Severn barrage: not cost-effective (now there's a surprise - NOT!)

The Frontier Economics report into the Severn Barrage is damning ('Severn barrage is the costly option', Bristol Evening Post, 12 June). Statements like 'the barrage is one of the most expensive options for clean energy generation there is' and 'Considerable new evidence would be needed to make a large barrage in the Severn estuary an attractive option' mean that its simply not cost-effective when compared to the range of clean, green energy sources that can be used, including some that could be deployed to harness the tidal energy from the estuary. This should be no great surprise considering the massive, resource intensive and time consuming civil engineering exercise needed to get the barrage, in contrast with the rapidly developing field of new renewable energy technologies. Yes to renewable energy, including tidal energy, but lets have the most appropriate technologies deployed according to a properly planned, cost-effective energy strategy.

I've been plugging away with this message on the barrage for some time now! (see here for a whole string of postings with this very message about the dodgy economics of the barrage in them).

Sustainable living: an essential not a luxury add-on

‘Sustainable living is all very well, but people also have to get on with living their lives’ concluded Bristol Evening Post feature writer Suzanne Savill’s piece about alternatives to petrol and diesel (‘Think about it’, Bristol Evening Post's Seven Magazine p3, June 7 2008). This is an illogical, contradictory statement since if we don’t live our lives sustainably we will not be able to ‘get on with living’ them. The ‘alternative’ to sustainable living is one that by definition cannot be continued ie its unsustainable.

Her statement sounds to me like a denial of problems that are real, serious, and urgent, like peak oil production and climate change, which are inseparable from soaring food and fuel prices. Best science and economics tells us we have to adjust and adapt our lives, which means fully embracing sustainability’s key concepts: efficiency; renewability; environmental limits; meeting needs; fairness here and around the globe, for both present and future generations.

Sustainability is not an add-on luxury, its an essential – though our government has failed to lead on this, get this message across and make it easier for people to make practical, sustainable choices.

Craziness of axing bus routes - how does this encourage bus use??

Axing bus routes seems a crazy idea (some have been 'saved' but others axed, 'Bristol bus routes saved from closure', Bristol Evening Post, 10 June). Aren't we supposed to be encouraging people to get out of their cars and on to buses etc ? Axing routes will make it less convenient for people to get on the bus. My goodness, all this comes at a time when its been proposed that new bus routes are built over or next to green spaces like the Malago Greenway (and before that the most popular cycle path in the UK!!). First are a million miles away from running the bus 'service' as a proper public service in the public interest. Lets take buses out of private company hands.

Make the green switch

Some useful green tips, tools and links here:

http://www.biggreenswitch.co.uk/

Price of diesel reaches £1.30/litre in Bristol....

I've been giving my reaction online to the news that the price of diesel in the Bristol area has reached £1.30 per litre ('Dismay as diesel rockets to £1.30', Bristol Evening Post, 9 June). We should have been weaning ourselves off all oil products for decades now via very large scale investment in: energy efficiency; public transport, walking, cycling; support for local economic development; renewable energy; research into alternative fuels... Given that previous Tory and Labour Governments have made green claims one would have thought this would have been done but it hasn't. Now the security, stability and affordability of our lives has not been assured as a result of this inaction. It does not look to me like fossil fuel (and food) prices can have anything but an upward trend over time as the scarcity of this finite resource can only grow.

Those who for example react to describe not living close to work and being poorly serviced by buses/trains correctly highlight two aspects of the issue that need to be addressed very urgently (and that we should have begun addressing at least two/three decades ago when greens were, as now, advocating localised development etc). Having said that, whilst I appreciate the individual circumstances some people are in, there are many who could choose a greener alternative (nearly half of all car journeys are less than 2 miles long).

Government has completely failed to make it easier and more convenient for people to make green choices however and so they need to take the lion's share of the blame here. Re-allocate just a quarter of the road budget and in ten years we could build light rail systems in eight cities, create 10,000 people-friendly home zones, put £4 billion into cutting train and bus fares, £1 billion into rural transport and another billion into transport for disabled people. Add to that safe routes to all our schools and colleges and tens of thousands of new jobs and it's money well spent (see here for more detail of green transport policies).

Another green route threatened by bus rapid transit proposals

Here we go again, its just like the nonsense and now dead proposal to run buses down the Bristol to Bath Cyclepath/Railway Path - green space, wildlife, cyclists, walkers, along the Malago Greenway ie all that's ecological, could lose out due to a proposed Bus Rapid Transit route ruining it ('Bristol green route under threat', Bristol Evening Post, 6 June). Find more rational routes, consider modes of tranport, like Ultra Light Rail, much more fully, consider turning existing road space over to public transport. Its irrational to diminish what is greenest in this way.

The fight to save Bristol primary schools...

Another campaign to save a Bristol primary school (in addition to the Stockwood Green campaign publicised recently), this time at St Georges C of E ('Campaign to save Bristol School is launched', Bristol Evening Post, 6 June, 2008). Very good luck to them. For the council to shut some primary schools and merge others to create fewer and bigger schools is shortsighted and driven primarily by financial considerations. It should be the quality of education that comes first - and its a case of small is beautiful on that score because each child gets more individualised attention and teacher-pupil-parent relationships are likely to be closer. Where is the council taking account of the ecology of the interrelationships ?

Biofuels, food prices, biodiversity, Spiderman, meat - or the connection between them all??

I've wondered, should I decide to post today, world environment day, just what I would write about.

Perhaps the latest warnings about biofuels causing higher world food prices as discussed at the UN food summit in Rome, featuring strongly on the BBC news this evening?

Or the recent report 'The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB)', described as the first major report to outline the economic impact of cutting the variety of life (severe impacts on the worlds poorest and costs of up to £40 billion every year, 7% global GDP decline by 2050 if ecosystem damage is not tackled...) ?

How about saying that Alain Robert, the French Spiderman, has today been in New York City climbing a huge skyscraper to promote the message that we need real leadership on climate change from the G8 countries meeting next month (According to him "The Solution Is Simple":
1 – Stop Cutting Down Trees. Plant More Trees. 2 – Make Everything Energy Efficient. 3 – Only Make Clean Energy.).

