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Concerned about climate change?

We have already observed this year the effects of extreme weather events in our own country and around the world. Some parts of the UK experienced two months' rainfall in just 24 hours.

But do not despair! We can do something about it.

Lancashire County Council's 'Climate Change Fund' of £250,000 per year for three years is to be distributed through the 12 'Lancashire Locals' (next South Ribble meeting 7 pm, 4th October, Samlesbury) to support community action on climate change. The proportion of money available to each area is to be allocated according to carbon dioxide emissions per head of population and South Ribble has available £17, 857 this year.

Each Lancashire Local is to invite expressions of interest from individuals, community and voluntary groups, or Parish Councils for grants to support local climate change projects that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions or help communities cope with the inevitable impacts of climate change.Businesses and individuals may also apply, but a clear community benefit must be demonstrated.

Projects which the fund could support include carbon capture through tree planting, mini wind turbines and solar panels on community buildings; community ‘micro renewable’ energy schemes; energy efficiency measures and awareness raising.

The money is to be 'match funded' with some 'in kind' contribution (such as volunteer time) from the applicants. But don't let the jargon put you off ....

To find out more email Lancashire County Council's Cabinet Member for the Environment, County Councillor Matthew Tomlinson at matthew.tomlinson@cc.lancscc.gov.uk Matthew is also County Councillor for Leyland Central and South Ribble Borough Councillor for Golden Hill Ward.

If you don't feel able to build a wind farm in your back garden, the simple and cheap measure of switching to energy efficient lightbulbs is highly recommended if for no other reason than one would only have to totter precariously on a rickety stepladder without the aid of a safety net once every five years or so.Other things to do...

Picture byAdbusters

Conference Hero

This week has been the Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth. There were grand speeches, reaffirming of values and some exciting policy announcements.

But who was the hero of the conference?

Was it Gordon Brown who, in his first few weeks as PM, steadfastly and calmly steered the ship of state through a terrorist attack in Glasgow, a flooding crisis as thousands of people were deluged by tropical amounts of rain and an outbreak of the disastrous foot and mouth disease?

Was it either of the clever Miliband Brothers?

Or was the Darling of the conference Alistair, Chancellor of the Exchequer, who earlier this month almost overnight helped to reassure the thousands of queueing Northern Rock customers that their money was safe.

Although all of these are impressive the actual hero of the conference was...

Smeato of course!

John Smeaton is the airport baggage handler who bravely tackled blazing terrorists attacking policemen at Glasgow airport and helped to pull a man with a broken leg to safety. He attended the Labour Party conference and received a standing ovation when Gordon Brown praised and thanked him as an example of the spirit of the British people...

"John told me it was instinctive, he was doing what was right.

That man, that hero John Smeaton is here with us today and on behalf of our country – John, we thank you."

Now we all like a good moan about the weather....

Horrible isn't it here in Leyland today ....grey and miserable. Today there were more news reports of extreme weather events with parts of the UK hit by tornadoes.

This week New Scientist magazine reports that "The world gets wetter as well as warmer". Benjamin Santer, a climate scientist in California, has been studying the water content of the atmosphere. Using satellite data and computer simulations including 22 different climate models, far more than any previous study, some using such natural processes as volcaninc eruptions and fluctuations in solar radiation he found that the one which most closely matched was that using greenhouse gas emissions. He explains that extra atmospheric water fuels the development of hurricanes and also acts as a potent greenhouse gas in its own right.

Santer concludes "The climate system is telling us an internally consistent story".

In May Aqqualuk Lynge, the leader of Greenland's Inuit people presented evidence to the public inquiry into the plans to dramatically increase the number of passengers using London's third airport, Stansted. He told of the loss of Inuit villages and hunting grounds across the Arctic...

Photos courtesy of Amanda Graham,Instructor of Northern and Circumpolar Studies at Yukon College, Canada, under a Creative Commons License. More beautiful and poignant photos here.

"What happens in Britain affects us in the north...The serious consequences affecting my people today will affect your people tomorrow... The Inuit are experiencing first- hand the adverse effects of climate change. We are on the front line of globalisation.

