Happy New Year !!!!!

We at Solihull Friends of the Earth hope that you have all had a very good christmas break.

We have been involved in a lot of things in 2011, Here are just some of these things;

* The Government's Energy bill and Friends of the Earth's national energy campaign
* Publishing a Fairtrade and Local Food directory
* HS2 consultation
* Birmingham Airport night time flying consultation
* Go Green Fair Event
* Fun in the Park Event
* Film Screenings (including increasing awareness of Durban Climate Conference)
* Plant Swap Events


AND MUCH MUCH MORE....

Last but certainly not least, we have gained many new members. Why not come and join us to make a difference to the local community in Solihull in 2012 and beyond ? New members are welcome. Please drop us an email on solihullfoe@gmail.com or by entering a comment on this blog for more information.

Find out soon our stated aims and priorities for 2012. It will be to carry on some of the campaign themes of 2011 and previous years but also to launch new campaigns which will be announced on this blog.

So finally, we at Solihull Friends of the Earth would like to wish you all a very happy new year and would like to thank everyone other parties who have worked with us during 2011.

ENERGY UNION FILM SCREENING!

Solihull Friends of the Earth provide a formal response to Birmingham Airport's Night Flying Consultation

Solihull Friends of the Earth has provided a response to Birmingham Airport's Night Flying Consultation. A copy of the document is available at http://www.birminghamairport.aero/meta/about-us/environment/night-flying-policy-consultation.aspx.This is regarding being able to change noise limits and the method with which this is done.

The consultation closed on Wednesday 24th August 2011.

Our response is as follows:

'We do recognise that consultation events took place at various locations in June and July. However, we are concerned about the low-key nature concerning potential changes in night flying policy that we believe will overall have a detrimental environmental effect on the population.

We welcome the reduction of the night noise violation limit from 87db - 85 db. However, the revision of annual limits for ATMs annually based on the previous 5 years is worrying. Despite showing noise trends of a reduction of noise impact on the population, there appears to be no commitment or strategy to reduce overall noise levels at night. Exempting Quota Count 0 aircraft which in themselves can have a noise classification of anywhere up to just under 84 EPN dB, and therefore the vast majority may have a noise of for example 83.9 EPN dB.  The increase in frequency of aircraft (particularly now there is a runway extension) can possibly outweight the general welcome shift towards lower quota aircraft that has occurred. It is also surely reasonable to give projections of noise impact on the population; in business, financial and non-financial projections of operations have to be made and therefore there is very little rationale to not do something similar for projections of noise levels and impact.

Solihull Friends of the Earth believes that to assume that noise levels have to increase or decrease based on recovery or recession is not part of a commitment to decrease noise levels and its impact on the population.

Solihull Friends of the Earth don’t believe that there is an insufficient strategy to attempt to mitigate for increased noise levels. It’s very well to respond that any fines collected from exceeding the noise violation limit is put into ‘community projects’ but it is necessary to know what is going to be done as a result of increased noise because of the actual change in the night flying policy.

We would also like to learn more about the number and type of flights that have moved from Coventry Airport to Birmingham as a result of the closure of that facility. We welcome the news that a new consultation period would be put in place if flights were ever to recommence from Baginton. We would appreciate if more detailed information and greater clarity could be provided regarding this issue.

Finally, we do have some concerns about removing the seasonal splits in ATMs (76% Summer and 24% Winter), and therefore would appreciate any greater clarity though we do also appreciate the reasons why Birmingham Airport are proposing this.'

Our response covers the important points and expresses our dismay of a almost non-existant strategy of noise reduction and/or reduction of the impact of noise on the surrounding areas. The presentation of data by Birmingham Airport showing an overall reduction in noise impact on the local population in the last ten years shows little relevance as to the impact on noise as a result of the changes resulting from the proposals in the consultation document.

Did you respond to the consultation ? Do you have any comments to make concerning this issue or is there anything to add? Please feel free to make comments either via the blog or emailing us at solihullfoe@gmail.com.

Come and be a part of Solihull Friends of the Earth

Interested in green issues? Want to make a positive difference to Solihull and the community? Then come and be a part of Solihull Friends of the Earth.

We're campaigning on a variety of important issues such as local food, Energy, Transport and much much more. As you may see, we've recently been analysing the HS2 issue and we submitted our views to the HS2 consultation that closed on Friday 29th July. Our submitted response is shown in the previous post in this blog. 

