1. FRACK MOB - the UK's first mass action against fracking Wednesday, 2 November, 3PM - 6PM, Copthorne Tara Hotel, Scarsdale Place, Kensington, W8 5SR
Join us for a 'frack mob' at the 'Shale Gas Environmental Summit' - an
industry greenwash love-in. This conference a is all about large companies
shafting the planet in the name of profit.
Fracking companies drill for gas by blasting water, sand and corrosive
chemicals deep into the ground to crack the bedrock. Fracking poisons
tapwater, causes earthquakes and releases more greenhouse gases than coal.
Fracking is in it's infancy in this country, if we are going to kill this
thing it has to be now. We still have time to cut through the bullshit,
scare the investors and tell the companies to FRACK OFF!
Lets expose this Greenwash. Bring gas masks, anything that makes a loud
noise, green body/face paint, chalk and a desire to have fun!
2. KEYSTONE PIPELINE SOLIDARITY DEMO - stopping tar sands in its tracks Sunday, 6 November, 11am-1pm, US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London
In the US, activists will encircle the White House, demanding President
Obama rejects the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Encircling our own
miniature White House, we will stand in solidarity with US climate
activists for what could be one of the biggest turning points for the tar
sands battle so far. This action builds on August's Keystone XL pipeline
protests, one of the largest ever civil disobedience climate actions,
resulting in over 1200 arrests in Washington DC. If the pipeline is built,
companies already have plans to ship the dirty oil to new markets
including the UK and Ireland. Stopping this pipeline would be a major win
for the planet: the first step towards stifling the exponential growth of
the tar sands industry.
3. CLIMATE JUSTICE COLLECTIVE - new directions for climate action Sunday, 6 November, 2 - 6.30 PM, Tottenham Chances, 399 HighRoad, London, N17 6QN
The Climate Justice Collective (CJC) was formed by people from Camp for
Climate Action who wanted to explore new forms of anti-hierarchical
organising that would free us up from some of the conflicts and
frustrations of the past. Our first efforts have been focused mainly on
working out organising structures and principles to do this, and on
setting up a new campaign against fuel poverty - an issue which unites our
long and short term interests in social justice and conserving energy. It
is now time to open out and include people who would like to be involved
and help develop these possibilities. This meeting will be a chance for
you to get involved - or get back involved!
More info: email spaceforchange@climatecamp.org.uk
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1)
Occupy the London Stock Exchange
15th October
12pm
St Paul's Cathedral
http://occupylondon.org.uk/
#Occupy LSX
The words 'corporate greed' ring through the speeches and
banners of
protests across the globe. After huge bail-outs and in the face of
unemployment, privatisation and austerity we still see profits for the
rich on the increase. But we are the 99%, and on October 15th our voice
unites across gender and race, across borders and continents as we call
for equality and justice for all.
In London we will occupy the stock exchange. Reclaiming space in the face
of the financial system and using it to voice ideas for how we can work
towards a better future. A future free from austerity, growing inequality,
unemployment, tax injustice and a political elite who ignores its
citizens, and work towards concrete demands to be met.
Assemble in front of St Pauls Cathedral at Midday please try to be on
time and not early or late. When you are there be ready and attentive.
Make sure to follow @OccupyLSX on twitter for updates on the day. If you
don't have a smartphone, sign up to twitter text updates for the day (see
how below).
Try to come with a friend or group of friends. If you are thinking of
staying for a while bring plenty of food and water, wrap up warm and you
may want to bring tents and a sleeping bag.
Bring your energy and excitement, and be ready to create a better world!
Check out this call to action from Jody Mcintyre:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTXjiBQ3ta4&feature=player_embedded
Signing up for twitter text updates, see how here:
https://support.twitter.com/articles/289826-how-to-get-sms-notifications-for-mentions-dms-and-more#user
If you have any questions or comments, please get in touch
Email: general@occupylsx.org
Twitter: @OccupyLSX
Website: http://occupylondon.org.uk/
For press enquiries please email:
press@occupylsx.org
I thought that you and your colleagues may be interested in hearing about
this year's Battle of Ideas festival, taking place at the Royal
College of
Art, London on October 29-30. During the course of the weekend, over 2,250
people will be participating in 75 different debates involving hundreds of
incisive and thought-provoking speakers.
This year's festival programme includes strands of debate entitled
Battle
for the World, Battle for Morality, Food Fight, Society Wars, Battle for
Our Brains, and Reassessing Politics and Sporting Contests.
It also features keynote debates on: The Battle against the Fates,
Profiting responsibly? Business in the big society, Creativity and
curiosity: do we make stuff up or find it out? Has tolerance gone too far?
