Andy D'Agorne

Compost at allotment site

It seems York's green waste collections are a victim of their own success with 40,000 tonnes of green waste being processed in a facility designed for 10,000 tonnes. A planning application was approved yesterday for 27,000sq metres of concrete to be laid in the 'Green Belt' on a farmers field, so that Yorwaste can manage the volumes of green waste collected fortnightly from City of York residents. This is in spite of the fact that there are old concrete airfields around York that stand empty waiting to be dug up or redeveloped!  There will also be a 'big beast' woodchipper machine operating all day Mon- Sat to shred wood waste that will then be mixed with road sweepings to use in land reclamation work.

 The 'very special circumstances' to justify this development in the Green Belt are the fact that it is adjacent to the landfill site where about half of the city's waste is currently buried. There were derisive comments from other councillors when I spoke and then voted against the development. I pointed out that 'very special circumstances' for developing the Green Belt have now become commonplace as the University expansion and Germany Beck housing development have both been ruled by the Minister as justifiable exceptions within the Green Belt. I said that if this was so important to be located at Harewood Whin near Rufforth the facility should be built on the reclaimed landfill, not on fresh farmland next to it. Of course it would be far cheaper and greener if the green waste was not all taken to a central facility but composted in the garden or in more local community composting sites eg local allotments.

If all else fails, pray to St Emidius, patron saint of earthquake protection

Last night we were woken to what at first I thought was an extremely strong gust of wind (it was very windy yesterday afternoon) but soon realised it was a bit more than that as the wardrobe shook and rattled and it felt like the whole room was shaking slightly. After it stopped, I said 'Ive never been in an earthquake before'. However I had to put the radio on first thing this morning to find out whether it was local to just us, our street or wider than that. It was reassuring to find out that it was an earthquake measuring 5.2 on the richter scale, not the Russian, N Koreans or Americans launching Armageddon. 

If you want to help scientific research you can log your experiences at http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/

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Posted by: andydag    in: Latest news

Checking out the stats for the blog I came across someone in London by the name of Sam Roberts who has a blog for afficionados of wall painted adverts like the Bile Beans and Stubbs signs in York. (one slight correction, I wasnt around in York in 1986 when York Arts Forum restored the Bile Beans advert.) This led me to a collection of over 3,000 pictures worldwide of such surviving wall art and a link to a You tube video clip about the work of Collossal Media in the US for Whisky company Dewars.

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bipaX8iCZRQ  . They have commissioned some new works, which are even 'aged' with sandpaper once complete to make them look like they are of older vintage. This clip demonstrates how the image was transferred to the wall in much the same way as we traced pictures as a child, using rolls of paper with the outline of the image perforated so that the chalk or powdered charcoal from the 'pouncebag'could be effect the transfer onto the wall to guide the painters. More info can be found on the US Museum of brewing website http://www.brewingmuseum.org/article07.htm or the articles on Sams blog: http://brickads.blogspot.com/2007/09/south-london-press.html

There's an interesting debate about how such signs might be protected, whether it is appropriate to allow them to be superceded by modern adverts that preserve the technique rather than the ad itself and what the legalities might be. In a case that went to the High Court, it was ruled that an old advert didnt automatically mean that planning permission was unneccessary to obscure it with a new advert! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6616745.stm

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Posted by: andydag    in: Latest news

If you have not tried Fair Trade products and think they must be less tasty, now is the time to test your prejudices, as many stores and stalls will be promoting the range of fairly traded products - for example Alligator wholefood shop on Fishergate is offering 10% off all Fair Trade products. The City of York and the University of York have 'fair trade status' while York St John is working towards it. Even Copmanthorpe is working towards 'Fair Trade Village' status! Various churches and schools will be holding their own events - to find out more visit http://www.fairtradeyork.org.uk/

On a national level, many of the national supermarkets now stock 'Fair Trade' alongside organic products, in an effort to improve their image, and Tate and Lyle have just announced that they aim to be the first big company to apply for Fair Trade accreditation for all their products. However it is even more important now to support the original 'Fair Trade' shops and producers who are seeing competition from supermarkets threaten their loyal customer base. As with the post offices, shop local or the local shop may not be there tomorrow! If you live in Fishergate, we are fortunate to still have local independent traders such as Fields Fayre 198 Fulford Rd who have just moved into the refurbished newsagents and now offers a small cafe facility as well as lunchtime sandwiches and snacks. Thanks are due to the owner, not only for providing a site for the post box when the post office closed but also for agreeing to display the recent consultation plans about bus priority and cycle measures. The outcome of the consultation is due to be reported to a council meeting in March.

