Letter to the editor

18.02.08

Dear Editor

I read with interest the letter sent in by Nikki Owens (Bike law is for you too – Feb 7th) regarding the lady who insists on riding her bike on the pavement whilst commuting to work. When Ms Owens and her friends challenged her about riding on the pavement outside Muschamp Primary, the lady replied, “the roads are are very dangerous.”

Whilst it is clear that she is breaking the law, I have some sympathy for the lady in question. The truth is the roads are dangerous. As well as being a major cause of death and injury, the intimidation caused by speeding traffic is a key factor dissuading more Londoners from getting on their bikes. It was no surprise that when the streets of central London were closed off, 38,000 cyclists participated in London Freewheel last September.

Thankfully there are improvements being made to the make roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians. This is mainly down to the Green Assembly members who have secured £62m for walking and cycling from the Mayors budget 2008/9 – up from £21m in 2004/05.

The increase includes £2m for cycle training. In addition, the Mayor will now provide boroughs with financial incentives to implement default 20 mile an hour speed limits in all residential areas – something the Green Party has been banging on about for decades.

Maybe Ms Owens should communicate these statistics to the lady cyclist – especially the £2m for cycle training and hopefully she will take notice, enrol on a course and gain the confidence to cycle on the roads.

Yours sincerely

Shasha Khan

Sutton Green Party

GREEN CANDIDATE LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN WITH PLEDGE TO INSULATE SUTTON FROM THE COLD AND THE COST

Photocall opportunity:

Siân Berry, the Green Party's candidate for London Mayor, will visit Croydon on Friday (22nd February) to launch the London Assembly campaign of Green Party candidate for Croydon and Sutton Shasha Khan.

Sutton residents could see their fuels bills slashed under a Green Mayor with Siân Berry's plan to provide free insulation for all homes that need it.

Shasha said:

"At a time when Sutton residents are feeling their household incomes squeezed due to fuel price hikes and increased inflation it is clear to me that we need our homes properly insulated in order to save on heating bills and to cut CO2 emissions. Sutton households have one of the worst ratings for energy efficiency in London (1). Now that we are required to provide Home Information Packs when putting our houses on the market Sutton homeowners could lose out when selling their house.

"There's no excuse in a 21st century city for having widespread fuel poverty, with people having to pay huge chunks of their income just trying to keep warm. There's no excuse for winter deaths of elderly Londoners who could have been saved by something as simple as loft insulation. And there's no excuse for government failure to cut CO2 emissions, or for their willingness to blame ordinary people instead of their own inaction.

"Under our plan, every single home in London that needs insulation will get it, free of charge. This will slash fuel bills, making London living more affordable and healthier. We'll also put a real dent in our carbon footprint and help to ensure a future for our kids."

Siân said:

"As oil and gas get scarcer, we can expect to see more and more rises in
the cost of heating. Londoners have an opportunity on 1 May to insulate
themselves from the cold and the cost by voting for my plan to insulate every
home that needs it for free

"40% of London's CO2 emissions come from housing, and more than 1 in 20
Londoners have to spend over 10 per cent of their income trying to keep warm.
Fuel poverty like that belongs in Dickens' London, not ours. That's why, as
Mayor, I would provide free insulation to every London home that needs it.

"Shasha will make a fantastic Assembly Member, and I know he will
tenaciously will push for important measures like this whether I win in May or
not. Green AMs have already used their power in City Hall to deliver free
insulation to some, but we need more Greens like Shasha to carry on and get free
insulation for all."

Londoners on benefits qualify for free insulation under measures introduced by the Green Assembly Members as a condition of their support for the Mayor's budget. Siân's scheme will remove this means testing, as well as introducing a comprehensive outreach programme to encourage take-up.

The Green AMs have also secured funding to pilot detailed help with paperwork for householders in Lewisham who wish to insulate their homes and generate their own power; Siân will extend this service city-wide, and make low-cost loans available to pay for small-scale renewable energy generation on homes and businesses.

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. Energy efficiency ratings for private housing in London are listed in the table below. Houses are rated on a scale of 0 – 120, with higher numbers being more efficient. Most new homes receive a score between 75 and 100. Table source: www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk.

