Daily Telegraph: "How a chain of tea shops kickstarted the computer age" (includes video)

Link to Daily Telegraph

"A British company stands on the cusp of a technological breakthrough that will change the way the entire world operates. The idea is worth countless hundreds of billions of pounds, and is years ahead of similar efforts in America and elsewhere.

The year, alas, is not 2011, but 1951."

---

Link to BBC 'Today' audio.

Daily Telegraph: " 'Google effect' means spies work harder, says ex-GCHQ chief"

Link to Daily Telegraph

Sir David Pepper, the former director of GCHQ, who was giving the annual Mountbatten Memorial Lecture at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, said:  

"Nobody wants the easy stuff anymore, and there is no point spending effort and money collecting it.

"Intelligence producers have had to become very sensitive to this phenomenon, and very careful not to put effort into producing intelligence that purports to be secret which is, in fact, not secret at all."

Pinkham Way Alliance: Another message to the troops

HOW FAR WE'VE COME, AND NEXT STEPS FOR THE CAMPAIGN

THANK YOU ALL

I am writing to thank you for your support for the Pinkham Way Alliance. The successes we have had so far have been dependent on what you and your neighbours have done, whether this has been coming out in force at demonstrations, writing to local councillors or MPs, or submitting objections to public consultations. We are also hugely grateful to those of you who have made donations towards our essential campaign costs.

WHAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED TOGETHER

So far we have submitted crucial evidence to the planning inspector’s Examination in Public of Haringey’s Core Strategy, which forced the council to re-consult the public about its attempt to designate the Pinkham Way site as ‘industrial’ land. More than 1,550 people endorsed our response to the re-consultation, and a further 100 people have submitted individual objections.

We have kept up pressure on Haringey over their ongoing activities to move the waste plant planning application forward despite their proclaiming it to be 'on hold' months ago. We finally received confirmation this week that it definitely will not be validated until after the North London Waste Plan has been examined by the planning inspector next year.

We have galvanised the three local MPs, who all now support our cause and are working together to stop the proposed development. Our ward councillors are now fully in accord with our aim, which has always been to prevent the building of a huge waste treatment plant on Pinkham Wood.

Serious objections have been raised with the planning inspector by us over the North London Waste Plan - we have called into doubt its soundness and accuracy, again by putting forward accurate and extensive legal arguments.

Thanks to your generosity, so far we have raised over £20,000, all of which has now been carefully spent. These vital funds have enabled us to:

• Secure expert legal advice
• Secure expert planning advice
• Print the many leaflets, flyers and posters that we have posted through people's front doors and distributed at our awareness raising stalls and events.

We have also had to set up Pinkham Way Alliance Limited, a not-for-profit company, limited by guarantee, so that we could open a bank account, raise funds and have a legal identity to contract experts.

Thanks to unpaid work by generous local people, we have managed to minimise the amount of money spent by using our own professional expertise wherever possible. However, the costs of legal and plannning advice will continue to be our major outgoing.

NEXT STEPS

Although we have made some very good progress, there is still a great deal to do over the coming weeks and months. We need to:

• Secure expert legal and planning advice to ensure we can make powerful representations at the Examination in Public for the latest consultation on Haringey’s core strategy.
• Secure expert legal and planning advice to ensure we can make powerful representations at the Examination in Public for the North London Waste Plan.
• Prepare to fight the planning application for the waste plant and vehicle depot if Haringey go ahead and validate it.
• Prepare to lobby local politicians and the mayoral candidates about Pinkham Wood.
• Publicise what is being planned even more widely so we can mobilise public opinion and turn it into concrete action that will prevent this massive disruption to our lives.

PLEASE DONATE TODAY

To do all of this we urgently need to raise further funds. We will need another £30,000 to cover the next tranches of legal and planning advice, and in the longer term, we will continue to require funding to maintain the campaign.

Please give what you can using one of the methods below:

• Online by PayPal
• Pay into PWA account at a branch of HSBC: sort code 40-04-37 account number 81689320
• Write a cheque or postal order payable to Pinkham Way Alliance Ltd and send it to the Pinkham Way Alliance, c/o Hollickwood School, Sydney Road, Muswell Hill, London N10 2NL

All donation information can be found on the donations page of our website.