Loyalty in an age of whistle-blowing and Wikileaks, Is individualism bad
for society? as well as many more discussions on current themes in the
arts, science, health, parenting, education, design, international
relations and religion.
Internationally renowned speakers include: David Aaronovitch, Jonathan
Aitken, Decca Aitkenhead, Anne Atkins, Simon Baron-Cohen, Daniel Ben-Ami,
Katharine Birbalsingh, Melvin Burgess, Christopher Caldwell, Matthew
Collings, John Cooper, Claire Fox, Giles Fraser, Frank Furedi, Maurice
Glasman, Tom Holland, Mick Hume, Sue Ion, Rebecca Jenkins, Simon Jenkins,
Irma Kurtz, Philippe Legrain, Dame Ann Leslie, Kenan Malik, Paul Mason,
Joyce McMillan, Tim Montgomerie, Brendan O’Neill, Ruth Padel, K.A.S.
Quinn, Jeffrey Rosen, Jenni Russell, William Saletan, Fiona Shaw, John
Sutherland, George Szirtes, Ray Tallis, GM Tamás, Mark Vernon, Tom Watt,
Zoe Williams, Alison Wolf, Martin Wolf, Cathy Young and over 300 more.
To provide a taster of the festival, a series of standalone Battle
Satellite events will be held across London, the UK and worldwide. Topics
for debate range from happiness in Athens and the future of Indian
democracy in New Delhi, to Croydon after the riots. The Battle Satellites
look to address the challenges facing society in a fast-changing and
increasingly globalised age. Foyles at Charing Cross Road will host
debates on the oversexualisation of children, and what boys should be
reading. The Battle Satellite programme will begin on Friday 30 September
with a special free debate on the future of manufacturing at London’s
Victoria and Albert Museum Friday Late, and with over 25 national and
international events, the boundaries of public debate will certainly
continue to expand beyond the main festival weekend.
Visit http://www.battleofideas.org.uk to view this year’s festival
programme, including satellite events, as well as carefully selected
readings for each session and videos of previous years’ sessions.
** School students aged 16-18 are able to attend a day of the festival for
free (the second day costing only £10) email
schoolschampion@instituteofideas.com. There are also a limited number of
HALF PRICE Student Champion tickets, allowing university students full
access to the weekend festival for just £27.50. Click here to purchase
discounted tickets. **
Tickets are available through online booking, or by phone: 0207 269 9220.
We hope to see you at this year’s Battle of Ideas.
Best wishes,
Claire
Claire Fox
Director
Institute of Ideas
Signet House
49-51 Farringdon Road
London EC1M 3JP
020 7269 9220
020 7269 9223 (direct)
www.instituteofideas.com
www.battleofideas.org.uk
www.debatingmatters.com
3)
Africa demands climate justice
http://www.wdm.org.uk/
Thursday 13 October, London
More than ever before, rich industrialised countries are using the UN
climate talks as an excuse to advance corporate interests. In the run up
to the climate talks in Durban, South Africa, this December people across
Africa and the world are demanding climate justice.
As part of our climate justice speaker tour, join us to hear Desmond
D’Sa,
coordinator of South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, Maria
Adebowale from Capacity Global and Kirsty Wright, World Development
Movement climate justice campaigner.
When: Thursday 13 October, 7pm
Where: University of London Union, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HY.
Find out how you can take action against the UK’s unfair policies
that are
prioritising corporate profits via discredited institutions such as the
World Bank. Not only will this fail to tackle climate change, but it will
also deepen existing global inequalities.
Desmond D’Sa is coordinator of South Durban Community Environmental
Alliance, which mobilises local people against industrial pollution. A
veteran campaigner on local and global environmental justice issues,
he’s
centrally involved in organising the alternative civil society space
during the UN talks. He will be speaking in Brighton, Bristol, London and
Eastleigh.
WHAT: With BAA still scheming for expansion at Heathrow and Grow Heathrow
up in court, we'll be getting together for a weekend this October to show
them we're here to stay. We'll be... Pizza-munching, Apple-scrumping,
Chutney-making, Face-painting, Cake-baking, Scaffold-sculpture-making,
Potholing, Tyre-rolling, Fire-stoking, Jam-stiring, Night-singing,
Lake-swimming, and much, much more.
WHEN: Weekend of the 14th/15th/16th of October 2011, from Friday evening.
Come for the day, an hour or the whole weekend. Bring a tent or at least a
sleeping bag if you're planning on staying over. Some limited indoor bed
space is available, so get in touch early if this is the only option for
you.