Discussion of climate change frequently tends to focus on political, economic and technical issues rather than human impacts and consequences. I want to alert you to the impacts that Inuit and other northerners are already experiencing as a result of human-induced climate change, and to the dramatic impacts and social and cultural dislocation we face in coming years.

For generations, Inuit have observed the environment and have accurately predicted weather, enabling us to travel safely on the sea-ice to hunt seals, whales, walrus, and polar bears. We don't hunt for sport or recreation. Hunters put food on the table. You go to the supermarket, we go on the sea-ice. When we can no longer hunt on the sea-ice, we will no longer exist as a people. Already hunters are telling us the sea-ice is unpredictable in many places and they are not always sure of dealing with the different ice we see today.

Traditional hunting grounds of ice floes, in some cases, have disappeared. And they tell us that some hunting areas are impossible to get to because of eroding shorelines. Talk to hunters across the north and they will tell you the same story: the weather is increasingly unpredictable. The look and feel of the land is different. The sea-ice is changing.

We have even lost experienced hunters through the ice in areas that, traditionally, were safe.

Several Inuit villages have already been so damaged by global warming that relocation, at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, is now their only option. Melting sea-ice and thawing permafrost have caused:

* damage to houses, roads, airports and pipelines;
* eroded landscape, slope instability and landslides;
* contaminated drinking water;
* coastal losses to erosion of up to 100 feet per year;
* melting natural ice cellars for food storage.

Climate change is not just a theory to us in the Arctic, it is a stark and dangerous reality..."

Read the rest of the extract here

Further information: If you're concerned watch the documentary/film 'An Inconvenient Truth' by Al Gore.

Farington Waste Plant - Judicial Review

A judge at the High Court in London has rejected the Residents Against Waste Site's (RAWS) legal challenge to prevent the proposed Farington Waste Technology Park from going ahead.

Mr Justice Irwin said he was not prepared to quash Lancashire County Council's (LCC) planning decision. Although LCC had failed to include lorry traffic routing in the original planning permission the council has now undertaken to "create such an obligation".

The judge has yet to give the full reasons for the verdict but Steve Browne, LCC's director of waste and material resources management, said he was "very pleased" at the outcome but that the litigation had caused substantial delay to the project which was originally due to start in June.

The council's representative, top QC David Elvin, said that the project was a vital part of LCC's waste management strategy and its planning permission could not be faulted, despite claims by RAWS' barrister David Wolfe who had argued that the council had mis-applied strict European anti-pollution regulations.

Tim Carter, company secretary for RAWS, said they were deeply disappointed and that it was a "dark day for Lancashire". He said, "The decision to allow this waste plant to go ahead will be a body-blow for the residents of South Ribble and all of Lancashire...It brings with it unknown health risks, potential traffic chaos, environmental damage and malodorous emmissions." He also claimed that it spelled financial disaster for local residents whose properties he said had already been heavily devalued due to the proposals. The group are considering taking the case to the Court of Appeal.

South Ribble Labour Group Leader Matthew Tomlinson told the Leyland Guardian "Thank goodness the council never put the money towards a doomed enterprise. We've always said we understand the reasons why residents protested, but we felt they've gone about it the wrong way. If they thought the planning process was flawed, going to the local ombudsman wouldn't have cost a penny."

A commenter on the Lancashire Evening Post website was more robust in summing up the more unsavoury political aspects of the story over the last few months:

Not only did South Ribble Tories win an election promising an untruth about financially supporting Leyland residents with their campaign against the waste plant, they did so on the back of consistent legal advice telling them that the bribe was flawed. Then, having succeeded in conning the electorate they managed to find a mysterious wealthy backer - who they still refuse to name - in order to get themselves out of a mess of their own making. Now we are told by the High Court no less that the judicial review will not be allowed anyway as there is no grounds for one. Either Councillor Mrs Smith and her Tory members stood on a platform of deceit at the last local elections or they were frighteningly misguided in promising South Ribble tax payers money for an ill-conceived and costly appeal thereby frivolously wasting our finite council funds - what a shambolic way to begin a new administration.