Meanwhile, please keep spreading the word to friends and neighbours. The more of us who collaborate, the stronger we’ll be.

Kind regards,

Bidesh Sarkar
Chair, Pinkham Way Alliance

---

Link to HOME (see all posts).

The Independent: "Minister's cold feet on [Norfolk incinerator] waste plant funding sets precedent"

Link to web site
(and lots of comments)

"Plans to reduce Britain's dependency on landfill sites by using waste to create electricity were thrown into doubt yesterday, after the Government raised last-minute objections to a key scheme.

"... The scheme was opposed by residents near the proposed location of the Norfolk plant, who claimed it would damage people's health and the environment, and lead to reduced incentives to carry out more recycling. Their campaign is supported by the local MP and borough council, which organised a poll, in which 65,000 people voted against plans for the incinerator.

But Mike Knights, of the campaign against the Norfolk incinerator, said:

"The percentage of waste which can now be recycled is such that there would be no need for such schemes."

---

Link to Eastern Daily Press.

---

Link to BBC Norfolk web site

Link to Norfolk Farmers' Campaign

The Guardian: "Is climate scepticism a largely Anglo-Saxon phenomenon?"

Link to The Guardian

"A new study shows that climate sceptics feature much more prominently in the UK and US media than in other countries.

"I have long believed a particular hunch actually carries some substance: climate scepticism is a predominantly Anglo-Saxon phenomenon. Or, rather, it is a phenomenon that tends to gets amplified to a much greater extent in the various English-language media outlets around the world – particularly, in the US, UK and Australia - than it does in other languages or countries.

"Until now, there has been very little beyond the anecdotal to support this theory. But the proposition is now on a firmer footing, thanks to a new report published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, based at the University of Oxford, which firms up some related findings it published last year."

Tax Havens and the City of London

Link to web site

"... The City of London Corporation is committed to maintaining and enhancing the status of the wealth and tax-generating business of the City as the world’s leading international financial and business centre through its policies and services.

"Examples are the extensive overseas business missions headed by the Lord Mayor on behalf of UK-based financial services and the wide-ranging economic development, research and regeneration effort the City of London Corporation undertakes across London. It also runs the City Office in Brussels on behalf of the City and City Representations in Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai – and a City Office in Mumbai."

"Please forgive me if I find all this ever so slightly sinister. You may feel that this is all somehow a good thing. I think that at the end of the day it boils down to the question of whether you think that the financial services sector has grown too powerful and hard to reform, or whether you think that Britain needs just more and more finance: the more the merrier.

"If you take the latter view, you may perhaps find all this stuff benign. I don't"

Friday 18 November: 'Bowes and Bounds Connected': Feeding of the 5000

Link to web site

"Feeding the 5000 will show how easy it is to reduce the unimaginable levels of food waste in the UK and internationally. And how governments, businesses and individuals can help."

As promoted on 'Bowes and Bounds Connected'.

---

Further commentary on

"Bowes and Bounds Connected": 

"A press release from Enfield Council this week underlines the importance of understanding re-cycling. In it's rather jokey message the Council identify some of the more unsavory items which people have incorrectly attempted to re-cycle - but do any of us really know exactly which bit of plastic packaging can be recyled and which goes into the black sack? 

"At the core of the message is the desire to move from a level of 34% recycling to 47% . A significant shift but the national average is at 41%. Locally, Barnet is recycling 33% and Haringey is a far poorer performer, only reaching 25% of its total refuse being recycled."

Evening Standard: "Urban explorers break into landmarks"

Link to Evening Standard

"More than 300 of the capital's most famous landmarks are being broken into at night by groups of 'urban explorers'. 

"London is at the epicentre of the rapidly growing global movement, described as the practice of entering unseen or off-limits areas for the thrill of discovery."

---

Link to "Jolly Japes! Exploring London's Secret Underground Railway".

The Guardian: "World headed for irreversible climate change in five years, IEA warns"

Link to The Guardian

"The world is likely to build so many fossil-fuelled power stations, energy-guzzling factories and inefficient buildings in the next five years that it will become impossible to hold global warming to safe levels, and the last chance of combating dangerous climate change will be "lost for ever", according to the most thorough analysis yet of world energy infrastructure.

