Setting an Example

Albert Einstein: “Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means.”

I have today written, in my personal capacity, to the Group Leaders of the 3 main political parties here in Redbridge, copied to Deputy Leaders, Cabinet Members, my local ward councillors and the Chief Executive and blind copied to a few others one of whom objects, see later.

Dear Group Leaders,

Animal Aid has produced a Compassionate Charter to help councils adopt an ethical policy that will help animals, people and the planet. The full charter can be viewed here. click!

The main points are eight practical and achievable goals. They are:
purchasing only cruelty-free cleaning products and toiletries;
banning circuses with animals from council land;
banning pets as prizes;
promoting and subsidising spaying and neutering programmes;
stopping the sale of foie gras and veal;
speaking out against fur;
adopting only the humane, non-lethal management of pigeons and other animals and birds;
and making their towns a plastic bag-free zone.

I hope this is something that Redbridge Council can support as it would be a positive, ethical statement to make. I trust this can be considered in due process.

Yours etc

Douglass responds:

As a council tax payer, I strongly object to Redbridge Council having anything to do with this charter, for the following reasons:

1 The basic propositions are tendentious and open to a great deal of personal agreement or disagreement
2 It is no business whatsoever of local authorities to define or impose ethics
3 It is most emphatically the business of local authorities to spend as little of taxpayers' money as possible, not embark on irrelevant programmes to gratify pressure groups
4 This includes most particularly the matter of dealing with vermin in direct and cost-effective ways
5 I resent the suggestion that councillors and officers should waste time and resources paid for by me on matters which are none of the council's business

None of this has anything to do with my own views on animal welfare - which in many ways are probably quite well aligned with Alan's. But it has everything to do with the proper functions of local government

I therefore urge the addressees to ignore this mischievous charter

Regards etc

The thing is that I as an individual, as well as Douglass, have the right to voice an opinion and attempt to influence the way my taxes are spent, nationally and locally. And so do you.

As for lobby groups, if you are a member of the Ramblers, National Trust, RSPB, Friends of the Earth WWF, CPRE, LWT, etc etc etc or for that matter B21 you are a lobby group. But do you have as much influence as the parliamentary lobby groups promoting the Tobacco Industry, Road Haulage, Nuclear Energy, Coal, Climate Change, LGBT issue etc etc?

We now have the Sustainable Communities Act, which allows individuals and groups the opportunity to put forward proposals to their local authority, although here in Redbridge we are not quite up to speed.

If, as Douglass says, his views on animal welfare are in many ways probably quite well aligned with mine, then why should those views not be fed into government in a bottom-up mode of influence? Isn’t that how government should work?

Would it not be bizarre for us the community to live by one set of ethical standards while our elected representative’s practice another?

Discuss, or put your views to your councillors or both.

Fairlop Fair

Come, come, my boys, with a hearty glee,

To Fairlop fair, bear chorus with me;

At Hainault forest is known very well,

This famous oak has long bore the bell.

So we'll dance round the tree, and merry we will be,

Every year we'll agree the fair for to see;

And we'll booze it away, dull care we'll defy,

And be happy on the first Friday in July.

So, what are you planning to do next Friday. The boring usual stuff? The tedium of routine? It’s going to be HOT, apparently, so you don’t want to be stuck on the Central Line, do you? Why not book a days leave and pop over to Fairlop Waters. Bring a picnic, a hamper, break out the champers, wear a top hat and don’t forget the parasol.

This is not an organised event. Why do we need someone else to organise something for us? Why don’t we just do it? I believe in modern parlance it’s called a flash mob, as in flash flood in case you are wondering about the term “flash”. So you can bring the children.

The place is undergoing some extensive improvements, why not take a peek and see how that money we won is being spent?

Here is a consultation document [PDF 3.5Mbts] – Fairlop Waters Signage Strategy, which will give you some clues as to what’s going on.

Tescology

Another recycling week post. Having reported earlier about how our recycling is getting sent abroad to be sorted, or sent to landfill because it is contaminated, I have finally got myself down to Barkingside Tescos to have a look at their new recycling facility. Here it is pictured. Impressive eh?It talks to you, “Only one item at a time please” it says as you approach. I haven’t tried it yet so I don’t know what happens if you put something in that it doesn’t want. Does it spit it out? Here’s a close up of the business end. Oh, you also get points, so don’t forget your “loyalty” card.
It only accepts glass, plastic and cans so there is no longer any facility here to recycle paper, cardboard or tetra pack cartons. Anyway to the side of each of the two entry points there is what looks like a conveyor belt, so I imagine you would able to see your recycling being shunted off to the sorting procedure. To the left of the business end there are 4 large hinged doors, presumably each containing the correct uncontaminated items. I am assuming here that it can distinguish between ferrous and non-ferrous metals, the other two bins being for glass and plastic. I wouldn’t mind betting also that the tin cans are crushed on the way to the bin.

