Claybury Park Flash Mob

For the uninitiated a “flash mob” is an internet communications phenomena whereby the internet network encourages lots of people to turn up at a pre-defined place at a specified time, sort of like a flash flood. So you can bring the children, it’s not that sort of flashing going on. Bring a picnic.

In this case it is on Monday 3rd August 2009 at 4:30pm at the central entrance to Claybury Park in Ravensbourne Gardens. This event is to celebrate the handing over of the park to public ownership and to meet with Daniel Binns, reporter with the Wanstead and Woodford Guardian, and tell him just how pleased we are. Oh, and you may also get your picture taken in, hopefully, a large family group with big hats. Of course we would be delighted if the cabinet member for Leisure [sic!] is available and can bring himself to walk the few yards from his home to said location.

If you are one of those 9-5s you are excused. Unless you can get an early pass.

Update: The Wanstead and Woodford Guardian report with more pictures.

Noisy Aeroplanes Update

I have been forwarded a response from BAA Heathrow, via Lee Scott’s office, our MP. You can view it here. It includes maps of Heathrow flight paths. Interestingly it says that “BAA does not own London City, so I am unable to comment on whether flight numbers have increased from this airport.”

A local Wanstead activist blogs about London City here and the Wanstead and Woodford Guardian’s latest report highlights a public meeting to be held on Thursday 6th August, 7pm at Lifra Hall.

Aircraft Noise over East and South East London.

Getting Worse. Why?

There have been increasing complaints about aircraft noise over many parts of East, North-East and South-East London .

Many of these places are affected by both City Airport and Heathrow planes

Public Meeting: LIFRA Hall, 7 Halley St, London E14 7SH

The meeting has been organised by Fight the Flights, the group campaigning against the proposed increase in flights at City Airport , and HACAN, which represents residents under the Heathrow flight paths.

The meeting provides a chance to find out what has been happening and to discuss what we can do about it.

Halley St is close to Ben Johnson Road, about 5/6 minutes walk from each of Mile End and Stepney Green Underground Stations and about the same from Limehouse DLR Station. See map.

Brownian Motion

Twice recently, local Redbridge celebs residents have been invited into Number 10 Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister. And not a mention in our local newspapers. First up was Wilson Chowdhry [pictured left] , well known political [currently Green] activist down Chadwell way and successful local businessman. He says:

“The event was a chance for small/medium sized businesses to be acknowledged and recognised for the impact they have on our country. PM Gordon Brown spoke eloquently about the support he intends to give to small /medium sized businesses (SME) and the need to work together to improve our ailing economy.
The PM left quite hurriedly after the event………… It's a shame really as I was prepared with a number of issues and don't feel I really had an opportunity to address pertinent needs for our community or my business sector. The government has lost an opportunity for consultation and absorption of real issues facing businesses within the SME category.”

Wanna bet? We now know, a month later, what that support is - courtesy of Boris Johnson. He, the Prime Minister, is going to increase business rates in London by 10% before inflation over the next five years, while other regions are to get reductions [although knowing Mr Brown this might well be a 0% reduction?]. According to Boris “the vast majority of economic activity in our city is undertaken by small businesses” so what better place to look for someone to pick up the tab when you’ve maxed out the credit cards. I did warn Wilson not to take his wallet with him.

Which leads me to the next rather strange event. “A Celebration of Environmental Volunteering” hosted by the Prime Minister and assisted by Hilary Benn and Ed Miliband. Here you see a bunch of them outside the famous door with our own Tajinder Lachhar up the front as usual.

Now, I say this is strange because volunteering, of any kind, is precisely what the Prime Minister doesn’t want – it does not generate economic activity and therefore, crucially, he can’t tax it to pay off his credit cards – or can he? Maybe the point of this gathering was to photograph and tag all these insurgent and militant "economic terrorists" - build up a file with MI5 so that covert operations can force them back into paid work or just ship them abroad during the night. Blimey, am I turning into a conspiracy theorist?

Whatever, Tajinder did not seem to be impressed after meeting the PM [below].
And lastly, here is the PM indicating where his latest new tax will be applied.

Footnote: In case you haven’t noticed, and anybody who works for charity will have, the Gift Aid scheme claim period is being reduced from six years to four as of next April.

Bicycle Chic

B21 brings you a preview of the new range of accessories for the smart woman about town - a 2x2. “Just orf to the French Market to get some cheese and wine for Sunday’s garden party dahling.”

I just love the shoes. And how the colour scheme fits perfectly with this blog.

Hat tip: Freewheeler

Newsflash: Claybury Park Transfer Complete

Councillor Nick Hayes reports in the comments section that the transfer of Claybury Park from Crest Nicholson to Redbridge has completed. Whoopie! I might have a pint to celebrate.

We reported last December that Crest Nicholson was in financial trouble and if it goes into liquidation while the park land is still legally theirs, then the administrators will be entitled to view that land as an asset for sale to pay off creditors.

