Birmingham Friends of the Earth kicks off 2008 with a new campaign to fight the expansion of Birmingham International Airport (BIA). Birmingham FoE has teamed up with Birmingham Airport anti-Noise Group (BANG) to create a tongue-in-cheek website, www.flyagra.co.uk, satirising the proposal to extend the airport’s runway. A spoof spam e-mail advertising ‘Flyagra, the revolutionary treatment that really keeps you up!’ will direct web users to the site, which compares the runway extension to a dodgy ‘male organ’ enlargement treatment. But the campaign carries a serious message too: airport expansion is bad news for local residents and the environment, and time is running out in which to stop the development going ahead. NEW ANTI-RUNWAY CAMPAIGN AIMS TO ‘KEEP IT UP’ Continued on Page 12
Transcript
Birmingham Friends of the Earth kicks off 2008 with a new campaign to fight the expansion of Birmingham International Airport (BIA).
Birmingham FoE has teamed up with Birmingham Airport anti-Noise Group (BANG) to create a tongue-in-cheek website, www.flyagra.co.uk, satirising the proposal to extend the airport’s runway. A spoof spam e-mail advertising ‘Flyagra, the revolutionary treatment that really keeps you up!’ will direct web users to the site, which compares the runway extension to a dodgy ‘male organ’ enlargement treatment.
But the campaign carries a serious message too: airport expansion is bad news for local residents and the environment, and time is running out in which to stop the development going ahead.
NEW ANTI-RUNWAY CAMPAIGN AIMS TO ‘KEEP IT UP’
Continued on Page 12
3 - Warehouse News
5 - Campaigns Digest
6 - Local Shops Update
8 - Avoiding the Third Degree
10 - Biofuel Project
12 - Anti-Airport Campaign
16 - Bournville Ecohome
17 - Rethinking the Message
18 - Unblocking the roads
19 - Volunteer Spotlight
20 - Sustrans Success
21 - Diary
22 - Membership Form
23 - Contacts
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New Year and Plenty to Do!Much of the end of 2007 was spent tackling the financial aspect of Birmingham Friends of the Earth. For instance some of the management committee attended a business planning away day to draw up some strategic objectives for 2007-10. We have also been looking at funding opportunities to help pay for internal improvements such as a better heating system and improved insulation as well as external maintenance such as replacing both the cottage and café roof. This is not as easy as it sounds as we don’t always tick the right boxes in terms of funding criteria. This finds us frustrated at times and still very cold! I would therefore take this opportunity to reiterate that if
anyone has any time, energy and ideas for fund-raising then please do contact me either by emailing [email protected] or by phoning the Warehouse (see page 23).
On a more positive note, we start 2008 with a new Warehouse leaflet which gives a much needed contemporary picture of all the many things that now go on in the Warehouse. We have also printed a separate meeting room flyer to help promote this aspect of our business and hopefully increase visitors to the building, as well as revenue. Both items were designed for us by a brilliant volunteer, Tim Waltho, so a big thank you to him. A copy of each is enclosed in this newsletter and I would be grateful if you could spread the word and pass them on to anyone else who might be interested.
Wishing everyone a very happy new year.
Tamsin Mosse
• 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-5pmNatalie looking cold on reception with the new
Warehouse flyer
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Sales, service, repairs, accessories. Bikes also built to your own specifications.
Open Wednesday to Saturday, 10am-4pm
0121 633 0730
As we get into the swing of the New Year, here’s what’s coming up at the Warehouse Café:
Thursday 7 February 2008: Sachiko puts a contemporary vegetarian twist on the Chinese New Year celebration...
Dim sum (starter selection)
Cloud ear fungi, bamboo shoot, wild mushroom in steamed bean curd roll in black bean sauce
Tulip parcel: tofu, aubergine, water chestnut with hoisin sauce
Mooli cake, sweet corn with sweet chilli dipping sauce
All served with sweet and sour cabbage ribbon
Main course
Steamed black and white glutinous rice in lotus leaf parcel with chestnut, shiitake mushroom, bamboo shoot, carrot; served with
Stir fry of Chinese seasonal vegetables in vegetarian oyster sauce
Dessert
Deep-fried sweet potato cake sesame ball in syrup; or
Chinese fruit selection (ugly fruit, Sharon fruit, Chinese pear)
To finish
Tea, coffee or chrysanthemum tea served with crystallized fruits
Tables are available any time from 6.30 with the last tables to eat at 8.30p.m. All tickets are £15.95. To book call the Warehouse Café on 0121 633 0261 or reply to this email. All menu options are suitable for vegans.
Also coming up …
We will also be featuring our annual array of pancakes on Tuesday 5th February and, of course, a romantic Valentine’s menu for 14th February. Watch this space for more details!