So, what are we to make of this? The public recycling points found in car parks and on High Streets are usually provided by the local authority with the agreement of supermarkets where they are on their land. But this one is provided by Tescos. Are they about to cream off the profitable bits of the recycling market and leave the unprofitable bits to the council? It is certainly some investment and will also cost to run, it must be powered somehow. I can’t see them doing this unless there is a financial advantage, can you?

Bra Banks

As it is recycling week, I thought I’d treat you to a bizarre report from down in sunny Brighton.

The recycling of ladies brassieres for charity has been around for a while. See Breast Talk. And in some locations there are special places where they can be deposited. Brighton and Hove City council decided to join in and arranged a publicity photoshoot with a councillor from each party alongside a brand new bright pink recycling bin.

Except it got cancelled because the Liberal Democrats objected. They don’t have any female councillors you see and would be embarrassed at the sight of ladies undies. Amy Kennedy was not pleased.

See The Argos report complete with all the expected comments.

Market Forces

Today I was over in South Woodford, George Lane. On passing the tube station I was handed a free copy of the new Woodford Recorder newspaper. On page two we are treated to a report titled “Jobless numbers Double in a year”. The worst hit wards are Roding and Bridge with Bridge ward councillor and Deputy Leader of the council, John Fairley-Churchill quoted as saying “families should brace themselves for a hard slope for at least a year”.

Well, yes. I’ve had a few victims of these hard times notifying me of a change of email address from “work” to home, but surprisingly none of them have been councillors. So while the productive part of our economy takes a direct hit, the unproductive part carries on regardless. I don’t see any redundancies or “efficiency savings” affecting our elected representatives, do you? Strange that. How their favoured “Market model” doesn’t actually apply to them.

I have a suggestion. Each time there is an election the number of elected representatives is REDUCED in line with Turnout. That is, if turnout is 50% the number of elected representatives is halved. Just line them up in alphabetical order and take out every other one. If it’s 50% next time it’s halved again. It’s called tailoring supply to fit demand, fancy that? If we, the customer, don’t buy what’s on offer, the company cuts back or goes out of business. Why should it not apply to the apparatus of state?

Market Forces Rule OK? Not when it doesn't suit "them".

If ever you needed an example of how “Market Forces” or “He who pays the piper…” can be subverted for the benefit of a minority then look no further than the political establishment in this, the mother of democracy, the United Kingdom.

---------------------------

Anyhoo! Our buddy Johnny Coombes [who hasn’t paid his sub this year, hint] sends in some “political quotes” and you get to figure out who said each one. I’ve no idea meself, but the Prize is a years pass to Full Council meetings. Answers in the comments please.

The Duty of an opposition is very simple - to oppose everything, and propose nothing.

Welcome to Britain's New Political Order. No Passion, No Right, No Left, just multi-hued blancmange.

So, God created Man, and his assistant came up to him and he said. Hey! we've got all these bodies left, but we're right out of brains, we're right out of hearts and we're right out of vocal chords. and God said "xxxx it ! sew them up anyway, smack smiles on their faces and make them talk out their axxxs'" and lo God created the Tory Party.

Attila the Hen

The Immaculate Misconception.

The White House is giving George W Bush intelligence briefings. You know some of these jokes just write themselves.

I view Tony Blair as a kind of, the Air Guitarist of political Rhetoric.

A semi house trained polecat

A sophisticated rhetorician, inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity, and gifted with an egotistical imagination that can at all times command an interminable and inconsistent series of arguments to malign an opponent and glorify himself.

There is no act of treachery or meanness of which a political party is not capable of : for in politics there is no honour.

Get Smart III

The following appears on the Redbridge-I forum.

The Council have to accept there are roads throughout the Borough where footway parking takes place.

This takes two formats,

1. Where footway parking is allowed and this is covered by a Traffic Management Order and there are lines and signs (Blue with a Motor Vehicle logo showing two or four wheels up on the kerb) These signs are at the start of the bay and at the end normally affixed to posts or adjoining lamp-posts.

