I'm in love: what's that song?*

Last weekend heralded the Vernal Equinox, when the days begin to get longer and lighter. The Wheel of the Year is on the turn, and Spring is starting to show its face. There are daffodils emerging outside St Peter's, and some beautiful crocuses in the city's lawns and squares (the pic to the left was taken outside Kings House last week - good work, CityParks!).

Anyway, I'd hoped that I'd be feeling more energetic and perky this week after one of the most epic bouts of SAD in living memory, but typically I've been laid low for the past few days with a malaise which (wit being in slightly short supply this evening, following a very disappointing tea) I can only refer to as Grandaditis.

Symptoms: after working all morning and having lunch, I am overcome by the most unusual urge to "just close my eyes while I listen to the Archers". Fast forward to 3.15pm and I awake, spluttering and jonesing for a nice cup of tea, to the sound of the You & Yours Budget Special (or something similar), having kipped all the way through the Afternoon Play [*hmm face*]. Good grief. I sincerely hope this is temporary as it's severely hampering my ability to, erm, do stuff in the afternoons. And it's making me feel ooooold.

Anyway, mindful of my recent vow to be a more regular correspondent, I just wanted to check in (before I pass out to the sound of the Shipping Forecast) for a quick round-up of musings and happenings since my last post:

1. Full Council last Thursday
This was a pretty depressing meeting, all in all, although we managed to pass our Notices of Motion on Maternity Services, and Letting Agents. Cllr Jason Kitcat has neatly summed things up here if you want the painful details.

Suffice to say that the unholy alliance between the Tories and Labour in voting together to: a) defer the debate on councillors' allowances until after the General Election, and b) to force through changes to the Council constitution which will curtail debate in the chamber, put me in mind of nothing so much as the end of Orwell's Animal Farm when "the creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which." More evidence (as if any were needed) that Greens are the only real opposition in Brighton & Hove.

13 Greens Good: page 2 photo in the Argus - one for Glum Councillors, surely? ;)
13 Greens Bad: Tweeting from Full Council is now apparently under review (bah - and I've only just started doing the wretched Twitter thing)


2. Alex Chilton: December 28, 1950 – March 17, 2010
RIP Alex. I've had a hard time conveying who you were and just why the Box Tops and Big Star were so ace when I've commented on your untimely passing to other people, but your music will always remind me of being thirteen.*



3. Phoenix
After a period of thorough and well-executed consultation, Phoenix will be submitting planning applications for the redevelopment of their building by the end of March. Last week I had the pleasure of accompanying both Caroline Lucas and our new council Chief Exec to view the plans and meet some of the artists who work in the building.

Both my guests were extremely enthusiastic about the plans, and I felt very proud to be able to show Phoenix off to them. There are so many wonderful artists and makers working from the building, and I've got everything crossed that the applications will be successful, as the redevelopment is essential if Phoenix is to continue to provide affordable workspace, and to consolidate its work within the wider community. Not to mention making the building energy efficient. Or continuing to contribute to the city's economy [*administration priorities face*]. Watch this space...

4. Caroline was ace on Question Time
As Thursday night was Full Council and I was in the Chamber till gone 10pm, I couldn't indulge my habitual TV politics fix, so I did what any self-respecting geek would do and watched it again on iPlayer on Friday night. Believe me when I say that this was a pure treat. Well done that woman.

5. Social Media Tory Bashing
Ah, this and this is probably very old but both sites have been making me laugh a lot [*waves bye-bye to Phil Collins. Again.*]

6. Neil Harding is back! Back! BACK!
So the least I can do is to make more effort with this blog. Nice to have you back Mr Harding. You have been missed.

7. So is Ben Duncan
Cllr Duncan's official Kemptown PPC blog is finally launched :D Hurrah!

8. Ward stuff
Good meetings tonight with residents. The first concerned planning enforcement issues over a scaffolding site which is owned by the same developer to whom we lost an appeal to build on former railway allotments last year, and was kindly attended by the council's new Enforcement Manager, who comes with a formidable track record in securing the UK's highest ever enforcement fine (£150k, suckas). We'll know more in a month's time about whether we need to up the game in terms of the council considering taking legal action on this.

The second meeting was convened to discuss ongoing issues surrounding the introduction of a new residents' parking scheme in the streets immediately south of the railway tracks at London Road station. I'll be speaking to this at tomorrow's Environment Cabinet Member Meeting. And I'll say no more at this point, because there's been some deeply regrettable political fail occurring over this in the ward of late, and actually it's all just a little bit sad and unedifying. Suffice to say, it's a cowardly and cynical politician, local or otherwise, who refuses to engage with controversial or difficult matters merely for the fear of losing votes. And - as someone once said - I'm not like that.

A bientot.

*An unexpected side-effect of Alex Chilton's passing has been having the Replacements' eponymous paean to the great man permanently stuck on my internal jukebox for the past week. What a tune. A boyfriend put it on a mix tape for me when I was 15, and it still sounds as exuberant and fresh as it did when I first heard it 22 years ago. My eyes and throat have been aching with nostalgia and a yearning for times and things long past.

