Our bid to fly a kite to the height of the proposed incinerator chimney really irked the Brent Cross Cricklewood developers

Barnet Green Party would like to thank everyone in the borough who voted Green in the national and local elections last week and we would particularly like to thank the dozens of people who helped out, some of whom contacted us out of the blue.

The number of Green votes in the Barnet borough elections almost doubled from 11,637 in 2006 to 20,388 this time, which would have entitled us to several councillors under a proportional election system. Unfortunately, the current winners-take-all system continues to deny us any seats on the council, demonstrating at a local level the urgent need for major electoral reform.

Thankfully Caroline Lucas managed to win the Greens’ first ever parliamentary seat when she triumphed in Brighton Pavilion constituency, while across the country additional Green councillors were elected in Bristol, Cambridge, Reigate, Reading and Rochford in Essex, though the vagaries of the dreadful voting system and linking of the parliamentary and local elections meant we lost a few seats on some councils in London.

“As I monitored the count for East Finchley, the ward where I was a candidate, I saw that an enormous number of people had voted for names from two or three different parties, rather than backing three candidates from a single party. Judging from my strolls around the marquees where the votes were tallied, the trend was the same in other wards,” said Barnet Green Party press officer Andrew Newby.

This proves that a large proportion of people in Barnet borough really would like to see a balanced council, with a fair representation of all the political parties rather than the overwhelmingly Conservative administration that we are lumbered with.

Let us hope that the new British government, in whatever shape it may take, brings in a truly proportional voting system for local councils as well as for parliament.

Meanwhile, Barnet Green Party will continue to campaign on the many urgent local issues, not least our efforts to persuade the council to adopt a 20 mph speed limit in all residential streets in the borough. This would not only reduce accidents but make side streets more pleasant to walk or cycle along, improving people’s quality of life and boosting community spirit.

We will very much need your help in future and hope you will continue to support us as we begin preparations for the next major electoral challenge, the London Assembly elections in 2012, when we and activists across London will be fighting to increase the number of Green members of the London Assembly. Greens have played a key role in shaping policies on the assembly and could have even more influence if we win additional seats.

Newby (left) and Lyven with Kate Tansley, Green candidate for Chipping Barnet

If you are ready for some light relief amid the election campaigning why not join us for kite flying on Sunday at Clitterhouse playing fields near Brent Cross?

Anyone who would like to bring their own kites to fly alongside ours will be especially welcome.

Next Sunday, April 18^th, Donald Lyven, Green Party parliamentary candidate for Finchley and Golders Green, and Andrew Newby, Green Party candidate for Hendon, will attempt to fly a kite to 140 metres, the height of the chimney at the incinerator which the developers of the 4.5 billion pounds Brent Cross Cricklewood project propose to build.

The attempt will take place at Clitterhouse Playing Fields (Claremont Road, NW2) at 1.00 pm. Media have been invited. (Contact Donald Lyven on 07727 748209 or Andrew Newby on 07947 402945 or andrewnewby1@gmail.com).

Lyven and Newby’s kite flying plan aims to mock the Brent Cross Cricklewood developers’ denial that the 140 metre chimney will spew fumes across the whole of North London.

“Of course it will,” said Lyven. “140 metres is an enormous height. The legal maximum height for flying a kite is less than half of that – 60 metres in fact. If anyone tries to stop us we’ll ask how come the developers expect to get away with building a polluting chimney 140 metres tall when we can only fly a kite to 60 metres.”

NB: The Civil Aviation Authority has given approval for Lyven to fly the kite to 140m so there should be no trouble.

Andrew Saffrey, Golders Green candidate for the Green Party in the coming Barnet Council elections, believes the incinerator will blight Golders Green and spread pollution far and wide.

The waste incinerator has been dressed up in the consultation material as a “gasification plant” or a “CHP station”. Whatever it is called, it will emit large quantities of harmful emissions from a 140-metre chimney into the suburbs of North London,” he said.

With prevailing winds taking these emissions to the east, the Boroughs of Enfield, Haringey and Waltham Forest would also be affected, as would the Counties of Essex and Hertfordshire,” he said.

Newby said: “When the Brent Cross Cricklewood plans came before Barnet Planning Committee its Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat members of the planning committee all just rolled over and let their tummies be tickled by the developers.

They approved the plans almost on the nod when the sheer number of objectors and the broad scope of the various objections – the incinerator is just one of many problems – meant that the only truly democratic decision would have been to call a public enquiry,” he said.

Giant Cody box kite to be flown on Sunday

Barnet Council needs a strong Green group to hold the administration to account not just on environmental policy but on jobs, housing, social issues and certainly planning,” said Newby.

Labour’s Communities Minister John Denham may have blocked the development for the moment but he has not ruled out approving the scheme after the election, still without the vital public inquiry needed to expose the many flaws in the scheme. For kite enthusiasts, the kite is a Giant Cody Box kite made of Ripstop Nylon & Fibreglass. Size 245 x 145cm. Speed 5-18mph.

