Crossrail 2, to Alexandra Palace station: Transport for London speaks at last

"We are now able to update you on the consultation results and let you know that the consultation results report is now available online at www.crossrail2.co.uk

"We are now working through the suggestions and comments made during the consultation. We hope to be able to publish our response to issues raised in the early spring 2014.

"There were a total of 13,933 replies to the recent consultation:

• 13,767 were from the public, and
• 166 from stakeholders."

Public responses to the consultation

"Of the 13,767 replies received, 96% of the public respondents strongly support or support the principle of Crossrail 2. Only 2% oppose or strongly oppose the principle. 

"Support is high for both route options, but it is the Regional option which has the greatest overall level of support, with 84% total support, against 73% total support for the Metro option. Many of the responses received, requested specific destination to be served.
Stakeholder Responses to the consultation

"Of the 166 stakeholder replies received, 86% strongly support or support the principle of Crossrail 2. Only 3% oppose or strongly oppose the principle.

"The Regional option has strong support from stakeholders, with 75% strongly supporting or supporting this option, as opposed to just 36% who strongly supported/supported the Metro option. Only 6% of stakeholders opposed or strongly opposed the Regional option. 16% of stakeholders strongly opposed or opposed the Metro option.

"As with public responses, a number of specific destinations were requested to be served.

"We are now working through the suggestions and comments made during the consultation. We hope to be able to publish our response to issues raised by spring 2014.

"If you have any questions regarding the project or the consultation, please email crossrail2@tfl.gov.uk

"We look forward to updating you on the progress of the project in spring next year 2014."

Video: Voting YES to a new London waste incinerator

"Councillor Fenwick's compelling argument on why pollution is good for us. Whilst the audio is taken from the Planning Committee meeting where the South London Incinerator was agreed, please note this is an artistic interpretation of Cllr Fenwick, and not actual footage of the evening."

The Independent: "Stand by for a world energy crisis"

Link to web site

"Jeremy Leggett couldn’t have chosen a better time to warn that we are heading for a world energy crisis so ghastly that the Great Financial Crash will look like a storm in a teacup.

"The 'Big Six' energy companies are in the dock squabbling over rising charges, the politicians are electioneering with dodgy promises to reduce prices, while a horrifying number of people say they will choose between heating and eating this winter.

"If Mr Leggett is right, it’s not only candles and jumpers we will need, but our own generators as well."

"What happens at the recycling centre? (MRF)"

BBC: "Ozone chemicals ban linked to global warming 'pause'"

Link to web site

"A new study suggests that the ban on ozone depleting chemicals may have also impacted the rise in global temperatures.

"CFC gases were responsible for a massive hole in the ozone layer, but they also had a powerful greenhouse effect.

"The authors link a ban on their use to a 'pause' or slowdown in temperature increases since the mid 1990s."

FastCoexist: "By 2100, We'll Be Living In A World Of Garbage"

Link to web site

"People are moving to cities, and people are getting richer. Rich people in cities are incredibly wasteful. In 100 years, the world may be generating four times as much garbage as it does now - unless we act to put a price on thoughtless disposal.

"We have a garbage problem. Not just here in the United States, where the average person throws away their body weight every month - but increasingly around the world as well. Growing prosperity and urbanization are leading to a big surge in the waste mountain. And, a new analysis suggests the problem is likely to keep growing this century, unless there's serious change.

Global waste has bulged 10-fold in the last century. And by 2025, it's set to double from where it is today, according to a study in the journal Nature. The chief reason: newly rich cities of the developing world. Dumps like Laogang in Shanghai and Jardim Gramacho in Rio de Janeiro are already overflowing. China's solid waste is set to grow from about 573,000 tons a day in 2005 to 1.5 million tons in 2025."

BBC: "Don't Panic - The Truth About Population"

Stick it up 'im, to link to web site

"Using state-of-the-art 3D graphics and the timing of a stand-up comedian, world-famous statistician Professor Hans Rosling presents a spectacular portrait of our rapidly changing world. 

"With seven billion people already on our planet, we often look to the future with dread, but Rosling's message is surprisingly upbeat. Almost unnoticed, we have actually begun to conquer the problems of rapid population growth and extreme poverty.

"Across the world, even in countries like Bangladesh, families of just two children are now the norm - meaning that within a few generations, the population explosion will be over. A smaller proportion of people now live in extreme poverty than ever before in human history and the United Nations has set a target of eradicating it altogether within a few decades.

"In this as-live studio event, Rosling presents a statistical tour-de-force, including his 'ignorance survey', which demonstrates how British university graduates would be outperformed by chimpanzees in a test of knowledge about developing countries."

"This year, I will wear a poppy for the last time"

"I will remember friends and comrades in private next year, as the solemnity of remembrance has been twisted into a justification for conflict"

Link to The Guardian

"Over the last 10 years the sepia tone of November has become blood-soaked with paper poppies festooning the lapels of our politicians, newsreaders and business leaders. The most fortunate in our society have turned the solemnity of remembrance for fallen soldiers in ancient wars into a justification for our most recent armed conflicts.

"... I am afraid it will be the last time that I will bear witness to those soldiers, airmen and sailors who are no more, at my local cenotaph. From now on, I will lament their passing in private because my despair is for those who live in this present world.

"I will no longer allow my obligation as a veteran to remember those who died in the great wars to be co-opted by current or former politicians to justify our folly in Iraq, our morally dubious war on terror and our elimination of one's right to privacy."

Rail News: "New East Coast route could be HS2 alternative" (Tunnel from Alexandra Palace?)

Chuff-chuff to the web site

"NETWORK RAIL has warned that upgrading the London end of the East Coast Main Line as part of an alternative to HS2 could cause as much disruption as building the High Speed line itself.