Playing Farm Town In Real Life

Those of you who may have had occasion to check out my Crackbook profile will know that "I only joined so I could play Farm Town". This is true. While Crackbook may be the vehicle of choice for cyber-stalking by jealous ex-lovers, and competitive sadding by the hysterical masses, I genuinely only joined so, erm, I could play Farm Town. Why? Well, I've been on the Allotments Waiting List in Brighton & Hove for nearly six years now, and (as Diana Ross once said) I'm still waiting.

I first got the allotment bug a decade ago when my sister kept a plot just around the corner from her home in the South Manchester Muesli Belt. Her set up was ideal - a utopian exemplar of benevolent Victorian town planning, with a series of terraced cul-de-sacs abutting a field of allotments literally a minute or two's walk away. We spent lots of happy times there together, digging, mulching, planting things, and eventually pulling up tasty veg (not to mention enjoying a glass of wine in the evening sun after our labours). I was hooked*.

Anyway, when I moved back to Brighton in 2004, I immediately put my name down on the waiting list for a plot on a site about five minutes' walk away from home. There are only ten plots on this site, and the list subsequently closed in 2006.

Even though the Council has now taken the sensible decision to halve plots as they become available (thus doubling capacity and making plots more manageable), such is the shortage of allotments in my immediate vicinity (ie walkable within twenty minutes) and the demand for allotments city-wide, I suspect I will have moved house before I get anywhere near the top of the waiting list.

And although I probably could join a shorter waiting list for a site which is not within reasonable walking distance, I'm not interested if it means having to drive to get there - to me, this pretty much defeats the object, and would definitely diminish the pleasure of having my own plot in terms of hassle.

So I'm really not kidding when I say I only signed up to Crackbook** so I could play Farm Town - I know it's a bit donkey eyes***, but I had resigned myself to the fact that being a cyber-food-grower was the closest I was going to get to having my own patch of land for a long time.

With this in mind, you can imagine how ridiculously chuffed and excited I was when I heard late last year that a pilot food-growing garden was going to be set up in my ward, in Preston Park itself. The pilot is one of a number of initiatives set up by Harvest Brighton & Hove, as a joint project being delivered by the B&H Food Partnership and Food Matters, along with several other groups across the city.

Local food growing is a cornerstone Green Party policy, and since 2007 Greens on the Council have been pushing this. Cllr Paul Steedman in particular has done some excellent work via the City Sustainability Partnership, and with reference to Harvest, I was delighted to sponsor BHFP's original (successful!) £0.5m Lottery Food Fund bid, which is now providing funding for the Harvest portfolio of projects that focus on growing, cooking and eating more local food.

The official ground-breaking for the Preston Park demo garden took place yesterday afternoon >>>>>

It was excellent to meet the Harvest team in the flesh (after lots of emails), and I'm really looking forward to checking the work rota tomorrow to see when I can next go along to help out. The plot's been marked out, and now the hard work starts - building raised beds and sorting the fencing out first (sadly security measures will need to be in place to deter vandalism), then the fun bit of prepping the soil and planting the seeds and bulbs.

The beauty and the whole point of the demo garden is that (hopefully) it will show people how easy it is to grow your own food in a very small space - Mr K had speculated that it would be like an allotment in a park, but it's much smaller than that (4msq?), which reflects the fact that many people in B&H have titchy patios or balconies, and it's all about making the best use of the space you've got.

What's also particularly sweet is the evident whole-hearted support of the Tory administration (two of whom were in evidence at the demo garden launch yesterday - wonder where the Preston Park Labour councillors were?): we've come a long way since Greens submitted our response to the Core Strategy in August 2008, when Paul and I were told point blank that local food-growing wasn't a priority for the administration.

Maybe it's a cynical vote-grabbing exercise, maybe it's the zeitgeist - I don't really care as long as we keep making progress on this.

A massive well done to the Harvest team - can't wait to get my hands dirty ;)

* Despite the surfeit of Rainbow Chard one year [*blech*]

** Speaking of Crackbook - this is quality and pure lulz

*** Family expression for something which makes one feel ineffably sad

This whole Experiment of Green*

Spring is nearly here. It can't come soon enough for me. This has been the longest, coldest, grottiest winter for thirty years, and I will be *so* glad to see the back of it.

But the days are getting that little bit longer, and the sun was shining this week. In a fortnight's time it will be the Vernal Equinox, and then a week later we'll be Springing Forward, and something approaching normal service will resume...

Mea culpa dear reader(s) - I've been pretty bad at keeping this blog up to date of late. Mainly because I've had zero energy and a severe shortage of time. But following a rather poignant plea from the Brighton Politics Blogger (shucks BPB, I never knew you cared), I'm going to try and correspond more regularly over coming weeks.