We've worked closely with Solihull Borough Council to publish the Fairtrade and Local Food directory (See relevant post at http://solihullfoe.blogspot.com/2011/07/solihull-foe-proud-as-fairtrade-and.html

To spread our message, we take part in public events such as the recent Plant Swap and Go Green Fair events. We are due to take part at the Fun in the Park event at Tudor Grange Park on the 25th September.

Want to find out more ? It's simple. Email us at solihullfoe@gmail.com and we can then arrange for you to join us at the following monthly meeting. 

Solihull Friends of the Earth submit their response to HS2 consultation

Solihull Friends of the Earth have submitted their response to the High Speed 2 Consultation.

Solihull Friends of the Earth is opposing HS2 as the trains will not take passengers off planes or out of their cars; most will be new journeys which would not otherwise have taken place. The sheer cost of the project is huge, and we believe that HS2 provides little gain, with even the claimed figures being speculative. The ticket prices will be high, which will make it a railway for the affluent rather than everybody and it will not improve local travel for the majority at all.

Other countries with similar links have found that rather than jobs spreading out from a larger place (London) to the satellite cities (Birmingham), the larger conurbation tends to gain even more jobs at the expense of the smaller place, thus working against the stated aim of distributing economic gains around evenly. 

We are happy to provide the full responses we have submitted below;

Question 1: 

This question is about the strategy and wider context (Chapter 1 of the main consultation document)

Do you agree that there is a strong case for enhancing the capacity and performance of Britain’s inter-city rail network to support economic growth over the coming decades?

Our Response: Solihull Friends of the Earth believes that increasing the capacity of rail by encouraging a shift away from cars is very important in the quest for a low carbon economy. However cutting journey times at the total cost of 38.2 billion pounds does not provide economic and energy benefits. The recent Oxera report to the Transport Select Committee states that most jobs created will be short term and in London. HS2 also jeopardises investment in local transport schemes in Solihull where local schemes linking Solihull and Birmingham, and North Solihull and Birmingham International train station are a much higher priority. Improvements to local transport systems would do much to support economic growth. 

Solihull Friends of the Earth believes that instead rail coverage, reliability and punctuality has to be enhanced. Higher speeds don't necessarily mean increased reliability; this can be achieved by upgrading existing infrastructure such as train stock and platforms rather than spending huge amounts of money on an entirely new line, where the claimed benefits are speculative. The evidence provided in the consultation document is of a poor standard. The estimates are based on figures that are dependant on economic factors that the Government can't predict anywhere near accurately. We believe that the country cannot afford this project.

Question 2

This question is about the case for high speed rail (Chapter 2 of the main consultation document)

Do you agree that a national high speed rail network from London to Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester (the Y network) would provide the best value for money solution (best balance of costs and benefits) for enhancing rail capacity and performance?

Our Response: No. Solihull Friends of the Earth believe there is no gain for communities along the route since they are not served by the HS2 rail service. All they gain is the detrimental effects of the HS2 line passing straight through them. The Oxera report to the Transport Select Committee queried the benefit of the speed of the line; reduced speeds would offer flexibility to allow the line to follow the contours of the land, thus avoiding the need for a destructive route. With respect to Birmingham Interchange Station, we don't believe HS2 encourages inner city regeneration in Solihull where any activity is restricted to outer Solihull which increases the factors threatening the surrounding Green Belt.

Question 3

This question is about how to deliver the Government’s proposed network (Chapter 3 of the main consultation document)

Do you agree with the Government’s proposals for the phased roll-out of a national high speed rail network, and for links to Heathrow Airport and the High Speed 1 line to the Channel Tunnel?

Our Response: No. HS2 on its own doesn't represent a Transport Strategy. As already stated, a huge amount of resources are being put into HS2 yet the suggested benefits are dubious. There is no integrated thinking of creating, enhancing and linking local with national infrastructure in order to come up with a credible strategic plan. This is needed in order to meet all the environmental and possible economic challenges that are faced in the short, medium and long term.

Question 4

This question is about the specification for the line between London and the West Midlands (Chapter 4 of the main consultation document)

Do you agree with the principles and specification used by HS2 Ltd to underpin its proposals for new high speed rail lines and the route selection process HS2 Ltd undertook?