Original version of Green C4 Political Slot

Broadcast by Channel 4 Thursday 21st February, this original version contains details of important gains the Greens have made on fair wages in London, which was edited out of the broadcast by Channel 4.

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Tags Channel 4, greenparty

The next Sutton Meeting

The next Sutton meeting of the Sutton and Croydon Green Party will be on Tuesday 12th February at 8pm at the Centre for Environmental Initiatives (aka ecolocal) Carshalton, map here.

Please come along.
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Tags sutton, greenparty

CARSHALTON ENVIRONMENTAL FAIR

Sutton & Croydon Green Party will be there. Come and say hello!

Carshalton Conservation Area- Green response to the Consultation

Sutton Greens welcome the Council’s Draft Character Appraisal of Carshalton Conservation Area,

insofar as it once again sets down some of the reasons why this area was designated a Conservation Area some 40 years ago.

We note however that in the time that Carshalton Central has been a Conservation area (CA) there appears to have been relatively little in terms of ‘value added’ to show for it, and as the document itself acknowledges the CA has deteriorated in several aspects. Examples of this are:

· The poor quality of additions to St Philomena’s school, adjacent to a very significant listed building

· Poor quality shop fronts on the High Street

· UPVC windows and other unsympathetic treatments which have gone on continually all over the CA but particularly of course in residential areas such as the Mill Lane area. The terrace north from Rochester Road is an outstandingly ugly example.

Of particular concern is the fact that powers that the Council already possesses in terms of building control both inside and outside CAs do not appear to have been applied in the past. We recall that in the mid 1990s Sutton Green Party submitted a planning brief for the Mill Lane area prior to redevelopment drawing attention to the Conservation opportunities in terms of both open space and the built environment offered by the BP site; but this was wholly ignored in favour of the unsympathetic housing development that is now criticised.

Apart from (i) the sloppy drafting of the document with several typographical errors and less than satisfactory phraseology, and (ii) the apparent prejudices of the appraisers against buildings of particular styles and ages, we do not find the draft document per se very controversial. Without the determination to apply a set of appropriate policies to prevent further loss of character, and to encourage the upgrading of the CA, however, this document will be worth little.

On the specific point regarding the poor and deteriorating (to use the phrase from the document) [visual] quality of some of the housing within the CA, we note that several local Authorities (for example, Southend-on-Sea; Derby; Worthing) offer Conservation Area grants to encourage residents to reinstate or conserve features which add to the overall character of the CA- sash windows in particular. Will Sutton follow this lead and put some money towards enhancing the borough’s Conservation Areas?

We note the fact that the impact of traffic, particularly in the High Street and in West Street, continues to be very severe. We would further add that the proliferation of street furniture, including a sharp increase in signs, particularly around the ponds, detracts from the visual quality of the environment, and little attempt seems to have been made to minimise this. It is not even referred to in the document.

We give credit to Sutton Council for barring parking from in front of the Grove offices. We think that something more positive could now be done to the former driveway from the Coach & Horses entrance to the Grove alongside East Pond, and we regret that the chance was not taken to improve the High Street environment by removing some parking spaces immediately fronting the High Street when the car park was considerably extended. Will there be any commitment to prevent further loss of front gardens to car parking within the CA?

Summary: We await the evidence that Sutton Council is prepared to take the enhancement of its Conservation Areas more seriously by determined implementation of the exiting planning powers alongside any future management plan for the Carshalton CA which might arise from this document.

Annexe: proposed changes to the criteria for designation of Locally listed buildings

We welcome the proposed addition of a criterion of ‘groups’ of buildings contributing to the street scene in the CA, and also the inclusion of building materials and techniques. The use of local listing might be appropriate to apply to more humble buildings which taken together enhance the character of the CA, as in the Mill Lane area and West St Lane. We consider that the Sun public house is an obvious candidate for local listing in view of its prominent contribution to townscape and the patterned brickwork.

For Sutton Green Party, Bob Steel, chair.

A HISTORIC DAY IN IRELAND

You know those questions which start with “Where were you when (such and such famous event occurred)?”

Well……I came across one of those occasions on a working visit to Dublin during June.

Wednesday the 13th of June 2007 will be remembered as the day when the Green Party in Ireland took the historic decision to enter Government.