Time is an issue, as I'm (still) looking for some other gainful employment to sit alongside my Council duties, so job applications have to take priority if I find myself staring aimlessly at the laptop screen with a relatively empty Council inbox (ha ha ha - you can imagine how often this is the case). But I'll do my best.

Anyway, suffice to say things are mad busy here and hotting up to molten levels as we enter the final furlong before the general election. There are less than nine weeks to go now.

Plenty of other people have been blogging about our prospects of returning Caroline Lucas in Brighton Pavilion as Westminster's first ever Green MP - there's still an epic amount of work to do, but the lighter evenings herald a major stepping up of a pace which has been fairly relentless even through the black nights of winter (massive props must go to Cllr Alex Phillips for her legendary efforts on the doorsteps in Withdean throughout the 'Snow Chaos' in January, and the general gloominess and chill of February).

So not wanting to repeat that which has been more than ably expressed elsewhere over the last few weeks, here are some other things which have been on my radar:

1. Very busy with Council work
Will post separately about this next week in order to do it full justice. Highlights: Phoenix will be putting in their planning application by the end of the month, and next Tuesday sees the launch of a new demonstration food growing garden in Preston Park. Lowlights: the recent Budget.

2. The Green Party slot on Channel Four was excellent


My inestimable mother phoned me to say how good she thought it was, so there you go. In fact she even offered to come down and help with the campaign (this is the woman who delivered around a thousand leaflets during my bid for election in 2007), but after some deliberation she has decided to assist instead in the Trafford marginals. Thanks anyway Mum!

3. Blogs I have been liking

• The Plural Progressive - I like your skillz and styles Luke - keep up the good work.
• Odd Cog - anyone who titles a post 'Political Apathy: Epic Fail' has got to be OK.
• Glum Councillors - this is just ace. Spot the B&H Green in the archives... ;) Speaking of which...
  

4. Jason Kitcat's Graphs
Every politics geek will enjoy this.

5. Blogging - I am still doing it wrong (probably)
Here's a handy Guide to Blogging & Facebook for Councillors - in fairness it's pretty sensible stuff. Good pointers for any elected bloggers out there.

6. Twitter
May the goddess forgive me, but I have finally bitten the bullet and joined Twitter. You can 'follow' me here [*messianic face* + lol]. I'm not promising I'll be any better at "tweeting" than I am at blogging as it is clearly extra cyber-mither, but at least I'll get to check out the #hash tags# now [eyes #mobmonday curiously...]

Happy Spring readers! Will check in again shortly - it's nice to be back :)

*After Emily Dickinson - A little madness in the Spring

If you're SAD and you know it clap your hands

Greetings once more, reader(s), after a prolonged absence from the blogosphere. I trust 2010 is treating you well so far, wintry weather notwithstanding.

I must say I find the first couple of months of any new year really hard going (I just want to hibernate) - I know TS Eliot claimed that "April is the cruellest month", but my money's on February every time. [*SAD face*] Roll on Spring.

So - where have I been and what have I been up to? Well...

• The early part of December was utterly consumed by working on amendments to (and negotiations around) the Core Strategy - which resulted in WIN and (hopefully) a more creative, visionary and sustainable future for the built environment in Brighton & Hove.

• Then I went to Girona with Mr K for a week. This was the first proper holiday we'd been able to take together for a very long time, and it was lovely, despite the sub-zero temperatures - to say we were phased watching the Spanish news and seeing Madrid under six inches of snow is an understatement - but it was good mental prep for the "snow and ice chaos" (© The Argus) which greeted us on our return to Blighty.

• It was also a good job I can't speak Spanish (other than the basic niceties) as we were away the week of the Copenhagen Summit, and if I'd been able to follow what was - or perhaps wasn't - going on, it would have cast a cloud over our holibobs proceedings to say the least. I actually shed a tear when I finally got my hands on a Guardian Europe edition the Saturday we were heading back. World Leaders - you fail it. China - you fail hardest. What an epic disappointment and an unbelievable waste of time. I have never felt the call to direct action (and away from electoral politics) more keenly. I will no doubt have more to say on this later on...

• The Christmas and New Year period was mainly spent Up North, before returning to the fray and a shed-load of complaints from residents who were confused and frustrated by the perceived lack of response from the Council to the snow and ice. Things were particularly bad in the hilly parts of the city, which led my Hanover & Elm Grove colleague and Green Group Convenor Cllr Bill Randall to put in a request for urgent scrutiny into the local authority's Winter Plan.

• As a result of Bill's request, there'll now be a public panel hearing about this sometime in March - residents can express their interest in attending by emailing scrutiny@brighton-hove.gov.uk or calling (01273) 291038.

• Since returning from my Yule break, I've been engaged with a wide variety of issues in Preston Park ward, including schools admissions appeals, road safety, planning enforcement, and introducing more recycling facilities at blocks of flats.

• I've also enjoyed continuing to work with the Phoenix Arts Association in progressing their plans to redevelop their building (another very good meeting earlier today, with reps from the Regency Society). And there's LOTS of industry stuff to report back on - it's a bit TL:DR for this post, but in the first instance suffice to say props once more to B&H Planners on their RTPI National award for One Brighton! Excellent work.

