28th April news round up

Here's my collection of stories from our twitter feed over this week. Putting the last one up on here had some good feedback, so I'll post it again:

Energy & Climate Change

ACTION: http://www.foe.co.uk/what_we_do/nuclear_27386.html

ACTION: http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/energy_bill_30433.html

ACTION: http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/nuclear_loophole_30408.html

Blog: Cameron's Climate Change Act under threat?: UK deregulation drive threatens Cameron's Climate Change Act: http://goo.gl/fb/1626k

RT @scccoalition: Fuel poverty has increased in recent yearshttp://cot.ag/hHGXch Is your MP working to banish #coldtimes ?#energybill

RT @wwwfoecouk: We've blown up a huge white elephant outside Parliament to say no to nuclear power - check it out:http://twitpic.com/4q2s5x

New post on our blog by Soraya about keeping it hot in the bedroom:http://bit.ly/eyrmKM

RT @HallGreenCND: Excellent Candlelit vigil for #Chernobyl, Victoria Square, yesterday. Blog post appearing soon.http://twitpic.com/4pqsn1

RT @carbonbrief: Carbon emissions 'hidden' in imported goods, the Beeb reports on Carbon Trust research http://cot.ag/gh2b9d

RT @foeint: [Blog] Say no to increase in 'safe' levels of radiation for children. http://bit.ly/eSXKI7

Food, Waste and Local Shops

ACTION: http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/biodiversity/press_for_change/rubbish_27135.html

News of our Big Green Spring Fair on 28th May is now up on the website: http://bit.ly/hoEQ7O

RT @buynothingday: Its OK for the free market to work for Tesco, but not for savvy shoppers? http://bbc.in/j3Ecye

RT @LocaliseWM: Just what we need. More CPOs wiping out BVSC & indie shop in Digbeth - for a **** #Tesco. Why can't BCC learn from past: http://s.coop/15ut

RT @wwwfoecouk: Supermarkets still using too much packaging – Govt must aim to halve waste by 2020 http://bit.ly/iLl9bS #talkingrubbish

Missed @res_publica report on localism & high street earlier this month. Good ideas on protecting retail diversity http://bit.ly/jcehWX

If Copenhagen are burning too much plastic, what about us? "Plastic surgery for Copenhagen’s recycling policy" http://bit.ly/iirZIm

RT @TheB44: @Bham_FOE you may like this article about local shops in Kingstanding: http://bit.ly/gwVVSt - Thanks, yes we do.

Transport

ACTION There is a ready-made response to the #HS2 consultation on the @wwwfoecouk website: http://bit.ly/efxFD5 - please use it if you agree.

The end of the age of speed? http://bit.ly/m3TDbD - would be nice for people to slow down and think about sustainability more.

A sign of the times for regional airports, hopefully; Plymouth airport is closing as financially not viable: http://bbc.in/ltShrE

Are any schools in Birmingham taking part in "Free Your Feet" week? http://bit.ly/dRIaBt

RT @RichardHebditch: Campaign for Better Transport press release on today's changes to transport appraisal system:http://bit.ly/gkL5Dk

RT @ptegSupportUnit: Abolition of Cycling England threatens cycling investment http://gu.com/p/2zk8x/tw see www.pteg.net for report & event

RT @BirminghamPress: Are parts of our public transport network a no-go zone? http://bit.ly/dG6m8x #transport #buses #midlandstravel

RT @the_ecologist: How trams could save us from the ‘tyranny of the car’ http://bit.ly/icNKgv

Birmingham Airport reported to the Serious Fraud Office:http://bit.ly/enERmE

£570 000 = a lot to add extra 164 parking spaces? RT @BBCBirmingham: Station near Birmingham gets park and ride revamp: http://bbc.in/gLlGLc

Others

RT @wwwfoecouk: Why we need stronger planning laws and a localism bill that allows local people to have their say http://bit.ly/ivSkHh