"Anything built from now on that produces carbon will do so for decades, and this 'lock-in' effect will be the single factor most likely to produce irreversible climate change, the world's foremost authority on energy economics has found. If this is not rapidly changed within the next five years, the results are likely to be disastrous."

Tax Justice Network: "The Chairman of the City of London Corporation debates outside St Pauls"

Link to web site

"An extraordinary event took place outside St. Paul’s on Sunday evening outside St. Paul’s. The Reclaim the City campaign group had arranged for George Monbiot, John Christensen (Director of Tax Justice Network) and Father William Taylor (a former Councillor in the Corporation of London) to explain to the Occupation their concerns with the City of London Corporation. 

"Unexpectedly Stuart Fraser, the Chairman of the City of London Corporation, turned up to debate with us. 

"The Occupation welcomed Stuart Fraser, and applauded him for having the courage to ‘enter the Lion’s Den’, as one protestor put it. His first words to the occupation were: ‘I thought it was time the devil incarnate came to give his side'."

---

The Tax Justice Network (TJN) is an international, non-aligned coalition of researchers and activists with a shared concern about the harmful impacts of tax avoidance, tax competition, and tax havens.

www.taxjustice.net

[Updated] NLWA: The Gathering Storm

November update: 

After SIX weeks, the NWLA has managed to get round to publishing the minutes of this meeting!

(The next meeting is Tuesday, 13 December 2011, at 10.00am [if Brian Coleman can manage to park his car].)

---

NORTH LONDON WASTE AUTHORITY
MEETING

THURSDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER 2011

CAMDEN TOWN HALL

Characteristics of Impressionist paintings:
relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes; open composition; emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time); common, ordinary subject matter; the inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience; and unusual visual angles.

Title: 'Committee Room Two, September 2011'

AGENDA

1.

Apologies Chair Clyde Loakes enters two minutes late, then does nothing for two minutes, before saying, "Sorry we're a minute late starting..." The little scamp.

</AI2>

<AI3>

2.

Declarations By Members of Personal or Prejudicial Interests in Respect of Items on this Agenda Up pipes eager-beaver Melvin Cohen (Barnet), regarding Pinkham Way. Others pile in, similarly.

</AI3>

<AI4>

3.

Deputations (If Any) The good news: There is a deputation, about the behaviour of Veolia, [one of the two companies on the short-list]. The bad news: "We have had legal opinion, and we cannot agree to this."

</AI4>

<AI5>

4.	Public Minutes	(1-10)
	To approve and sign the public minutes of the meeting held on 28 June 2011. [Perhaps the NLWA can continue to make the supreme effort to put the public, and not the private, minutes on the web site.]

</AI5>

<AI6>

5.	Dates of Meetings 2011/12	(11-12)
	Report of the Managing Director. This report sets out proposed dates for Authority meetings in 2011/2012. Tuesday, 13th December 2011, Friday, 10th February 2012, Friday, 20th April 2012, Tuesday, 3rd July 2012, all at 10am, in Camden Town Hall.

</AI6>

<AI7>

6.	2010/11 Statement of Accounts	(13-82)
	Report of the Financial Adviser. ... This report summarises the key findings of the external auditor and invites Members to agree the Authority’s response and to agree the letter of representation.  The revised 2010/11 Statement of Accounts, including the annual governance statement, is also submitted for approval. Sorted.

</AI7>

<AI8>

7.	2011/12 Second Budget Review	(83-90)
	Report of the Financial Adviser. (presumably Bob Bench.) [Most decimal points have been removed below, to make the text a little less stodgy.] This report is the second in the current year of a series of regular reports on the Authority’s finances.  It concludes that the Authority is currently forecast to have a revenue surplus of £10.0m at 31 March 2012, i.e. an increase of £2.9m compared with the first budget review.  Since the last meeting, the Authority has been successful in renegotiating the contract terms for the disposal of waste through the Hendon Waste Transfer Station [Brent Cross, below]. The new contract terms are backdated to 2010 and therefore in addition to reducing the cost of this service in 2011/12 (£0.8m) and future years, the Authority will also benefit from the reduction in a creditor provision made for costs in the 2010/11 accounts (£0.6m).  The residual waste stream in the first four months of the year has reduced significantly compared with the same time last year [our emphasis] and therefore the report indicates that, if this trend continues for the remainder of the year, there could be a net saving of £1.1m in 2011/12.  One borough has also decided not to send its organic waste to the Authority after September 2011, and this should result in a further saving of £0.3m.  The report also draws attention to the key issues and potential budget pressures.  A further review of the 2011/12 budget, together with an up-to-date detailed assessment of the budget and resource requirements for 2012/13, will be reported to the Authority in December. (Can't wait.)

