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2002Go GM-free in 2003, County Council urged Oxford
Friends of the Earth's campaign for a GM-free Oxfordshire was launched
on 30 December, when we called on Oxfordshire County Council to make
Oxfordshire
a GM-free county in 2003. A giant New Year greeting card was presented
to Councillor Anne Purse urging the County to go GM-free in 2003. Over
one hundred people had signed the card at the Oxford FoE stall at the
Green
Fair on Saturday 14 December. Full
story...
Lambourn wind turbine plannedJean Saunders of Oxfordshire Friends of the Earth writes:There is a planning application lodged with West Berks District Council(Case Number: 0202495FUL) for the installation of a wind turbine with a maximum hub height of 50m and a maximum rotor diameter of 62m, including access tracks, ancillary equipment and a guyed anemometry mast of maximum height 50m on the wind turbine position for up to 18 months. The applicant is someone I know and he is committed to renewable energy production. The application address is Baydon Meadow, Baydon Road, Lambourn. The site is 100m north of the M4 motorway, and 1.3km west of the Membury service area. It borders Kennet District (Wilts), Swindon Borough and the Vale of the White Horse District (Oxon). Wiltshire CPRE are launching a campaign to scupper the proposal. There is a photo-montage and more information about the proposal on the TV Energy website. Please write (asap) in support of this planning application to: Head of Transport & Planning West Berkshire District Council Council Offices Newbury Berks RG14 5LD Trap Grounds should be common land, inspector rulesCatherine Robinson of Friends of the Trap Grounds writes:I am pleased to announce that the Inspector appointed by the County Council to adjudicate my claim that the Trap Grounds is common land has found in my favour. I owe an immense debt of gratitude to everyone who contributed written testimony in support of the claim, or who gave evidence in person at the public inquiry, or who contributed money to the campaign fund. However, this is not the end of the story, because the Inspector's ruling is not legally binding on the County Council (the registering authority). The County Council's Chief Solicitor has endorsed the verdict and recommends acceptance of it. But on the County have not yet decided hwat to do: they may decide to reject it, or to accept in full, or (I hope) to accept it in part, exempting a 10-metre strip alongside the railway line which would permit the construction of a road to serve the new school off Aristotle Lane. (I did apply to exclude such a strip from my claim, but the Inspector did not recognise the legal force of my application.)Support the Watchfield Wind FarmOn December 9 the Vale of the White Horse District Council will vote on a planning application for 5 Bonus 1.3MW wind turbines on the Old Airfield, Westmill Farm near Watchfield, Oxfordshire. This is an amendment to existing permission which would increase the generating capacity of the wind farm. OxFoE members have written in support of this application in the past, as we would all like to see renewable energy being generated in the county. A small but well-resourced group of local people are opposing the plans, so any letters in support of the application would be appreciated. Full details and the address to write to can be found under our Energy Campaign.Water Vole Recovery ProjectSarah Wallbank of BBOWT came to the November OxFoE meeting to tell us about the Water Vole Recovery Project. The water vole is Britain's fastest declining mammal, due to a combination of habitat loss and predation by the rapidly expanding American mink. The Recovery Project trains volunteers to carry out water vole surveys throughout Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Focussing on the most critical areas highlighted by these surveys, BBOWT works with landowners to improve the waterside habitat and control mink.The project is a finalist in the BBC Animal Awards 'Species Conservation' category and will be shown on Countryfile on BBC1 on 24 November with the other two finalists. Viewers can then vote for the winner via a phone number given out on the programme or via the BBC website. (Web voting is already open and will continue until 29 November.) The results are to be announced at a glittering award ceremony in London on 1 December, to be shown on TV around Christmas. To win the award would be be a terrific boost for engaging future support for the project. OxFoE to focus on foodAt the OxFoE monthly meeting on 9 October, it was decided that our next major campaign focus would be on food. This could include both the campaign to keep Britain GM-free and campaigning on local food and the power of supermarkets. The first planning meeting for this campaign will be held on Tuesday 15 October at 7.30pm at Mary's house and will include food! So that Mary knows how many to cater for, please e-mail info@oxfoe.co.uk or phone 715100 if you are planning to come.Public Inquiry into Traps GroundsThe Trap Grounds, a canal-side wildlife haven in north Oxford and home to Oxford's only breeding population of water rails, is under threat from a housing and road development. In a bid to save it, local residents have applied to have the site designated as a "Town Green". To assess this claim, a Public Inquiry will be held at the St Barnabas Community Centre, Canal Street, Jericho, on Wednesday 6 November from 10am to 5pm, with the possibility of an extra session between 7pm and 9pm for the convenience of witnesses who can't attend in the daytime. The Inquiry will continue, if necessary, on 7 and 8 November.Friends of the Trap
Grounds,
local campaign group, are urging everyone to show support by turning up
to the Inquiry or by contributing financially to the campaign.
Full
details and an online petition can be found at the Friends
of the Trap Grounds website, or telephone Catherine Robinson on
511307.
