How green is your pet?

New Scientist 24 October issue has an eye opening article about “How Green is your pet?”.

Apparently a medium sized dog has twice the eco footprint of a 4.6Litre Toyota landcruiser (including building and drive it 10,000km every year).

A typical cat is reported as having very nearly the eco footprint of a Volkswagen Golf. This doesn’t take into account the wild animals cats kill each year.

They concluded that if you must have a pet, have one with a dual purpose such as egg laying hens, or rabbits….as long as you eat them!

I’m amazed.

Tessa Jowell and Labour MPs vote down climate change action

Tessa Jowell and Labour MPs vote down climate change action

Yesterday evening, Southwark MPs Tessa Jowell and Harriet Harman together with hundreds of Labour MPs voted down Simon Hughes’ Liberal Democrat motion that would have committed the House of Commons, the Government and the entire public sector to cut their carbon emissions by 10 per cent during 2010.

Lib Dem led Southwark Council has committed itself to making a ten percent cut in emissions – why can’t the Government?

In Parliament and in the town hall, it is the Lib Dems who lead on the environment.

The full shameful voting list is on the House of Commons

Southwark – 10th most overflown London borough

Every year we have around 155,100 Heathrow flights and 9,900 London City Airport  flights going over Southwark at less than 8,000 where noise becomes increasingly disturbing.

Every day in my house I can tell when 6am is reached as a torrent of flights start overflying us.

Around 4am several flights come over and about 1 in 5 chance every day my 7 year old will be woken. Boy, does that spoli his school day with tiredness. And we have double glazing.

Fingers crossed this Labour government stops standing out by being the only political party in favour of a 3rd Heathrow runway.

Fingers crossed the Tories and Labour stop supporting a 50% increase in flights at London City Airport. I sometimes fly on business from this airport and I really don’t wont it to expand.

Air pollution – rubbish

London has the worst air quality of any UK city and one of the worst in Europe.

It’s so bad that its causes OVER 3,000 premature deaths each year and so we breach European laws. It costs a fortune in all the ill health this causes such as asthma, cardiovascular disease, etc.

Road transport is a major contributor causing 41% of NOx and 67% of PM10’s. London already has a Low Emission Zone which only applies to HGV’s, buses and coaches to Euro III emission standards. From 1 October it was meant to be extended to cover large vans and mini-buses but Tory Mayor Boris Johnson decided to postpone this and subject it to more public consultation. A duplicate repeat. I guess those 3,000 people don’t have names so easy to politically ignore them and delay anti air pollution.

What the Lib Dems at the GLA have proposed is to introduce a more stringent inner London Low Emission Zone focusing on  the 1 million Londoners living and working where the air pollution is worse. That this should happen before the Olympics arrive and the world is told how rubbish our air quality is. That would be humiliating for Londoners.

10:10

The 10:10 campaign seeks as many people, business, and other organisations to commit to reducing their CO2 emissions by 10% during 2010. www.1010uk.org

I’m delighted to report Southwark Council is signing up to this.

I’m now seeking a commitment for another 11% during 2011….would that make it a 21:11 from now or 11:11?

Rubbish collections 6.15am

Since being elected May 2006 I’ve had several report each year about rubbish collections starting before 6am.

Rubbish trucks are only allowed out from their Manor Place depot (close to Walworth Road Elephant & Castle end) at 6am. Recycling lorries at 7am. It takes about 15 minutes to reach East Dulwich. So no rubbish collections are legitimately allowed before that time. We have had some very keen crews sending colleagues ahead to move wheelie bins into position from 5.30am. Again this is not acceptable.

Why 6am? Croydon, Lambeth and Southwark start refuse collections at 6am, Tower Hamlets at 6.30am and Lewisham 7am. Delaying Southwark collections by 1 hour, due to the extra traffic congestion starting an hour later, has been calculated at requiring an extra crew and dustcart at around £150,000->200,000 pa. In the current climate we wont be reallocating this amount of money from other areas to fund this.

If you ever experience rubbish collections or preperations starting before 6.15am please do get in touch with me. james.barber@southwark.gov.uk

42 bus route via Melbourne Grove

Some Melbourne Grove residents have contacted me asking about a 20mph letter we’ve delivered.

They’ve heard that Tory councillors from Dulwich Village have objected to Melbourne Grove having 20mph traffic calming and speed humps.

It is true that an attempt has been made by Dulwich Village Tories to stop speed humps and parking in the road instead of half on the pavements on Melbourne Grove between Grove Vale and East Dulwich Grove. They wish to extend the number 42 bus route via this part of Melbourne Grove to Sainsbury’s. Speed humps would need to be removed if the number 42 bus route was routed via Melbourne Grove and parking on the pavement would be ncessary. While supporting such an extension in principle via Lordship Lane the East Dulwich Libl Dem councillors are wholly opposed for any bus route to be rerouted or extended via Melbourne Grove or other residential side street. Equally, snubbing local shops on Lordship Lane would not be acceptable. Residents of Melbourne Grove suffered more than enough inconvenience when the number 37 bus route was routed via Melbourne Grove in the past.

When the public consultation takes place on whether Melbourne Grove residents support or don’t support speed humps it will also be their opportunity to tell us whether they want the number 42 buses routed down your street.

In the mean time please do tell us what you think – are we right to oppose buses down Melbourne Grove or Derwent Grove or Elsie Road?

Lordship Lane cleanliness

Lordship Lane has frankly been looking a little bit grubby. Unfortuantely we can’t afford to wash down all the streets every night as we’d all wish but can ensure we maximise our streets cleanliness.

Street cleaniness is measured by a company called Encams 3 times every year. Overall for Southwark last financial year (lower % good) we were litter 6%, dtritus 125, graffit 3% and flyposting 1%.

Following my enquiry Southwark’s Street Cleaning Inspector has confirmed for East Dulwich now litter 2.4%, detritus 22%, graffiti 0% and fly posting 0%.  So more attention in East Dulwich is now being made to clearing this detritus – all that organic material like leaf fall, etc.

If you see anything out of the ordinary regarding litter, graffit, fly posting, or leaf fall please do let me know or call 020 7525 2000 to report this problem yourself.

Increasing recycling from 21% to over 50%

Last night Southwarks main planning committee granted planning permission to a new Integrated Waste Management Centre on the Old Kent Road. The committee took over 4 hours to get the final decision right and sat until after 1am this morning.

This new facility should be completed in around 15 months time. It will provide enough recycling capacity enable an increase from 21% recycling now to over 50%.

Do you recycle everything possible?

Sustainable Community Act – speed cameras

For some time I’ve been following this Act from its initial proposal onwards. It aims to give communities the opportunity to take back powers for things pointlessly decided by central government or its quango’s.

As part of this Act I applied to Southwark that its asks for Southwark to have its own Safer Camera Partnership – speed and red light running cameras. Effectively opt out of the London wide scheme. Full council agreed to approve this and it is now with the next filter organised by the Local Government Association. If they agreed it, then it is formally lodged with central government. They then decide whether to implement this change or not.

My idea relates to the fact that for several years no new cameras have been installed in Southwark by the London Camera Partnership.

The idea came from attending a Southwark Living Streets presentation where they showed that virtually all collisions on our roads occur on major roads and that the primary cause is speeding. They also explained that lots of research that such fast roads, such as the Old Kent Road, result in deprivation via ill health, injuries, noise, social dislocation (not knowing your neighbours).

Hopefully, I’ll get to present my case to the LGA soon.

What do you think – more cameras?