BBC: "Thanet village fights 'green' anaerobic digester energy plant"

Link to web site and iPlayer

"Residents in a Kent village are objecting to plans to build an anaerobic digestion plant on farmland near their homes and the local school.

"The anaerobic digestion plant proposed for St Nicholas at Wade in Thanet would ferment green waste and unwanted crops, with the gas given off being used to boost national gas supplies.

"But campaigner Steve McManus said people living nearby were worried about smells and noises from 'a major blot on the landscape'."

BBC: "The time when sweets were strictly rationed"

"The sweet-toothed British public were so keen to taste sugary treats when seven years of sweet rationing ended briefly in 1949 that the government quickly had to reintroduce restrictions for another three-and-a-half years because there was such demand."

"Here - as IWM North and Horrible Histories open a new 'Big Picture Show' to celebrate the 60th anniversary of sugar and sweets finally coming off the ration - take a nostalgic look back at how food restrictions affected lives, during and after WWII."

Link to web site

MindBodyGreen: "How Much Do We Really Recycle? (Infographic)"

Link to web site

"How the Coronation kick-started the love of television"

Link to the
British Broadcasting Corporation

"Television in the early 50s was basic and still waiting to take off. How did the coronation turn it into the mass medium that shaped our lives?

"It was the first event to rattle radio's cage.

"The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953 is said to have been watched by more people on television than heard it on 'the wireless'.

"In the UK, nearly eight million people tuned in at home, while 10 million crowded into other people's houses to watch. There were a further 1.5 million viewers in cinemas, halls and pubs."

The Guardian: "It's time to stop investing in the fossil fuel industry"

"It makes no sense to pay for one's pension by investing in companies that make sure we won't have a planet to retire on"

Link to web site

"Here’s the maths: almost every country on earth, including Australia, has signed on to the idea that we shouldn’t raise the planet’s temperature more than two degrees – that was the only tangible outcome of the otherwise pointless Copenhagen conference on climate change in 2009. 

"The one degree we've raised so far has already melted the Arctic, not to mention laid the ground for Australia’s "angry summer". As such, two degrees is too high but it’s the only red line the planet’s governments have ever agreed to.

"We know roughly how much more carbon we can emit before we go past two degrees: about 500 billion tons. And at current rates of emissions, that will take us less than 40 years. But the math gets really impossible when you consider how much carbon the world’s coal, oil and gas industries already have in their reserves.

"That number is about 2,800 gigatons – five times what the most conservative governments and scientists on earth say would be safe to burn."

Phys.org: "Dire outlook despite global warming 'pause': study"

Link to web site

"A global warming 'pause' over the past decade may invalidate the harshest climate change predictions for the next 50 to 100 years, a study said Sunday—though levels remain in the danger zone.

"Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, an international team of climate scientists said a slower rate of warming increase observed from 2000 to 2009 suggested a 'lower range of values' to be taken into account by policy makers.

"While the last decade was the hottest since records began in 1880, the rate of increase showed a stabilisation despite ever-rising levels of Earth-warming greenhouse gases in the atmosphere."

Sat 8 June: Campaign Against Climate Change

(Details)

North London Waste Authority: "Statement on tree management work at Pinkham Way"

May 29, 2013

"Some residents have expressed an interest in tree management work that NLWA is proposing for the Pinkham Way site. NLWA can confirm that it has submitted an application to London Borough of Haringey (LBH), as the local planning authority, to carry out tree management work on the site. NLWA has applied to carry out this work in order to ensure that, in the case of some potentially dangerous trees, the site and site boundaries are safe for local people.

"The work proposed is required to make the site and boundaries safe, and also includes works to maintain other non-dangerous trees on the site, ensuring that they remain as healthy as possible. The work NLWA is proposing takes account of the recommendations of LBH’s tree officer, and the recommendations of an independent tree survey specialist. The application is available on LBH’s website, and details what work we are proposing to carry out as well as the original proposed timetable. Any felled branches which fall within the site boundary will be left on-site so as to retain existing habitats as naturally as possible; only those branches that overhang boundary paths will be removed for public safety and to avoid obstructing the highway and/or paths.

"If the application is successful the work will be carried out in accordance with any conditions required by LBH. NLWA expects the timing of the work to take account of seasonal implications for the biodiversity on the site, such as any nesting birds and hibernating bats, as well as the requirement to ensure the public’s safety."