WHERE: Grow Heathrow, Vineries Close, Sipson, West Drayton, UB7 0JG
Train from London:
Trains run from London Paddington to West Drayton Station and the site is
a short bike or bus ride from there.
Bus from West Drayton:
Take the 222 from outside West Drayton Station (towards Hounslow). Get off
at the 'Harmonsworth Lane' stop in the village of Sipson. Turn left just
after the King William pub and you're there!
AND...!
As well as all this - The UK Tar Sands network will be joining us. On the
Saturday October 15th we unveil the first Tar Free Community in the UK -
Tar Free Transition Heathrow!
What does it mean to be a tar free town? How can your community become tar
free?
Find out when we celebrate with you all on October 15th at Grow Heathrow,
3pm - the movement for a tar free future begins!
Public meeting, Wednesday 19 October 2011, 7pm to 9pm, Room 1, Upper
Corridor, Houses of Parliament
London Mining Network in association with Colombia Solidarity Campaign,
Down to Earth and PIPLinks
BHP Billiton is the world's largest diversified resources company. It made
record profits of $23.6 billion over the past year. It is listed on the
London Stock Exchange. Many British workers' pension funds, British banks
and insurance companies have investments in it - but most British people
have never heard of it.
BHP Billiton is heavily involved in the production of minerals for energy:
coal, oil, gas and uranium. It makes a massive contribution to worsening
climate change and is creating deadly radioactive pollution for hundreds
of thousands of years to come. Its operations contribute to or benefit
from involuntary relocation of communities and the destruction of rural
communities' livelihoods.
Main speaker: Julio Cesar Gomez, President of FECODEMIGUA, the Federation
of Communities Displaced by Mining in La Guajira (Colombia)
BHP Billiton owns one-third of the huge Cerrejon opencast coal mine, which
has displaced many communities and threatens to displace still more.
Displaced communities have united in FECODEMIGUA and are demanding
justice.
Other speakers will talk about BHP Billiton's coal and uranium mines in
other parts of the world
All are welcome to this meeting. Please arrive at St Stephen's Gate (the
main entrance to Parliament) in plenty of time to go through security,
which can take a long time if a lot of people are waiting to enter the
building.
6)
Defend Welfare Gathering
Sunday 23rd October, 11am-5pm
Somers Town Community Centre, 150 Ossulston Street, London, NW1 1EE
(5 minutes walk from Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross stations)
Wheelchair accessible
Join us for a meeting with like-minded people to share ideas and
strategise to stop the government's attacks on welfare.
Welfare is being systematically attacked:
Unemployed people are being forced to work without pay.
Disabled people are being deprived of their entitlement to benefits
through the devastating Work Capability Assessment process.
People can now be left destitute for up to two years through benefit
sanctions.
The right to housing is under attack: Housing benefit cuts are set to make
thousands homeless. The right-wing called for evictions in response to the
riots, even before courts had found people guilty.
Private companies stand to make millions through bullying claimants on the
Work Programme.
Legal aid cuts make it harder to challenge bad treatment.
The only benefit that was available to people under 18 – EMA –
has been
abolished by this government.
Single mothers are being forced to be job-seekers when their children are
at an even younger age.
Asylum seekers are forced to survive on incomes far below benefit levels,
which are already set at subsistence level.
The full impact that the Universal Credit will have is yet to be understood.
But people across the UK are organising to defend welfare. The Boycott
Workfare campaign recently forced the “Making Work Pay”
conference to
relocate at short notice. Atos, the private company responsible for
depriving hundreds of thousands of people of sickness benefits, has had
many of its offices occupied, costing it thousands of pounds. Claimants
are sharing information on how to challenge the bullying and
discrimination that is rife in the new set-up.
This gathering is open to everyone who wants to take action to defend
welfare. We are a claimant-led network - our response to welfare reforms
is led by people who feel their effects the most – but the attacks on
welfare will affect us all whether we are in work or may need welfare as
parents, if we become unemployed, due to sickness or disability, or as
pensioners.
We plan to run the day with lots of discussion and chances to share ideas
and information in workshops and an open space session where we can set
the agenda on the day. If you can offer a workshop or would like to
propose something for the agenda, please get in touch.
Please help make the day happen!
Let us know you can make it!
welfareactionhackney@gmail.com
The network does not have any funding, so if your group or union branch
can make a contribution to the costs of the room or participants' travel,
please help raise funds for it. Groups and individuals may want to
approach union branches or organise fundraisers to raise funds for your
travel.