I'm conscious that I've not posted much on the subject of diet and environmental impacts, in particular the amount and type of meat eaten, so perhaps something on this topic, reasonably well discussed on Newsnight a few days ago following comments from the head of the UN climate agency, Yvo de Boer, who is attending UN-led climate talks in Germany this week that we should all become vegetarians. After all in times of high food prices should we, at great environmental cost, be feeding grain to cows and pigs instead of people?? I really like meat but its a highly inefficient food to produce and consume and I acknowledge the very strong ethical, ecological, economic and health case for vegetarianism and veganism (I try to keep my meat consumption right down - I'm not a veggie).

Interesting how intimately intertwined issues of environment, energy, economics, food, climate and personal choices/behaviour are isn't it.

Knowle sustainability and quality of life group: success!

As you may have noticed in the right hand column my pledge to start a group called the Campaign for the Achievement of a Sustainable Knowle (CASK) has succeeded in reaching its target of 10 people, though of course more can still sign up! We will continue to spread the word (any locals interested in helping or finding out more please email me!), meet up as a group asap and make some initial plans. Many thanks to the people who have signed up in support, to work on areas like: lobbying for far better, cheaper public transport; much better cycling and pedestrian provision; protecting, enhancing and if possible increasing Knowle's open, green, natural spaces; pushing for the retention and improvement of locally available facilities, services, and jobs; education for sustainable living; promoting local energy saving and the micro-generation of energy; arguing for more local, ethical and organic food availability; encouraging home and allotment grown food; people taking personal responsibility to be more environmentally-friendly; and promoting broad based public participation in community life.

http://www.pledgebank.com/

http://www.pledgebank.com/yesCASK

The story of stuff

http://www.storyofstuff.org/ really worth going here (watch the short film below).
Ok the examples are often American but the message is universal. So, just where does stuff come from, where does it go, and what effects does the coming and going have??

Sustrans' annual 'Change Your World' campaign

Received the message below from Sustrans and signed up to support the campaign (although my travel by car and in general is already pretty low).

Sustrans' annual ‘Change Your World’ campaign kicks off today with the launch of www.changeyourworld.org.uk . To join in, tell us you'll swap a car trip during the first week of July and walk, cycle or use public transport instead.

Please consider doing you bit by supporting this campaign, perhaps committing to cut your car use even more if you can (the rising price of fuel and the spiralling of climate change impacts gives plenty of incentive for this!). What I really want from the government is concerted, significant and sustained action and investment into walking cycling, public transport (trains generally, light rail, buses...) and car clubs, to make minimising car use easier - let your PM, MP and local councillors know if you agree!!

The Green Party website says 'Re-allocate just a quarter of the road budget and in ten years we could build light rail systems in eight cities, create 10,000 people-friendly home zones, put £4 billion into cutting train and bus fares, £1 billion into rural transport and another billion into transport for disabled people. Add to that safe routes to all our schools and colleges and tens of thousands of new jobs and it's money well spent.' Eminent good sense given the twin problems of peak oil and climate change.

Money before quality of education for Bristol's primary schools??

So, 'Bristol City Council says that small schools do not give the best value for money for council tax payers.' ('Parents in school closures protest', Bristol Evening Post, 3 June 2008). Many, many teachers, parents and pupils will disagree with this very strongly indeed and may well say that it is financial considerations rather than childrens education that seems to be uppermost in the council's mind.

In a smaller school community all teachers, pupils and parents can get to know each other better and stronger, more educationally beneficial relationships can be established. This clearly adds to the quality of education for every individual child, as testified to by the parents protesting and indeed by Ofsted when they said last year that at Stockwood Green Primary 'everyone feels involved, trusted and valued'. I hope the council rethinks their plan to have fewer, bigger primary schools (see previous posts on this here and here).

Happiness: no laughing matter

Given the incessant drive for material gain, as expressed by the fact that the overwhelming priority of government is to achieve more and more economic growth, one could be forgiven for thinking that you can somehow buy happiness. On the contrary however, there is a wealth of evidence, as discussed at the Bristol Happiness Lectures held on May 17 2008, to show that this is not the case. Despite being much wealthier than in the 1950’s one survey for the BBC series The Happiness Formula showed that in 1957 57% of British people said they were very happy compared with just 36% in 2006. In most economically developed countries those saying that they are happy has been static or falling for 50 yrs.

So, what is going on here? Does wealth not count towards happiness at all? Happiness research shows that once people reach a certain wealth level, some say £10,000/yr, others the national average income of about £23,000, more money does not on average make people or the country happier.

Why this is so has been explored by people like psychologist Oliver James, one of the key speakers at the Bristol Happiness Lectures along with Dr Chris Johnstone from the University of Bristol, in his books Affluenza (derived from the terms affluence and influenza) and The Selfish Capitalist. An affluenza suffering society is where people are overloaded and stressed due to fast, urban lifestyles and long hours of work. They are often in debt, anxious, depressed and wasteful/polluting because of their dogged pursuit of more and more. People try to ‘keep up with the Joneses’ but gain no fulfillment from this as they go around the viscious circle of consumption.

Buying does not generally make people happy – apparently walking through a shopping mall increases stress and lowers self-esteem (whereas walking in the park or countryside relieves stress). Our society clearly does assign a high value to money, possessions and appearance, making affluenza and associated emotional distress more likely. It may also promote the banishment of negative thoughts in place of realism, even though people like James and Johnstone say this is not always advisable. Those banishing negative thoughts may well play down threats in place of facing them and may go further, taking riskier decisions than is wise. It strikes me that this could be a part of climate change denial for instance.

Enough of the negative! What can be done to make us happier? Dr Chris Johnstone says that its meaning, purpose and facing up to world problems that builds happiness. He sees very strong connections between sustainability and happiness issues – tackling one helps tackle the other. Contented families, strong local communities, meaningful work and building a future that is cleaner, safer and more efficient is what is needed then. Economically it mean addressing inequalities and emphasising stability, security and localisation in place of growth and globalisation ie different goals and adopting a different world-view. This means transforming politics, which is what Greens are about.

Green Bristol Blog

Bristol has gained another green blog: http://greenbristolblog.blogspot.com/. Welcome to the blogosphere Chris Hutt !! For strong, well argued views on a greener Bristol, particularly with respect to transport matters, Chris is your man.!!

Bristol's other green blogs apart from this one:

Green Councillor Charlie Bolton

Bristol Greengage

Any other local bloggers who regards themselves as green - feel free to get in touch if you want!!

Rational debate on city's waste issue??