Our Response: No. The withholding of important information by HS2 Ltd has to be noted here. It needed Berkswell Parish Council to make a Freedom of Information request for it to become known that in addition to the 22m maximum width of the line, there is going to be in addition 25m either side of the line of what is described as managed vegetation. This in practice means that an even greater amount mature trees or plant species will be lost than it first appeared, and a total of potentially a 72m strip of vegetation being lost along the route of the line.

Question 5

This question is about the route for the line between London and the West Midlands (Chapter 5 and Annex B of the main consultation document)

Do you agree that the Government’s proposed route, including the approach proposed for mitigating its impacts, is the best option for a new high speed rail line between London and the West Midlands?

Our Response: No. The route will have a significant negative impact on Solihull. The proposed route passes onto a viaduct in close proximity to Berkswell Station, with historic buildings and green belt land likely to be threatened. The proposed route also impacts on Chelmsley Wood, in particular the Bluebell Recreation Ground and Yorkminster Drive, where residential dwellings will be approximately 70 metres west of the route.

Question 6

This question is about the Appraisal of Sustainability (Chapter 5 of the main consultation document)

Do you wish to comment on the Appraisal of Sustainability of the Government’s proposed route between London and the West Midlands that has been published to inform this consultation?

Our Response: Solihull Friends of the Earth believes that no account is being taken of the need for sustainability especially in the knowledge of peak oil. This HS2 project cannot be considered to be sustainable when done at the expense of the natural environment. There has been no environmental impact assessment done on a local level.We believe that as transport links are concentrated near Birmingham Airport, it is bound to encourage an increase of long haul flights which will increase greenhouse emissions and pressure on the surrounding green belt. The increased travel generated by people in their cars who travel to Birmingham Interchange station will also increase carbon emissions. This again comes back to the point above concerning creating an integrated Transport strategy which is non-existent (the LTP3 itself just exposes how confused the thinking really is) which does not encourage a shift away from cars and hence enhance social mobility.

Question 7: 
This question is about blight and compensation (Annex A of the main consultation document)
Do you agree with the options set out to assist those with whose properties lose a significant amount of value as a result of any new high speed line?

Our Response: No. The destruction along the line impacts on more than just properties which stand to lose value. There is a loss to the whole country of valuable green spaces and areas of local and historical importance. There can be no recompense for this loss, and those individuals who stand to lose access to green spaces will not be liable for financial compensation.

Are you in favour of HS2 or not ? Do you agree with Solihull FOE's position regarding HS2 ? Maybe you agree with us or alternatively you take a totally different view and believe HS2 to overall be a good thing. Please feel free to discuss further via your comments here or alternatively email us at solihullfoe@gmail.com . 

Solihull FOE proud as Fairtrade and Local Food Directory 2011-2012 published

Solihull FOE is proud to be able to announce the publication of the Fairtrade and Local Food Directory 2011-2012.

Solihull FOE, Transition Solihull and other local groups in the Borough have endeavoured for this to happen and close working with Solihull Borough Council has now made this possible.

We believe that it is important to support local farmers and local food in the Borough in order to help have a healthy and sustainable local economy which serves local people. This can help towards a more efficient use of resources which is sympathetic to the environment around us. The local food directory produced and distributed to the people of Solihull is a small step towards our goals.

However, where food and produce is imported from around the world, it is fair that farmers and their families from foreign countries get paid a fair price for their produce and can have a guaranteed minimum standard of living rather than being left to struggle due to large multi-national firms pressurising them to sell at a price that struggles to provide a subsistence living. This is what Fairtrade is all about.

Please feel free to distribute the directory.

If you would like your very own hard copy of the directory, then please email us via solihullfoe@gmail.com OR alternatively, email Transition Solihull via transitionsolihull@gmail.com

Solihull Friends of the Earth show their presence in Go Green Fair Event on Saturday 2nd July 2011

A second Go Green Fair took place in Mell Square in Solihull on Saturday 2nd July 2011 where similar-minded Green groups hosted stalls as part of a drive encouraging people to become more environmentally friendly.

The event was organised by Solihull's Faith Eco Group which is part of Solihull Partnership.

Solihull Friends of the Earth hosted a stall which included spotting the difference between tap and bottled water, and an Energy Survey which encouraged people to start thinking about how they think the energy and climate change challenges of the future can be best met on both a local and national level.

