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2003
County Executive petitioned and serenadedSupporters of a GM-Free Oxfordshire sang GM-Free Carols at the entrance of County Hall, Oxford before the County Council Executive meeting on 23 December 2003. The familiar carols with GM-free lyrics urged Oxfordshire County Council to use its powers under EU legislation to prevent the commercial growing of Genetically Modified crops. After the carol singing, the Executive of the Council was presented with a petition calling for the Council to complete its urgent legal investigation into keeping Oxfordshire GM-Free and take action NOW. Full story...Crucial GM report delayed: urgent petition launchedFive weeks after a meeting of Oxfordshire’s Councillors ordered an urgent investigation into legal ways of making Oxfordshire GM-Free; the Council has made no progress. Indeed the Council’s Executive members are now saying that the report back won’t happen until February’s Executive meeting, more than three months after Council voted for the "urgent" report. The delay may mean the Council loses the right to object to the growing of GM crops in Oxfordshire. Oxford Friends of the Earth have launched an urgent petition to demand faster action. Full story...Trap Grounds High Court case adjourned until 8 DecemberCatherine Robinson of Friends of the Trap Grounds writes:Many thanks to everyone who sent encouraging messages before the start of the Trap Grounds Town Green trial in the High Court on 18 November. After three gruelling days, the case was adjourned until 8 December and is expected to last at least another three days (twice as long as originally predicted), for reasons explained below. We need more money to pay our legal costs. It doesn't seem right to issue yet another appeal to our core supporters, who have already contributed so much to the campaign fund. In the hope of reaching out to a wider group, I have drafted a brief report and appeal, which I hope you will forward to likely sympathisers. Here it is:An appeal from the Friends of the Trap GroundsLocal people in north Oxford successfully argued at a public inquiry last year that the Trap Grounds, a patch of wilderness between the canal and the railway line, is a Town Green, under the terms of the Commons Registration Act. It seemed that the right of local residents to recreation on the Trap Grounds was assured - as was the survival of the glow worms, water voles, and other endangered species living there. But Oxford City Council, which owns the land and wants to build on it (after neglecting it for 30 years), challenged the decision of the inquiry Inspector on procedural grounds. The case was referred to the High Court in London for a ruling. We raised £7,000 to pay our own legal costs in a trial that was supposed to last for three days. But barristers acting for the City and County Councils have turned this local dispute into a national test case; the hearing, which began last week, has been adjourned until December and threatens to drag on for several more days. Further funds are now urgently needed. All contributions, small or large, in the form of cheques payable to The Friends Of The Trap Grounds, will be gratefully received and acknowledged by the secretary, Catherine Robinson, at 12 Hayfield Road, Oxford, OX2 6TT. For further information, please telephone 01865 511307, or send an e-mail to catherine.m.robinson@btopenworld.comOxfordshire takes steps to become GM-free At
its meeting on Tuesday 4 November, Oxfordshire County Council voted for
a motion that
called
on national Government to abandon plans for commercial growing of
genetically
modified crops in the UK. The Council also ordered an urgent
investigate
of legal means to stop the commercial growing of GM crops in
Oxfordshire.
The motion followed a call by Oxfordshire farmers, beekeepers, women’s
groups and the general public for the use of European Union legislation
to protect Oxfordshire from commercial GM growing, as well as other
GM-Free
policies. Full story...
Councillor snubs children's GM-free plea Oxfordshire
County Council Executive Member for schools, Councillor Tony Crabbe,
has
snubbed a plea by parents and children for GM-free school dinners.
Parents and children were due to present a loaf of bread decorated with the words ‘Healthy GM-Free Food Please’ to Councillor Crabbe at County Hall, Oxford on the morning of Tuesday 28 October. The symbolic loaf, baked in Oxford, is a call for Oxfordshire County Council to become a GM-Free local authority and adopt policies to ensure school dinners are free from genetically modified foods. Although the presentation had been arranged with Councillor Crabbe over a week in advance, he withdrew late the previous night, saying that it would be “a waste of my time”. The loaf was nevertheless left with reception at County Hall, together with a letter to Councillor Crabbe expressing the children's and parent's disappointment and calling for him to support a GM-free Oxfordshire policy. Full story... Vale rejects Wind Farm against expert adviceAt a packed four-hour meeting in Uffington Village Hall on 23 October, the Vale of White Horse District Council Planning Committee refused planning permission for the Westmill Wind Farm against the advice of its own officers and independent experts. However, the Council is still investigating some issues and it is possible that the Secretary of State may call the application in, so the story is not over yet. Full story...European Car Free Day a great successMonday 22 September 2003 was European Car-Free Day and cities throughout Europe promoted the use of bikes and buses because they are quicker, cheaper and cleaner than cars. Oxford’s new cycling campaign group, Cyclox, organised a special event to celebrate the day and to raise awareness of its campaign to make Oxford a worry-free zone for cyclists. Around one hundred cyclists rode into Broad Street for a free breakfast with fair trade coffee, cereals and bananas. The Lord Mayor of Oxford led a group of 50 cyclists, including many city and county councillors, on a cycle parade along Broad St at 8.15 a.m. Full story....GM-Free Oxfordshire cards presented to County Councillor
Anne Purse, a member of Oxfordshire County Council’s Executive, and
Councillor
Biddy Hudson received a sample of the hundreds of postcards, letters
and
petitions calling for a GM-Free Oxfordshire at County Hall, Oxford on
Tuesday
15 July. In May this year the neighbouring County of Warwickshire
became
a GM-Free local authority. Since February 2003 over 1,500 postcards
calling
for Oxfordshire County Council to become a GM-Free local authority have
been distributed. Friends of the Earth groups in Oxford, Bicester,
South
Oxfordshire, Thame and Chinnor have been distributing GM-Free cards and
collected hundreds of signatures. The latest batch of cards was
collected
at Oxford Canal Day, Coleshill Fete and Thame and Chinnor Summer Fair.