This set the alarm bells ringing in the Town Hall and prompted some fingers being extracted from dark places.

It means that the withheld Lottery funding for Claybury Woods can now be accessed and the council can begin to work on their strategy for the park, including Natural Play. Over to you Fiona. We might even get some fish in the lake.

We are delighted.

Housekeeping

This blog likes to keep its readers happy and contented. We aim to maximise your entertainment and enjoyment experience by providing you with up to date and cutting edge reports, comment and analysis on the issues relevant to you the reader. We have a number of contributors plus those who feed in topics for publication, so if you feel you have something of interest please do let us know. Or even write a guest post. This is a community blog and we want you the community to be involved.

In addition we provide key strategic add-on features and facilities to enhance your ability to get exactly what you want, when you want from the site in a speedy manner with a no fuss, no frills approach.

As you may have guessed from the language used above, we have had a team of Consultants advising on upgrading and regenerating the side bar to the right – fortunately they are not from TfL.

I’m not sure how many of you look over there but it would be nice to know that it is worth the effort. I have reconfigured the links section to break them down into categories, and added some - lots of interesting stuff just a click away. There is a translator tool for viewing the blog in different languages and a recent addition is a synopsis of the last 15 comments under the title “Your Say”. Just click on a link.

There is also a new search facility. This one is much better than the one in the Blogger header bar as it searches the comments too. This is getting more important as time goes by and the amount of material on the blog increases, this being the 1,000th post published here. The labels are also a useful tool, but I do think I have rather too many of them.

So, to celebrate I’m going to do a bit of “knocking up”, that’s the English version and has nothing to do with pregnancy. Have you voted yet? The deadline is 31st July. Yes, I know you have to vote for 10 blogs in order and that some of you will be struggling to reach that number, so here’s a clue. There are lots to choose from here, and to suit all tastes.

Countdown

Pictured below are today's two trend setters.














On the left is Alex Philips who won the Goldsmid ward local by election in Hove for the Greens, taking the seat [and the Council] from the Tories. On the right is Chloe Smith who won the Norwich North parliamentary by election for the Conservatives taking the seat from Labour. They are both young, female, smart and photogenic. But they are not, as far as I can tell, window dressing.

Here in Redbridge we had a deeply unpopular Conservative administration that by any objective standards had completely lost its way. They had one chance and they took it. Earlier this year they changed their leader. Not without consequences or fallout – they lost overall control as 4 of them quit the party. But they have a full year to prove themselves before the local elections next May. Themselves now including some young fresh talent drafted into the cabinet by the new leader. Whether or not they succeed, both in terms of their performance in office and at the ballot box next May remains to be seen. But they do have a chance that was clearly missing before.

Meanwhile the Labour Party in central government are having the same problem. But they are just not facing up to it. Their vote has deserted them. They have missed their opportunity, just like they missed the opportunity to pay off debt when they had the chance. Instead, as Ministers resign, we are treated to the reintroduction of tired old has beens, recovered from their retirement home in Brussels, while those with youth, eagerness and fresh ideas who are willing to challenge the business as usual approach [that which has got them into trouble in the first place] remain sidelined. If a government does not recognise or take its own opportunities then how can you expect it to recognise and facilitate opportunities for us the people?

We know what sort of government we have. The question is, what sort of government will we have next May?

Autumn Coffee Mornings

Yes I know the summer school term has just finished and you are about to jet off on your summer holidays, having purchased the appropriate carbon offsets of course, but having just finalised the final slot I thought I’d let you know now so you can ponder the delights we have to offer while relaxing pool side.

Thursday 24th September 2009
Guest speaker: David Martin
Of the Fairlop Heritage Group and resident expert on Fairlop Airfield

Thursday 15th October 2009

Guest speaker: Elizabeth Hollingsworth
Local Firefighter who will be speaking on Fire safety in the home.

Thursday 19th November 2009

Guest speaker: Cllr Keith Prince
Leader of Redbridge Council who will be speaking on all things Redbridge but hopefully and specifically on Swimming and Barkingside Regeneration.

These are all held in the Hainault Room, Fullwell Cross Library 10:00am – 12:00noon

We do Tea and biscuits too, and it's all Fairtrade.

There is no charge for these events and they are open to all.

Mobile Directory

I have seen a number of blog posts expressing outrage about this and I have had emails alerting me to it and giving details about how you can have your mobile number removed from the directory. But frankly I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. My landline number is in the telephone book and if you plug my name and location into 192.com you can find it. Do I get loads of calls from people I don’t know? No I don’t. Mind you I have signed up for the Telephone Preference Service. I do get a few but they get short shrift. That’s the thing about a telephone number, whether landline or mobile. It exists. You can’t hide it. If someone, or a machine, wishes to dial that number, whether they know your name or not, you are going to receive a telephone call – period. Same with your letterbox. Your postal address is on file on the Post Office database accessible by anyone via the internet.

