Is Crichton obsessed with parking?

The Liberal Democrat propaganda sheet was delivered today and it appears that the new local candidate (David Crichton) is obsessed with parking and as a consequence one assumes motor vehicles.

Out of the 4 articles about his desires and achievements, 3 of them are about parking.

Lets take a look...

'The new development'
Apparently he doesn't know the name of the place or is worried about naming it Berewood!
He wants more parking and parking spaces for the Berewood properties.Yes this wishy washy character seems to be oblivious to the need to cut carbon emissions and getting people walking etc.

Parking issues in Beaconsfield Road
Yep another crucial issue dealt with! The big solution? A sign.
Nice.

Parking in Waterlooville
Yet more car parking campaigning.

Watching paint dry is more exciting.

Well I guess with all this concrete sterilising Waterlooville there will be more opportunities to highlight the destructive nature the car has on our lives and environment.

Checked out the Portsmouth Summer Fair and Picnic

Yep, needed to go into Portsmouth today so decided to have a look around the Summer Fair in Victoria Park. Although often the regular stalls appear at these events, you do get the occasional gems that are new to the scene.

I found two today...

Newlife Paints
This company is based in Sussex and takes unused paint from various sources and creates new paint products from it. The new paint is tested to make sure it is as good or better than the original. The range includes emulsion, masonry paint and other types and is packaged in paint cans as one would expect. It's great that someone is doing this and they are a relatively new company.

Sempatap Thermal solid wall insulation
The other product was an insulation material for old houses that have solid walls. Cavity wall insulation can not be used on such properties. The product comes in rolls and is glued to the internal walls of the house, it also improves sound insulation. The rolls do seem expensive, but I guess you would save on energy costs and reduce mould problems.

Update on Nature Paint

I had thought that I might have to replace the Nature Paint I used on the walls in the kitchen. But it seems reasonably stable right now. This maybe partly because I am controlling the steam/condensation better than before. I have quite a lot of the paint powder left, so I think I'll probably just use the remainder to patch up the walls when required.

Meanwhile the Earthborn emulsion is doing really well in the other room. Performing far better than I imagined it would do.

Mixed news - paints and plastics

Paint
After a year or so trying out eco paints, two paints seem to be holding up well, whilst one isn't doing as well as the other two. Earthborn Emulsion used in the laundry room area and Auro gloss paint used on the kitchen woodwork (doors and door frames) are both doing well.

However the use of Nature Paint (the powder in a paper bag) in a steamy area is looking like it might have been a mistake. This was a bit of gamble since the paint wasn't designed for 'damp' areas, hence any fault is probably mine. In areas where steam has been present around the cooker and kettle, the paint has cracked and flaked a bit. It could be that next year I might have to consider replacing it with either standard emulsion suitable for kitchens or possibly a more robust eco-friendly paint.

Plastics
I have recently come across some products made from a new robust biodegradable plastic. Called Ecogen, the plastic is a bio-engineered material produced using bacteria fed on cornstarch sugars in a fermentation process. The plastic is only biodegradable in soil or compost and takes 6 to 9 months to decompose (compared to hundreds of years (at least) for most petrochemical based plastics). However in normal household conditions the plastic remains robust.
Currently the company produces bathroom products (soap dishes, toothbrush holders etc.) which are available from Natural Collection.

Paints and belligerent car drivers

Paints
Firstly, the test painting of a door frame has been successful. Auro gloss paint covers well and gives a nice hard gloss finish when dry, you wouldn't believe it was made from vegetable oils and other stuff. Drying time is a bit long compared to the old plastic paint most people still use. It took 2 days to dry enough for another coat, but it does dry to a 'tacky' level in a few hours, enough to not worry about it getting on clothes. I just need to do the rest now!


Cars
Secondly i witnessed an arrogant 4x4 car driver in the Waterlooville Retail Park recently who drove down the cycle/pedestrian path. He did it because he found it difficult to manoeuvre the vehicle and decided he couldn't be bothered to stick to the car routes around the car park. Basically he was taking a short cut, which he obviously thought he was entitled to.

But what was really shocking was the fact that two girls, aged about 14 were already walking along the section of path that he entered. They were forced to get out of his way. When someone shouted out to him and pointed out his error, he just stuck two fingers up at them.

There are many issues about this incident that indicate the sorry state of UK culture and Waterloovile community. The reason why incidents like this happen in the car park, is because Havant Borough Council sold public land to a commercial developer and later gave permission for the car park and retail park to be built.

In this process they also failed to provide equal and adequate routes into Waterlooville for pedestrians and cyclists. Prefering instead to appease the car owning public and large corporate businesses to dominate the built environment agenda, pushing pedestrians and cyclists to the margins. But also the incident shows that many drivers just live in a different world when they get into their vehicles and the bigger the vehicle the less concern they often have for those around them.

Yes, low carbon paints look similar to high carbon paints!

Finished painting the walls of the kitchen using Nature Paint. It looks pretty much like any other wall paint, but the colour varies a little across the walls. Once all the walls were painted it isn't so noticeable. Also the slight colour variation gives an authentic 'old building' look.



Next job is to paint the woodwork using Auro white gloss paint. This stuff is made in Germany and the main ingredients seem to be processed vegetable oils, minerals, water etc. Should be interesting to see how it goes.

Adventures with Natural Paint - episode 1

It's time to paint that room that hasn't been decorated for some 15 or more years! OK i don't expect this to be much different to using petro-chemical paint (Dulux, Crown, Wicks etc.) apart from the cost maybe. As you can see from the photo, NaturePaint emulsion comes in a paper packet as a powder, rather than a plastic pot as a liquid.

I ordered it by post and it arrived by postman in a snuggly fitting cardboard box. Apparently it is the only paint that can actually go by normal mail, since it is not made of hazardous materials. All the packaging can be recycled in the normal recycling waste, in fact NaturePaint claim that even the left over paint can be composted or put in the normal waste stream.

I bought enough to paint a room with a lot of windows/glass, the pack should make up about 2.5 litres of paint. You make this stuff up in a bucket and mix it with warm water. That is yet to come as i have yet to buy a mixing thing for my drill!

The adventure continues...

NaturePaint