</AI8>

<AI9>

8.	Strategy Update	(91-104)
	Report of the Procurement Director. This report provides an update on current legislative, policy and strategy developments that are relevant to the NLWA and seeks delegated authority for officers to make representations and responses to consultations in line with the approaches set out in this paper. "More certainty is needed! We are meeting Defra!" (plus 'The Tea-trolley Scandal', mentioned below)

</AI9>

<AI10>

9.	Pinkham Way and North London Waste Plan	(105-108)
	Report of the Head of Waste Strategy and Contracts. (Andrew Leppage, left.) [The report was reproduced earlier.] This report brings Members up to date on the Authority’s joint planning application with LB Barnet for the development of the Pinkham Way site, and the current planning policy context. "The designation of Pinkham Way may be affected by the outcome of the North London Waste Plan."

</AI10>

<AI11>

10.	Forward Plan of Decisions	(109-114)
	Report of the Managing Director. This report provides a forward plan of reports for the Authority. (Noted.)

</AI11>

<AI12>

The public and 'the press' (ha!) were then excluded.

 POLITICS TODAY  
 (The 'NLWA Standard', first edition)

 'QUOTE OF THE DAY'

Councillor Clyde Loakes: 

"The Mayor has agreed that Pinkham Way can be designated as a waste site.

That could have been a headache, otherwise."

 'UPS AND DOWNS'

Out of Sorts:

Councillor Brian Coleman (Barnet):

(picture: Barnet Times)

Inconsiderate parking (very) of his large black Toyota car at Camden Town Hall.

Why, oh why, didn't he get a taxi, and charge it on expenses?

Going Places:

Councillor Clyde Loakes (Waltham Forest):

Great ability to mention the 'Local Government Association' (of which he is Vice-Chair of the Environment Board).

As in: "The LGA joins Defra in ..."

(the rest of the sentence is inaudable, due to a tea-trolley passing the door - but it's 'mission accomplished'.)

---

Link to rolling news version of 28 June meeting,

or link to HOME (see all posts).

Monday 21 November: Muswell Hill Sustainability Group: Info Evening on Easy Energy Saving

Link to web site

""Come along to our info evening on 21st November 2011 at 8.00pm at the Muswell Hill Methodist Church, Pages Lane. 

The evening includes: 

• How to read you meters and understand your energy bill 
• How to switch energy suppliers including to Renewable Energy providers 
• How you can change your everyday behaviour to reduce your energy use 
• Low cost measures such as energy monitors, efficient lighting and voltage optimisation (including the advantages of LED over halogen downlighters) 
• Mini demonstration of how to install draught-proof strips around windows/doors.

We’ll also have LED bulbs, energy monitors, radiator panels, door and letter-box brushes, at least 50% discounted prices.

Evening Standard: "Europe's biggest rubbish tip? Not in my aria"

Link to Evening Standard

One of the world's leading opera singers today attacked plans for what could be Europe's biggest waste processing plant.

Soprano Dame Emma Kirkby  will perform at St Andrew's Church in Muswell Hill on Sunday 20 November, to raise money to pay for legal costs, leaflets, and an expert to design an alternative to the current proposal.

The Independent: "We are paid too much, bankers confess in St Paul's survey"

Link to The Independent

"As politicians shift ground on high earners, City workers admit public sector gets raw deal"

"A survey of 500 workers in City financial institutions, carried out for the Christian think-tank St Paul's Institute, found that 'a substantial number' believed they were overpaid compared with other professions – particularly frontline workers including teachers and, most of all, nurses.

"The results will fuel continuing bitterness towards the industry over its culpability for the financial crisis and its apparent failure to rein in huge salaries and bonuses . Last night The Sunday Times reported the publicly owned Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to pay its investment bankers about £500m in bonuses."

