Paul Crossley

Interviewed by The Breeze today on the invitation to householders to join in the HomesFitForTheFuture campaign in which householders open up their homes for visitors to coe and see how homes can have theri energy consumption greatly improved and thus save money and reduce CO2 emissions. A win win campaign. The main weekend will be March 17 18 but the campaign to encourage householders to take up sonme of the ideas on offer for their own homes will last two months.

Went to the launch in Bristol today for their bid to win the Green Investment Bank Bristol. It should be in Bristol as this area has a large silicon industry, many green and environmental industries, 4 top universities and many other qualities. Bringing the bank to Bristol woul also benefit B&NES and our growing environmental and silicon sector.

Liberal Democrat Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Chris Huhne has announced that Bath & West Community Energy  (BWCE) in Bath will be receiving £30,825 from the first £4m allocation from the Local Energy Assessment Fund.

Locally owned and run  BWCE is one of the first of around 80 local energy projects to win funding from the new £10m Local Energy Assessment Fund.

The money will be used by BWCE to engage local, professional energy specialists who will survey five local schools, Ralph Allen, Oldfield, Newbridge, Bathford, and Colerne primary schools. They will suggest ways of improving energy efficiency and how any improvements could be financed. Using the schools as a base, they will also recruit and train community ‘energy champions’. These champions will work with pupils, their families and the school community to find practical and effective ways to reduce energy in their homes.

At a time when people are worried about rising energy bills, this funding is a welcome boost to help people save energy and keep costs down.  Projects like that of BWCE’s show people that going green is realistic, practical and will help them save money in ways that work in our area.  Local communities will be put at the heart of the UK’s effort to rise to the enormous challenge to get clean and cheap energy on our efforts to halt climate change and to end our reliance on erratic market of imported oil and gas.

This Sunday the advert goes out for the position of Chief Executive of Bath and North East Somerset. Our current CX has served for 14 years and been employed by the Council since it’s start in April 1996. He will be a hard act to follow but we are confident we will attract a good field. I have had 2 radio and 1 tv interview over the matter and their main concern seems to be why we are offering a lower salary.

As Leader of the Council I am also the official Olympic Champion for the Council area and so I am challenging all 64 of my Councillor colleagues to join me on the Olympic 2012 km challenge to also help raise money for Dorothy House hospice.

Any group of residents can also set themselves a challenge and sign up and choose from a number of charities to support.
More tail at this LINK. www.goldchallenge.org
My letter to my colleagues
Dear,
What will you be inspired to do for London 2012?
As part of the Olympic Year in Bath and North East Somerset, I would like to invite you to join me in taking part in the Gold Challenge and join a Bath and North East Somerset Councillor team challenge.
Gold Challenge is the UK’s first Olympic and Paralympic sport based charity challenge and is part of the mass participation legacy programme for London 2012.
With the support of the Sport and Active Lifestyles Team, I have set up a team called Team Bathnes Councillors to take on a 2012km distance challenge to raise at least £2012 for local charity, Dorothy House.  
This will be a great way to show case our commitment to creating active and healthy communities!
The good news is that we can cover the distance via one or more of the following sports and each member of the team’s individual total will contribute to the overall team total:
Running; Walking; Cycling; Swimming; Rowing; Canoeing; Windsurfing; Sailing; and Horse-riding
Full support is available from Martin Pellow in the sport and Active Lifestyles Team who can assist in setting up your page on the Gold Challenge web site and discussing fundraising ideas.  He can be contacted on 01225 396431 or email martin_pellow@bathnes.gov.uk
If you would be like to be part of Team Bathnes Councillors, let Martin Pellow know and he will make sure you are sent a link by email with instructions on how to join the team and set up your just giving page for Dorothy House.  Once set up you will be able to add you kilometres and see how the team is doing.    
More details can be found at www.goldchallenge.org/bathnes

The debate continues and I am delighted that Don Foster signed EDM 2292 which advocates the need for a full impact assessment on the technique before it is allowed in the UK. Here in B&NES the concern is on the possible consequences to the thermal waters of Bath if fracking is allowed in the Mendips.

The nuclear tragedy at Fukushima continues to provide fall out with contamination polluting the seas and putting at risk fish stocks and the livelihood of local fishermen.