And with mobiles you’ve got a couple of extra options. It tells you the number of the caller, and if that number is in your address book it gives their name – you don’t have to answer it. And if you really don’t want to be contacted on the move you can always turn the sodding thing off.

You want instant communication you gotta put up with the downside. Get used to it.

Oh! I have just done a search for a graphic to go with this post and it appears that the service is suspended due to being deluged by you peeps wishing to remove your details. So you really don’t want to be contactable on the move then? I’ve just seen a pig flying past my window.

Perhaps that is a good thing, since most of the people I see using a mobile phone are sitting behind a steering wheel.

Two Green Flags

The Green Flag Award is the national standard for parks and green spaces in England and Wales. The award scheme began in 1996 as a means of recognising and rewarding the best green spaces in the country. It was also seen as a way of encouraging others to achieve the same high environmental standards, creating a benchmark of excellence in recreational green areas. [More:]

This year’s results were announced yesterday, 20th July, [hattip: Coxsoft] and there are 191 winners within the Greater London Area. Two of them are in Redbridge. Elmhurst Gardens and Hainault Forest Country Park.

No doubt we will see the Cabinet Member for Leisure on the front page of the next issue of Redbridge Life with a spade.

This blog however gives a big hearty well done to those at the coalface especially the Nature Conservation Rangers and the volunteers. Which brings me to a volunteer day on Monday 3rd August at Hainault Country Park. Altering the current wildlife pond that has already been dug out, but extending it further. A joint collaboration with the Hainault Forest Country Park Wardens & Nature Conservation Rangers.

This is part of the proposed Wildlife Garden, wildflower meadow, pond and vegetable area for which a measly £2,222 funding has not yet been found. Area 3 rejected the application at their meeting on 8th April on the grounds that funding should come from the central budget. The central budget that receives the revenue from the car parking charges installed a couple of years ago to the annoyance of Area committee 3 members.

And here’s the rub. If you are a volunteer and arrive by car, you get to pay £2 for the privilege! Any Takers?

Further details for the day on 020 8501 1426 or email.

Learning to Manage Risk

Last Thursday we had Fiona O’Connor as guest at our Coffee morning, speaking on Natural Play. To be honest I had wondered beforehand how she would make this a subject interesting to those of a certain age. But it was fascinating stuff and if you missed it you really have missed out.

The big barrier to Natural Play is Parents – not the children themselves nor importantly Grandparents. You see, we grandparents had bomb sites to play on and back then we didn’t have so much traffic nor did we have a paedophile on every street corner. Isn’t it strange how these social experiments always tend to end up where they started?

The whole idea of Natural Play is to experience risk in a controlled setting so that the children learn how to manage risk when they become adults. Well, not exactly the whole idea, there is also the fact that they can use their imagination and creativity with the natural things they find. A fallen tree trunk, a bolder, some sand or water. It is a form of eco-therapy and is especially beneficial to those children who suffer from ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. I know a few adults with that, and it was especially pleasing to hear Fiona talk about a move not to segregate, or exclude, children by age.

Which leads me to a subject dear to my heart – pubs. One change since I was a nipper is that pubs now allow accompanied children in. But do have a close look at those children, not too close you might get arrested. They are all young children. You don’t see 11-17 year olds in pubs. They are effectively excluded, perhaps by their own desire not be seen with their parents, at precisely the time when they should be exposed to the effects of alcohol, so that they can learn to manage the risk and act responsibly when they are adults.

No wonder when they get to 18 and are let off the leash they just go and get smashed. In the old days we weren’t allowed in pubs but we were allowed to have a Shandy outside and we were let in when the landlord considered us to be adult and responsible enough, sometimes at age 16.

Nowadays, with the nanny state fuelled by the fear of pressure groups you have to “look” 21 or have an ID card. Our Children cannot buy cigarettes or alcohol until they are 18 [or vote], but they can legally get married, be parents themselves, be employed, pay tax, get buggered or join the armed forces 2 years earlier. So they are trusted with a Kalashnikov AK-47 but not a cigarette or a pint, hmmmmm!

It is the prime responsibility of parents to equip their children for adulthood. It appears to me that the nanny state, fostered by an increasing band of target driven social “scientists” [sic!] is hindering rather than helping this process.

Gary Monro has approached this subject from a different angle, but I think we may be on the same wavelength. See what you think.

Scam Alert

Someone who we know well, but shall remain anonymous for embarrassment reasons, responded to an "email account suspension notice". The next thing was that they could not gain access to their account, and crucially their address book, and then all those on the address book started receiving emails saying that their friend was on holiday in Africa, had been robbed, and could you wire some money please. They had thoughtfully changed his/her home and mobile telephone numbers on his/her automatic email footer too. But I have the real numbers.

I got him/her out of bed at 11pm to confirm he/she was still at home. I don’t delete emails, I archive them. So, I looked back for one that he/she had sent out to their entire address book with an open list [you really shouldn’t do this, but in this case it came in jolly handy] copied and pasted the email addresses into a new email and sent out a warning. This also had the benefit that our friend could rebuild his/her address book on the new account opened the following day.

