Pinkham Way Incinerator

Bid to make Alexandra Palace a UNESCO World Heritage Site

2012-02-20T18:17:00.002Z

Link to PDF document

Proposal to the Alexandra Park & Palace Trust Board

"That the APPTB, with support from London Borough of Haringey, should apply for UNESCO World Heritage Site recognition for the South-East wing of Alexandra Palace. To include the BBC television studios, control rooms, dressing & transmitter rooms, telecine area, tower offices & transmission tower."

Link to Haringey Independent (2010)

Link to
Hornsey Historical Society

Next meeting:

14 March:

"From Green Lane to Shopping City - the story of the Wood Green High Road"

Albert Pinching

Broken Barnet: Regal Visit to Barnet Next Month - and it's not Brian Coleman

2012-02-17T13:06:00.000Z

''Spending cut on road maintenance provides opportunity
for obsequious behaviour by Barnet Councillor"
Link to Mrs Angry's 'Broken Barnet'

"A Royal Visit, some lucky winners, and some sad losers: Mrs Angry Predicts..."

"She sees a tubby little Tory councillor preening himself in front of a mirror, wrestling with his waiscoat buttons, smooothing down his best tie with trembling hands. Look, he is practising a bow. Not too low, Brian, those trousers are a little teeny bit tight, and her Majesty doesn't want to catch sight of your bootylicious backside, now does she?

Brian looks carefully at his reflection. 'Ma'am', he mutters, with a manly nod, the knowing, expectant nod of a man who, in this time of unprecedented austerity, has just paid £1,000 of local tax payers money for a four-minute anthem in praise of the royal jubilee. Her Majesty looks on in bemusement. Councillor Coleman sits and waits by his post-box, for a special letter from Buckingham Palace. The letter never comes.

"Yes: Mrs Angry predicts a royal visit to our borough, next month."

[From Dec. 2010] The Independent: "What's the official line on incinerators? There isn't one"

2012-02-16T17:38:00.001Z

The Independent:
Michael McCarthy commentary


The Independent: "Chancellor opposes waste disposal on his doorstep"

See earlier incinerator item here.

Let's Recycle: "London Reuse Network almost 50% behind target"

2012-02-15T13:34:00.000Z

Boris and Joanna:
Link to Let's Recycle web site

The London Reuse Network, intended to be ‘the most ambitious developing reuse model anywhere in the world’, is set to fall short of its reuse target by almost 50% this financial year.

[So who is managing this? Who is the big cheese, providing the intellectual powerhouse of ideas and political ambition behind the whole project?]

In a report by the London Waste and Recycling Board, Clyde Loakes, chair of the London Reuse Network Partnership Board, revealed that the network only expects to reuse 1,400 tonnes of material in 2011/12, which is 48% short of its target.

"... Funding had been released to two schemes:

a depot at Restore Community Projects in Tottenham, which was granted £368,000; and
a hub at Barnet Reuse Centre in Frien [sic] Barnet, which in total will receive £208,000.

Link to 21 March London Conference web site

"This year’s London Conference on recycling and waste management will feature new ideas and solutions to deliver good services efficiently. With the involvement of the London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB), the event will look at what is available to help local authorities make the most of their services, ensuring value, whilst maintaining standards.

"It will include detailed guidance on the Board’s work on efficiencies, plus the opportunity to interact with the team. High-level input to the event will include presentations from iESE [we've no idea], Local Partnerships, and London Councils with a ‘setting the scene’ address from James Cleverly, Chair of LWARB.

"Afternoon sessions will include:

The changing role of the civic amenity site;
Food waste;
Costs, equipment & infrastructure;
WEEE [whatever] and the Digital switchover – what it means for councils and their contractors; and
Communications: How to get funding for your borough – Recycle for London.

**LWARB ARE OFFERING LONDON LOCAL AUTHORITIES ONE FREE DELEGATE PLACE EACH AT THE LONDON CONFERENCE**If you would like to take advantage of this special offer, please contact iona smith on 020 7633 4526 OR iona.s@letsrecycle.com."

Sun. 26 Feb: Pinkham Way Alliance fundraising concert

2012-02-14T17:32:00.001Z

Pinkham Way Alliance presents

The Galitzin Quartet
Pinkham Way Benefit Concert

Sunday 26 February, 4pm
St Andrews Church, Alexandra Park Road,
Muswell Hill, N10 2DD

All money raised will go to the Pinkham Way Alliance Campaign
Tickets: £10 adults and children aged 16+, £5 under 16s
Refreshments will be available during the interval, and after the concert.

(Click above to order tickets)

The Galitzin Quartet are a very successful classical string quartet. The Quartet formed in 2003 when the two founder members Pedro Meireles first violin) and Ken Ichinose (cello) met while studying at the Royal Academy of Music. They have been joined more recently by Owen Cox (second violin) and Ken's younger brother Joe (viola).

The Quartet is named after Prince Nicholas Galitzin of Saint Petersburg, the dedicatee of three of Beethoven’s late Quartets: Op.127, 130 and 132.

They have won several prestigious awards and scholarships and were commissioned by the contemporary English composer, Professor John Ramsay, to record three of his string quartets; he even dedicated his 3rd Quartet in C to them.

Ken and Joe grew up and went to school in Muswell Hill, and are very keen to support the Pinkham Way Alliance.

Their proposed programme for the afternoon is:

Haydn Quartet in G minor, Op.74 no.3 'Rider'

Mendelssohn Quartet in D major, Op.44 no.1

Interval

Beethoven Quartet in B flat major, Op. 130 (alternative finale)

North London Waste Authority: "Procurement advances to final tenders"

2012-02-14T14:01:00.002Z

The North London Waste Authority announces the shortlist of bidders, who will be invited to submit final tenders on its waste services and fuel use procurements.

"The North London Waste Authority (NLWA) has today announced the shortlist of bidders, who will be invited to submit final tenders on its waste services and fuel use procurements.

[Yes, that is the same as the previous paragraph, but this is the NLWA press office!]

"The bidders are:

Waste Services:
FCC/ Skanska
Veolia

Fuel Use:
E.On / Wheelabrator
Veolia

"The shortlist reflects:

An agreed procurement strategy involving two contracts – one for waste disposal services including the production of a Solid Recovered Fuel from waste that cannot be recycled or composted; and one for the use of that Fuel;
The Authority’s evaluation of detailed solutions on both procurements; and
An agreement between the Authority and Covanta that their proposed fuel use solution will be suspended, and not progressed to a final tender in competition with the proposals from E.On/ Wheelabrator and Veolia.

"Chair of the NLWA, Councillor Clyde Loakes said:

“The Authority is very pleased to have received good quality proposals that exceed our expectations on service quality in some respects, and cost less than estimated. Both contract awards are highly competitive, with all bidders having a good chance of winning if final commercial details can be agreed and final tenders can be completed, with appropriate assurance on price and delivery.

The procurement and the market’s response has been a great success to date, despite the withdrawal of Government PFI funding part-way through, which has delayed the project by a few months. All involved to date are to be congratulated. However, we now need to finish the procurement, and make speedy progress to delivering new facilities. North London needs the new services, and the local economy needs the boost that will come from this green investment”.

"The Authority’s procurement process and timetable envisage a final stage of dialogue, with final tenders being submitted in the autumn, the selection of Preferred Bidders in December, and financial close in June 2013."

Let's Recycle:

"Two compete for NLWA deal after Covanta withdraws"

Link to web site

"Two companies have been left to battle it out for a major £1 billion ‘fuel use’ contract in North London, after US incineration company Covanta decided to 'suspend' its bid.

"E.ON/ Wheelabrator Technologies is proposing to burn SRF at a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant at DS Smith Paper’s Kemsley Mill site in Sittingbourne, Kent.

"Meanwhile, Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc is proposing a CHP-enabled power plant at an existing industrial site. The site is in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, six miles from the boundary of North London and adjacent to an existing Scottish Power plant."

Mrs Angry: Barnet Cabinet unveils new social policy at Hendon Town Hall

2012-02-13T16:04:00.002Z

Link to 'Broken Barnet'

"This week, as we know, has seen the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens. Mrs Angry has been musing, over the last few days, about the associations of the great man with our beloved borough of Broken Barnet, and wondering what would he make of the place, if he were to return.

"Dickens was already familiar with this area by 1838, when he was writing Oliver Twist.

"... In 1843 Dickens returned to Fallow Corner, staying at Cobley's Farm, where, as he wrote to Thomas Beard:

"I have discovered a lovely Farm House at Finchley and am going to bury myself there for at least a month to come ... immersing myself in my story [Martin Chuzzlewit]."

1 March 1912: Were extreme suffragettes regarded as terrorists?

2012-02-12T20:14:00.002Z

Link to BBC web site, and iPlayer

"A century ago, British women still did not have the vote, and violent protests by the suffragettes were escalating. Were these women seen at the time as something akin to terrorists, or as activists legitimately fighting for a political cause?

"... On the afternoon of 1 March 1912, around 150 women were standing in front of shop windows and government offices in London's West End, and simultaneously took hammers and stones from their pockets and smashed the windows, explains historian Elizabeth Crawford:

"There was great confusion, they didn't try to run away. They were arrested immediately."

One of the suffragettes, Victoria Lidiard, recalled the attack in the 1970s:

"We started at the Marble Arch and... were stationed right down from Marble Arch to Tottenham Court Road - and then bang went all the windows."

North Circular Road flats proposed

2012-02-12T19:35:00.000Z

Link to Enfield Planning

"Notting Hill Home Ownership is proposing the development of three sites, known as Sites 15 A, B & C, on the southern side of Telford Road (the North Circular Road) within the London Borough of Enfield. The Sites are identified as ‘Development Site’ 9 within the draft North Circular Area Action Plan (AAP) located towards the western end of the AAP area.

"The sites, which are the subject of this application, are located adjacent to the junction of the A406 Telford Road and Bexhill Road on the eastern and western side, and on the western side of the junction of the A406 Telford Road and Pevensey Avenue.

"Planning permission is sought for the following:

“Demolition of existing properties and construction of 39 new residential units together with associated car parking cycle, storage, amenity space and landscaping."

Wed 15 Feb: Tacking Challenges

2012-02-12T16:00:00.000Z

Link to:
The Highgate Society

BBC: "Researchers develop new system to 'eliminate' batteries"

2012-02-11T21:12:00.000Z

Link to BBC web site

"Researchers at the University of Bedfordshire have developed a new technique for powering electronic devices.

"The system, developed by Prof Ben Allen at the Centre for Wireless Research, uses radio waves as power:

"Power harvesting has a really important part in our future because, just in this country, we dispose of somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 tonnes of batteries in landfill sites every single year - that is toxic chemicals going into the ground."

[Updated from Oct 2011] 'Covanta Energy' bid for Pinkham Way's NLWA incinerator fuel jeopardised by Tate & Lyle closure threat

2012-02-10T20:10:00.000Z

Evening Standard: "Tate & Lyle blames Europe, as Thames refinery jobs go"

Link to web site

"The American owner of the historic Tate & Lyle sugar refinery on the Thames at Silvertown is planning to shed staff because of new EU restrictions on the industry.

"Tate & Lyle's is the last working factory on the Thames, and there have been fears over an outright shutdown as a result of new European Commission rules placing extra tariffs on sugar cane."

October 2011:

Link to Evening Standard

Evening Standard:
"Tate & Lyle's plant on the Thames at risk in EU row over sugar rules"

"One of London's most historic factories could be closed in a row with Brussels over import tariffs.

"The American owner of the 133-year old Tate & Lyle refinery at Silvertown in East London is considering the future of the facility as it battles with the European Commission over new buying rules designed to tackle a worldwide sugar shortage."

7 October:
"Solutions and sites proposed for use of north London’s residual waste"

Link to the press release by the NLWA.

"Covanta Energy is proposing a Combined Heat and Power plant at the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery site at Silvertown, East London. The power plant will meet the energy demands of sugar production undertaken on site in a sustainable and cost effective way, helping to ensure competitive operations at a site where 800 people are employed. The power plant will create up to 80 new permanent jobs and 350 jobs during construction.

"The Covanta proposal involves the transport by barge of SRF from Edmonton to Silvertown, and this will support the further development of London rivers for freight transport use. Covanta will shortly begin consultations with the local community and relevant authorities ahead of a planning application in mid 2012."

[It is not clear if Pinkham Way incinerator fuel would travel by lorry just to Edmonton, for transhipment, or all the way to Silvertown; the latter seems far more likely.]

The Guardian: "Sainsbury's changes food freezing advice in bid to cut food waste"

2012-02-10T19:56:00.000Z

Link to web site

"Long-standing advice to consumers to freeze food on the day of purchase is to be changed. New labelling on food products in all Sainsbury's stores will instead advise customers to freeze food as soon as possible, up to the product's 'use by' date.

"Andrew Parry, consumer food waste prevention manager at WRAP (link to food waste) said:

"Changing the guidance to freeze before the use by date is a welcome move. Now we can all look in our fridges and know that we can freeze most items which are about to go out-of-date, and enjoy them at a later time.

In doing so, we can expect to reduce the amount of out of date food we throw away, which will in turn save us all money."

Muswell Hill and Finchley's Glacial Drifts (whatever)

2012-02-09T19:30:00.001Z

Link to locallocalhistory web site
(then click link for each page)

The Glacial Drifts of
Muswell Hill and Finchley, 1874

By Henry Walker, F.G.S.

"In these pages the writer seeks to set forth the newly discovered physical history of a most interesting area of the environs of London.

"Where shall the stranger to Muswell Hill and Finchley look for these remains of Glacial England; and what shall he look for? How shall he recognise these remarkable memorials when he sees them, and read their wonderful history?"