That’s all for now and we look forward to seeing you at the Warehouse Café soon.The events featured in this bulletin are correct at the time of sending but we regret that details may change at short notice. Special offers may also be withdrawn at any time.
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SPROCKETCycles
The end of 2007 and beginning of 2008 has seen our campaigns take all kinds of directions. Our ability to concentrate on so many issues at once clearly shows the breadth of expertise we retain within the group. Four campaigners took to the streets for Buy Nothing Day. Dressed in dashing, sparkly Santa costumes, they skipped their way through the city centre reminding shoppers that excessive consumption makes us all feel so very happy. Thankfully the sarcastic tone meant that shoppers understood the irony. Always enjoying linking up with other groups, a few of us participated in Islam Awareness Week, while regional campaigner, Chris Crean, and I contributed to UNISON’s ‘Save the Planet’ Conference at the Botanical Gardens. On climate change, MPs Lynne Jones and Roger Godsiff did video clips, which were added to the Big Ask website and our own YouTube page. Nigel Baker, along with a representative from Oxfam,
had a meeting with Edgbaston MP, Gisela Stuart, to seek her views on the Climate Change Bill. We are delighted to know that Gisela was very supportive of a higher target for emissions cuts by 2050, including aviation and shipping in the Climate Change Bill, and had some favourable comments for non-binding annual milestones. A little less enthusiasm was seen at the Climate Change Rally where a few of us braved the pouring rain in London to show Birmingham’s face to the rest of the nation’s climate change lobby.As part of the Local Shops Campaign, Mary Horesh took a team of campaigners to Weoley Castle Square to raise awareness of the impact of supermarkets on the environment and their consequences for the local community: closure of local, independent shops and net loss of local jobs. Martin Stride donned a gravedigger’s outfit and flat cap to feign the burial of ASDA’s plans (see image), which was printed in the Birmingham Mail. Smooth Radio also covered the story of ASDA’s negative impact on our community.Our end-of-year social took the form of a visit to the refurbished Town Hall to see the very talented Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. Closer to Christmas, Janet Browne and Alison Breadon ran a Christmas Fair where fair trade and environmentally-friendly crafts were on sale as well as a lot of information on how to have a fun, yet ethical, Christmas.The beginning of the New Year saw
Campaigns Digest
Birmingham Friends of the Earth members dressed as Santa on Buy Nothing Day.
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Birmingham Airport put in their application to lay down 400 metres worth of tarmac to extend the current runway. We will be campaigning against this tooth and nail. Our ‘Flyagra’ campaign was launched with a bang. We had a variety of media coverage, the best being Chris Crean’s appearance on BBC’s Politics Show to debate with Solihull MP, Lorely Burt. Back over in Harborne, we ran a campaign stall with the aim of publicising the loss of democratic rights through the Planning Reform Bill that is currently going through
Parliament. The Government intends to set up a powerful Independent Committee that is not democratically accountable to decide on major planning applications. This would also remove the public right to be heard in person during the planning inquiry process. 2008 has started with real strength and the new campaigns meeting structure is proving effective. I look forward to another productive year of campaigns.
Chris Williams
Local Shops UpdateBirmingham always seems to have a range of supermarket developments on the go at any one time… so many that it is difficult for us to keep up with them. Since the last edition of the newsletter, the good news we can bring you is that the ASDA proposals for Selly Oak and Bartley Green are unlikely to succeed. Councillor Alistair Dow says that currently all 3 Selly Oak councillors, in addition to the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, are not in favour of ASDA’s proposals for a superstore in the location they have chosen in Selly Oak, opposite Battery Retail Park. The councillors would prefer to keep the site vacant until the new QE Hospital and Sainsbury’s supermarket have been built and then take a decision on the use of the vacant land at that time. Part of the
land (the Dingle site) ASDA would like is owned by the City Council so ASDA will not be able to develop according to their current plans. Encouragingly, the Selly Oak Business Association has been set up, which is certainly a positive move, helping to safeguard local shops and the unique character of Selly Oak. Councillor Neville Summerfield, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, also called us to say that he, like Bartley Green’s Councillor John Lines, is not in favour of ASDA’s Bartley Green plans, given that the development would take up some greenfield land on the edge of Woodgate Valley Country Park. Instead, ASDA was directed towards development on brown-field land in Longbridge and Frankley. Birmingham Friends of the Earth, of course, would prefer that no new supermarkets were
built in Birmingham for the very many reasons we have outlined before on these pages.The developments we know about in the city are:Yardley – Tesco – planning permission given Hodge Hill – Tesco – planning permission givenStirchley – Tesco – planning permission given; possibility of an appeal; the development is of huge threat to the Co-operative’s flagship store in the areaHall Green – Tesco are thought to be considering opening an Express store near to Robin Hood Island; clearly, supermarkets are far from complementing the high street but taking over itBartley Green/South Woodgate – ASDA have their eye on the Barnes Hill site; unlikely to succeedSelly Oak – ASDA would like to build opposite Battery Retail Park; unlikely to succeedShirley – ASDA, after many years of pushing, are set to develop a supermarket as part of the Heart of Shirley project, which will take up part of Shirley ParkChelmsley Wood – ASDA store to be built as part of the town centre’s redevelopmentLongbridge – the city’s plan for the area’s redevelopment includes a new supermarketAttwood Green/Lea Bank development – supermarket to be
