Paul Crossley

Spent this morning at Hayesfield School this morning spending two sessions with groups of gilrs answering questions about being a Councillor, the role of the Council and politics in general.

There was a clear understanding about how they wanted society to move on but plenty of confusion as to what exactly a Council was responsible for and delivered. We do not deliver hospital and police services as some thought. They clearly wanted better housing provision and safer parks and better play areas.

The issue of safety in parks was a big concern especially a concern about the behaviour of older teenagers. (The groups we met were 12 and 13)

We also discussed the role of women in politics and the need to make being a Councillor both attractive and acheivable for young women to consider as a possibility. We also discussed the failure of MPs in leadership and their disgust at the behaviour of claiming for non-existant mortgages, flipping and the one that really got them annoyed was the Conservative MP Viggers and his claim for a duck island.

Well done to Hayesfield school for asking 6 Councillors in to meet with young students and talk about being a Councillor.

Bath has a good number of cyclists but nowhere near as many as cities such as Amsterdam and Copenhagen. Many people say the hills of Bath work against cycling. However in Trondheim they have developed a really effective answer  VIEW Here.

In Bath myself and Roger Symonds have been trying to get our Council to sign upto Cyclescheme for over two years now. We have met a wall of resistance from the Conservatives but now we are on the verge of getting a scheme implemented. I know of several employees who are just itching to take advanmtage of the scheme and get their new bikes and cycle to work.

Other interesting cycle YouTubes  Here and Here and Here

The Conservatives are really trying hard to push through a controversial bus rapid transit road (nicknamed Richter’s Road to Ruin) in Bath following on from park and ride controversies in Bathampton. The planning issues have created a storm within the Conservative group - see CHRONICLE STORY .

The Liberal Democrats have offered an alternative to Richter’s Conservative’s crazy road solution based on bus priorities using the Lower and Upper Bristol road. However the Conservatives refuse to evaluate the option and we are certainly heading for a showdown on a 1 mile road that will save no time, blight peoples lives, destroy a green corridor and cost millions to achieve very little.

Meanwhile the Bath Western Riverside project is collapsing fast LINK  and without that development it makes proceeding with the rapid transit system even less rational. I the two years that the Conservatives have been the administration we have lost a Bath Spa University project, a Dyson project and now the Riverside looks increasingly at risk. At least projects we started are now coming to fruition - the Southgate, Milsom Place, EPHs and more.

The last West f England Partnership debated it response to the Government shortlisting of options to harness energy from the Severn Estuary. It shortlisted 5 including 3 barrages. Whilst there is a debate to be had on the two small barrages it is absolute nonsense to be considering further the £25billion large barrage coming across to Somerset from Cardiff. Not only is it a waste of money but it is a further waste of £10M to investigate it further. It wont be built and it should be discarded now.

The South West has a golden opportunity to become a world leader in getting tidal reefs, lagoons and fences to work. Not building a huge dam that is bad for the environment, bad for ecology and makes no economic sense.

Add to that the fact that it will devestate Bristol Port.  Today went for a visit to the Port to see at first hand the work it does and look at its plans for the future. A future that will see it develop to take the new large ships being planned and a future that puts its freight straight onto the rail system or the motorway network.

The RSS process for regional housing, employment and infrastructure planning is a completely flawed process. Our Council after much work and consultation agreed 15K new houses. The Region with no justification increased this to 18K and the Government with a ‘pigs might fly’ aproach upped this to 21K.

Needless to say we are all angry and many signed the online government petition against the process.

Now we have the response at LINK  This response coming as it did today is either a case of burying bad news or just another example of how this Labour Government is simply falling apart at the seams.

It is a tragedy and failure of the worlds governments that so little support is being given to the people of Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi. She should be freed now and allowed to put her case to the people of Burma. The generals should be forced to allow a free vote and respect the outcome of that vote.

I am sure it would be a landslide for Aung San Suu Kyi.

Lots of Youtube support - but a wall of silence from Gordon Brown and the Labour Government who seem to be more interested in protecting the Speaker of the House.

Check out this You Tube - one of many - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8Yi-YikGbY

Our Conservative administration is finally getting round to introducing same day waste collection. Two years too late really and they campaigned hard during the last administration to oppose same place collection. This could have been done (and was planned for introduction) in 2007. Still better late than never.

Same day collection apart from meeting the first criteria of making it easier for residents has the added bonus of increasing recycling rates by 6%. In addition it will allow flexibility in getting other streams sorted and introduced.

The collection will start on June 8 and residents can find out their new day by typing their post code into www.bathnes.gov.uk/myhouse  to find out more.

Our motion to full Council to try and restrict the growth of this airport was defeated last night by the combined forces of Conservative, Labour and Independent Councillors.

The Liberal Democrats called for a halt to growth and challenged the claimed economic benefits and pointed out that unrestrained growth in flying was damaging to our environment. Not to mention the chaos that is already being caused in our small villages in NE Somerset by the passengers driving to the airport.

However this all fell on deaf ears and the Conservatives - lead by Whitchurch Councillor Peter Edwards - amended our motion to turn it into a peon of praise for airport growth and economic benefit without a care in the world for the environment.

Airport expansion is an emotive issue at present. Locally Bristol International Airport are also seeking massive expansion. There seems to be lots of false claims made about airports. One thing for sure though is that they export jobs from an area like ours through the airport with cheap package holidays and encouraging people to buy second homes in remote locations.

I have just signed up to join in with Greenpeace’s beneficial plot of land and have also written to our Prime Minister on the issue:-

Dear Prime Minister
I would like to urge you to change your mind on the third runway and expansion of Heathrow
Airport.
I have joined with thousands of others as a benefial owner of a plot of land in the way of the third
runway.
Air travel cannot be environmentally friendly and should in no way be subsidised. People who fly
should pay the true cost of the flight and that step alone would reduce demand and hence
expansion need.
Emission caps and offsetting schmes simply miss the point - we should not be expanding airtravel
or subsidising it at taxpayer expense.
Please halt your plans on the third runway for Heathrow. There is no shame in listening to
arguement and changing a position based on evidence and demand.
Sincerely,
Paul Crossley

cc: Mr Don Foster, MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A0AA

This Labour government is obsessed with pushing nuclear power onto us. It is not environmentally sustainable,  it is not economically viable and it won’t solve global warming. It is pure and simple big business and a Labour lack of will and vision.

Not only have this Labour Government corrupted the planning process to force its nightmare onto us it is also now destroying good clean energy production.

A successful wind farm close to the Lake District national park is one of the sites recently approved by the Government for a new generation of nuclear power plants. The site at Kirksanton in Cumbria - home to the Haverigg turbines – was one of Britain’s first wind farms and is also one of the most efficient.

The site’s owners, local environmental groups and the British Wind Energy Association have spoken out at the lack of early consultation and the speed at which nuclear plants are moving through the planning process. You can read the full story in the Guardian: http://tr.im/jUbp

You can help our campaign against nuclear power by encouraging people you know to sign the petition at http://ourcampaign.org.uk/no2nuclear