(Click to enlarge)

The Modern View

Postscript by Dr. Eric Robinson,

Past President of the Geologists Society

"Only one detail of the picture painted by Henry Wetherell [is this a misprint?] would find criticism in any modern account. This was the suggestion that an arctic sea extended south of the actual limit of the ice, a sea in which icebergs floated and dropped foreign stones into a clayey bed. Icebergs were a fascination to Victorian geologists from the accounts brought back by Polar exploration voyages and seemed to offer a compromise to those, such as Lyell, who could not accept fully the eroding power of land ice.

"In place of the Walker picture, we would now visualise a glacier tongue of very dirty, stone-choked ice, slowly melting and releasing that load of foreign stone in what we now see as the hill bench to the north of Falloden Way and Fortis Green.

"Fortis Green was the southern edge of the ice. To the south, Hampstead Garden Suburb south of the Mutton Brook, Highgate Wood and the southern marshland edge of Alexandra Palace, all represent ground which was never overwhelmed by northern ice.

"North of that line, however, the situation is different. T.H.Huxley, 'Darwin 's Bulldog' in the famous battle over the Evolutionary Theory, is buried beneath an oak tree in St Marylebone Cemetery, in chalky boulder clay deposited at the southernmost limit of the great glacial invasion from the north. In the soil of the cemeteries, fossils of the kind illustrated by Walker on p. 16 of his pamphlet can still be found when the rain has washed the soil.

"Each time a grave is dug, the soil can be seen to be charged with pebbles of Chalk, white and soft to the touch. Less frequently, decidedly northern rocks such as lava or granite from as far away as Scotland or Northumberland, turn up in the same fresh clay from Oxfordshire.

"In this way, the Walker account can be proved anew as good scientific observation. As it stands, however, this pamphlet gives us insight into the scientific thought of the day."

Eric Robinson, 1993

BBC: "Making a living from Mexico City's rubbish"

2012-02-09T17:36:00.001Z

Link to web site

"What the inhabitants of Mexico's capital throw away gives a livelihood to the city's army of refuse collectors.

"... Euphemistically called 'volunteers', these burly men do not earn a wage for cleaning the streets of the capital, rather they live on what they can recycle from the waste."

"From Our Own Correspondent"

Listen online or download the podcast

The Independent: "Cycling safety: Riding the 'Tour de Chance' – and living to tell the tale"

2012-02-08T18:27:00.004Z

Link to The Independent

"All cyclists have them – those junctions that even confident riders approach with racing hearts. There are hundreds in London, and yesterday the Mayor's transport office named the first 14 intersections it plans to make safer.

"Seven are scattered across central London, but the other half are around a one-way system in Tottenham, north London. So I jumped on my bike, to do laps of what looked on the map like the Gyratory of Doom."

Scroll down for:
"BBC: London cycle junctions safety review announced by TfL".

Pinkham Way Alliance newsletter

2012-02-08T14:00:00.000Z

SUPPORTERS NEEDED ON WED 22 FEB

"On Wed 22 Feb (and, possibly, Thurs 23 Feb), an independent planning inspector will assess our objections to last-minute changes made by Haringey to its Core Strategy in 2010.

"This will without doubt be one of the key days for this whole campaign. We’ve worked together, to carve out a real chance to attack important groundwork, that supporters of this waste plant probably expected would make it under the radar unhindered.

"It's important that we fully reinforce how strongly we feel about this issue by filling the viewers’ gallery. It is rare that a community will get people in numbers to this sort of hearing, and it will not go unnoticed by the inspector. Many people have worked long and hard on the submissions that he'll hear on the day, and there’s no better way to show our appreciation for this than to be there.

"We do realise that it’s a big ask on a weekday. However, if you are free for any part of it, please do come along. Some of us will be taking a little time off work (even if just to duck out early and catch the last couple of hours); we completely understand that this may not be an option for you, but please give it some thought.

"As mentioned before, our role will simply be to sit quietly and listen. This is not a demonstration. Also, we shouldn't take children.

"The hearing will take place on Wed 22 Feb, at Wood Green Civic Centre. It will start at 10am, with lunch at 1-2pm, and finish at 5.30pm. There will be breaks half-way through the am and pm sessions.

"It’s fine to attend only part of the day, but we should really try and arrive/leave only when there is a break, unless absolutely necessary.

"For more details about what this hearing is for, visit the PWA website here. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch by email.

"If you are able to come to some of it (and bring a friend/relative/innocent bystander!), please let us know by email. We need to check numbers, to ensure that that there aren’t too many (or too few) of us. In the meantime, please try and persuade others to come along if you can.

"Please note that if one day turns out not to be long enough (which is quite likely), the hearing will continue on Thurs 23 Feb - if you're able to be on 'stand by' for this, please let us know."

CONCERT BY THE GALITZIN QUARTET

"Tickets are now on sale for our next fundraising concert on Sunday 26 February at St Andrew's Church, Alexandra Park Road. It starts at 4pm and the award-winning Galitzin Quartet will be playing a fantastic programme of Hadyn, Mendelssohn and Beethoven string quartets.

"For full details, and to order tickets at £10 (or £5 for under 16s), please visit the concert website. All proceeds go to the campaign, and it's a great price to see such accomplished musicians in an intimate venue. As ever, we'll provide refreshments during the interval. Please spread the word!"

LOCAL STREET REPS

"Lastly, a big thank you to all of you who volunteered to help delivering leaflets. We've had a good response, which will be very helpful. We'll be in touch soon with more information."

"Serious work on the North London Waste Plan is getting underway now - more on this soon. But for now, please try to come to the hearing on the Feb 22 if at all possible (and, if so, let us know by email beforehand).

"Don't forget you can also follow us on Twitter, join the Facebook Group and that you can donate here."

Bidesh Sarkar

Chair, Pinkham Way Alliance

BBC: 'Bottle Bank Wars'

2012-02-08T13:45:00.001Z

Link to BBC ePlayer

"Since goldrush days, San Francisco has been a magnet for those on the make. But the latest moneymakers aren't interested in striking gold, they're in search of cans and bottles. The city's efforts to boost recycling rates have been so successful that the value of rubbish has spiralled, leading to battles between official, unofficial and downright criminal garbage collectors.

"San Francisco now recycles 78% of it's [sic] trash: paper, bottles, cans, plastics and even food gets recycled or composted. This is partly due to the California Bottle Bill of 1987 that introduced legislation to ensure a deposit was repaid on bottles and cans that were sold in the state. The amount recyclers get depends on the package they return."

Daily Telegraph: "Gadgets worth £762 million sent to landfill every year"

2012-02-07T18:08:00.002Z

Link to Daily Telegraph

"New figures show more than 17 million mobile phones, music players, satnavs and other devices are sent straight to landfill.

"But the one in three adults who throws away one of the items would have received an average of £43.54 from a recycling centre, according to mobile phone provider O2."

BBC: "London cycle junctions safety review announced by TfL"

2012-02-07T16:09:00.002Z

Link to BBC London

"The first of 500 junctions to be reviewed under moves to improve cycle safety have been announced by Transport for London (TfL).

"The 14 junctions that are among those 'proposed as priorities' include Highbury Corner, in north London. TfL said it 'aims to deliver some improvements before the start of the Olympic Games' in July.

"But a cycle blogger said: 'First drafts of some of the changes are already public, and aren't very encouraging'."

Friday 10 February: Saving Barnet (and the World)

2012-02-06T15:41:00.002Z

You are warmly invited to an evening with:
Author, Environmentalist and Futurist Tony Kearney

Can Barnet Change the World?
Can you Change Barnet and the world?

The Centre. Bath Place, Barnet EN5 5XE
Friday 10 February, 7.30 pm

Tony, the author of the books Who Owns the Future?, Boo! and The Tao of Awe, will beexploring the relationship we have with our environment and how we can all make adifference and thus change the world for the better without ever even having to leaveBarnet! How cool is that?

He believes that enthusiasm, inspiration and co‐operation are thebest ways of building a better future together, especially as none of these qualities causethe wrong kind of climate change but lots of the right kind!

Local community group The High Barnet Green Home Zone will take up Tony's themes andlook at how they might be put into practice on a day‐to‐day basis.

If you would like to hear how you can make your Community (local and global) a betterplace, then do not miss this most special event.

Admission: £3. Children under 16 free. Family groups welcome.

Refreshments available.

'Save Friern Barnet Library': National Libraries Day

2012-02-05T14:55:00.004Z

Link to web site and video

"Saturday 4 February was officially 'National Libraries Day'. Despite the cold weather our local community came out to support us, and we were all welcomed inside the warm library, and the children enjoyed a number of games and activities.

"Boyd Tonkin, Literary Editor for The Independent attended our event, and discussed his enjoyment of reading through many of the stacks of books inside when he was a child in Friern Barnet. We all really appreciated him taking the time to visit and talk to us, and we would like to thank him his support."

Report on 'Citizen Barnet',
about Friern Barnet

"After the march, and some speeches outside the library, including from councillors Barry Rawlings (Labour) and Kate Salinger (Conservative, but opposing her group's plan to close the library), and Andrew Dismore (Labour's candidate for the Barnet and Camden GLA seat) we went inside the library to look around.

"There were activities for children, and some special guests were due later. But I ran home to process my pictures, which you can see here.

"It will be grotesque if this well-used library and true heart of the community is closed, bulldozed, and the land flogged off for a developer to build another anonymous block of flats or supermarket. Ask the locals!"

The Guardian: "Clinging to economic growth suffocates the imagination"

2012-02-03T15:57:00.000Z

Link to The Guardian

"Listen to the news today and you would think that economic growth was the only answer to all our problems. But 40 years ago The Limits to Growth, written by a group of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and published by The Club of Rome, broke a modern taboo: it suggested that growth itself might be the problem.

Why, then, did The Limits to Growth shock in 1972, and why does questioning growth today still provoke incredulity and anger? The report itself became something of an albatross for the green movement. The view entered folklore that it contained predictions about resource use that were alarmist and plain wrong. But, as New Scientist magazine reported recently, it was the critics of the book who turned out to be mistaken.

Link to New Scientist

Saving Friern Barnet Library

2012-02-01T14:46:00.002Z

Fri 16 / Sat 17 March: CAPITALgrowth: "The Big Dig"

2012-01-31T12:02:00.004Z

Link to web site

What's the big idea?

"We want to help Londoners transform the capital by creating 2,012 new food growing spaces by the end of 2012.

"Capital Growth is a partnership initiative between London Food Link, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, and the Big Lottery's Local Food Fund. It is championed by the Chair of the London Food Board Rosie Boycott, and aims to create 2012 new community food-growing spaces across London by the end of 2012.

"Capital Growth offers practical help, grants, training, and support to groups wanting to establish community food growing projects, as well as advice to landowners."

The Big Dig
Friday 16 and Saturday 17 March

"The Big Dig is a volunteering event that aims to encourage Londoners to get their hands dirty at their local community growing space.

"Capital Growth is hoping to mobilise thousands of volunteers across London, to help community food-growing spaces prepare for the new growing season. Volunteers will only be required to help for one day, but we hope some will choose to stay involved throughout the growing season."

BBC: "The toughest place to be a binman"

2012-01-30T15:14:00.005Z


Link to BBC web site

"Jakarta and the surrounding metropolitan areas are home to 28 million people, and the Indonesian city is struggling to cope with all the rubbish it generates. What's it like for the binmen?

"Each day soon after sunrise, Imam Syaffi sets off with his hand-pulled cart to collect the rubbish from some of the more desirable residences in Jakarta.

"With his cheery cry of 'Sampa!' (rubbish), he lets the residents in their gated homes know that he has arrived."

"London binman Wilbur Ramirez is heading to Jakarta, the vast mega city that is the capital of Indonesia. For ten days Wilbur works with Imam, one of the army of semi-destitute binmen, who collect rubbish in one of the biggest and fastest growing cities in the world."

Toughest Place to be... a Binman was on BBC Two on Sunday 29 January, and Toughest place to be features further stories Sunday 5 and 12 Feb at 21:00 GMT.

BBC: "Waste plant plan opponents to give evidence at Assembly"

2012-01-29T18:28:00.001Z

Link to BBC Wales

"Opponents of plans to develop waste incinerators around Wales have welcomed the opportunity to put their arguments in person to Welsh Assembly members.

"The prospect of energy from waste incinerators has its roots in the Welsh government's waste strategy, entitled Towards Zero Waste, which sets out ambitious targets.

Haf Elgar, a Friends of the Earth Cymru campaigner, told BBC Radio Wales:

"We're concerned that incineration is really on old technology. It essentially takes black bin waste and burns it at a high temperature.

We believe that's wasteful, because other technologies can sort waste and make the most of recycling and re-using valuable materials that are just burnt in incineration."

Daily Telegraph Video Wall: "Politicians on the Green Economy"

2012-01-28T18:30:00.001Z

Click above, then on individual screens

"A selection of Britain's leading politicians, including Ed Balls, Ken Livingstone, Menzies Campbell, Paddy Ashdown, and many others, give their views on the Green Economy, on this video wall."

The Guardian: "How long do greenhouse gases stay in the air?"

2012-01-27T18:21:00.000Z

This Q&A is part of the Guardian's ultimate climate change FAQ.

Link to The Guardian

"The lifetime in the air of CO2, the most significant man-made greenhouse gas, is probably the most difficult to determine, because there are several processes that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Between 65% and 80% of CO2 released into the air dissolves into the ocean over a period of 20–200 years. The rest is removed by slower processes that take up to several hundreds of thousands of years, including chemical weathering and rock formation.

"This means that once in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide can continue to affect climate for thousands of years."