built; current wranglings about whether ASDA or Tesco are to be given the green lightHarborne Road – outline planning permission given for a supermarket near to Five Ways Island as part of the huge Edgbaston Galleries development Sheldon – ALDI have resubmitted planning permission for a development in the middle of the A45 Coventry Road It would be an interesting project to work out the size of all these supermarkets put together: combined, they surely take up an enormous area. And of course, there are likely to be many more developments in the pipeline, particularly smaller stores such as Tesco Express and Sainsbury’s Local, ALDI and LIDL, but we do not hear of them all. If you know of other plans, please do let us know and don’t forget to write to your local councillors to express concerns you have when development proposals come around. A recent Labour Party leaflet in the Quinton area listed ‘attracting Tesco to the area’ as one of their local successes. While this is very disappointing, it must be noted that the opinions of local councillors across the city tend to vary and we cannot label any one political party represented on the City Council as being entirely ‘pro’ or ‘anti’ supermarket. Birmingham Friends of the Earth will continue to promote the benefits of local shops to our economy and communities and promote their employment and environmental benefits.
Chris Williams
In December, the all important Climate Change Conference in Bali brought together delegates from 189 countries to forge a deal that would succeed the Kyoto agreement.The Kyoto Protocol is an international, legally binding agreement to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. It was agreed in 1997 and came into force in February 2005. Back in 1997, 174 nations ratified the pact to reduce the greenhouse gases emitted by developed countries to at least 5% below 1990 levels by 2008-12. But crucially some of the big nations (notably the US) did not sign up.Bali was big news. Full of tears and tantrums, strong words and, once again, those infuriating blocking tactics from the US. Throughout the verbal wrangling, one message rang clear: We urgently need a framework which will limit global temperature rises to two degrees or less. Scientists agree that, while some warming of the atmosphere is now inevitable, we must not let average global temperatures breach the two degree mark. But why two degrees, what’s so special about this figure? In order to answer this, I thought I might have to read some of the thousands of scientific papers on the subject – not a prospect I relished. But then I realised I might have the answer on my own bookshelves. Last year Mark Lynas, the journalist and author, published a book called ‘Six Degrees - Our Future on a Hotter Planet’. He researched countless research papers in order to piece
together what each degree of warming might cause in reality from one degree right up to six degrees. I have this book on my shelves and immediately turned to chapter two (entitled Two Degrees) and found some of the answers…..Acidified oceansThe oceans are the largest single habitat on the planet. They act as a carbon dioxide sponge soaking up approximately half of the CO2 we emit. However, as the gas is absorbed, the oceans become more acidic. Scientists fear that an increase in acidity could make the oceans toxic to shelled crustaceans – their shells would simply dissolve. If acidity became widespread it could affect the lower food chain with a knock-on effect on the whole food web. Acidity could directly affect the gills of higher organisms such as fish and it could also be the final nail in the coffin for the sensitive coral reefs. Even more worryingly it could affect cocclithophores which remove carbon and whose limestone shells fall to the ocean floor effectively locking away carbon dioxide. Higher acidity might wipe these organisms out, cancelling out this important absorption which would lead to higher CO2 levels in the atmosphere.Continental heat wavesIn the summer of 2003, Europe experienced an unprecedented heat wave which cranked up temperatures right across the continent. Switzerland experienced 41.1 degrees Celsius and the UK topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit for the
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first time. The record-breaking heat wave took a massive toll on people and the environment. Hundreds of elderly in Paris perished as a direct consequence. The final human death
toll across Europe is estimated to have been between 22-35,000 fatalities. It also devastated agriculture with billions of pounds of crops lost. River levels plummeted and algal blooms took hold in rivers and lakes. Alpine glaciers melted at higher rates than ever and permafrost in mountain areas melted. All this devastation and how much above average were temperatures that summer? Just 2.3 degrees Celsius. With a two degree global rise, the prediction is that this ‘freak’ summer of 2003 could be common place by the 2040s and, by then, temperatures in an extreme year would be even higher with serious implications for Europe’s rising population and pressurised wildlife. The ice capsYou can hardly open a newspaper
these days without seeing a melting ice cap. In August 2007, the North-West Passage (the sea route running along the Arctic coastline of Canada), normally barricaded with thick ice, wais virtually ice-free for the first time since records began.It seems that the melting has already begun. But what about this in a planet that is two degrees hotter? The science is complex and regional warming plays a big part. There’s now much focus on Greenland. It contains enough ice to raise global sea levels by 2 to 5 metres. Scientists think that Greenland’s critical melt temperature is 2.7 degrees of regional warming which might occur in as little as 1.2 degrees of global warming. The debate now rages about the rate of melting once this tipping point is reached. Recent melting has been much faster than scientists expected. Should Greenland go, then most of Miami and Manhattan would be underwater with large parts of London, Bangkok, Bombay and Shanghai also disappearing below the waves. Up to half of humanity could be looking to find a dry home.There’s more in the book but I’ll leave it there as the message is pretty clear. We need the next stage of the Bali process to be more powerful and precipitate real, urgent action. I hardly dare turn the pages in Mark’s book to see what kind of fate we would face if we fail and we hit a three degree rise.