Tonight has seen the first real test of how to work with a hung council as City of York attempted to set the budget. The ruling Lib Dem group presented their budget, followed by budget amendments from Labour, Conservative and Green groups, with each being voted down in turn. At 9.30 we then adjourned for the four group leaders to meet with the Chief Executive and Treasurer to negotiate a package that at least two groups might agree on. In our position as the smallest group the agenda was mostly focussed on Labour and Tory demands, but Labour were prepared to adopt most of our amendments in an attempt to take the high ground. After more conversations in groups and in corners of the Guildhall the options came down to a Tory deal with Labour or a Tory deal with the Lib Dems. The Tories chose a deal with the ruling Lib Dems giving them a comfortable 26 to 20 votes on their revised compromise amendment. When it came to the overall vote the Tories didnt want to be too close to the Lib Dems and abstained , meaning that the vote was 20:20 with the Lord Mayor (Lib Dem) using her casting vote to secure the revised budget.

Our political correspondent from the Press stayed to the bitter end, though the final vote was probably too late for the morning's paper. So how did we fair? Well the leader Steve Galloway complimented us on having good ideas 'most of which we will be doing anyway' while Labour were prepared to take most of them into the budget that they proposed, as the price for our support. We have probably secured a much stronger position from which to negotiate recycling collections from flats in our ward, something we have been pushing on for over a year now, so far without success. We demonstrated that despite our numerical limitations we are prepared to work with the other leaders to identify common ground and press for changes that we think are needed. We can certainly say we are prepared to work with the other parties, and that we opposed the cuts that the Tories will no doubt be pressing for as part of their 'sound finance' deal. We also got strong indications from Labour that they have reservations about the PFI deal for Highways Maintenance that we could be looking at going into after April. SO council tax will be going up by 4.75% BUT THE FIRE AND POLICE PRECEPT WILL NOT BE KNOWN UNTIL NEXT TUESDAY. The Tories have forced through a cut by half in the value of travel tokens for pensioners (that they can opt for instead of a bus pass)- the amount will be only £20 pa for each pensioner. Other cuts could follow once the Tory reviews that were agreed have been complete: Leisure and Culture Services, subsidised and community transport, Organisational Effectiveness Programme, and a 'review of services the council should strategically procure or 'share'. The Lib Dems have also agreed to cut 2 Executive and Shadow Executive posts.

As part of funding for our budget amendment, we have proposed that the opposition councillors should no longer get an extra allowance for being on the 'Shadow Executive' This set-up is unique to York and is supposed to reflect a 'shared responsibility' in the hung council. However in practice it is just used to lend status and influence (plus an allowance!) to the senior Labour councillors although they refused to consider taking part in a shared administration. It also means senior officers sometimes have to attend two meetings on the same item - to be questioned by the Shadow Executive before the item goes to the ruling Executive group. Agendas and minutes have to be circulated etc, yet the same item could also come to the Group Leaders meeting that includes the Labour leader and sometimes the relevant Shadow Executive member as well!

Exclusive!! Here's our statement on this, before it reaches the media:

Greens call to axe payments to Shadow Executive.

York Green councillors have demanded cuts in the budget for opposition councillors who form the Shadow Executive currently made up solely of Labour members.

The Greens endorse the view of the Independent Remuneration Panel, which reported in November that the amounts paid to the Shadow Executive in York are over-generous.  The Panel said that the additional payments of £4,200 to the seven Councillors should be cut, while most other allowances paid to Councillors needed to be higher.

Cllr. Dave Taylor said, "I don't begrudge a decent allowance to members of the ruling group who actually have responsibility for Council services, but why should the public pay for their critics who have no responsibility? Whichever party is in power, there needs to be proper scrutiny of the ruling party's decisions by ALL the political groups, particularly now York has a hung Council."

No to costly PFI deals.

The Greens also questioned the wisdom of borrowing vast amounts of money in a 25 year PFI deal to tackle the backlog of highway maintenance.  The Lib Dems' budget has earmarked £¾M next year merely to prepare specifications and contracts for the private sector deal. 