[Updated again] Enfield: Ladderswood and the North Circular Road

2012-01-26T20:16:00.000Z

The Grammatical Council

North Circular – Area Action Plan

"Towards Pre-Submisison Stage" [sic]

"In 2006 we began work on the North Circular Area Action Plan (NCAAP) to improve the living and working environment along the A406, and to identify new opportunities for housing, employment, and community facilities.

"NCAAP reached the Preferred Options stage back in 2008, but was paused in 2009 while the Council progressed to adopt the Core Strategy.

"Now, with an adopted Core Strategy in place; a detailed New Southgate Masterplan; an adopted Planning Brief outlining future opportunities for Southgate Town Hall; the purchase of blighted land by Notting Hill Housing Trust, and estate renewal taking shape at Ladderswood. The Council is now turning attention back to the Area Action Plan to complete it and provide a robust local planning framework in which investment can come forward. [Correct the grammar yourself.]

"With so much activity now being seen in the area, The [sic] Council is revisiting earlier stages of the NCAAP process.

"The Council has prepared a NCAAP Towards Pre-submission stage document November 2011. The intention of this document is to provide an additional, informal stage of community engagement and stakeholder consultation to run for 12 weeks from Tuesday 22 November to Friday 10 February 2012.

"THE CLOSING DATE HAS NOW BEEN EXTENDED TO FRIDAY 24 FEBRUARY.

"This informal stage of engagement is seeking your views on the local issues as you see them now, along with the new opportunities and options that will help inform the new planning framework for the North Circular area.

"Clike here [CLIKE?] to download a Feedback Form. For further information please contact the LDF Team 0208 379 3866.

Comments can be or sent to: [Good grief] Ldf@enfield.gov.uk or Planning Policy Team, Enfield Council, Civic Centre, Silver Street, Enfield EN1 3XE."

11 January update:

Link to web site

"ENFIELD Council has promised to improve its consultation around plans for the North Circular, after accusations not many people know about it.

"The North Circular Area Action Plan will map out the future of areaof Bounds Green, Palmers Green, Bowes, and New Southgate, for the next couple of decades.

"Around 8,000 homes will be leafleted about the plans this month, and a public meeting and exhibition is planned for Saturday, February 4, to consult further."

[Our original post now follows.

"Read it first, on the 'Pinkham Way Incinerator' web site!"]

2 December:

Ladderswood redevelopment...

(Click on leaflet to enlarge.)

Link to the new Ladderswood web site

... Designed in conformity with the wider 'New Southgate Masterplan'...

(Click on image above,

and also link to previous New Southgate Plan posting.)

... Which, in turn, will be part of the wider 'North Circular Area Action Plan'...

"Transport for London’s Safety and EnvironmentImprovement Scheme for the road is welladvanced. In 2006 we began work on the'North Circular Area Action Plan', to improve theliving and working environment along the A406,and to identify new opportunities for housing,employment, and community facilities.

Click to enlarge

"The planwas put on hold in 2009, while we preparedthe borough's 'Core Strategy'.

"The Core Strategy has beenapproved, so we are now turning our attentionback to the 'Area Action Plan' to complete it.We are consulting on this new document (below)from 22 November 2011 to 10 February2012."

"The regeneration and improvement of the areaaround the North Circular Road, including NewSouthgate, and covering the wards of Bowes,Palmers Green and Southgate Green is a priorityfor the Council. The area is identified as one ofthe Borough’s strategic growth areas, and is oneof the Council’s 'place-shaping priority areas'”.While the area has been in need of regenerationand investment for many years, it is only veryrecently that significant progress has been madein clearing the path towards the delivery of majorimprovements.

"The Council is preparing an 'Area Action Plan',which will provide a comprehensive planningpolicy framework for the North Circular area.The North Circular Area Action Plan (NCAAP)will establish a vision for the area, and outline arange of policies which, taken together, will helpdeliver the wider regeneration objectives for thelocal communities. The NCAAP will includepolicies and proposals which highlight the keyinvestment and improvement opportunitiesacross the area.

"These policies will provideguidance against which new developmentproposals will be assessed, and will provideguidance on the relevant design, access andenvironmental management issues."

(That's enough Planning. Ed.)

Link to HOME (see all posts.

Stopping the Hatfield Incinerator

2012-01-25T19:34:00.006Z

Link to web site

"Hatfield against Incineration (HAI) and Herts WithOutWaste (Herts WOW) are not just campaigning against incineration; we are campaigning for a cleaner and better management of waste for Hertfordshire, both in the short term and for future generations.

"We understand this is not an easy option, and will involve each and every one of us taking responsibility and making a commitment to help the County Council core aim of 'Reduce, Reuse and Recycle'. However, we do not agree that one massive incinerator plant in any one place in Hertfordshire, with a committed contract of 30 years, is consistent with this aim. It may be an easy option, but it is not the right one, if we take into consideration:

Incineration creates CO2, which contributes to global warming
Incineration emits small particles which are dangerous to health
Incineration needs a large plant and a long term contract in order to make the investment viable and a constant provision of the volume of waste it was originally build for
Incineration cannot be scaled down as recycling increases and so reduces the incentive for high recycling rates
No one area should have to suffer the visual impact of such a plant, traffic volume and noise and the pollution emissions for the whole of Hertfordshire
It is undemocratic.

What we favour is:

"An enthusiastic, innovative and revolutionary recycling program with high recycling levels (above 70%) as already achieved elsewhere, and pressure to reduce waste, for instance:

eliminating unnecessary packaging
not developing products which are not recyclable
strict commercial guidelines etc., and
severe penalties for non-conformity."

The Guardian: "What does it take to change a lightbulb?"

2012-01-25T16:13:00.001Z

Link to The Guardian

"The incandescent bulbs that have lit the world since their invention by Thomas Edison are on their way out, to be replaced by newer technologies offering dramatic improvements in efficiency, energy use, and other environmental impacts.

"The new U.S. lighting standards are part of the Energy Independence Act of 2007, signed into law by President Bush with broad bipartisan support. The lighting provisions remained uncontroversial until last year, when they became a Tea Party rallying cry. U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachmann said:

"The American people want less government intrusion into their lives, not more, and that includes staying out of their personal light bulb choices."

[Reposted from October] NLWA speaks: "Solutions and sites proposed for use of north London’s residual waste"

2012-01-23T14:32:00.000Z

COMMENT LEFT BELOW ABOUT VEOLIA ...

"The North London Waste Authority (NLWA) and the three shortlisted companies on the Authority's 'Fuel Use' procurement have announced details of proposed solutions.

The procurement is one of two that NLWA is running to provide a long term and sustainable waste management solution for North London, and is for the use of 250-300,000 tonnes of Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) - a fuel that would be created from the 500-600,000 tonnes of North London's waste that cannot be recycled or composted.

A separate procurement is being run that will involve recycling or composting half of North London's waste, producing the fuel and minimising the landfilling of municipal waste.

WALTHAM FOREST GUARDIAN: 2009
"Loakes's NLWA allowance plan scrapped"

Chair of the NLWA, Councillor Clyde Loakes said:

"We are very pleased with the market response to the procurement. The three bidders have had to bring forward good environmental and commercial solutions to get to this point in the procurement process and they have done so.

We have set out to allow the energy opportunity afforded by North London's residual waste to be taken to where businesses have energy needs and to thereby move away from the use of fossil fuels. At this time of challenging economic circumstances I am especially pleased to see how bidders are making the links to employment and minimising the costs to local council tax payers including by seeking to access renewable energy subsidies.

The proposals for sustainable transport solutions such as water and rail, which will keep trucks off the road, are also very welcome".

The proposed solutions from the shortlisted Fuel Use Contractors are:

Covanta Energy is proposing a Combined Heat and Power plant at the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery site at Silvertown, East London. The power plant will meet the energy demands of sugar production undertaken on site in a sustainable and cost effective way, helping to ensure competitive operations at a site where 800 people are employed. The power plant will create up to 80 new permanent jobs and 350 jobs during construction.

The Covanta proposal involves the transport by barge of SRF from Edmonton to Silvertown and this will support the further development of London rivers for freight transport use. Covanta will shortly begin consultations with the local community and relevant authorities ahead of a planning application in mid 2012.

(Later development: "Tate & Lyle plant may close")

E.ON/ Wheelabrator Technologies are proposing a Combined Heat and Power plant at DS Smith Paper's site at Kemsley Mill, Sittingbourne, Kent. The power plant will help meet the energy needs associated with the production of Corrugated Cardboard Material from recycled paper, card and fibre at the mill in a sustainable and cost effective way, helping to ensure competitive operations at a site where 800 people are employed.

The mill is the UK's largest waste paper recycler; producing more than 850,000 tonnes of 100 per cent recycled paper and pulp a year. The power plant will also create around 50 new jobs as well as associated off-site employment.

The SRF from North London would be transported sustainably by rail, continuing the NLWA's use of rail transport. Planning permission for the power plant was granted by Kent County Council in April and a permit to operate was issued by the Environment Agency in August.
Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc are proposing a Combined Heat and Power enabled power plant at an existing industrial site with planning permission to operate an ashphalt coating plant, an aggregates railhead and a readymixed concrete plant. The site is in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, 6 miles from the boundary of North London and adjacent to an existing Scottish Power plant. The plant will generate renewable electricity and discussions are ongoing with local businesses about the use of heat that can be supplied by the plant. The power plant will create 45 permanent new jobs and approximately 300 jobs during construction.

The company's outline solution involves the transport by rail of SRF from North London and this will continue the NLWA's current use of rail transport. It is beginning consultation with the local community and relevant authorities ahead of a planning application in the first half of 2012.

The winning proposal will be selected using an evaluation framework that focuses on the quality and cost of the solution. The carbon impact of proposals, including that of the transport solution proposed, is a key element. The Authority's procurement timetable aims to select a preferred bidder in October 2012, and to award a contract in March 2013."

Link to "NLWA clarifies incineration".
plus "NLWA: The Gathering Storm".

Link to HOME (see all posts).

Tuesday 31 Jan: "Low-cost ways of saving energy"

2012-01-21T19:14:00.004Z

" 'Sustainable Bowes Park' is an exciting new project of the Bowes Park Community Association which seeks to help householders, local community groups, schools and businesses to act more sustainably.

"Cara Jenkinson and Kate Allardyce of the Muswell Hill Sustainability Group will be talking about low-cost ways of saving energy. Come along and find out about easy ways to save energy in the home.

"Cut-price energy-saving products for sale - FREE radiator panels and letterbox draught excluders (while stocks last)."

Tuesday, 31st January, 7:30 - 9:30pm

TAB Centre Cafe, Palmerston Rd,
Palmers Green, N22 8RA

Pinkham Way Alliance: "Public Hearing on Redesignation of Pinkham Wood"

2012-01-21T19:02:00.000Z

"Following our unified response to Haringey's 're-consultation' on their proposal to redesignate Pinkham Wood as industrial, the government inspector will hold a further public hearing. It will take place on Wed 22 Feb, at the Haringey Council Chamber in the Civic Centre.

"With your donations, the PWA have engaged a planning consultant to respresent us on the day. But it's very important that enough of us attend to fill the chamber, to show our support by listening quietly to the proceedings. You may also have been invited to speak yourself.

"Some of you, however, may have been specifically told that your reponse is not valid, and that you cannot speak. If you've been told this, please could you let us know asap.

"It's important that you visit our website to find out more about this key day for our campaign, how Haringey officials have replied to objections, and what best we can all do next."

Sunday 26 February

Galitzin String Quartet

"We are again very lucky to have another high-class performance dedicated to us, in order to raise money. The Galitzin String Quartet are a young, award-winning UK group with local connections - two of them went to Rhodes Ave primary.

"The Galitzin quartet, named after the dedicatee of Beethoven’s quartets Op.127, 130 and 132, met at the Royal Academy in 2003, and they held the Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellowship there in 2006-7. Since then, they have given many concerts in France, Switzerland, Holland and Germany, as well as in this country, and have had intensive coaching from the Ysäye quartet in Holland.

"The quartet are confirmed for the afternoon of Sunday 26 February at St Andrew's Church, Alexandra Park Road, and will be playing a full programme, made up of three classic works from the repertoire."

"An Introduction to Waste Technologies"

2012-01-21T00:57:00.003Z

Link to 'Waste Technology' web site

"We have been involved in all aspects of the introduction of Mechanical Biological Treatment to the United Kingdom since the inception of the concept, over the years since the Landfill Directive came into force in July 2001. We share our knowledge in the processes capable of treating municipal waste'.

"We hope that we will make you aware of many of the technologies, ... and you will contact us if you have a problem we can possibly solve."

"Keep up to date with the latest 2012 version of:

'An Introduction to Waste Technologies'

by Steve Last

"This ebook includes concise information on each of the most popular waste technologies, plus easy to understand 'material flow charts' for each type of waste facility.
This practical guide to what the technologies used in each type of waste facility do, and how they do it, includes the pros and cons of each technology, and is ideal for anyone who needs a quick introduction to this rapidly expanding sector of the economy."

(We have no commercial connection with this web site)

[Reposted] Report on EuroMeeting: 'Towards Zero Waste'

2012-01-21T00:15:00.000Z

(Click to enlarge)

On Monday 14 March 2011, more than 30 people from 13 European countries – Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, UK, Czech Republic, Romania, Spain and Hungary – came together for the first time, to define a 'Zero Waste Strategy' for Europe. The event was organised by GAIA and EEB.

Throughout the day, there were debates about the meaning of 'Zero Waste in Europe' and the need for the NGO community to set the agenda for waste and resource management for the future. That is, moving the focus beyond becoming a recycling society, towards becoming a Zero Waste society. It was emphasized that Zero Waste is a journey, not a destination!

