Andy D'Agorne

A 460 mile round trip to Aldermaston, driving a minibus from York makes for a pretty shattering day, but the insanity of spending billions of pounds on developing new nuclear weapons instead of preparing to adapt to climate change demands such actions. Maybe we didnt have the bravery of the Tibetan protestors at the Olympic flame ceremony to get us onto your screens, but we were there at the base 50 years after the first march to Aldermaston. Some of the original marchers, a Hiroshima survivor, and Walter Wolfgang where there to remind us of the sacrifices that some have made to get the peace message heard. Some young people were there for the first time, the bye laws criminalising the act of attaching something to the fence were suspended for the day so that we could decorate the fence like we did in the 80's - The five gates each had a theme of a decade since 1958 and ours had an 80's theme, so some of our relic posters were copied and laminated to adorn the fence once more.

Mrs T and the miners were there too, though far more amenable and in comedy spirit than applied in the 1980s during the miners strike. I pointed out on the way down the motorway bridge that I recall being lined with police on a Monday morning on the watch for flying pickets heading north to the Sheffield pits. The boys in blue were there of course today in their 'acceptable face of the police state' mode, backed up by the 'Evidence gathering team' with their long lenses to spot any new faces for their collection of usual suspects. We were even treated to some music from the 80's protests with a reunion performance of the 'Fallout Marching Band' (not much marching these days)

Connaught Court -haven of tranquility the other side of the wall from the traffic on Fulford Rd/Main St

There's a lot happening on the planning front in York at the moment The RMBI have lodged a last minute appeal against refusal of their plans to develop the open space that separates Fulford from the rest of York. - the development of Derwenthorpe and the University are both about to start, Hungate has been underway for about 6 months (with a planning applicaton soon for the controversial design of the new council HQ), building on the Barbican site will soon start to appear, the Peashome hostel is stalled while they try to find firm ground for the foundations, Germany Beck is delayed by a last ditch bid to register a village green in the line of the access road to the site. Until this is resolved, no work can start on raising the A19 above the flood level and building the access road to serve 700 new homes, and the plan to 'hold back' congestion with bus priority measures will have to wait too. However improvements for cycling and public transport on Fulford Rd are likely to move ahead fairly quickly now that the principles have been agreed. I will be doing my best to make sure I know about the plans before the work starts and that local people do too!

A sign of approaching old age must be when your childhood is far enough in the past to warrant being recorded in a museum display. The Castle Museum in York -the first whole street reconstruction museums in this country - has just added a whole area on the 60's. Hopefully it will encourage not only an awareness of the optimism and hope for a better world of the time, but also introduce many more to the rich history contained within the rest of the museum. There is even a special website and 60's quiz http://www.thesixties.org.uk/home.html  If you are a York resident remember to take your York card to gain free admission -

We dont appreciate enough the value of the heritage that surrounds us - and some would say our planners and architects dont either! Little did I think, when I spent a whole day taking photos of York buildings in the late 70's, that one day I would be a councillor here on the planning committee, with the opportunity to make decisions on the future legacy we leave for residents and visitors alike. World Heritage Site status is being discussed, but would take many years to be approved by UNESCO. Yet it does seem strange that the most intact surviving medieval walled city in Europe and the largest Cathedral of its type is not recognised by such protection.

Today the York Press published the story about myself and the Lib Dem councillor Vassie complaining about government red tape forcing local schools to spend money unnecessarily on Energy Certificates for their building when York and other councils already have 'Display' software to calculate the data at minimal cost. However the headline writer seemed to have wanted to have an anti -EU story "EU couldnt make it up" so the opening paragraph made out that it was the EU directive we were opposed to and saying we have written 'to Parliament' to ask for an explanation of why the Government is insisting on using the the EU Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings.!! The press release that this is supposed to be based on was quite clearly a letter to our local Labour MP Hugh Bayley (not Parliament, whoever that might be!), when the article makes no mention of him.

The byline is simply 'press reporters' so it is not even clear who is to blame for this garbled piece of reporting, and the photos used are their library shots, not the one we took of ourselves next to a copy of the certificate in a council building (and sent them to use with the story).