Looks like a case of the pot calling the kettle black for Councillor Judith Price Labour's Bristol City Cabinet member for Homes and Streetscene. In her letter ('Clarifying the 'clarification' on waste debate', Post 31 May) she called for '...a practical, non-political approach tempered with cold reason and logic to come up with the best solution...' for dealing with Bristol's waste mountain.

However, elsewhere in her letter she offers up very personal criticism of Lib Dem Councillor Gary Hopkins, to whom she was replying, by stating 'he always knows best' and later that 'he sneers' and that 'his side of the debate is fuelled by emotional hot air'. These observations may or may not be true but they are certainly not the kind of debate her own letter calls for!

Much of the rest of her letter is in fact very party political - who did what and when stuff, intent on laying blame with the opposition and deflecting it from Labour. So much for the rational approach that 'is needed'! Little wonder that debates on key issues often become poor when such insult and naked party-politics are brought into play.

I note that no-one from the council has chosen to reply to my, rational, contribution to the waste debate published in the Post recently (adapted from this blog post). In it I made a, rational, case for opposing mass incineration, pointing out that incineration with energy recovery is a mere fourth out of five in the waste management hierarchy. I asked why in these so-called green times government and council have not worked more effectively together on the top three priorities: waste avoidance/reduction; reuse; and recycling. If we dont address the waste issue correctly, focussing on the top priorities first, we will not build a green city and country. Will Councillor Price oblige me with a reply??

Brown doesn't want to retreat from his 'green agenda' - but he doesn't have a proper green agenda to speak of!!

Gordon Brown says he does not want to retreat from his 'green agenda' (reported here). If he had a real and proper green agenda the Labour Government would have done a great deal more to wean us off oil and we would then not be so badly affected by the high price. However, his frequent green talk is not matched by the kind of investment and policies we need on energy efficiency, public transport, green energy and support for local economies.

Our Prime Minister's thoughts on nuclear power provide another good example. Yesterday Gordon Brown strongly advocated more ambitious nuclear plans, with some building in new locations as well as replacing nuclear stations on existing sites (see here). The day before however the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority said that the costs of cleaning up the dangerous radioactive mess from existing nuclear sites has soared to £73 billion (see here for more) !! Doesn't make more nuclear sound like good economics or good ecology does it - we know that the government and our money is the ultimate insurance when things go badly wrong and get dirty and dangerous with this so-called 'clean' power source.

Arguing that nuclear power is somehow green has always been ridiculous - the case against it is very strong indeed.

Knowle West people start their own smallholding with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall...

I've blogged before on how 'There are few ways to become greener better than changing attitudes towards food, so much of our footprint is food-related - grow your own, cook your own, go local, go fresh and unprocessed, go organic, go high fruit and veg'. No surprise then that I'll be tuning in to watch River Cottage Spring, the new series with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall tonight at 9pm, Channel 4. I've generally enjoyed his programs in the past and generally agree with a lot of what he's had to say about food and knowing where it comes from (see RiverCottage.net for more). There is added interest for me tonight because, according to the Radio Times website Hugh '...challenges five Bristol families to turn an acre of derelict city land into their very own smallholding - and food doesn't get much more local.'

It turns out that the people concerned live in Knowle West, not far from me, and like me are part of the Knowle West Carbon Makeover Project (which I will blog more about in the coming months - its an award-winning project). Perhaps I'll try to have a chat with the local people involved in the program to find out exactly what the whole experience has been like so far (the food production and involvement with tv production and personalities...). One thing I'm fascinated by is Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's statement in his Radio Times magazine interview that 'We've found an obscure law that suggests that if six or more households from an area request land to grow food, their local council has to respond.'. Will more be revealed in tonight's program?

More green talk but little/no green action on renewable energy

I recently wrote to my MP, Kerry McCarthy about renewable energy, especially generating on a small scale in many local situations (see here and take a look at EfficienCity for a great vision of a greener city whilst you're at it). I received a letter of reply a few days ago in which she states,

'I...support an expansion in our renewable energy generating capacity. I believe lessons can be learned from Europe in introducing the feed-in tariff and think that this is an area that should be further investigated to assess its suitability for the UK.'

Frankly, talking about further investigation is just not good enough because we've needed significant action for some time now - Germany has 200 times more solar power than the UK and we are very near the bottom of the EU renewable energy league along with places like Luxembourg and Malta !!

Why have successive governments not done much more? They have been more than willing to talk green whilst the consequences of dependence on coal, oil and gas have grown, with ever-rising fuel and food prices biting hard for instance. The long term stability, security and affordability of our economy depends a great deal on us breaking our oil addiction but governments have not made this happen.

Environment - essential for everyone, everywhere.

This blog is about '...our real wealth - the natural world, the source of our resources and the basis of our lives...' as the top of the page asserts. It was great to see the Chief Executive of the government advisory body Natural England, Dr Helen Phillips strongly supporting this position last week in The Independent following the publication of the major report State of the Natural Environment 2008. The truth is that the environment is absolutely essential for everyone, everywhere.

As I have throughout many blog entries (a few examples here, here, and here), Dr Phillips describes how nature is a necessity not a luxury because it: provides vital public services; gives us the basic necessities of clean air, clean water and productive soils; provides the raw materials for energy production and construction; makes a major contribution to health and wellbeing; provides the foundations of our cultural identity; gives us pleasure and underpins tourism and recreation; and has the capacity to take in and store the the carbon causing climate change, as well as soaking up the excess water that causes serious flooding. Natural England's report shows massive decline in nature, despite the fact that straightforward solutions exist.

Teach pupils/students to think freely and develop their character rather than processing them by testing!!

Thought it was worth reproducing in full (below) a story ('Exam system is fatally flawed') from the Bristol Evening Post, 24 May 2008. Head teacher Peter Fraser makes makes some great points that I agree strongly with, having previously opposed what I call 'education factories'. There is far too much emphasis on testing and targets and not enough emphasis of the development of thinking, creativity and character in the education system, largely due to the stranglehold of central government who have imposed a system that has been narrow and inflexible. I want an education system that emphasises quality of experience and quality of relationships.

A Bristol head teacher has pointed out a "fatal flaw" with exams that dominate the lives of young people.

Peter Fraser, of Colston's School in Stapleton, said continuing to train children to "jump through the hoops" to meet exam targets risked creating a generation who could not think for themselves.

"Children in England remain the most tested in the world," he said at the school's annual prize-giving day.

"They are out of lessons for at least 46 weeks of their secondary schooling to sit exams."