2. Currently the Council allows footway parking in certain roads due to their design. Also most householders are now 2 or more car owners and the pressure on all roads not just in the Borough but throughout the country is a problem. A study is currently taking place on all roads in the Borough to determine where footway parking can be allowed and this will be introduced.

The presence of any motor vehicle on a highway consitutes an obstruction, unless it is in a dedicated marked bay, under highways legislation so a driver cannot legally block a road. The registered keeper of the vehicle can be fined for such an action

In relation to "legal on the kerb" it is not legal to park on the footway unless a legal Traffic Management Order and lineage and signage is in place at that location. Everywhere else you cannot park on the footway but I would refer you to format 2 above. The normal permission to allow footway parking would determine on the width of the footway to see whether two or four wheels up on the kerb is allowed, its location on road safety grounds, what services are below the ground in the location that is subject to permission. So even if all residents in a road agreed to footway parking it would be subject to the above.

Regards,
Parking Management.

Decisions, decisions….

Which path to take?

Discuss your options with David Lammy MP
Minister of State, Department of Business, Innovation and Skills
And Sonia Klein, Ilford North Parliamentary Candidate

Friday 26th June 2009
7:30pm – 9:30pm
University of East London
4 University Way
London, E16 2RD

RSVP Sonia Klein

Secret Gardens

Local Resident, Maureen, will be opening up her rear garden for charity again this year – Sunday 2nd August. Pictures, description and address here. Proceeds this year go to St Francis Hospice.

Maureen is wondering if there are any other local gardeners in Barkingside [or even Romford] who would like to open their garden for charity on the same day. She would be happy to talk to anyone interested if they have not done this before.

Email me and I will pass on your details.

Gaia’s Evil Twin

The Gaia hypothesis, named after the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth, a nurturing "mother" of life, has been around for a while. But now new research is indicating that it ain’t quite like that, and is perhaps more akin to another mythical mother figure – Medea, who killed her own children. The proposition being that life is its own worst enemy. Read the New Scientist report here.

So, while I’m on the subject here are few things that I’ve noticed recently.

The premier of the Film “The End of the Line” – imagine a world without fish. It’s about the effect of overfishing, as you would probably gather, but it’s also about how industrial methods destroy the ocean bed and quotas result in vast amounts of fish being thrown back – dead.

For those who like Fish ‘n Chips Adrian Windisch reports on For Cods Sake; Celebrity Campaign On Fish Depletion [from where I got the graphic, thanks Adrian] while numerous NGOs are campaigning to get a robust Marine Bill enacted in Parliament.

Elsewhere Greenpeace under the banner Slaughtering the Amazon tracks beef and leather products on their journey from farms involved in illegal deforestation and in some cases slavery, via giant processing facilities to the supply chains of some of our best known global brands. Right now the cattle industry is the single biggest cause of deforestation in the world as trees are cleared to make way for ranches. Shoe companies like Adidas, Reebok, Nike, Timberland and even Clarks are sourcing leather products from the companies responsible.

Going slightly off topic we have Ben Duncan down in Brighton and Freewheeler from neighbouring Waltham Forest highlighting a pandemic of permature death that amazingly does not make it to the national news headlines. It is the death toll on our roads – half of which are pedestrians, cyclists and motor cyclists. Freewheeler reckons that “Terrorists are pathetic under-achievers, compared to drivers”.

Getting slightly back on track, this bloke reckons that Climate Change is a hoax and the real problem is Peak Oil. Well, there’s plenty of coal and tar sands around but are they energy efficient and can we control the CO2? Meanwhile Coxsoft Art treats us to a portrait of F1 racing driver Lewis Hamilton in Oil – that’s used Mobil 1 oil from the Formula One champion's winning McLaren Mercedes MP4-23 engine. You know that thing that goes round in circles and disappears up its own exhaust pipe.

And on that subject Transition Films is screening End of Suburbia on Friday 26 June. An international award-winning documentary film which looks at the dwindling supply of cheap energy in the form of fossil fuels, and its potential effect on society. Doors open at 7pm; film screening starts at 7:30pm. Tickets: £3. Venue: Forest Recycling Project, 2c Bakers Avenue, Walthamstow, London E17 9AW (just behind the Hornbeam Café, near Bakers Arms junction)

So, what keeps me smiling you ask? I’ll tell you. Well, apart from the beer, we have a decent MP here in Barkingside. Yes, I know he’s a Tory and I don’t always agree with him, but then neither does his chief cheerleader "Judith". You can see his “expenses” here. According to They work for You, 112 people are stalking tracking him whenever he speaks. Here’s a taster.