Cllr. Andy D'Agorne said, "The Greens have always opposed costly PFI partnerships with private companies to maintain our roads and build new waste treatment plants.  It's like someone going to a loan shark to help them pay off their debts.  York residents could be stuck with massive repayment costs for both Highways and Waste PFI contracts for years to come."

The Greens budget proposal would use some of the money set aside for the PFI deal to boost recycling and to cut landfill taxes imposed on the city by central government.

York Green councillors have revealed some details of their budget amendment for the council meeting on Thursday, which they say would boost sustainable travel and enhance the councils response to climate change. The Greens would reinstate the 'smart travel' budget to promote green travel options and help individuals to plan journeys. They would create a specific transport planning post of Cycling and Walking Officer with a remit to work on bids for funds such as Cycling Demonstration Town as well as taking forward the city's cycling strategy. They would establish a Cycle Forum to enable the council to take account of the views of a cross section of the city's cyclists and they would block a planned 20 - 25 % increase in the charges for child cycle training in local schools. They would also earmark funding for taking forward the recommendations of the Traffic Congestion Scrutiny report which might include modelling of congestion charging and low emission zone options for the city. They would also set aside some additional money to provide a recycling collection service from Day 1 for all newly occupied flats in the city and for partnership working with the energy efficiency office to tackle insulation needs of older privately owned properties.  

 To pay for these measures the Greens would scrap the use of recruitment consultants saving £20,000pa and gain an extra £40,000 by including residents in 10p per hour increase in parking charges at standard stay car parks (due to be raised by 20p per hour for visitors, the first increase since 2004/05) and a further £30,000 would be raised by axing the council contribution to york.england.com . However the Greens would remove the proposed 2.3% increase in respark permit charges for the first car and cut the cost of a visitors permit from £1 to 50p. They would also bring in an annual charge for councillors free parking passes, although the councillors would be able to claim an element of this back when they were using their car on council business.

The Greens support measures proposed by the ruling group to address flooding, energy efficiency in council buildings and greater recycling but oppose the plans to use PFI partnerships with the private sector to maintain the Highways and build new waste treatment plants.   Cllr Andy D'Agorne for the Greens said "The budget situation is tight and is going to get tighter once we start paying for the waste plant, but we believe these measures are essential to tackle climate change, while at the same time trying to enhance the quality of life for people living in the City of York."  

The conference was formally opened on Thursday in the grand setting of the late Victorian Old Town Hall by Rob White, target candidate in Reading, who spoke of how he'd seen the local party grow, from meetings in a members' kitchen to last year getting within 100 votes of a council seat - something that  members are working very hard to achieve this May.

The keynote speech was given by Caroline Lucas, MEP and principal speaker, who received a standing ovation for the speech in which she said: "Never has the muddy middle ground of the grey parties' policies been less up to the job." More: http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/3326.

Caroline's new website was launched with appropriate ceremony, and some very nice organic chocolate - you can find it, if not the chocolate, at http://www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/.  Many were also checking out the new website of our London mayoral candidate: http://sianformayor.org.uk/.

Derek Wall, principal speaker, used his speech to outline a vision of a Green economy, which "would be more democratic and more reliable, as well as more sustainable". More:
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/3329

The first emergency motion, passed on day one of conference, condemned the 'disgraceful' corporatisation of the NHS, citing the recent health contracts won by American health firm United Health Europe. It called on the Government to engage in proper consultation with main stakeholders in the NHS: British citizens. More: http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/3323

Among the policy motions, three were passed directing the preparation of new or substantially revised sections of the Manifesto for a Sustainable Society. Conference directed the revision of the population policy, the creation of a gender and equity policy, and work on the details of our citizens' income policy. (If you would like to join an email discussion list on any of these, please contact internalcommunications@greenparty.org.uk - input is always welcome.)

Conference also completed in large part a substantial revision of the party's energy policy, although some aspects of the proposed policy were referred back for future work.

The proposed policy linking our sustainable agriculture policies to the huge climate impact of livestock farming was passed, as was a motion backing reforms to the existing abortion law, and (with a small amendment), a policy on "justice for the Palestinians", and a policy opposing the government's decision to leave hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers without access to funds or healthcare,  or the right to work.

Among the organisational matters, a new post on the Green Party executive, of equality and diversity coordinator, was created -- the first coordinator will be elected at autumn conference - and a decision made that should a change to the constitution be considered through referendum, the result of that cannot be revisited for two years.