Broad Street celebrates Car Free Day Broad
Street was closed to traffic between 10am and 4pm on Sunday 22
September
as Oxford's contribution to European Car Free Day. Organised by Oxford
Pedestrians Association and OxFoE, and supported by Oxford City
Council,
the festivities included music, dancing and stalls, among other
attractions.
The event was opened by the Lord Mayor of Oxford, Gill Sanders. See our
Car
Free Day page for more details.
Farmers' stories heardThe plight of local farmers was heard at the OxFoE meeting on 11 September in a radio documentary Agricultured: Five Oxfordshire Farmers. The featured farmers talked about the changes they have witnessed in their working lives and the challenges they face today. The programme's producer, OxFoE member Andrew Wood, together with Kathryn Tulip and Lucy Michaels of Corporate Watch, then led a discussion on the issues raised by the documentary. The stronghold that a few large companies, including the main supermarkets, now have over agriculture are putting small farmers under extreme pressure and forcing many of them to leave the industry and sell their farms. There is potential for an OxFoE campaign on this, and we will discuss this and other campaign opportunities at the next meeting on 9 October.Huge interest in solar power talkThe OxFoE meeting on 10 July was the best attended we have had for a long time, as many people new to the group came to hear Andy Warrington's talk on solar power. Andy covered both solar thermal systems for water heating and photovoltaic systems for electricity. He talked about the basics of how the systems work, how much they cost, and how much energy they can save. He also gave out information packs with more details, including useful contacts for recommended installers. If you did not get one of these packs, you can obtain one by phoning the Thames Valley Energy Advice Centre on 0800 512012 or e-mail energy.advice@tvec.org.uk.Trap Grounds latestfrom Friends of the Trap GroundsCrucial meeting postponedThe City Council has postponed the vote on the Trap Grounds planning application. A press release acknowledged the huge public interest in the matter, and the complexity of the issues at stake. Presumably these include the discovery of badgers living on the scrubland and the campaign to register the site as common land (see below). At this stage it is not possible to predict when the debate will be held and the vote taken.Town Green campaignWe have applied to Oxfordshire County Council to register the Trap Grounds as a Town Green. The application is supported by testimonies signed by local residents who have used the site for lawful pastimes for at least twenty years since 1970, without permission or obstruction or secrecy or force - a set of circumstances which we believe qualifies the Trap Grounds to be registered as common land and thus protected from the threat of future development.Recruits for recycling campaign at Canal FestivalThe OxFoE stall at the Oxford Canal Festival on 23 June was a great success, both in terms of selling merchandise and in signing up people to join the national FoE campaign on doorstep recycling. Many thanks to everyone who helped out.Your Holiday, Their HomeThe speaker at our June meeting was Faith Mitchell from Tourism Concern. She gave us an excellent presentation on the organisation’s background and aims and how we as individuals can get involved.Tourism Concern tries to raise awareness of who is actually benefiting from the holidays we go on. Is it, for example, the UK companies who benefit mostly? What about the countries we are visiting? Their concern lies with people, places and resources - eg children working in the sex industry; waste generated by tourists and the huge demand by tourists for clean water. If you are interested and would like to know more, look at their website: www.tourismconcern.org.uk or write to: Tourism Concern, Stapleton House, 277-281 Holloway Road, London N7 8HN or telephone them on: 020 7753 3330. Stop Esso Day 2 On
18 May, OxFoE, joined by some members of Bicester FoE, demonstrated
outside
the Esso petrol station on Oxford Road, Bicester as our contribution
towards
the second national
Stop
Esso Day. Several motorists entering the petrol station drove
straight
out again on seeing what we were doing and many others honked their
horns
in support or took leaflets. One even gave us chocolates and an
umbrella!
This action was one of at least 6 at different Esso stations throughout
the county.
Monthly meeting on 10 AprilCar Free DayCorinne Grimley-Evans of the Oxford Pedestrians Association (OXPA) gave a talk on the history of European Car Free Day, and OXPA's plans for Car Free Day in Oxford on Sunday 22 September this year. OXPA has asked the City and County Councils to close Broad Street to cars on that day. The relevant Area Committee of the City was positive but it was rejected by the County Council. However, it will be considered by the County Council Executive.We agreed that OxFoE would work together with OXPA (and hopefully many other groups) in getting Car Free Day organised, and our first step would be to write to the County Executive to express our support. Future campaignsThis meeting was also our AGM and one of the things we discussed was our campaign strategy over the next few months. We will focus on two main campaign areas:
Highlights of our monthly meeting on 13 MarchSustainable consumptionLaurie Michaelis of the Oxford Centre for Environment, Ethics and Society gave a thought provoking talk on this, which we will follow up at our May meeting.StallsWe decided to run stalls at three Fun in the Parks events over the summer. See Events.WebsiteWe were shown a demo of the newly revamped website. Please send any comments to webmaster@oxfoe.co.uk.OxFoE brings energy message to B&Q - Saturday 2 February
We had a very successful day in B&Q in Cowley, encouraging customers to find out more about how to conserve energy in the home and to reduce those bills! Thirteen of us were all involved in some way or other and it was a big success - with an article/picture in the Oxford Mail. |