Broken Barnet: "I am Mr Mustard", "I am Mr Mustard", "I am Mr Mustard" (Spartacus metaphor, gettit?)

"Freedom of Expression: another victory for the Barnet bloggers"

Link to Mrs Angry's Broken Barnet

"Just when you think the London Borough of Barnet has reached the absolute limits of idiocy, whoops, up pops another revelation which extends the reach of corporate absurdity, way beyond anything we have yet seen.

"Yesterday one of the Barnet bloggers, Roger Tichborne, received a Freedom of Information response, sent way beyond the statutory time limit, as most of the most 'sensitive' responses tend to be in our authority. This is because, as we have seen, information, in Broken Barnet, is a dangerous substance, and must be handled with care, and sensitive information is usually only released after the most stringent measures have been taken to defuse the potentially inflammatory nature of its contents. Some things slip through, of course.

"In this case, a few questions were asked about any monitoring of Barnet blogs. ..."

"The council has responded to various FOI requests from:

'blank' who we understand to be the blogger 'blank', who blogs at 'blank'. 

What? They mean Mr Mustard, of course, and I have permission to out him as such, but I think it is more amusing to carry on referring to 'Mr Blank' ..."

Financial Times: "Thames transport hub project unveiled"

Link to FT web site

"The 'Thames Hub' proposals unveiled on Wednesday could lead to the most radical overhaul of Britain’s transport, logistics and communication network since the building of the railways.

"The ideas presented by the architects Foster & Partners [there is a video there!] and engineers Halcrow, on their own initiative, would see a new London orbital railway linking in to fast lines to the north and Europe, and a new airport on the Isle of Grain in the Thames estuary.

"Also included are a new flood defence barrier and Thames crossing, a freight port and logistical hub and the laying of extensive cabling, utilities and communications infrastructure, in what the report refers to as 'The Spine'."

---

More details:

Sustainable Haringey, Muswell Hill Sustainability Group and en10ergy

Link to YouTube video of the event

"The Great Compost Giveaway 2011 was organised by Sustainable Haringey, Muswell Hill Sustainability Group and en10ergy and was meant to start at 10 am on Sunday 30 October in the Paddocks Car Park, Ally P. However, punters with shovels and bags started streaming in from 9.30, and 14 tonnes of compost were cleared by about 500 visitors in 4 hours. 

"(Question: How many kilos of compost went into the boot of the average family car? Answer: Quite a lot.)

"Many thanks to the Edmonton Ecopark (London Waste Limited) for delivering a lorryload of the stuff, also to Joyce Rosser and her cheerful team of volunteer stewards, and to Angelica Landry who made a brilliant film of it. It was so much fun, we are planning another one for February or March next year."

"And now over to our studios at Alexandra Palace..."

In pictures: BBC's 75th anniversary broadcast 

Lookers-in should use their 'pointing devices' to
allow access to a series of photographs

The BBC and Alexandra Palace in north London are to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the very first broadcast of the corporation's continuous television service on 2 November, 1936, with a free exhibition this weekend.

(For viewers in colour, the photographs are in black-and-white.)

Cameras will roll from 11am – 4.30pm on both 5 and 6 November. Entry is free, but anyone wishing to take a tour of the BBC studios needs to call 0208 365 4321 to secure a timed ticket. 


Matt Cooke, Chair of Alexandra Park & Palace Trust, said:

“The BBC’s place in the history of Alexandra Palace was sealed when the first public service broadcast in the world was made from the building in 1936.  Not only did the event pave the way for a new kind of social entertainment, but it also prompted technological advances in the way we communicate with each other which still impact on us today.

“The Trustees are delighted to be co-hosting a weekend of interactive and futuristic activities with the BBC to mark 75 years since this important milestone in UK and world history.”

Head of BBC History, Robert Seatter, added:

“On this momentous 75th anniversary, we are delighted to be working with Alexandra Palace to open up these unique studios where television really began. We hope that this exciting open weekend will help visitors to celebrate television in all its diversity – old and new, technical and aesthetic, serious and fun.”

Lookers-in can get more details on this public viewing mechanism.