The annual cost of exams is in excess of £200 million, a 50 per cent rise since Labour came to power in 1997, and educational progress is defined and directed by a target-driven culture.

"In simple terms, better test results equate to a better education, and central Government looks to exam outcomes rather than pupil experience as their measure.

"If pupils do better in tests, then they must be better educated and standards must therefore be higher.

"But there is, I believe, a fatal flaw. Every test becomes another hoop, and we can dutifully train young people to jump through without questioning whether the process has any lasting or meaningful educational benefit.

"Eventually we will prevent pupils from thinking critically, evaluating, analysing or even questioning what is presented to them.

"They will, of course, be very good at jumping through hoops."He said pupils faced ongoing and increasing tests of their honesty, reliability, sincerity, generosity, tolerance, humility, resilience, determination and compassion.

He said: "Should they fail these, they fail as a person regardless of their paper qualifications.'

He wants young people to:

* do new things, not simply repeat what others have done;
* be creative and imaginative;
* be critical of, not simply accepting, everything they are offered;
* seek to be the best they can be;
* take pride in what they are as people;
* be defined by their personal qualities, values and conviction;
* go into the world and make a difference.

He said: "I am concerned that they should experience an education, rather than be processed by testing.

"Mr Fraser reported that 96 pupils would join year seven at Colston's in September.

He said last year had seen exam success with 49 per cent of all GCSE grades secured at A* and A. At A-level, 66 per cent of grades were A/B.

Refurbishment of laboratories, upgrading of sixth-form facilities and expansion of boarding facilities would shortly begin, adding up to one of the most ambitious periods of development in the school's 298-year history.

Bigger is not better if we want a quality education for our children.

Wrote to the local paper today (text below) re-emphasising a point I've previously made about the plans to have fewer and thus bigger primary schools in Bristol. I certainly would not plan primary education in this way.

We need 'human-scale' approaches to life, especially in education and thus I'm very concerned about these plans for fewer, bigger primary schools ('Schools to close in shake-up', Bristol Evening Post, 23 May 2008). In bigger schools there is a danger of pupil-adult relationships, vital to learning, suffering in a more impersonal, less individualised environment. And what about the role played by schools in local community life? And what of the environmental impacts and the road safety aspects of having to travel further? It seems to me that there are very dubious motives behind wanting to have fewer, bigger schools - saving money at the expense of better quality education for children

50 ways to green your...school/college/university

Lots of interesting, creative ways to make your college/school/university greener here:

http://www.collegeathome.com/blog/2008/05/20/50-ways-to-greenify-your-classroom-and-campus/

Take a look! You may also be interested in the idea of adopting an environmental charter, as I've discussed before.

The following may also be useful:

http://eco-schools.org.uk/

http://www.ecocampus.co.uk/ (note the awards to institutions in this region of the UK: silver to Bath Spa University and bronze to the University of Bristol).

Green talents seeking to be MEPs for the South West

Whilst the Greens are a smaller party than Labour, the Lib Dems or the Conservatives my experience is that there has always been a pretty concentrated wealth of talent and experience present in it. This is certainly reflected in the Green list of candidates for the South West European elections 2009. There are people: working as councillors; who are teachers, lecturers, GPs and in business; who have studied, researched and written extensively in fields such as Economics, European Studies, and Health; with considerable leadership experience and skills (two of the candidates being former national party Principal Speakers for instance). I could easily go on to describe more. Full details from here.

As number one on the list Councillor Ricky Knight has a good chance of being elected next year - at the last European elections the highest % of green votes outside London and the South East (where Green MEPs Jean Lambert and CarolineLucas were re-elected) was obtained in the South West region. Greens do invaluable work in the European Parliament, have a good history of success in Euro elections across countries and have been able to work very well together as a group (Greens/European Free Alliance).

Reuse before recycling: praise the local milkman

Its great to recycle bottles in this way ('23 million bottles recycled in a year', Bristol Evening Post, 15 May 2008) - but even better and more environmentally friendly if we were reusing bottles instead. Unfortuneately we are not gearing up our society to take this better option. Lets sing the praises of the local milkman, who provides us with at least one clear way of reusing bottles over and over again!!

The argument for reuse is put very well here (summarised in the extract below):

Reuse keeps goods and materials out of the waste stream
Reuse advances source reduction
Reuse preserves the “embodied energy” that was originally used to manufacture an item
Reuse reduces the strain on valuable resources, such as fuel, forests and water supplies, and helps safeguard wildlife habitats
Reuse creates less air and water pollution than making a new item or recycling
Reuse results in less hazardous waste
Reuse saves money in purchases and disposal costs
Reuse generates new business and employment opportunities for both small entrepreneurs and large enterprises
Reuse creates an affordable supply of goods that are often of excellent quality.

None of them really want to run Bristol: so why do they stand for election??

Just take a look at the report in todays local paper ('Labour shocked to be in power', Bristol Evening Post, 14 May 2008) if you want confirmation (which you probably dont) of the pathetic group behaviour of Tory, Liberal and Labour Councillors on Bristol City Council:

Liberal Democrats on Bristol City Council have been accused of "bottling it" after passing up the opportunity of taking power, leaving a clearly stunned Labour Party still in charge.Labour council leader Helen Holland had every reason to expect she would be replaced by the Lib Dems' Barbara Janke after the council's Conservative group announced it would no longer back Labour in crucial votes. Instead, she held on to her £29,000-a-year job and announced afterwards that it would be "business as usual" over the next 12 months.
The drama unfolded at the Council House, on College Green, during the annual meeting of the 70-member "hung" council......

What an absolute fiasco! Sounds to me like none of them actually want to run the city at all!! So then, on what basis did they stand for election? Why did they bother??

Bristol Indymedia Launches Indycycle – Recycle Your Unwanted Stuff!

I've been asked to give a plug to the press release below, which I'm
happy to do!!


Bristol Indymedia is please to announce the launch of our Indycycle
service. Indycycle a website similar to the ideas of Freecycle.
Indycycle is a way of people re-cycling things they no longer need
to people who may have a user for it. For example if you had an
old bike you did not need, rather then throw it out to landfill,
why not offer it to somebody else who may need it. Indycycle is a
great way of us consuming less resources, stopping things going to
landfill and building stronger communities. This system is based
on the ideas of the freecycle movement, we don't aim to replace
freecycle, but to use our website to build on the ideas and make it
even easier to pass your items on.