The waste plant is to be built in a partnership which includes Lancashire County Council, Australian company Global Renewables Ltd, Blackpool Council and Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council. The waste extraction and treatement method to be used at the plant is of the kind recommended by Greenpeace as an alternative to incineration in their publication 'Cool Waste Management: A state of the Art Alternative to Incineration for Residual Municipal Waste'. I am resisting the temptation to make a joke about a rubbish report ...but you can download the full report here

Also visit Global Renewables website for more information on their technology and the plant at Eastern Creek, Sydney, Australia (pictured below)

Europe!

Bring back the taste of your holidays, support Leyland town centre and local businesses all at the same time.

Thursday 27th - Saturday 29th September: Leyland will play host to traditional and specialist stalls as part of 'The Great Market Event' designed to bring shoppers from far and wide into Leyland.

Held by South Ribble Borough Council, the market will bring a taste of the continent to the town with customary continental products and merchants complementing the Leyland traders to provide an excellent market shopping experience.

It's all part of the council's Renewal 4 regeneration programme which aims to revitalise and support local businesses and shopping in Leyland and throughout the borough. The continental market will complement other regeneration projects that aim to encourage people to visit Leyland, Bamber Bridge, Lostock Hall and Penwortham - the four areas that local people have identified as most in need of regeneration.

Previous speciality markets in Leyland have proved very popular. So please pay a visit and support your local community.

Thanks Councillor Tom Hanson

Councillor Tom Hanson, Deputy Leader of the Labour Group at South Ribble Borough Council is to step down from the role after 17 years.

Tom, who is 77, wants to focus more on his role as a councillor for the Bamber Bridge West Ward and after a total of 27 years dedicated to local public service he really does want to spend more time with his family! He is a keen photographer and is looking forward to more time with his wife and and five grandchildren.

In an interview with the Leyland Guardian published on September 19 he said he was proud to have played a part in the regeneration of Bamber Bridge, Leyland and Tardy Gate and in the achievement of South Ribble gaining an 'Excellent' council rating by the Audit Commission earlier this year after 10 years of Labour in control - a testament to just how hard Tom and the Labour team have worked for the local area.

Tom first became a councillor in 1980 and has been deputy to four leaders, Tom Kelly, Gina Lewis, Howard Gore and most recently Matthew Tomlinson.

Before becoming a councillor he worked for a mechanical engineering company. He is also a former committee member of Bamber Bridge.

At what would be Tom's final Labour Group meeting as deputy Councillor Matthew Tomlinson thanked Tom for his many years of service. Councillor Tomlinson told the Leyland Guardian, "Tom's been a steadfast member of the Labour Party and has used his wealth of experience to assist several leaders. The group will continue to rely on his experience as a councillor and I'm sure he'll be around to help for many years."

Farington Waste Plant Scandal

Today is the second day of a Judicial Review being heard in the High Court in London challenging the proposal by Lancashire County Council to site a waste technology plant at Farington Moss. The action is being brought by pressure group Residents Against Waste Site (RAWS) citing noise pollution and traffic concerns.

A most unsavoury spectacle in connection with the proposed waste plant has been the manner in which the local Conservatives used the RAWS campaign to get themselves elected at the local elections. The Conservatives promised that if people voted for them a Conservative council would give the extra £35,000 needed for RAWS to seek a Judicial Review. It certainly did the trick.

However, after Labour councillors and members of the public raised questions about the cost implications to local taxpayers which could have been much greater than the initial £35,000 and about the legality of such a donation (and the ethics!), pressure mounted on the Conservatives to reveal the legal advice that they had been given. But they refused to do so.

At the eleventh hour a mystery deal was brokered by the wannabe Conservative MP for the area. An unnamed 'wealthy philanthropist' suddenly provided £40, 000 for RAWS and saved the Conservatives from answering some serious and awkward questions.

There is certainly a bad smell around here and its not coming from any bin..>>

....Conservatives Unbalanced!

At the same time as the Conservatives were let off the hook by not having to shell out £35,000 to RAWS (or to answer awkward questions) that they had promised, they were simultaneously refusing to back a Labour proposal to give £20,000 instead to Chorley and South Ribble Home-Start who were struggling to find the money to keep providing a valuable service to families in difficult circumstances across the area.

The story generated many letters in the local newspapers. There were letters in support of the great work Home-Start does locally and others were disgusted at the seeming double-standard in operation in the treament of the two groups and their causes.