• And I've called for a scrutiny report into the city's Open Spaces Strategy, following last year's devastating Planning Appeal decisions which will see unwelcome development on greenfield sites in Preston Park and St Peter's & North Laine wards - I hope to hear whether this will be accepted in the next few weeks.

Last but not least - we are now less than 90 days away from the General Election. A recent ICM poll puts Caroline Lucas in the lead with 35% in Brighton Pavilion. We are on the verge of making the breakthrough to Westminster, but not without Herculean doorstepping efforts in the days and weeks to come.

So if I'm a bit quiet between now and May, you'll forgive me, won't you?

PS Re Baking (sorry BPB) - during B&H SNOWMAGEDDON every corner shop within a half-mile sliding radius was completely sold out of bread. So I decided to make some soda bread (using WWII-rations-alike vinegar 'n' milk as a substitute for buttermilk). Regrettably, I (erm) forgot to add the bicarbonate of soda (I was distracted by the telephone and a gin & tonic). It came out rock-hard and utterly inedible. Moral: don't chat/drink and bake.

Carving for Samhain (or, my talented husband)

Tomorrow is Samhain - or Hallowe'en if you prefer [*Christian appropriation of Pagan festivals face*].

I'll be spending tomorrow afternoon visiting households in the vicinity of Springfield Road to speak with residents about a couple of live issues in the area: the proposals to introduce a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) in the streets immediately to the south of London Road station; and the recent deeply regrettable decision by the Planning Inspectorate to allow development on a green site close by. And, or course, anything else that comes up.

The two issues outlined above raise high feelings amongst residents, understandably enough. As a councillor for Preston Park ward, I want to hear people's concerns and objections so I can represent their views at the Environment Cabinet Member Meeting next week.

Once darkness falls at, erm, 5pm [*SAD face*], I'll be joining local party friends and activists at the Open House for nibbles and refreshments (a bit of a social, in other words).

I thought it would be nice to carve a pumpkin lantern to take along with me for the social tomorrow, but finding myself elbow-deep in Equal Pay biscuit dough yesterday evening, I had to try and action Plan H (ie enlisting Help from Husband):

Me: [brandishing printed-off GPEW logo] D'you think I'm having a laugh trying to carve the GPEW logo into this pumpkin?

Mr K: No. Easy.

Me: [waving floury hands] Sweet. But, erm, my hands are floury right now.

[pause]

Me: You're so much better at this kind of thing than I am [*winsome face*].

Me: Mate.

Me: Mate.

Mr K: [*rolls eyes*] Well, I'll have a go then...

Me: [*beaming*] Thanks babe! :D

[fast forward...]

Me: OMG that's awesome sweetie. Thank you so much! [*appreciation face*]



Mr K is an artist and a craftsman :))) I knew he'd do a better job on the carving than I would have. Thank you sweetheart x

Happy Samhain one and all.

Baking for Equal Pay Day

Today was Equal Pay Day.

Women working full-time earn on average 17% less per hour than men working full-time. For ethnic minority women, the gap is even higher at 20%. For women working part-time compared to men working full-time the gap is 36% per hour – rising to 45% in London.

Today, working women effectively received their last pay cheque of the year. This is because the 17% full-time gender pay gap is equivalent to men being paid all year round while women work for free after the 31st October.

The excellent Fawcett Society works hard every year to highlight this important issue by co-ordinating a series of events across the country to raise awareness, and to put pressure on the Government to reform legislation so that this disgraceful inequality in pay is outlawed and brought to an end.

So this morning Brighton & Hove Greens converged on Brighton station, to collect signatures for Fawcett's petition on Equal Pay, and to give out free biscuits to commuters with low blood sugar - with a 17% chunk missing to give them food for thought as well.

















I baked my contribution last night (above).

I used this recipe, and these handy icing pens for (*ahem*) the Propaganda, and they were very tasty biscuits indeed.

But sadly not quite sweet enough to replace the bitter taste in my mouth whenever I think about the facts of pay inequality in the UK.

We got an average of three signatures per minute :) I love proper campaigning :D

Green Party Conference: Day 1

The Green Party Autumn Conference is in Hove again this year. We last hosted a National Conference in September 2006, and the intervening three years have seen the local party more than double its numbers on the Council, from 6 members to 13, making us the joint second largest political group in the city, tying with Labour.

Not to mention the fact that we're increasingly set to elect Caroline Lucas MEP as the first ever Green MP to sit in Westminster on the back of our rock-solid vote in Brighton Pavilion. Exciting times indeed, and it's great to have Conference back in Brighton & Hove when the local party is riding the crest of our epic win in Goldsmid, and is brimming with enthusiasm for the forthcoming General Election contest.

