Legal Challenge Appeal

From Stop Hinkley, about their campaign against nuclear power: Locally, West Somerset Council decided at the end of July to allow EDF to carry our preparatory work for Hinkley C. This would mean desecrating a large area of West Somerset countryside, including ecologically sensitive areas with national and international conservation designations, and even before the company has secured permission to build the nuclear power station. Despite the fact that the application has met with universal disapproval from local residents, the Council has blindly forged ahead, forgetting whose interests it is supposed to represent.

At the moment there is a pause whilst the Council finalises the planning conditions attached to this permission. Once properly ratified, there will be a 12 week period during which this decision can be challenged.

Finally, EDF's application for a sea jetty (as part of the Hinkley C preparations) has gone to a public inquiry to be heard in November.

We are currently taking legal advice about which of these decisions Stop Hinkley should challenge, but whichever we choose, the financial burden will be huge. There won't be much time to raise these funds, so with this in mind we would like to ask all Stop Hinkley supporters to make a donation to our legal challenge appeal - no matter how large or small. Click the link below for details on how to donate:

Legal Challenge Appeal

New blow to Bristol City's Ashton Vale stadium plan

BRISTOL City FC have suffered another blow in their hopes for a new 30,000-seat stadium at Ashton Vale – the future of the site is now expected to be settled in court, which could take weeks if not months to resolve.
The Evening Post can exclusively reveal that an application for a judicial review over Bristol City Council's "split site" town green decision is expected to be made in the next few days.

This is Bristol New blow to Bristol City's Ashton Vale stadium plan

Nuclear consultation

Received from the Environment Agency: We are consulting on two environmental permit applications we have received from EDF Energy's new nuclear build company, NNB Generation Company Limited (NNB GenCo) relating to operation of a nuclear power station at their Hinkley Point site. All comments must be with us by 6th October 2011.

Environment Agency - Hinkley Point, Somerset

Opposing the 'South Bristol Link' (ring road)

Passing on details of this group and campaign (campaign postcards are now available I think): For the past five years, Transport for Greater Bristol Alliance has opposed the West of England Partnership's proposal to build a new road through South Bristol and its greenbelt. A previous application to build a road by North Somerset was turned down by the Government in 2002 as 'poor value for money'. As originally proposed in 2006, the road was seen as completion of the Ring Road, a dual carriageway running between Long Ashton through South Bristol to link up with the existing Ring Road at Hicks Gate. The Council decided to drop Stage 3 (Hartcliffe to Hicks Gate) due to strong local opposition. The road was renamed the 'South Bristol Link' and a Bus Rapid Transit has been added. The SBL is now being sold as an essential part of a wider BRT network. We continue to oppose the current scheme.

On 9th Sept 2011, the Partnership (four local councils) is applying for funding to the Department for Transport (DfT) for this £45m scheme along with BRT2 (Long Ashton P and R to Cabot Circus) and BRT3 (Northern fringe to Hengrove). TfGB has produced postcards addressed to Norman Baker, Under-Secretary of State for Transport for members of the public to use to object to SBL (deadline 7th October). You can get postcards and further information from pip_sheard@hotmail.co.uk. On the campaigns page is a four page briefing outlining details of the current scheme and why we believe the combined road and Bus Rapid Transit is poor public transport value for money and environmentally damaging and should be rejected by the DfT.

Transport for Greater Bristol

Schumacher Centenary

The Schumacher Centenary Business Dinner will take place on Friday 7th October from 7:00pm and 11:00pm. The venue is @Bristol. This marks the beginning of the Schumacher Centenary Festival that runs over the weekend of the 7th to the 9th of October, 2011. The event is sponsored by Sustain – a carbon reduction company.

The evening will be a reception and talks followed by dinner to celebrate the centenary of E.F. Schumacher with various guest speakers including: Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director, European Environment Agency; John Whitmore - leading business coach, author of 'Coaching for Performance'.

It will also be a chance to meet the speakers who are talking the next day. They include: Peter Blom, CEO of Triodos Bank, authors Bill McKibben and Prof Tim Jackson, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas and co-founder of the Transition Towns movement, Rob Hopkins.

Tickets can be obtained from http://schumachercentenary.eventbrite.com/

If you would like any more information about this event, please don't hesitate to contact Lucy Fleetwood at The Schumacher Institute for Sustainable Systems www.schumacherinstitute.org.uk