The main difference between a recycling society and a Zero Waste society is the emphasis put on reducing the residual fraction, i.e. the percentage of waste that cannot be recycled or reused. Zero Waste means maximising recycling, but it also means minimising the residual part of waste so as to phase out the need for landfilling, incineration, and any other disposal option.

Zero Waste is an alternative to traditional waste management, because it aims not to manage waste, but to phase it out, so that the refuse of a process is the raw material for a new process. For this reason, Zero Waste can also aim at social and economic regeneration, at putting carbon back in the soil, and at bringing environmental justice to the way we manage our common resources.

In the afternoon, there were presentations of Zero Waste experiences from the Italian, UK, and Catalan Zero Waste networks. In Italy, there are already 25 municipalities commiting to Zero Waste, and the Zero Waste Research Centre in Capannori is already in operation, with successful experience in redesigning operations.

This meeting set up the framework for future cooperation between European NGOs, and for replication of best practices. The Zero Waste goal is starting to take hold, all over the EU!

25 Jan: Questions to the Mayor (we'll look out for the answers)

2012-01-20T19:25:00.001Z

FoodWaste (1)

Question No: 266/ 2012

Mike Tuffrey

Please provide anup-to-date list of the food waste collection services offered in each London borough.

FoodWaste (2)

Question No: 267/ 2012

Mike Tuffrey

Will you set adate by which all boroughs should have introduced food waste collections? Ifnot, why not?

Recycling

Question No: 268/ 2012

Mike Tuffrey

In view ofstatistics released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs(Defra) which show that the proportion of household waste sent for recyclingrose by just 0.7 per cent, from 31.8 percent in 2009/10 to 32.5 per cent2010/11, how will you meet your target to recycle or compost 45 per cent ofLondon’s waste by 2015?

AnaerobicDigestion

Question No: 269/ 2012

Mike Tuffrey

Londonsends around 460,000 tonnes of municipal food waste to landfill each year, yetplanned schemes for anaerobic digestion will only provide a total capacity ofc. 260,000 tonnes. Do you intend to address this shortfall? If so, how?

Daily Mail: "New move to back airport in Thames Estuary"

2012-01-20T17:13:00.001Z

Link to Daily Mail

"An airport in the Thames Estuary has moved a step closer, with the Government set to include the plans in a consultation. The scheme is expected to cost between £40billion and £70billion.

"Mr Johnson has also praised separate designs by architect Lord Foster, for a £50billion airport on a sparse strip of land on the Isle of Grain in Kent, which juts out into the estuary. But it is the plan for an airport built on an artificial island that is to be part of the consultation."

Haringey LibDems: " 'Sham' consultation ignores residents’ views on Pinkham Way land"

2012-01-20T16:56:00.001Z

Link to lynnefeatherstone.org

"Local Liberal Democrats have branded the re-run of a consultation on a Haringey strategy a sham, after a report published last week showed that the Council has disregarded the responses of many local residents. Despite voicing their strong opposition to the changes which pave the way for the waste plant at Pinkham Way, sixty responses from local residents were rejected.

"The Council was made to repeat the consultation on the re-designation of land in its Core Strategy, which included the site that is proposed to be a new waste facility at Pinkham Way, due to concerns raised by the Planning Inspector that the Council failed to consult widely enough, the first time."

Newbury Today: "Transport Secretary recommends refusal of Chieveley incinerator"

2012-01-19T17:31:00.001Z

Link to Newbury Today

"THE Secretary of State for Transport has dealt a hammer blow to Grundon’s hopes of building an incinerator at Chieveley, by bluntly telling the waste firm that planning permission should not be granted for the plant.

"The consultation process is barely a month old, but the Highways Agency has given short shrift to the application, by submitting notice of an indefinite refusal to West Berkshire Council."

Barnet Green Party: "Join Pinkham Way day of action"

2012-01-19T16:39:00.002Z

Link to web site

"Join Barnet Green Party’s day of action on Saturday 21 January, when we will be campaigning in Coppetts Ward to highlight the threat posed by the North London Waste Authority’s plans for a mammoth rubbish-squashing plant at Pinkham Way in Friern Barnet.

"In you can help [sic], come to our stall outside the Co-op in Woodhouse Road, Friern Barnet, any time from 10am.

"Barnet Greens have also submitted 38 proposals for Barnet, Enfield and Haringey boroughs to improve their waste reduction, re-use and recycling operations, showing how the total volume of waste could fall more sharply even than current trends."

Evening Standard: "Cameron's backing makes Boris Island airport 'irresistible'"

2012-01-18T16:23:00.001Z

Link to Evening Standard

"Plans to build the world's biggest airport in the Thames Estuary took a significant step forward today, as David Cameron prepared to announce a formal consultation on the project.

"Mayor Boris Johnson, who originally proposed the scheme, today hailed moves for a new hub airport as 'irresistible', and said it would solve the South-East's aviation crisis, create jobs and boost the economy."

Mrs Angry: Boris and Brian Coleman

2012-01-18T14:47:00.001Z

Link above to Mrs Angry's 'Broken Barnet'
(for meeting report, then a Brent Cross post)

" 'Heightened alert', said all the security signs.

"True, there was a sense of barely repressed hysteria, in some quarters, at the 'Talk London' event last night. It was kind of a Broken Barnet political Glastonbury, with Boris mainlining, and Brian Coleman playing the part of a rather troubled Michael Eavis, worried about crowd control, and all the acts finishing on time.

"We trooped through the gates of Hendon police centre, and then through three sets of security checks, all of whom scrutinised your ticket and verified your identity with great interest, as if you were about to board a flight to New York with a box of fireworks and a big stash of weed in your hand luggage. Mrs Angry made it through, despite the fact that her ticket, thanks to the cheeky blogger who ordered them, bore the unlikely name of 'Mrs Morris Mustard'. Wishful thinking, Mr Mustard? Join the queue, mate."

Mr Mustard: "Here's thousands of pounds - find us a new site"

2012-01-16T13:46:00.000Z

Link to Barnet's 'Mr Mustard'

"12 January 2012: Appointment of an external commercial property agent to find properties suitable as Barnet depot relocation sites." [It is unclear if moving some parts of the depot to Pinkham Way is still 'assumed' 100%.]

"19 January 2009: It has been agreed by this committee that a new depot should be built on part of the former Friern Barnet sewage works site. The area of the site identified for the new depot will not be available for the commencement of building works until 2011 – this is because of the need to secure planning permission for the redevelopment of the whole of the former sewage works site from Haringey Council, and for the purchaser/developer of the remainder of the land to carry out works to eradicate Japanese knotweed, decontamination, site reprofiling and to provide road and services connections to the depot site. Thus, it is doubtful whether the new depot will be available until 2013 – approximately three years after the vacation of the existing depot is likely to be required."

TransportXtra: New railway to Alexandra Palace?

2012-01-15T17:28:00.000Z

Crossrail 2: Sunday 15 Jan: Rumours indicate that the Alexandra Palace option is doing best in detailed evaluations, possibly then taking over all trains on the Bowes Park branch of the Kings Cross line.

(If all Welwyn Garden City stopping trains are diverted from 2018 on to Thameslink (above) at St Pancras International, that would leave the Finsbury Park-to-Moorgate line without any trains. Which might revive plans to reopen the Finsbury Park-to-Highgate line!)

"Transport for London has outlined options for building 'Crossrail 2' – the Chelsea-Hackney link – as either:

an automatic metro railway (first picture below), or
a regional railway (second picture) that would open up new journey opportunities beyond the capital."

Link to TransportXtra,
inc. subscription details

[A blogger 'Rational Plan' reports:]

... In the second case, the line diverges into two tunnels at Angel, where one line goes to Hackney and then Tottenham Hale, before surfacing and taking over the West Anglia line to Hertford East. The other line goes to Dalston, Seven Sisters, Wood Green and then Alexandra Palace.

More detail:

Boris: "Investing in Outer London" public meeting (Chaired by Brian Coleman)

2012-01-15T14:08:00.000Z

Link to Mayoral web site

"Talk London will take place at the Peel Centre in Hendon, NW9 5JE on Tuesday 17 January, 7pm - 8.30pm. Doors open at 6pm.

[This is immediately next to the playing fields,
that Barnet's 'Area Action Plan' wants to
concrete over with housing, by the way.]

People are encouraged to register online in advance.
Registering online doesn't guarantee a seat.
People who have registered in advance can turn up from 6pm and get a seat on a first-come, first-served basis
People who have not registered in advance will be able to turn up on the night, and try to register from 6.45pm, but there is a risk all the seats will have been taken by this time.

Briefing on 'Investment in London' before the 'Boris Meets The People' meeting, 17 January

2012-01-15T14:07:00.000Z

Link to 'Brent Cross Coalition'

Sita: Making 'anaerobic digestion' more digestible

2012-01-12T20:03:00.000Z

Link to Sita newsletter

Background

"SITA UK runs a waste management site at Benedict Wharf, Mitcham, South London. The site includes:

Waste transfer station licensed to handle 275,000 tonnes of waste per year
Materials recycling facility licensed to handle 54,500 tonnes per year
Transfer depot
Maintenance workshops.

Planning application

Following Merton Council’s decision not to grant planning permission for SITA UK’s plans to redevelop the waste site at Benedict Wharf in October 2010, the company revised its proposals to take account of local concerns. The plans were submitted to the Greater London Authority on 14 July 2011 and [have now been approved]. Details of the hearing can be found here: http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/planning/public-hearings/sita-recycling-park.

The Mayor of London has the ability to determine planning applications, like SITA UK’s, considered to be of strategic importance to London. Towards the end of 2010, Boris Johnson decided to take over the determination of this application and in the autumn, he will decided to grant planning permission for the proposed development.

To address Merton Council’s and local communities’ concerns about the visual impact of the proposed facility on surrounding areas, we made the following changes:

The size and footprint of the proposed anaerobic digestion facility has been reduced by more than half.
The amount of material that the proposed anaerobic digestion facility can process has been decreased from 100,000 tonnes to 40,000 tonnes per year.
We have removed plans to develop an in-vessel composting facility.
The height of the anaerobic digestion stack has reduced from 37 metres to 32 metres.
The height of the anaerobic digestion tanks has been reduced from 24.5 metres to 15 metres.
Overall, these changes will result in 20 per cent less traffic in during the second phase of the development than previously proposed.

The proposals for the site now include:

An extended materials recycling facility, which would separate and process up to 80,000 tonnes per year.
An anaerobic digestion facility, which would process up to 40,000 tonnes of catering and food waste per year.
A waste transfer station that would handle up to 40,000 tonnes per year.
A new administration building and visitor centre to allow children and members of the public to learn more about recycling and how we generate renewable energy from the waste that we process.
A new landscaping and environmental improvement scheme around the site."

BBC: "Ten 100-year predictions that came true"

2012-01-11T20:10:00.000Z

Link to BBC web site

"In 1900, an American civil engineer called John Elfreth Watkins made a number of predictions, about what the world would be like in 2000. How did he do?

"In December of that year, at the start of the 20th Century, John Elfreth Watkins wrote a piece published on page eight of an American women's magazine, Ladies' Home Journal, entitled 'What May Happen in the Next Hundred Years'."

UK Without Incinerators Network: Review of 2011

2012-01-11T13:59:00.000Z

UKWIN Coordinator’s 2011 Year End Report:

Reflect, Celebrate, Donate!

The time has come once again for UKWIN to reflect upon the year gone by, to celebrate our many achievements, and to appeal to members and supporters for contributions that will enable our movement to continue to grow in size and influence.

2011 has been UKWIN’s busiest year so far.

We continue to welcome new members, both individual campaigners and local groups, and the Network now encompasses more than 300 individuals and more than 85 groups. Of course we would all rather see shrinking membership as a result of a moratorium on new incinerator plans, accompanied by the phasing out of existing incinerators, leading to a United Kingdom without incineration. As our name suggests, we are all working towards this goal, and our network grows stronger with each new member.

During 2011 campaigners experienced some high points, worthy of celebration, and some low moments. There are also numerous situations where the jury is out and where outstanding issues will carry over into 2012. We have seen planning decisions increasingly involve the courts, and due in part to the impending changes to the planning system associated with the National Planning Policy Framework, this trend looks set to continue.

Another trend that looks set to continue is the ever-decreasing quantity of waste arisings resulting in an ongoing reduction in residual waste. This is an area that we intend to explore in detail, and we plan to publish our research findings in 2012.

