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

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.

Building Regs FAIL

There have been a few big stories this week in the built environment world.

Top of the list is the universal disappointment and anger expressed by industry professionals (from architects to contractors) at the Government's decision to scrap the proposed ‘consequential improvements’ clause in Part L2A of the Building Regulations, which would have forced homeowners building extensions to improve the energy efficiency of the rest of their property.

Quoted in Building magazine, David Strong (chief executive of sustainability consultants Inbuilt) said:

“To not even consult on this beggars belief. On the one hand you've got Ed Miliband committing the government to reducing carbon emissions by 80% together with the recent consultation on the existing stock saying how important it is to reduce emissions from existing buildings if the government is going to hit its targets.

"Yet they have decided not to consult on the single most important measure that could help them to do this”.

He added: “I think the reason they have dropped it is we are leading up to an election and the question is would it pass the Daily Mail test.” (I couldn't have put it better myself.)

Ironically enough, the launch of the Part L consultation document came on the same day that the government outlined its five-point plan on how the UK can reduce carbon emissions.

Pathetic and short-sighted doesn't even begin to cover it. This Labour Government doesn't care about Construction, and it doesn't care about cutting carbon emissions.

Sweet words for The Big Lemon

There was a lovely letter in today's Argus praising my friend Tom, MD of The Big Lemon, and all-round good chap:

ON behalf of Bevendean Primary School, I would like to say a big thank you to Tom Druitt of The Big Lemon Bus Company.

Our Playground Buddies had a date at the Race Hill, to celebrate the work they do in caring for other children in the school.

There was no funding for transport but Mr Druitt, who had been ferrying our children to the lagoon and back, offered to take us for free.

He greeted every child individually, which, though he didn’t know it, is part of the ethos of our school. He drove considerately and carefully, and as we disembarked, again individually wished every child a lovely time.

He was a fine example of the way we teach our children to behave. It was an integral part of the lovely afternoon that the children, and we staff, enjoyed.

Once again, thank you, Mr Druitt and The Big Lemon Bus Company. Long may you continue. Penny Hajduk, Manton Road, Brighton

Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age, but I had a bit of a lump in my throat as I read this; I could just imagine how nice Tom obviously was with the kids, and I actually found it very moving that their teacher had written a public letter of thanks to him.

Tom is such a lovely man, unflappable and optimistic, and he's worked very hard in making a success of The Big Lemon, which is a community interest company.

I'm proud to be a Big Lemon shareholder and supporter, and I hope the next few days' journeys forth and back to Glastonbury go well for his fleet of yellow chip-fat-fuelled buses. Keep up the good work Tom!

Last week I was mostly...

I've just returned from a long weekend Up North seeing my folks, which was lovely. I've been without broadband for a few days (insert your own joke about Northerners here), so I thought I'd do a quick round-up of last week's happenings before getting on with this week's work.

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London Road CPZ

The majority of correspondence I received from residents last week concerned controversial proposals to introduce a new Controlled Parking Zone in the area around London Road station.

Residents in the affected streets have now received consultation packs - whether they're for or against, people need to make their voices heard, so I hope the response rate is good.

I think my fellow ward councillor Cllr Kevin Allen is trying to set up a meeting with Highways officers about the proposed scheme - hopefully I'll hear more in the next few days.

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From Bra Wars to Bosom Buddies

The Bra Recycling photocall finally went ahead on Tuesday morning!

Dramatis personæ from l-r in first pic: Cllr Dee Simson, Leonie Petrarca of The Pink Dolphin Appeal, Cllr Jayne Bennett, Cllr David Watkins, me, and Cllr Gill Mitchell with the first batch of bras to be donated to the collection point at The Level (Pictures: Hannah Brackenbury 16/06/09)

I'll leave it to readers to come up with their own captions...

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Prestonville Town Square?

On Tuesday I also met with Marek from the Prestonville Community Association to discuss an idea floated by residents for a 'Town Square' for the Prestonville community.

We met outside the Chimney House, and were joined by Lee Davies of Conran & Partners and Ben Meekings of Project Centre, a highway design consultancy and landscape architecture practice who have worked on a number of award-winning street schemes.

