A lot has been written, said and shouted about the proposed High- Speed route from the Midlands to London. It would be easy to characterise the new route as a line of concrete and metal destroying the landscape with no regard to the environment in the name of progress. However, High-Speed Rail is not air- travel or coal-fired power stations, trains themselves are not inherently bad for the environment. In fact trains are a key part of any sustainable transport system. For something like High-Speed Rail the question as to whether it is a “good” thing depends on the specific plans in question and the circumstances in which they are being HS2 = Sustainable Transport and Jobs? Continued on Page 14 Birmingham Friends of the Earth Campaigning at local, regional and national level to protect the environment
Transcript
A lot has been written, said and shouted about the proposed High-Speed route from the Midlands to London. It would be easy to characterise the new route as a line of concrete and metal destroying the landscape with no regard to the environment in the name of progress. However, High-Speed Rail is not air-travel or coal-fired power stations, trains themselves are not inherently bad for the environment. In fact trains are a key part of any sustainable transport system. For something like High-Speed Rail the question as to whether it is a “good” thing depends on the specific plans in question and the circumstances in which they are being
HS2 = Sustainable Transport and Jobs?
Continued on Page 14
Birmingham Friends of the EarthCampaigning at local, regional and national level to protect the environment
3 - Campaigns Digest
5 - Warehouse News
7 - Guest Article: Aston Going Green
9 - Tesco Bullies its way into Moseley
12 - Diary
13 - Membership Form
14 - HS2 = Sustainable Transport and Jobs? (cont.)
17 - Keep It Behind Closed Doors
19 - Climate Change Opera
20 - Tax Cuts for the most under-taxed
22 - Volunteer In The Spotlight
23 - Contacts
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Birmingham Friends of the Earth have once again been at the forefront of shaping the agenda for a more sustainable future over the past few months, as you can see from our work on transport and the core strategy for Birmingham.
Energy and Climate Change The group is launching a new campaign called “close the door” to encourage retailers to reduce their energy usage by not leaving doors open during the winter (see the article for more details). They have also been lobbying MPs for amendments to the energy bill going through parliament, ensuring that properties rented from a landlord must meet a basic standard of insulation and heating. As part of this, members of the group also went to Aston Go Green week and asked students to “rate their digs” for how energy efficient and well insulated they were. There is a video of the results of this on youtube.
Local Shops and Food Our outreach officer, Rosie, has been working together with the Digbeth Residents Association to find a suitable site to grow vegetables in the area. This would make a great temporary use of much of the disused space around the city while it is waiting to be developed. We are also looking at the best ways of ensuring unwanted and unsustainable supermarket developments, such as the one
in Moseley as mentioned in the article, are not built.
Transport The group organised one of our biggest public events for a while
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Campaigns Digest
The group is launching a new campaign called “close the door” to encourage retailers to reduce their energy usage by not leaving doors open during the winter
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with a public debate on High Speed Rail (HS2) and whether this was the best way to create a low-carbon transport system and jobs for Birmingham. See the main article for details on why this is such an important issue and check out our website for a report on the event which took place on 28th March. We also continue work on preventing public money being wasted on schemes such as the runway extension and promoting sustainable transport in the city.
Waste In March we successfully got press coverage of our campaign to halve the amount of rubbish that goes into bin bags. Birmingham needs to follow the lead of other cities and up its recycling rate, introduce food waste collections and stop burning precious resources in order to meet its climate change commitments. We also held a day of action on 19th March when we were out on the streets of Kings Heath collecting signatures in support of our campaign.
Swap Shop and Crafting More people have been getting involved in running our crafting sessions, as Beth took a well-deserved break and we had one mending session and another making seed bombs. Look out for more exciting sessions coming up on the website and on facebook. The Swap Shop continues to be a great community event in Moseley, which is also copied in other areas.
If you want more information on how to run one, just get in touch.
Planning There was a lot of work to do in looking at the Birmingham Core Strategy which will determine the city’s planning guidance for the next 15 years, but our volunteers all added their expertise in different areas to put together a response of over 23 pages in length. It was a Herculean effort by all involved and one that will be rewarded if the finished document includes more of our ideas to ensure that sustainability is embedded into Birmingham’s planning guidance.