Pinkham Way Alliance: "NLWA - Tree Preservation Application"

"There’s an urgent and unexpected Haringey consultation that we must briefly comment on. Please respond right away if you can; we understand the deadline is 1 June 2013 [Update: now extended to 10 June] but it is not strict, and you can still respond even if you’ve missed this date.

"We’ve only recently heard about it, and are trying to find out why we found out so late. Whatever the reason, this highlights how vigilant we must all continue to be.

"It’s important that we contact Haringey in large numbers about this. If you also have time to alert your local councillors, please do so.

"The consultation concerns a planning application (HGY/2013/0847) by the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) to continue work on ‘tree preservation’ at the Pinkham Way site. If permission is granted, a large number of dead and dying trees will be removed.

"Our local wildlife and planning experts have highlighted many problems with this approach. And, of course, we must be alert to the possibility that the work is purely a way for the NLWA to diminish the conservation value of the site to make any future planning application easier.
You might want to consider some of the following:

• Current best practice in woodland management does not require that dead/dying trees be removed (unless unsafe), because they provide habitat for a higher number of species than living trees. The management of Coppett’s Wood, just across the A406 from Pinkham Way, is a good example of this.
• Pinkham Way is a Site for the Importance of Nature Conservation (SINC) Grade 1, one of only a handful in Haringey. Given this designation, the council’s current responsibility is to preserve the site’s biodiversity, and not to allow its reduction in the way that this application would entail. Even more so in the light of the State of Nature report just published (22/05/13).
• A planning inspector has recently advised that Haringey need to carry out a full ecological study of the Pinkham Way site before making further planning decisions about what to do with it. Haringey have already pledged, in a form of words agreed with the Pinkham Way Alliance (PWA) at the full council meeting on 18 March 2013, to do as instructed by the inspector.
• Given the amount of controversy surrounding the Pinkham Way site these past two years, and ongoing, it is surely beneficial for all parties to wait until after a full study of the site has been carried out.
• There is recent evidence that bats forage and roost at the site. This whole issue is subject to strict legal control, and yet it is not covered at all in the NLWA application, which should be turned down as a result. For more on the importance of bats, please see the response of local wildlife expert Ollie Natelson (below).
• It is not yet clear that notification about this consultation (NLWA planning application for tree preservation) was properly circulated to all interested parties.
• In light of the controversial nature of the application, please suggest that the matter should be referred to the Planning Committee

"For all documentation, and to submit a response, visit the Haringey Planning Applications page and click the button that says ‘Comment on Application’. Enter your details in the pop up box.

"NB: If it correctly summarises your viewpoint, don’t forget to select the option that says "Inform the Authority that you object to the Planning Application."

"Please do so as soon as you can."

Pinkham Way: Bat report

Mon 20 May: 'Trashed' film, plus Q&A with Director Candida Brady and Waste Watch

Link to The Ritzy Cinema, Brixton

"Join us for a Q&A after the screening with director Candida Brady and Tim Burns from Waste Watch. Screening supported by Waste Watch (part of Keep Britain Tidy).

"In something of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH for global litter louts, British documentary-maker Candida Brady has recruited Jeremy Irons to front a powerful denunciation of waste management and its malign consequences for our environment and health.

"From a Mediterranean ecosystem irrevocably damaged by a Lebanese landfill that grows by 80 tonnes a day, to the French town with dioxin levels 13,000 times the allowable maxima, Brady briskly provides ample evidence of the scandal and its international scale, also exposing the industrial lobbying that persuades governments – including ours – to ignore it.

"With his silky baritone and commanding on-screen presence, Irons is a persuasive advocate for the cause – indeed, he’s listed as co-producer – and the last section of TRASHED judiciously offers some hope by detailing solutions that can and must be implemented."

Link to:
"Jeremy Irons talks trash for his new environmental documentary"

"Why Green Roofs Don't Work - and How to Fix Them"

Link to Scientific American

"Researchers are trying to identify the best plant species suitable to green roofs, with an eye to designing ones that fulfill their promise. 

"A 2007 study in the journal BioScience found that green roofs can potentially help manage stormwater runoff, reduce urban heat-island effects and regulate building temperature. To deliver these benefits, rooftop vegetation has to be able to survive the high winds, prolonged UV radiation and unpredictable fluctuations in water availability.