All items must be offered for free – no exchanges or cash are
allowed. For the person offering an item, they get to clear space
without needing to make a journey to the tip and for the person
taking the item, they get something they need for free.


Indycycle allows you to post an item you don't want (or are looking
for) to the site along with a description, photo of the item and
your postcode. This means users can search for and see items they
may want but also how far they need to travel to pick it up.


A Bristol Indymedia volunteer said, "We are really excited about
the addition to what Indymedia does, we hope it will further build
on the many green projects, campaigns and initiatives in the
region. We see this project as a natural evolution of what
Indymedia does – trying to connect people using democratic forms of
media."


To use the Indycycle system please go to:
http://bristol.indymedia.org/indycycle/index.php


Image:
http://bristol.indymedia.org/graphics/indycycle/trash_logo_front.gif
Contacts: please email imc-bristol at lists dot indymedia dot org
and bristolindymedia at googlemail dot com

Notes for Editors;
1.Bristol Indymedia is a volunteer-run open-access news website
composed of the news, views, images and videos of its
readers/contributors. It is part of the global Indymedia movement,
a project focused on grassroots non-commercial news written by
ordinary people. For more on Bristol Indymedia see:
http://bristol.indymedia.org/about_us


2.The Indymedia movement is a global phenomena with its roots in
the global protest movement of 1998/1999. Using the emergent power
of the Internet and unhappy with the coverage of protests and the
issues that created them, the Indymedia (or IMC) movement has
expanded to over 100 sites in Europe, the Americas, Asia, the
Middle East and Australia and specific projects on global issues
such a climate change. For more information see:
http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/FrequentlyAskedQuestionEn

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and the danger, yes he said danger, of reason

Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor's standard of argument on Radio 4's Today progam this morning was apalling (he obviously sticks more to faith than thinking). His view is that societies would degrade into totalitarian dictatorships such as those under Hitler or Stalin if based on reason alone. Yes, this is an accurate summary of one of his main points, such as there were, when questioned by John Humphrey's about why we should believe in god and why religion should have the very prominent place it has in our secular society (you can listen to the interview again here, as well as an earlier one with Prof Richard Dawkins giving the atheist view).

He sees reason as dangerous!! Does the Cardinal not see that rule under Hitler and Stalin was certainly not based upon reason? Does the Cardinal not see that in fact faith (in a leader and in a single ideology like Nazism or Communism...) played an enormous role in the dictatorships of Hitler and Stalin? I think the reverse of what the Cardinal said is in fact true - we are much more likely to be ruled over by a dictator, including (or perhaps especially) a religious dictator, if we dont see and use the full value of doubt, questioning and reason.

The Cardinal wants '...improved dialogue between believers and non-believers to establish the shared values that sustain Britain’s plural society.' The dialogue in the interview was a very, very poor start at this 'improvement'. Science and reason cannot and will not ever explain everything fully. It should not be regarded as the be all and end all of knowledge types. However, the answer to questions like: who designed the designer that, apparently, created us? (what designer ?) ; and what is a good explanation of how life came about? (evolution by natural selection), means that I will remain of the view that the existence of god is extremely unlikely until much better evidence and arguments surface !! It is indeed convenient for Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor to describe god as 'mysterious' !!

We shop therefore we are ??

We shop therefore we are ?? How many more shops do we need ??

I was very struck by the local paper’s recent double page celebration (‘You will remember to shop, wont you?’, Bristol Evening Post, May 5 2008) of something it says was ‘built using…cutting-edge design and technology’. Maybe it was, and my original training and first six years of work experience was as a technologist, but I’m afraid I still cant share in the enthusiasm the article tries to generate and sustain about a …giant car park! Ok, it’s the big, new car park at Cabot Circus featuring ‘eight floors’, ‘nine decks’ and ‘2600 spaces’ but we have built ‘one of the largest multi-storey car parks in Europe’ at a time when we are all supposed to be going green !!

Amongst the many hundreds of words accompanying some pretty good photos that had obviously taken some thought and effort were ‘…every element has been designed with the motorist – and shopper – firmly in mind.’ Which confirms, if indeed confirmation is needed, that high consumption is still very much the order of the day and the basis (can it really be this?) of our society.

Perhaps we’d all like to think that we are moving in a green direction, as recent publicity for BETS Expo 08 and Tesco’s labelling of a number of products with their carbon footprint illustrate (see here and here), but by any reasonable, accepted measure we have made precious little, if any, general green progress. If the Cabot Circus development, supported by all political colours on Bristol City Council except Green, is anything to go by – and it is the number one development in Bristol at present – we are continuing to take major backward steps. We cant drive and shop ourselves green now can we !

Row over the introduction of corn starch bioplastic bags in Bristol is the wrong row to have!!! The council seems to be ignorant of world events.

There should indeed be a political row over introduction of corn starch bioplastic bags for use in the city's brown bin recycling system - but it certainly should not be this one! Squabbling over the details of how they are introduced shows just how little the bigger political parties truly understand what it means to be green ('Political Row Over Bags for Food Scraps', Bristol Evening Post, 7 May 2008).

Clearly the bags should not be introduced at all and we should continue to contain brown bin food waste in material that already exists, such as used newspaper or other waste paper such as paper bags. Just like the push for biofuels has helped to force up food prices so has the push for bioplastics. In addition just as there is great controversy about how biofuels actually increase environmental impacts instead of decreasing them, so the same argument applies to bioplastics. As soon as you start to grow crops for turning into fuel or plastics you are competing with food production and are clearing land as well as using chemicals and fossil fuels for the farming and processing. (There are a multitude of news stories about this issue eg here and here).To be sustainable biofuel and bioplastic production should be from waste oils and fats that already exist.

Council policy on making corn starch bags available, originally spearheaded by Knowle Lib Dem Cllr Gary Hopkins, which all parties apart from the Greens agree on, is based on ignorance of the facts I'm afraid. Don't councillors follow current events by at least watching the news??

How noisy are the different parts of Bristol??

Really interesting article in today's local paper on noise mapping in Bristol ('Map shows the way to peace and quiet', Bristol Evening Post, 6 May, 2008). Some great work has been done by Steve Crawshaw and colleagues in the council's Environmental Sustainability Unit. I look forward to further work that may follow, such as on a noise strategy and a noise action plan - we really would have a much better quality of life with a less noisy environment and lets not forget that very often work to tackle noise (eg lowering speed limits in key places) will help to tackle other problems like air pollution. To find out more about noise issues you could do worse than look here and here to get you started.