Joe Peacock
Campaigns Digest continued
Having almost finished the numerous improvements to the reception, meeting room, toilets and boiler, we are moving on to the fair weather jobs. This will include finishing the repairs to the rear wall and to the roof, both of which require some serious attention.
Elsewhere in the building, Birmingham Environmental Education Project (BEEP to its friends) is gearing up to restart with a fresh new website (BirminghamEnvironment.org) and the newly refurbished reception as its base.
BEEP will be using the reception as
a public demonstration of internal wall insulation, draughtproofing, eco-flooring, secondary glazing and will show people around Birmingham Friends of the Earth’s wood pellet boiler.
It will also be giving Birmingham’centric environmental advice and highlighting environmental community projects in Birmingham, with a map to show you where your nearest project is, letting you find out more and get involved.
For more information contact Deborah or Khaled on 0121 632 6909.
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Warehouse News
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Sales, service, repairs, accessories. Bikes also built to your own specifications.
Open Wednesday to Saturday, 10am-4pm
0121 633 0730
SPROCKETCycles
Established over 15 years ago in the Friends of the Earth Building in Birmingham The Warehouse Café has a reputation as a quality provider of vegetarian and vegan food in Birmingham.
“Real people serving real food with local, organic and fair trade leading the way” Guardian Unlimited.
To see the delicious menu go to www.thewarehousecafe.com
• 100% vegetarian and vegan• A Large selection of organic
and fairtrade products, most supplied and delivered by a workers co-operative
• Vegan owners - no meat or dairy products sold
Open Monday to Saturday, 10am-5pm
The shops and companies here have all come together because they are dedicated to working towards a healthier, more organic city.
So if you want to help make Birmingham a cleaner, greener place to live, or you just want to eat some good vegetarian food, then come to The Warehouse and see what’s going on.
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Aston University’s second annual Go Green Week took place last month. People from all around the university, and externally, were involved with lectures, displays, activities and competitions all week. The themed days aimed to raise awareness of different issues: Move on Monday (sustainable transport), Turn off Tuesday (energy and water), Wildlife Wednesday, Throwaway Thursday (reuse and recycling) and Fairtrade Friday. The week was also an opportunity for our Environment Team to chat to people about what Aston is doing and what else we could (or should!) be doing.
Go Green Week also marked the launch of our new Energy Champions network. This network aims to bring people together from across the University to share ideas and act as champions to improve the energy performance of the University. We also took the opportunity to launch the 2011 Go Green Awards; following on from last years’ success we hope to get individuals in every department signing up to take action.
Behind the scenes the Environment
Team has been working hard on a number of projects. Our Carbon Management Plan sets targets for reducing our energy use and to achieve these targets we have developed an implementation plan identifying a number of low and no-cost options to reduce our energy usage as well as some more major
projects. In the last year, amongst other things, lighting has been upgraded in the library building, pipe work has been insulated around campus and a number of boilers have been upgraded. We have also reduced our water usage
Aston Going Green
This network aims to bring people together from across the University to share ideas and act as champions to improve the energy performance of the University.
in this time and are working hard to reduce our waste by introducing a new recycling system across campus (already in place in the halls of residence, the library and the south wing). We have also purchased an on-site in-vessel composter; this will deal with our food waste and some garden waste.
For the future we have set ourselves some more challenging objectives such as achieving the BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) Excellent rating on all of our new buildings, including the second phase of our Aston Student Villages, by incorporating features such as
renewable energy generation, green roofs and recycling facilities. By the end of 2011 we also aim to have been awarded the Platinum EcoCampus award for the whole University, equivalent to ISO14001 accreditation. We have just submitted the 2011 People&Planet Green League questionnaire and hope that our hard work will help to keep us at the top of the table, after last year’s 5th place. Most importantly, we are determined to shout about what we are doing so that our staff and students can feel proud about being part of a truly sustainable university.
Victoria Johnsen
We are looking for people to help ensure we create innovative and engaging campaigns.
With politicians claiming to be green, but then showing their decisions to be anything but sustainable in practice it is up to groups like ours to highlight this and push for better and fairer policies on the ground.
If you are passionate and/or creative and feel you would like to get involved in any way, please contact [email protected] for more details.