Other groups such as Solihull Fairtrade also hosted events.

The event appears to have been well received in the community and it overall appears to have been a success.


Where you there ? We would appreciate your feedback. Please feel free to comment below or write your views to solihullfoe@gmail.com.


And finally, please see the video below for some event highlights....

Solihull Friends of the Earth’s Views on the Energy Bill 2011

Introduction

One of the greatest challenges we are faced with is dealing with carbon emissions and the problem of being very near the point of ‘peak oil’ whilst analysing what our energy needs are. The solution to this needs to involve a switch to using carbon-free and low-carbon sources of energy, as well as improving the efficiency of our use of energy. For many years, the excuse for inaction has been the lack of strong international cooperation and agreement on these issues. However, dealing with problems starts from local councils, local communities and individuals. National governments need to assist with this process and give incentives for this to happen.

The Energy Bill

The Tory-Lib Dems coalition government have published an Energy Bill and claim that it will achieve three main objectives;

* Tackling Barriers to Investment in Energy Efficiency
* Enhancing Energy Security
* Enabling investment in low carbon energy supplies

We will deal with the most important areas in this analysis;

The Green Deal

What is it ?

This part of the Energy bill will enable owners of homes and businesses at no upfront costs, though it will have to be repaid as part of the Energy Bill Cost at a particular rate of interest. The Government claims that overall, savings are made by the owners of homes and businesses.

Analysis

At first glance, this is something to be welcomed since improving energy efficiency of buildings is an important step to reducing carbon emissions and increasing efficiency. However, there are many problems with the government’s ‘Green Deal’

The main problem is that there are not enough incentives for households to take part in this scheme, particularly ones on low incomes which are mostly found in Northern Solihull and the elderly who often live in fuel poverty. They still end up paying to get the work done and therefore it’s still an expense for them. How much are the savings exactly going to exceed the level of charge? That depends on the interest rate charged on the money that is effectively borrowed for the improvements carried out. A possible small saving in the long term provides very little incentive. As it stands, this scheme in its current form is very unlikely to deal with the problem of low income and elderly people living in fuel poverty. Only some higher income people are likely to be able to afford to take part in The Green Deal scheme, and even then, we have doubts as to whether they will think that it’s worth it.

Another problem is that there are some older homes, including listed buildings where it is very difficult to carry out improvements on them to improve their energy efficiency. Even if possible, the costs involved are too high. Therefore, it’s unlikely to be feasible and viable for those households to take part in the Green Deal.

What needs to be done instead ?

The current proposals could be improved by capping the interest rates that energy companies could charge in order to make it more financially attractive for households to take part in any sort of scheme aimed at increasing energy efficiency of homes.  Interest rates could be made minimal for those households that live in fuel poverty.

However, even then, the Green deal proposal wouldn’t necessarily guarantee a integrated strategy of wide-scale retrofit of homes. We believe that there needs to be a subsidy provided by the government as part of an integrated strategy for a nationwide refit of UK homes that would bring them up to a particular minimum standard within a reasonable timescale of a few years. There should be prioritisation of identifying the least efficient properties first, a systematic analysis done and process of improvements implemented. 

Private Rented Sector

The aim of this section of the bill is ‘to prevent landlords from refusing a tenants reasonable request for energy efficiency improvements to be undertaken in their properties, where a finance package is available. It would also require private landlords in the domestic and non-domestic sector to improve some of the least energy efficient properties where finance is available. This is to come into force in April 2015.’

Solihull Friends of the Earth believes that this section of the bill is highly flawed even in its basic detail. We are in support of improving energy efficiency of homes in a wide scale, including in the private rented sector. Unfortunately, this section of the bill as it stands doesn’t even come near to achieving these objectives.

The government claims that improvements will have to be funded where it is available through the Green Deal or the Energy Company Obligation. Since it’s not clear how much funding is available, this doesn’t look like a serious proposal to revolutionise improving energy efficiency. Why should this come into force so late in April 2015? As the government itself accepts, significant carbon emission reductions of 40% by 2020 have to be made to help combat climate change. Therefore, coherent actions have to be taken as soon as possible.

Smart Meters

We believe that Smart Meters play an important role in helping people to use energy more efficiently.