Pressure for development in South Bristol is intense - how often will it be appropriate??

Good on John Button, Elmtree Residents Association and all who are supporting them in their campaign to protect open, green space in Whitchurch ('Hundreds Back Town Green Bid', Bristol Evening Post, 6 May 2008). There's no doubt that as Bristol City Council and their developer friends scrutinise South Bristol's parks and green spaces locals will need to get involved and make their voices heard if the true value of such land to the quality of our lives is to be fully respected. After all Bristol City Council has already taken the decision to flog off 90 acres, establishing the principle of flogging off green space without specifying which areas - there is intense pressure for development but how often will it be appropriate??

Vote green for: boosting the local economy; a stable, secure and healthier life; communities that can be sustained; fresh politics!

Copy of my letter below (published in today's Bristol Evening Post), as sent recently, urging voters to reject tired old politics and vote Green. Its a very big day for the Green Party with voting taking place across the country tomorrow (see http://votegreenparty.org.uk/ and http://sianformayor.org.uk/). Greens are on the up - with over 700 candidates standing, a major national newspaper (The Observer) calling for voters to support Sian Berry for London Mayor, and high hopes for continued and even stronger performance in places like Stroud, London, Norwich and elsewhere - so watch this space later this week for comments on results.

______________________________



It should be no surpise that food prices are rising, causing many problems here and around the globe, especially for those already extremely poor of course. The problem is that in practice countries have done nothing to create economies that can be sustainable, economically and environmentally. World population has more than doubled since 1950, stimulating demand.


Consumption in countries like the UK and USA is sky high, whilst consumption is very rapidly rising in places like China, India and elsewhere, resulting in fuel use which has more than quadrupled since 1950. More demand for fuel means higher prices.


We have speculation in the wheat market by 'investors' (gamblers). Growing world meat consumption and the use of land to grow plants for biofuels and bioplastics instead of food, in the deeply mistaken belief that it is a green action, has pushed food prices up by stimulating demand.


More people, more fuel use, more resource consumption, more land taken for farming, emissions and efficiencies due to rising meat consumption and the rise in transport intensive lifestyles has resulted in climate change. In turn droughts and floods from climate change have lowered food supplies in key places, putting upward pressure on food prices.


Yet despite what seems to me to be a viscious circle the big political parties continue to promote the same old economic expansionism, high and growing consumption and increasing global trade. In contrast it is economic localisation that we need here and around the world. A stable, secure and affordable economy would result from this approach, creating a conserver society. Our health and general wellbeing and that of our environment would also be much better in such a society and it could be sustained on into the future and around the globe. Voters should thus reject the same old politics, advocating the same old economics from the same people and parties.

More on economic localisation here.

Bragging on: love, music, hate, racism...

Really enjoyed seeing Billy Bragg in concert at the Colston Hall last night. I'm a long time listener to and admirer of his music and share his liking for the work of people like Woody Guthrie.

I agree with many (though not all) of his political views, not least opposition to fascism, racism, bigotry, sexism and homophobia. He has many interesting things to say about reform of the House of Lords, Independence for Scotland (which he, and I, favour), a Bill of Rights (great idea!)and national identity...

He of course had plenty to say during the concert (!), including outlining how he'd been supporting teachers in their recent strike action (they do have a point in my view - we need to ensure we are able to recruit sufficient, well qualified people to teach), the alternative St Georges Day concert and plugging the Love Music Hate Racism 30th Anniversary Carnival due to take place this Sunday, 27 April in Victoria Park, London (more details on the carnival here).

More on Billy Bragg and his work here.

Here comes the...solar power??

Had a message from Friends of the Earth's Christian Graham the other day saying that 'Germany has 200 times more solar power than England'. Quite a stat!

The message explained that this is because 'German households and businesses get paid a renewable energy reward for the solar power they generate. This is known as the 'feed-in tariff' and has helped make Germany a world leader in renewable energy'.

Why cant we have the same here? We should be told!! http://www.solarplayoff.org/

More on this issue:

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefing_notes/feedin_tariff.pdf

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefing_notes/renewable_energy_tariff.pdf

I was very happy to lobby my MP Kerry McCarthy on this issue by sending the email message suggested by Friends of the Earth (below):

The UK's record on renewable energy is a national disgrace. Germany has more than 200 times more solar power and ten times more wind power installed than the UK. Germany has a quarter of a million people employed in their renewables industry. We have only 7,000 in the UK.

One of the reasons Germany is so far ahead is their adoption of a feed in tariff policy which pays consumers and businesses a long term, guaranteed, premium price for the renewable energy they generate. It is a renewable energy reward (sometimes also known as a feed-in tariff).

Please support New Clause 4 to the Energy Bill, to be debated in Parliament on 30th April. This would introduce a renewable energy reward into the UK. Failure to do so could delay the adoption of this transformative energy policy by three years.

We are near the bottom of the EU renewable energy league table. No further delays are acceptable in adopting the policies which will deliver a dynamic low carbon economy.

A day in the life of an excellent MEP

Its well worth a look at this short film on the work of excellent Green MEP Caroline Lucas here:

http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/3384

She certainly covers ground and demonstrates her committment and leadership through work on a wide range of issues. It seems to me that when you elect a Green at any level of government you get really great value for your vote!!

More on Green MEPs here:

http://www.greens-efa.org/cms/default/rubrik/6/6270.greensefa_org@en.htm

http://www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/

http://www.jeanlambertmep.org.uk/

No Chinese weapons for Zimbabwe: petition...

Just signed a petition calling for a to stop the Chinese weapons shipment to Zimbabwe. At this delicate time, the international community must rally to bring democracy and stability--not weapons--to Zimbabwe.

The more people sign the petition, the more powerful the international call will be--so please forward this link to friends:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/no_arms_for_zimbabwe/98.php/?CLICK_TF_TRACK

Thanks!

'Save Our Caretakers' - lets hope Labour live up to their fine words in practice as city reviews caretaking

Credit to Cllr Charlie Bolton for opposing the potential loss of residential caretakers and firmly backing residents in flats (see his blog entry here, published as the lead letter in the Bristol Evening Post on Saturday 19 April 2008) - and indeed unions, tenants...who have already very clearly made a stand to protect their security, wellbeing and quality of life. My great worry is that Labour wont live up in practice to what they (eg Dawn Primarolo MP and Southville Cllr Sean Beynon) have said in the very recent past about 'saving our caretakers' - the text quotes below are from the local Labour website. Lets hope Labour (and their current Tory friends and allies on Bristol City Council) remember the fine words below as the city review of caretaking proceeds.