Kate Nancarrow
The final human death toll across Europe is estimated to have been between 22-35,000 fatalities.
The Third DegreeAvoiding
Papua New Guinea’s Woodlark Island Rainforests ato Be Cleared for Oil Palm Agrofuels One of the most disappointing developments for climate change campaigners recently has been the misplaced belief that biofuels have anything other than a very marginal role to play in tackling the problem. As an illustration of the lunatic obsession with biofuels, or rather the lucrative financial opportunities it offers the unscrupulous, the case of Woodlark Island provides a tragic example.
The oil palm biofuel industry - the scourge of Asia and the world’s rainforests - is continuing to expand into Papua New Guinea (PNG). The government continues to approve rainforest destruction and diminishment whilst at the same time very vocally seeking to be paid with carbon market funds for their “protection”. Woodlark Island is a small island, some 80,000-85,000 hectares, in the Pacific with a population of 6,000 residents. The Malaysian biofuel company, Vitroplant, plans to convert 60,000 hectares to palm oil plantations for biofuels.
Vitroplant has been granted necessary permits by the PNG government to begin clearing 70% of the rainforests on biodiversity-rich Woodlark Island in order to establish a massive plantation of oil palm trees. A solid majority of villagers reportedly oppose the project, and were not even aware of it until after its approval. Expansion of oil palm plantations at the expense of primary rainforests runs
contrary to PNG’s government support for preserving rainforests for climate and other benefits. Prime Minister Somare’s government has been highly vocal, including at the recent Bali climate talks, regarding the desirability of “avoided deforestation” payments. Yet large scale industrial logging and now oil palm expansion continues to severely diminish PNG’s rainforest and carbon storage capital. An oil palm plantation on Woodlark
Island will endanger the island’s flora and fauna, cause environmental upheaval, and result in drastic cultural change. Woodlark Island is home to at least nineteen endemic species, including a speckled nocturnal marsupial called the Woodlark Cuscus, and an endemic ebony tree. The initial logging would cause many of these rare species to go extinct, and toxic waste and runoff will threaten freshwater and marine ecosytems. The endemic Woodlark Cuscus may well go extinct if its habitat is cleared for an oil palm plantation
Woodlark Island continues to maintain a social and ecological system that has supported human and other life for millennia; with healthy forests, wildlife and humans. Those opposing the project locally are concerned with disintegration of the native culture and
starvation as gardening and hunting activities are displaced.
Throughout Southeast Asia, particularly in Malaysia and Indonesia, large swathes of rainforest have been, and continue to be, destroyed to produce biofuel crops. Oil palm has many uses, but increasingly it is used in biodiesel in Europe and elsewhere, raising ethical issues of burning a food product for fuel. Oil palm agrofuel is heralded as a climate change mitigation measure, yet the initial rainforest clearance leads to much more carbon release than its production and use avoids. The islanders of Woodlark have worked hard to draw international attention to this issue, and have issued an appeal for the support of international NGOs and citizens to pressure the government to withdraw the project. Please do so below.For more information on Biofuel issues go to [email protected] and to send a pre-drafted letter of protest to Mr Somare go to climateark.org/alerts/send.asp?id=png_woodlark
Nigel Baker
Biofuel Project
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Clear-cutting in Peru. (Photo by R. Butler)
Beginnings of an oil palm plantation. Courtesy of UNEP
Set To Decimate Pristine Environment:
Throughout Southeast Asia, particularly in Malaysia and Indonesia, large swathes of rainforest have been, and continue to be, destroyed to produce biofuel crops.