Let us know if you can help with food, childcare or facilitation on the day.
welfareactionhackney@gmail.com
Forward this invite to anyone else you know who might be interested, post
it on your blog or social media; mention it at meetings, and help spread
the word!
The theme of this year’s Apple Day is abundance.In Crouch End alone, there are numerous apple trees growing in allotments, parks, school playgrounds and residents’ gardens.In many cases the fruit has been left unpicked, a pity since the warm spring weather this year has led to a bumper harvest.
Apple Day looks at ways to ensure that good use is made of this bounty.The Urban Harvest will showcase drinks and produce made from apples, pears and plums, which the public can taste and try.Local residents are encouraged to bring along their own fruit to juice: even windfalls can be turned into a delicious drink.Transition Crouch End will also be juicing apples from Weston Park School, which otherwise would have gone to waste.In future years, the group would hope to form a partnership with residents and community groups, offering advice on pruning in exchange for apples.
For apple addicts, there are over twenty different varieties of apple and pear to sample.Some of them have never tasted before, and a poll will identify the most scrumptious in a campaign to persuade local greengrocers to stock them.
Apples are an infinite source of magic, myth and lore and this will be reflected in various activities on the day.There will be a children's play area, run by Anna Konarska, craft stalls and a Find the Rotten Apple Competition.The top prize is an apple tree from the Blackmoor Estate, who willl be providing the apples for the sampling table.
Apple Day is sustainable event which seeks to minimise waste.All apple mash will be composted at the Meadow Orchard Project and the cafe will use washable mugs and plates rather than plastic.There will a free beverage to anyone who brings their own cup.
We request that the Cabinet defer the decision on the report until adequate information has been provided, consultation has taken place, and there are effective guarantees regarding residents' interests, and environmental sustainability.
Submission on the proposed disposal of Enfield Crematorium, and Tottenham and Wood Green Cemeteries.
Sustainable Haringey is very concerned that the Bereavement Services Disposal report (Cabinet 4th October) recommends that the contract for Enfield Crematorium and Tottenham and Wood Green Cemeteries is awarded to the company which scored lowest in both quality and proposed approach to the management of biodiversity and conservation, with a score of less than 20% on biodiversity and conservation (see para 5.9).
We are also very concerned at the proposals in the current report for the Final Heads of Terms to be delegated to the Director of Place and Sustainability (para 3.6), without any public scrutiny or involvement and without even Cabinet scrutiny and we urge the Cabinet to reject this course outright.
We requested that we be provided with copies of all the appendices and draft Heads of Terms, if necessary with company names and financial information redacted, so that residents could see for themselves the basis for these proposals and have the opportunity to engage meaningfully with the decisions being taken. However our requests have so far been refused.
We also requested copies of other background documents, in particular the details of how each of the companies intends to deal with sustainability and biodiversity issues relating to the running of the 3 sites. This was also refused without any real explanation.
The decision to transfer the Crematorium and Cemeteries to the private sector for 50 years will last beyond most of our lifetimes, yet there has been no public consultation or even public awareness of the final proposal, with the limited report released without public notice just 7 days before the Cabinet meeting. For such a far reaching decision there should be proper opportunity for scrutiny and comment on the proposals. Sustainable Haringey made extensive submissions at the time of the original Cabinet meeting in November 2010 (see attached), yet were not notified or invited to comment in any way before this Cabinet meeting.
We request that the Cabinet defer the decision on the report until adequate information has been provided and consultation has taken place. The proposed lease is for 50 years, not just 5 or 10, and therefore deserves proper consideration and scrutiny to ensure the interests of residents and local sustainability are being best served. A month or so for proper consultation is not long when compared to 50 years. We also ask how meaningful consultation can take place (para 7.6) with staff or with residents, if the final decision to outsource the service has already taken place.
During our earlier discussions with the lead Cabinet member and officers it was said there would be opportunity to address some of our concerns and consult more widely at a later stage, yet we are not even allowed to see documents relating to how these sites, including Tottenham Cemetery, a designated Ecologically Valuable Site of Borough Grade 2 Importance, which has significant nature conservation value and which is also a historical asset to Tottenham, will be maintained and protected and what environmental practices will be in place. There can be no good reason for such secrecy, and we do not believe this secrecy is in the interests of Haringey residents.
There are also huge doubts over whether the proposed course of action represents the best solution financially. The supposed costs of keeping the service in house are said to be £13.4 million investment (para 4.1.1), but this is based on including costs of a new car park and massive concrete burial chambers.