Further emergency motions were passed on support for efforts to oppose a third runway at Heathrow (two),  against fluoridation (two), on arts funding (http://www.greenparty.org.uk/emergencymotions/112), ownership of railway companies, on the plan to return child asylum-seekers to their country of origin, and on government attacks on unwaged people.
NB: This is a summary - more details can be found on the members' website and the national site.

(You can also read lively unofficial reports of conference at the Green Despatches blog: http://greendespatches.blogspot.com/. And a decision was made by a group of Green Party bloggers to start a Green Party home joint blog - if you are a blogger who is interested in participating, please contact jimjepps@hotmail.com.)

Next time a Lib Dem or Labour member tells you that we need 'sustainable growth' to solve the problems of the planet, take a look at this You tube clip by George Monbiot at the 2007 Climate Change march: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVzmdTeAe2A&feature=related

His basic argument is that capitalism is inherently dependent on economic growth - in the next 20 years the current trend requires a doubling of the economy - ie use of doubling the use of the global resources that have ever been used to this point in time. He states that this is the only way that the supply of money can grow without inflation. Im old enough to remember the 70's, when we bought all our non perishable groceries at the beginning of the month on pay day as they would be more expensive by the end of the month. No one wants that, but equally we dont want a return to mass unemployment or further wars to 'help stimulate the US economy'

Think about this when you plan your next spending spree - buying Fair Trade at least goes some way to helping move things in the right direction, but we also need to think about repair and reuse as an option that doesnt fuel this continuing resource depletion of the planet. Will we look back on 2007/08 as the equivalent moment in history to 1926, just before the stock market crash? Those people who have allotments/ small holding and a low carbon footprint will be in a far better position to survive than people with big mortgages and lavish lifestyles. Join a CRAG group or do something to convince your employers that it is just possible 'business as usual' might not go on the same way for much longer.

Living Streets (formerly the Pedestrian Association) have launched a campaign to support area wide 20mph zones as have proved successful in cutting child road casualties in Hull. This coincides nicely with our bid to have an area of Fishergate ward declared as the first residential 20mph zone in the city. In our 2007 local election manifesto we said we would work towards following the example of Portsmouth council in establishing 20mph as the default speed limit in residential areas. This is being done by a widespread public education exercise and rolled out area by area where it can be shown that average speeds are 24mph or less, thus avoiding the need for the use of 'humps and bumps' to enforce the speeds.

Here are some of the arguments in favour of such limits: (you can download a letter to send to your councillor from the website)

20mph in your community

The Mayor of London has announced that London boroughs can now introduce borough wide 20mph limits, without costly enforcement measures. Portsmouth is moving to a city-wide 20mph limit, and Hull's widespread 20mph areas are getting dramatic results. We think the tide is turning in the campaign for 20mph limits in residential areas. Living Streets are now calling for 20mph limits in all our residential and shopping streets across Britain, and need your help.

Living Streets are asking supporters to join the campaign for 20mph by contacting their local council, and help to reduce road casualties, encourage walking, and create a better environment for your community.  See http://www.livingstreets.org.uk/ for more details

20mph has been shown to reduce total traffic casualties by 60%, and child casualties by 70%.  Since Hull council introduced 20mph limits in residential areas, the number of serious and fatal injuries sustained in these areas has been reduced by 90%.  This alone should be reason enough for the council to follow suit in this area. But there are added benefits to capping speeds at 20mph. 

Families living by streets with high vehicle speeds live with a fear that is quickly removed as vehicles slow down, leading to more vibrant, happier communities more willing to walk and cycle around.  This shift to other forms of transport has obvious benefits for emissions, and is vital to tackle growing levels of obesity and inactivity.  It is also a popular option, with a 2006 British Social Attitudes Survey showing three quarters of people support 20mph restrictions in residential areas (including 72% of drivers).

What can be a sticking point, and is less popular, are the costly enforcement measures that have traditionally been needed to create ‘home zone' type pockets of 20mph.  Portsmouth, however, has removed that need by creating a borough wide 20mph limit (with some exceptions for major roads) using a Traffic Management Order.  The intention then is to target speed enforcement measures only where the limit is being flouted.  This is a sensible and popular option, which we urge you to consider.  Indeed, the Mayor of London recently announced that London boroughs now have the power to make 20mph the ‘default' speed across their borough, with or without enforcement measures.