"To resist these harsh environments, a majority of green roofs are planted with sedum, a non-native species that can survive wind and long periods withoutrainfall.

"A roof planted with sedum, however, is no greener, from the standpoint of sustainability, than is ordinary tar or asphalt."

Sun 19 May: PWA Cafe Cabaret

London in Colour film, 1927

London in 1927 from Tim Sparke on Vimeo.

The Independent: "First Poundbury, now Bahrain: Should Prince Charles really be selling town planning to despots?"

Link to web site

"For much of the world, Bahrain is notable for unpalatable reasons related to its repression of democracy protests. For the Prince of Wales, the Gulf state is of more interest – it is claimed – as a business opportunity for the charity set up to expound his ideas on town planning.

"The Prince’s Foundation for Building Community has signed a £700,000 agreement with the Bahraini government to advise on a sustainable-housing development inspired by Charles’s Poundbury village in Dorset.

"The deal, announced a week after the Prince, inset, hosted Bahrain’s Minister of Housing at Clarence House, was sharply criticised by campaigners who said it deflected attention from human-rights abuses in the Gulf state perpetuated during bloody protests for reform in 2011."

Crossrail Two consultation starts: but it reaches Alexandra Palace, either way!

Not to mention:

Transport for London
Consultation opens on proposed routes for Crossrail 2

"The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said:

'Crossrail is set to revolutionise travel in the Capital, and with a predicted 10 million people expected to be living in London by 2031, pressing ahead with the next stage of the plan, Crossrail 2, is quite simply essential.

In order to support this great Capital's bright future, we need to think ahead and not wait until our transport arteries are clogged up and restricting jobs and growth.

That's why I am sending out a rallying cry for the public's support for this consultation - come and share your views so we can progress with Crossrail 2 as soon as possible."

"The consultation will seek the views of people in London and the southeast of England, and will run from 14 May to 2 August 2013."

Link to consultation web site

WRAP: "New phase of Courtauld Commitment targets a further 1.1 million tonnes waste reduction"

Link to web site

"Courtauld Commitment Phase 3 targets are:

• Reduce household food and drink waste by 5% (this represents a 9% reduction in real terms, to counter the expected increase in food purchased)
• Reduce traditional grocery ingredient, product and packaging waste, in the grocery supply chain, by 3% (signatories will have to make an 8% reduction in real terms, to counter the expected increase in production and sales)
• Improve packaging design through the supply chain, to maximise recycled content as appropriate, improve recyclability, and deliver product protection to reduce food waste, while ensuring there is no increase in the carbon impact of packaging (signatories will have to make a 3% reduction in real terms to counter the expected sales increase).

"The agreement is funded by Westminster, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Governments and delivered by WRAP. It runs for three years from 2013 to 2015, with targets measured against a 2012 baseline."

Alexandra Palace secures Heritage Lottery Fund Support

Link to Alex Palace web site

"Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust’s multimillion pound regeneration programme has been backed by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) who have supported the further development of the Trust’s £16.8m lottery funding application.

"The HLF Board of Trustees were unanimous in their decision to award the ‘People’s Palace’ development phase funding ... to develop the project’s designs and business plan to deliver the maximum sustainable long-term benefit for the Palace, its visitors and local communities.

"At the conclusion of this development phase, a further application will be submitted to the HLF for the remaining funding towards the required construction works.

"Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive for Alexandra Park and Palace, said:

“The HLF announcement marks a significant moment in the future of Alexandra Palace. Finally we can plan with confidence to bring back to life the glorious Victorian Theatre and the historic BBC Television studios. The ‘People’s Palace’ in its entirety can now become a reality, and we are thrilled that the HLF have endorsed our plans for its future in this way.”

"The HLF funding will contribute the major part of a £23.9m project which will transform the eastern end of the Palace, making accessible to the public the most historically significant – yet currently derelict and inaccessible – parts of the building."

BBC: "London landfill waste to be burnt near Bristol"

Link to web site

"Landfill waste from six west London boroughs could be burnt near Bristol by the end of 2016.

"Sita UK will build an incinerator at Severnside in the autumn with money from a 25-year contract to burn 300,000 tonnes of London waste a year.

"... The waste will come from Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames."

