Fly-tipping on increase

There appears to have been an increase in incidents of fly-tipping recently. It is unclear why this is although there have been suggestions that it is linked to fortnightly collections of residual waste and bins being full. This may account for some of them but much of it seems to be linked to builder's rubbish and house clearances. Two huge dumps near Willesden New Cemetery were left by two large lorries in the early hours.

This is what I saw today while walking from my home near Barn Hill to Birchen Grove and back

Barn Hill, HA9

Deanscroft Avenue, NW9

Old Church Lane, NW9

Birchen Grove, NW9

Footpath behind St Andrew's Church, NW9

              

   Dunster Drive, NW9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Co-mingling muddle

When Brent's new waste strategy was first mooted, Brent Friends of the Earth made powerful submissions to Council committees, LINK raising questions about 'co-mingling', the mixing of all recyclables in one container rather than separation at the kerbside. They suggested that because of the resulting contamination the recyclables would be of less value to waste processing firms. Unsaleable recyclables would end up in landfill or be exported to third world countries, perhaps for sorting by child labour.  FoE raised concerns about the end destination of the waste but the council responded that this was not their concern - their responsibility ended once the waste had been collected by Veolia.

Recently Channel 4's Dispatches raised some of the same issues in their recent programme 'Britain's Waste'. It can be seen HERE

Meanwhile Lorraine Skinner has uploaded a new video about the blue bins:



This has produced a pithy comment from Ian Saville:

In my street, neighbours are still quite confused about what needs to go where, and some people are clearly just using the blue bin for everything. It seems therefore that the level of contamination is going to be considerably higher than it was before, especially since those collecting the waste now have much less opportunity to check that the bins are being used correctly. Before we are told that this has enormously increased the rate of recycling, we need some way of estimating the extra cost of sorting, the contamination from material that should go into residual, and the difficulties caused by broken glass in the paper. Does anybody know how this is being monitored?

'Living Doll Cliff ' to be immortalised in Wembley

Some people think he is in immortal anyway but a statue of Sir Cliff Richard is due to be erected at Wembley's Arena Square. The 2 metre high bronze statue has been commissioned by Thank You For The Music of Oppland, Norway.

A Council insider said, 'Moscow has Lenin's tomb and soon Wembley will have Cliff's statue.  We expect this to become a major tourist attraction, if not a shrine. Its positioning close to the new Civic Centre will answer critics who have called the Council philistines because we have closed half the borough's libraries. This statue will restore our cultural credentials.'

Okay, I made the Council's comment up but if YOU want to comment on the planning application follow this LINK. The decision will be made by November 24th.

Occupy Wall Street Goes International - Great Video!

Stop letting the Big Six energy companies rip us off

Friends of the Earth have launched a petition addressed to David Cameron on the six big energy companies. It reads:

To David Cameron,

I want the Big Six energy companies to stop ripping us off. The energy companies stand to make billions by keeping us hooked on expensive, imported, dirty fuel. And your Government is letting them get away with it.

I urge you:

• To launch an independent public inquiry into the Big Six's power over consumers and influence over politicians.
• Not to axe support for clean British energy produced by communities, councils, business and householders.

Sign the petition HERE

Friends of the Earth Report - The Dirty Half Dozen HERE

Brent Labour poll disaster predicted after library closures

A child puts the finishing touches to her poster at Kensal Rise library

The Wembley and Willesden Observer is running an on-line poll asking:

Will the closure of six libraries spell electoral disaster for Brent's Labour councillors? "Will the closure of six libraries mean electoral disaster for Brent's Labour councillors?" The results at present are:

Yes
82.2%
No
17.8%

Vote at www.harrowobserver.co.uk

London Fire Brigade services should be under public ownership - Darren Johnson

Responding to the FBU, UNISON, GMB joint report ‘Privatisation of London’s fire service training and control centre report published on October 24th, London Assembly Member Darren Johnson said:

“I don’t believe that Londoners agree with privatisation of the fire service, and the uncertainties that come with it. I don't want to see pivotal London Fire Brigade services privatised as we have seen far too many privatisations that have been costly and ineffective. That is why I welcome these proposals by the unions for the Fire Brigade to work with staff and unions in designing improved in-house provision for training and fire control."

On the privatisation of fire engines, Darren said:

“The financial fiasco of the privatisation of London Fire Brigade fire engines has raised fundamental questions about the financial viability and safety of handing key frontline emergency services assets such as Fire engines over to the private sector. I have urged the Mayor of London to bring it back under public ownership”

Brent's library statement a 'masterpiece of political bullshit' - Pullman

From the GUARDIAN

Philip Pullman has lambasted Brent council for its comment that closing half of its libraries would help it fulfil "exciting plans to improve libraries", describing the statement as a "masterpiece" which "ought to be quoted in every anthology of political bullshit from here to eternity". "All the time, you see, the council had been longing to improve the library service, and the only thing standing in the way was – the libraries,” said the His Dark Materials author, speaking at the national conference of library campaigners on Saturday, where over 80 people from around the country gathered to share tactics on how to save the UK's beleaguered libraries.

With 600 of England’s libraries threatened with closure, Pullman called the campaigners’ battle a "war against stupidity". Citing campaigns to save libraries in Oxfordshire as well as in Brent, Pullman said "the war we're fighting is not against this party or that one, this flag or another flag, our parents or our MP or anyone else in particular: it’s against stupidity. And stupidity is not to be underestimated. The poet Schiller, whose great words on the subject of Joy were set in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, knew what a huge part stupidity plays in human affairs: 'Against stupidity,' he said, 'the gods themselves struggle in vain.'

Having worked himself as a library assistant in Charing Cross Road library in the early 70s, Pullman said "if you really want complete freedom of choice, complete openness of information, where nobody is spying on you, no one is selling your presence to advertisers, the only place to find it is a library, where they keep books."

He highlighted the Summer Reading Challenge, run by the Reading Agency, which encourages children to read six books over the summer holidays. This year a record 780,000 children took part. "Only the libraries could provide the materials and the staff to make this possible. And nothing could be more important, if we have the well-being of our children at heart," said Pullman.

After listening in on sessions at the conference – which covered everything from legal challenges to library closures to using volunteers to keep libraries open – Pullman said he "saluted everyone who's come here today, everyone who's protesting and demonstrating to save this library or that one, everyone who's devising a way of preserving one of the greatest and the best gifts any society has ever given its seekers after truth, its children, its old people, everyone who is looking for help better to enjoy life or better to endure it".

"There's nothing more valuable in the war against stupidity than the public library. These are hard times, but you are each guarding a beacon," said the author. "The book is second only to the wheel as the best piece of technology human beings have ever invented. A book symbolises the whole intellectual history of mankind; it's the greatest weapon ever devised in the war against stupidity. Beware of anyone who tries to make books harder to get at. And that is exactly what these closures are going to do – oh, not intentionally, except in a few cases; very few people are stupid intentionally; but that will be the effect. Books will be harder to get at. Stupidity will gain a little ground."

The conference’s organisers, The Library Campaign and Voices for the Library, said that one demand from the day was to take the fight to save libraries to a national level, with suggestions including a march on Downing Street. Pullman said that "if it was at all possible", he would join them.

"We already share the same determination," said The Library Campaign chair Laura Swaffield. "If councils insist on fighting us instead of working with us, we will fight back. If central government goes on shirking its duty to support libraries, we will keep on at them. We won't give up. We can’t."