On the previous evening there had been several media interviews with members of Bertie Ahern’s Fianna Fail party and the Irish Green Party to try to discover whether the Greens were likely to vote to enter a new coalition-led Government.

Current Green politicians had voted to do so – but the final say was left with those party members who attended a convention in the Mansion House in Dublin.

I was lucky enough to be in a bar directly opposite the Mansion House when the members filed in past TV and radio crews. And also past several demonstrators with placards referring to, amongst other issues, the dangers of a Government continuing to allow US troop-carrying military planes to stop over at Shannon Airport and against a new motorway near the Hill of Tara.

The result of the vote was acceptance of the coalition proposal by 441 votes to 67 out of the 510 attending members. This well exceeded the two thirds majority required by the Green constitution.

Party Leader Trevor Sargent received lots of respect by honouring his earlier promise that, if the Greens decided to enter Government, he would resign as leader. It was however Trevor's hard bargaining with Bertie Ahern which enabled the deal to be signed and he was reported as saying that the vote “marks the proudest day of my life”.

What this means for the Greens in terms of positive commitments is:

- 2 full junior ministerial Cabinet posts (now confirmed as Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government and Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources)
- A carbon tax and targets for the reduction of 3% a year in greenhouse gas emissions
- The establishment of a climate change commission
- Setting up a commission on taxation
- New building standards to reduce the energy demands of houses
- Accelerate growth in renewable energy sources
- Reform of local government with a directly elected mayor for Dublin by 2011
- Establishment of an independent electoral reform commission which will examine the financing of the political system.

Objectives not achieved were:

- An end to the use of Shannon Airport by US military
- The abandonment of plans to build the M3 motorway near the Hill of Tara
- A ban on corporate donations
- An end to the plan to build co-located private hospitals on public land.

The coalition will also be supported by at least 3 Independents who agreed their own separate deals with Fianna Fail.

The mood amongst many of the Irish people (as far as I can gather from watching TV, reading newspapers and listening to Dublin taxi drivers!) is that this could be a really positive move for the country.

There were of course several Party members who, when interviewed, felt that the party had sold out on its fundamental principles (a la Germany in the ’80’s), but the resoundingly overall view was that this was indeed a historic day when Greens can start to have a lasting influence on Government policy.

George Dow

How to Save the World

HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD:
GREEN ACTIVISM FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW

A public meeting hosted by the Sutton & Croydon Green Party

Admission: FREE!

The core values of the green movement are people, planet and peace. With global poverty, environmental degradation and war seemingly ever increasing, what can individuals, business and government do to save the world?

Speaking at the event will be special guest Dr Derek Wall, Principal Speaker of the Green Party.



Monday 25th June 2007

8pm-10pm

The Club Room,
The Spreadeagle 39, High St, Croydon, Surrey, CR0 1QD –
020 8781 1134

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Tags sutton, greenparty

Croydon Meeting

Monday May 28th at the Spreadeagle 39, High St, Croydon, Surrey, CR0 1QD - map.

The meetings will start at 8.00pm, upstairs in the function room at the back which faces the Town Hall.

This is a Sutton & Croydon Green Party meeting.

HACKBRIDGE – THE UK’S FIRST SUSTAINABLE SUBURB? - Observations by George Dow

Back in October last year I noticed on a poster at my local railway station – Hackbridge – that Sutton Council had published a Planning Document on “Hackbridge – towards a Sustainable Suburb?” – an Issues Paper – and invited local residents to submit their views on the issues and draft proposals covered in the document.

Hackbridge is in the north of Sutton borough – with the River Wandle running along its western edge, the railway line along the east, Mitcham Common to the north and Beddington Park to the south. It has excellent road, rail, bus and tram links to the City (London Bridge) and West End (Victoria), Sutton, Croydon and Wimbledon. Employment and health are among the top third in England, income just in the top half – but the quality of housing, access to services and education outcomes are among the bottom half in England. It’s historically been a pretty neglected part of the Borough. BedZED is located in Hackbridge.

Having provided detailed feedback on the issues document, I was invited to a one-day workshop held at BedZED on 19 April – jointly hosted by:

- the Council Planning Department

- the BioRegional Development Group and

- the Future Hackbridge Group.