Who on earth would be crazy enough to think building nuclear power stations next to an ocean is a good idea? Well apart from Japan several countries – including a rebuild at Hinckley point on the cards rather than closing it down.

The lessons from Japan and the consequences for our oceans need to be properly learnt.

good YOUTUBE click here

New legislation being discussed in the USA is potentially ab threat to the freedom of the internet. The proposal for DNS takedown is potentially not a good way forward and the excuse on protecting Intellectual Copyright seems a bit thin.

a Good YOU TUBE posting onm the subject can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYrFUSFff-k

Interviewed by Dom this morning in Midsomer Norton at Somer Valley FM 97.5 and on the web at www.somervalleyfm.co.uk

also on Facebook and Twitter. A great Community Radio station.

The My Pod format is similar to Desert Island Discs and you chooses a selction of music and talk about your life and music choices.

My selection:-

Pink Floyd  – Another Brick in the Wall

Rolling Stones  – Sympathy for the Devil

Bhundu Boys – Tsvumbo

Howlin Wolf – Smokestack Lighting

Eva Cassidy – Fields of Gold

Roberta Flack – First Time I saw your Face

Fela Kuti – I.T.T.

Bath and NE Somerset has launched a partnership protocol with a local Social Enterprise Bath and West Community Energy whichb has arisen out of the Transition Bath movement.

I attended the share offer launch to give the Council’s views on the ititative and at the Cabinet we approved the partnership protocol.

My Notes which formed my speach at the launch:-

Cllr Crossley: BWCE Launch

Council hosts launch event for new initiative with carbon reduction community company

• Pleased to be able to host this event as part of future cooperation with Bath & West Community Energy

Background- the challenge and aims

• As a local authority, we exist for the wellbeing of our residents.
• This wellbeing is threatened by the twin challenge of climate change and rising energy prices
• As such, we have made de-carbonising our district a priority, and aim to help cut the district’s carbon emissions by 45% by 2026.
• Clean, renewable energy is key to this, so our Draft Core Strategy contains the aim of installing 110 megawatts of renewable electricity in our district by 2026.
• This is an ambitious aim, but it is vital that we achieve it, not only to address energy prices and climate change, but also because renewable energy is an important economic opportunity.
• To take full advantage of the economic opportunity, revenues from renewable energy must stay in the local area, providing local prosperity and jobs.

Strongly supporting the aims of BWCE

• BWCE offers us an opportunity to start to make this happen. BWCE seeks to generate at least 25% of the draft Core Strategy target by 2026, amounting to over 25MWe, through community-based, local projects.

• We supporting  BWCE’s aims of delivering local sustainable energy and keeping the income from those projects in the community,  because if they are successful, they will help us to deliver our priorities. BWCE will keep energy revenues local, through their community fund, the returns to local investors and by developing a local low carbon supply chain for their projects.

• I should say of course that it is not for the Council to comment on the financial merits of the shares on offer today.

• But what I can say is that we are delighted that the first project that BWCE is planning is about offering solar panels to our schools. This means it will be possible for schools to work with BWCE and to get a deal that competes well with the market, but with unique benefits to our community. Not only will it enable our children to learn first-hand about our clean energy future, but the free electricity will help our schools to be resilient to energy price rises and, even better, the revenues from these projects will recycle locally rather than leave the area as company profits.

• We are especially pleased that if BWCE’s aims are met, they intend to be investing in 4-5 years’ time around £275-300,000 a year on average into further low carbon projects in our area, depending on which types of technologies they install.

• We are one of very few local authorities in the country who is fortunate to have a local organisation that intends to do this.

• We also welcome SSE’s £1million investment in our area. By working with companies such as SSE, and the Council, BWCE should be able to attract the further finance needed to meet its aims.

• We have been truly inspired by BWCE’s extensive expertise, enthusiasm and entrepreneurialism.  We wish them every success and look forward to cooperating with them further in the future.

The BWCE is getting support from Scottish and Southern Electricity     and their CEO was at the launch.

See below a blog on the Guardian website about the BCE launch for info written by the CEO of Scottish and Southern Energy

<http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/blog/energising-community-renewables-big-business?newsfeed=true>http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/blog/energising-community-renewables-big-business?newsfeed=true