UKWIN activities carried out during 2011

With the support of a core group of dedicated volunteers, UKWIN’s National Coordinator provided information, advice and guidance via e-mail, telephone and skype, to our member groups, and to journalists, academics, politicians, and to the many others making inquiries about incineration and alternative approaches to waste management
UKWIN maintained our much-visited table and interactive map of existing and potential incinerator sites, and we added a new status of “prevented incinerators” – We are grateful to those volunteers who helped keep the information up-to-date by providing us with the latest details of their campaigns
We revamped our website (http://ukwin.org.uk/) – Report available upon request
UKWIN made several submissions to Government waste and planning consultations (see http://ukwin.org.uk/resources/consultationsubmissions/), and as a result of our involvement in the Waste Review, UKWIN has been made a consultee on the Government’s forthcoming Guide to Energy from Waste
UKWIN published several new briefings (see http://ukwin.org.uk/2011/06/30/ukwin-waste-review-briefing-released/ and http://www.ukwin.org.uk/resources/briefings/), and we commissioned Eunomia to produce a bespoke piece of research (available from http://ukwin.org.uk/files/pdf/Eunomia_July_2011_Climate_%20Change_Impacts.pdf)
UKWIN also produced a Waste Wood Biomass Objection Template that can be adapted for local planning objections
More than 40 news items were created for the UKWIN website (thanks to those who have helped with this!), and some 1,600 e-mail messages were exchanged via the Waste Discussion List (Let me know if you would like to join this discussion list of more than 100 activists)
UKWIN and our member groups regularly featured in trade press publications (such as Materials Recycling Week), and increasingly also appeared in mainstream media (e.g. local, regional and national newspapers, and local radio and regional television broadcasts)
In February, UKWIN delivered a valuable Campaign Workshop in Hertfordshire, and in April we held a successful Annual General Meeting in Leicester
UKWIN continued to deepen our contacts with Government officials, including Defra civil servants, and with sympathetic Members of Parliament, and organisations such as WRAP and ReAlliance
UKWIN played an active role in supporting our member groups with several waste core strategy examinations in public and with some planning inquiries, notably the Dearne Valley (Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham) Waste Core Strategy Examination in Public and the Shropshire (Shrewsbury Battlefield) public inquiry
Our Chair, Tim Hill, helped numerous groups by lending his technical expertise to assessing proposals in relation to the dreaded R1 formula
UKWIN deepened our contact with like-minded organisations, including the Zero Waste Alliance UK, Waste Watch, Biofuelwatch, Freegle, and the Coventry-based 2020 Zero Waste Project, as well as Friends of the Earth and GAIA
We secured funding, from the Ecology Trust, to continue to employ a Coordinator through to the end of 2012 and beyond; and our bid to the Polden Puckham Charitable Foundation for some funding that we could use for residual waste trend research was also successful! (For more details see below.)

Causes for celebration

In 2011, UKWIN member groups up and down the country made significant gains, worthy of celebration – including (but not limited to):

Ongoing successful resistance in Derby to both the Spondon and the Sinfin proposals
Planning permission refused (again) for Shepshed proposal in Leicestershire, alongside the removal of the Bardon Business Park, Coalville (near Ellistown) and Whetstone sites from the County’s waste plans
Ongoing success in preventing a Sherwood Forest incinerator in Rainworth (near Mansfield), Nottinghamshire
Acceptance by Cyclamax of the refusal of planning permission for their Chesterfield incinerator proposal
Huge surge in opposition to incineration following the IPC decision for Rookery Pit, Bedfordshire (and that decision’s impact on the Twinwoods proposal)
The tremendous efforts being made by campaigners in Hertfordshire, who are simultaneously participating in both the Waste Core Strategy Examination in Public, and the planning consultation for the New Barnfield (Hatfield) proposal, whilst also keeping a watchful eye on potential proposals for Ware and for Harper Lane (near St. Albans)
Media-grabbing gains made by Kings Lynn campaigners, who are challenging the Government’s commitment to localism and who have already succeeded in bringing about the withholding of PFI credits, putting the Norfolk Waste PFI procurement process in jeopardy
The determination of campaigners in Cheshire to try everything and more to stall the progress of the Runcorn incinerator
Success in scuppering the biomass burning facility that had been planned for Urmston, Manchester
The continuing development of the Green Alternatives to Incineration in Scotland (GAINS) network, and their resolute campaigning at both local and national levels in Scotland
Success of campaigners in West Berkshire, who have already managed to reduce the capacity of the Newbury proposal by 100,000 tonnes, before a planning application has even been submitted
The dropping of the Beaconsfield site in Buckinghamshire, the Sutton Courtney site in Oxfordshire, and the Manvers site in Barnsley
The precedent-setting legal decision to quash the planning permission for an incinerator proposed for Cornwall
The emergence of the South Wales Without Incineration Network (SWWIN) helping to coordinate the campaigns in Wales, and the victories scored when the Merthyr Tydfil and Newport (Corporation Road) proposals were withdrawn
The excellent documents produced as part of the campaign against an expansion of the existing Tyseley incinerator in Birmingham
All of the efforts that went into the planning inquiry to uphold refusal of planning permission for the Shrewsbury Battlefield site in Shropshire, and for the planning inquiry to withdraw planning permission for the Hartlebury incinerator proposed for Kidderminster in Worcestershire
The demise of the Saltend proposal for Hull, despite both planning permission and an environmental permit having been secured – giving hope to us all.

2011 also saw UKWIN paying modest amounts of money for advertising for the first time – we now have a page on The Ecologist website, at:

http://www.theecologist.org/green_business_directory/charities_organisations/1147950/united_kingdom_without_incineration_network_ukwin.html

During 2011, UKWIN succeeded in increasing donations to more than £3,000 (via cheques, standing orders, bank transfers and PayPal), including several very generous donations from a small number of campaigners and groups (although it must be said that UKWIN received no financial contributions at all from some member groups). These financial contributions are in addition to the many thousands of pounds worth of in-kind (voluntary) contributions made to UKWIN over the past year alone!

Our Income in 2011 is up on that in 2010, and whilst these contributions represent a genuine boost in UKWIN’s financial position, we remain far short of self-sufficiency, and thus we remain heavily dependant on the ongoing goodwill of grant-making trusts. Moreover, we could do more to support local campaigns if we had more resources, e.g. to pay for professional services. This is particularly pertinent where we have to support not only campaigns against planning applications but planning appeals, examinations in public and legal cases that reach the High Court.

It is vital for UKWIN’s future that our members and supporters help by renewing membership and by donating money to enable us to maintain the momentum, and so that we can extend the capacity of UKWIN. To join/renew go to: http://ukwin.org.uk/apply/ and to find out how you can donate to UKWIN, please visit: http://ukwin.org.uk/donate/

Payments can be made by bank transfer to the UKWIN account (Sort code 08-92-99, Account number 65276853) or by cheque made payable to UKWIN and posted to: UKWIN Membership c/o Shlomo Dowen 25 The Birchlands, Forest Town, MANSFIELD NG19 0ER. Alternatively, payments can be made via PayPal by clicking the button on our website.

Our hopes and dreams for 2012

Your contributions and donations will help enable UKWIN to realise some or all of our collective hopes and dreams for the organisation and for the movement as a whole. The ground we can cover during 2012 depends on many factors, including the resources available to extend UKWIN’s capacity to work effectively.

A UKWIN dream is to create a regional structure of both paid and volunteer Regional Coordinators to work with the National Coordinator, sharing the existing work-load and extending UKWIN’s capacity to become ever more involved in supporting the grassroots work of our members. This dream dovetails with the dream of greatly extending our influence through ongoing engagement with Government. These dreams inform our hopes.

During 2012 we hope to deliver a Campaign Workshop in Leeds (along the lines of the Workshop delivered in Hertfordshire), to bring together the many groups active throughout Yorkshire for training and for sharing skills, information, experience, etc. We hope to be in a position to deliver similar Workshops in other areas, in response to requests.

We also hope to provide our members with useful pieces of research, starting with the development of a tool for demonstrating anticipated quantities of residual waste based on a series of independently-reviewed assumptions. UKWIN is currently in discussions with Waste Statistician, and Earth Mover Award Winner, Keith Kondakor regarding this work.

Arrangements are coming together for UKWIN’s next Annual General Meeting to take place on Saturday 21 April 2012, at Greenpeace’s London Office (Canonbury Villas, London N1 2PN). Our dream is that this return to London will be the biggest and most worthwhile gathering of UKWIN members, and we hope to see you there!

UKWIN dreams of a United Kingdom without incineration, and we hope that 2012 will be a pivotal year in the fulfilment of that dream. To this end, 2012 will see UKWIN working ever more closely with like-minded organisations, and of course with our own members.

xxxxx

To UKWIN’s Trustees, our Action Group, our many volunteers and members, let me thank you all for your solid support throughout 2011, and for your help in making the most of 2012.

Shlomo Dowen, National Coordinator

shlomo.dowen@gmail.com

Daily Telegraph: "We may pass through Hell, but the UK will rise from the flames"

2012-01-09T14:54:00.001Z

Link to Daily Telegraph

"... The UK's future relative economic performance will be subject to competing forces.

"On the negative side, we still face a stark adjustment in both the housing and labour markets. Fiscal tightening will also continue, although it is far from clear that this will be any greater here than in either the US or the eurozone.

"On the other hand, the prospective drop of inflation will be much greater here than elsewhere. Accordingly, the bounce-back of consumption could be proportionately greater. ... Once the eurozone recovers, the growth in UK exports should be much stronger than the equivalent in the US."

The Guardian: "Angela Merkel has the whip hand in an orgy of austerity"

Link to The Guardian

"The language of S&M is also now part of the eurozone discourse. The joint letter sent last month by Sarkozy and Angela Merkel to Herman van Rompuy, president of the European Council, explaining the Franco-German plans for future governance of the single currency stressed 'fiscal discipline' and the need to 'detect and correct departures from sound economic and fiscal policies long before they become a threat to the stability of the euro area as a whole'.

"... This sort of aberrant behaviour is now commonplace across the eurozone where, unlike in Britain, it cannot be blamed on the peculiarities of the educational system. Perhaps a Freud or a Jung could explain what is happening: it certainly defies rational economic analysis."

The Guardian: Capital City closes waste dump: "conflict between the national [and local] government"

2012-01-09T14:41:00.000Z

Link to The Guardian

"The crisis became acute as 'more urban areas became densely populated, so that waste was further concentrated,' said Ramón Ojeda. 'Consumerism has increased sharply, in tandem with the absence of a culture of non-generation, classification and recycling of waste.'

" 'We are facing environmental and regulatory chaos. Powers vested in the authorities should be turned over to ordinary citizens, without any privatisation of waste management services, so that we can have an organisation with broad representation, including experts, universities, citizens and private companies,' said Ojeda, whose term as head of ICEAC is due to end in 2013."

Mr ('Pinkham-Way's-only-a-sewage-farm') Coleman gives his views on the internet

2012-01-07T18:53:00.001Z

Rory Bergin: "Cycling – are our policies working?"

2012-01-06T18:44:00.001Z

Link to web site

"The evidence for the success or failure of current cycling policies across the UK is mixed. Apart from some major successes, particularly in London, cycling rates are rising in the UK, mainly for leisure trips, but are still extremely small compared to other European neighbours with a similar climate, population density and geography.

"... For our friends on the Continent there doesn’t appear to be any doubt that segregated cycle lanes are the way forward, they are busy and successful. The success appears largely down to their use, there are fewer accidents because they are well-designed and well used, and no one is surprised that they are being used."

Enfield Independent: 'Former Enfield Head of Finance is accused of £500,000 theft'

2012-01-06T13:19:00.003Z

Link to web site

A FORMER head of finance at Enfield Council has been accused of stealing nearly £500,000 of taxpayers money.

John Jossa, 58, appeared at City of London Magistrates on Tuesday charged with fraud by false representation and obtaining property by deception.

Mr Jossa, who is father to EastEnders star Jacqueline Jossa who plays Lauren Branning in the BBC soap, denies the charges against him.

Mrs Angry predicts ... a doomed face-saving exercise in Broken Barnet

2012-01-05T21:11:00.000Z

Link to Mrs Angry's Broken Barnet

(a product endorsed by Sec. of State Eric Pickles)

Mrs X: "Mrs Angry: are you feeling refreshed after your Christmas and New Year break?"

Mrs Angry: "I am not, thank you for asking, Mrs X. But never mind, my psychic energies are simply buzzing with activity, and I have many predictions for the New Year ... and now my spirit guide is whispering something in my ear ... oh. How curious. Really? Mmm. Goodness."

Mrs X: "What? Do share with us, Mrs Angry. We won't tell anyone."

Mrs Angry:" Very well. This must not pass further than the imaginary boundaries of this post, but I can see a very interesting development in Broken Barnet ..."

Mrs X: "Go on, go on."

(She does.

And also mentions economic activity in

"Enfield/Southgate/Cockfosters".)

Roadworks on Bounds Green section of North Circular to be completed by Spring 2012

2012-01-05T20:53:00.000Z

Friern Barnet and Whetstoneresidents know all about theeffects of the roadworks currentlytaking place on theBounds Green section of theNorth Circular Road. Theysee very clearly the congestionwhen they go to Tescoand wonder as the line oftraffic stretches back towardsFinchley Central.

A view of the traffic jam from the Colney Hatch bridge

Frequent users of the NorthCircular, who are headingtowards Southgate orWinchmore Hill or Enfield,have learnt to exit at the intersectionwith either ColneyHatch Lane or theFinchley High Road.

Some drivers on their journeyeast, wanting to skip afew hundred yards of crawlingtraffic, use the Tesco sliproad, cross over ColneyHatch Lane and take the sliproad towards the retail park,before re-joining the NorthCircular.

A new footbridge at Telford Road, Bowes Road and Wilmer Way

For years, the Bounds Greensection of the North Circularhas been an anomaly, as itwent from six lanes at theintersection of PinkhamWay and Station Road (bythe New Southgate gasholder) to three lanes alongTelford Road. The nextstretch east from the dog leg,at the intersection of TelfordRoad and Bowes Road, tothe Clockhouse intersectionat Green Lanes accommodatedonly four lanes in total.

The politicians dithered foryears about providing fundsfor road widening. Overthe years there have beenmany Ministers of Transportof different political parties,who as far as Friern Barnetresidents were concerned,were all useless. Housesalong the North Circularwere purchased, the occupantswere moved on, thehouses started to disintegrate.With a change of plan,these houses were refurbished, andare now being soldoff.

Telford Road, during the roadworks;
traffic is reduced to one lane in each direction.

The funds having eventuallybeen found to provide threelanes in each direction, and thewidening road-works startedin March 2010. One of thefirst effects of the roadworkswas to reduce this majorarterial road, in certain sections,to just two lanes intotal. This has inevitablycaused even greater trafficchaos in Friern Barnet (andplaces beyond). Since theroadworks started, even moreregular drivers of the NorthCircular have learnt to getoff the North Circular andhead towards their destinationsvia Finchley HighRoad, Colney Hatch Laneand the narrow roads of FriernBarnet.