"Barnet ex-Mayor Brian Coleman: The end of the line - A trial in Metroland"

Gaily into Ruislip Gardens

Runs the red electric train,

With a thousand Ta’s and Pardon’s

Daintily alights Elaine ...

Link to Mrs Angry's 'Broken Barnet'

"Although seen from a distance, the film [of the crime] was compelling viewing. We all sat in silence, watching the figure of Brian Coleman approach the cash machine, Helen Michael come out of her cafe and film him from a distance, and then, the lunge he made at her, at some speed, and the prolonged tussle, or rather attack, which ensued. 

"People in the public gallery gasped. Monster! yelled one woman. It was truly a shocking sight.

"... In mitigation, it was stated that Coleman was of previously good character. This was met with some derision from the public gallery. He had devoted his life, we were told, to public service. You can imagine the reaction to that. The judge asked drily:

"Do I gather that the people in the public gallery are not supporters?"

"There was, as you might expect, a certain amount of enthusiastic response to that suggestion."

Let's Recycle: "SITA confirmed for £900m West London contract"

Link to web site

"SITA UK has been formally named as the preferred bidder for the £900 million, 25-year residual waste treatment contract for the West London Waste Authority (WLWA).

"... The contract covers all aspects of treatment including any necessary transport, the operation of transfer stations, and contracts for outputs such as energy and refuse-derived fuel for the West London boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond-upon-Thames. It will involve handling up to 300,000 tonnes of waste from households per year.

"SITA will take over the operation of two rail-linked waste transfer stations in West London, via which waste collected from more than 1.4 million residents in the boroughs will be transported by rail to a new energy from waste (EfW) facility in Severnside, South Gloucestershire."

Evening Standard: "French-owned Sita UK poised to land £900m waste deal"

Link to web site

"French-owned utility firm Sita UK is set to take over the disposal of rubbish in west London, in a £900 million scheme that will mean 300,000 tonnes of trash a year are no longer sent to landfill.

"Sita UK, part of Suez Environnement, is leading a consortium that plans to collect the waste from six boroughs and burn it in a new purpose-built electricity plant in Gloucestershire.

"The six councils — Richmond-upon-Thames, Ealing, Brent, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow — are responsible for collecting rubbish from 1.4 million people, living in 600,000 households.

"At present, the boroughs send waste that cannot be recycled to four landfill sites in Abingdon, Bicester, Calvert and Bletchley."

The Guardian: "What links the MMR scare and austerity?"

Link to web site

"Dodgy research pushed by publicity-happy academics. False claims burnished into golden truths by irresponsible newspapers, apparently trying their hardest to manufacture a panic. Finally, the repercussions: bad decisions and, years later, huge worries about the harm posed to the public.

"I'm describing the MMR scandal, the story of how one paper published in a top medical journal prompted a mass scare about a possible link between the triple jab and autism, and led to around one million children being deprived of full vaccinations against measles, mumps and rubella. It's been in the news again this week, following a measles outbreak in Swansea affecting 900 people, and worries that London may be next.

"Yet listening to the radio discussions, a feeling nagged at me. Didn't this saga, with its origins going back more than a decade, sound similar to a more recent episode in a different field – the economics of austerity?"

North London Waste Plan: The Empire Strikes Back

Preparation of local plan for waste in North London

"The London Boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest are proposing to prepare a new local plan for waste in their boroughs to take the place of the non-adopted North London Waste Plan (NLWP). This is the start of the process to prepare the new Plan and the boroughs are inviting you to make representations about what it should contain.

"After the boroughs had submitted the previous waste plan for examination, the Planning Inspector decided that it failed to meet the Duty to Co-operate and the boroughs have therefore agreed to start again as is required by law. When the boroughs submitted the NLWP, they believed it to be 'sound' – that is, in accordance with the relevant tests. 

"The Inspector halted the examination and never went on to consider issues of soundness at the examination. The boroughs therefore consider that the information generated through the preparation of the submission NLWP is a useful starting point from which to develop the new plan. 

"Representations made throughout the preparation of the NLWP will also help inform the work on the new plan. All previous stages of the NLWP are still available to view at www.nlwp.net.

"Evidence will be reviewed and updated and account taken of changing circumstances as the plan evolves. The boroughs propose to re-consider information on the amount of waste requiring management in North London and the extent to which it can be managed by the current facilities as well as to identify specific new sites which have potential for waste facilities to manage any shortfall in provision.