Andrew Wood, from Oxford Friends of the Earth said “People living and
working
in Oxfordshire want Oxfordshire County Council, like Warwickshire, to
be
a GM-Free local authority. The County should act to protect the
environmental
and economic interests of Oxfordshire by becoming a GM-Free County.”
More on the GM-free Oxfordshire campaign... Trap Grounds concert is fanfare for court battleCatherine Robinson of Friends of the Trap Grounds writes:The Concert for the Trap Grounds in St Barnabas' Church on 24 June brought in a total of approximately £3,500 (that's three thousand, five hundred pounds !!!) from ticket sales, associated donations, and sales of books, cards, photographs, and paintings. It was a most enjoyable event. My sincere thanks to everyone who helped us in any way to raise this amazing sum of money. We now have about £6000 in the bank to pay the solicitor and barrister who will present our case in the High Court. That should be enough (I hope).Thousand-strong petition supports wind farmOne thousand local people support the wind-turbine proposal on the Oxfordshire/Wiltshire border.Oxfordshire Friends of the Earth presented a petition to the Vale of the White Horse District Council in support of the proposed plan to substitute wind turbines that will generate 40% more energy than those already permitted at Westmill Farm, Watchfield. Jean Saunders, co-ordinator for Oxfordshire Friends of the Earth, tabled the petition at the planning meeting held on 23 June when she spoke on behalf of the supporters. Mrs Saunders, who lives in Longcot, told the councillors: "We
know that
the environmental benefits of the proposal far outweigh any perceived
visual
intrusion. Last week researchers reported that a global
temperature
increase of six degrees, as predicted by the United Nations
Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, was enough to wipe out up to 95% of species
that
were alive 251 million years ago. Greenhouse gas emissions have
already
increased the incidence of devastating floods. These turbines would
prevent
the release of at least 11,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year and
provide
about 9,000 people with a clean renewable electricity
As there is already planning permission to build five wind-turbines on the old air-field at Watchfield alongside the busy A420 Swindon-Oxford Road, she emphasised the fact that the new turbines would just have slightly longer rotor blades that would turn more slowly and more quietly. The Councillors agreed that they would visit a wind-farm and undertake a site visit of the field in question before making a decision. Bikes and bus beat cars in Commuter Challenge On
Tues 10 June, Oxford Friends of the Earth staged a ‘commuter challenge’
from Elms Parade (Botley) to Carfax (in the city centre) to find out
which
form of transport is the quickest. The results of the challenge are
dramatic
– they show that it takes more than twice as long to drive as it does
to
take the bus or to cycle into the city centre.
Full story... Trap Grounds under threat - again!Catherine Robinson of Friends of the Trap Grounds writes:This unique wildlife site in north Oxford, which is an educational and recreational resource for the whole community, is faced with a new threat to its survival.An independent Inspector, commissioned by the county council, judged after presiding over a three-day public inquiry last November that the Trap Grounds scrubland is a Town Green, under the terms of the Commons Registration Act. The Inspector, an expert in common-land law, was fully satisfied with the evidence and arguments that we presented. The City Council (which owns the site and wants to develop it) tried and failed to discredit our claim. However, it now seems that the community's legal right to recreation on the land could be negated - on a technicality. The case has been referred to the High Court for a ruling on
the legal
implications of two procedural errors that we made on our initial
application
form. (Through a misunderstanding, we put the wrong date on one section
of the form; and we included the reedbed in our original claim, not
realising
that it could not qualify as common land, because it is too wet for
public
access.) These errors were acknowledged during the inquiry, and the
City
Council was given an opportunity to object to them - but did not. The
Inspector
decided to disregard the irregularities, because they did not
materially
prejudice the case. Now, however, the City Council has decided to
challenge
them, and we are faced with having to
This will cost serious money. We conducted our own case at the public inquiry, without a barrister. But in the High Court, legal representation will be essential. Any contributions, small or large, to the fighting fund will be most welcome. Cheques, payable to The Friends Of The Trap Grounds, and sent to the address below, will all be acknowledged, and the accounts of the fund will be open to scrutiny. Catherine Robinson (Secretary, The Friends Of The Trap
Grounds)
Lively discussion at GM crops public meeting Almost
100 people attended a public meeting called
GM Crops: Seeds of Doubt
at
Oxford Town Hall on 5 March, organised by Oxford Friends of the Earth.
A presentation by Hugh Warwick, the co-author of the Soil Association's
report Seeds of Doubt - North American Farmers' experience of GM
crops,
was followed by a panel discussion of leading farmers' representatives.
Full
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