Andy D'Agorne

As if to demonstrate that optimism and determination can sometimes win through against amazing odds, the planning inspector has rejected the application to destroy the last remaining green wedge that separates Fulford village from the rest of York (see entry for June 29th). It seems incredible, but the council's almost singular focus on the merits or otherwise of the replacement bowling green were not seen as relevant in the inspector's findings, despite this being the ONLY grounds for refusal in the original report to the planning committee. In contrast,the impact on the adjacent Fulford conservation area, that was added to the reasons by being proposed by the Green committee member (and supported by the entire committee) was THE grounds on which the inspector turned down the application! The arguments for this being a concern at the inquiry were not dwelt on by the council's barrister who seemed more concerned to talk about the risks of youths doing wheelies on the bowling green. It was the residents, parish council and myself who stressed this as a major reason why the application should not be approved. Maybe next time the council could save money and stand a better chance of winning if it gave some of the barristers fat pay packet to the local residents campaign group.

WOMAD (World of Music and Dance) www.womad.org  is a great festival, (initiated by Peter Gabriel) that has played a major role in establishing the popularity of World Music on the international scene. Hot sunshine and the queues for the portaloo was much as I remember past WOMAD festivals but the move to Charlton Park from Reading since we last went has given a much better site with a wonderful arboretum to host cool cafes, therapy tents and space for chilling out away from the music. Prices are still steep, so you need to plan to cater for your own breakfast and share a plateful of the delicious food as a treat. But what music! Everything from Japanese female drummers- GOCOO (described in the programme as balanced between trance and ecstacy) to Children of the Khmer (who helped keep alive the dances and traditions of Cambodia during the terror of the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge regime) You can catch them at the Edinburgh Fringe.

With over 70 performance groups it is hard to get to see a fraction of those that you really want to see, even without the myriad of food and clothing/ craft stalls to distract you. One that I enjoyed the most just happened to be nearby to something that proved to be a disappointment  - Shantel and the Bucovina Orkestar certainly know how to work up a club audience with eastern European/Balkan gypsy music remixes and an eight piece band to deliver some stomping music. By the time I got to the WOMAD sales stall the next day their current album 'Disko Partizani!' was long gone sold out, as was that of Frence gypsy band Babylon Circus. Brazilian Samba was well represented by Monobloco, with the leader giving an interesting insight to the origins of carnival on Ash Wednesday in one of the 'in conversation' sessions in the Little Sicily tent. They also led a workshop for those who want to learn from the masters!

In the trees in the more sedate setting of the Radio 3 stage I heard Hotel Palindrome, an unlikely named Austrian band keeping alive older traditional Alpine drone music that pre-dates Johann Strauss and the tyrolian influences, mixed in with an eclectic range of Breton, Galacian, Balkan and other folk roots tunes. Other features of the festival ranged from a red arrows fly past(!!) to original steam powered fairground (with century old rides!!) art installations and lighting in the arboretum, the costume parade through the site led by the samba band and some ageing rockstars such as Eddie Grant (I dont want to dance!) and Squeeze!

Environmental consciousness has reached festival land, with an impressive array of bins for different categories of waste, 10p deposit on waxed paper cups for everything including beer, a strict policy for all traders to ensure wooden compostable forks, paper plates and NO POLYSTYRENE OR PLASTIC!! The deposit on cups meant children had a good trade collecting them up and raising funds for rides on the steam fairground

The Press underestimated people power at work!

Tonight a Green Party petition for streets in the Grange Garth /Grange St area of Fishergate to have 20mph status astoundingly made a policy breakthrough, even though officers had said it was not the most suitable area for a trial as speeds are already relatively low. The Executive Member Advisory Panel for City Strategy (July 14th 2008) item 8 gives the full background, including a detailed statement from myself arguing for a trial in the city. Until an hour before the meeting I was still waiting for advice from our 'monitoring officer' as to whether or not I could be part of the committee. In the end I was able to be there to speak in support and second the amendment to initiate trial areas in the city, including these streets. The amendment was in the end carried virtually unanimously! (See previous entries for details of the Portsmouth scheme).

Spot the gems?!

Readers of Political blogs have been invited to nominate their top 10 favourites.. Caroline Lucas was in the top 10 last year, mine was there at number 77 (UK Poliblogs listing)! If you want to take part follow the instructions below: (incidentally, the launch edition of Total Politics looks very good - definitely something for all politics students to subscribe to if you want to get good marks.)