Labour campaigns to protect 'essential service' for residents, 2 Feb 2007

Dawn Primarolo, Labour MP for Bristol South, today joined with local people to protest against Lib Dem plans which threaten the position of resident caretakers across the city. Labour's councillor for Southville, Linda Salter, and local activist Sean Beynon were also there to launch Labour's petition against the proposals.

Dawn met with residents at Chalcroft House in Ashton to assure them that Labour was on their side. Afterwards, she said:

"Caretakers provide an absolutely essential service for people living in blocks of flats across Bristol. We fear this Lib Dem policy is a sneaky first step towards getting rid of caretakers altogether. These City Council proposals seriously affect the terms and conditions of new employees, and even those staff who have given many years of loyal service will only be protected from the Lib Dem axe for a limited time".

Frank Baker, Chairman of Chalcroft House Residents Association, agreed:

"Lots of people in Chalcroft House gave up three bedroom houses in return for a promise from the City Council that we would have safe and secure flats. If we lose our resident caretaker, then the security of every resident will be compromised. There is also no way that off-site contractors could keept the communal areas of the block so clean and tidy. We are very lucky here to have a fantastic caretaker and we aren't going to give up without a fight".

Commenting, Linda Salter, who is also Labour's Spokesperson for housing in Bristol, said:

"The council's plan was rejected by trade unions, and tenants have shown overwhelming support for their caretakers. It's a shame that the Lib Dems teamed up with their Tory friends on the council to pass this policy, but residents and caretakers know that Labour will stand up for them".

Sean Beynon concludes:

"The council wants to carry out a shake-up of the whole system next year, so it's vital that we act now. We will keep up the pressure on the council, and have started to distribute petitions and 'Save Our Caretakers' posters to residents in flats across Bristol".

and

Labour condemns 'backdoor privatisation', March 2007

Hundreds of residents have joined Labour's Sean Beynon and Linda Salter in fighting the Lib Dem City Council's attack on resident caretakers in blocks of flats across Southville and Ashton.

"We're very concerned that this drastic cut in the benefits available to new employees is actually a sneaky first step in getting rid of the caretakers and replacing them with the lowest bidding off-site private contractor", Sean explains. "We don't believe these agencies would be able to provide the service that residents rightly expect, which is why we are fighting these plans".

Over two hundred flat dwellers have already signed Labour's petition calling on the Lib Dems to reconsider their plan to cut caretakers' employment conditions. "Most of these residents are older people who really value the caretaking service", Linda says. "But they can't fight the Lib Dems on their own. We're doing our bit to back them, but we need everyone else in the area to rally round and show their support as well".

If you agree with us and think the Lib Dem City Council should urgently think again, text* 'Save Our Caretakers', together with your name and postcode, to 07835 751538.

* charged at your standard network rate

Great Knowle biodiversity asset

Great article about Arnos Vale Cemetry in the local paper ('New life among the gravestones', Bristol Evening Post, Saturday 19 April). What an asset to the biodiversity of Bristol (and Knowle!) this site is. Excellent work by Mary Wood and the Friends of Arnos Vale Cemetry, Arnos Vale Trust and others in the Wildlife Trust and at the City Council.

Want to know more? Contact Sarah van der Meer, telephone 07814 337766 or at
sarah_vandermeer@hotmail.com and Mary Wood, telephone 0117 972 1079 (evenings only) or at mailto:marywood@talktalk.net.

Gross unfairness in removing the 10p tax band: a tax grab from poorer people to give to richer people!!

Labour's Chancellor Alistair Darling said today that it would be irresponsible to unravel or rewrite the budget, in response to what I see as very valid criticism from many in his own party and beyond due to the removal of the 10p tax band. Yet this is exactly what Labour have done: they brought in the 10p tax band and have now removed it! Is this not unravelling and rewriting??

Its clearly unfair and unjust to tax the lowest earners more to pay for a tax cut for higher earners . This disadvantages millions of people who are already likely to be disadvantaged by being on a low income. Good on those 'rebel' Labour MPs (might be more accurate to say real Labour MPs) and others who are opposing this and fighting for a reversal of the policy and/or some package which compensates people. If anyone is to pay more in income tax it should be people earning more than £50,000 per yr.

Gwyneth Dunwoody's example

Gwyneth Dunwoody, longest serving female MP, born 12 Dec 1930, died 17 April 2008, was for me a very fine model for an elected representative: very independent-minded; a vigorous questioner and keen thinker; strong opponent of waffle and self-importance; a straight-talker; challenger of authority; active and outspoken; champion of UK parliamentary democracy; loyal to her party roots; highly respected by all parties and a very wide range of MPs; great specialist knowledge and experience on key issues, especially public transport.

See also the following from: the Independent ; the BBC ; the Guardian.

On that great democrat (!) Robert Mugabe

Enjoyed this poem on that great democrat (!) Robert Mugabe today’s local paper:

MUGABE'S FINAL WORD ON ZIMBABWE VOTE

18 April 2008, Bristol Evening Post


Now look, we don't like these numbers!
I think you must count them again,
Zimbabwe will not have such blunders,
Now go back and count them again.

Don’t talk about hyper-inflation,
Leave all the inflation to me,
If you want to avoid aggravation
Make sure that your vote is for me.

I'm giving the land to my cronies,
I'm taking away their past pain,
My opponents are all fakes and phonies,
They have driven me insane.

The problems are not of my making,
The British created the frame,
My enemies' boots are all quaking,
I'm dictating the rules of the game.

Now go back and recount the numbers
I don't want to tell you again,
Zimbabwe will not have these blunders!
I will not repeat this again!!

By Trevor Carter, (the Bard of Windmill Hill), Bristol.

Attorney General should not be given the power to override UK law when dealing with enquiries into corruption

A great decision by the High Court which has '...declared that the Government broke the law by cutting short a corruption investigation into BAE's Saudi arms deals ...' - vital defence of the rule of law in fact (details here). We are in signifiicant trouble when those that advocate and propose new law (our Government) are also acting to undermine it! Excellent letter (copied below) from Prof Paul Dunne and Graham Davey, Campaign Against the Arms Trade, Bristol Group, in yesterday's local paper, describing the issue really well:

Soapbox: BAE Systems Enquiry (Bristol Evening Post, 15 April, 08)

The decision of the High Court judges to declare unlawful the halting of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) enquiry into corruption charges against BAE Systems is clearly a triumph for common sense and the rule of law.

