Monday 29 August 2011

Green leader calls on UK to "stop selling arms to repressive regimes"

23 August 2011. Caroline Lucas MP, leader of UK's Green Party, called on the UK govermnent to "stop selling arms to repressive regimes".

In response to the changing situation in Libya Caroline Lucas said: "Despite the intensified fighting in Tripoli today between rebel forces and those loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, and the confusion over the reported arrests of Gaddafi's sons, it seems certain that the Libyan dictator's days are numbered. The hope now is that the fighting will be brought to a swift end, and that Gaddafi will be made to face justice in a court of law. And the priority for the international community must be to do all it can to ensure that the pressing civilian needs for essential services and humanitarian assistance are urgently met.

"The mammoth task of rebuilding the country and providing legitimate, truly representative governance after 42 years of a dictatorship now falls to the National Transitional Council and its chairman, Mustafa Abdul Jalil - and it is crucial that these efforts are fully owned and supported across Libyan society. The process of filling the post Gaddafi void and maintaining stability as different elements compete for influence will need to be carefully managed by those who know the country - not by Western nations - if the transition is to be a peaceful and sustainable one. Furthermore, the new administration must show the Libyan people that control of the country's abundant natural resources lies in their hands only.

"Here at home, there are lessons to be learned about the UK's foreign policy. With the help of Western governments and companies acting in their own interests, Gaddafi was able to market himself as a respectable figure on the world stage. Just a few months before the uprising, our Government was still selling him weapons. If we are truly committed to upholding human rights in the region, then we must urgently review our role in the international arms trade - and stop selling arms to repressive regimes. We cannot continue to arm dictators who abuse their own citizens and then try to claim the moral high ground when addressing the conflicts that those same arms have helped to perpetuate."

Friday 5 August 2011

Who's to blame for rising air pollution? Greens pile pressure on Brighton and Hove Conservatives

London Road (Brighton) - Argus
Brighton and Hove Green Party released information to back up their claims that air pollution has risen in the city - by up to 40% between 2007 and 2010 - and that the policies of the previous Conservative administration over that period are to blame.

Earlier this week, the local Green Party website published links to publications that detail where the biggest rises in air pollution occurred:
"On 21 July Brighton & Hove City Council released its latest Air Quality Action Plan which contained the air quality figures for 2010. This can be viewed here: Air Quality Action Plan 2011 (page 23). These reveal an increase in traffic related air pollution across the city particularly in Nitrogen Dioxide which is the main pollutant measured. Comparing figures with earlier years contained in the preceding report air pollution has increased significantly. The 2010 report can be viewed here: 2010 Air Quality Progress report (page 24). Parts of Lewes Road for example have seen an increase of pollution levels from 52 ug/m (microgramme per cubic metre) to 74 between 2007 and 2010, a 40% increase in four years."
The website also pinpointed 2009 press statements by Ian Davey - who warned of rising levels of pollution - and Conservative Cabinet Member Geoffrey Theobold - who said transport planning measures had ensured continuing improvement in nitrogen dioxide levels citywide.

In the Brighton Argus of 19 May 2009, Ian Davey said air pollution levels were increasing in some areas. He said "the council is not solving the problem and it may be getting worse in some areas of the city". He said more effort was needed to get people to cycle and walk to work to school and work. [Recent data suggests much of our traffic originates from inside the city - and that a large proportion of car journeys to work are less then three miles long - ed].

Ian Davey suggested improving the cycle and walking network and a 20 mph limit as well as improvements to the bus network to ease the pressure on the number of buses passing through the city center. [These might include rapid transit links, and direct links between suburbs avoiding the city centre - ed.]

He added: “The Conservative administration needs to recognise that if you keep insisting on more car parking you will get more cars.”