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Appeal for Volunteers
Last month brought the sad news that the Tesco application for an out of centre site in Moseley was approved – by a single vote – after it had previously been rejected by councillors. Ian Ward, Labour, voted against the rest of his party in approving it, making the votes even, and then the chair’s vote carried it.
The application is for a Tesco, sheltered housing, surgery and parking on land previously siting a garage. Anyone who knows Moseley will know that this site is not within the centre. People parking and shopping there will be much more reluctant to additionally ‘pop into the village’.
The retail need assessment for Moseley on which the decision was made was thoroughly out of date, being put together in 2005 when the only supermarket in the centre was a rather run-down Kwiksave. When the second supermarket was
approved in Moseley, it seemed conceivable that the shop would strengthen the centre – although in fact more food shops have closed since. But that supermarket was right in Moseley’s centre. This one, with its inadequate but doubtless appealing closer parking, could lead to the closure of one of the supermarkets in the centre, and will certainly reduce what they call ‘linked trips’ when people nip into the independents after completing their supermarket shop. It is easy to see that the opening of this supermarket will lead to a net loss of jobs and a loss of Moseley vitality.
The u-turn by councillors may have resulted from the public threats
When the second supermarket was approved in Moseley, it seemed conceivable that the shop would strengthen the centre – although in fact more food shops have closed since.
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Tesco Bullies its way into Moseley
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made by the developer’s lawyers and aired in the Birmingham Post, that refusal would incur a ‘huge legal bill’. The Asda recently turned down in Shirley faced similar bullying tactics and is now going to appeal – though the case should be good to get it rejected at appeal too. Supermarkets bully local government as well as their suppliers.
We suspect there were strong enough grounds on need and impact to reject the Tesco application if officers had had any will to do so, and there may well be a local appetite for judicial review. But to win future battles we need our local plan to contain the right policies that protect local enterprise and centre vitality. Birmingham’s local plan – the Core Strategy, rather than the planning application stage, is the most important place to start for anyone who cares about what is built in their community. One consultation stage on our Core Strategy has just finished. Birmingham FOE members worked hard on a response that included detailed suggestions for better policies on retail, economic
development, energy efficiency and generation, housing and transport. Retail-wise we have been recommending, for example, policies that any even average sized retail development that is edge- or out-of-centre, or not in accordance with an up-to-date plan, should be subject to a full impact assessment; protection of food access (food shopping within walking distance); and restriction on developments that would adversely impact on traditional and farmers’ markets.
There are big changes afoot in planning. A ‘presumption in favour of development’ could make it close to impossible to refuse anything on the grounds of its impact on local centres, unless there are very strong policies in the local plan – hence the importance of engaging with the Core Strategy. Even the proposals for Neighbourhood Planning seem to do little to protect and everything to abandon. Going back to Moseley, over the last two years the community have been working on a Big Plan, very like the proposed Neighbourhood Plans. Moseley’s big plan was perfectly clear that an out-of-centre Tesco was unwanted, inappropriate, a waste of land and of economic development opportunity. One has to wonder if neighbourhood plans will prove about as effective, even if communities are sufficiently empowered, time- and money-rich to develop them.
Karen Leach
The term guerrilla gardening was used by Liz Christy and her Green Guerrilla group in 1973 in New York. Guerilla gardening takes place in many parts of the world - more than thirty countries are documented. It describes gardening on a piece of unused land not belonging to oneself.
This could be a patch of overgrown grass outside the tower-blocks in Ladywood, around the gravestones of Pigeon Park, or those unused squares surrounding tree-trunks in the pavement of Birmingham high-streets… it’s wherever you see somewhere that could be brightened up! Plant wildflowers, vegetables, sunflowers, fruit bushes… anything you have seeds or cuttings of and can imagine will grow in your secret location!
There are also more serious reasons to do your bit of Guerrilla Gardening. In a time of food insecurity, collapsing eco-systems and fragmented communities, council or private ownership of land left neglected is a tragic waste and needs to be put to better use by us, the tax-payer and the community.
We held a seed-bomb making workshop at Birmingham FOE open to all on the 21st March – this involved forming balls of soil and flower seeds, letting them dry out, then throwing them wherever you see a good spot! Easy and great fun, the seed bomb is a nice tool in the Guerrilla Gardener arsenal.