Then there’s the biggy - football. You may think the season is over but we are currently enjoying the Confederations Cup, [and hasn't tonight, Sunday, been exciting!] and pre-season friendlies are due to start in July i.e. very soon. England are top of their qualifying group, having won all seven games played, for next years bonanza of World Cup frivolities. You just have to put things into perspective and work out what’s important to you!

False Economies

Back when I was a youngster we had Bus Conductors, or Clippies as they were known. Trouble was that "labour" or people are expensive [sic!] and put up the costs of providing services to us the public. [This of course does not apply to Management, Consultants, MPs, Quangocrats, Councillors etc, etc] So, in the interests of economy, efficiency and for the benefit of passengers the Management decided to do away with Clippies and have the Driver collect the fares. Then they found that the driver being on his/her own was subject to robbery, and so cut down on the amount of cash being carried by having pre-paid automatic cards. Then we had a rise in anti-social behaviour and crime on the buses. What to do? So we get Closed Circuit TV on the buses. It doesn’t work – they just wear hoods.

Oh my Lordy!! Somebody at last realises that we need to put some more people on the Bus to enforce discipline amongst the passengers. 440 of them to be precise and they are Police Officers. Last week Boris launched the 32nd bus Police team in Brixton. All we need to do now is to get them to collect the fares.

So, how much has all that fare automation, CCTV and police officers cost as opposed to Clippies? Have you noticed any decrease in fares or improvements in the service?

And how many other examples are there of "efficiency savings" that result in extra manpower needed in the longer term?

Well, London Transport did away with guards on tube trains. We now have at least two staff on each central London platform with table tennis bats who signal the driver when it is OK to close the doors. And it seems to me that there are far more station staff these days to help disabled people or those with luggage or pushchairs through the automatic barriers [or make sure people don’t jump over them] than when we had a single person checking our tickets in and out.

Ting, ting!

Mea Culpa

I have just received a copy of Redbridge Life through my letterbox. This is most annoying because there is a sign above my letter box that reads in big friendly letters “This is a letterbox – it is not a recycling point. We accept Royal Mail, Yellow Advertiser, Redbridge Post, Election leaflets, local community group newsletters – NOTHING ELSE”

Within the pages of this propaganda sheet we read that Redbridge Council hit its recycling target of 25% last year and is now working on this year’s target of 27.5%. A major contributor to this target being the amount of waste paper produced by…… Redbridge Council telling us how good it is at recycling!

Redbridge Council, and our good friends the Environment Services team, will not be pleased that I, and this blog, have for the last couple of years been trying to persuade our fellow residents to recycle LESS. Yes, LESS.

Look, if you are reading this, you are wired into the interwebby and Redbridge Life is on the interwebby. You don’t need it winging its way through your letterbox and straight into your recycling box. It should be an opt-in service.

1. Are you signed up for the Mailing Preference Service. It takes a while to kick in but it can reduce the amount of junk mail coming through your letterbox by up to 95%. Trust me, it works.
2. Have you got a similar notice to mine above your letterbox?
3. Do you compost your own green waste and vegetable scraps from the kitchen in a home made [from re-used pallets] compost bin?
4. Do you still buy newspapers? They are all on the interwebby you know. You can even access them on those new fangled portable phone thingies.
5. Do you refuse to accept carrier bags and excess packaging?
6. Are you, like me, a member of various Societies and Institutions who send you monthly glossy magazines that you never read? Are you retired and still receive the company newspaper that you never read? All you need to do is phone them up and opt-out. It works, trust me and if you do feel that you are missing out, well, it’s all on the interwebby.
7. Do you, like me, own shares? Do you ever read all that guff they send you? Some of it is of Tolstoy proportions and may as well be written in Russian. Opt out, it’s all on the interwebby – you know you are an eco-capitalist at heart!

Next week, 22-28 June is Recycling week, But not here at B21 it ain’t!

Here it is REDUCE WEEK!

Song Thrush

Tajinder, who was once a commuting City Type but is now a local eco-warrior, has got a problem. She has designed and manages her garden for wildlife. It is full of various types of bird feeder, all neatly equipped to deter squirrels. We won’t mention that squirrels are wildlife too, aren’t they?

Anyway, Tajinder wants to grow some veg. And being an ex-city type she has found just the place – Rocket Gardens. She met them at the Real Food Festival and they supply salads and vegetables to immediately plant in your garden or put in larger pots. This is an alternative to an allotment and for those with small back gardens. They also offer tips on how to plan your garden.