Vitroplant has been granted necessary permits by the PNG government to begin clearing 70% of the rainforests on biodiversity-rich Woodlark Island
Domestic flights and international departures from UK airports account for around 6 per cent of the country’s total output of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas produced by human activities. Carbon dioxide emissions from UK aviation doubled between 1990 and 2000, during which time the combined carbon dioxide emissions from all other UK sources fell by around 9 per cent. Aviation emissions are set to more than double again between 2000 and 2030, and could increase to between 4 and 10 times their 1990 level by 2050.
The Government has committed itself to reducing UK carbon dioxide emissions by 60 per cent on 1990 levels by 2050. Meeting even this target, however, let alone the more
ambitious target of 80-90 per cent now being urged by many scientists, will be all but impossible if aviation is allowed to carry on expanding at its present rate. It is highly unlikely that non-aviation sectors of the economy will be able to deliver sufficient cuts in their emissions to offset the growth in emissions from flights.By way of climate change ‘mitigation’, the new BIA Master Plan offers only a token gesture of support for aviation’s eventual inclusion under the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme, and a handful of promises to promote public transport and energy efficiency, none of which has any bearing on emissions from aircraft. Birmingham Strategic Partnership’s draft Climate Change Strategy proposed establishing a voluntary carbon ‘offset’ scheme for passengers using BIA, the proceeds from which would go toward helping low-income households in the city become more energy efficient. Very laudable no doubt, but unlikely to make much of a dent in emissions overall.Emissions trading is the aviation industry’s preferred method of dealing with the climate impact of its operations. The UK government is pushing to have aviation emissions incorporated under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, and the European Commission is in the process of developing a legislative proposal to bring this about. While it represents a small step in the right direction, the inclusion of aviation within the existing Scheme is unlikely to have
Continued from front page....In November the airport company, Birmingham International Airport Limited, published a new development ‘master plan’ outlining the latest expansion proposals. Adding 400 metres to the south-east end of the runway, at a cost of £120 million, will enable BIA to serve a wider range of long-haul destinations, while extra aircraft taxiways will increase runway capacity, defined as the number of flights the airport can handle in peak hours. On 4th January BIA Ltd submitted an application to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council for planning permission to begin work on the runway extension and the additional infrastructure required to support it. If councillors approve the plans, the airport could be operating a full-length runway as early as 2012. By 2030, BIA could be handling 27.2 million passengers a year, three times as many as in 2006. New lower forecasts of air traffic growth at Birmingham mean that the controversial second runway, originally envisaged to begin operations some time between 2016 and 2020, will not be needed before 2030. However, opponents of the second runway who are backing the runway extension as the ‘lesser of two evils’ (especially local politicians hoping to position themselves as both ‘pro-airport’ and ‘pro-environment’) should think again. The runway extension is merely ‘phase one’ of a long-term programme of development culminating in a second runway, albeit later now rather than sooner.
Campaigners point to evidence that the proposals in the current Master Plan will mean a doubling of the number of local people exposed to significant aircraft noise pollution and a trebling in aircraft carbon dioxide emissions. According to the Master Plan, the number of residents exposed to aircraft noise at the level deemed to mark the onset of ‘significant community annoyance’ is set to grow from 26,800 people in 2006 to 55,150 people in 2030. Meanwhile, a report published by the Department for Transport in December, ‘UK Air Passenger Demand and CO2 Forecasts’, predicts that aircraft emissions from flights out of Birmingham will rise from 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year in 2005 to 3 million tonnes a year in 2030.
NEW ANTI-RUNWAY
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CAMPAIGN AIMS TO ‘KEEP IT UP’
....aircraft emissions from flights out of Birmingham will rise from 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year in 2005 to 3 million tonnes a year in 2030.
It is highly unlikely that non-aviation sectors of the economy will be able to deliver sufficient cuts in their emissions to offset the growth in emissions from flights.