However, regular readers will know by now that politics is not all about "the glamma", as is amply demonstrated by the pic below:




Cllr Sven Rufus & Cllr Amy Kennedy on Conference Stewarding Duty this afternoon



Don't get me wrong, my Stewarding stint today was ace: it was brilliant to be *meeting & greeting* people - especially as I finally got to meet JimJay (Green BlogFather) in the flesh [*shy face*]- and to see so many excellent colleagues and people I'm fond of as they arrived. I really enjoyed myself and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's stint.

But... crikey, those tabards :( If I ever get any time to dig my sewing machine out in the next few months, I may have a crack at designing something less, erm, *utilitarian*. God knows I'm not a vain woman (I wouldn't have let this pic anywhere near the light of day if I was), but there's got to be some sort of acceptable solution to this ;)

Anyway, roll on Day 2 of Conference - looking forward very much to Caroline's keynote speech tomorrow morning.

In The Meantime...

Sooooo... it's four weeks since I last posted on this blog. Four weeks since our epic victory in Goldsmid, three weeks since Pride, two weeks since I "went on holiday" (aka got bustled around Cheshire by my Ma / sis / cuz in the pursuit of friends & family), one week since I came back (to an exploding Inbox).

Happy Summer Holidays! Whoever it was that said "honestly, nothing happens during August" with reference to council duties was clearly not a member of the Planning Committee and/or dealing with a lot of angry constituents who feel duped by the recent London Rd Station CPZ consultation, or frustrated residents in the Old Shoreham Rd area whose refuse and recycling collections have been non-existent in recent weeks. It's been a busy old time, all in all.

So apologies as always, dear reader, for being a less than faithful correspondent in recent days. Out of all the stuff that's been happening, Pride deserves a post all to itself, but in the meantime here's a couple of snaps of Brighton & Hove Green Party's contribution to this year's Pride Beside The Seaside:





L-R:

Captain Amy Kennedy

Dr. Caroline Lucas MEP, Admiral of the Fleet

Commander Phelim Mac Cafferty












OMG have you ever seen anyone look so happy to be this close to recycling bins? (my Mum worries my activism is "unhygenic")









More posting on all this and other stuff to follow, but my absolute favourite Argus 'Silly Season' story from this week has got to be the funky sandwiches piece: regular readers (and those who know and love me) will be familiar with my interest in Bento and Food Art, so to see such skill and expertise emanating from Littlehampton more or less made my week :D



"If I was a sculptor... but then again - no..."
(Mark Northeast, Littlehampton 2009)

[note to self: did E.John ever stay in Littlehampton? CHECK.]







My favourite ever Bento: Sardine & Red Pepper Heels.











Nom nom nom :D And ta-ra for now.

GOLDSMID: EPIC GREEN WIN

GRN 1,456 - 38.5% (+17.6%)
GRN GAIN FROM CON

CON 1,104 - 29.2% (-0.9%)

LAB 816 - 21.5% (-6.8%)

LD 280 - 7.4% (-7.32%)

UKIP 129 - 3.4% N/A (others 6% last time)

After an energetic and hard-fought campaign, Alex Phillips emerged victorious in the Goldsmid by-election last night, with an emphatic majority of 350 over the Tory candidate. Labour limped in at third place, with a pitiful 800-odd votes.

WHAT AN AWESOME RESULT! Sorry for shouting, but my God, if there was ever a result to utterly disprove Labour's tired lies that "voting Green lets the Tories in", this is it.

Our first ever seat in Hove.
Our first ever win from the Tories.
Thirteen Green councillors in thirteen years.

Alex deserves this success more than I can say - she worked bloody hard (tirelessly canvassing across the entire ward and ultimately encountering nearly 60% of the electorate - politics geeks will appreciate just how awesome this is) and she fought a clean fight: not for Alex the petty personal attacks that other parties sought to wage.

Alex - you go girl! As Deputy Convenor, I am thrilled to have another woman in our group, and I am so proud of Alex. Goldsmid people, thank you for putting your faith in this exceptional young woman: you now have an elected representative who has proven just how hard she will work for you, and will be an honest and fair representative for you all.

And as for the speculation as to What This Might Mean, watch this space... Suffice to say, Ben, Neil and The BPB are covering all bases at the moment ;)

Oh, sweet!

Goldsmid: final few days

Well, I've not been doing very well at keeping this blog updated over the past few weeks, and for this I apologise - just too much on at the moment, mea culpa gentle reader.

But we're now into the final furlong for the Goldsmid by-election, and the past few days have seen a couple of astonishing developments:

1. Ex-Labour councillor tells Brighton voters - Vote Green

The Labour exodus shows no sign of stopping - now former councillor Vince Meegan (who lost his place on Brighton & Hove City Council in May 2007 by just 30 votes) has publicly voiced his support for Alex Phillips.

Vince said, "As a former Labour councillor for the area, I urge all Labour and Liberal Democrat voters to back her, too. Labour can't win here now, the Greens can.

“Swing your support behind Alex and help defeat the Tories."

2. "Labour wants anything but a Green win in Goldsmid by-election"...