The future is bright; the future is the colour of the flowers you sow today.
Take Action
Sow the seeds of a better, brighter community today and plant something on your street this evening with a packet of seed, a spoon and a drink-bottle filled with water. Take this newsletter with you and hand it to any interested passer-by as way of explanation. If you’d like a bit of help contact [email protected] I’ll get back to you.
Further Information
See www.guerillagardening.org for examples of Guerrilla Gardening spanning the globe from London to Chicago.
Daniel Therkelsen
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No Garden? Go Guerrilla and Grow Your Own!
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Campaign MeetingsMonday Night Meetings – 7:30pm at the Birmingham FoE Warehouse, Allison St4th April: General Meeting11th April: Local Shops and Food Action Group14th April, THURSDAY: Strategy Meeting18th April: Energy & Climate Change Action Group and
Happily Ever Crafter25th April: Bank Holiday (no meeting)3rd May, TUESDAY: General Meeting9th May: Transport Action Group16th May: Local Shops and Food Action Group and Happily
Ever Crafter23rd May: Energy & Climate Change Action Group30th May, TUESDAY: Discussion – “Can we still prevent runaway
climate change?”
Other Events23rd April: Moseley Swap Shop5th May: Local Elections and voting reform referendum23rd May: HS2 public exhibition – Washwood Heath28th May: Moseley Swap ShopSee Northfield Eco Centre for their many events and workshops www.northfieldecocentre.org/
Farmers’ MarketsBirmingham University: 4th Wednesday of the month 9am-2pmHarborne: 2nd Saturday of the month 9am-2pmKings Heath: 1st Saturday of the month 9am-3:30pmKings Norton: 2nd Saturday of the month 9am-2pmMoseley: 4th Saturday of the month 9am-3pmNew Street: 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month 10am-4pmSolihull: 1st Friday of the month 9am-5pmSutton Coldfield: 2nd Friday of the month 9am-3pmJewellery Quarter: 3rd Saturday of the month 10am-3pm
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We are the only organisation in Birmingham that campaigns on Climate Change, Transport, Local Shops, Planning, Waste and Recycling. You can help us do this in a number of ways;1.) By taking part in or our campaigns 2.) By joining us 3.) BothWhichever route you decide, you are helping to change your environment for the better. Making sure that those who pollute, monopolise or despoil locally, nationally or internationally are accountable. There are two ways to join us...
EitherI wish to become a Golden Supporter with payments by standing order of £2 per month or more.
OrI wish to become an Annual Supporter, paying by standing order / cheque (Please delete as appropriate. Note that standing orders are cheaper for us to process).
This replaces any previous standing order in favour of Friends of the Earth Birmingham.
Signature: ...................... Date: .........
pursued. So the question is not whether High-Speed rail is good or bad, but whether High-Speed rail fulfils the criteria for a low-carbon, sustainable form of transport that will regenerate the economy and be socially inclusive for everyone to use.
Firstly will it be low carbon by getting people to leave other less carbon-intensive forms of transport? Well the travel times would suggest yes, with London to Birmingham completed in about 40 minutes, faster than any other form of transport currently on offer. However, there are no flights between London and Birmingham, so it is not low carbon by increasing modal shift from air to train. Added to which, high-speed trains are much more energy intensive than normal services, so if people are going from conventional rail to high-speed, they are actually switching to a more carbon intensive form
of transport. This is further exacerbated by the fact that the electricity to power the trains will probably not come from renewable sources.
Moreover for trains going further north to Manchester or Scotland, where there is an air market to take passengers from, trains would only be going at high-speed until the Midlands before switching to conventional rail. This is because the new trains would not tilt into curves, meaning they would actually run slower than the current tilting trains. If the route is extended beyond the Midlands (which is by no means certain), then one has the extra carbon cost of building a longer route against the greater carbon saving of achieving modal shift from an actual existing air service between Scotland, the North and London. In fact the Government’s own report into the route admitted it would only achieve carbon parity (taking into account energy costs of building and running the route) if it went all the way to Scotland.