So, DON’T respond to emails that ask for your personal details, especially passwords.
DO, keep a back up of your address book, especially if it is web hosted.
DO, have a spare email account, or two.

Gants Hill Not Works

Originally published 14th July.
　
Update Friday 17th, 21:25: There has been a last minute flurry of activity with speed of light emails bouncing around the internet between council officers, councillors, TfL, the contractor, and everybody it seems, bar you the travelling public. It now appears that the buses will NOT be diverted and that works start on Friday 24th July, not Monday.
But don’t take my word for it, it may all change again on Monday.
-----------------------
Original post:
Hot on the heels of the previous local traffic warning for 19th July, comes another starting on 20th July and lasting, well it’s Transport for London, so we don’t know. They are starting work next Monday on Gants Hill Roundabout, twinned with Ilford Hill.

The buses are being diverted. The 123 and 179 will by pass Gants Hill via Beehive Lane. The 128 will be diverted away from Cranbrook Road via Tanners Lane, Horns Road and Ley Street.

So, if you get the bus to Gants Hill tube station to go to work you might like to go to Wanstead instead, oops scrap that, Wanstead Station is closed. Oh, just look at the map and wear walking shoes.

Meanwhile, today at Charlie Brown’s Roundabout we had a “Census Stop”. I stopped and asked, I was on foot. It’s a TfL thing, where they ask motorists about their journey, start, finish, regularity that sort of thing, so they can “improve traffic flows”. The Police were there simply because they are legally entitled to stop a vehicle. Drivers are not obliged to answer the questions either. Also notice how they were parked in the Bus Stop lane, so that buses could not pull in, thereby "improving" traffic flows.

Your Top 10 Political Blogs

Last year this blog was ranked 10th in the Total Politics Green category. But last year I didn’t promote the poll in advance. So, if you would like to massage my ego, then please do vote. Here are the rules:



1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and rank them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 (your tenth favourite).
2. Your votes must be ranked from 1 to 10. Any votes which do not have rankings will not be counted.
3. You MUST include ten blogs. If you include fewer than ten your vote will not count.
4. Email your vote to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com
5. Only vote once.
6. Only blogs based in the UK, run by UK residents or based on UK politics are eligible.
7. Anonymous votes left in the comments will not count. You must give a name
8. All votes must be received by midnight on 31 July 2009. Any votes received after that date will not count.

The votes will be compiled and included in the forthcoming book, the Total Politics Guide to Blogging 2009-10, which will be published in September. This year the poll is being promoted/sponsored by LabourList and LibDemVoice as well as Iain Dale’s Diary.

Gary’s Fourth Blog

Back on April 13th I chided our local councillors that not one of them has a blog. However, I did point out that one had blogged on and off in his personal capacity but it had gone quiet.

Well blow me, he’s started again, as of June 6th but he didn’t tell me, until now. This is his fourth blog, the previous three having been abandoned. Let us all hope that he changes his socks more often than his blogs. But that’s beside the point, he does write a good blog. He also thinks quite a bit, which is a good sign. He is none other than Gary Monro, Cabinet member for children’s services. Go have a look.

In one post entitled “School Places”, a subject he is now responsible for, he muses:

If demand for school places keeps rising - which is very possible - and the borough physically remains the same size - very probable, let's face it - then eventually we will run out of space to expand existing schools or to build new ones. Then what?

He then goes on to suggest that some radical thinking is required. Well, Gary, the answer is staring you in the face. The demand for school places has arisen from the increase in new build homes. And how are we building these new homes? In one word, Upfill, well perhaps two, Cramfill.

If kids live in cramped high rise accommodation, we really don’t want to raise their expectations by sending them to a nice leafy school, do we? A cupboard in the Town hall should suffice.

Fuel for Thought

Our Wind energy supplies have been in the news.
1. Worry over renewable energy goal.
2. Miliband promises more green jobs but Vestas wind turbine plant is closing.

Then, over on ConHome there has been a [surprisingly?] good natured debate on Wind Power, except for one local contributor [UKIP] who continues his ad hominem attacks on another local political opponent [in his absence] whilst stressing his own “electrical engineering degree”. I sometimes wonder, when a person uses their own credentials to bolster an argument, whether it is a subconscious admission that the argument itself, or their ability to express it, lacks substance. The argument should stand scrutiny in its own right. I digress.

The premise of the original piece on ConHome is that the “Lights will go out under Labour” and is written by a fierce opponent of Wind Turbines. The argument being that the government are leading us to an over reliance on Wind power, and that the supply is not reliable. It cannot supply energy to the grid when the wind stops. The piece concludes “that a non-nuclear strategy is foolhardy in the extreme”.

Yes, but! All electricity generation stops when the fuel supply stops. Our Nuclear power stations cannot work without Uranium, and we in the UK do not have any source of our own. The argument addresses the problem of security of supply to the grid, but not security of supply of the fuel needed to generate electricity.