Sutton Council is embarking on a new way of planning for the future of communities. The traditional land use planning system is changing with a new style of local development plans which will go beyond traditional land use planning and embrace the requirements for Community Plans. The overall strategic requirements will be set by the London Plan and other planning documents prepared by the Mayor of London and individual Boroughs’ strategies will be set by the wider Community Strategy and the core development plan provisions of the Local Development Framework.

I know, this sounds, like an awful lot of words (!) – but the upshot is that this new style of planning gives considerable scope at the local level – and local residents and other stakeholders can really influence how their local community develops and ensure that it does so in as sustainable a way as possible.

Hackbridge has been identified as the first area in the Borough under the new style planning framework.

BioRegional (www.bioregional.com) is an independent environmental organisation which develops practical solutions for sustainable living. Key within that is their concept of “One Planet Living”, designed jointly with the World Wildlife Fund and which provides a model for measuring ecological footprints – showing how our lifestyles impact not only on the planet, but also on other people. It calculates how much productive land, freshwater and sea is needed to feed us and provide all the energy, water and materials we use in our daily lives. It also calculates the emissions generated from the oil, coal and gas we burn and determines how much land is required to absorb our waste. A One Planet lifestyle means having a footprint of less than 1.8 hectares per person – Sutton’s is 5.38 hectares per person, which is apparently 65% higher than our ecological budget (and just under the UK’s figure).

The Future Hackbridge Group comprises keen and skilled residents and business people and includes Bill Dunster – Hackbridge-based architect of BedZED. The Group have drawn up a paper with a view to Hackbridge becoming the UK’s (not just Sutton’s!) first sustainable suburb. It covers plans for the economic, social and environmental future of the area, with a SWOT analysis, vision and values statements, specific aims and objectives and a suggested set of phased action plans.

The concept of a sustainable suburb covers a number of themes, eg:

- reinforcing the role of retail and leisure within local centres

- protecting and promoting local environment

- promoting sustainable development patterns (with appropriate mix of housing types and employment)

- reducing car dependency

- improving the existing housing stock

- improving environmental sustainability (to include a number of "green community initiatives")

- improving the quality of design.

In total around 80 people attended the workshop and attendees included representatives from:

- the 3 host organisations

- Transport for London

- London Development Agency

- Local schools (and also pupils)

- Developer

- BedZED

- EcoLocal.

Local Councillors and the local MP (Tom Brake) were also present.

The day included presentations from, amongst others, the 3 host organisations, group work, involving site visits around the area and discussions / feedback presentations when we could offer our own ideas.

I believe this was a terrific example of true consultation, with real commitment shown from everyone involved and a shared enthusiasm to take this whole thing forward. The next step is for the hosts to put firm up on an integrated strategy and action plans – and to share these with local residents and ensure that everyone in the local community is asked for their ideas and kept fully aware.

I was there as a local resident – not representing the Green Party – and spoke at the end with the Chair of the Future Hackbridge Group (Simon Courage – a BedZED resident), explaining that I would like to be involved in all this in some way. I’ll keep you all informed of developments.

One final thought - I guess that Croydon Council may have similar plans for a particular area and, if so, it may be a good opportunity for a Green Party member to get involved.

If you would like any more information on what happened at the Hackbridge workshop, do please let me know.

George

George Dow

020 8773 4100

g.dow@tiscali.co.uk

Next Meeting

Monday April 30th at the Spreadeagle 39, High St, Croydon, Surrey, CR0 1QD - map.

The meetings will start at 7.30pm, upstairs in the function room at the back which faces the Town Hall.

This is a Sutton & Croydon Green Party joint business meeting, and one of the main topics of discussion will be election candidates.



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Tags sutton, green party

Next Meeting - Tuesday 10th April

The next meeting of the Sutton and Croydon Green Party will be on Tuesday 10th April at 8pm at the Centre for Environmental Initiatives (aka ecolocal) Carshalton, map here.

Please come along.
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Tags sutton, greenparty

Sutton Green Drinks

from http://www.thecei.org.uk/SuttonGreenDrinks/default.htm

Sutton Green Drinks

6:30 'til late, Wednesday 7th March 2006

And then, the first Wednesday of every month.

In the Swan Bar (first bar on the left) as you enter THE GREYHOUND PUB, directly opposite the Ponds at Carshalton on the A232 (SM5 3PE).
How Do I Get There?

