Stop Nuneaton train rip-off

I am shocked at the cost of an off peak return to Birmingham which is just 10p less that a peak ticket. Looking at fares from other towns in the Midlands to Birmingham shows we are getting ripped off big time.

I have started a facebook page to get something done. It seems the richer parts of Warwickshire pay less to use trains than we do in Nuneaton. Please join the facebook page to show your support.

The rip off to Telford is even bigger with a off-peak return costing £16 compared to £10.40 from Bedworth or Coventry. In fact the cheapest legal way to telford seems to be to get a return to bedworth and then one from Bedworth to Telford (that is valid either via Nuneaton or Birmingham).

(I have also put this on the Nuneaton rail user group page

Stop crosscountry trains rip-off - Facebook page

Christmas lights on all night

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.

looking at the councils website

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.

Nuneaton council force to make waste for 32 years

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.

see full contract http://tinyurl.com/wccmou

Nuneaton FOE Christmas Drink

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.

You’ve dumped it! Victory for people power on Nuneaton contaminated waste plant issue

from Emma Ray at Nuneaton Trib

Read full story

A CONTAMINATED waste plant that was heading for Nuneaton has been sensationally dumped in a u-turn fuelled by people power.

The announcement was made at a specially convened press conference at Nuneaton’s Town Hall on Tuesday.

It was revealed that Waste Recycling Group (WRG), which owns the Judkins site, has decided not to support the application by TCSR.

That means that regardless of any planning application, they will not allow the development to go ahead on their land.

Now WRG is formulating plans with Warwickshire County Council and Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council on how the site can be developed.

The vision is for a site used for housing and light industrial business. While plans are still in the early stages, the first glimpse of Judkins’ bright new future could be seen by next spring.

PS
It seems TCSR wish to carry on with planning appliaction and the meeting around the 17th Jan could still go ahead!

The Virgin monopoly - How they can have there cake and eat it!

The backgound
The London Midlands weekend timetable is still a secret but we know Virgin is trying to restrict the London Midlands slow service. Virgin was given a Monopoly on train services between Nuneaton and Euston back in 1998. This right was called the Moderation of Competition (MoC) and was designed to stop other train firms cherry picking Virgin’s passengers. With Virgin abandoning Nuneaton for most of the day the right should be lost. Now they want to run just 6 trains per day from Nuneaton to Euston but wish to stop us having a good alternative. It seems they have monopoly rights on our train service but no obligation to run a service all day. Virgin can permit London Midlands to run Trains but can stop them being too useful.

The Virgin timetable
The changes to train services at Virgin Trains owns the rights to say who can run trains between a list of west coast stations and London. It is dropping the service at Nuneaton to just peak hours plus a few odd trains. From Nuneaton to Euston we will have 6 Virgin Trains (6:18AM, 7:07AM, 7:34AM and 8:46:AM then a 12 hour gap until the 9:03PM plus 10:17PM). From Euston we will have 7 Virgin Trains stopping at Nuneaton (departing at 5:35AM! - then 11 ½ hour gap before the 5:10PM, 6:10PM, 7:07PM, 8:07PM, 9:07PM and 10PM.)

Virgin maintains that it a right to restrict any other train operator running services between Euston and NuneatonIt will allow London Midland to fill the gap as long as it runs just 1 slow train per hour ending at the 3:46PM from Euston plus 1 extra slow train at 6:24PM .On Saturday the last slow train they are allowed to run is the 4:46PM.

On Sunday London Midland can only run 4 trains each way at least 2 hours apart. Virgin will run Trains south at 9:55AM, 10:56AM, 11:58AM, 12:31PM, 2:31PM, 10:17PM. From Euston to Nuneaton we will have 8:20AM, 9:20AM, 10:20AM then 5:05PM, 7:02PM, 8:02PM, 9:20PM, 9:50PM.
What virgin will allow
Weekday
Northbound 11 trains - One service per hour departing London Euston between 0615 and 1600, and one service between 1820 and 1919
Southbound 12 trains - One service per hour departing Northampton between 0830 and 2000
Saturday
Northbound 11 trains - One service per hour departing London Euston between 0615 and 1700
Southbound 12 trains - One service per hour departing Northampton between 0830 and 2000
Sunday
Northbound 4 trains - Two-hourly service departing London Euston between 1200 and 1900
Southbound 4 trains - Two-hourly service departing Crewe between 1200 and 1900

What is not allowed is London Midlands to run direct trains to Nuneatontrains that go past Crewe, early trains to London or Evening trains back. No other firm may run any trains from Nuneatonto any London Station

Nuneaton Council has lost £3M in Iceland.

Back in Feb I was at the cabinet meeting which was talking about waste and recycling. On the same agenda was the treasury management report. I used my opertnity to tell the council how mad it was to borrow £5M as council borrowing and then save it in savings accounts.
Now £3 million is lost in iceland.

read minutes

Last year the council borrowed £13.75M and had £8.9M of investments. They voted to borrow £5.25M more and intest it so they could make money on the difference in rates they could borrow at and get in savings rate. The rates were better as the money was at risk.