A further problem with the proposals in terms of delivering a low-carbon sustainable transport system, is that it risks taking money from local and regional transport projects. For example, how would many people in South Birmingham feel if the re-opening of the line to Moseley and Kings Heath could no longer happen because of a lack of funds, while at
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Continued from front pageHS2 = Sustainable Transport and Jobs?
Curzon Street Station
the same time there was a brand new shiny high speed line running between Birmingham and London? While there is an argument that the new route will create capacity for more local trains on the existing network, this will also mean that certain areas, such as Coventry, will lose their current fast and frequent connection to London. Added to which, there are probably cheaper ways to have more spaces for more trains, such as more tracks or passing loops and better signalling.
The next thing to consider is whether the new route will benefit the region economically. Its proposers argue that it will create jobs and investment in the region. This is probably true, invest
billions in any major infrastructure project, and it will almost certainly create jobs and some amount of investment in any area. The question here is whether the jobs being created will match the labour pool in the Midlands, or will these jobs be filled by people outside the region? And more importantly is this the most cost-efficient way of creating these jobs, could we create more jobs that are more permanent in the region using less money? For example, how many jobs could be created by upgrading and expanding the local and regional rail network? Or by building new rolling stock to expand capacity on the current network?
Furthermore with a quick link between London and Birmingham, the risk is that the line is used as a commuter route for people to live in the Midlands and commute to London, hardly a sustainable idea, and provides no regeneration for the region, instead contributing to the greater economic power of the London and South East region. If this sounds far-fetched, one just has to consider comments by Paul Kehoe, Chief Executive of Birmingham Airport, who stated that the airport could become Heathrow’s third runway with High-Speed Rail linking it to the capital. If Birmingham could become London’s new airport with the quick travel time provided by High-Speed Rail then why not the Midlands the new London commuter belt?
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In fact the Government’s own report into the route admitted it would only achieve carbon parity (taking into account energy costs of building and running the route) if it went all the way to Scotland
The final consideration is social inclusivity, who will the line actually benefit? Firstly it will only benefit people who live near the ends of the route, there will be few if any intermediate stations between the Midlands and London, meaning the only people it will actually benefit in terms of higher speeds will be people in Birmingham and London and, as we have already mentioned, some people in some areas will actually lose services. Also tickets to travel on these services will not be cheap and certainly more expensive than current services to London, and so the question of who can actually afford to travel on these shiny new trains also arises. The worry is it will only be affordable to people travelling on business, fuelling the feeling that it is just a vanity project that will result in a rich-man’s railway.
“Well what would you suggest?” I hear you cry? And I admit there is a temptation to back the new project because it appears green, and as environmentalists we often find ourselves opposing every new
big project that comes along, which makes it even more tempting to support this idea. But as I hope I have already shown, the current High-Speed plans aren’t green, they won’t benefit the regional economy and aren’t socially inclusive. If we were building a high-speed railway from Scotland down to the Midlands and then the South, I could possibly see the benefits, a longer distance where High-Speed makes more sense, and starting construction at the end of the country with the worse transport links (Scotland and the North) as opposed to the best (London and the South East), but these plans do not do that, the line is not certain ever to reach Scotland. Added to which, should we not be questioning the nature of needing more capacity? While there are those who say the railway will be full if we do not build this route, there are some who argue that travel demand will begin to plateau, questioning the entire need for more routes in the first place. But instead of arguing over the need for more or less long-distance travel, how about we invest this money in strengthening local and regional links, so we have good quality services in our area that benefit local people, and keep our investment in the region as well as truly strengthening our local economy? So instead of just being against High-Speed 2 how about we are also massively for Regional Rail 1?
Julien Pritchard
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Continued from page 15HS2 = Sustainable Transport and Jobs?
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Keep It Behind Closed Doors
“Shut that door!” If Birmingham’s shopkeepers followed the advice of 1970’s comedian Larry Grayson they could reduce their energy use by up to 50%. That’s no joke! The Birmingham Close the Door campaign, recently launched by Birmingham Friends of the Earth’s Energy & Climate Change action group, has the same advice, except this time we’re serious!
The campaign is already running in various towns and cities with huge success and it’s now time for the UK’s second largest city to get involved and inform shop owners to close their doors. By not complying a single shop is burning the equivalent amount of CO2 emissions as 3 return flights from London to Hong Kong per year! Last summer citizens in New York (where it is an illegal offence to leave the door open) took to the streets of 5th Avenue demanding shops to close the doors when their air conditioning is on in an attempt to highlight the awareness of energy waste.