We're asking for your votes to decide the Top 100 UK Political Blogs. Simply email your Top Ten (ranked from 1 to 10) to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com. If you have a blog, please encourage your readers to do the same. Ian Dale will then compile the Top 100 from those that you send in. Just order them from 1 to 10. Your top blog gets 10 points and your tenth gets 1 point.

The deadline for submitting your Top 10 is Friday August 15th. Please type Top 10 in the subject line.
Once all the entries are in a lucky dip draw will take place and the winner will be sent £100 worth of political books! The rules are simple:

1. Please only vote once
2. Only blogs based in the UK, run by UK residents are eligible or based on UK politics are eligible
3. Votes must be cast before Friday 15 August
4. Blogs chosen must be listed in the Total Politics Blog Directory.
5. You must send a list of TEN blogs, ranked. Any entry containing fewer than ten blogs will not count.
6. Anonymous votes left in the comments will not count. You must give a name

So, once again, the email address to send your TOP TEN BLOGS to is... toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com

Researching for a piece about road safety, I found some interesting facts about pedestrian crossings and through the wonders of Wikipedia a useful article that explains the different terminology. see http://www.camcycle.org.uk/newsletters/71/article12.html  

Puffins replacing pelicans to my mind is a retrograde step, since looking at an indicator on the pole next to you means you are more likely to step out into the path of a vehicle whose driver is either an 'amber gambler' or has been waiting to turn right across oncoming traffic. I'd much rather stick with a symbol on the opposite side that can be seen at the same time as monitoring the traffic. Signal controlled crossings in urban areas are to my mind more about controlling traffic flow and making those pesky pedestrians wait their turn. Zebra crossings with Belisha Beacons should be retained as part of the culture of 'sharing responsibility' promoting human interaction between pedestrian and motorist and getting over the message that the driver must drive according to the conditions, not just mechanistically obeying signs.  

On Friday we joined nearly 100 other protesters at a July 4th rally addressed by Green MEP Caroline Lucas demanding Independence FROM America. It was held at the US spybase Menwith Hill near Harrogate in Yorkshire to call for the urgent need to achieve full independence from the US on matters where national security and sovereignty are being undermined.  

Police surround two young people who chose to go for a walk away from the main group listening to the speeches

N Yorkshire Police actions in the lead up to the demonstration could be considered as overt intimidation: Those planning the protest have been subjected to surveillance by local police and all participants in the peaceful protest were repeatedly photographed by about half a dozen 'Evidence gathering' police along the walk around part of the perimeter of base.

At the demonstration, Dr Lucas MEP said:

"In 2007, the Government secretively passed through Parliament a decision to base communications for the US Missile 'Defence' System at the Menwith Hill site, on the day that MPs were leaving Westminster for the summer holiday.

Hosting the American Missile 'Defence' System makes Britain complicit in the US military agenda and places us on the front line of any future US war. It seriously undermines our national security. "Let it be clear that there is nothing 'defensive' about this missile system. It is simply another part of the US strategy to achieve 'Full Spectrum Dominance' - in other words, full military control of land, sea, air and space.

"The decision to allow the US to base communications at Menwith Hill was not subject to a vote in Parliament - an outrageous betrayal of public confidence given the huge importance and potential consequences of the missile system."

"It will enable the US to attack countries without fear of retaliation. Its development has attracted international controversy, inevitably carrying with it the potential to provoke a brand new global arms race and thus increasing the danger of nuclear weapon use.

"The British people deserve to know the truth about covert US military activity on UK soil and concerns must be heeded by our political leaders. Yet, under this Government's Counter Terrorism Bill, crucial civil liberties - such as the right to hold a peaceful protest - are being gradually eroded."

The protest was however good humoured with the protest band 'Seize the Day' managing to get some smiles from the police by the band leaders promise to support them in their campaign for the right to join a union. He told of the only national police strike in 1918 when they marched on Downing Street and secured a pay rise when the government was told that the army couldnt guarantee the country's security alone. A year later the government banned the union just as Maggie Thatcher did at GCHQ in the 80's sacking anyone who insisted in retaining membership

Meanwhile dont forget the government is pushing ahead with the nonsensical ID card scheme, in spite of the spate of lost personal data in the past year. Here's what the BBC reported recently:

Mr Vaz said ID cards for foreign nationals, which are being introduced later this year, were effectively being used as a pilot to "see whether or not the information is then subsequently lost". "I don't think they can take another major loss of data in this way and that's why the select committee is going to look at it again," he added.

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett, who introduced the initial identity card bill, told the BBC on Tuesday the scheme would not work unless everyone had to have a card. "In my opinion, without it being mandatory, there is little point in doing it," he added.

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