---

And Now, In Colour: 

"Behind the scenes at the cradle of TV"

"It is 75 years since the first regular TV service began broadcasting from the BBC studios at Alexandra Palace in North London.

"Television historian John Trenouth took Nick Higham behind the scenes at "Ally Pally", to explore some of the stories from the early days of TV."

---

"We have reached the end of our posting, 
so this web site is closing down. 

Good-bye everyone, and don't forget to switch off your computer. 

Andy Pandy - Don't do that."

Liverpool Echo: "Fracking protesters climb shale gas drilling rig to stop work"

Link to web site

"PROTESTERS have stopped work at the Cuadrilla shale gas site near Southport, after climbing on to a drilling rig. Environmental campaign group 'Frack Off' entered the shale gas rig at around 5.30am.

"Energy firm Cuadrilla Resources is exploring the area using 'fracking', a process of hydraulic fracturing of shale rock using high pressure liquid to release gas.

" 'Frack Off' said the action was timed to 'highlight the hypocrisy' of the Shale Gas Environmental Summit taking place in London on Wednesday."

---

Link to BBC: "Fracking tests near Blackpool 'likely cause' of tremors".

Financial Times: Minister of State Theresa Villiers spurns Derby for Friern Barnet

Link to Financial Times
(the site prefers you to register as well)

"The government has risked a fresh fight with Derby after Theresa Villiers, rail minister, pulled out of a rail conference in the city at short notice to attend to constituency matters.

"Her Constituency Office said:

“The Hemington Avenue planning case is very controversial locally, and Theresa has been contacted by a large number of constituents about this issue. Having campaigned against so called ‘garden grabbing’ for many years, Theresa feels it is vitally important that she is present at the appeal hearing to support her constituents.”

More than you wanted to know about your borough's rubbish

Link above to 'Capital Waste Facts' web site

"Click here to access the London borough waste and recycling services matrix. [That's spreadsheet to anyone else.] 

"The matrix provides detailed information on all:

• services
• targets
• communication methods
• disposal routes 

for each London local authority."

The Guardian: "Why is our consumption falling?"

Link to The Guardian

"Everyone believes that consumption is out of control. But is it? From food to paper and water, Britain has gradually been guzzling less over the last decade. Why?

"But, according to environment writer Chris Goodall, those stats tell an important story. 'What the figures suggest,' Goodall says enthusiastically, 'is that 2001 may turn out to be the year that the UK's consumption of "stuff" – the total weight of everything we use, from food and fuel to flat-pack furniture – reached its peak and began to decline'."

Barnet Traffic Cone Hat in Brian Coleman Transport Policy Protest Threat. Row, Fury. Bid. Claim. Crisis. (Cont. p94)

Link to Mrs Angry

(Sec. of State Eric Pickles said:

"As well she might be")

Pinkham Way Alliance: The Sands of Time are Fast Running Out

ACT NOW!

THE DEADLINE IS THIS WEEK:

RESPOND TO HARINGEY'S 'RE-CONSULTATION' OR SUPPORT THE PWA SUBMISSION

If you’d like to object to Haringey's ongoing attempt to redesignate Pinkham Wood as ‘industrial’ and diminish its conservation status - please do so right away.

If you're planning to submit your own response, read details of how to do this. It must be with Haringey by close of business on Thursday 3 November.

If not, please support the Pinkham Way Alliance, by adding your details with this very short online form. This must be with us by 4pm on Wednesday 2 November.

The more individual, adult household members that do this the better.

If you have any questions, or problems with the form, you can email us directly on pinkhamwayalliance@gmail.com.

Please check the outline of our objections and alternatives to Haringey’s plans here so you know what you're supporting. Responses with Haringey by 5pm on Thursday 3 November, or sign-up to support the PWA objections by 4pm on Wednesday 2 November.

.

CONCERT BY EMMA KIRKBY

A reminder that our fantastic fundraising concert, with world-famous soprano Emma Kirkby, and lutenist Jakob Lindberg, will be at St Andrew's Church, Alexandra Park Road, on Sunday 20th November at 4pm. You can order tickets now.

Don't forget you can also follow us on Twitter, join the Facebook Group and make a donation.

Kind regards, Bidesh Sarkar

Chair, Pinkham Way Alliance