"The plan is intended to provide a framework for planning decisions relating to waste facilities and so will contain policies to be used when the boroughs assess planning applications for such facilities.
"We are inviting you to make representations on any matter relating to the new local plan for waste. Your comments are particularly invited on the following matters:

1. The content of the local waste plan: Please let us know what you think the new local plan should contain. Do you think any content was missing from the submission NLWP?
2. The need for new waste facilities: Do you have views on the need for waste facilities in North London to deal with the waste likely to be generated in the next ten to fifteen years? If so, what types and size of facility might be needed?
3. The characteristics of a site suitable for waste use: If sites for new waste facilities are required, what type of site should be chosen? What criteria should the boroughs use to select waste sites? Do you think that the site criteria and assessment method in the submission NLWP are a useful starting point? Can they be improved upon?
4. Proposals for waste sites: Do you have any new suggestions on sites or areas in North London that might be suitable for future use for waste management?
5. Policies: Do you have any suggestions for planning policies to ensure that waste developments are suitable in terms of location, environmental impact and any other important consideration? Do you think the policies in the NLWP are a useful starting point? Can they be improved upon?

"To respond, please visit the ‘Have Your Say’ section of the NLWP website and use the special link. Or you can send your comments to feedback@nlwp.net. If possible please return your comments in MS-Word format. If necessary your comments can be posted to:

Archie Onslow

North London Waste Plan

Camden Town Hall

Argyle Street WC1H 8EQ

"Please send your comments by 7 June 2013. Comments received after that date may be fed into later revisions of the waste plan."

Meetings with interested groups

"If you belong to a group and would like to meet staff to discuss these or any other points about the new local plan for waste in North London please get in touch (see details below)."

What happens next?

"The boroughs will use these initial comments to help draw up a draft new waste local plan that they expect to produce in 2014. There will be further consultation at this stage and subsequent opportunities to give comments on the new plan."

Contact details

feedback@nlwp.net

For more information phone 020 7974 5916

Further clarification was sought from the NLWP...

"Is the NLWP totally abandoning all findings that it used about 'new' sites in the last NLWP plan, including their scoring and the methodology behind the scoring? (That does not, of course, stop you from reconsidering the same sites, among perhaps many others.)

"It is true the Inspector did not rule on the credibility of your site examinations last time, but that is only because he threw out the plan higher up his agenda. If any aspect of the previous data is to be reused (other than perhaps the sites' physical locations), what data is that, please?"

And the NLWP replied...

"The boroughs are proposing to use the same overall approach to planning for waste in the new plan, but all elements of that approach will be reconsidered. As a result, no part of the old plan will be moved straight into the new plan without reassessment.

"As we said (above) the boroughs are reviewing and updating the data, to assess the waste management requirement in north London. We received a lot of comments on the criteria used, so we will be:

• reconsidering the list of criteria,
• how we measure the criteria, and
• how any use of the criteria will be scored.

"Depending on the waste management requirement, we may well be assembling a new list of sites. Some of the old ones may need to drop out because they have been developed. Others, new to the NLWP, may be nominated or become available.

"This approach is partly reflected in the preliminary questions we are asking people at this stage of the process. Question 2 (above) relates to waste data and need; Question 3 asks about criteria, and Question 4 asks about sites. We are also inviting representations on any matter relating to the new local plan for waste."

Barnet Times: Pinkham Way is for recycling - and to help out poor old Barnet Council

Barnet Labour: "NLWA Inter-Authority Agreement: an outdated plan with wrong assumptions"

"At the Council Meeting at Hendon Town Hall on Tuesday 16th April, Coppetts Labour Councillor Pauline Coakley-Webb submitted a motion, insisting Barnet did not sign up to the Inter-Authority Agreement, which would tie Barnet to an outdated plan, with wrong assumptions about waste and recycling and a poor financial model."

Council: Tuesday, 16 April 2013
Non-Executive Business Item:

Councillor Pauline Coakley Webb

NLWA Inter-Authority Agreement

Council is concerned that despite the delay to the North London Waste Plan (NLWP) proceedings, Pinkham Way will once again resurface as a site for a waste treatment plant and depot.

Council notes the overwhelming opposition to this from local residents in the area because of the concerns about environmental pollution, as well as noise and traffic nuisance.