According to the Council's own figures, the cost of 3 new cremators & abatement equipment is in the region of £1.2m (email from Tim Baker to Sustainable Haringey 20 Dec 2010). Company A is proposing to replace the four existing cremators with two abated cremators (para 10.8). So if this option was pursued in house by the Council the total cost of becoming mercury compliant would be less than £1M. According to the response by Tim Baker to Sustainable Haringey's submission, "'Invest to Save' prudential borrowing schemes are usually only approved by the Council if the payback is no more than three years". As the Bereavement Service has an annual surplus of well over half a million pounds, the payback period would easily fall within this. Whilst undoubtedly some improvements were needed to the facilities, no real evidence has been demonstrated for the level of investment suggested. Some of the improvements could be part funded by the money raised from the sale of Grenville Cottages, which raised £400,000 (para 5.2).
The expensive proposals for extensive car parking, rather than promoting public or shared transport options, were not compatible with the Environmental Considerations section of the Options Appraisal (S12) "it is noted that opportunities should be explored for improving public transport links to the site, and reducing the need to access the site by car". Environmental sustainability would be best served by improved public transport access to the Crematorium, not increased car parking.
As to the huge cost for development of burial facilities, in para 5.12 of the report it is stated that 'the tendering process did not demonstrate that the site value would be greater with planning permission for a new burial facility', so the planning application was not progressed. The report is silent on whether or not the private operator will in fact develop additional burial facilities at the site, who will profit from this, and what controls will be in place to protect residents interests. It also leads to a situation where the in house option costs of £13.4m (of which burial facilities were £5.4m) are not being compared like with like with the private operator option.
The proposed course of action also gives Tottenham and Wood Green cemeteries away at a peppercorn rent (para 7.3), when over £450k was spent last year on Wood Green Cemetery to create 132 new burial plots which were expected to last for 2-4 years. According to the report for the Cabinet meeting last year, plots are sold for £3600 - £4700, so this appears to be a substantial gift of income to the private operator from Haringey's reserves. [see burial charges at p 5 and Wood Green expansion at p3 & 5 of
The report is also silent on re-use of graves, which could be a potential huge source of income for the private operator, and a huge loss and source of controversy to the Council. In the response to Sustainable Haringey's submission last year, Tim Baker (consultant employed to facilitate the disposal of the service) stated: "Public resistance could be a big factor when determining whether grave re-use should occur and it is likely that this would apply regardless of whether the Council or someone else proposed its use. Therefore, the Council isn’t necessarily losing out on this as a potential income source. Because the current situation regarding the re-use of graves is not entirely clear, we have not attempted to factor in any financial implications or benefits that may accrue either to us or a private operator."
So if the private operator decides to re-use graves on any of the 3 sites, they have the potential for a massive source of income, while the Council and residents will be left to deal with the controversy (as has occurred with other privatised cemeteries in the past).
The section on sustainability issues in the report (paras 10.2 - 10.8) refers to addressing some of the concerns Sustainable Haringey raised previously. However the whole section islacking in detail and does not provide any real re-assurance that sustainability issues will be taken seriously by the private operator, particularly in light of the fact that Company A scored just 1.6% out of a possible 6.7% on their proposed approach to the management of biodiversity and conservation (para 5.9), the lowest score of the 3 companies, yet was still selected as the preferred bidder.
For example under the draft Heads of Terms the clause 'Manage the property in accordance with the principles of good estate management'could be interpreted in any number of ways, there would be a vast difference in opinion between operators trying to manage in a sustainable way, and those who might seek to minimise staffing costs by extensive use of chemicals, yet argue that the estate was tidy and therefore well managed.
There is reference to maintaining biodiversity in accordance with conservation management plans and biodiversity report recommendations, but these are not set out. Then in para 10.6 we are told that Company A has proposed to formulate it's own action and ongoing management plan, according to 4 listed principles, which are so vague as to be virtually meaningless. Such self regulation by a private operator cannot be relied on to protect the interests of Haringey residents and the environment.
The break clause only refers to terminating the lease because 'certain covenants' have not been complied with. Those covenants are not specified, nor are the consequences of the termination set out - would there be financial costs or penalties involved?
Additionally, while the clauses set out in para 10.4 are included in the draft Heads of Terms, we have no way of knowing or ensuring that they will be included in the final Heads of Terms.
The report to Cabinet makes little reference to reduction of carbon emissions or 40:20 objectives, with no detail on what reductions will be made (para 10.8) and it is unclear to what extent these were considered during the decision making process.
Without the provision of the information requested we can have no confidence that sustainability, biodiversity and conservation issues will be taken seriously by the proposed operator or that the interests of Haringey residents will be protected by the lease and disposal of the sites for 50 years.
