News Stories Archive - 2005

This page is an archive of the stories that have been on our news page. As it is an archive, it is not maintained, so stories may have been superseded. Also, links from the stories may not now be relevant.

Titles

2005 stories

• All children matter" - unless they are under the flight path
• Darling gives up on traffic
• Great night flights rally - but can we trust the MPs?
• Residents hit by Heathrow triple whammy
• Hurricane disaster highlights global warming threat
• Government attacks environmental campaigner
• Local campaigner wins national award
• Victory for environment at Richmond Park
• Is Labour election win bad news for the environment?
• Heathrow expansion lobby group launched
• Consultation shows support for tram
• No extension to congestion charge zone beyond Hammersmith
• Labour and Conservatives ignore environment in election
• Night Flights Consultation
• No joy on Heathrow court case
• Front gardens and cars on telly

For these stories see below. (For stories from previous years see links at end of page.)

Schools under flight paths are severely compromised in delivering the National Curriculum, stated barrister, David Wolfe, at a public meeting in Hounslow on 6 Dec, organised by the Environmental Law Foundation (ELF).

It may be possible to take headteachers, governers or Hounslow council to court over their failure to provide a proper environment for the children in their care. It will be interesting to see how Councillor Ruth Cadbury reacts, as it is her Labour party's policies and actions that are causing the problem.

See press release from ELF for more information.

(Dec 05)

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Darling gives up on traffic

Alistair Darling

Alistair Darling, Secretary of State for Transport, has as good as said that his Labour government has given up on trying to constrain traffic growth. See article from 'Transport Today'.

He plans instead to start building roads, even though he knows that in the longer term this is a hopeless policy and totally unsustainable.

One of the reasons why this policy is unsustainable and unacceptable is that it will prevent the government meeting its commitments on climate change. But Tony Blair is already u-turning on climate change. (See also earlier evidence.)

(Nov 05)

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Great night flights rally - but can we trust the MPs?

More night flights

On 24th Oct 05 a rally against night flights was held in Westminster Central Hall. Over 400 people attended and 18 MPs as well as leading councillors spoke.

All the MPs spoke out against night flights. We have no reason to doubt the integrity of the MPs - with one notable exception Ann Keen, Labour MP for Brentford & Isleworth

Ann Keen voted in Parliament to allow the limit on night flights to be removed. FOE comment: "The hypocrisy of Ann Keen is staggering. She had the temerity to come and say that she supported residents on night flights, while voting in Parliament to allow an increase in the number of flights. At least the other MPs (all Labour) who voted for more night flights had the decency to stay away from the rally."

(Oct 05)

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Residents hit by Heathrow triple whammy

Residents affected by Heathrow have been hit by a triple whammy! Firstly, the government intends to increase the number of night flights at Heathrow. See short term plan to increase the number of night flights. Worse, see government plans to get rid of limits entirely and see which of our MPs support the removal of limits.

Secondly, BAA has announced in its 'Masterplan' that it proposes a Terminal 6 to go with a 3rd runway. Terminal 6 is an 'afterthought' because the government 'forgot' to mention it in the aviation White Paper in which it announced its support for a third runway. How many more lives will this terminal blight? We already know about the impact of a third runway. Join a torchlight parade on Sunday 30 Oct 05.

Thirdly, the government has appointed Rod Eddington, head of BA (British Airways), as a transport advisor. BA is the driving force behind Heathrow expansion and Runway 3. This appointment demonstrates, in case we didn't know already, how the Labour government is in the pocket of big business.

(Updated Oct 05)

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Hurricane disaster highlights global warming threat ..
jsut as Blair starts U-turn

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina and the devastation of New Orleans should remind people that global warming is expected to lead to more extreme weather conditions with more death and destruction.

But what on earth will it take to get to get governments to act on global warming? Judging by the US, where hundreds of deaths and a bill of $200 billion are not enough, quite a lot more!

In the UK, Tony Blair seems to be doing a U-turn, moving to the Bush policy of not doing anything effective. See more comment and links, see Katrina story.

(Sep 05)

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Local campaigner wins national award

Margaret Salasidis

National Friends of the Earth (FOE) has awarded its annual 'Earthmovers Award' to a local campaigner.

Margaret Salasidis, a member of West London FOE, has built up a massive campaign of awareness and opposition to the planned monster incinerator at Colnbrook.

Margaret received the award at the FOE national conference in Sep 05, where she acknowledged the work by other members of West London FOE and also the great work by residents in the Slough area, who have set up a campaign group.

(Sep 05)

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Government attacks environmental campaigners

People who demonstrate about the environment are now under attack from this government. From 1st August 2005 anyone who demonstrates within one mile of the House of Commons can be arrested and sent to prison for up to a year. See our comments.

