Letting go and moving on ..

We moved 4 months ago – from our beloved old 3 Norwood, Beverley to a smaller newer house with a bigger garden in Knaresborough – to be nearer the children and their children and to eco-renovate a house and experiment with permaculture. Of course we miss our mates in Hull and East Riding but it feels really good to have made the move even though the prepping to move was very stressful. It's good to be in a smaller cosier 'container' as we were rattling around a bit in 3 Norwood. Yes – there comes a time when it just feels like the right thing to do – the kids love the space outside and its great to have a new place to discover…and lovely to link in with lots of new greens of all sorts!

ERYC should go - NOT the trees

My letter published in Beverley Guardian today:

 The felling of the trees on New Walkergate is one of the latest in the long list of crimes against nature brazenly committed  by ERYC (East Riding of Yorkshire Council) in our name and with our money.   Why?  Perhaps they have a contract with a company which fells trees so they have to find jobs to keep them busy? Is someone profiting from the wood?    Or is it simply a corporate mechanistic  mindset which wants everything - including nature - to be ‘tidy’?   The unevenness in the ground made by the tree roots was not a hazard to the footpath and it could have been  made into an attractive feature.  The wall could have been strengthened.  Does London remove its fantastic old plane trees which have grown  through and around the railings in the parks?  No.  

Saying they will replace the trees with ones 'specially chosen and sourced for the site'  is the newspeak we have come to expect from ERYC meaning 'you know nothing: we ‘experts’ know best'.   Most people instinctively protect trees - and they are right because the older a tree is the more biodiversity it hosts,  the more carbon it sequesters and the more beautiful it becomes. 

Nature thrives on diversity. It is beautiful because it is NOT tidy.  Beverley is an ancient town which should not look like a Milton Keynes.  ERYC has a biodiversity action plan, but does ERYC itself take any notice of it?  What ERYC  displays is a complete lack of understanding of nature, heritage, beauty, and people - in fact most things which matter.  Machine- chemical- newbuild - and road-obsessed ERYC is the thing which should go, not the trees.

Developers push to build on green land

Today and yesterday the public enquiry heard the appeal of Linden Homes against the refusal of  permission for them to build on land to the north of the market town of Beverley.  The government has set up a presumption in favour of new build, but Beverley, like towns all over the country, is holding out.  Even the Tory-led East Riding Council can see that all this building is not good news, but the Condems are desperate to have 'growth' by any means...and they see the construction industry as the answer. 

They are so wrong.  As a resident and Green Party member I pointed out that flooding will increase if more land is covered in concrete, since drains already under pressure will take additional surges of run-off water,  and that more suburbs do not contribute to a sense of place or to the local economy.  Executive homes are not whats needed ...whats needed is every bit of green land to stay that way as we need to grow food locally in light of climate change and peak resources.

We just have to hope that the investigator can see what is going on: settlements under seige from developers egged on by an amazingly unwise and short-sighted government.

Cobblers to the Council!

East Riding Council is threatening the imminent removal of the historic setts (cobblestones) in the market place....so...the message today was Save Our Setts and ....Cobblers to the Council! This was just the first of a list of other important issues to be dealt with.

I spoke with MP Graham Stuart at the end and asked him what the Tory Government does about errant Tory councils like this one... 'surely you're not proud of the way they carry on?' I asked.  He replied that it's democracy - people vote for them....!

Beverley Town Meeting 7 Dec 2012

Beverley spoke!  Feathers were spat....

A packed Toll Gavel Methodist Church was full of (about 400) seething Beverlonians!   Sandy Patience for the Civic Society introduced the issues - East Riding  of Yorkshire Council  proposals to:  replace the setts/cobbles in Saturday Market;  demolish Longcroft School for housing; build more housing in the north and south of the town;  allow more retail on the Grovehill site. 

The Mayor chaired, and speaker after speaker asked why ERYC behaves in the arrogant way it does. Why were the Council leader and chief exec not present?  Why does the council do whatever it wants without consulting? Why do they want to destroy the historic fabric of the town rather than improve council housing?  Why is there no Beverley Councillor on the Cabinet?   Why did ERYC set targets for new houses in Beverley which far exceed (proportionately) anywhere else in the country? 

Resolutions were : to retain the granite setts (and the character of the Market Place);  to leave Longcroft School on its current site; to reduce the housing targets for the town as a whole; to prohibit supermarkets on Grovehill.  Other points were to take infrastructure implications of more building (re flooding) to the Ombudsman....and to get the MP to ask why there is no VAT on  newbuild when there is  VAT on renovation.

Friends of the Earth and the Green Party pointed out that land is no longer in production, and must be prioritised for food and not for building.

Building for growth?

– a letter regarding the predations of  developers, and the madness of old politics  

I write regarding the planning proposals for housing in the north of Beverley.  This government, and previous ones, have set up a presumption in favour of new build, putting pressure on local authorities to identify land.  The construction industry has lobbied hard  for this.  It is not about need, it's about profits for construction companies.  It comes from the tired ideology of ‘growth’, which is extremely short-term : like allowing a dog to run wild with no thought for the consequences for dog or community.  Look at Ireland - new houses built,  then bulldozed.  Look at casino banking…..The myth of infinite growth (on a finite planet) is busted and we had better hurry up and accept it. 

In the context of the global oil crisis,  we need land for food as we must now focus on producing  most of our food locally.  Government targets for new building are highly questionable - they are about a decade old and the economic climate has changed completely in that time.  Before building new houses, one has to ask where are the jobs  in the area for the occupants? is there sufficient infrastructure?  what are the transport implications? – but most importantly, can we afford to cover this valuable food-producing land in concrete?  We take food for granted at our peril.

