nuneaton trib reports today on the council waste again. Unlike other local councils we have the Christmas lights on at 4AM! I would not like our town to be without Christmas lights but see little value in keeping them on after midnight. It seems Hinckley are able to us time-switches turn them on between 3PM and 1AM
Next year I would like to see new LED lights used and them turned off at midnight.
Replace your light bulbs with energy saving recommended ones: just one can reduce your lighting costs by up to £78 over the lifetime of the bulb - and they last up to 12 times longer than ordinary light bulbs.
The electric for street lighting is not metered but is just worked out based on data from the council. They seem to plug all sorts of things into the lamp posts in Nuneaton.
Christmas is a good time of year to think about what is important to us and the new year is the time we plan for the next year. Please watch the two cartoons below and have a less wasteful 2009.
Coventry, Warwickshire and Solihull councils are working on a new Private Finance Initiative (PFI) waste incinerator for Coventry. This will have an even bigger capacity that the existing waste burner and double the cost per tonne of waste.
The projected waste growth over the next 36 years used to justify the plant are just plane mad. With greater recycling and less packaging we need to bury or burn less waste every year.
I have just found out details of a legally binding agreement that they expect the waste collection authorities (i.e. district councils like Nuneaton & Bedworth) that will force them to produce a tonnage of residual waste each year to match the stupid projection. Worst still the energy content of the waste will have to be kept around 9MJ per Kg. These rules will stop us increasing recycling in future and may require Nuneaton to stop some of its recycling in future if the too little waste is left.
Nuneaton Friends of the Earth will be celebrating probably it most successful year ever at its monthly social meeting. The group meets at the Crown on the 4th Tuesday of each month at the Crown near the railway station from 8PM. The meeting on the 23rd of December will round up a year when we have driven the Climate Change bill though Parliament and won several local campaigns. In 2008 we have
Stopped plans for Hazardous waste plant at Judkins
Encouraged big improvements to the councils recycling including the markets cardboard
Encouraged the council improve its energy efficiency with new boilers.
Obtained the worlds first Climate change bill
Opposed the conversion of food crops into biofuels.
Opposed cut to virgin train services while supporting local services.
In 2009 we have just as much to do.
Stop plans for an even bigger waste incinerator on Coventry
Expand recycling to flats and business
Get the council to reinstate a recycling education officer
Encourage greater use of public transport and push for cheaper fares.
Monitor development plans to ensure they have green transport plans and are energy efficient.
Get people to shop local and understand the impacts of what they eat.
Please feel free to come to the pub and have a chat.
On Saturday I took part in a march against climate change in London. Its main focus was no new coal power stations and no airport expansion. As somewhere between 5,000 & 10,000 of us all were law abiding we got little media coverage. The speakers at the rally in Parliament Square said time is running out and we need action from the government instead of words. We have a climate change bill that should set the path to an 80% reduction in the UK emissions but they are planning to expand the airports and build coal power stations.
Action is needed to stop more coal burning. Please switch if you still take you electricity from PowerGen who are now owned by EON. I get my electricity from http://www.ecotricity.co.uk who are spending the most on building wind turbines.
We also need to tackle the expansion of airports. They are already short of passengers but still want more runways. This is plane stupid!
TCSR were asked if they were withdrawing the application but have not. They are pushing ahead with the planning applcation. We have to make sure they lose. The deal to do something better with the site is so far just a press release. This is going to cost us all £10,000s unless TCSR pull out. Please email andy.wheatley@tcsr-solutions.com and tell them to go away. my email is below. If they do not give in we will need to go to a public meeting around the 17th Jan and a planning meeting maybe on the 17th Feb. Thanks for all you help and do email TCSR and your councty councllors to make this a dead plan, Keith
Dear TCSR,
I hope you will consider withdrawing you planning application for part of the Judkins site now that you have little chance of building on the site. I understand that you may wish set the principle that it can get planning permission even though you have to start again at another site. I will endeavour to show that your plans are for the wrong site, wrong size and wrong technology. We have a vast number of people saying it is the wrong site. We now have plenty of data to show it is too big for the regional need. We know that only a fraction of contaminated soil needs off site thermal treatment. I am convinced that you are very unlikely to be granted planning permission for the Judkins site. Rather than waste more time and money on Nuneaton, please look for somewhere that needs a 120,000 tpa on-site thermal treatment plant.
Not only am I going to continue to object to your plans for Nuneaton but would assist objectors elsewhere if you try to target another unsuitable site on the back of a Warwickshire planning application. I can easily share what we have learned in Nuneaton via a dedicated website if needed. As part of my wider campaigning I have successfully forced the Environment Agency to withdraw a permit for a 240,000 tonne per year waste incinerator in Hull. I am currently helping campaigners across England and should not be underestimated. Call it a day and move on.