Meanwhile the Greens [who “have probably done more to slow down the fight against climate change than any other group”] yesterday issued their own report on Nuclear. They’re not keen.

a.. Nuclear power provides less than 4% of UK energy - which is far less than could be saved by energy-efficiency measures that would cut people's fuel bills.
b.. New nuclear stations will not help the fight against climate change because major CO2 reductions are needed in the next ten years. New nuclear power stations could not be built fast enough.
c.. Massive investment in renewables could deliver the necessary short-term CO2 cuts - but "feeding cash to the nuclear delusion" could help starve the renewables industry of some of the investment and skilled personnel it needs to grow rapidly.
d.. The nuclear industry's current financial problems cast serious doubt on its ability to deliver new power stations anyway.

Now, there are two types of Nuclear Power – Fision and Fusion. Fision is what is being referred to above, it is basically a controlled nuclear bomb. The reason governments want Nuclear power [and why they don't want other governments to have it] is that they want to keep the skills and technical expertise to support its military applications. As far as generating electricity for the domestic market is concerned it is about as useful as a Meccano set without a spanner.

Fusion on the other hand is excellent. We’ve already got a Fusion reactor, it’s 92million miles away and is called the Sun. It is the source of all the energy we have been using so far. What do you think fossil fuels are? It’s energy from the Sun trapped by the natural process of photosynthesis and then stored by geological processes. A sort of Planet battery. The trouble is, we have been using it faster than it is being replaced. The age of cheap energy from fossil fuels is coming to an end. And plastic too come to that. What we need is an alternative and secure supply, one that is not dependent on imports in an increasingly fragile global economy. We do have plenty of coal but I don’t expect anyone to be on the phone to Arthur Scargill anytime soon. We’ve been down that road.

We need to, and we will, face up to the problem when it starts biting our bums. Just compare a mobile phone, a laptop, or a small pocket camera with their counterparts 20 years ago. Battery technology has advanced but the real breakthrough to get them truly mobile was reducing the energy they require to operate. That is where the challenge lies for the innovators of tomorrow. To supply you with products that do not need on tap electricity, but which can top up when it is available.

Today’s products are tomorrow's Imperial typewriters and Singer Sewing machines. Have you been down to the power tool shop lately? So, why not a cordless lawnmower? It’s a lot safer as well. There’s a whole new market out there just waiting for some entrepreneurs.

Standards

Regular readers of this blog will be aware that I prefer Imperial measures rather than those European thingies. And I still take an imperial tape measure with me to the DIY store. Thank heavens pubs still use Pints. Anyway, now I’ve got annoyed.

Mrs H wants new wall lights. She chooses, I have a look to make sure the fittings are OK and we order. They arrive and they are different. Not only is the fitting to the wall different, making it much more difficult than it should be, but the bulb fitting is an Edison Screw and not a standard British bayonet. So I cancel and get a refund and we go shopping. To a veritable Aladdin’s Cave in George Lane. Here the lady shop assistant sighs that they are all Edison Screw fittings now – because of where they are made. Translation, we don’t make anything in Britain anymore, except perhaps a mess. I’ve given up and hung pictures over the holes in the wall. I don’t want Edison Screw fittings.

Creeping Euromentalism is what I call it. And today is Bastille Day in case you haven’t noticed. I’m up for round two. See this:

The commissars have decreed that light bulbs will henceforth be labelled in “Lumens”, because Watts are confusing. What? Watts are not confusing, they are basic O’ level physics, or at least they were. I want my light bulbs labelled in Watts so I know how much electricity they are going to use. It’s simple.

Then there’s this, also from Syed Kamall MEP. It’s from an e-newsletter and I can’t find it on his website. He’s challenging the ban on traditional incandescent light bulbs. Whilst he supports the goal of energy efficiency, he is pushing the Commission to address health concerns from Londoners who suffer from sight and skin conditions after exposure to compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) energy-saving bulbs. He is also pressing the Commission to clarify rules for safely disposing of energy saving light bulbs when they either break or expire - due to their mercury content.

Well, mine go in with the fluorescent tubes up at Chigwell Recycling centre, after a stay in the garage.

And that’s what you get when you ban something. Remember, these are the same people who espouse the market, but when it comes to the push they don’t trust the market to do its job. Have a think about that for a moment, if they don’t trust it, why should we? As the product gets popular and volume increases, price comes down. They could speed this process up, if they wanted to, by reducing VAT on their favoured product, but oh no, can’t do that. And that’s without the savings on electricity, which ought to be the main driver.

So, if you’ve stashed away a supply of old incandescents with bayonet fixings, you might find that by the time you come to use them, you can’t because all the light fittings are Edison Screws. And finally I’ve pinched this graphic from Mr Kamall’s newsletter. Notice how the light bulb glows when it is not plugged in – clever that. It could catch on, but how do you turn it off at bedtime?

