Composting

Sadly Labour led Southwark Council is ending its support for composting and wormeries.

Free compost bins and free wormeries were introduced by Lib Dem councillor Richard Thomas many years ago.

Southwark Labour has decided to end its subsidy for composting bins and wormeries and now charge for each + a large delivery fee. Partly I guess they feel the food waste is an alternative. Cynically perhaps composting and wormeries reduces the amount put our for recycling!

Either Way bad news. So if you were thinking of composting call 020 7525 2000 or email environment@southwark.gov.uk and place your order for a composting bin or wormery ASAP before the financial year end 31 March.

CO2 every little helps

I was chuffed to see that my suggestion to Southwark Council to discourage people using its Tooley Street HQ offices side doors has been taken up.

The side doors are used by most people working at Tooley Street and when used these huge double doors let all the heat out. They cause such a draft that the council has huge heated blowers installed just inside them.

So far one sign on one of the doors encouraging everyone who can to use the adjacent revolving doors. Revolving doors keep significantly more heat in so saving on the heating bills, reducing energy used, CO2 produced and happily saving council tax payers money.

So far the council officers have been resistant. I’ve asked for the other door to have a sign added as well. Fingers crossed that the exhortations for council officers are heeded. Everyone needs to change habits if we’re to have a pleasant UK for our kids and their kids into the future. And avoiding a 4 degree rise in temperatures is key to that.

Satnav insurance

The AA announced this week that they’re also going to offer Satnav  telematic insurance. Effectively a method to change insurance premiums depending on how well you drive and adhere to speed limits etc.

Initially, as with Aviva, they view this as a way to more selectively insure younger drivers. Massive 30% discounts for people driving well.

The industry views this as a trend likely to extend over time to most vehicle insurance policies. This has to be one of the most promising road safety technologies going forward. If the majority of drivers were so monitored collisions and driving standards would make a step improvement.  

Driving with more care should also mean greener driving – less frantic acceleration and braking – so good for the environment as well.

Good luck AA – I hope this new product does exceptionally well.

Perhaps something for the government to encourage – perhaps applying VAT even at the lower rate to vehicle insurance that doesn’t have such telematic encouragement of better driving.

Cyclists don’t count

Southwark Council have had a traffic counter installed on Camberwell Road near a bike shop. It been carefully installed to not count people cycling in the cycle lane. But not so carefully installed to allow all cyclists to cycle past safely – you can see the tubes are across the road surface and proud by several inches near the kerb and are a side way slip hazard just inside the cycle lane.

Anyway else spotted such hazards? Irony is this has occurred the same week the council leader has committed Southwark to The Times cycle manifesto which includes recording cyclists and making the roads safer for them.

Keep Clear forever

While out and about doing a home visit for some casework I came across this sign.

It’s clearly been their forever and a day. The actual school entrance is 200m away on Etherow Street these days and for as long as neighbours to this sign could remember. I would have removed it myself but it had special fastenings to the brick wall. So I sadly had to treat it as full item of casework with all the admin and van being dispatched to remove it.

What silliness do you know of on your street? Tell me and I’ll try and get it fixed.

Cycling covenant

I’m delighted to see that The Times newspaper has today launched a campaign for a new Cycling Covenant. But saddened to see that one of their colleagues and friends grave cycle injuries were requried to inspire them.

They propose:
1. Trucks entering cities by law must have sensors, audibles alarms, extra mirrors and side bars/guards to stop cycling being thrown under them.
2. The 500 most dangerous junctions must be identified, redesigned or fitted with priority traffic lights for cyclists and Trixi mirrors allowing lorry drivers to see cyclists.
3. A national audit of cyclists to keep track of making cycling safer and more popular.
4. The Highways Agency should earmark 2% of its budget for next generation cycle routes providing £100million a year towards world-class cycling infrastructure. Each year cities being graded on the quality of cycling provision.
5. The training of cyclings and drivers must improve and cycle safety should become a core part of the driving test.
6. The default speed limit in residential areas where there are no cycle lanes should become 20mph.
7. Businesses should be invited to sponsor cycle ways and cycling super-highways.
8. Every city even those without an elected mayor should appoint a cycling commissioner to push home reforms.

These proposals if implemented well would see a step change for the better at making cycling safer and more attractive. Only number 8 seems to mis the mark – setting targets for local authorities instead would achieve more than a commissioner.

More people safely cycling would see a fitter, heathier nation spending money more locally. Huge opportunities for regeneration and community growth.