Marek has blogged about this, but the basic idea is along the lines of the Home Zone model, where cars are still allowed to use the road, but don't have priority over pedestrians or cyclists.

This is a really exciting idea. As you'll see from the pix below, there's loads of space where Upper Hamilton Road meets Buxton Road, so there'd be no need to lose any parking, and hopefully better siting of the bicycle racks too.

This is still very much an embryonic idea at the moment, but it was an excellent meeting - thanks so much to Lee and Ben for giving up their time to come and discuss it with us.

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Green New Deal at the UNISON Fringe

Also on Tuesday (it was a bit of an epic day), I took part in a panel on the Green New Deal at the UNISON Conference Fringe, organised by David Arnold (UNISON National Policy Officer for Green Issues).

My fellow panellists were Paddy Tipping MP, Lucy Pearce (Stop Climate Chaos coalition), Caroline Fife (UNISON South East Business & Environment officer), and Sarah Pearce (TUC Green Workplaces Project).

I was really pleased to be invited to take part, and enjoyed the Fringe session immensely. The other members of the panel spoke very passionately about the work they're doing in their respective fields in trying to advance some of the ideas contained within the Green New Deal, and the audience asked some excellent questions. It was also really heartening to hear just how much work the Trade Union movement is doing in engaging members with promoting sustainability in the workplace.

The hour passed very quickly, and I would have really liked more time for the questions, especially from the Planners present. I hope I get asked back next year!

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Preston Park Access

On Thursday I met with Preston Park Avenue residents to discuss their continuing campaign for a pedestrian access ramp into Preston Park at the northern end of the street.

Last October I presented a petition about this to the council (signed by over 300 residents), but little progress has been made since then, partly due to the uncertainty surrounding the implementation of plans for a parking scheme and associated landscaping works (which were due to include the access ramp) within the park itself.

I'm now trying to get to bottom of this, and will be putting a question to the Cabinet Member for the Environment at Full Council on July 16th.

The bottom line is that, with two Nursing Homes at the northern end of Preston Park Avenue, an access ramp is sorely needed . The photo above shows the nearest ramp, opposite no. 20 - about halfway up a very long road, and hundreds of yards away from the Nursing Homes.

Are residents going to have to wait another summer before access into the park is improved?

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This week is set to be a bit quieter, but having been away for a few days I've got some catching up to do (*eyes exploding Inbox*). And I am now going out for this evening's Green Group meeting.

Weekending

Apart from a spot of leafleting in Goldsmid earlier this evening, I am taking it easy this weekend after a rather epic week. The predominant theme was trying to catch up on council work following the Euros. Here's a bit of a round-up:

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On Monday, I had a meeting at the Phoenix with fellow Trustees and senior council officers to discuss plans to refurbish the building.

I've got a soft spot for this modernist landmark, but it's urgently in need of an upgrade and a makeover, not least because there are real problems with solar gain in parts of the building.

RH Partnership are the architects for the project, and they've done an excellent job with the initial design concept:

The design's moved on somewhat since the image above was produced, but this should give you a flavour of the proposals. It's all very exciting, not least because Phoenix are aiming to self-fund the project. I'm hoping pre-application discussions with the Planning officers will happen over the next couple of months.

On Monday evening we had a Group meeting, which included a presentation by CityClean officers regarding the new Waste Strategy for Brighton & Hove. Obviously Greens are always going to be hard to satisfy when it comes to the way in which the city currently manages its refuse and recycling, but there are some surprisingly good proposals in the emerging document.

Sadly nothing as yet regarding taking action on the plastic containers and cutlery used by food retailers on the seafront and throughout the city, but I'm going to keep pushing on this. If we can introduce compulsory biodegradable / compostable vessels and cutlery at events in Brighton & Hove, it will be easier to make the case to local businesses I hope.

And the Supermarket Summit is back on! Apparently.

