were expressed.

However recent reports had indicated the need for a precautionary approach with regard to any future activity which would increase the possibility of increased pollution. (e.g. a study of people's health in Halton 2001 suggested that,’… whilst monitored levels of pollutants meet national standards knowledge of impact of long term exposure to low levels of pollution from airborne and land contaminants is limited. Based on the precautionary principle it is sensible to both monitor pollution levels carefully and to seek cost effective ways to continue to reduce them to the lowest practicable levels”. Halton Health Study Lancaster University 2001p8)

Notwithstanding these arguments an officer from planning stated that the standards set by the St Helens authority re air quality in the Bold Heath area is not being exceeded!!

The argument in relation to seepage into the water table of toxins from landfilling material even inert material when mixed with existing contamination in adjacent agriculutural land was countered by officials who talked about the EA's ongoing monitoring of this problem.

At least one councillor wondered whether any 'health advice' could be provided regarding the particular issue of airborne pollution. This was not specifically responded to by officers.

If you are able to offer support to the Bold Residents Group in any way please let me know.

I Should Have Gone Yesterday!

2008-12-07T02:41:00.000-08:00

I should have gone yesterday. It was the climate change demonstration in London although you would never have thought it had happened as far as media coverage is concerned. Climate change is the greatest challenge we have ever faced. It hasn't gone away, it's still with us even with a new apparantly green leaning US president.

The EU is currently discussing proposals regarding tackling the issue but it has faltered in a couple of vital areas mainly through member states self interest (see www.stopclimatechange.net)

The EU situation of course is reflected in the positions we take as individuals - what's important for us is today, next week, next month, next year and how are we going to exist financially as the credit crunch finally starts biting. And if we consume less what's going to happen to the economy?

But, and it's easy for me to say this as I'm relatively well off, it's possible to tackle the challenge at whatever level we are able to. The state has a massive role to play eg developing a 'green' economy but we as individuals can also do a lot. (See this blog 117/10/08) And the good thing is there are many positives in the process of individuals saving energy,saving money.

It's not just in the area of financial benefits though. The situation that we find ourselves in pushes us to reconsider our values. Is there a need to buy this, can we do that another way? In this new mindset there’s a possibility that we’re entering into a more creative style of living. We’re not being carried along by consumerist society so much as being more in control and reaping the benefits of self assertedness.

Are these living in a daydream grand words? We’re going to find it hard. Aren’t we comfortable in doing what we’re doing? Change can be painful but do we have a choice?

I should have gone yesterday!

Bennett's Lane Secure Unit given the go ahead!

2008-12-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

The Dept for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Inspectors(?) has come down in favour of giving the go ahead to the mental health secure unit in Bennett's Lane Halton View Widnes.

Although this decision was anticipated it will still be a big disappointment for residents in the area who fought long and hard to have the project changed.

There is an obvious need for these units, although I wonder about private sector involvement, but I would question a unit being built in such close proximity to a residential area and also the way the developers went about pursuing the proposal.

The other issue is the apparant lack of scrutiny that all members of the three main parties on the development and planning committee seemed to exercise.

In hindsight it's difficult to know whether greater scrutiny would have achieved a different result although we know in other areas were similar projects were on the cards such scrutiny prevented some of these developments.

One of the plusses which has occurred over the past eighteen months or so in relation to this issue is how it has brought residents together. It has shown that, with determination ordinary people can question effectively developments which are considered to be impacting on their lives.

In this case unfortunately the odds were stacked up against Halton View residents although they did hold up the opening of the unit for over 12 months.

Now its important that with the unit up and running that residents can be assured that it is as secure as it needs to be.

Fed Up With being Dumped On?

2008-11-29T02:42:00.000-08:00

There's to be a meeting at St Helens Town Hall Victoria Sq St Helens to consider a planning application re a landfill site adjacent to Derby Rd on 9th December at 5.30pm Room 10.

Residents have successfully challenged this over the last few years but the developers have, once again, put in another proposal.

If it goes ahead not only will it mean all sorts of possible harmful emissions in the locality, possible effects on water table, dust and noise nuisance but also increase the number of HGV's in an area which is already inundated with such vehicles (see other blogs re this subject).

You can help by contacting the councillors on the planning committee in St Helens and letting them know of your objection. Also it would show local strength of feeling against the proposal if you could attend the committee meeting on the 9th.

With all the suspect developments taking place in this area residents have a perception that they are constantly being dumped on with proposals that very few communities would accept. This is not so much nimbyism but fudoism - fed up with being dumped on!

Don't just think it, do something about it!

If you are able to help in any way please let us know and amongst other things we can tell you which councillors to contact and sort out travelling arrangements if you can attend the meeting - phone Derek 0151 423 1692

Save Money - Save Energy

2008-10-17T01:54:00.000-07:00

With the recession hitting, Halton Green Party have recently published in our latest newsletter information on how to save money by saving energy. I thought it would be ueful to include it on the blog. Anybody with other ideas please comment.

SAVE ENERGY – SAVE MONEY!

Product / Yearly Savings

Cavity wall insulation /£110 (grant avail)

Combi Boiler /£100

Dish Washer ‘A’ rated /£13

Washing Machine ‘A’ rated /£5

Double Glazing /£110

Draught Proofing /£20 (grant avail)

External Wall Insulation /£250

Floor Insulation /£40

Fridge Freezer ‘A’ rated /£35

Gaps floor and skirting /£15

Hot Water Tank Jacket /£30

Internal Wall Insulation /£210

Kettle – Eco Kettle /£10

Light bulbs energy saving /£35

Loft Insulation /£140

Solar Panels /£100 (grant avail)

Television Set
Integrated digital /£6

Wind Turbine /£200

Programmable Room
thermostat /£125

“A” rated efficient windows /£167

For information on grants contact Cheshire Energy Efficiency Advice Centre on 0800 512 012.
Please note these figures do not take into account the original outlay of money spent on the products and also that some are figures provided by the manufacturers.

You can save money also by using timers on central heating, lowering thermostat by 1 degree, placing aluminium foil behind radiators, using 30 degree wash cycle, wringing out or spin dry wet washing before tumble drying, using
low temperature programme on your dishwasher, switching appliances off and not leaving on standby eg TV’s (can save up to £37 per year), switching lights off when not in use, closing curtains at dusk, installing a shower timer.

Please note all the above information is given in good faith and Halton Green Party cannot be held responsible for
any errors in relation to the estimated saving figures shown above - please check with Cheshire Energy Efficiency Advice Centre to confirm possible savings.

Safer Streets!

2008-10-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

Residents, Green Party members and myself recently attended a meeting with Geraldine Marchment senior trading standards officer at Halton Borough Council to discuss the setting up of a Lorry Watch pilot scheme to cover Moorfield Rd and Barrows Green Lane. These roads have a 7.5 tonne weight restriction applied to them.

Since this meeting leaflets have been distributed locally asking for people with a couple of hours to spare a week to become volunteer observers to note down HGV’s travelling on the roads concerned.

This information will be passed on to trading standards who will in turn contact the relevant hauliers. Trading Standards have the power to initiate court proceedings against offending firms but it is hoped that these firms can be persuaded to restrict HGV movements in the area without resorting to such measures.

The pilot scheme, that will operate between October and December, will hopefully determine whether there is a need for a full Lorry Watch scheme to be set up in the area.

Some training will be given.

If anyone can help ie become a volunteer observer (you don't have to live locally) please contact me on 0151 423 1692

Derek