Right Charlie and Fred

Green [capital only because it is at the beginning of the sentence] type people have been saying this for ages. But when Prince Charles says it, it makes the front pages. Tch!

“But for all its achievements, our consumerist society comes at an enormous cost to the Earth and we must face up to the fact that the Earth cannot afford to support it. Just as our banking sector is struggling with its debts – and paradoxically also facing calls for a return to so-called “old-fashioned,” traditional banking – so Nature’s life-support systems are failing to cope with the debts we have built up there too. So, if we don’t face up to this, then Nature, the biggest bank of all, could go bust. And no amount of quantitative easing will revive it.”

Link to video (BBC iPlayer link, UK only)
Link to transcript

Then we have Fred Pearce on Short Sharp Science:

G8 emissions pledge is 'scientifically illiterate'

“The trouble is the science has moved on even faster. The planet is not waiting for the diplomats. Climate chaos is coming down the tracks fast.”

But don’t worry, Barkingside 21 has a contingency plan.

LINK and FIND

Don’tcha just love acronyms? Is there a government department who spend all day dreaming these things up? “OK team the buzz words this week are LINK and FIND. We need to invent an initiative to go with each of these words. Let’s brainstorm, go!”

“Hey boss, how about “Local Involvement NetworK?”
“Good start, what can we get them involved in?”
“How about we have patient forums that will provide a "link", get it, between service providers to the NHS, the NHS itself and patients?”
“Brilliant, just what we need to deflect attention from MRSA, what about FIND?
“Er Flood Information Now Database”
“Oooh no, we don’t want to mention sea level rises.”
“How about Families INformation Direct?”
“Excellent, right on the hard working families theme.”
“Well done team, bonuses all round!”

Note: FIND is currently closed due to flooding in the office on 8th July.
LINK has been delayed due to road works in Ilford.

Comment: I’ve just got to ask. Why do we need these things? If the NHS functioned properly we wouldn’t need LINK, would we? And if hard working families weren’t working so hard to pay their council tax bill they might have a bit more time to find out themselves, by talking to their friends, wouldn’t they?

Noisy Aircraft over Barkingside

The second post on this blog, back in June 2006, was about noisy aircraft over Barkingside. Click on the “Noise” label below to see that and subsequent posts.

This summer, 3 years later, I have been getting queries from residents asking if I know anything about an increase in large low flying and noisy aircraft over our genteel suburban community. I have asked the office of our MP, Lee Scott, and this is the reply:

Lee asked me to look into the issue of the increase in aircraft flying over and near the constituency.
The initial enquiries indicated that there had not been an increase in the number of fights but there had been a small reduction in charter fights.
The next possibility is that there had been a change in aircraft routing. Lee wrote to the National Air Traffic services to ask if this is the case. They have now replied and inform us that there has been no change to airspace or procedures over Ilford.
However, NATS point out that air traffic flows occur in accordance with changes to the direction of take off and landings at airports. This is dependent on the strength and direction of surface winds. Aircraft are also more visible and audible in clear weather.
I would think that the better 'summer' weather is the reason we are seeing more aircraft.

As one resident put it, “these planes are not a figment of my imagination” and I have certainly noticed them too. OK, it’s summer and the patio doors are open, but apparently there is a new service operating from London City Airport.

And on that subject, last Thursday Newham Council gave the thumbs up to an increase of 50,000 flights per year at London City Airport. That’s an increase of over 70% from the present 70,000 flights per year.

So, let’s open it up wider. Have you noticed an increase in noisy aeroplanes? Please let us know in the comments. If you are concerned about this issue and the impact it will have on your quality of life, then please write to Lee Scott, click on name for email. If you live in a neighbouring constituency you can find your MPs contact details here. Please let us know if you get a reply.

Dead Meat

We sit and watch nature programmes on our Televisions. We see an animal hunted down by predators until it is exhausted. It twitches as the predators begin to tear it apart while it is still alive. Such is Nature – red in tooth and claw. But somehow we are not part of it - modern man, by and large, has lost his connection with nature. It’s all sanitised and pre-packaged. We don’t see the beast that is on our dinner plate, so we have lost respect for it.

Predators respect their prey. And so it was with early man, the hunter. He drew images on cave walls and rituals and ceremonies developed. The beasts on which they preyed were revered and sometimes worshipped. Later, as man began farming and keeping livestock that respect remained. Livestock was treated with care and when it came to the time to kill it, it was done as humanely as possible – a quick and honourable death. The throat was cut with one single swift movement with a very sharp knife. The blade was sharpened and cleaned on each use. The animal was blessed and there was a thanksgiving. This is what is known today as “Religious Slaughter”, part of the much wider practices of early Arabian culture known as Halal and Kosher.

