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The Bradworthy Wind Turbines
May '05 News |
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Greens celebrate best ever election results |
RENEWABLE ENERGY IN LYNTON AND LYNMOUTH |
National Green Party news bulletin: "Greens celebrate best ever election results"
22 % in Brighton Pavillion - 18% increase in Green vote share - Green vote doubles in target constituencies - 3.4% of the vote, on average, in seats where the Party stood - A final tally of 283,084 votes. Click here for the full news release
General Election ResultsThe strength of the Green vote is continuing to rise here and elsewhere in the Country. Congratulations to all our candidates, and well done to all those who voted Green! With your continued support, we can expect to see several Green candidates elected in the local council elections in two years' time. In North Devon, Cllr Ricky Knight received 1,826 votes - 3.5% - an impressive increase on the previous General Election result of 2.4%. Full North Devon results here. In Torridge, Cllr Peter Christie received 2,003 votes - 3.4%. Full Torridge results here. Speaking about the General Election results, Cllr Ricky Knight said "North Devon got a 53% increase on last time, which if repeated next time, will secure our deposit". In both constituencies we fell slightly short of our target of 2600 votes - 5% - which would have saved the candidates' £500 deposits. A staggering three times as many people voted Green at a County level as in the General Election. Speaking with people who wanted to vote Green in the General Election but didn't, it has become clear that they were driven by fear of a Tory victory to cast a tactical vote for the Lib-Dems. What a shame! The Lib-Dems had a landslide victory with nearly 5,000 more votes than the Tories. The 5,500 people who voted Green in the County elections could have safely voted Green in the General Election as well, still leaving the Lib-Dems with a clear victory and boosting North Devon's green vote to over 10%! Sadly, it's becoming clear that our voting system is hardly "democratic", when people vote against the candidate they fear rather than for the party they believe in. Across the Country, only one in five people voted Labour, yet Labour still control the Government with a 66 seat majority. It is sadder still that Labour promised in their last two manifestos to look at Proportional Representation, but failed to do so. Too many voices in our country are not being given the representation in parliament that they deserve. Please join us in campaigning for a change to a truly democratic system - proportional representation. Your Green Party candidates for the General Election were:
County Election ResultsOne in ten voters in North Devon support the Green Party! In the County Council elections, Greens in North Devon polled in total 11.5% of the vote with 5,500 votes cast for us; enough for at least one County Council candidate if we had a fair, proportional electoral system. Our highest vote was 18.1%, in Fremington Rural. Earl Bramley Howard had 572 votes - 9.5% - in Barnstaple North. Robert Cornish had 596 votes - 9.6% - in Barnstaple South. Mike Harrison had 607 votes - 9.6% - in Braunton Rural. Ian Godfrey had 915 votes - 13.1% - in Chulmleigh & Swimbridge Rural. Jon Hooper had 706 votes - 12.5% - in Combe Martin Rural. Linda Mack had 997 votes - 18.1% - in Fremington Rural. Frank Pearson had 443 votes - 8.1% - in Ilfracombe Rural. Jackie Morningmist had 664 votes - 10.8% - in South Molton Rural. Full results are available here
Your Green Party candidates for the County Elections were:
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Green supporters completed a sponsored bike ride on Sunday, 17th
April, from Hinkley Point Nuclear Power Station to the area of
the proposed Fullabrook
Down Wind Turbines, via the site of the Tidal
Power Generator at Lynmouth. Despite wind and rain, the ride
raised valuable funds for the Green Party and demonstrated the
urgent need to replace the dangerous and polluting old power stations
with new and clean renewable energy projects. |
 The
information age is still arriving! For those of us trying to keep
up with it, “blog” is short for “web-log” – a
cross between a website, a diary and a magazine. Using his blog,
North Devon’s Green candidate Ricky Knight bravely bares his
soul and shares his experiences as a Green councillor and campaigner.
Keep up-to-date with Ricky’s blog: www.greenknight.blogs.com |
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Barnstaple's Green Headquarters
For the month run-up to the 2005 Elections, we were donated an office to use as our Barnstaple Green Party Headquarters. It proved a great focal point for our campaign, and we had many visitors from those wishing to find out more about our policies to those wishing to give donations or join the campaign team.
HUNTS
ON THE RUN?
By Fiona Cresswell
February 18th 2005 - the day hunting with dogs was made illegal! After many years of lobbying, demonstrating, petitioning and hunt sabotage, this is the result anti-bloodsport campaigners have been waiting for. As someone who has witnessed the cruelty of hunting first hand, I have long looked forward to this day. Hopefully, in the future we will be able to walk in the countryside, enjoying the wildlife without hearing the chilling note of a hunting horn.