Council calls on Cabinet not to sign the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) Inter-Authority Agreement until a proper, open and thorough reassessment of the business plan is done by all co
uncils involved.

You can read Pauline’s speech here:

"Any councillor not aware of the complex timeline of events that has led to the fiasco of Pinkham Way should have by now read, and digested, the eloquently-presented timeline of events, sent to every councillor by a member of the 'Pinkham Way Alliance'.

The flaws, the secrecy, and the way in which this scandal came about goes back to 2007, with the launch of the North London Waste Plan [NLWP].

The lack of information to ward councillors and residents has, not surprisingly, led to a major campaign across three boroughs, all united in their objection to a waste plant on this site.

And one has to wonder how far back this proposal goes, as it is abundantly clear that had Barnet cabinet in July 2009 not approved the sale of Pinkham Way to the North London Waste authority, the rest would be history.

It should also be noted that cabinet made this decision three months before the the publication of the NLWP Preferred Options report - the time when, for the first time, the public would be made aware of the proposed plans for a waste management site.

But is wasn’t until February 2011 that the transaction was finalised, even though it had been agreed 14 months earlier. And the explanation of how we were all kept in the dark was down to a secrecy clause, stating:

“The parties will keep in confidence the full details of this agreement, and the fact that there are, or have been, discussions between parties, concerning the sale of the property.”

So we are back to, I’m guessing, commercial confidentiality as the answer for everything, and the reason that when all sorts of deals are done with private contractors , both councillors and residents are kept in the dark.

Was Barnet offering the sole solution for a waste treatment site? Certainly Barnet had a lot to gain in money from the sale of most the land, all within the Haringey border.

November 2009 saw North London waste authority privately informing Haringey that it would be submitting a joint planning application for Pinkham way with Barnet . This being because Barnet had plans to move its depot for the fleet of refuse collection vehicles to move there,  as their current home in Mill Hill is limited, by plans for future development of their current site.

All this was taking place on the back of Pinkham Way appearing in an interim North London Waste Plan report dated October 2009, under 'Preferred Options'.

It is only the tenacity of the Pinkham Way Alliance and information obtained under Freedom of Information which has exposed that just a few months before, in February 2009, an evaluation by Mouchel scored Pinkham Way at 63 points, ranking it 54th out of 64.

Fast forward to March 2009, and Pinkham Way had been reassessed with 99 points, and now appeared in the top ten of preferred sites.

In December 2009, the North London Waste Authority bought the site from Barnet .

All this without residents being aware of what was being planned. [There was] no mention, that I can remember, in the 2010 council election literature, that this administration was knowingly selling land which might end up housing one of the largest waste plants in Europe!

'Economical with the truth' was more the mode of operation.

And still the fight is not over, because now NLWA owns the land it is still being quoted as the North London Waste Authority’s first choice for handling some of North London’s waste.

Mr Mayor, we are calling in this motion for the cabinet to not sign the North London Waste Authority agreement, until a proper, open and thorough reassessment of the business plan is done by all councils involved.

I note that Cllr Cohen in his amendment agrees in part, but simply asks that any plan be robust and does not put this borough at any risk

One might ask just what risks does he see as acceptable, and who will decide what are acceptable risks .

Even though this fiasco started before the current cabinet member's term of office, he has to recognise that the secrecy around the sale of the site does not endear the public to have any confidence in this administration, deciding what is or isn’t an acceptable risk .

A reassessment of the business plan by all council involved must take place. It has to be thoroughly open, transparent, and open to scrutiny. It must take evidence from the Pinkham Way Alliance before any decision.Is made, and councillors must be kept informed and consulted before any decisions are made."

Islington Tribune: "Campaigners bid to stop Pinkham Way nature area"

Link to web site

"THE North London Waste Authority (NLWA), which spent £12million of taxpayers’ cash in a secret land deal, could find its plans scuppered after residents applied to turn the area into a village green.

"The Tribune can reveal how the secretive authority’s decision-makers gambled council taxpayers’ cash on a doomed scheme to build a waste treatment plant on a nature reserve in Haringey.

"The authority is funded by seven north London boroughs, including Islington, which hands over £5m every year."