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Tuesday was devoted to ploughing through my groaning Inbox and dealing with emails, and on Wednesday I had a Planning Committee meeting, preceded by a meeting (wearing my Deputy Convenor hat) with Cllr Brian Oxley in which he outlined his aims as Chair of the Governance Committee over the next municipal year, and asked for feedback from the Green Group on his proposals (guys, if you're reading this, I'll be typing up the notes on Monday).

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On Thursday morning I met with a senior CityParks officer to discuss a request from residents on Preston Park Avenue for an access ramp into the park at the northern-most end of the street. This is an ongoing campaign, and I'll be posting more about this soon.

I had a cultural lunchtime, and then went up to the local party office to stuff envelopes for the Goldsmid campaign with Ben and our friend Alison. After a quick dash home to eat and see Mr K, it was back out for a local party bash at Moksha, to celebrate our success in the Euros.

Dr Caroline Lucas MEP & Cllr Keith Taylor

The lovely Moksha people had made us little cupcakes with green icing :) and a jolly good time was had by all.

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I had meetings throughout Friday morning, with Tourism officers, and then with Planning & Enforcement officers regarding sites adjacent to London Road station. Again, the latter concerns an ongoing campaign, and I'll have more to say on this over coming weeks.

After lunch and a whizz through some emails, it was back to the local party office for yet more envelope stuffing with Jason, Phelim and local party Chair Simon. Four thousand envelopes later, we were finished by 10pm - and retired to the pub.

*phew*

New Construction Minister Appointed

Ian Lucas (MP for Wrexham) has been confirmed as the new Construction Minister.

He is the ninth person to hold this position in eight years, which should give you some indication of how little the Labour Government cares about the well-being of the industry.

Building Magazine makes the following comment:

Lucas is bit of a newcomer in government circles, having only been assistant whip since October 2008.

Construction is not one of his avowed interests, although as MP for Wrexham he did meet bosses at JCB in January after they sacked 58 workers in his constituency.

He has a distinctly green streak, having asked several questions in parliament about low-carbon buildings and requested that all buildings in the Olympic Park be self-sufficient in energy use.

Photovoltaics are a particular interest – maybe because Sharp’s PV plant in Wrexham employs 600 of his constituents. Although he was relatively unscathed by the expenses scandal, Lucas claimed £1,388 to furnish his London flat. He said: “I regard a bed as an essential item.”

Maybe Ian Lucas will be able to get the industry moving again by pushing for growth in green technologies, but I'm not holding my breath.

I think there's a real case to be made for pursuing a technocratic approach when it comes to appointing ministers for Trade and Industry. Those who've worked in the industry care passionately about getting Construction back on its feet: those who haven't, erm, don't.

Polling has closed...

Preston Park, 8.30pm

...and now we wait for the results. Having told (telled? - been a teller) at the portacabin polling station in the park for the local elections in May 2007, I can report that the turnout was unusually high here, for the 6-10pm evening period especially.

What this means overall, I couldn't say. Certainly the council officers staffing the station (from 6.45am 'til 10.15pm with a 20 minute break - hmm) were surprised, especially as the Euros have a low turnout traditionally.

So roll on Sunday/Monday, when the waiting will be over. As somebody once said, "I can handle the despair - it's the hope that's killing me". I've got everything crossed for Caroline, Keith, Jean, Peter, and all our candidates in target constituencies.

Thank you if you voted Green today.

Thank you if you even bothered to vote!*

*(but not for the BNP obv.)

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Eagle-eyed readers will spot what is wrong with the above picture (OK, no clever answers here please ;))... the polling portacabin was powered by a stinky diesel generator. There were complaints from tellers, polling station officers, and voters alike, particularly those who found themselves downwind of the fumes. Yuk :(

A few lightbulbs and sockets don't need much power; why can't we use portable micro-renewables for future temporary polling stations, instead of noxious fossil fuel guzzlers?

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My best ever Telling Story is from last May when I went up to Lewisham to help out with their local/AM elections on a dank and damp Spring afternoon.

I was stationed at an infant school near Sue Luxton's house, nervously eyeing up the clouds and the fact that there was no shelter in the playground should it start to rain.

Well, of course, the heavens opened, and there was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide - the school porch was off-limits thanks to campaigning rules, and as I scanned the playground in panic, I spotted a very small wendy house...





