(Aug 05)

Friends of the Earth supports congestion charge zone extension

Charge zone (ack to TfL)

West London Friends of the Earth has responded to the consultation on extending the congestion charge westwards.

While we have some concerns about the details, we support the principle. See our response (Word document) to the consultation and our views on congestion charging generally.

(July 05)

Victory For Environment At Richmond Park

Richmond Park

Great news! David Lammy, the Culture Minister, has ruled that Robin Hood Gate should remain closed to cars to protect the environment of Richmond Park, and to help ensure that it keeps its status as a National Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Well done for putting the environment first! He stood up to the car lobby who were backed by the unholy alliance of the Conservatives and the LibDems. See reasons why the gate should remain closed.

(Updated June 05)

It has been clear for some time to many observers that Labour has lost interest in the environment. It is also very noticeable how it barely figured in Labour's election campaign. See fascinating comments by a former No 10 advisor.

Friends of the Earth (FOE) and the rest of the environmental movement will have to work hard to raise the environmental agenda during the coming terms of government. We may be able to work with sympathetic local politicians and should do so if there is the chance of real benefit. But we need to careful not to have our time and energy sapped by 'consultation and co-option'. This is just what many politicians would like. Our priority must be to get the public more aware and concerned about the issues and force those issues back onto the political agenda.

(Updated June 05)

Heathrow expansion lobby group launched

Heathrow blight

A new campaign group has been launched to promote the expansion of Heathrow airport. It is lead by former West London Labour MP, Clive Soley. Expansion of Heathrow will mean more harmful air pollution will be imposed on local communities and an increase in climate change emissions. Clive Soley has betrayed the people of West London.

(May 05)

Consultation shows support for tram

Tram (ack to TfL and Robert Bain)

West London Friends of the Earth has welcomed the public support for the tram that was announced by Transport for London (TfL), following its major consultation.

In a representative sample of over 1000, there was 3 to 1 support (54% to 18%) for the tram. However, the people who sent in responses to the questionnaire were 2 to 1 against. For more information see tram consultation page. For general information on the tram see tram introduction.

(Mar 05)

No extension to congestion charge zone beyond Hammersmith

Charge zone (ack to TfL)

When the original story was posted, we commented: "In the future we would look to further extensions of congestion charging. Perhaps to all boroughs in the West London FOE area and not just Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea and the edge of Hammersmith & Fulham. And especially around Heathrow.

However, Ken Livingstone said (Breakfast with Frost, BBC1, 13 March 05) that while he wants to expand the congestion charge from its present area, because it cuts pollution by 20%, he doesn't want to extend it further than the current proposal. This is because he thinks by the time he would be considering it the government should have a national road pricing system in place. We'll accept that!

(Mar 05 - but see July 05 update)

The Labour and Conservative parties have barely mentioned the environment in their election campaigning. Their manifestos show very little commitment to protecting the local, national or global environment. The LibDems are somewhat better, but only the Green Party has policies which demostrate real commitment. See national FOE web site for a comparitive analysis of the manifestos (PDF file, 45 kbytes).

See also FOE press release critising Labour and Conservatives for ignoring climate change.

(April 05)

Night Flights Consultation

Night flight

The Government is consulting on night flights at Heathrow (it also covers Gatwick and Stansted).

Colin Stanbury, who works for the local authorities group on aircraft noise, spoke to a meeting in Ealing Town Hall on 19 Oct 04. He showed that the first stage of government consultation was biased and misleading. So much so that Richmond council and also Wandsworth took the government to court for bring a 'Judicial Review. The case was unfortunately thrown out. See night flights page for more information on the issue. The second round of the consultation is still to come.

(Updated Mar 05)

No joy on Heathrow court case

Heathrow blight

The Judicial Review into the government White Paper was announced on 18 Feb. There was no joy for Heathrow campaigners. Local authorities and HACAN had brought a case saying that the government should have consulted properly before announcing in the White Paper that it was seeking to bring in 'mixed mode' working. All the judge said in favour of the plaintiffs was that there should be full consultation on any proposals the Government comes up with.

Nic Ferriday commented "It is unfortunate that the government was not even censured for its behaviour on mixed mode at Heathrow. But one has to say that spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on court cases is always a dubious tactic. One feels the money could be better spent on publicity, campaigning and political lobbying."

(Feb 05)

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Front gardens and cars on telly

Over-run by cars

BBC London TV ran a story ran a story on 11th Jan 05 about paving over front gardens for cars. Christine Eborall of Ealing Friends of the Earth was featured. See BBC web page for the story. (This is a stand-alone page - close or minimise window to return.)

For more on the issue see our 'front gardens matter' page.

(Jan 05)

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For 2004 stories archive see the 2004 archive page
For pre-2004 stories archive see the pre-2004 archive page