...according to the Brighton Politics Blogger. As Ben says, the mind truly boggles!

Good luck to Alex for the last few days of the campaign - it's clearly a two-horse race between Greens and the Tories, and I hope she gets the victory she's worked so hard to achieve over the past few weeks.

As for me - I'll be posting the result as soon as it comes in on Thursday night / Friday morning. Next week will hopefully see more time for blogging, but then again, I've got to get a job!* Which is an entire post in itself...

*eyes mounting pile of applications and tries to suppress the hideous memory of yesterday's trip to the Job Centre (the first in approximately 15 years). It smelt of wee! :0 I shan't be going there again.

Baking for Hanover Day

I love baking, and I don't get nearly enough time to indulge this passion. So when I found myself scheduled to help with the local party stall at this year's Hanover Day last Sunday, I knew there was only one way to spend Saturday night...*

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

As Hanover Day didn't happen last year owing to funding problems, I felt it was only appropriate to salute the return of this much-loved community event (and to sustain my Hanover & Elm Grove colleagues and the revelling crowds) with something beyond my usual scope of Delia's victoria sponge buns. I decided to make (*drumroll*) chocolate and vanilla marble cupcakes.

Inspired by this recipe from bakebakebake, and this recipe from bakingbites, I prepared one batch of chocolate mixture, and one of vanilla (tinged with a verdant hue for fun).

Two things occurred to me as I regarded my bowlfuls of beaten batter: one, how runny it was (American baking recipes tend to use a lot of liquid compared to UK ones), and two, just how much of the ruddy stuff there was.

Undeterred, I prepared my cake cases and poured out my first batch, trying hard to create visible swirls between the two mixtures which would translate into beautiful patterns once baked:

Well, as you can see from the above pix, the intention didn't quite work: the mixture was too liquidy, so the colours merged somewhat, becoming indistinct and, erm, not very marble-like.

So I decided to scrap Plan A and plough on with making batches of single-flavour cakes. These looked a lot better both before they went in and once they were out of the oven:

Sixty (yes, sixty) of the little fellas later, I put them to cool in a safe place away from curious eyes and noses (ie Mr K & the pussycats), ready to be iced the following morning:

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Hanover Day was excellent as always (the weather was fab, the people were jolly, and as well as the Morris Men, I managed to see those Masters of Rock the Brown Stripes twice, which is a feat in itself), and I'm pleased to say that my cakes went down a treat on the stall.

Although in retrospect, I should have realised the pitfalls of scaling Muesli Mountain proffering cakes iced in an eye-poppingly vivid shade of green; hence the following exchange:

Child: Daddy, can I have a cake? Look, they're free!

Daddy: Free cakes, darling? Oh how lovely.

[Daddy looks at cakes. Then looks at me.]

Daddy: The icing's very, erm, green. What's in it?

[I look at cakes. I realise I cannot tell Daddy a lie.]

Me [sotto voce]: It's green food colouring.

Daddy: Sorry, what?

Me: It's green food colouring. But [positive voice] all the other ingredients are organic! I made them myself.

[Daddy looks at me, then back at cakes.]

Child: Daddeeee... can I have one?

[Daddy weighs up the evils of E Numbers ~vs~ the goodness of organic home-baking.]

Child: Daddeeee... pleeeeeease... they're freeeeee!

Daddy [giving up]: Oh, go on then. But don't tell Mummy.

Me: Here you go sweetheart! [hands child cake]

Me [optimistic voice]: Would you like a manifesto to go with the cake sir?

[Daddy backs away with cake-guzzling child, shaking head slowly and smiling...]

Me: Happy Hanover Day!

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Later on, as I related this tale, a friend said "Couldn't you have said it was spinach or seaweed extract or something?" Sadly no - nothing in nature is that green, apart from, erm, radioactive waste. Memo to self: do not try to have "fun" with jazzy-coloured baking next year ;)

But fun it was. Well done to the Hanover Community Association and all the publicans, traders, businesses, musicians and artists who made it happen once more this year. Here's a pic of Cllr Vicky Wakefield-Jarrett and me (plus cakes) on the Brighton & Hove Green Party stall, in the sunshine:


* Yes, I know, rock 'n' roll or what? (or "bake 'n' roll", if you will). C'mon guys, give me a break - I'm 36 fgs.

So much to blog about, so little time...

Hello readers! Sorry to be a bit on the quiet side over the past few days.

I'd love to be able to say that my recent radio-silence has been due to a (much-needed) holiday, but the truth is I've just been up to my eyeballs what with one thing and another (Goldsmid, campaigns, committee work, ward case work, meetings etc etc).

The problem with being so busy Doing Stuff is finding the time to blog about it... but now I'm back! Back! BACK! (as Smash Hits used to say). For this evening and tomorrow morning at least. More to follow shortly (in bite-size chunks - no-one wants to be accused of being TL:DR).

Glastonbury Festival: a lesson in town planning?