An artist's impression of the proposed Brent Cross development

Barnet Green Party is urging local people to write in the next seven days to Communities Secretary John Denham to demand a public inquiry into the the 4.5 billion pounds Brent Cross Cricklewood redevelopment.

Objectors have only until March 12^th to make their views known to Denham, who will then decide whether to over-rule Barnet Council’s approval and call in the plan for further assessment.

“The whole scheme is monstrously unsustainable and would have a damaging effect on wide swathes of North London well beyond the boundaries of Barnet borough,” said Andrew Newby, Green Party parliamentary candidate for Hendon.

“The housing programmes need major revision to make them sustainable and the planned expansion of Brent Cross shopping centre should be halted completely, having already been rejected at a previous public inquiry.”

Andrew Saffrey, Golders Green candidate for the party in the coming Barnet Council elections, is particularly unhappy at plans for an incinerator, which he believes will blight Golders Green and spread pollution far and wide.

an incinerator in Sheffield

“The waste incinerator has been dressed up in the consultation material as a “gasification plant” or a “CHP station”. Whatever it is called, it will emit large quantities of harmful pollutants from a 140-metre chimney into the suburbs of North London,” he said.

Newby said in a letter to Denham: “Even supposing the developers fulfill their pledges of high standards for all aspects of their monstrous proposals, the scheme is so enormous that it will have an impact on the national target of an 80 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

“The BXC plans include only token sustainability measures, so the expanded shopping centre, the new homes and the other buildings are likely to churn out hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2 in their many decades of existence. Residential buildings will only achieve level three (out of six) under the Code for Sustainable Homes although the government’s target is for all buildings be carbon neutral (level six) by 2016.

“This scheme is an ideal opportunity to install energy conservation measures and sustainable power facilities right from the beginning. There is plenty of scope on the site for enough wind turbines, solar arrays and ground source heat pumps to make the whole area carbon negative, never mind carbon neutral. Yet the requirement for 20% renewable energy is proposed to be met entirely by burning domestic waste. Not a single solar panel or wind turbine is proposed.”

Newby also says: “Any expansion of Brent Cross would undoubtedly have further harmful affects on the several shopping areas within a few miles of the development.

“Shopping districts likely to suffer from would include Golders Green, Hendon, Temple Fortune and Finchley Central. Many businesses in those areas are already struggling under the impact of the recession and Barnet Council should not have approved the BXC plans without studying their likely impact on local communities and implementing measures needed to support those communities.

Saffrey said in his submission to the ministry: “With an estimated 29,000 vehicle trips a day predicted to be generated by this development, clearly this project is seriously jeopardising efforts to control and reduce CO2 emissions.”

“Suggestions that a light-rail system is sorely needed to serve Brent Cross have been derided by Conservative councillors yet providing light rail has been enormously successful in other large-scale development projects, notably Canary Wharf,” said Saffrey.

Newby said: “With a general election coming up and a number of marginal labour seats nearby there is a good chance of Denham calling in the plan if enough people write in.”

If you want to ask the minister to call in the plans, send a message to: john.denham@communities.gsi.gov.uk

or send a letter to:

The Rt. Hon John Denham MP
Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government
Eland House, Bressenden Place
London
SW1E 5DU

An artist's impression of the Brent Cross Cricklewood development

Barnet Planning Committee’s approval of the Brent Cross Cricklewood development is bad for the borough of Barnet, awful for surrounding areas and sets a terrible example for the whole of Britain, say Barnet Greens.

Even supposing the developers fulfill their pledges of high standards for all aspects of their monstrous proposals, there are two overwhelming reasons why the project should have gone to a public inquiry.

The size of the scheme is so enormous that it will have an impact on the national target of an 80 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. The BXC plans include only token sustainability measures, so the expanded shopping centre, the new homes and the other buildings are likely to churn out hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2 in their many decades of existence.

Barnet Greens want solar panels on all roofs at the Brent Cross Cricklewood development. Barnet Green Andrew Newby shows a cheap and effective water heating panel.

It is vital that all nations reduce their CO2 emissions rapidly in order to prevent global temperatures rising to levels likely to trigger environmental disaster. But there is no chance of Britain achieving its crucial CO2 reduction target if other planning authorities adopt the Barnet committee’s approach of ignoring the broad environmental impact of major projects.

World leaders attending the climate change summit in Copenhagen next month will be wasting their time if their pledges of action are undermined by people such as the members of Barnet planning committee who fail to appreciate the urgency of the crisis.

Nearer to home, the expansion of Brent Cross is certain to damage the viability of nearby shopping districts including Golders Green, Hendon, Temple Fortune and Finchley Central. Many businesses in those areas are already struggling under the impact of the recession and Barnet Council should not have approved the BXC plans without studying  their likely impact on local communities and implementing whatever measures are needed to support those communities.

It is time the council’s Conservative administration stopped ignoring the Sustainable Communities Act act and started accepting their responsibility to ensure that neighbourhoods have the shops, libraries, post offices, playing fields and other community facilities which are essential for all council tax payers to have a decent quality of life.

For more information or to comment contact: Andrew Newby