So after several years of city type procrastination she has ordered herself a window garden box and is waiting for it to arrive. Now she is looking forward to the interesting challenge of managing the competing demands of her salad and wildlife. She is determined not to use pesticides or kill anything so any handy tips from out there in the blogosphere will be welcome and much appreciated. She is intending to use copper wire to protect the salad from slugs and snails. A 2,000 volt electric fence is a bit OTT wouldn't you say?

Which brings us to Tajinder’s problem – she has a visiting Song Thrush [pictured] and they apparently eat slugs. No slugs and the Song Thrush will be using a different restaurant.

What do you think of it so far?

Rubbish!

According to the Daily Telegraph – no I don’t read it, it’s a hat-tip to Judith – the UK is importing some 200,000 tonnes of rubbish a year. Why? Because we Brits can’t even get recycling right. So what’s so difficult? Look, we learnt as children to get the right shape in the right hole, don’t they do that anymore? Apparently not! We now have a population of university educated plonkers who don’t understand the difference between glass and plastic, and need Velcro straps on their shoes because they can’t operate shoe laces.

Our recycling you see is mixed and so gets contaminated. It either gets sent to Landfill [arggghhh!] or sent abroad [arghhhh!] where it is sorted by “cheap labour” i.e. "uneducated" people who do understand the difference between glass and plastic and can tie shoe laces!

Of course if we had the “cheap labour“ here…… er let’s not go down that road otherwise I’ll have the Prime Minister’s heavies knocking on my door.

Our home-grown recycling industry is importing glass bottles, old tin cans and shipping loads of paper from other countries in Europe just to keep factories going.

This is typical of the UKs obsession with target driven quantitative measures. Never mind the quality, feel the width has been the maxim of recent years. Isn’t it about time we started looking at the quality of the politicians we elect and the officials we employ, and not just the colour of their rosette or Diploma in plonkery? What ever happened to judgement?

I have toyed with the notion put forward by Richard Lawson of locking these plonkers into their local brewery for a weekend to see what happens, but frankly I don’t want to risk my supplies.

Note: here in Redbridge we are now requested to keep our kerbside recycling of paper separate from tins, glass bottles and plastics. This is because they found that the paper was being contaminated with small shards of glass and was being rejected. Progress of sorts I suppose.

St Peter’s Flower Festival

St Peter’s Church set in the rural village of Aldborough Hatch was built in 1863 at a cost of £2,000 (didn't have Consultants back then). It was constructed with Portland Stone recovered from the demolished Westminster Bridge which was being replaced at the same time by the same contractor. And some people think recycling is a modern construct! More history here.

It is a piece of local history that passes many of us by as well as being an oasis of rural pleasure in our midst, being set as it is on the edge of Fairlop Plain. So you will be delighted that on the weekend of 27th June 2009 St Peter’s is having a Flower Festival (Theme: Our Green and Pleasant Land) with a Craft Market. One of the hosts will be this chap and he will be quite pleased not only to see you but will give you chapter and verse on the history. Map.

Programme of Events

Saturday 27th June
Church open from 10am to 7pm
Craft Market open from 10am to 6pm
Refreshments available from 10am to 6pm (including hot and cold drinks, ploughman's, strawberries and cream teas)
Robert Pyatt 'Music for a Summer Afternoon' on the green at 1pm
Display of Greek Dancing on the green at 2pm
Choral Music The combined Choirs of St. John’s, St. Laurence’s and St. Peter's will give a recital in Church at 3pm
The Palmerstone Dancers on the green at 4pm
Service of Compline in Church at 7pm

Sunday 28th June
Service of Holy Communion at 9am
Church open from 10am to 7pm
Craft Market open from 10am to 5pm
Refreshments available from 10am to 5pm (including hot and cold drinks, ploughman's, strawberries and cream teas)
Robert Pyatt 'Music for a Summer Afternoon' on the green at 1pm
The Palmerstone Dancers on the green at 2pm
Choral Music The combined Choirs of St. John’s, St. Laurence’s and St. Peter's will give a recital in Church at 3pm
Charmas Stage School on the green at 4pm
Festal Evensong at 7pm

Monday 29th June
Church open from 10am to 7pm

The Longest Day

Next weekend sees the summer solstice at which point daylight hours start to decrease sending me into deep depression. Why anyone would want to celebrate this I don’t know, but the Forest Farm Peace Garden are - Sunday 21st June 2009.