Thanks to the North CircularRoad congestion, local residentsare familiar with thegridlock around Tesco’s carpark, when it is difficult toget in and impossible to getout.

Along the roadworks fromthe intersection with StationRoad to the Clockhouse/Green Lanes intersectionthere is much building, rebuildingand modificationstaking place at the sametime. Most of the work is towiden the road, but there areother projects—a new footbridgeis being built; existingelectrical and water suppliesare being diverted; and theculvert handling BoundsGreen Brook is being modified.

The bridge over Bowes Road, carrying Hertford North railway line

The new footbridge is beingconstructed close to the dogleg where Telford Road,Bowes Road and WilmerWay intersect (see above).It is near to the existing footbridgeby Bowes Roadschool. There was talk ofhaving a push-button trafficlight system at this point toprovide disabled access tothe school. Such a schemeon this busy part of theNorth Circular would inevitablylead to one or twoschoolchildren being flattened.Hopefully, the on-demandtraffic light schemehas been abandoned, andaccess across the road willbe provided by the new footbridge.Hopefully, sense hasbeen seen.

The bridge carrying the PiccadillyLine is one of the 'pinch points' on this sectionof the North Circular.There are three arches to thebridge; the central arch cantake four lane of traffic, andthe two outer arches couldtake at least one lane each.It is not clear, at the moment,how the bridge may be reconfiguredto take threelanes in each direction.The railway bridge carryingthe Hertford North section of therailway line is another ofthe 'pinch points'. However,it is easy to see that, byusing the previous greenspace, as well as the secondarch of the bridge, threelanes can be created in eachdirection.

Before Spring 2012, varioussections of the roadworkswill be completedand opened up, and so thedays when the road cantake only one lane of trafficin one direction will cometo end. And, the lives ofFriern Barnet residents, asfar as traffic is concerned,should begin to improve.Telford Road, during the roadworks, traffic is reduced to one lane in each direction.

Harry Gluck

(in a recent article in the magazine of Friern Barnet and Whetstone Residents' Association.)

The Guardian: "Boris Johnson and the 'invisible crisis' of air pollution"

2012-01-05T13:15:00.000Z

Link to Dave Hill, The Guardian

"Cleaner air. I think we can agree that we need more of it. It is therefore good news is that phase 3 and, indeed, phase 4 of the capital's Low Emission Zone (LEZ) programme came into effect yesterday.

"... Simon Birkett, director of the Campaign for Clean Air in London (CAL), compares Boris's reaction to all this with the more vigorous public health response of the authorities to London's Great Smog of 1952, which is believed to have led to the same number of deaths in a shorter space of time."

Message from Local Government Minister Grant Shapps (opposing plant which may be similar to Pinkham Way)

2012-01-03T15:46:00.003Z

"First of all, Happy New Year."

"I wanted to provide you with this quick update on the campaign against the threatened incinerator at New Barnfield [in his Welwyn Hatfield constituency. This seems to be an incinerator fuel plant, like Pinkham Way. The output from both plants might go to another site at Hoddesdon.]

"As you may know, I’ve worked with locals to fight this proposal for several years. We're at a critical point in the process, and I need your help. So far we have:

Set up the New Barnfield (Action Fund) Trust to gather funds
Raised £50,000 to pay for legal advice and representation to fight the proposals
Written to the Secretary of State calling for the Planning Application to be examined at the highest level possible.

"Three things you can do to help:

Go to www.SaveNewBarnfield.com and sign the petition - even if you’ve signed it previously because we’re collecting further signatories. Click here to go straight to the website. Whilst you’re there you can watch the fly-thru’ video [below] showing how the incinerator would look!
Forward the www.SaveNewBarnfield.com to your local family and friends to encourage them to do the same – AND share the link with your Facebook friends, Twitter followers, Google+, LinkedIn, Email signature – just spread the word! You’ll find a Facebook ‘Like Us’ button on the website, so please click this too.
Finally (and importantly) please submit your views to the planning consultation by emailing newbarnfieldplanning@hertscc.gov.uk or by filling in the form here. The more people who object to the application, the greater pressure we put on Hertfordshire County Council to reject it. There are some pointers here: www.SaveNewBarnfield.com/campaign.html to help. Or if you prefer to write, submissions should be addressed to: New Barnfield Planning Team, Spatial and Land Use Planning, CHN216. County Hall, Pegs Lane, Hertford, Hertfordshire,SG13 8DN

"Many thanks for your help. Around half of all incinerator applications do not make it through. This is an uphill battle, but we don't want to fail through lack of anyone speaking up.

"I hope you have a good 2012 and if there's anything I can do during the year, then please don't hesitate to get in touch. I'm always on this email: grant@shapps.com"

"Best Wishes, Grant"

Enfield: "Resolve to recycle in 2012"

2012-01-03T12:38:00.002Z

"Enfield Council is urging residents to get 2012 off to a green start by recycling as much as they possibly can in January.

"Households across the borough will be groaning under the weight of used wrapping paper, greeting cards, real Christmas trees and tonnes of biscuit tins and plastic food packaging - and that's before we mention kettles, toaster and the hundreds of electrical toys that have been earmarked to be thrown away after being replaced with shiny new models.

"The good news is that these can be recycled from the kerbside, and most will be collected by recycling crews on resident's [sic] normal collection day.

The Conservative Way:
Link to Cllr. Daniel Pearce
"Towards Zero Waste"

"Enfield Council's crews are out as usual in the new year and residents will have their refuse and recycling collected on their normal days - recommend removal of sentence due to been stated above [Shurely Shome Mishake. Yes, this is a real sentence from a real Enfield Council Press Release!]

"Residents can recycle greeting cards and envelopes, empty gift boxes, with the plastic packaging removed, paper based gift wrap, sweet tins and other plastic food packaging in their small black recycling box or blue lidded wheeled bin.

"Christmas trees -minus decorations, pots and turf can be put out for collection with the garden waste on the normal day, but if the tree is taller than six feet tall, it will need to be cut into smaller pieces, or taken to a park for recycling.

"Experts predict a huge surge in small electrical goods have been bought for the home this Christmas, but three quarters of old electrical items such as MP3 players, kettles, cameras and coffee makers - not to mention toys will end up in landfill with an estimated 1.3million electrical items expected to be thrown away in 2012 across the UK.

"The good news is these items can be taken to Barrowell Green Recycling Centre, and diverted away from landfill which helps protect the environment and saves the council money in landfill costs each year.

"They can be also taken to the Council's small recycling banks located at major supermarkets or residents can book free collections of electrical equipment from their property through our website at www.enfield.gov.uk and following the links or by calling 0208 379 1000.

Enfield Council's Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Chris Bond, said:

"The traditional clear out in the New Year is an ideal time to recycle as huge amounts of the items we are looking to dispose of are recyclable.

Whether it’s a real Christmas tree, a kettle or mile upon mile of wrapping paper, we can recycle it all and help save the environment, and money by diverting these items away from landfill."

Christmas trees can be taken to Barrowell Green Recycling Centre, Bury Lodge Depot, Enfield Playing Fields, Forty Hall or Albany, Broomfield, Bush Hill, Durant's, Groveland's, Jubilee, Oakwood, Pymmes, Town or Trent parks until 8 January 2012. Trees can be taken to Barrowell Green after this date.

Waste: 'A Managed Resource By 2020'

2012-01-03T12:17:00.003Z

Link to 'The Wasters Blog'

"...Numbers for EU resource usage and waste produced are huge, as given by the EU Commission:

Disposal of 2.7bn tonnes of waste annually
... 98m tonnes of which is hazardous.
Only 40 percent of the EU’s solid waste is re-used or recycled.

"There will within the next few years be another new layer of regulations to ensure that:

Higher priority is given to re-use and recycling.
All product design integrating a life-cycle approach, is implemented
Yet bigger incentives for waste prevention and recycling, and
More public investment takes place in modern facilities for waste treatment and recycling.

The Guardian: "Global hunger for plastic packaging leaves waste solution a long way off"

2011-12-30T17:04:00.004Z

Link to The Guardian

"Five hundred tonnes of Christmas tree lights and at least 25m bags of plastic sweet wrappers, turkey coverings, drinks bottles and broken toys will be thrown away by UK homes this Christmas and new year. But only a tiny proportion of this waste will be recycled.

"Even at other times of year, only a little under a quarter of the UK's plastic waste is recycled, but over the festive period still less escapes the tip, according to a survey by home drinks maker SodaStream. Globally, recycling of plastics is even smaller."

Link to The Guardian

"EU warns: Wasting environmental resources could spark new recession"

"The overuse and waste of valuable natural resources is threatening to produce a fresh economic crisis, the European Union's environment chief has warned.

Janez Potočnik, the EU commissioner for the environment, linked the current economic crisis gripping the eurozone with potential future crises driven by price spikes in key resources, including energy and raw materials:

"It's very difficult to imagine [lifting Europe out of recession] without growth, and very difficult to imagine growth without competitiveness, and very difficult to be competitive without resource efficiency."

Ham and High

2011-12-28T16:41:00.002Z

(Click above.

You may be able to enlarge further, with this

link, and then clicking a second time.)

The 'South London Waste Partnership' Domestic Waste Incinerator:

2011-12-28T14:22:00.001Z

Link to Croydon Today

"CONTROVERSIAL plans for a household waste-burning incinerator will save taxpayers millions and significantly reduce the borough's carbon footprint, waste chiefs have claimed.

"The incinerator earmarked for the Croydon/Sutton border, in Beddington Lane, is expected to burn up to 275,000 tonnes of waste a year currently dumped in landfill at the site."

Link to earlier Beddington Lane post.

The Guardian: "How to avoid a repeat of the UK [actually English] riots"

2011-12-28T13:25:00.001Z

Link to The Guardian

"This was a crisis, but it was one David Cameron felt comfortable with. The two themes of his leadership forged into one: broken society was the diagnosis; "big society" was the cure. To an extent he was right. Fathers, parenting, discipline in schools and a sense of community can shield people from poverty, gangs and rap culture.

"However, his remedy fails on its most fundamental premise: the state is to blame. It is said that 'big government' had crowded out our sense of responsibility to one another. Yet the location of the riots told a different story. Society hadn't been crowded out by big government; it had been abandoned by the big economy."

[Reposted from Sept.] Pinkham Way: Buggering up Barnet's Cunning Plan

2011-12-27T19:26:00.000Z

Cunning Plan
- report before LB of Barnet committee here

Fly in the Ointment
- Barnet's dustcart depot, bottom-left of above map

Face like a bulldog chewing a wasp
- Brian Coleman at last night's meeting: report from Mrs Angry

(Click to enlarge images.)
(Last photo: Barnet Bugle.)

BBC: "London in 2012: Challenging year ahead"

2011-12-27T17:41:00.000Z

Link to BBC web site

"As far as years go, 2012 has the potential to be about as big as they get for London. In May, Londoners will go to the polls to vote for a mayor, who will continue the role of repairing the damage caused by last summer's riots.

"Meanwhile the Olympics, the Paralympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee are set to be defining moments. But are the people in charge of making sure things run smoothly feeling confident about the year ahead?"

NLWA provides more Pinkham Way information

2011-12-22T16:38:00.004Z

"We are currently undertaking a competitive procurement process for new waste services, which will shape how we provide a modern, sustainable approach to managing the waste from the north London area over the next 25 to 35 years.

"As part of the procurement process we need to find sites for new waste facilities within the north London area, rather than send it to the home counties or beyond.

"We already use waste facilities on three key sites in North London, namely:

a rail transfer station in Hendon, Barnet;
an energy-from-waste incinerator, a composting plant, a road transfer station and a number of specific recycling operations at a large site in Edmonton, Enfield; and
a road transfer station in Islington.

"The transfer stations are too small to accommodate new waste facilities of the scale that is needed, and there isn’t the space to put everything at Edmonton, particularly as we will need to continue to use the existing energy-from-waste incinerator on the site, whilst new facilities are being built.

"Accordingly, we need a new site for waste processing within north London. The proposed Pinkham Way facility at the former Friern Barnet Sewage Works would therefore contribute to the improved management of a significant proportion of North London’s waste."

PLUS: (wait for it...)
Our responses

Introduction

In this section you will find some of our recent consultations. We typically respond to a consultation, if it is likely to affect the operational practices or finances of the Authority.

This section will be completed shortly
(Er, that's it.)

Private Eye 'Rotten Boroughs Awards 2011'

2011-12-21T17:01:00.006Z

Barnet Bloggers:

"Broken Barnet" (Mrs Angry)

"Mr Mustard"

Carmarthanshire Blogger:

"Carmarthenshire Planning Problems
and more"

[Guest post, via a Brent blog] "Is there Life after Car? (the last one blew up in Chiswick)"

2011-12-21T13:56:00.003Z

Link to "Wembley Matters"

"We gave up the family car two years ago, or rather, our car gave up on us. It blew up in Chiswick, West London.

"... All my adult life I had owned a car. In the beginning, it represented independence from my parents, then later, it was for carrying my own children around. Having a car gave me choices, rather than relying on lifts or public transport, which was slow, expensive and unreliable.

"Our culture is now totally geared to car ownership; it is what we aspire to. The car we own shows our status, and marks our position in the hierarchy. But something has flipped in the equation. In the real world, cars are now the slow, expensive, stressful ones. They no longer mean freedom; in many ways they imprison us."

The Guardian: "Paper bags or plastic bags: which are best?"

2011-12-21T13:35:00.001Z

Link to The Guardian

"So victory for paper bags – they are the children of trees! – in the war against decadent, dolphin-smothering plastic. Except, like most wars, it is far from clear if it has left the world a better place.