RT @peopleandplanet: Bham Anti-Sweatshop training days: learn, live link up with Dominican Republic activists, act.http://bit.ly/h5qMOb

Pleased to see that #donaldtrumpisabellend is trending. Very well deserved after what he says here: http://youtu.be/f6hsm81VXKY

The next social media surgery in central Birmingham is on 10th May:http://bit.ly/kjfxQ8

Please vote yes to AV and then we can all go to the pub to celebrate:http://bit.ly/frvwHn #yestoAV

This seems like a real shame: surely, some of the equipment would have been reusable: http://s.coop/15uh #castlevale #bcc

RT @jonwalker121: Interesting read from @politicalhackuk First fruits of the LEP - the Birmingham Enterprise Zonehttp://is.gd/qCT8oN

RT @LocaliseWM: 'Beyond Con-dem-nation' 24th May, B'ham. Planners Network UK meeting: future of planning & how to deal with it http://s.coop/qxf All welcome

FoE Localism Bill Meeting at the House of Commons

While we do like to do teleconferencing when possible, there are some times you have to travel to meetings and so two of us went down to the House of Commons on Thursday for a meeting on the Localism Bill. Neither of us were experts on the bill to start with, but were able to use the journey down to London to read up on it using these useful briefings.

We arrived in plenty of time so were able to sit by the Thames enjoying the sunshine and listening to the endless roar of traffic all round us and planes overhead thinking how lucky we are in Birmingham not to have this (for the moment at least).

Going into the Commons was rather like going into an airport (I haven't for a few years, but remember what it was like), although we didn't have to take our shoes off thankfully. Once you're through all the scanners they let you wander about quite freely, though, and we made our way through imposing corridors until we made it to the room where the meeting was to take place.

MP Nic Dakin was hosting the event for us and has also helped introduce some of the amendments we want to see to the bill. We were promised that other MPs would be there, but apart from Gerald Kaufman, who popped in for a while, none of the Birmingham MPs made it along. We had been hoping to speak to Jack Dromey, MP for Erdington, as he has been doing some work on the bill, but neither he nor his PA turned up as they had promised to do.

This was disappointing, but overall the meeting was very interesting and it was great to meet and hear from representatives of other groups who represent local communities and defend their rights in planning decisions all over the country. The Rights and Justice team at FoE really are committed to working on equalities and the things that matter to those whose voices are not usually heard all over the country, yet their work may not be recognised as much as the higher profile campaigners working on climate, food and energy issues.

Detailed notes of the meeting were taken and will be sent round to all attendees soon and can be passed on to MPs and other interested parties, so I'll just make a few comments on what interested me in the course of the discussion.

You would have thought that if a bill is going to give more power to local people to make decisions, that should be good. Unfortunately, with this government things are never that simple as there are many things in it which could be very damaging to local democracy, communities' quality of life and the environment, especially when considered along with the measures announced by the chancellor in the budget, which seem to be a green light for development at any cost.

At the moment, we have some very good guidance on planning decisions in Regional Spatial Strategies, Local Development Frameworks and other pieces of legislation, but the danger is that all this could be thrown out and replaced with much looser guidelines. Originally they were proposing that a neighbourhood plan could be drawn up by a group of as little as 3 people, but this has now been increased to 20. There is still a lack of any guarantee of a right to be heard or any scrutiny over the work of neighbourhood forums/parish councils who will come up with the plans in terms of sustainability, equality or human rights legislation.

There is a lot of dissatisfaction with the current approach to consultation, so we do need to look at what is a better way and draw one up using our experience. This would include ways of protecting the rights of everyone to an oral hearing, looking at the way these things are publicised, ensuring that people can feel that they will make a difference and then see that difference. Sustainable development must be protected and there must be a clear definition of what this is that will be clear to everyone.

You can read more about the localism bill here and if you are concerned about what it will do after reading this, please contact your MP to express your worries, either in writing or by going along to one of their surgeries, which you can look up here. If you want to get involved in the work we do on planning, please get in touch.

Joe Peacock