Local Elections campaigns

Well it isn't very long before we have to stick a mark on an election form. So far i have had two leaflets pushed through the door, two for the Liberals and one for the Conservatives. None for Labour so far.

The Conservatives pride themselves on these green issues:

1. Cleaning up chewing gum and shopping trolleys!
Cool that is so going to stop flooding, pollution etc. Maybe they should take a look at the photo i took a few weeks ago of the shopping trolley in a ditch. No word about plastic carrier bags or general rubbish that can be found around Waterlooville.

2. Providing extra rubbish collection at Christmas
Wow, this is so impressive! Instead of reducing the amount of rubbish collected, the Conservatives want to encourage us to produce more.

3. Increased the recycling rate in the area
I'll give them that one. Recycling has improved, but more needs to be done to get shops and manufacturers to change the packaging used so that we can recycle more. But the council also need to increase the types of materials that can be recycled.

4. Supports the Signing of the Nottingham Declaration on
Climate Change
I suggest this should be read, since close inspection shows this is a horrible compromise document. eg. It starts with the statement "Evidence shows that climate change is occurring".
The priorities of the declaration focus on adapting to the impacts of climate change and the only real commitment is to reduce the authorities own emissions whilst encouraging others to change.

Funny, because i don't see how voting for a bigger Tescos in Havant is compatible with encouraging others to cut their green house gas emissions! Or how building car parks around Waterlooville and a retail park encourages people to stop driving.

In fact in the Conservative leaflets 'Building a Better Borough' section, the Conservatives are actually proud of encouraging people to drive and shop til they drop! Suggesting that many big national retailer chains that have set up locally are compatible with the Nottingham Declaration. I mean it just shows how weak the Nottingham Declaration is, if businesses that import high carbon footprint goods from the likes of China are seen as good by the Conservatives. Or maybe they are just confused and bewildered by the changes that are happening.

Are the Liberals any better? Well i have no idea, one has to guess what their environmental policies are since there is zilch in the leaflet shoved through the door.

Added: Slight correction! The Liberal leaflet from Fred Dunford alerted me to the Havant Council consultations on the developments in the area. Thanks Fred, completed one already.

Nottingham Declaration

Snow in April 2008

Snow in April!
It's to late for an April fool joke. This really is 3 inches of snow in Waterlooville on April 6th.
Mind you it started melting about half an hour after it stopped as the air started warming up again and the clouds started clearing.
It's quite unusual for the South coast of England to get any snow, even more so this time of year. The last time we had a significant amount was probably some 20 years ago.