Newsletter
Winter 2006
Airport operator to double weekend flights
TAG has submitted a planning application to Rushmoor Borough Council to double the number of flights allowed at weekends and on Bank Holidays, the consultation period for which ended on 9th December 2005.
With the consent of the Secretary of State, the application proposes changes to the terms of TAG's original permission which was for 2,500 flights between 0800 and 2000 on weekend days and bank holidays. Whilst making no changes to the total number (the overall annual restriction is 28,000 movements), the move is nevertheless significant. At the original planning inquiry into the Airport there was considerable speculation at to the level / mix of flights required to make .operations viable.
A condition of TAG's planning permission, granted in October 2000, limited the number of aircraft which could use Farnborough outside of the working week to 2,500 movements per year. As Farnborough is an airport for business aviation and most disturbance to residents occurs at weekends and on bank holidays,the restriction was necessary to protect residents quality of life.
While an increase in weekend flights may prove attractive to some business aviation users, it is precisely those types of movements, at a time when more people are at home and background noise levels are lower, which cause particular disturbance and annoyance in surrounding residential areas. Doubling flight numbers is clearly going to have a detrimental impact.
TAG argue there is huge demand for weekend flying from their business customers who do not typically adopt a Monday to Friday working pattern.
At issue is the environmental and economic justification for business flying. After all weekends are the times when business travellers can enjoy some of the best bargains on scheduled flights. Would these companies shareholders approve of the costs involved in flying from Farnborough when there are clear alternatives – of course they are not consulted. TAG's customers, include multinationals, each with their own environmental policies, who could reduce their impact by switching flights from business aviation to scheduled trips (or even consider alternatives such as videoconferencing). According to research published by Friends of the Earth using data from the Office of National Statistics. UK air travellers are spending £15 billion more abroad per year more than visitors arriving in the UK, contradicting claims that airport expansion is good for the economy.
Rushmoor Borough Council also needs to consider whether TAG's proposal fits its own environmental policies. Recent public meetings in Surrey Heath and lobbying and messaging by the Community Campaign (Hart) demonstrate that outside the Borough there is great interest in the impact of proposals on residents. Rushmoor's planning committee also need to take into account the detrimental impact the plans have on quality of life for those under the flightpath.
Climate Change Bill EDM hits 300!
A parliamentary petition (Early Day Motion /EDM 178) supporting FoE's call for 3 per cent annual cuts in carbon dioxide emissions has become one of the most popular EDMs since the election. Great news then that 300 MPs have now signed this EDM. Great news also that one of our local MPs , Michael Gove of Surrey Heath, has signed. Not good news that our other two MPs, Gerald Howarth of Aldershot, and James Arbuthnot of NE Hants have not signed. If you are in either of their two constituencies then please continue to exert pressure on them, For information on how you get your MP involved with the campaign check out Action Guide 2 http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/action_guides/bigask_actionpack_two.pdf you can find out latest on whether your MP has signed here: http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=28373&SESSION=875
STOP CLIMATE CHAOS
Launching the new powerful coalition Stop Climate Chaos, Director, Ashok Sinha, called for the Government to deliver year-on-year cuts in carbob dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. So when you take action by sending on FoE postcard asking your MP to support EDM 178 you are adding your voice to millions of others also taking action to Stop Climate. Chaos. FoE, Greenpeace, Oxfam, Tearfund, WI, People and Planet, RSPB, WWF and others are all taking part.
Stagecoach bid for new franchise
As part of the franchising scheme under which UK railways are run, the Government periodically invites Train Operating Companies to bid for sections of the rail network.The new South Western franchise will be made up of the existing South West and Island Line franchises. Covering the South West region to London, the franchise includes mainland operations running from London Waterloo to Woking, Basingstoke, Southampton, Portsmouth, Exeter and Reading (including Farnborough - London and Ascot - Guildford lines).
The 10-year franchise will run from 4 February 2007 with a potential 3-year curtailment if certain performance criteria are not met. Stagecoach will be seeking to bid to operate the franchise and expects environmental/transport groups to take a keen interest in this process.
If you would like to tell Stagecoach the sort of service you would like to see them operating there is a feedback form to complete at:
http://www.stagecoachplc.com/scg/about/bids/southwestern
Timetable:
January 2006
Pre-qualified bidders for the franchise announced
March 2006
Government issues Invitation to Tender to shortlisted bidders
June 2006
Bids submitted to Government
Autumn 2006
Preferred bidder expected to be announced
Sustainable Bill
Cathy and Leo went to Farnham for a public meeting by the Local Works Campaigners for the Sustainable Communities Bill. The speakers were Jeremy Hunt MP for West Surrey, and Stephen Shaw the local works campaign co ordinator and Councillor Victor Scrivens the cabinet member for the environment.. I have signed up our group to support the campaign and we should now receive their newsletter.June
Junk DNA !