The previous Labour government’s Energy Act in 2008 gave government the power to implement and direct the roll out of Smart Meters until 2013.

Solihull Friends of the Earth welcomes the decision of the present government to direct the approach to the roll-out of Smart Meters until 2018 with additional provisions made such as requiring information with respect to energy use as part of the process of the giving out of Smart Meters.

Our position is that the government needs to present a more detailed strategy regarding the roll out of Smart Meters including targets regarding how many households they aim to provide Smart Meters with.

Energy Performance Certificates

Solihull Friends of the Earth supports the decision of the Government to legislate for making Energy Performance of Properties more widely available in promoting improved energy efficiency performance of buildings.

Measures to enable Low Carbon Technologies

The government wants to enable the implementation of an enduring offshore electricity transmission regime. The government claim that this facilitates the timely, secure and cost effective delivery of connections from offshore wind farms to the onshore grid. 

The measures are mostly about the competitive and implementation measures of connections with respect to offshore wind farms.

Though we will be monitoring this carefully, we are very disappointed that there are no concrete measures with respect to renewables in general. There appears to be no detailed strategy as to how the government is going to meet its targets of 20% of energy being provided via renewables by 2020. The government needs to make very clear with this bill exactly how many offshore wind farms they believe are needed, as well as do an investigative study of any appropriate onshore sites that could also be used. There is no mention of other renewable such as solar panels in this bill even being investigated by the government. Instead, to our dismay, they have announced a cut in support to larger-scale developments involving solar panels via the feed in tariff scheme, where more of the potential renewable power in somewhere like Solihull may be used.

Nuclear Operator’s Funded Decommissioning Program

The government claims that this part of the bill will ‘ensure that there is an appropriate balance between the Secretary of State’s powers to protect the taxpayer and the operator’s need for clarity and certainty over how those powers will be exercised.’

There are certain extensions being made where the provisions above that were already made in the Energy Act 2008 in order to, according to the Government; ‘be more certain over the investment case for new nuclear and so increase the likelihood that the very significant investments will be made. This in turn will contribute to reducing carbon and improving energy security.’

Recent sad events in Japan where there has effectively been a meltdown in the nuclear plant in Fukushima as a result of the earthquake and tsunami means that this part of the bill may be jeopardy, and they have shown the many hazards of nuclear power which means that we don’t believe it increases energy security. Even the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, has confirmed that the government’s nuclear policy is effectively under review. Therefore, it is unlikely that the government will want to be encouraging significant investments in nuclear energy at this current time.

Solihull Friends of the Earth urges the government to take this opportunity to change course and make renewables and carbon-capture technology a major part of this Energy Bill in creating a low-carbon economy.

Measures to Improve Energy Security

Solihull Friends of the Earth takes note of the various proposals to improve Energy Security in the bill. This is an area we will continue to monitor.

Conclusion

Solihull Friends of the Earth shares some of the aims of the Government regarding this Energy Bill. Though there are some measures that we welcome such as the roll out of Smart Meters, we believe this Energy Bill to be very inadequate in even helping the UK to partially meet its climate change commitments. The Green Deal does not encourage the elderly and those on lower incomes to access it, the proposals applicable to the Private Rented Sector are unclear, vague and wholly inadequate. The proposals on low carbon technologies are weak.

Our overall conclusion is that this Energy Bill is a big let-down from what was originally promised by the coalition government. The government appears to have no coherent and coordinated strategy and little objectivity shown in the measures and procedures required in this bill to help in the battle against climate change. The proposals have just not been thought through enough. The standard of this bill and the explanations given are of a very low standard. There is little or no vision as to how local communities such as the ones in Solihull can be helped, or get involved to help meet what is one of the biggest challenges of the 21^st Century. 

Solihull Friends of the Earth will be making their views known on a local level but we urge the Government to make significant changes to the Energy Bill, otherwise an important opportunity will have been lost to make a real difference.

Update (17.06.11):  We are aware of the bill going through Committee Stage now and take note of possible strengthening of the original proposals regarding minimum energy efficiency of properties that are let by landlords. We await further details with respect to the implementation of amendments at third reading.

We also welcome new targets to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 from 1990 levels.  However, we are still not convinced that the Government has a real firm and credible strategy to deal with increasing energy efficiency and helping combat greenhouse gas emissions.