a significant impact on the demand for flights and the growth in aircraft emissions, according to a detailed feasibility study of the proposals undertaken by C E Delft for the Commission in 2005. Incremental improvements in aircraft engine performance might manage a small reduction in emissions per flight in the coming years, but air travel is growing so fast that efficiency gains are being wiped out by the growth in aviation emissions overall.Despite these concerns, many
people seem to think that a runway extension at BIA will mostly benefit the environment. Extending the runway, it is argued, will mean the airport will be satisfying a greater proportion of the regional demand for air travel where that demand arises, as Midlands air passengers currently travelling long-distance by car to
start air journeys at other airports are wooed back to Birmingham by the more comprehensive range of air services available from an expanded BIA. This ‘clawing back’ of the regional air travel market will supposedly reduce surface transport carbon dioxide emissions and road traffic congestion in other regions by allowing Midlands air travellers to begin their journeys closer to home. Although there will undoubtedly be some ‘claw back’, most of BIA’s future growth will arise from an increase in demand for flights within the airport’s regional catchment area, not from a greater retention of passengers currently travelling to other airports. The cost-benefit analysis carried out by York Aviation as part of its Economic Impact Assessment of the runway extension assumes that air passengers who switch to using BIA over other airports represent additional passengers in the overall air travel market. In other words, any passengers ‘clawed back’ to Birmingham as a result of the runway extension will be replaced at the airports they previously used by new passengers. This means that the flights from other airports from which the additional passengers using BIA are drawn will continue to operate, so there will be no decrease in emissions elsewhere to offset the increase at Birmingham.As for road traffic, the Environmental Impact Assessment for the runway extension undertaken by Arup shows that, although operating a longer runway will result in a small saving
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in terms of carbon dioxide emissions from airport-related car journeys, this small saving is purchased at the cost of a far greater increase in emissions from aircraft using the extended runway. Arup conclude that carbon dioxide emissions in 2030 would be 37 per cent higher if the runway extension went ahead than if the airport continued to grow without extending the runway.The self-defeating logic of ‘claw back’ really becomes evident when we consider that while regional airports generally serve local demand, the larger ones like Birmingham and Manchester also attract passengers from a wider area. How many air travellers from outside the Midlands can we expect to start making ‘unnecessary’ car journeys to our congested city to take advantage of the extra services offered by BIA? Will other airports cite expansion at Birmingham as a reason why they too must expand in order to ‘claw back’ a greater share of the market for themselves? And then what? A second runway? A Heathrow in every region? The Flyagra campaign will concentrate on lobbying Solihull Council to refuse planning permission for the runway extension. As the local planning authority, Solihull will be under tremendous pressure from the business community and the other West Midlands local authorities to grant that permission. But it would be grossly irresponsible of councillors to give the green light to a development which could send carbon dioxide
emissions literally sky-high. Councillors have until 25th April 2008 to determine the planning application. Local residents and other interested parties concerned about the impact of the airport’s expansion on their lives, communities and environment have until Friday 22nd February to submit their objections to Solihull Council’s planning department. More information on the runway extension, why we oppose it and how you can help stop it can be found at www.flyagra.co.uk.James Botham
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Despite these concerns, many people seem to think that a runway extension at BIA will mostly benefit the environment.
Local residents and other interested parties concerned about the impact of the airport’s expansion on their lives, communities and environment have until Friday 22nd February to submit their objections to Solihull Council’s planning department.
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Dave Watton argues that we need more inspiring concepts and metaphors to successfully communicate the benefits of taking action on climate change.We know the scale of the challenge. That the earth’s ecosystems are under severe threat from human activity; that we only have one world, not three. We know that finite resources like oil and water are being rapidly depleted, raising the prospect of imminent scarcity and conflict. That damage to natural habitats threatens the mass extinction of animal and plant species. That, most seriously of all, accumulated ‘greenhouse gases’ are warming the earth at unprecedented rates - with potentially catastrophic consequences. We know that ice sheets are melting, sea levels rising, and weather patterns becoming more extreme and unpredictable; that we may be setting in motion an irreversible chain of events jeopardising the survival of international human civilization. We know, in short, that our current way of life is unsustainable, and that we have limited time to act.We know the scale of the challenge. We can quote the statistics. We are demanding specific targets for emissions cuts. We are even set to secure a parliamentary bill institutionalising those demands in law. Yet as campaigners aiming to mobilise a critical groundswell of public opinion, we know that we still have some way to go. Is it any wonder that many remain in denial when the language used to discuss climate
change is so uninspiring? Take the remote feel of that phrase ‘climate change’. We implore people to ‘save the planet’, imagining them willing to endure struggle and abstinence for the sake of a lump of rock viewed from space. And do we really expect a positive response to our pleas to ‘make sacrifices’ and ‘give up’ things to ‘avert impending catastrophe’? When campaigners talk like this, it’s hardly surprising we are regarded as naysayers or viewed with hostility.Our New Year’s resolution should be to find better ways of communicating the benefits of acting on climate change. In Carbon Detox, George Marshall aspires to ‘light living’ - treading more lightly on the earth1. By communicating a positive vision of what our brave new green world could be like, people will feel encouraged to reappraise the way they live and work, to jettison the outmoded, obsolete elements of their lifestyles, and to lead smarter, sleeker, more streamlined, more fulfilling lives. Now who could object to that?
Dave Watton
Rethinking the Message
Members of Friends of the Earth had a guided tour of one terraced house that has been retro-fitted to Ecohomes ‘excellent’ standard by Bournville Village Trust.