There is still a long way to go before the rights of animals are given their due recognition in law. There are other issues, such as intensive farming and vivisection, in need of Government attention. However, for all the foxes, hares and deer that have been spared the fate of being ripped apart by a pack of hounds, this is a victory.
It is only to be expected that some hunts will attempt to defy the ban. For this reason, protesters will continue to be out on a weekly basis armed with digital cameras. This should act as a deterrent to would-be law-breakers. In addition, if any hunts are caught on film breaking the law by chasing live quarry instead of an artificial scent trail, the footage can be used in court to bring about prosecutions. "It's not the police we've got to watch, it's the antis with their video cameras." - Chairman of the Eggesford Hunt.
Only time will test the effectiveness and enforceability of the Hunting Act. In the days following the ban, the first arrests were made under the new legislation. Meanwhile, campaigners will continue to oppose the killing of any wild animal in the name of 'sport'. (For more information on monitoring hunts see www.huntwatch.info)
TAKING IT TO THE STREETS
Going door-to-door, Councillor Ricky Knight
Once it has been established that I’m not selling encyclopædias or religion and once I have made sure that you are not eating, entertaining, in the bath, on the phone, most definitely not in the mood etc, then, other than those painful first few seconds, the door-knocking is going well! The only way to get to know the electorate is to talk to you all but it sure ain’t easy to track everyone down! We have been knocking on doors in Newport since last October. There’s over 1500 of them and we’ve managed about two-thirds but unfortunately, of those, about a third weren’t in! It’s a hard slog and just a tad intimidating when you realise that in North Devon there are over 47,000 doors still to go. A good opening salvo can be “how come we only see you lot at election time?” - well, that’s clearly one of the reasons, especially when I’m on my bike!
Newport’s tick-list of concerns
Meeting you all is proving a really worthwhile exercise, in both senses. I
know the Newport Ward inside out now, and I’m far more aware of your
individual concerns. A tick list reveals few surprises: rat-running; litter;
speeding; anti-social behaviour; vandalism; inadequate policing; wheelie
bins; parking; the decline in retail in the main street; the closure of the
Post Office; the demolition of the old convent (where I went to school with
my two brothers!); heavy lorries rattling the foundations; overgrown areas;
fly-tipping; planning restrictions (and not enough of them!); the state of
Rock Park; the under-use of the Park School; not enough play space for kids; “disaffected
youth” (I think I used to be one of them – I have quite a memory).
It’s an on-going list, and I can understand why many of you consider
they will never be adequately and effectively tackled by the Town, District
or County Councils.
Barnstaple Community Alliance
I have been involved with the Barnstaple Community Alliance since its inception
to the launch on 21st February and I have been really excited by the energies
and good intentions of everyone involved. It was clear from the open meeting
in Newport where some residents saw their priorities but it remains, as said,
so difficult to get the consensus of the majority. No-one can say however
that the attempt has not been made, with thousands of magazines delivered
to every home in the Barnstaple area and the media and radio and dozens of
retail outlets joining in the survey, the findings from which will prove,
I sincerely hope, to be more than just a paper exercise.
I’m on the case!
For the future, apart from my political aspirations to represent North Devonians
as their Green MP, I intend to continue with my duties as Ward Councillor,
looking at all those issues above and trying my hardest to make real progress
with them. As such, I must ask you to contact me, keep me informed as to
what concerns you, so that I can make representations on your behalf, with
the appropriate bodies.
Stopping the use of residential streets as short-cuts from one traffic jam to another will be a priority for me, as will speeding motorists and the safety of residents. I am also very keen to support and encourage sustainable and affordable housing, the regeneration of shops and businesses in Newport, the redevelopment of Rock Park, the availability of a variety of recreational, educational and cultural amenities for all ages, the problems with parking throughout the Ward and the eye-sore of litter everywhere. At the “Our Town” meeting, at the end of the evening, there was a whole graffiti wall of ideas, a shopping list of concerns and priorities for all of us to consider. I'm on the case!
RENEWABLE
ENERGY IN LYNTON AND LYNMOUTH
By Councillor Roland Gold
Lynmouth had one of the first Hydro-Electric schemes in this country and still runs the largest privately-owned Hydro station in England. Lynmouth is also host to the first experimental marine turbine generator off our coast.