The Guardian newspaper recently published an article with the title time to stop trashing junk DNAVast regions of our genetic code that seem to have no discernible function could be more important than previously thought. Scientists have found that this genetic material nicknamed "junk DNA" maintains the integrity of the more important coding parts of our genome and is critical for evolutionary survival. Peter Andolfatto, a University of California San Diego biologist studied the genesis of fruit flies and found that the junk DNA was strongly affected by natural selection which leads to the survival of organisms and genes best adapted to the environment. The sections of DNA which encode for proteins known as genes, only account for a minority of its genetic material. In a fruit fly 80% of the DNA seems to have no f unction, in humans that figure is closer to 95%. This section of DNA is used in creating genetic fingerprints, so as random mutations do not cause problems which predispose people to illness.
Professor Andolfatto showed that junk DNA in fruit flies was evolving more slowly than expected, reflecting resistance to the incorporation of new mutations. In fact 40% to 70% of new mutations that arise in non-coding DNA are not junk but are somehow functionally important to the organism. Researchers also found that the junk DNA regions were very different in different species of fruit flies, suggesting an evolutionary importance. Just as mutations in genes change the proteins they code for, changes in the junk DNA could play a role in the creation of new species.
Surrey waste plans under scrutiny
Millions of pounds of PFI funding for major waste contracts in Surrey could be pulled because new waste facilities have failed to materialise.Defra, the responsible Governmnet Department told www.letsrecycle.com that it is giving Surrey one last chance to demonstrate they can get their waste management plans back on track.
They will need to demonstrate that plans can be turned around or there is a chance that funding will be pulled. In total Surrey County Council risks losing £85.5 million in PFI credits for its contract with SITA UK subsidiary Surrey Waste Management. At the heart of the matter are delays caused in their so far unsuccessful plans to develop incinerator projects for domestic waste.
As part of PFI, incinerators were originally proposed as the preferred solution to Surrey's waste crisis, including the construction of a facility north of Guildford (Slyfield Green).
The delays have put severe strains on the relationship between Surrey county council and SITA, but the council insists moves towards building a new waste infrastructure are progressing smoothly. County council spokesman Matt Burrows told www.letsrecycle.com:
"We are currently looking into 13 different possible new sites for a waste management facility. Six of those sites are acceptable for thermal treatment and incineration. "We are keeping the issue of what we build separate from where we build it, and once our residents have told us the sites they want to see us use we will be consulting on what facilities will be built. This consultation will take place in 2006,"
Matt added.
Surrey believes it will avoid losing its PFI credits by getting the development process for new waste plants back on track.. Defra can see that we have a clear path through these two consultations, the consultation next year is likely to be the most major thing that Surrey does in 2006."
Woking planning state-of-the-art waste plant Woking council is to consult residents on its proposals for a 100,000 tonnes per annum waste management facility to deal with its waste.
House plan
warning
The Government's new housing
plans will have a disastrous impact on the environment, Friends of the Earth has warned.
Two documents published just
published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minster will allow a massive increase in
house-building in the south east, which is already suffering the effects of
over-development. And much-heralded plans to reduce the impact that new houses have on the
environment are likely to be ineffectual.
Friends of the Earth's Planning
Coordinator, Hugh Ellis said:
"If the Government's housing
plans go ahead, they will encourage a huge house-building free-for-all in areas that are
already over-developed. And any hopes of ensuring that they are built to high
environmental standards disappeared when the Government watered down its sustainable
building code, and then made it voluntary, and not compulsory."
The Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister has published two documents:
Planning Policy Statement 3 contains
plans for housing provision based on the Barker report's recommendations. This means
housing will be provided on the basis of price not social need. Areas of high demand will
grow in line with market forces with no regard for the social or environmental
consequences. This means not just a massive expansion in the four growth zones around
London (Thames Gateway and the three new growth areas of the Milton Keynes/ South
Midlands, London-Stansted-Cambridge and Ashford) but also new growth points outside these
areas, creating even more problems for transport and social infrastructure as well as
threatening the environment.
The Government Code for Sustainable
Building also launched today is meant to drive up standards of energy and water efficiency
in new homes. But the code is only voluntary and will have little or no effect on private
builders. The result will mean a huge increase in the demand for water and lead to major
increases in climate change emissions. New housing development can be carbon zero and
could, with the right technology, even result in a net surplus of electricity.
Local treasure
The cycle ride planned for January
(with a pub stop at The Flying Goose, Ancells Farm) prompted a question about the local
SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) By coincidence an article in the latest issue
of the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Magazine Natural World gives the following
description of the grazing regime on site:
At Foxlease and Ancells the Trust
has been working with local graziers for many years to manage the site using Highland
cattle and belted Galloways. All are hardy and help control rank growth of bog myrtle
which can out-compete sensitive wet heathland and bog species such as bog asphodel as well
as round and oblong-leaved sundews. How important is grazing? After the fragmentation of
the Foxlease, Ancells and Whitehouse Meadows following house and road building in the area
– and then a drop in the grazing rates – the marsh fritillary butterfly
struggled to cope with the normal parasite load. It is now considered extinct in the area.
Well that's a pity - but even with
no butterflies – it is hoped that many of you will join us on our cycle rides planned
for the New Year (see diary).
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