Wrap, the government-funded company set up to reduce waste, summarises the drawbacks of paper bags: while from a renewable source and biodegradable, compostable and recyclable, they require far more energy to make and transport than plastic, have less re-use potential, and produce methane if dumped in landfill."

"Fly-tipping in England mapped"

"Fly-tipping in the England cost local authorities over £60million in 2011. How bad is your area for dumping waste?"

New Wording on Pinkham Way from Haringey Council (and with a PRIVATE email address)

2011-12-20T22:22:00.001Z

Planning application for use for waste management of Pinkham Way

"The planning application for a waste management and vehicle depot scheme was submitted in May 2011 by the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) and the London Borough of Barnet.

"The application is on hold and has not been validated. While on hold, it will not progress to validation, consultation or decision.

Planning application on hold until 2012

"Haringey Council and the applicants have agreed that the application should stay on hold and await public consultation, consideration and decision until after the Examination in Public (EiP) into the North London Waste Plan (NLWP) – which is exploring where new waste sites in North London could be located – is completed.

The NLWA – managing waste in Haringey and North London

"The NLWA is a joint waste disposal authority which a statutory duty to manage the waste disposal requirements of the seven North London boroughs of Haringey, Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest.

The North London Waste Plan

"The Mayor of London and all London boroughs must make provision for the management of waste, in line with population growth, and in particular for the provision of adequate waste sites.

"The north London boroughs in the NLWA have drafted the joint North London Waste Plan (NLWP), which assesses population and waste growth, and the capacity of existing sites. It also proposes the scale, quantity and possible locations of new sites needed.

"The NLWP proposes that 11 existing municipal waste sites (including household waste recycling centres) should remain and that there should be an additional two new sites: at Geron Way in Barnet, and at Pinkham Way in Haringey.

"The proposed submission version of the NLWP has already been to public consultation, and will soon be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in revised form, taking consultation responses into account.

"The plan’s recommendations will be examined in Spring 2012 by an independent planning inspector, who will assess the soundness of the draft plan and consider objections received through the public consultation."

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q. What is happening with the planning application for Pinkham Way?

A. The application is on hold. Whilst on hold, the application will not progress to validation, registration, public consultation or decision.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. What does “on hold” mean?

A. Both of the applicants (NLWA and the London borough of Barnet) and Haringey Council have agreed that the application should be put on hold and await formal public consultation, consideration and decision until after the examination in public into the North London Waste Plan (NLWP), which assesses where new waste sites for north London could be located.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. When will the application be consulted and decided upon?

A. Public consultation and committee decision on the Pinkham Way planning application will wait until after the completion of the forthcoming examination in Public (EiP) into the NLWP.

Once public consultation begins, Haringey Council will consult with local residents, community groups, businesses and councillors, will display information in local libraries, and will hold a ‘development management forum’ to offer people the chance to find out more about the plans.

The council will liaise with Barnet and Enfield Councils regarding consultation in those boroughs. Haringey Council is keen to ensure that everyone is aware of the proposals, and knows how they can express their views. All consultation responses will be taken into account in the evaluation and decision making process.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. What is the North London Waste Authority?

A. The North London Waste Authority (NLWA) is a joint waste disposal authority with a statutory duty to manage the waste disposal requirements of the seven North London borough of Haringey, Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. What is the North London Waste Plan?

A. The North London Waste Plan (NLWP) is a document produced by seven North London planning authorities – Haringey, Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest – which outlines proposals for future waste management in the boroughs, taking into account population growth.

The plan identifies how many new waste management sites are needed, and where they may be located.

A draft NLWP is being submitted to the independent Planning Inspectorate and its recommendations will be examined in public in 2012.

The NLWP proposes that 11 existing municipal waste sites (including household waste recycling centres) should remain and that there should be an additional two new sites: at Geron Way in Barnet, and at Pinkham Way in Haringey.

Further information on the draft North London Waste Plan can be found on the NLWP website (external link)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. Why do you have to increase the level of waste provision?

A. The Mayor of London’s London Plan has set a target for London to be self sufficient in the management of its waste – rather than sending waste to counties outside of London – by 2031.

The population of North London is rising from 1.73m in 2010 to a projected 1.93m in 2027, with waste expected to rise from 4.7m tonnes per year now to 5.1m tonnes per year in 2031. The North London Waste Authority has a duty to ensure there are sufficient waste facilities to cope with the increase.

For more information please visit the London Plan website (external link)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. Who appoints in Planning Inspector who will assess the North London Waste Plan?

A. The planning inspector for the NLWP examination in public is appointed by the Planning Inspectorate. This is an executive agency of the government’s Department for Communities and Local Government. The inspector is independent of the North London Waste Authority and the NLWP.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. How many waste management sites does the draft North London Waste Plan identify?

A. The plan identifies two new sites – the former sewage treatment works at Pinkham Way in Haringey and at Geron Way in Barnet. The plan also protects 11 existing waste sites in the seven NLWA boroughs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. Who agreed the draft North London Waste Plan?

A. The draft NLWP was agreed by all seven North London borough members of the North London Waste Authority before being submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, which will hold an examination in public in 2012.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. What consultation was done on the NLWP?

A. The draft plan went through four stages of consultation:

2007 – preparatory work on issues and options
Jan/Feb 2008 – consultation on issues and options
Oct/Nov 2009 – consultation on draft plan (preferred options)
May-July 2011 – consultation on submission version of plan

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

Q. When was the draft NLWP agreed in Haringey?

A. The preferred options of the NLWP went before the council’s Cabinet group for approval in September 2009. Minutes of that meeting can be seen on the agenda and draft minutes page for this meeting.

The proposed submission version of the NLWP went before Cabinet in February 2011. Minutes of that meeting can be seen on the agenda and draft minutes page for this meeting.

The proposed submission version also went before Full Council in February 2011, where it was approved.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. Why is Pinkham Way being considered as a waste management site?

A. Pinkham Way was assessed in the NLWP as being a suitable site for waste management. This will be considered further by the independent planning inspector as part of the examination in public.

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

Q. How can Pinkham Way be a possible site for waste management when it is designated both for employment and as a site for nature conservation in Haringey Council’s borough plan?

A. It is possible to have employment uses on nature conservation sites. The site for nature conservation designation will be taken into account as part of any planning application for any kind of development on the site.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. Why is Haringey Council seeking to change the designation of Pinkham Way from “employment land” to “industrial land”? Is that to make it easier for Pinkham Way to be used as a waste site?

A. The council is proposing to change the status of Pinkham Way to “industrial” – for factories and storage – from “employment” – which is also for factories and storage but also covers community use and cultural industries, which would normally only be located in a town centre.

Waste facilities are seen as suitable for either designation, and the selection criteria for a waste facility does not distinguish between the two.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. What if I still want to comment on the North London Waste Plan?

A. The consultation for the draft NLWP has already taken place and no further comments are being taken.

All responses to the consultation will be considered by the Planning Inspector as part of the examination in public (EiP) of the NLWP.

The Planning Inspector will invite interested parties who submitted a formal response to the consultation to attend the EiP to voice their concerns.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. How do I find out more about the examination in public?

A. Details of the EiP will be available on the NLWP website (external link).

Examination and programme officer Pauline Butcher will handle procedural, admin and programming matters under the direction of the inspector and will contact those who made comments on the NLWP with details of the inspection as they become available.

Pauline can be contacted on ldfprogrammeofficer@tiscali.co.uk or on 020 7974 6684.

Pinkham Way Alliance: Santa sends greetings

2011-12-19T19:07:00.001Z

"From all of us in the PWA, to those of you who are in the PWA... here's to a happy holiday. We've all had an extra problem facing us this year, and a break from it is well deserved.

So much has been done in these past few months, and we can be very proud of what we've achieved so far. Without our efforts, these proposals might already have been granted outline planning permission. But rather than this, the dubious ways in which the Pinkham Wood site has been selected and prepared are now identified for independent scrutiny.

Let's enjoy Christmas, and come back fighting fit in the New Year. In January, we should find out more about when government inspectors will assess our communal objections to Haringey’s 'Core Strategy' and the 'North London Waste Plan'. The conclusion of these two issues, in the early part of 2012, will be key moments in our campaign.

Thank you everyone once again for your ongoing support and engagement, in this huge issue for our communities.

Best wishes,Pinkham Way Alliance

The Observer: "The rise of Aedas is a triumph for efficiency"

2011-12-18T15:59:00.003Z

Link to The Observer

"Last week's news from the world of architecture is that there is a new global No 1 practice. It is British in origin, although now spread all over the world, which should inspire a warm glow in these troubled times.

"The firm in question, Aedas, has deposed the former leader, the American Aecom, in Building Design magazine's World Architecture 100 list of leading practices, which measures a practice's size by the number of architectural employees. Aedas has nearly 1,500 of them.

"... Aedas pose an important question, without entirely answering it: if businesses and governments want to make cities where almost everything is shaped by efficiencies and processes, what can architects do to make them better?

Lord Foster: The Future of London and Britain

2011-12-17T00:27:00.001Z

"Lord Foster's second lecture as Humanitas Visiting Professor of Architecture at the University of Oxford, 28 November 2011, in the Nelson Mandela Lecture Theatre, Saïd Business School, Oxford University. The lecture considers 'Heritage and Lessons'. Lord Foster said:

"Imagine how differently we might understand the modern world if we could travel back in time. We would discover that the cathedrals, the castles and the viaducts that form our 'heritage' were once new themselves and were seen as quite alien at the time; and that many of the landscapes we revere as 'natural' were in fact shaped subtly by man - some the outcome of the Industrial Revolution itself. We would also find that many of the challenges we face now have been met before.

Given the need to upgrade Britain's infrastructure for the 21st century, and in the absence of a time machine, we have to try to recapture the foresight and political courage of our 19th century forebears and to revive our traditions of architecture, engineering and landscape design. We have to draw lessons from our heritage, as well as inspiration from our Asian counterparts."

Mrs Angry allows her attempt to control Barnet Council meetings to get totally out of hand

2011-12-16T18:31:00.000Z

Link to the 'Famous Five' Barnet Bloggers
(as endorsed by Secretary of State Eric Pickles)

Where North London leads, West London follows

2011-12-16T18:22:00.004Z

Link to West London Waste Plan draft

"In west London, six London boroughs have agreed to co-operate to produce a single waste plan for their combined area. When finalised, this plan will form part of each of their respective Local Development Frameworks.

"The West London Waste Plan details the amount for the different types of waste expected to be produced in west London up to 2026; identifies the current sites available to help deal with that waste; identifies the current shortfall of facilities needed, and proposes a set of further sites which might be used for waste facilities in the future."

Link to "It's Grim Up North London Waste Authority".

Ex-1980's Mining Minister, Peer of the Realm wants to regulate, well, THIS blog!

2011-12-16T00:35:00.000Z

Link to Eric Pickles's friend,
Mrs Angry's 'Broken Barnet'

"... The article reports that Lord Hunt wants to scrap the PCC, and replace it with a new body which will be an effective regulator of the press - and other areas too, such as the blogosphere and the internet.

"His initial plan for online media is to invite bloggers who write on current affairs to volunteer to be regulated by the replacement body for the PCC.

"They would be able to carry a ‘Kitemark’, showing that they abide by the new body’s code of practice. They would lose the ‘Kitemark’ if complaints against them were repeatedly upheld. But this regulatory oversight would mean bloggers having to pay a fee to the new body, which would be funded by the publications that it regulates. Hunt said:

"I want accuracy to be the new gold standard for blogs. Once they have agreed to be accurate, everything would follow from that. I would like to see a ‘Kitemark’ on the best blogs so the public can trust what they read in them."

"Er: what? Mrs Angry wonders if the new Chair of the PCC actually knows what a blog is.

"... Mrs Angry can assure Lord Hunt that no one with any intelligence will want to read anything written by a blogger sporting one of these code of conduct kitemarks: it will be an indication to the blog-reading public of a guarantee of tedium and lack of originality, and will be avoided like the plague in favour of the thousands of interesting, innovative and well-written pieces by independently-minded bloggers, who do not want or need the permission or intervention of any regulatory body, thank you very much.

"Mrs Angry would also suggest to his lordship that as a member of an undemocratically-appointed chamber of legislation, and the lucky recipient of a post whose appointment process would appear to be something of an arcane mystery, he might be better off not telling everyone else what to do, think, or say with such authority."

(That's enough anger, Mrs Angry.)

For Sale: "Materials Recovery and Energy Centre". No careful owners. Buyer to collect. No guarantee.

2011-12-15T21:59:00.000Z

Link to 'UK Without Incinerators Network'

Neath Port Talbot Council has placed the controversial Crymlyn Burrows Incinerator up for sale. Notices (such as this one) have appeared on-line, advertising the sale of the share capital of Neath Port Talbot (Recycling) Limited, the company that owns and operates the troubled plant.

Swansea Friends of the Earth, who warned against the building of the incinerator, see this as the council giving up on the project. Swansea FoE Chairman Roy Jones said:

"The plant has always had a lot of problems, and has never worked at full capacity."

The original company ceased trading, forcing the Council to take over. The plant has experienced two fires, persistent problems with odours, and earlier this year was forced to close for a period by the Environment Agency, because of problems with emissions of highly toxic dioxins. Less than a year ago ,the Environment Agency announced their intention to take legal action against the incinerator operators (see the BBC report). and LetsRecycle report.)

Mr Jones added:

"Local residents who have suffered the problems for years will now face the prospect of yet another outfit running the failing plant."

The background to this situation is available from the Swansea Friends of the earth website.

The Ecologist: "UK uses EU 'loophole' to delay tackling air pollution in London"

2011-12-15T18:36:00.002Z

Link to The Ecologist

"Government lawyers are set to argue in the High Court that EU rules allow them to delay meeting air pollution targets until as late as 2025 in London, despite growing health crisis.