These practices still exist today but some, for their own reasons, define them as cruel. It is that disconnect. We assume that modern methods [which most of us don’t see] are better. Modern methods that remove all dignity and respect from the process by making it a production line governed by throughput targets and bottom line profit. We assume that “stunning” is humane, but it doesn’t always work and a beast can get skinned alive if care and attention is lax. And the treatment of a beast prior to kill, e.g. in transportation, can also lack respect.

So, since the subject was raised in a comment on an earlier post, and specifically enquired about the Green Party position, I thought I’d look into it. I have not been able to find any specific policy on religious slaughter, but I did find a policy “to improve market and slaughterhouse conditions”. It would appear that the general consensus among local animal welfare activists is that any judgement should be based on scientific evidence. Something I would expect to be true of any serious and objective political party.

However, the science, for example from the Farm Animal Welfare Council, para 194, is not conclusive insofar as I am aware:

It is difficult to measure pain and distress during the slaughter process in an objective scientific manner and subjective indicators, such as behavioural responses and vocalisation, are prevented from being displayed because of the degree of restraint and the severance of the trachea respectively. By the same token, it is impossible to state with objectivity that an animal would not feel pain and distress following such a procedure.

But they do recommend pre or post stunning for religiously slaughtered animals. The RSPCA reported in February this year that around 90% of Halal meat produced in the UK is pre-stunned while the majority [sic!] of cattle [but not other species] killed by the Shechita [Kosher] method are post stunned.

Up until recently Sweden was the only European country where religious slaughter is banned, but recent EU legislation puts that into question as reported by Totally Jewish, who also report that: “The government eventually acknowledged the method of slaughter was humane following scientific support from the shechita body in March 2005.”

Disclaimer: I know little on this subject, and apart from my own thoughts in the introduction the content is derived from internet searches. I make no claim that it is accurate or complete. It is intended to give a starter for readers to think about.

Local Traffic Warning

Has anybody noticed the big orange advert on the fence opposite the end of Marston Road? Well, if you haven’t it is advertising the London Bike Festival, to be held at the Wanstead Rugby Club grounds in Roding Lane North on Sunday 19th July 2009. This is not for bicycles, this is for motor bikes and apparently this festival is “big”. So, you might expect our quaint, suburban and genteel local roads to be awash with the likes of hairy, aged bike fanatics as pictured above.

On the other hand, up north in Huddersfield, academics at a Business school research unit say that there is a boom in 'biker chic' and motorcycle trends for women.

Mind you, the report is not dated, so Katy Lonsdale, 27, may be a little older than pictured.



You never know, you might just bump into Hazel Blears.

7/7 Remembered

Click.

I spotted the above plaque while visiting the William Morris Gallery yesterday, Thursday 9th July.

Green IT

We are all consumers. We all buy stuff. Some more than others. But do you ever wonder how all that stuff gets to market. The process of design and manufacture. Being an Engineer I look at stuff with an engineer’s eye. I like to know how it works and how it was designed as well as the care and attention put into making it. Sometimes I despair. I look at a product and it is painfully obvious it is going to break sooner rather than later, not to mention those that are just slapped together without the faintest notion of quality control. I’m choosy. But it is still bloody difficult being choosy. I can’t tell, just by looking at it and/or reading the specifications whether it has been made using child labour or precisely what materials have been used.

So, my attention is drawn to reports like this. Greenpeace have given the raspberry to Hewlett Packard, Lenovo and Dell - the world's biggest PC makers. And yes, I am sitting in front of a Dell right now – blast, see what I mean! These companies have backtracked on their commitment to eliminate PVC plastic and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from their products by the end of 2009. So my shopping trip for a NetBook will be a little more focussed.

Here’s their Green Electronics Guide.

Meanwhile Melvyn Wray, the Allied Telesis Senior Vice President of Marketing EMEA writes for the British Computer Society on Energy Star Ratings.

“Developing products that are truly green does not involve fancy 'add-ons' or energy ratings; it just requires sensible engineering from the bottom up.” Oh music.

Simplicity is the watchword when 'going green'. Manufacturers need to look at how a product is powered, what lighting is being used and assess what is really required. For example, data centres and server rooms are full of LEDs that nobody ever looks at.

Allied Telesis has taken its products back to the drawing board and is carefully re-engineering them from scratch, and this is what all manufacturers should be doing. Until a more stringent rating system is introduced, the onus is on the equipment buyer to investigate the product purchased to ensure it is truly green and not just 'Energy Star compliant'.

Caveat Emptor.

No, Minister

On reflection, it seems that I may have been just a little unfair on our politicians. Richard Lawson draws attention to Sunday’s Observer in which Jonathon Porritt looks back at nine years as Chairman with the Sustainable Development Commission. He says trying to get anything done was like trying to wade through a very think bowl of porridge – well not exactly in those words.

Since it was founded in 2000, the SDC lobbied the government consistently to use its multibillion-pound budget to promote sustainable development through its procurement of buildings, goods and services. But Porritt said his efforts fell on stony ground for years. "At meetings relatively senior civil servants from the Treasury were sitting there glowering and wondering what they could do to scupper things when they got back to base.