Here is the response of the Conservative administration, quoted in here from the 2009 Argus article.
"Councillor Geoffrey Theobald, cabinet member for the environment, said in a statement that coverage of air quality was alarmist. He said: “I would recommend that your readers visit our city air watch website which is recognised as one of the best local authority air on the internet websites. Our air quality action plan is improving air quality ... The council recorded an improvement at more than 80% of its sites in 2008. Transport planning measures have ensured continuing improvement in nitrogen dioxide levels citywide.”
Nigel Jenkins, project development officer for the Sussex Air Quality Partnership, said there had been an overall improvement in air quality over the years which can be pinned down to a series of measures. He said: “The air quality in most cities in the UK is improving because there are European and UK driven initiatives that are reducing pollution across the board. In Brighton there is a very good bus system and generally there have been technological improvements with cleaner engines in cars. If we had the number of cars that we have today on the roads ten years ago the emissions would have been dirtier than they are today.”"
The Conservative Administration 2007- 2010 cancelled several crucial elements of the Cycle Town network for safe cycling and attempted to repeal the city's commitment to sustainable transport - to replace it with policies in favor of the car.

For more information on why we should be concerned about rising levels of NO2 click here.
For more analysis of the Air Quality Action Plan, including graph of rising NO2 at several locations click here
Link to Brighton and Hove Green Party website - this story.

Revival for 'crucial cycle lane' as Old Shoreham Road Cycle Lane Scheme receives £330k funding from Sustrans

OSR planning story - Nov 2009
3 August 2011. Brighton and Hove City Council announced that it will revive the "crucial cycle lane" once planned for the Old Shoreham Road (OSR) - and scrapped by the previous Conservative council administration.

This is a special moment for cycle campaigners since the changes in spec, safety worries, and eventual scrapping of the 'OSR' scheme sparked interest in the campaign for sustainable transport in Brighton and Hove in 2009.

A council spokesperson said today: "A safe cycle route could now be built along part of one of Brighton & Hove's busiest roads. The city council has won £330,000 from the sustainable transport charity Sustrans to help develop a 1.5 km route along the Old Shoreham Road from the BHASVIC junction on Dyke Road to The Drive. Sustrans' 'Links to Schools' cash would be added to £125,000 of council funds to complete most of the work by March 2012.

"Lanes on either side of the road will have low kerbs to physically separate motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. No parking spaces will be lost under the plan. Two busy junctions on the route will also get safety improvements for pedestrians and cycles. Councillors believe the new lanes would fill a vital missing link in the local cycle network, particularly from the seafront in Hove to the Seven Dials area.

"Previous surveys of residents along the road, which carries up to 27,000 vehicles a day, have shown 66 per cent favour a dedicated cycle route."

Cabinet councillor for Transport and Public Realm Ian Davey said: "This shows the council meeting manifesto commitments to improve cycling facilities. Where we build cycle lanes we want them to be excellent, user-friendly and safe lanes which link to existing routes and facilities and really improve everyone's experience of moving around the city by bike.

"This is a crucial east-west route across the city but traffic speed and volume can make it an uncomfortable place for cyclists and pedestrians. The proposed scheme will make Old Shoreham Road safer for everyone including young people using the many nearby schools.

"When the Grand Avenue cycle lane was threatened last year there was a huge petition asking for the council to extend, rather than reduce, cycle facilities. This is our positive response."

A new consultation will now be undertaken before any work starts, subject to official cabinet member approval on August 17.

The council spokesperson added: 'The scheme is being reprieved by the new administration after councillors shelved the idea last year."

Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with the systematic destruction - by the Conservative administration - of plans to transform Brighton and Hove into a cycling city, or more accurately, into a sustainable transport city. These plans were the basis of the Cycle Town grants made to the city from 2005 by Cycling England. The Old Shoreham Road (OSR) Cycle Lane was the backbone of the scheme, providing a safe cycling link between the town centres of Brighton, Hove and Portslade. In 2009, the city planners under Conservative leadership removed segregated cycle lanes from the OSR plans and then found the scheme to be unsafe - and cancelled it. After that they cancelled the Marine Parade cycle lane scheme, and finally tried to rip up the one part of the scheme already installed - The Drive. Public protests, a big media campaign, and a huge swing at the May local elections saw the Tories lose half their seats, and the Greens gain power in the council.

Stuart Croucher, a member of the team who designed the original scheme, made an impassioned plea for the reinstatement of the scheme, and a powerful argument in favour of a network of segregated cycle lanes for young people and learners, in an interview he gave last year. The original plans - and the 'crucial' part played by OSR cycle lane - are all shown in another entry on this blog.