The evening was cold and dark, but 264 Selly Oak Road was bright and warm at little environmental impact. One of the most significant features of the house is a ground source heat pump, which has a 300 foot borehole (!) and pumps heat into a solid floor and upstairs radiators. Walls are insulated inside and outside. Sunpipes make any dim interiors bright. Solar panels
pre-heat the water, leaving only a gas cooker and coal fire burning fossil fuels. The garden has a vegetable plot, greenhouse, even a hedgehog house. There are 50 eco features, with timber double glazing, wool carpets and a mostly recycled kitchen. Only a cycle store was missing, we pointed out.
The performance will now be measured with the new tenants living there. Bournville Village Trust will then decide which features to make standard in future refurbishments. We left excited and inspired by an enlightened property owner, who is working to bring high levels of energy efficiency to ordinary rented housing. The 80% cuts in emissions from British homes proposed in the ‘Home Truths’ report from Friends of the Earth & Coop Bank seem quite achievable if we choose to take action.
John Newson
Bournville Ecohome
Conservationist David Bellamy steps out with 9 year old Estelle Smith, a tenant with her parents at 264 Selly Oak Road, Bournville, Bir-mingham, a house built in 1929 which now has the most concentrated mix of environmentally friendly features in the UK.
The 80% cuts in emissions from British homes seem quite achievable if we choose to take action.
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We are lucky enough to celebrate another farmers’ market, this time at Birmingham University, joining the ever growing list of farmers’ markets in the Birmingham area. Birmingham University is the first university in the country to obtain a license to hold regular farmers’ markets (1).With recent news that up to 3,000 traditional shops quit the high street in seven years (2), we must continue to support farmers’ markets and local shops. Rita Exner, the secretary of Farma (Farmers Retail and Markets Association), said farmers’ markets were rapidly emerging as a significant, and sometimes crucial, source of income for the country’s smaller producers. There are now about 550 regular markets around the country, with more opening and they now earn around £220m a year for the local producers. This figure is dwarfed by the billions earned by the major supermarket chains. However, the rapid growth of farmers’ markets must be evidence of a backlash against the uniformity of supermarkets and increasing public concerns about food miles, quality and traceability. So I encourage you to go to your local farmers’ market. If you enjoy cooking with the very best ingredients, then you can’t beat the fresh local produce on offer. Instead of rushing around the supermarket with your shopping list, why not enjoy a leisurely meander in the fresh air, taking in the atmosphere of a thriving market. Many local
markets are held in your high street, giving you an opportunity to support the local shops there, too.At the markets you can find lovely fresh organic fruit and vegetables and other more exclusive products that are not on your “local” supermarket shelves. There are ostrich burgers, many varieties of mushroom from shitake to horse mushrooms (ask Andy Pryke!), numerous varieties of British apples rarely seen these days, and happy hens’ eggs. All the fresh produce is seasonal and it is grown in the best possible conditions, maximising nutritional content and taste. The time between the moment fruit and vegetables are picked and the moment you eat them is minimal, making them fresher than the supermarket equivalent. So have fun at the many farmers’ markets around Birmingham…To find out more about farmers markets go to http://www.farmersmarkets.net/ or for seasonal food recipes go to http://www.iminseason.com/ and see our website for updates on our Local Shops Campaign.Mary Horesh(1) Birmingham University farmers’ market is held on the 4th Wednesday of every month, and there are plans to increase its frequency. For a full list of farmers markets around the Birmingham area turn to page 21.(2) The Telegraph, 27th December 2007
Another Farmers’
Chris Williams interviewed Phil Burrows
How long have you been volunteering at Birmingham Friends of the Earth?
Nearly 2 years.
What do you do here?
I attend campaigns meeting, as many strategy meetings as I can and I am an active member of the Management Committee. I am also responsible for the new website design and did a lot for the new design of the newsletter. Overarching themes for me are improving the overall image of Birmingham Friends of the Earth and strengthening the Governance procedures. I pass on the skills I gain to others, which is important for
making the team stronger and for the sustainability of our organisation.
How did you get involved with Birmingham Friends of the Earth?
I was a member for a while and my partner, Hannah, encouraged me to check out the Birmingham FoE meetings, which I enjoyed, although felt that my skills could add to those already in the organisation and it all grew from there really.
Do you enjoy your work here?
What’s most rewarding is seeing changes as a result of my work: notably the website and the newsletter. I know the Warehouse and Birmingham Friends of the Earth have so much potential and I like putting in my energies to harness this potential. I am really pleased to have gained new skills, particularly in terms of governance and learning how to tell if science is trustworthy or not. I am particularly grateful that my work at Birmingham FoE has led to me gaining the job I currently have as a Green Doctor for Moseley Community Development Trust’s Sustainable Moseley (SuSMo) project. Birmingham FoE has, for example, taught me advocacy skills and how to push an issue.