Conservative Council Leader Margaret Smith who had come to power on the back of the pledge to give money to RAWS said that they would not give the £20,000 needed by Home-Start on the grounds of being prudential with the budget. But one astute letter pointed out that the Conservatives "must explain how giving £35,000 to the RAWS campaign group would have been prudent, whereas giving £20,000 to Home Start is not?"

Further information: Home-Start is a national voluntary organisation who offer free, confidential and non-judgemental family support to families who find themselves in difficult circumstances such as being in poverty, having a disabled child or during bereavement or who are simply needing a little bit of extra support to bring up their children. Support is provided by trained volunteers who have parenting experience themselves. If you need support or want to be a volunteer or donate money visit their website at www.home-start.org.uk

Are you on the Electoral Register?

Are you on the Electoral Register? You can check whether you are on the register by contacting the Democratic Services Team on 01772 625269 or e-mail democraticservices@southribble.gov.uk. If you know you are not on the electoral register then please feel free to download this registration form and send it back to the stated address.

David Borrow MP

David Borrow, Labour MP for South Ribble Contact details: David Borrow MP Crescent House 2-6 Sandy Lane Leyland PR25 2EB Telephone: 01772 454727 www.davidborrowmp.co.uk Email: borrowd@parliament.uk David Borrow MP House of Commons London SW1A 0AA About David: First elected May 1st 1997 Born 2nd August 1952, Huddersfield, Yorkshire. Education Mirfield Grammar School, Huddersfield. Lanchester Polytechnic – BA (Hons) Economics. Career Graduate Trainee, Yorkshire Bank - 1973-75 Valuation Tribunal Service – 1975-97 (including Clerk to Merseyside Valuation Tribunal 1983-97) Political Career Joined Labour Party in 1969 Election Agent for Preston Constituency 1987 Preston Borough Councillor 1987 – 1997 Leader Preston Borough Council – 1992-94 & 1995-97 Parliamentary Candidate for Wyre Constituency 1992 Successful Candidate for South Ribble Constituency 1997, 2001 & 2005 Interests and Offices Interests include the Aerospace Industry, Manufacturing, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, HIV/AIDS, Regional Government and Devolution, Local Government Finance. David also holds the following positions: Member of the Defence Select Committee Vice Chair of the All Party Group on AIDS Chair of the Associate Parliamentary Aerospace Group Secretary of the Regional Government Group of MPs Vice Chair of the Labour Party back bench committee on Trade and Industry In addition David holds regular meetings with the local business community.

Your Local Labour Team - Earnshaw Bridge Ward

Earnshaw Bridge Ward
	Bill Evans 01772 436194
	Elaine Stringfellow 07974 928639

Your Local Labour Team - Lowerhouse Ward

Lowerhouse Ward
	Councillor Fred Heyworth 01772 435492 cllr.fheyworth@southribble.gov.uk
	Councillor Tony Kelly 01772 498525 cllr.tkelly@southribble.gov.uk

Your Local Labour Team - Seven Stars Ward

Seven Stars Ward
	Don Harrison 01772 423682
	Peter McClelland 01772 462345

Your Local Labour Team - Moss Side Ward

Moss Side Ward
	Anne Brown 01772 424281
	Michael Godbold 01772 623509

Your Local Labour Team - St Mary's Ward

St Mary's Ward
	Michael Kelly 01772 424053
	Peter Holker 01772 436584

Your Local Labour Team - St Ambrose Ward

St Ambrose Ward
	Cheryl Ledward-Lee 01772 423624
	Simon Butler 01772 454874

Your Local Labour Team - Leyland Central

Leyland Central Ward
	Caleb Tomlinson 01772 498779
	Diane Maier 01772 613732

Your Local Labour Team - Golden Hill Ward

Golden Hill Ward
	Councillor Matthew Tomlinson Labour Group Leader South Ribble Borough Council Tel: 01772 498475 cllr.mtomlinson@southribble.gov.uk Website: www.councillor.info/Lancashire/mtomlinson
	Councillor Michael Titherington Tel: 01772 452503 cllr.mtitherington@southribble.gov.uk