Oh boy, what a busy week it's been - lots of committee and ward work which I'll try and do an update on in the next few days, as well as local party meetings and campaigning in Goldsmid for the by-election (all pretty punishing in this heat to be honest *wilts*).

My Inbox has been exploding as usual (the London Rd station CPZ is clearly a matter of great concern to residents, and again, more to come on that soon).

As well as receiving emails from residents and council officers, I'm also signed up for daily updates from trade and industry media, and this story from the Planning Blog really caught my eye:

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL: A LESSON IN PLANNING

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Mark Wilding

The Glastonbury festival has been and gone. With just a few weeks preparation, the festival site is transformed from bare fields to a veritable metropolis. For the space of a weekend, once bare fields become the site of a large town.

Can you see where I’m going with this?

Assuming the majority of tents are occupied by two people, that’s 75,000 dwellings springing up over the course of a few days. In other words, almost 75 percent of the affordable homes Gordon Brown has pledged to deliver in the next two years. And you don’t get much more affordable than a tent.

All this is achieved without a regional spatial strategy, a core strategy, or any other strategy than making a shed load of money by charging people to live in a field for a weekend.

The most amazing aspect of this phenomenon is that the festival seems to work. Throughout the course of the weekend nobody died, everyone on television appeared to be having fun and if there were any major disasters then they slipped well under the radar.

Infrastructure provision copes, there’s mixed-tenure (see the contrast between the hospitality field and the man who pitched up next to the toilets) and plenty of green energy provision. The perimeter fence means there’s no chance of any urban sprawl.

Having said that, the flood risk planning policy might need a bit of work…

Is it possible that planners have got it all wrong? Maybe people should just be left to get on with it?

Then again, creating a town for three days then leaving while someone else cleans up the mess isn’t exactly ‘sustainable development’…

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

This article really struck a chord with me. My colleagues will attest to the fact that I am a bit of a broken record when it comes to holding up the Glastonbury Festival model of a sustainable community as a beacon which local authorities can learn from (particularly when it comes to dealing with waste and recycling).

The general Planning arguments outlined above are very thought-provoking, but one thing's for sure: Glastonbury regularly achieves recycling rates of 50% plus, something which councils in the UK can currently only dream about.

I have been progressing recycling and waste management at events in Brighton & Hove since I was first elected, and the local authority is now seeking to achieve the new British Standard BS8901 (guidelines surrounding sustainability at large-scale events) thanks to Green calls for action on this, but we could learn from the Glasto model for our household and commercial operations too...

Tory Tosh & Labour Lies

"Tory Tosh & Labour Lies" was the title of a classic Regency by-election leaflet, published back in November 2007 when we were fighting to keep our seat in the ward and get Jason Kitcat elected (which we did - with a massive 41.6% of the vote). The title still makes me chuckle even now :)

Anyway, recent days have seen an epic breakout of both Tory Tosh and Labour Lies across Brighton & Hove, at both national and local level electorally:

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

SO, FAREWELL THEN DAVID BULL

News broke on Friday that David Bull, a former doctor and TV presenter, was standing down as the Tories' Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Brighton Pavilion in order to head up a Conservative policy review on sexual health with Anne Milton, the shadow health minister.

This didn't come as a surprise to us - Brighton & Hove Greens had noticed that he'd stopped updating his campaign website months ago.

But why the (not-so-sudden) exit from the contest for a Westminster seat which the Tories had seemed to consider a relatively winnable gain from Labour? Surely not the prospect of losing to Caroline Lucas, or the lure of other, safer, seats which will inevitably become available in the wake of the expenses scandal?

Who can say? One thing's for sure, some Tory activists are pulling [hmm] faces (check out these comments - my favourite one is "this policy review smells like a fig leaf" lol), but Dr Bull is denying everything, especially a big fall-out with the local Conservative Association.

We await the announcement of their replacement candidate with interest (please, God, NOT David Van Day again. Please.*).

*Ben's blog about this nightmarish scenario is very funny.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

LEAFLETS: YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG

Labour, on the other hand, just seem to be getting more and more desperate if not downright barking when it comes to the forthcoming Goldsmid by-election, and their accompanying campaign material.

First, their candidate tried to pretend that, erm, she wasn't really a Labour candidate (honest!), whilst simultaneously adopting Green policies.

Then she took up a whole photo in her next leaflet to prove just how Green she really is ("Look kids! THE PLANET IS IN MY HANDS!" - here's a protip love, it's not the kids you should be trying to educate about Climate Change, it's your colleagues in Government).

But to top it all, the most recent Goldsmid Labour by-election communication was little more than a catalogue of lies; a laughable fiction aimed solely at undermining Alex Phillips, the Green candidate for this contest (well, it would be laughable if it weren't breaking the law).

Now, I could take some time here to dissect Labour's feeble effort of a leaflet line-by-line, but to be honest it's so crap and so tired that I really can't be arsed. It's just bobbins.