But will the coalition government listen.

But many of these we could implement here in Southwark…

£50,000 rained away

Southwark Council proudly announced they’ve 1,400 tonnes of salt and grit in stock for this Winter. We’ve not had snow so they’ve not needed to use that grit or salt. At £30-40 per tonne that should be good news for Southwark tax payers…

So can they keep this grit and salt to use next winter making a windfall saving of around £50,000? Well they could have if they’d kept it in good condition and way from any rain. If it gets wet before use salt and grit cakes and doesn’t go through spreaders properly if at all. It also leaches into the drainage and water systems which is a problem for the environment. You can see from this picture taken first thing today (junction of Latona and Haymerle) that its an uncovered mountian of salt.

Quoting the Local Government Association“Does salt keep? Yes if it is kept in the right conditions and not exposed to the elements. This is why councils keep their salt under cover or in barns.” Sadly Southwark Council hasn’t kept theirs covered and have repeatedly refused to buy a salt barn.

So that’s around £50,000 blown + the costs of disposal.

Last year with only a small amount leftover and uncovered the administration will protest that the elements don’t damage salt – perhaps they think it’s water proof!

Anaerobic digestion

As part of working towards a Carbon Neutral borough we need to ensure we get the most from our rubbish. Anaerobic digestion is one great method for using food waste to generate methane which can be used to produce electricity or power council vehicles. The process also produces lots of waste heat that could be used to heat homes and businesses.

Southwark Council introduced food waste collections late last year and currently it gets transported to Greenwich where it gets ‘bulked up’ onto big lorries to be taken to Sittingbourne/Isle of Sheppey to be composted. Much better than landfill but not extracting the most value in energy or money terms from this waste. It will gradually introduce biological composting by extracting moisture and incinerating the product to generate energy. But it’s not a very efficient way to extract the latent energy.

Council officers have told me we don’t have sufficient land at the new waste site and the contract with Veolia does allow it. But a 12,000 tonne plant in Switzerland with lots of offices and ancillary support occupies 3 acres and Southwark’s/Veolia new Integrated Waste Management Facility on the Old Kent Road occupies 14 acres. For the 5,000 tonnes of food waste Southwark is predicted to produce only 1 acre on the Old Kent Road IWMF would be required. I’m sure that could be found if we’re really committed as a community to fighting global warming.

£10 gift

The Lib Dem GLA team have submitted their amendments to Boris’s budget. Lots of useful suggestions to save lots of money from what appears wasteful or overly generous staff perks – such as free housing for senior Police officers to free travel for TfL friends and family.

This budget would see £10 less taken from every London family every year while providing the following extras:

  • Reinstate the 150 sergeants -I’d hope we’d get our East Dulwich sergeant back again.
  • One PCSO within each Safer Neighbourhood Team to work with young people.
  • Fund  more Safer London Foundation to boroughs with the highest levels of gang crime.
  • Improve cycle safety including vital junction safety improvement works.
  • Better and fairer fares package: the One Hour Bus Ticket to allow passengers to change buses and only pay one fare; part time Travelcards to stop the discrimination faced by those who only work part of the week; reintroduce a Zone 2-6 one day Travelcard to save people having to pay Zone 1 fares when not required; and to help those often low income earners, we will introduce an ‘early bird’ fare for the Tube, TfL rail and DLR.
  • Promote walking.
  • Ensure continued operation of the London Fire Brigade Museum and develop a ‘Blue Light Museum’.
  • Protect environmental projects and speed up the rate at which London’s buses and taxis become cleaner and develop a central Clean Air Zone where pollution is worst.
  • Guarantee the roll-out of easy-to-install energy efficiency measures.
  • Tackle rogue landlords establishing minimum standards for private rented housing.
  • Take effective action to build more affordable housing in London.

All in all a great budget amendment to make London a better place.

What would you do to make London work better?

Dog poo

Dog poo is a big issue in Southwark. During the last year 3,482 REPORTED dog poo incidents were made to Southwark Council. On an average month 50 complaints about specific dogs fouling made by residents.

In the last residents survey dog poo was in the top three problems for their area.

To try and help with this the council is going to increase Fixed Penalty Notices from the current £50 to £75. Only 85 such dog poo FPN’s were issued last year so it wont be a huge money spinner but it might just help a little bit to encourage dog owners to clear up such messes from their pooches.

How much do you think dog poo fixed penalty notices should be?