So, this morning I get an email from Unlock Democracy/ Local Works about the Sustainable Communities Act steered through Parliament by Nick Hurd. Extract.

Currently there is no legal requirement on central government to continue the Act’s process after 31st July this year. Despite Ministerial assurances that the process would continue, Whitehall officials are dragging their feet!

Thus, we are working to ensure that this right for you is enshrined in law: we have drafted the ‘Sustainable Communities Act 2007 (Amendment) Bill’ and it has now been introduced in Parliament. If made law this Bill will guarantee a rolling programme in the Act so that we can all use it indefinitely.

What is surprising is that the Early Day Motion, number 1545 has not been signed by Nick or our own Lee Scott. Nor any other local MPs I should add. So, why not drop them a line and ask if they support the Amendment?

If you are not sure what the Sustainable Communities act is all about Local Works has produced a series for guides with suggestions for proposals that you could make under the Act to do things like protect local shops and post offices, protect the environment and promote democratic involvement. The Local Works Steering Group has also devised a key list of suggested proposals one of which I am paying particular attention to - Protecting local pubs and smaller breweries.

Having said all that I am not going to let the politicians completely off the hook. It seems that Boris has had his budget raided to the tune of £22million; money earmarked to help small businesses and the unemployed.

And according to an ex-Prime Minister your budget is going to get raided too as well as the kid’s piggy banks.



Have a nice day, now!

Talking of Epping Forest

Barkingside, formerly "Barking Side" derives its name from being the Barking [Abbey] side of Epping Forest. And just up the road the William Morris Gallery is currently having an Epping Forest Exhibition.

Next Thursday 9th July, 7.00 pm they are hosting an illustrated talk “The People’s Forest” given by our well known local historian Georgina Green, pictured. It will cover the history of Epping Forest and the campaign to save it from enclosure and keep it open for all to use. Throughout its history the people who have lived in the vicinity of Epping Forest have made their mark on the forest and this talk looks at the effects of early man, the Romans [what did they ever do for us? – they had public toilets for a start!], the Saxons, the medieval period and the Industrial Revolution. The talk concludes with the Victorian fight to save the forest from enclosure and destruction and William Morris's involvement in this.

Refreshments, included in the ticket price, will be served before and after the talk. Tickets available from the Friends of the Gallery, tel. 020-8503-6166, or on the door £5.

The William Morris Gallery is a short bus ride from Redbridge, the 123 - timetable. Look out for the College Arms and then The Bell, both on the right hand side. It is just past The Bell. If you get to the Essex Arms on the left hand side you’ve gone way too far.

Update: Well that’s just made my day. What a crap website TfL has. I can’t link you direct to the 123 timetable. You’ll just have to click here [if it works] and type in 123 in the relevant box and click on get timetable. Of course they do want you to use the buses, don’t they?

After the Heat

There I am, in my environmentally friendly car with the air conditioning turned full on, on my way to Tescos Barkingside to test out their new recycling machine, see report here, winding my way through the back doubles to avoid the TfL induced gridlock in the High Street, when I spy Margaret on her hands and knees in a pile of hedge cuttings on the pavement outside her front garden wall. Of course I stopped to make sure she was not suffering from heat stroke. She was OK and was wearing a hat and assured me that she would be going indoors shortly.

On this very subject, one of my multiple identities, Weggis, has written to that nice Mr Brown suggesting a Summer Air Conditioning Payment for the elderly as well as a Winter Fuel Payment. However, given the weather forecast it may well be prudent to add wellies and a boat.

This sort of heat wave in England is usually followed by thunderstorms and the potential for flash floods, and it is the Wimbledon Yawn Tennis finals at the weekend. Beware. Be prepared.

Dib dib, dob dob.

And on that note, in all the excitement I completely forgot the third birthday of this blog, which was on Monday 29th June.

Barkingside is Go

Yup, it’s finally underway. Barkingside is about to enter the 21st century. The Feasibility Study on the Regeneration of Barkingside Town Centre is GO. A non-standard £70,000 has been found and Roger Evans Associates Ltd [no, not that one] have been hired and they are having brown bag sessions in the green room and doing some blue sky thinking. They are also running flags up poles etc .

Here’s the plan. They are going to review all the data and suggestions left over from the previous abandoned attempts to rejuvenate the High Street, work up some proposals and options and then have workshops with local groups, after which we get a full public presentation and consultation.

The goal. A clear vision for improvement to encourage an attractive, functional and vibrant town centre for the coming years.

B21 and the Business Group will obviously be involved as will local SNT Ward Panels and various other bodies. But that doesn’t stop you as an individual from putting in your tuppenyworth. Just send in your views to the Project Manager – Matthew Maple.

So, before we take a look at where we’re heading let’s have a look at where we’ve been. Francis Frith’s nostalgic photos – see if you can spot Morris in short trahziz.

Photo: courtesy of Roger Evans Associates Ltd.