Margaret Thatcher Funeral: A NATION MOURNS

Groundswell of Grief Grips Nation, as Thatcher Funeral Reaches Climax

"Metal body parts from dead bodies being recycled as plane engines"

Link to AOL news

"A Dutch company is behind a scheme that is seeing metal body parts from dead bodies come back to life - as plane engines and road signs.

"OrthoMetals came up with the idea of recycling everything from steel hips to plates and screws from legs and skulls and selling them for use in the aviation and car industries.

"The company says that around half of Britain's 260 crematoriums have signed up to the scheme, which is generating 75 tonnes of metal a year."

"Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'worse than fossil fuels'"

Link to BBC web site

"The UK's 'irrational' use of biofuels will cost motorists around £460 million over the next 12 months, a think tank says.

"A report by Chatham House says the growing reliance on sustainable liquid fuels will also increase food prices.

"The author says that biodiesel made from vegetable oil was worse for the climate than fossil fuels."

"Meeting on future of fire service in Barnet, Enfield and Haringey"

Link to web site

"The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority is consulting on the fifth draft of its London Safety Plan.

"The meeting will now take place at the Grand Palace Banqueting Suite, in High Road, Wood Green, from 7pm on Thursday April 18, instead of the Haringey Borough Council Civic Centre."

High Street Parking: Problem solved

[Reposted] Sun 14 April: Pinkham Way Alliance: Galitzin Chamber Ensemble

Barnet Times

"The stories behind Britain's most beloved buildings – audio slideshow"

Link to The Guardian

"We have a natural curiosity about our favourite buildings. Using stunning vintage images, Colin Philpott explains the remarkable histories of beloved British spaces – from the Haçienda and Free Trade Hall in Manchester, to the Southbank in London, and Cardington hangars in Bedfordshire, known for airships and film sets."

The Guardian: "London's cooking waste to fuel power station"

Link to web site

"Cooking waste from thousands of London restaurants and food companies is to help run what is claimed to be the world's biggest fat-fuelled power station.

"The energy generated from the grease, oil and fat that clogs the capital's sewers will also be channelled to help run a major sewage works and a desalination plant, as well as supplying the National Grid, under plans announced by Thames Water and utility company 2OC."

SciAm: "New Method Proves — Again — Climate Change Is Real"

Link to Scientific American

"In August 2012, John Christy, a climate scientist from the University of Alabama, Huntsville, testified to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that the Earth is not warming.

"In part, Christy's testimony, a controversial one, was based on what he described as a problem with how surface temperatures are measured and averaged.

"Climate scientist Gilbert Compo's response to that was: Well, I'll measure those temperatures differently.

"So he set out to use an entirely different method to determine if the Earth's surface temperature had increased 1.2 degrees Celsius since preindustrial times.

"The answer: Undeniably yes."

"Carbon Capture and Storage – Quite Possibly The Last Chance Before Runaway Climate Change Becomes Unavoidable"

Link to 'The Wasters Blog'

"Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is the only technology proposed at present that could enable emissions mitigation with continued use of fossil fuels, so why is it taking so long for it to be developed?

"Man generated energy-related CO2 emissions are higher than ever and further emissions increase seems inevitable. The rapid application of carbon capture and storage is a much heralded means to tackle emissions from both existing and future sources.

"In the minds of many it has been seen as a possible escape route for planet earth, allowing us additional time to move to renewable energy sources while the remaining usable fossil energy reserve is consumed.

"However, despite extensive and successful research and development, progress in deploying carbon capture and storage has stalled. No fossil-fuel power plants, the greatest source of CO2 emissions, are using carbon capture and storage, and publicly supported demonstration programmes are struggling to deliver actual projects.

"Yet, carbon capture and storage remains a core component of national and global emissions-reduction scenarios.

Barnet Times: "North London Waste Authority urges people to recycle as landfill tax increases"

Link to web site

"With landfill tax on the rise, North London Waste Authority is urging people in Barnet to recycle more and save money.

"From April 1 the tax on sending a tonne of waste to landfill went up from £64 to £72.

"As a result, the waste authority, which disposes of waste produced by the 1.7 million residents of north London, wants people to increase the amount of refuse they recycle, from 30 per cent to 50 per cent by 2020. [But possibly not more that that, because it might result in penalty clauses in 25-year procurement contracts.]

1992: Peter Lilley's Little List

"The Daily Mail front page you will never see"

(Link above to 'Mark Thompson's blog')