As part of Refugee Week they will be hosting a World Music Day. There will be free drumming lessons and a variety of professional musicians will fill the garden with beautiful sounds from around the world. Come and enjoy the day and if you have an instrument, bring it and play! Free Entrance, Facepainting and Hot Food.

The schedule will feature:
11-1pm Variety Cultural Gospel Choir (tbc)
12- 1pm African Drumming Circle Lessons lead by Gambian Seneke Sillah of Mbilla Arts.
1pm-2pm Afro-Beat Generation from Zimbabwe
2- 3pm African Drumming Circle Lessons lead by Gambian Seneke Sillah of Mbilla Arts.
3-3.30pm The Carbon Town Cryer (English - Folk/Political)
3.30-4pm Takoma in Drag (Italian - Guitar and flute)
4-5pm. Variety Cultural Gospel Choir (tbc)

There’s plenty to see and lots has been happening. The second wildlife pond is complete, the portacabin is kitted out and painted, and the release of the hesitant hedgehogs has taken place.

Map.

Swap ‘til you Drop

"Everyone makes shopping mistakes. Things that people only wear once because the fit, style or colour isn't quite right," said Emily Black, who hosted a clothes swap party at her flat in Glasgow.
"But one woman's mistake could be another woman's treasure."
The trend for "switch and bitch" parties, that started in the US, has now arrived in Scotland, says the Daily Record.

Well it’s now arrived in Redbridge!

Saturday 20 June, Fullwell Cross Library (view on map),
from 1 pm to 4 pm

Shopping for FREE! Introducing Redbridge's first Clothes Swap! Bring clean clothes and accessories that no longer fit or appeal and pick up new ones. No money involved. You can come to just give or take, either way saving tonnes of clothes from landfill and saving money too!
There will also be Textiles Recycling Workshops provided by LMB Textiles Recycling for children.

Free

For more information please call Joanne Smallman on 020 8708 5396 or email

Nerd Attack

Well, I have just had a look at the Ilford South Labour Party report on the 2009 European election results for Redbridge and I thought I’d better apply some “independent and objective” analysis – like putting the parties in correct descending numerical order and using the correct percentage change figure – and with half an eye on next years Locals and General Election due on 6th May 2010.

Here are the raw figures for Redbridge:

Party	2009 Vote	2009 %	2004 Vote	2004 %	% change
Conservative	17747	28.11%	20536	29.63%	-13.58%
Labour	14394	22.80%	16908	24.39%	-14.87%
UKIP	7372	11.67%	9561	13.79%	-22.90%
Liberal Democrat	5793	9.17%	8063	11.63%	-28.15%
Greens	4956	7.85%	4092	5.90%	+21.11%
Independent	4910	7.78%
BNP	2945	4.66%	2920	4.21%	+0.86%
Others	5028	7.96%	7232	10.43%	-30.48%

Of course this election was for the Euros, which we can expect to be affected by an anti-European vote, and was also conducted under a form of proportional representation that is not particularly proportional. So, voter behaviour will probably be different at different types of election, but it does give some clues, and of course 11 months is a long time in politics.

As expected the 3 main parties took quite a hit, but expect the voters to be rather more focussed next year, taxes are set for the most part at Westminster and the Council chamber. What is surprising though, is that the LibDems took the brunt of it, especially when you consider their recent good form in local by elections. UKIP also took a hit, down by almost 23% from 2004. Given their performance nationally the locals must be really disappointed.

The most astonishing thing is that the Independent Jan Jananayagam got 7.78% of the vote on the Tamil ticket and almost beat the Greens. Well done to her.

So what of the Greens. They polled 7.35% in the Wanstead by election earlier this year, their target ward. So, they must be quite pleased with 7.85% across the whole borough, which indicates a more widespread support, but they must be desperate to know exactly where it is.

The BNP vote nudged up a little to 4.66%, but this has to be viewed in the context that large parts of the borough are not exactly their territory. Their vote is likely to be highly localised and they could well increase their number on the council in 2010.

Finally a Green mate has hacked the LibDem Statistical Chart Software package and it has come up with this – remarkable!

click to enlarge

Get Smart II

Cllr Michelle Dunn, Redbridge Cabinet Member for Environment and Highways, has responded to the earlier post on this subject via the comment facility – since not everyone reads the comments I thought I’d highlight it as a post in its own right.