Plus Ben has already blogged about this (as has Neil Harding - the Brighton Politics Blogger is also keeping a watchful eye, and continuing to urge for a tactical Green vote in Goldmid). And anyway, I understand that the local constabulary are now involved, so probably best not to speculate further on matters which may already be under investigation.

Instead, 'cause I'm feeling generous this evening, here's another tip for Labour's (*ahem*) 'publications gurus': attack other parties' policies in your leaflets, not their people.

Trying to discredit your opponents on a personal level generally goes down like a cup of cold sick with the electorate, and smacks of pure desperation. People just aren't that stupid (unfortunately for you).

Labour, you FAIL IT. Roll on July 23rd.

There's only so much dog poo readers can take

Readers may recall that last week I was angsting about doing it wrong in this blog. But lo, the Blogosphere has spoken! And it was good.

In response to my plea for feedback, I received four (yes FOUR) replies:

1. A Buddhist chant from casa da poesia (I took this to be encouraging);

2. "Do not be a Politics Robot. Please!!!" - this kind comment came from rekindled, along with an equally kind offer to have a look at my crappy coding for me (mate, you're going to be sorry you offered! - and thanks!);

3. A very encouraging comment from fellow Green Cllr Sue Luxton, who has been blogging a lot longer than I have, and therefore knows of which she speaks: "I have this dilemma too, but think you're striking a good balance so far. There's only so much info about rubbish collections, CPZs and dog poo that readers can take (ooh, how glamorous the life of a cllr can be!)";

4. An email from a regular reader who shall remain nameless, but the gist was (in the timeless words of Billy Joel) "don't go changing".

So there we have it - a 100% positive steer for me to keep blogging about incidental day-to-day happenings as well as the Big Stuff (or 75% if that Buddhist chant is a special one for hopeless cases - still not bad I think).

Thanks to everyone for their encouragement and kind words! And sorry to the Politics Geeks, but there'll be more to come on baking, pussycats, and street art, as well as elections and policies. All work and no play makes for a very dull girl, don't you think?

PS As always, the ever-hilarious Encyclopedia Dramatica's entry on the different types of "blogging" had me in stitches:

• Politics
  • Author Profile: Intense, angry, probably a virgin
  • Typical Talking Point: The government sucks!!!
  • Representative Public Reply: OMG!!! Noes u suck!

Prime-time Drama

I have to confess I've never watched Midsomer Murders. It certainly has its fans (albeit some rather ironically), but it's never appealed to me - too twee, too slow, too - well - middle England (which I gather is its fundamental appeal). When it comes to detective dramas, if it ain't Rebus I ain't interested.

So it's doubly annoying that I've spent most of today in a state of PURE RAGE over this piss-poor excuse for a prime-time television programme.

Word reached me late this morning that there was some drama occurring in King's House over a Midsomer Murders script which had been received by officers with a request to film in Brighton. I won't go into the tedious and convoluted details of the (*ahem*) "storyline", but suffice to say the denouement hinged on bent Green Planning Committee members.

I can't begin to describe how angry I was when I heard this. SO. ANGRY. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.

As the local Green spokesperson for Planning, and our lead member on the Planning Committee, I was virtually exploding with rage at the thought of anyone daring to suggest that Green Brighton & Hove City Councillors could behave corruptly, especially some Soho scriptwriting chump who probably thinks Climate Change is what happens when you turn the aircon on.


Oh boy, was I LIVID. I steamed over to King's House to find out what the f*** was going on. To cut a long story short, I eventually found myself on the phone to one of our lawyers, who told me he'd read the offending script and had promptly sent a very stern email to the Midsomer Murders producers suggesting they cut all mention of Greens from the story.

"I don't think they realise the situation down here", said the lawyer apologetically. "I have now explained to them that the Green Party has a nationally renowned historic association with Brighton & Hove.

"I have also advised them that you're one of the biggest Green Groups on any local authority in the country, and that we have a Green MEP who may well be elected to Westminster next year.

"It could all just be an innocent mistake", the lawyer continued hopefully. "Anyway, I'll let you know what they say on Monday."

Well I'm sorry, but I pulled a big [hmm] face at this. It could be a case of genuine ignorance - after all, prime-time TV drama scriptwriters are probably too busy blowing the froth off their cappuccinos and agonising over which Gucci loafers to wear to pay much attention to provincial local politics. Who can blame them for not knowing that nearly a quarter of Brighton & Hove City Council is made up of Greens?

But the conspiracy theorist in me can't help pondering on the serried mass of luvvies and associate types entrenched within the heart of the New Labour machine...

And I started wondering: are Labour really bricking it that much at the prospect of losing their Brighton Pavilion parliamentary seat to Caroline Lucas that they'd resort to shoehorning a not-very-subtle "GREENS ARE BAD" message into the televisual equivalent of the Daily Mail?

This is a mystery worthy of investigation by DCI Tom Barnaby himself. As it is, I'll have to wait until Monday when I'll hear more from the lawyers before deciding whether or not to really kick off about this (*fumes*).