Brownfield sites are available, and old housing needs renovation, which would provide local jobs instead of work for huge construction companies - which are, by nature, very wasteful  and, like other multi-nationals,  drain wealth out of the area. However, there is no VAT on new build,  and large construction companies prefer to work on virgin land - so where are the incentives to do the right thing?.

The 'corporate growth' idea is outdated.  Are we concerned about the welfare of local traders and communities  - or big business ?...  It’s time to think differently.

Saturday in Beverley

Saturday in Beverley- we had an especially good response to our 'Cut pay to fat cats not jobs in public services - all Tories out' poster.

Armed Forces Days

Unfortunately, people are being encouraged to organise these thinly disguised military recruitment events by a £9,000 bribe from the MOD...They are now planning another one in Beverley, East Yorks. I see them as tantamount to child abuse in that young people, and children brought for a day out, are given the impression that joining the armed forces is fun. Kids are encouraged to climb about in military vehicles with their faces painted in camouflage colours. It's grotesque and cynical. Nobody spells out the horror and brutality involved.

I met the distraught aunt of an only son who had just been sent to Afghanistan - It's no joke, and its unfair to entice people into the armed forces in a recession when people are desperate for jobs. These events should not be masquerading as a family day out. There are plenty of alternative ways to set up a good day in town - such as a community celebration, showcasing all the exciting activities going on in the area including business, sport, arts, heritage, food, etc.

I have no problem with Remembrance Sunday when we honour those who died and were injured in past conflict- its the least we can do - but AFDs are a very different matter. Please think again Beverley. At least the Town Council has had the sense not to participate this time.

Bank Holiday - campaigning in Beverley

The other placard messages were: 'Cut pay to fat cats not jobs in public services - all Tories out.'
and 'ERYC leads where Cameron will follow' (referring to the grotesque discretionary early retirement pension fund payment for a senior officer of East Riding of Yorks Council)

Saturday in Beverley - vote for your kids

Took leaflets and placards into Beverley. Sunny, busy. People walking past trying not to make eye contact. Feeling rather disconsolate - when a wonderful thing happened: 2 girls aged about 13 came up and asked what I was doing. I explained. One said 'Why are you dressed like that? It's weird' (boots, skirt, Green Party tabard, rosette and straw hat). The other said, 'That's rude', and I said, 'It's to attract attention.' Then they offered to take some leaflets to give out!! They did this for several hours, parading the placard up and down the crowded street....and they want to do it next saturday as well!

It don't mean a thing if it aint got that Green swing

We moved down Toll Gavel and found some live jazz - The Black Cat Swing Club - perfect. What we need is a big Green swing! Spoke with people from all around the East Riding and Hull - and further afield.

On the stump - Saturday Market

Great day today - Beverley, Saturday Market, Butter Cross. We thought how little this spot is used when it could be a wonderful stage for street theatre etc. Just shows how much our community needs enlivening. More trading of locally grown food needed too.

Hunting

A few words on hunting: We walked up to see the Holderness Hunt meeting on Beverley Westwood last Boxing Day. You might assume the Greens are opposed to hunting and you would be right that we are against hunting with dogs for sport. On the other hand, we are happy to see the vestiges of an ancient tradition in the form of horses, people and hounds getting some exercise - but without killing foxes - as was the case on Westwood on Boxing Day. If foxes need controlling there are more humane ways to do that than using packs of dogs to tear them apart.

The Tory MP, Graham Stuart, on the other hand, said that if the Tories get into government at the coming election, he hopes the anti-hunting law will be repealed - so that this bloodthirsty 'sport' can resume. Mr Stuart spoke of retaining the 'freedom' to indulge in hunting foxes. The Greens' view is that we certainly want to retain our freedoms, but that archaic customs such as hunting and killing animals with dogs should no longer be seen as acceptable behaviour. Barbarity towards animals supports and encourages barbarity towards human beings.

Ice and no action from council

I sent this letter to the Beverley Guardian today....

East Riding residents say the icy roads and pavements are a disgrace. Driffield, for example, has been even worse than Beverley. I've spoken to officers of East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) and they say they treat 38% of the road network on a precautionary basis and an additional 12% on a ‘responsive’ basis, but little or no funding is allocated for cul-de-sacs or pavements. Meanwhile the injuries are mounting - along with all their pain, cost and inconvenience. A&E in Hull has had ‘unprecedented’ numbers of injuries and has been forced to send people on elsewhere for surgery.

The ice issue is yet another example of ERYC’s poor record in deciding on sensible and humane priorities. ERYC seems to have priorities other than residents' welfare and safety - or surely there would be plans in place for emergency situations such as this? It should be a priority to enable people to get out of their houses. There's job potential too. Plenty of people would have been pleased with some seasonal paid work clearing smaller footpaths. Maybe there is a lack of ‘special vehicles’, or maybe health and safety regulation is being allowed to get in the way of common sense? Whatever the reason, there’s no excuse for leaving residents trapped at home or risking serious injury by going out. It’s the Council’s job to sort this.

But it’s a political decision - and ERYC is Tory-dominated. Do we want to see more neglect of public service and cost-cutting in the future? It’s ironic in this context that Graham Stuart (Tory MP for Beverley and Holderness) talks of care of those who are ‘elderly, frail or lonely’ – the very people who have been frozen into their homes. Green politicians, whether on local councils, in Westminster, or in Europe, prioritise safety and welfare. For example, there are 7 Green City Councillors in Oxford, where ‘all the main roads and pavements are gritted’ (quoted from your article last week).

Let’s have more sense and fairness instead of hidebound political thinking in pursuit of ‘targets’…and empty rhetoric.

Sincerely, Shan Oakes Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Haltemprice and Howden