In a bid to keep the Borough's roads and residents safe the Council is about to start using CCTV cameras and a specially modified SMART car to penalise motorists who disobey traffic and parking restrictions across the Borough.

Residents have told us how concerned they are about the safety outside children's schools, where people park irresponsibly and dangerously. The Smart Car will be used to tackle these problems.

The SMART car will also be used in accident and congestion hotspots and in places where irresponsible motorists ignore road signs, misuse bus lanes or block box junctions.

From 1st July enforcement will begin for real. Any motorists caught on camera committing a parking or traffic contravention will be sent a PCN along with photographic evidence.

As the Cabinet Member for Environment and Highways "Parking and traffic enforcement is never popular, but deterring drivers who ignore road signs and endanger others is clearly sending out the right message across the Borough."

Cllr Michelle Dunn

Saddle Sores

More pictures of the Saddle Sores Movers and Shakers event last Saturday supplied by Gill James MBE. Click on any graphic to enlarge.
Cllr Sue Nolan [Resources] and Cllr Michelle Dunn [Environment and Highways] the new Redbridge cabinet "window dressing". Not to be confused with the Westminster version. These two have form as well as figure.

Lining up for the start.
Struggling up the hill.

Michelle Dunn outpaces Roger "two pies" Evans.
A bicycle made for two: Keith Prince and Mr Nolan.

Thirty Movers and Shakers ride at Redbridge Cycling Centre

There was a very unusual line-up on the top track at Redbridge Cycling Centre on Saturday when thirty top role models got on their bikes to demonstrate that cycling is fun and a great way to keep fit. The Leader of the Council, Keith Prince, showed a great turn of speed but was hotly pursued by three of his Cabinet Members, Sue Nolan, Michelle Dunn and Nicholas Hayes, closely followed by new Council recruit Alex Wilson.

Not to be outdone was Lee Scott, MP, Roger Evans, GLA Member for Redbridge and Havering, and Roger's colleague at the GLA James Cleverly, the Mayor's Ambassador for Young People. Also to be seen pedalling gamely up the hills was a Peer of the Realm, Victor Adebowale.

Lee Scott , MP for Ilford North, said: 'It is vitally important that we have a national cycling strategy and actually to have resources to to put things in place like the brilliant facility at Hog Hill.' He promised to speak to the Secretary of State for Transport [whoever that may be be today] to encourage the Government to take the lead on national policy.

Roger Evans, GLA Member for Havering and Redbridge, said: 'Most people actually use all forms of transport. The person who uses the train during the week drives at the weekend and walks as well and perhaps the one thing which they didn't do was cycle, which a few years ago was quite a niche activity. It's becoming less of a niche activity now. If you travel round Central London you see a lot of people on their bikes. We want to encourage more of that. One of the things which discourages people from cycling in the city is that they don't have somewhere to put their bikes when they get home, they don't have somewhere to park their bikes at work, maybe they don't have shower facilities. We're looking at a London Plan which will get all those things included in deveopments.'

Chief Inspector Paige Kimberley of the Met Police, who is herself a keen cyclist and cycles to and from work, said that HGVs were a big concern for cyclists: 'This is not to blame anyone, it is just raising awareness that pedestrians, cyclists, lorry drivers and car drivers need to be aware of each other. If you are in a van or a car you must be aware that a cyclist may be coming up on your near side. If you are a cyclist, you should try and avoid going up on the inside, particularly at lights where a lorry driver can't see you'.

Councillor Keith Prince, Leader of Redbridge Council, said 'The new Cycling Centre is the living embodiment of what the Olympics is all about, and its legacy will last far beyond the six or eight weeks the Olympics will be on. In Redbridge we promote the 'Fit4Life' Campaign and to Cycle for Life, and this will help us to encourage people to keep fit.'

'Movers and Shakers' is an initiative by the Redbridge branch of London Cycling Campaign in which people of influence within the community act as role models to demonstrate that cycling can be for everyone.

Gulp!

Blimey! Well I guess you have all seen the Euro Election results headlines. The Labour Party are ecstatic having held on to 15% of the vote, on coming second in both Wales and Scotland and only dropping to fifth place [that’s FIFTH place, as Kinnochio might say] behind the Greens in two other regions.

What struck me though, throughout the BBCs 24hr news channel coverage was this: all the Labour people interviewed [that I heard] cited the MPs expenses issue of moats and duck houses as the reason for their success. None of them, to my knowledge, mentioned their vote grabbing initiative of reneging on their manifesto commitment to hold a Referendum on the EU Treaty.