What irony - residents clamouring for yellow lines in Maple Grove are told they cant have them,  those who dont want them in other streets in the ward will be objecting to them because they dont want them. In several instances the views of the ward councillor (Andy D'Agorne!) are noted but the officer still maintains their view to do the opposite: Single yellow lines on Kilburn Rd so that residents can park at a weekend when there isnt a problem? Cant do it because that would require signs to indicate the times that apply! Double yellows on Broadway opposite the bus stop to prevent the road being blocked when the bus is at the stop? No need, apparently, as it says you shouldnt park opposite a bus stop in the highway code!

 No wonder people despair of sensible decisions on traffic management for City of York Council. Watch out for a yellow notice on a lamp-post near you.. it could be your only chance to object to the latest batch of orders. For details of Fishergate ward TRO orders about to be advertised, see

http://democracy.york.gov.uk/Published/IssueDocs/8/7/9/1/I00011978/DE00001187/$OICADDecisionSheet081040208.doc.pdf

A very timely initiative by Richard Lane and Brenda Tyler to raise awareness of how a congestion charge might work for York has been largely ignored by the York Press, because it doesnt 'fit' with their 'Access York' campaign to build more roadspace in the city. The booklet puts forward the notion that London has shown how traffic can virtually 'evaporate' if good alternatives are available. Bus usage in London has increased by a third since the introduction of the congestion charge helped to clear the roadspace and subsidise the provision.

The York proposal suggests an inner and outer ring with two separate charges. I think if there was to be such a scheme it would make sense to link the charge to the park and ride fare, so that the alternatives would appear to be cheaper, (taking account of petrol) even if the driver had free workplace parking at their destination.

To view the pamphlet go to http://www.roadpricing.greenisp.org/GettingAroundp1.htm

Today I attended a meeting with our new minister for the region, who also happens to be a minister in the Department for Transport, according to the Yorkshire Post she served under 'two jags Prescott' from 1997 when he was still committed to cutting traffic. Today's meeting was arranged by Labour MP Hugh Bayley to 'brief' her on the Future York Report and more specifically the bid for regional funding for 'Access York', which might include 'dualling the ring road' as called for in the Future York report. Though much 'hyped' by the York Press that has decided to 'campaign' on this issue, the meeting was not actually to decide anything, but to 'prime' the minister in the hope that she will 'looking favourably' on York's plans if they manage to get support from the Regional Transport Board. Apart from posing for a press picture around a map of York, the meeting was more about making the right noises and stressing the great economic potential of the new brownfield sites of North West York, if only we can get the transport solutions right.

What is most of concern from the meeting was that the city's carbon footprint, climate change and sustainability were barely mentioned, and no one (not even me!) dared to mention the 'C' words - Congestion charging! To be fair, the man from Yorkshire Forward seemed keen to say that congestion has to be designed out of any new developments from the outset rather than be allowed to develop before seeking solutions. Our local transport plan (LTP2) has a strategy that involves junction improvements to the outer ring road to supposedly allow roadspace within the ring road to be given over to buses and cyclists. On that basis I support the improvements, but only if any funding can be tied more specifically and measurably to those changes nearer the city centre - if not the new roadspace will simply be like blotting paper, filling quickly with additional vehicles.

 Rather than bleating on about more lanes on the ring road (the M25 was mentioned!!) we should be developing the 'tram train' plans, bidding for a new foot/cycle bridge over the Ouse from the station direct to the Museum Gardens/ Minster area,working on a city centre free shuttle bus service funded by a congestion charge designed to discourage driving into the city centre on weekday peak times.

 I have supported the call for York to bid to be a 'Demonstration Cycle Town' focussing on possibly the Hungate area which will have the new council offices, including 300 bike parking spaces for staff. York has one of the best cycling rates in the UK but this will go into decline with the new developments unless there is a real 'step change' in cycle provision on a par with Dutch towns and cities. Becoming a 'Demonstration Town' could give the required boost that we need to follow on from the good work on safe routes to schools of the past 7 years. It was interesting to note that the minister today asked about what work was going on with major employers in the city on Green Travel plans - she didnt get a straight answer because we no longer have an officer to deal with this work (of course no one said that to her!

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Posted by: andydag    in: Latest news