"Even then, a programme of work to improve network capacity could take 14 years, need 2,770 weekend possessions and disrupt main line services north from London Euston, St Pancras International and King’s Cross. The cost is also estimated at £20 billion – more than the base cost of Phase 1 of HS2."

Sky: "Food Waste: Six Meals A Week Thrown Away"

"The average UK household throws away the equivalent of six meals every week, costing almost £60 a month, a study has found.

"The waste costs £12.5bn a year despite a significant drive to reduce the problem, a report by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) said.

"The equivalent of 24 million slices of bread, 5.8 million potatoes and 5.9 million glasses of milk are thrown away every day, while 86 million whole chickens are discarded every year."

"Conservative MP Angie Bray supports Brent's concern over Harlesden/Acton waste incinerator" (and a copy of a planned incinerator in Barnet, at Brent Cross)

Source: 'Wembley Matters'

Angie Bray, Conservative MP for Ealing Central and Acton, has spoken out against the proposed 'Harlesden/Acton Waste Incinerator' LINK

Following the deferral of the item which was due to be discussed in about an hour at Ealing Planning Committee she publishes the speech she had prepared to deliver:

"I have been keeping a concerned eye on some of the pollution issues affecting the different parts of Acton for some time. These include the pollution generated by the Horn Lane site, the problems emanating from the Powerday site and the natural concerns that local residents have around the fact that five sites have been identified for waste disposal around Park Royal.  Clean Power's application comes on top of all of this.

"My first concern was immediately created at the meeting I had with Clean Power in Parliament, when they came to brief me on their proposals. I asked whether their application was to run one of the five waste sites whose location had been identified by the Council around Park Royal, as part of the Mayor's London Waste Plan. Imagine my surprise when they clearly had no idea what I was talking about. Later it transpired that they were actually proposing to establish potentially a sixth waste site in this corner of my constituency. Obviously, no one expects that the five sites identified by the Council will all be used, but this addition to those that may be would still add substantially to the problems that would be faced by the community - not least: pollution, odours, transport congestion and noise.

"My next concern, following on from what I've just said, is that the residents' community in North Acton, who are living alongside Powerday, would, were this application to succeed, find themselves literally wedged between two major waste disposal sites. I don't think any of us would disagree that Powerday is the source of continual problems for local residents, however much the management say otherwise and indeed work to ameliorate the odours and general pollution. There have been times in particularly hot weather where residents are unable to open their windows - such is the stink caused by the site. And then of course there are rats and do I need I go on...

"So is it reasonable to expect residents to have to live with yet another waste disposal site - anaerobic digestive or otherwise - just to the other side of them?

"Obviously too there will be the nature of the waste traffic. Residents have had to get used to the traffic generated by Powerday's and the Freightliner site's existing operations, but is the Council really going to expect them now to tolerate even more waste lorry traffic that will inevitably arrive as a result of the operations by Clean Power? How much more heavy traffic is this part of North Acton able to sustain without an intolerable impact on the lives of the local residents?

"What has been striking to many of us, which I list as my third concern, is the lack of evidence that Clean Power is able to produce to demonstrate how well their operations work on other sites. Clearly, if we had been able to see happy residents close by to a Clean Power site, then that might have helped to allay fears.  But when I go on their website, all I see is a list of would-be sites, which they hope to develop in the future.  Surely the Council will require better evidence than that?

"My fifth and final question is about the choice of the site itself. As I understand it, this site is currently safeguarded for HS2.  Now I recognise that there has been much debate about HS2 - and there may have been some who thought that the cross-party support for the project was breaking down - however, last week in Parliament all parties lined up with very few dissenting members, to support the HS2 project going forward. It strikes me that this site will remain HS2's as the project is unrolled. 

"So why is Ealing Council even taking time to consider this proposal when we all know that the safeguarding by HS2 remains firmly in place, as does the project itself? As things stand, there is no site for Clean Power to develop, so can we just recognise reality and put a stop to any further blight of this kind on local residents? I notice Brent is focusing very hard on the pollution aspects of this proposal, and both Brent and Ealing pollution experts are calling for rejection of the plan.  I would like to add my voice to theirs.”

[Updated] The Twin of the Brent Cross Incinerator: To be decided on Wed 6 Nov

UPDATE FROM EALING COUNCIL:

Dear Councillors, Colleagues and Residents,

As a result of the recent changes to the HS2 proposals which included the reissuing of the Safeguarding Direction on 24 October to take into account the decision to proceed with the Northolt tunnel option the council considered it appropriate to check whether the GLAs position as set out in its Stage 1 report still stands. The council is unlikely to receive any formal confirmation of GLAs position today in time for it to be considered at tonight planning meeting. Therefore, the item has been withdrawn from the agenda and will be considered at a future meeting.

I would be grateful if you would relay this information to any interested parties.

Regards
Gordon Williams, Democratic Services
Tel: 0208 825 6058 williamsg@ealing.gov.uk

(You may need to reduce the volume at times, when information is relayed rather loudly!)

From Wembley Matters:

"On Saturday, between 250 and 300 residents and their supporters from the Labour and Green parties massed on the narrow Channel Gate Road, which is flanked by streets of terraced railway cottages near Willesden Junction, to greet councillors on the Ealing Council planning committee. [There are usually Conservative Party protesters as well, and may have been this time.]

"As we stood there, heavy trucks trundled by at regular intervals, sometimes two or three, nose to tail, making the crowd wonder just what kind of hell they will face in the future if the new plant is built, in addition to the Powerday waste facility which already causes them much suffering.

"Their message was clear - we want clean air to breathe and safe and pollution free streets for our children. The protesters were able to put their case to the councillors, and will be attending the Planning Committee at Ealing Town Hall on Wednesday 6 November, assembling outside from 6.30pm. The application will be first on the agenda at 7pm."