As a Green I’ve been inspired by these schemes, and have instigated several projects through the Lynton and Lynmouth Council. We are now looking at reducing energy use in our communities and have recently commissioned 3 Pre-Feasability studies for micro-hydro electric schemes: one on the East Lyn river in Lynmouth where the original hydro station was located, and two on the West Lyn river in Barbrook and Lynbridge where there were water powered mills in the past.
We’ve made a good start, but there’s still much to be done to get the schemes up and running. I believe we should lead by example and I am proud that we have started to encourage these small but practical ways to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and lessen the effects of Global Warming.
The Badger Cull: Immoral, Unjustified and Unscientific
By Fiona Cresswell
In the heart of the Devon and Cornish countryside, Government employed “wildlife operatives” are quietly going about their business of eradicating large populations of a protected species. The badger, one of our best-loved wild mammals, is being unfairly blamed for spreading bovine tuberculosis in cattle (bTB). The Badger cull continues due to pressure from a farming lobby which is often uncaring towards wildlife.
The Badger is protected under the 1992 Badger Act which states it is illegal to kill, injure or take a badger. To get around the Act, the Government coined the phrase “Crown Immunity” which basically translates as “we are above the law”!
The more high-profile issue of hunting often overshadows the badger cull. Yet culling badgers is equally immoral and completely unjustified.
Since the 1970’s DEFRA, (formally MAFF) have been legally killing badgers with snares, toxic gas and most recently cage traps. To this date, well over 30,000 badgers have been culled, the majority of which didn’t even have bTB! The most recent killing experiment, the Krebs’ trial, began in 1998 and may continue for another 2/3 years.
Protesters monitoring the cull have often witnessed trapping operations continue in stormy weather, sub-zero temperatures and driving rain. A badger trapped in the evening can face an agonising wait of 12 hours plus for DEFRA workers to return the following morning.
The peanuts used to bait the traps also attract other wildlife. Jays, rooks, pheasants, squirrels, foxes and even domestic cats are some of so-called “non-target species” caught in traps. Birds are often killed or maimed when they become entangled in the string of the trap or fly into the cage roof in a desperate bid to escape.
It is true to say the badger has been made a scapegoat. There is no scientific evidence to suggest badgers are responsible for the spread of bTB in cattle. Since badgers have been culled, bTB outbreaks have increased year after year, especially in the South West. A far more likely culprit can be found in industrialised farming methods. On some farms, cattle are being left to graze in fields inches deep in mud or incarcerated in dank, over-crowded sheds – perfect conditions for disease incubation.
bTB outbreaks have jumped large distances across the country to previously uninfected areas. Badgers don’t travel these distances; cattle do – when they are transported to markets and slaughterhouses.
The current Krebs’ trial is so scientifically flawed it could never achieve valid results. Local co-operation in the killing areas has decreased; for example in West Cornwall 56-57% of landowners have refused DEFRA permission to trap on their land. The entire culling trial is rendered a cruel farce by a number of factors. These include the interruption of the year of Foot & Mouth restrictions, interference from protesters and illegal killing of badgers by farmers.
Over £7 million a year of taxpayers’ money is squandered on the badger cull. For each badger killed we pay £7,000 (or £35,000 for each badger infected with bTB). This money would be far better spent on research into developing a cattle vaccine and a more accurate testing programme. Measures need to be taken to improve welfare conditions on farms and to restrict movement of cattle from bTB hotspots to uninfected areas.
Despite flying in the face of all the evidence, DEFRA are due to resume killing badgers this May. At this time of year many young cubs are still reliant on their mothers. Yet even lactating sows will be shot, sentencing their dependant cubs to a lingering death by starvation.
CAMPAIGN
SUCCESS: BIKES ON TRAINS
By Mike Harrison
In May 2004 Wessex Trains introduced a peak hour ban on taking bikes on the trains to Exeter, Plymouth and Bristol. This was a real nuisance for cyclists such as myself, as it became almost impossible to make a long train journey into Cornwall or up country or to make a long day trip. A lot of effort goes in to the promotion of Devon as one of the country’s finest areas for cycling but then Wessex Trains makes it difficult to get here by bike. Where is the joined up thinking? Along with other local campaigners throughout the South West, I wrote letters to the company, politicians, the press and national cycle groups. At the end of January 2005 Wessex Trains lifted its ban. So, possibilities once more for cyclists!
Website designed by Jon Hooper
Published and promoted by Jon Hooper, 3 Elizabeth Court, Well Street, Torrington EX38 8EP on behalf of the North Devon Green Party, 1 Taw View Terrace, Bishops Tawton, EX32 0AW
PLEASE NOTE: Not all of the material presented on this site is necessarily Green Party Policy or endorsed by The Green Party.