"Simon Birkett, from the Campaign for Clean Air in London, said:

"The entire directive is about complying with NO2 limits by 2010. If the government was right, it would make a nonsense of the whole directive. It would mean member states did not need to do anything by any of the deadlines. That is ridiculous. They're putting more effort into arguing against it, rather than tackling the problem."

"ClientEarth lawyer Alan Andrews said they would be asking the court to declare the plans 'unlawful' and order the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to come up with a plan to reduce NO2 levels by 2015."

[Updated] NLWA: The rusty iron curtain rises slightly...

2011-12-13T19:17:00.000Z

NORTH LONDON WASTE AUTHORITY

TUESDAY, 13 DECEMBER 2011

AT 10.00 AM

COMMITTEE ROOM 2,

CAMDEN TOWN HALL,

JUDD STREET,

LONDON, WC1H 9JE

Link to Meeting documents

Link to the Agenda, including:

Data Transparency

Report of the Managing Director.

This report advises Members of the principles, scope and expectations now placed upon local authorities in England by central government in terms of data transparency. In particular the report summarises the requirements of the “Code of Recommended Practice for Local Authorities on Data Transparency” issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government in September 2011 and the implications for the Authority in this regard. The report also indicates how officers are implementing the Code.

UPDATE:

The meeting 'noted' the above report. (Brian Coleman didn't like it.)

Also, the meeting increased the extra

£250,000 for one year

to be spent on waste reduction campaigns, to

£300,000 for two years.

This was done "just like that" by Clyde Loakes!

Barnet Press: "Deadline looms for Friern Barnet library plan"

2011-12-13T17:54:00.001Z

Link to Barnet Press

"CAMPAIGNERS from the Save Friern Barnet Library group are submitting detailed proposals to Barnet Council tomorrow, following a request by the authority to the community for plans for the library.

"The group will be contributing financial plans and details of the campaign’s formal constitution, their governance arrangements and bank accounts, alongside additional documentation.

"The council’s cabinet previously approved a strategy to close the library, merge it with North Finchley Library and reopen in the artsdepot at Tally Ho Corner."

And now for something completely different: Japan's amazing lunchboxes

2011-12-13T17:43:00.002Z

Link to BBC web site

"Making a packed lunch for your children to take to school is a chore performed by parents around the world.

"But in Japan, it is not just the taste and healthiness of the meal that is important - but how it looks. That can be pandas, teddy bears, or even real people."

NLWA: "Tonnes of waste saved from landfill as north London shows it's all about give and take..."

2011-12-12T20:15:00.000Z

[With comments.]

"North London residents helped save more than 6.5 tonnes of waste homewares, electrical items and clothing from going to landfill this autumn, as hundreds of people from across the seven north London boroughs participated in North London Waste Authority (NLWA)'s 'Give and Take' Days.

"The [only] 14 events, delivered in partnership with north London's seven borough councils and environmental charity Waste Watch, took place at weekends from September to November in schools and community centres across the area. An impressive 1,698 people attended the events, and stopped a total of 6.5 tonnes of items from being sent to landfill.

[The NLWA is underspending. So put in resources, Clyde, that makes it 16,980 people.]

"Councillor Clyde Loakes, Chair of the North London Waste Authority, commented:

"There really is truth to the saying that one man's junk is another man's treasure! The Give and Take Days have proved a great success in getting people to think about whether someone else could provide a loving home for those 'classic' DVDs and CDs, those baby clothes the kids grew out of years ago, or the kitchen appliance you recently replaced.

It was great in these difficult economic times to see people coming together to help save each other a bit of money, while helping the environment by stopping such a large amount of perfectly usable items from being simply thrown away. We are especially thankful for the assistance of the 22 volunteers, who generously donated their time to help make the events a success."

"The Give & Take Days ran from 11am to 3pm. Visitors donated items they no longer needed between 11am and 12 noon, and then could take something they needed for free between 12 noon and 3pm. All electrical items donated were PAT-tested on the day, so that they could either be offered for re-use or recycled, as appropriate.

"Not only were the Give and Take Days a great day out for families, but some lucky residents also received the fantastic bonus of a £50 eco shopping voucher which they won after filling out a feedback form and entering a prize draw.

"The winners were:

Michelle Moor, who attended one of the Islington events, and said:
"Give and Take Days are a wonderful idea. They give everyone in the local community the opportunity to offer a new home to things they may no longer use/need, but are still useful to other people. It's a great feeling to help the environment and the community just that little bit more."
Shumi Ali, who attended the event at Hackney Wick Festival, and commented:
"My favourite part (of the day) was literally giving and receiving, and I also got some tips on reducing waste."

North London's seven borough councils got involved too, with officers attending events in their borough to provide information on council waste and recycling services and waste reduction advice.

"For further information on how you can donate your unwanted items for re-use or recycling, and for other tips on how to reduce your waste, visit the North London Waste Authority's website at http://www.nlwa.gov.uk/yourwaste."

Almost one million tonnes of waste is produced by households across the seven north London boroughs covered by the NLWA.

That’s a huge amount of waste which we need to dispose of. While recycling is a fantastic way to turn our rubbish into something useful again, preventing waste is even better. If we reduce the amount that we produce in the first place, and reuse things more than once, we also avoid the industrial processes involved in recycling, in turn reducing our carbon footprint.

Over the past three years, there has been a decline of about 4% in the amount of waste produced in north London. That’s great news, and demonstrates how residents are embracing the principles of ‘reduce, reuse, and recycle’.

But we need to do more to make sure that by 2020 we are recycling 50% of household waste. [Why only 50% by 2020? 'Political will', Clyde, can drive that higher!]

Waste prevention plays a key role in sustainable waste management for:

Environmental reasons: household waste is merely the final evidence of consumption which entails environmental footprints which are rarely sustainable
Socio-economic reasons: production of waste appears to be the result of wasting natural resources and these resources are both limited and unequally distributed
Financial reasons: reducing the quantities of waste produced means it should be possible to reduce the budget required for the collection, transportation and treatment of waste products
Legal reasons: the European framework directive on waste requires national waste prevention programmes to be drawn up

The Waste Hierarchy has for some time provided the framework for managing waste locally, nationally, and at a European level, and has recently been updated in the 'Waste Framework Directive'. [It has also provided a pseudo-justification for building new-style incinerators, for use for the next thirty years.]

With your help, we plan to reduce rubbish in north London by up to 80,000 tonnes over the next two years. To find out how, please look at our Waste Prevention Plan. The plan sets out a series of specific actions required to deliver the strategic objectives for waste prevention, which are within the North London Joint Waste Strategy.

For more information about the composition of north London's waste, please see a copy of the Waste Composition Analysis Final Report.

Barnet - Britain's Oddest Borough (and this is only the Audit Committee)

2011-12-10T23:55:00.001Z

Link to Mrs Angry's 'Broken Barnet'

"The auditors came to town ... At one point, Tory councillor Brian Schama was not ready for the meeting to move on.

"Mrs Angry rather likes Councillor Schama: partly because he always grins at her in an twinkling, Tory-amused way at meetings, and partly because he is old-school gentleman Tory, and not a boorish oaf, like most of the Conservative Barnet councillors. Call Mrs Angry a snob, but she likes her class enemies to be well-mannered, and know which knife to use at table.

"... Sitting behind Ms Pam Wharfe was a large grey elephant, rearing up on its hind-legs, and reducing Mr Paul Hughes to a frantic display of pen-waggling. As an auditor of some experience, Mrs Angry can tell you that this is code for:

"Help me - I do not want to be here, I wish I was somewhere else, and I wish I had become a train driver, instead of an auditor."

New Airport Planned at Kings Cross Station (or pick up your carrots)

2011-12-10T15:09:00.001Z

Link to details on 'Darkest London' site

"Designed by architect Charles W. Glover, the new Central Airport for London has been presented as a model at the Institution of Civil Engineers. It will be built over the railway sidings just north of St Pancras.

"It is envisonaged that planes will approach down a new ‘Aerial Way’ above the Pentonville Road, landing on one of the half-mile concrete runways (which look like spokes on a cartwheel.)"

or maybe that is silly. so go to Kings Cross in your helicopter, for your carrots...

Link to British Pathe video

Wood Green Shopping Centre: "Would anyone miss you?"

2011-12-10T13:54:00.001Z

(Click above to enlarge,
and for film web site)

"Nobody noticed when Joyce Vincent, 40, died in her bedsit above a shopping mall in North London in 2003.

"Her body wasn’t discovered for three years, surrounded by Christmas presents she had been wrapping, and with the TV still on. Newspaper reports offered few details of her life– not even a photograph.

"Interweaving interviews with imagined scenes from Joyce’s life, Dreams of a Life is an imaginative, powerful, multilayered quest, and is not only a portrait of Joyce, but a portrait of London in the eighties — the City, music, and race. It is a film about urban lives, contemporary life, and how, like Joyce, we are all different things to different people. It is about how little we may ever know each other, but nevertheless, how much we can love."

In UK Cinemas from 16 December 2011.

Palace Gates Residents’ Association opposes Pinkham Way

2011-12-10T13:02:00.001Z

Link to PGRA Facebook page

"We have worked closely with Pinkham Way Alliance for some time now, and support them all the way."

(Cecil B DeMille says "Cut" at the end)

BBC: "The road sign as design classic"

2011-12-09T12:20:00.001Z

Link to BBC web site

"The Design Museum has added a motorway sign to its collection. So is British road signage a design classic?

"In the 1950s, road signs were a mess - a confusing and dangerous hotch potch of different symbols, colours and lettering. But more and more people were acquiring cars.

"... As the government set about creating a brave new world of motorways, Kinneir and Calvert were given the job of making signs that could be clearly read in a split second. Calvert, now 75, says they had to start from scratch."

The Independent: "The arms company, the oligarch and the ex-PM's sister-in-law: lobby firm's Wikipedia hit list"

2011-12-09T11:16:00.001Z

Link to The Independent

"Wikipedia has now locked down ten user accounts that it believes are associated with computers owned by [PR company] Bell Pottinger, pending an investigation by the website's founder Jimmy Wales.

"When approached by the 'Bureau of Investigative Journalism', several companies denied having ever employed Bell Pottinger to manage their reputations, but did reveal that they had signed deals with other companies owned by its parent company Chime Communications.

"Standard Life, the pensions and insurance group, had its Wikipedia presence edited more than 12 times between November and December 2010. Barry Cameron, head of media at Standard Life, said it had hired Team Spirit, an advertising and marketing firm at Chime, and that the brief had included maintaining the company's Wikipedia profile.

"Lord Bell, chairman of Chime Communications, the owner of Bell Pottinger, said an internal review had been launched. On Wednesday the firm admitted it had used a number of accounts to change Wikipedia pages.

"Of the ten Wikipedia accounts suspended for being involved in suspected tampering by Bell Pottinger, two go to great lengths to give the impression of being real people.

" 'Biggleswiki' lists a number of personal details about himself on his user page. He claims that his name is David Biggles, and that he was born on 2 November 1979 in Hammersmith, London.

"He provides a selection of details, and claims that he met his girlfriend while living in Newcastle, but has since moved back to London. He writes:

"I currently work in engineering and really enjoy it. I get to travel around the world doing my job and have been to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Australia, China, New Zealand and Russia.

"My interests include art, music and photography and I'm rubbish at all of them."

The Bureau has been unable to identify a 'David Biggles' who matches the above description. Searches of the electoral register yielded no results for 'David Biggles' anywhere in the UK. Bell Pottinger has since admitted that it used the Biggleswiki account."

No railway stories for ages, then two come along together...

2011-12-09T09:33:00.001Z

(Link to the 'first Edmonton Green station')

Enfield Council scoops £850,000 rail station investment

"Enfield Council has been awarded an £850,000 grant by the government to part fund the construction of lifts at Edmonton Green station.

"The Council entered the bid as part of a consortium of organisations including Transport for London, National Express East Anglia and Network Rail, who will carry out the work. It is another example of the work being done by the Council and its partners to help regenerate Edmonton.

"The total cost of the lifts is estimated to be £1.45million with the remainder of the money coming from a variety of sources including section 106 agreements and funding from TfL.

"Enfield Council's Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Chris Bond, said:

"These lifts will enable disabled people, those who have difficulty walking long distances, and parents with children to get to the station platform easily and with the minimum of fuss.

"This funding announcement is a tribute to team-work, and is a result of a number of organisations working together to make rail travel easier and more accessible to residents of this borough."

"The work is expected to be completed by 2014."

Evening Standard: "Thames Water 'spies' on supersewer protesters"

2011-12-07T14:01:00.001Z

Link to Evening Standard

"Thames Water is using security guards with Home Office 'covert licences' to monitor critics of its supersewer, the Standard reveals today.

"It is also feared that security consultants are carrying out background checks on opponents.

"Campaigner Emma Dunsire said she 'felt very threatened' by a guard in plain clothes who was not wearing an ID badge who told her details about her life which she believes could only be gathered by surveillance."

Join Muswell Hill Sustainability Group for discounted goodies

2011-12-06T23:20:00.001Z

Link to MHSG web site

"Efergy Elite energy monitors – we are selling for £25.

"Phillips LED GU10 bulbs (50 W equivalent) are at £15.

"We are subsidising these items, as we want people to reduce their energy use..."

Enfield Independent: "Littering prosecutions double in Enfield"

2011-12-06T23:04:00.001Z

Link to web site

"THE number of people being prosecuted for littering on the streets of Enfield has doubled, new figures show.

"And since April this year, 203 have so far been taken to court for littering in the borough."

Enfield Council:

"Street Hawks swoop for new members"