For the record, here is the original statement, for those who are confused by today's Press garbled version:

Press Release 17/03/08  - immediate        Councillors blast £800 energy red tape  

Local MP Hugh Bayley is being asked to explain why the Government is requiring local schools and council departments to pay for expensive energy efficiency certificates that mimic a much cheaper European system which York council is already using . In a joint letter from the Liberal Democrat Cllr Christian Vassie and Green Cllr Andy D'Agorne, the councillors explain that the software produced by Energie-Cites allows the production of an 'energy certificate' for public buildings similar to the labels for household appliances.   Since 2005 an European Directive has required energy certificates to be displayed in all public buildings, as a way of encouraging councils and schools to cut their energy waste and insulate their buildings. 7500 buildings around Europe, including some schools and council buildings in York, Bristol, Coventry, Durham now have these on display, based on a common standard that allows for direct comparisons. However the UK Government has now issued regulations that City of York council says look set to result in an additional cost to each school in the region of £800 each year for the production of the certificate.
Cllr Vassie, the council's Energy Champion said " Why should local authorities, schools and others be obliged to pay what is effectively a new tax to receive a certificate they can obtain for next to nothing by other means? York, having shown leadership in implementing the EU directive while the government dithered, is now being penalised. With over 70 schools and many other public buildings, the bills could be enormous. "
 Cllr D'Agorne said " A number of York council buildings and schools piloted the implementation of the Directive. Now schools have been told it will cost around £800pa to 'certificate' a building using the government system. I think a system based on a European standard allowing low cost easy comparisons with similar sized buildings anywhere in Europe has to be better than one that is unique to the UK."   The letter to Hugh Bayley is urging him to raise the issue with the minister as a matter of urgency.  

Contact Christian on *************  or Andy on ************** 

ends.  

Note to photo desk: Attached photo of Cllr Andy D'Agorne and Cllr Christian Vassie with the Display energy certificate on display in Council offices in George Hudson St  

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Posted by: andydag    in: Latest news

Green councillors in Kirklees have secured major energy saving measures through their budget amendments - for details see http://www.youtube.com/v/gsNbcpWIZV0&hl=en 

Now here's a clever visualisation - if Carbon Dioxide was coloured purple the sky would now be a different colour- see http://www.thinkpurple.info/tpleaflet/ for a little cartoon sequence that would no doubt go down well in schools and on educational sites.

Today we walked the whole circuit around York's historic walls, with some lovely views of the Minster and the daffodills coming into flower. It something that tourists do if they have time in their busy schedule. A paper to be discussed by the council Executive on Mar 11th makes interesting reading and outlines options for the long term restoration and maintenance programme, based on a 25 year plan set out in 1991. A key issue for me is preserving the skills of those who do this work - York College is recognised as a Centre of Vocational Excellence (COVE) for Stonemasonry, supplying young people with traditional skills to work on historic buildings in York and throughout the UK. As with everything else the paper reports that the relevant council budget hasnt kept pace with inflation and so priority is given to Health and Safety and keeping the walkways open in a safe condition - but a skilled workforce is not something you can turn on and off like a tap!  

Today I was on the look out for any effects of the earthquake - fortunately the walls seem to be fairly robust and have no doubt been subject to movement over the centuries However there are some new cracks and signs of minor movement in a few places along the walls: no doubt more costs for the council can be expected.

On the way round we had chance to see the progresson the Hungate development - and the new cycle lane alongside Foss Islands Rd at the Morrisons junction. Nice as it is, I wondered why poles for the cycle /footway signs were needed when they could have been attached to the lamp posts and reduce the street clutter in the process. No sign of the promised new cycle and footbridge across the Foss as yet. We found a few cafes worth looking in on - The cafe in the Barbican above Walmgate Bar made a welcome warming up point and it seemed sad that the Phoenix pub at Fishergate Bar is all shuttered up rather than cashing with bar meals for the tourists walking past above - with a little imagination and good design the rear yard could even be adapted to have steps up to the walkway and a beer garden.

The new interpretive signs help to explain the history of the walls and some of the features visible from them. I would recommend it as a way to see the changing face of modern York as well as the history that we are guardian of.