What environmental issues are most important to you?
Climate change is certainly what motivates me the most, particularly looking into climate science.
Volunteer SpotlightMarket Ploughs into Birmingham
Success for Sustrans’ Connect2 Project. Birmingham FOE was mainly delighted that the People’s £50 Million Lottery was won in December by Sustrans for their ‘Connect2’ project – “to invest in walking and cycling UK-wide”. Only ‘mainly,’ because the other bids were equally valuable, and many of us are unimpressed that such worthwhile projects should be made to compete for Lottery funding when transport investment such as road widening and airport expansion is government-backed. The Black Country Urban Park bid was particularly inspiring and its campaign fought hard by the local Wildlife Trusts and Advantage West Midlands (regional development agency). It tackled a neglected part of our region and focused on improving local greenspace, protecting its biodiversity and making it more accessible to the area’s population.
On the other hand, the Sustrans bid had the advantage of being the only bid that was genuinely national in its scope. In encouraging walking and cycling, Connect2 tackles obesity, climate
change, congestion, road deaths, and more. The website says: “Connect2 will revitalise walking and cycling in 79 communities across the UK by creating new routes for the journeys we all make every day. Crossings and bridges will be created over busy roads, railway lines and rivers, linking into new networks of local paths to get you to where you want to go…” Work has now started, with local authorities contributing extra funding towards the new cycle networks.Some cyclists dismiss Sustrans’ work on the grounds that many (self included), would rather defend their right to be on the road than be put out of cars’ way on a cycle path. However, particularly in less green communities, many people need to build up confidence to use their feet and bicycles at all. Once they have built this confidence, they will start to use the roads more, leading to a critical mass of cyclists* and sparking bigger behavioural changes. So Sustrans’ paths have their place. As cycle campaigners, we need to ensure that Connect2’s brilliant contribution to the availability of these paths is not seen by drivers, government or spectacularly daft judges (as in the Daniel Cadden case) as the forfeiting of our road rights.*Speaking of which, don’t miss “Critical Mass” bike rides on the first Friday of each month, 6pm from St Philips Square: an unorganised coincidence of cyclists raising the profile of cycling.Further information can be found at: http://www.sustransconnect2.org.uk/
Karen Leach
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Success
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FEB9th February, Valentine’s Climate Change Event, city centre, time tbc9th February, Birmingham Climate Change Network Inaugural Workshop, 10am – 2pm, Botanical Gardens11th February, Local Shops + Transport Sub-Group Meetings, 7.30pm, the Warehouse22nd February, Last Day to send objections to Solihull Council on runway extension25th February, Climate Change + Recycling Sub-Group Meetings, 7.30pm, the Warehouse
MAR1st March, Green Church Exchange
2nd March, 1pm meeting for Birmingham activists at The Warehouse, organised by Food not Bombs and Anti-Racist campaign
3rd March, Campaigns Meeting, 7.30pm, the Warehouse
7th March, Critical Mass Cycle Ride, 5.30pm, St Philip’s Cathedral
11th March, Birmingham City Council Transport Summit
Farmers’ MarketBearwood: 3rd Saturday of the month
Birmingham University: 4th Wednesday of the month.
Harborne: 2nd Saturday of the month 9-2pm
New St: 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month
King’s Heath: 1st Saturday of the month
King’s Norton: 2nd Saturday of the month
Moseley: 4th Saturday of the month
Shirley: 3rd Thursday of the month except Jan and Feb
Solihull: 1st Friday of the month
Sutton Coldfield: 2nd Friday of the month
Visit this site for more info: http://thefoody.com/regions/centralfm.html#westmidlands
for Sustrans’ Connect2 Project
Photo by Lee Jordan
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-ordinator: Andy PrykeCampaigns Support Worker: Chris WilliamsGeneral Manager: Tamsin MosseTreasurer: Margaret LynchAviation: James BothamClimate Change & Energy: Nigel BakerMulti-faith and Climate Change Project: Rianne ten Veen & Maud GraingerWaste and Resources: Kate Nancarrow & Andy PrykeLocal Food and Trade: Karen LeachPlanning: John HallTransport: Libby HaywardNewsletter Editors: Katy BarryDeborah Woolaston-KovarPhil BurrowsWebsite Editor: Phil BurrowsTalks: Paul Webb and othersAll enquiries and callers welcome.Find us on page 74 of the B’hamA-Z, grid ref: 4A
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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.) BothWhich ever route you decide, you are helping to change your environment for the better. Making sure that that those who pollute, monopolise or despoil locally, nationally or internationally are accountable.