Getting shops to close their doors will not only save a tremendous amount of energy but it will also enable them to dramatically reduce their heating bills. “By simply closing the shop door, CO2 emissions dramatically decrease, energy bills are reduced, and customers and staff are made more comfortable. It’s a no-brainer”, informs Close the Doors founder Jeannie Dawkins. The campaign has found tropical temperatures in some shops, with temperatures reaching a scorching 25 degrees during the winter period. Keeping doors open and the heating on full is estimated to be costing the UK’s retailers £1billion a year. Closed doors and hence warmer shops would encourage shops to cease using old heating methods such as “air curtains,” these disgusting encounters of hot air that engulf you as you cross the shops threshold are among the greatest wasters of energy - just one air curtain causes more CO2 emissions than a return Glasgow to London coach trip per week!
The most shocking sinners are the likes of The Body Shop, who’s entire business ethos is built around improving life on earth, but they’re not alone; HMV, Next, Sainsbury’s, Vision Express, French Connection and Monsoon are just a few who are contributing to an unnecessary loss of energy. Companies spend millions informing us that they’re socially responsible, probably almost as much as they spend
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on keeping us warm, but when they leave the doors wide open to entice a purchase, isn’t it time we questioned their sustainability agenda?
If two-thirds of the nation’s shops closed their doors, the UK could save the equivalent of taking 1.1 million cars from the roads in carbon emissions, reports Close the Door. Scientific evidence for this claim has been researched by the Engineering Department at Cambridge University, who studied energy usage at two shops in Cambridge – Rymans the stationer, and the independent Cambridge Toy Shop. Energy usage at Rymans was reduced by 54% when doors were kept shut for a day, while the Cambridge Toy Shop saved 30%. Based on these calculations, it said the Rymans shop could cut its energy bill by £1,814 a year, and
the toy shop £516 a year. Until now the only argument retailers had was that leaving doors open boosted sales, however according to the findings by Cambridge University this is nothing more than a myth!
Commenting on the findings, Jeannie Dawkins, director of the Close the Doors Campaign, which commissioned the research, said: “It’s time for retailers to acknowledge the massive contribution they are making to energy waste and carbon emissions if they heat the street.” Such claims by Dawkins have received massive encouragement; up and down the country politicians, academics and celebrities alike have shown their support to entice shops all over the UK to change their door policies. Cambridge alone now has more than 300 shops that stipulate a closed door policy which is an excellent start on the road to getting more shops to consider the loss of profit and energy.
Birmingham City Council has committed to a 60% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2026. With 46% of Birmingham’s CO2 emissions coming from its non-domestic buildings (shops, restaurants, offices, factories and public buildings), one of the easiest ways to reach this goal would be to simply have shops close doors.
Further Information
www.closethedoor.org.uk
Soraya Hodgetts
By not complying a single shop is burning the equivalent amount of CO2 emissions as 3 return flights from London to Hong Kong per year!
Recently I attended a meeting which was somewhat unusual for your average Birmingham Friends of the Earth meeting, as we talked about art and activism and The Opera Group’s plans for combining them. I thought this sounded very exciting and original.
The Opera Group plans to perform a mini-opera to raise awareness to the public about environmentalism, our campaigns and what we do. By using various locations around Birmingham’s city centre, we hope to get plenty of passing trade. The street performance is entitled ‘Save the Diva’ where singers from the group will promote their campaign for the right to irresponsible consumption. It will begin small with
a Birmingham FOE stall, then will build up with the entry of people singing and carrying a large banner. The singers will then compete with each other for the attention of the audience, and it will all come to an exciting clash – you’ll have to come along to see it in early June – check our website for details.
The Opera Group will also be performing a full-scale opera called “Seven Angels”, and the street opera provides a way of bringing this to different people’s attention.
I believe this to be a very clever and comical way to engage and influence the public and keep us in their minds for a long time.
Further Information
www.TheOperaGroup.co.uk
Rosie Cervelli
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The Opera Group plans to perform a mini-opera to raise awareness to the public about environmentalism, our campaigns and what we do.