Walk, cycle, bus (127, 157, 407, X26, S3), train (Carshalton).

Sutton Green Drinks is for anyone working on environmental issues or studying them.

The idea is to meet for fun, contacts alcohol (& non-alcoholic drinks), info, gossip, inspiration, business and pleasure.

If you are new, just go up to someone and say "are you green?" and you'll be made welcome.

Letter to Sutton Press

Dear editor,

I was dismayed but hardly surprised to note this week that Carshalton High Street is soon to be blessed with another estate agent, which I think makes seven in our small local shopping parade, which also boasts several fast food joints. Now, I cannot believe that one single inhabitant of the area thinks that what Carshalton needs is another estate agent. It was over twenty years ago that the Green party first made the issue of sustainable local shops a key plank of our local manifestos, calling for local authorities to be given the power to set a sliding scale of business rates to favour community-friendly retailers; the need for something of this kind is even more urgent today with the serial decline of post offices, local food retailers, and other 'proper' neighbourhood facilities. The Sustainable Communities Bill, promoted by a range of green groups including the Green party but with cross party support, is making its way through Parliament as a private members' Bill. It will if passed give local councils the sort of powers we have long been calling for. Readers can find more information by logging on to www.localworks.org

Sincerely

Bob Steel

Sutton Green party

March Meeting - Carshalton

The next meeting of the Sutton and Croydon Green Party will be on Tuesday 13th March at 8pm at the Centre for Environmental Initiatives Carshalton, map here.

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Tags sutton,croydon, greenparty

No Trident - Demonstrate Saturday 24th February 2007

Assemble 12 noon, Speakers' Corner. Rally in Trafalgar Square.

Details of where the Sutton & Croydon groups will meet up will follow.



CND Chair Kate Hudson talks about why you should attend the demonstration.


From CND

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Tags sutton, greenparty, trident, CND

Press Release: Green Xmas

Press Release (immediate)

How to have Green Christmas

Local Green Party campaigners have put together a list of suggestions in order to have a Merry Christmas which doesn’t cost the earth. Many environmentalists are becoming much more wary of how their actions contribute to global warming.

Christmas Dinner:
Turkeys can’t fly very far but some have travelled a staggering 30,000 miles to get to dinner tables in this country! Shasha Khan commented, “It is important that shoppers look at labels on the food they purchase and choose the local option. European fowl and African vegetables can be forsaken for home farmed produce. Also try and support local shopkeepers.”

Presents:
UK households already owe £1 trillion in debt. Thousands of people risk pushing themselves even deeper into the red. Bob Steel said, “Why not try purchasing gifts from a charity shop or giving Secret Santa presents. If you do end up with unwanted presents why not sell or pass them on using web sites or second hand shops.”

Cards and wrapping paper:
Each year, 200,000 trees are cut down to supply the UK’s 1.7 billion Christmas Cards and enough wrapping paper is used to wrap the whole of the London Borough of Sutton. In view of such massive quantities, it important that as much as possible is recycled or reused.

Christmas tree:
Each year over 6 million trees end up in land fill sites. It is possible to save money and resources by using a tree with roots that can be reused. Shasha Khan added, “You can enjoy watching it grow all year round.”

Ends

Letter sent to local paper

11.12.06

Dear Editor

There are a several things that one can associate with the season of goodwill and the dawn of a new year: Christmas trees, the exchanging of presents, the queens speech, the NYE party and the inflation busting rail fare increase (Train fares leaping ahead of inflation rate yet again, December 06). Commuters using trains operated by Southern will continue to pay through the nose to travel like sardines. Some may be priced off the railways altogether. At a time when the governments Stern Report predicts catastrophic consequences if urgent action is not taken to reduce carbon emissions; greater use of budget airlines and higher levels of congestion on the roads will only increase pollution.
It is painfully obvious that a railway system that is privately owned is a tragedy for the commuter and the climate.

Yours sincerely

Shasha Khan
Sutton and Croydon Green Party

December Meeting

The next meeting of the Sutton and Croydon Green Party will be on Tuesday 12th December at 8pm at the Centre for Environmental Initiatives Carshalton, map here.
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Tags sutton, greenparty

Borough’s on an emission mission

Link