BAE Systems, a major local employer, has been under suspicion for many years of paying bribes to secure arms exports.

One of the arguments for stopping the enquiry was that the case would not succeed in court. In fact, the enquiry was about to gain important information about secret Swiss bank accounts, and this caused the Saudis to threaten to withhold information about potential terrorists unless the enquiry was immediately stopped.

This gave Tony Blair the excuse to cite "national security" for his intervention in the legal process, though it is more than likely that economic reasons were paramount - the possibility of the Saudis buying French aircraft, rather than the hugely expensive Eurofighter Typhoon that BAE Systems is involved in producing. This was despite the fact that in 1997, Britain had signed up to the OECD Anti-bribery Convention, article five of which specifically excludes national interest and economic considerations as justifying the termination of an enquiry.

Following the decision of Lord Justice Moses and Mr Justice Sullivan to assert that the Government is not above the law, the need now is to press for the SFO enquiry to be restarted. BAE Systems has given assurances of its full co-operation, and 125 MPs signed an Early Day Motion calling for the Saudi Arabian enquiry to be reinstated alongside the six other ongoing enquiries involving BAE.

Remarkably, the Government has now introduced draft legislation that would give the Attorney General authority to override UK law when dealing with enquiries into corruption. This must be resisted.


Excellent legal challenge by the Corner House NGO, and the Campaign Against the Arms Trade, whose priorities are well worth supporting: end government subsidies and support for arms exports; end exports to oppressive regimes; end exports to countries involved in an armed conflict or region of tension; end exports to countries whose social welfare is threatened by military spending; support measures, both in the UK and internationally, which will regulate and reduce the arms trade and lead to its eventual end.

The public's concerns make the green case

From the Green Party website, the following comments about the latest local election broadcast:

'...real people were invited to discuss their concerns, making a compelling argument for Green solutions for a more affordable and fairer society...'

Great broadcast!! Can be viewed here: http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/3381 . Take a look!!

Incinerators propagate the waste problem not solve it!

According to the Environment Agency the UK currently produces 330 million tonnes of waste each year, a quarter of which is from households and businesses (construction, demolition, sewage sludge, farm waste, spoils from mines and dredging of rivers makes up the rest).That’s the weight equivalent of tens of millions of double-decker buses that, end to end, would stretch around the Earth many times. Its about 5.5 tonnes for every single individual living here, including hundreds of thousands of tonnes from West Country households and its literally a huge problem.

Thankfully there is a very useful concept which, if we can apply it properly and consistently, will tackle this waste mountain and so the multiple problems that go with it. The waste management hierarchy is a ranking of waste management options in order of efficiency and effectiveness.

Priority one is the prevention of waste through reduction/minimisation strategies. After reduction comes object reuse so that they do not enter the waste stream eg refilling containers. It is not until one gets down to the third level in the hierarchy that one gets to recycling and composting, which still give significant benefits particularly in terms of energy saving . The recovery of energy from waste by a whole range of methods (some much more environmentally friendly than others) is fourth in the list, just above waste disposal. Waste disposal is at the bottom of the hierarchy and includes final disposal to landfill and the incineration of waste without recovering the energy.

Given the clear message from the waste management hierarchy and the amount of talk we get these days about being green one would think that our local councils would be ready, willing and able to focus in on the top three options as a priority. Not so I’m afraid. The West of England Joint Residual Municipal Waste Strategy recommends that we build a so-called "energy from waste" plant (a mere fourth out of five in the ranking list) to process our residual waste from 2015 onwards. Moreover, it’s a huge plant that incinerates waste on a mass scale that is proposed, (albeit with electricity being produced). Such a monstrosity would, over the life of contracts lasting decades, demand to be fed huge amounts of waste when we are supposed to be heading in the opposite direction!! It’s a clear sign that we have so far failed to even approach the issue of waste properly and that its still waste maximisation that rules. To find out more visit the Bristol Against Mass Burn Incineration (BAMBI) website:
http://www.bambi-network.org.uk/index.php . To sign the petition against go to: http://epetitions.bristol.gov.uk/petition.php?id=180

Bristol International Airport expansion - just who is it that is ignoring the crucial facts??

Its more than a touch rich for Bristol International Airport's James Gore to talk about facts being ignored, by anti-airport expansion campaigner Jeremy Birch, in his letter in today's Bristol Evening Post('Airport Campaigner gave only one side of the story', 3 April). After all, in the world James Gore and others who favour yet more airport expansion inhabit, this expansion apparently wont make climate change worse - despite what expert, nobel prize winning work by independent UN scientists says!! He needs to get real.

Another green motion wrecked by an amendment: council fails to rule out running buses down the Railway/Cyclepath

Surprise, surprise!! Labour and the Tories on Bristol City Council have again used an amendment to wreck a truly green motion that would have stopped a bus route being built down the Bristol to Bath Railway Path, used by thousands of cyclists and walkers and a haven for wildlife.

The amended motion clearly leaves open the option of using the path for buses (details/comment here and here). They should be warned that they have ignored the very, very strong feelings expressed by campaigners (who will fight on for clarity I'm very sure, see here) and many thousands who signed the petition - very likely this will affect votes in the ballot box for Labour and Tories alike as the petition has been signed by a significant % of Bristols population (nearly 10,000 when I looked today).

The council has done this before eg with a green motion opposing airport expansion (as well as also wrecking green budget initiatives) . Such compromise at crunch points by councils and governments has resulted in the poor state of the environment that we currently experience and at this rate our children and grandchildren will experience a worse environment - thanks to them and their unethical politics. Pity we dont have elections to Bristol City Council this year (would they have dared to amend/wreck in this way at this time of the year then??).

For more on cycling in Bristol issues see here.

Great example of the impacts of a strong group of Green councillors on a city council - Bristol needs this!!

The strong group of ten Green councillors in the city of Norwich have had quite an impact. See the video clip here briefly outlining their work. We need a group of Green councillors like this on Bristol City Council!! Interesting to see the similarity of the issues that are topical and that they have successfully opposed the building of a waste incinerator for instance (something currently on the agenda here).