Ms Harperson suggested that Labour voters expect higher standards of their MPs than do Conservative voters of theirs; after all we expect them to have moats and moats need cleaning. One could follow on this line of reasoning to suggest that UKIP voters expect their MEPs to have their noses in the trough in order to give a nose on account of exactly what is wrong with that Institution?

Two other things that caught my attention:

The Green Party Leader, Caroline Lucas, said that “if the UK elected its MEPs the same way as Germany, we [the Green Party] would have many more seats”. I didn’t know that. I assume from this that the EU allocate a number of seats to each Country and it is up to them how they select their MEPs. So much for standardisation across Europe. And whose bright idea was it to use d’Hondt in the UK?

But have no fear. Up until now MEPs pay has been determined by a formula relating it to the pay of MPs from the same country. That is about to change and all MEPs, so it was reported, will receive the same amount. This means that some eastern country MEPs get pay rises of ~750%, UK MEPs 24%, but Italian MEPs take a pay cut. I don’t know what to make of that!

Gasp!

There I was this morning flipping through my news feed to see if there is anything interesting happening - Like is Gordo still Prime Minister – when my breath is taken away by this photograph.
It shows Roger Evans, Leader of the Conservative group at the London Assembly, St. Lee of Barkingside, Conservative MP and almost the cheapest in the House, plus Keith Prince Conservative Leader of Redbridge Council ALL wearing GREEN rosettes.

I had to have lay down and a very strong cup of tea. For just a moment I thought that these tumultuous political times had produced another batch of party defections, but it is only the Movers and Shakers rosette.

Carry On Politics

Oh my, aren’t we just the lucky ones here in Redbridge. Political turmoil at both local and national levels. And possibly more to come when the Euro results are announced on Sunday evening. That Portcullis seems to have taken on a new symbolism.

The only point of stability we seem to have is the London Assembly, but even there Boris “has fallen in the water”, as Spike might have said.

One difference though is that despite all the resignations from the National Cabinet, the discontent within the ranks of the governing party and the clamour for a change of Leader and a General Election, no Labour Party MPs have left the party. One has resigned his seat to force a by election, but that’s it.

Here in Redbridge, four councillors have resigned from the governing party and formed their own group.

So, I am doing a poll, it’s over in the right hand side bar.

Should those Redbridge councillors who were elected under the banner of a specific political party, but during their term of office have now resigned from that political party, do the honourable thing and seek the endorsement of their electorate via a by election?

The poll is now closed: 13th July 2009. The results are:

Yes	72	80.00%
No	14	15.56%
Don't Know	0	0.00%
Don't Care	4	4.44%

Fun in the Park

Click graphic to enlarge

Saturday 13th June 2009
11:00am – 4:00pm
Barkingside Rec
Free Entry

Usual stuff

A Novel Idea

Bookcrossing! No, no, it’s not about changing the gender of the cover. It entails registering each book on the web with a unique tracking number, then releasing them into the wild (e.g. leaving them in a cafe or on a park bench). When someone finds one and follows the instructions on the sticker inside, they will log that they have found it, hopefully read, write a review and then pass it on again. If you become an active member you can watch your books travel round the world, making people happy.

Alternatively you might get fined by a jobsworth for “littering”.

Pool Campaign

The Redbridge Swimmers Association is changing. The committee of 20 years standing has come to the view that their prime activities of ensuring adequate standards in our pool [singular] pails into insignificance now that we only have the one. They have decided to rebrand and rename as the Campaign to Replace our Pools. Trouble is that most of the committee now live outside the borough having moved away, or in the north of the borough. What they are seeking is to recruit a new committee made up of people who live in the south of the borough and are directly affected by the closure of the two Ilford Pools.

The Annual general meeting at which all this will be discussed takes place on Tuesday 16th June 2009 at the Vine Memorial Church Hall off High Road Ilford commencing at 7:30pm.

More here in their Newsletter

Excellence in Engineering Awards

The Highways Engineers of Transport for London have come in for a bit of stick on this blogsite, notably via the comments from Morris Hickey and Newbie.

So, in the tradition of "there’s always somebody worse off than you" here is an example from down Somerset way.

In case you are wondering, it’s one of those raised kerbs that allow the infirm and disabled to get on and off a bus more easily. Quite how a wheelchair would access the embarkation tarmac to get on a bus, or what they would do once they get off the bus, is anybody’s guess.

Picture from Westfield Wanderer via Freewheeler.