Climate Change Opera
Tax cuts for the most under-taxed?!
2017
I was amazed to find Jerry Blackett calling for airport taxes to be cut in the Birmingham Post on March 14. How unfortunate it is that at a time when people are losing their jobs and facing tax rises on everyday items he should be defending the already under-taxed aviation industry
The figures he quotes for losses to the economy are dwarfed by the subsidies the aviation industry already receives and the money that is taken out of the economy by people flying abroad.
VAT has just gone up to 20%, as people must be very aware, yet how much VAT does the aviation industry pay? None on anything! They don’t pay VAT or any other tax on fuel, they pay no VAT on buying aircraft, servicing of those aircraft or meals served on aircraft. With this lack of taxation, public money being proposed to be put into paying for Birmingham Airport’s
runway extension and no suggestion that the industry is liable for the environmental damage it causes, in fact they get a very good deal indeed.
Compared to car travel, aviation benefits from an annual tax subsidy of around £9 billion and how many people actually benefit from this? The country suffered from an annual tourism deficit of over £15bn in 2009, down significantly due to the recession. Perhaps a further adjustment is needed for people to spend more money in this country and bring more money into the treasury.
At a time when people are losing their jobs because of cuts to public services, we should not be giving any further money to activities that benefit so few people. The majority of people don’t fly and would rather that those who do pay their fair share of tax.
If you would like to help us campaign on aviation please get in touch. The city council currently see a future that is very different to the one we see and are putting public money into creating more capacity for the airport instead of creating a resilient localised economy where we connect with our neighbours. Further information is available on the Fair Tax on Flying website: www.FairTaxOnFlying.com or www.AirportWatch.org.uk
Joe Peacock
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Joe Peacock interviews Robert Pass
How long have you been involved with BfoE? About 5 months
How did you first find out about BFoE and what made you decide to get involved? Reading James Lovelock’s book The Revenge of Gaia was a huge slap in the face for me, it made me realise that I had to act. Friends of the Earth seemed like the natural place to get involved.
What do you do at BFoE? I am the Lead Campaigner for the Energy & Climate Change Action Group. I draw up the agendas for meetings and encourage people to come along and get involved. Also, I’ve been building links with student and community groups to try and bring a movement together.
What do you think is the most important environmental issue
and why? Climate Change without a doubt, it is unprecedented in human civilisation. Many people do not seem to grasp that we are living now at the expense of future generations.
What’s your best green tip/ advice? Don’t eat beef unless it’s organically and sustainably produced. Livestock is responsible for more greenhouse emissions than all of the world’s transport combined. It also uses a huge amount of water 15,000 litres and 7-10 kg of grain for every 1kg of beef produced. They should tax it and pump the money into green projects.
Reading James Lovelock’s book The Revenge of Gaia was a huge slap in the face for me, it made me realise that I had to act.
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Volunteer Spotlight
Contact us:Friends of the Earth (Birmingham) The Warehouse 54-57 Allison Street Birmingham B5 5TH
Friends of the Earth is:- The largest international network
of environmental groups in the world, represented in 72 countries.
- One of the UK’s leading enviromental pressure groups.
- A unique network of campaigning local groups, working in more than 200 communities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
- Over 90% of its funds come from its supporters.
Birmingham FoE:Campaigns at a local level to effect environmental change (in ways which feed into national and international policy) through:
- Direct action
- Lobbying
- Education
- Empowering others to take action
- Participation and representation through public fora
Chair: Benjamin MabbettCampaigns Co-ordinators: Roxanne GreenCampaigns Support Worker: Joe PeacockElectronic Design & Communication Officer: Daniel RileyGeneral Manager: Phil BurrowsTreasurer: Margaret LynchAviation: Joe PeacockOutreach Officer: Rosie CervelliClimate Change & Energy: Robert PassMulti-faith and Climate Change Project: Rianne ten Veen & Maud GraingerCraft, Recycling and Swap Shop: Beth FisherLocal Shops & Food: Nigel BakerPlanning: John HallTransport: Martin StrideNewsletter Editors: Katy BarryAntonio Roberts Zoe WrightWebsite Editor: Phil BurrowsTalks: Joe Peacock and othersAll enquiries and callers welcome.