Yes reader, in desperation I ended up cowering in that teeny-tiny wendy house, rolling a [soggy] fag with my knees up to my chin, and the rain pummelling my temporary accommodation, thinking "yes, all my life and all my career I've been working up to this. Oh, the GLAMOUR."

WRONG doesn't even begin to cover it...

A good deed shines in a naughty world

I've been out and about in the ward over recent days doing some last-minute leafleting for the European Elections this coming Thursday, 4th June.

Plenty of other people have blogged at length about our prospects for this ballot, so I'm not going to jam up any more bandwidth with my hopes and fears for Thursday, but suffice to say I've never met so many people on the doorstep and in the street who say they're voting Green for the first time.

It's incredibly heartening and very exciting - people really do seem hungry for change, and the progressive vote seems to be going our way, not least because our Green MEPs have a track record in making their expenditure transparent, and in speaking out against the "Euro Gravytrain".

Sunday seems like a long time to have to wait for the results... I've got everything crossed, obviously for all our candidates, but particularly for our existing MEPs Caroline Lucas & Jean Lambert, and also for my friend and colleague Cllr Keith Taylor, and for Peter Cranie in my motherland of the North West.

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However, for all the good Green deeds afoot in Brighton and beyond today, the naughty light below was shining in the avenue next to Preston Park at 2.15pm this afternoon, on the hottest and sunniest day we've had so far this year:



You can bet I'll be reporting this, but to whom? Unless I'm reading it wrong, the council website seems to be saying that it's all EDF's fault, but, erm, they won't be doing anything about it:

Why is my street light on during the day?

Modern streetlights are switched on and off by a sensor that knows when it is getting dark. Older lights were switched on and off by area using a network of cables that are owned by the Electricity Utility EDF. These cables are very old and are beginning to fail. EDF when they discover a fault do not have to repair this switching facility and make the cable permanently live or on. This results in day burning columns.

So that's OK then, is it? (hmm) One to add to the list of things to do tomorrow.

Dirty Beach

Gorgeous day today. Mr K & I headed for the seafront, taking in Chloe Hanks & Lou McCurdy's Dirty Beach exhibition on the way.

I first got to know Chloe and Lou when I called on the Council to take action on single-use plastic bags in Brighton & Hove way back in October '07: Chloe is the founder of Plastic Bag Free Brighton, and Lou was then working on her More Plastic Than Plankton project.

Although the Tories have reneged on their supposed commitment to [*ahem*] "eliminate" the free issue of plastic bags in the city (not appropriate in the "current economic climate", apparently - hmm), it's great to see that Lou and Chloe are still pressing the point that disposable plastic and other litter is damaging our environment, and making thought-provoking art in getting this message across.


The exhibition was excellent, and has attracted rave reviews from the Times (amongst others) during the recent Festival. Lou's textural panels (made from the plastic flotsam she gleans from local beaches) contrast wonderfully with graphic designer Chloe's (100% bio-degradable!) eco-graffiti. Here are some highlights:


















Chloe takes advantage of the snow!

Anyone for tennis?

Hanksy at large


Well done Lou & Chloe, and thank you for a wonderful free exhibition - keep up the good work.

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From one Dirty Beach to another: Mr K & I continued our peregrinations down to the seafront, with our sights set on a tasty smoked fish sandwich from The Brighton Smokehouse for lunch. As we waited in the queue, I admired their sign:



































Look! The fish is smoking! :0


While it was great to see traders doing so well today on the seafront, sadly our hunger got the better of us, and after 10 minutes' queuing we decided to head over to the Kemptown side of the beach (where it's generally quieter) in search of lunch, finally hitting upon the fish & chips joint near the Crazy Golf.

"Do you think this fish is from sustainable stocks?" asked Mr K wryly. I guessed not, as I eyed up the plastic debris eddying round the cafe tables:


































Two things:

1. What is wrong with people? There are bins every ten yards or so on the beach. For pity's sake, please pick up your litter and bin it, you lazy idiots. As they say in Suffolk, don't be a tosser.

2. If Glastonbury Festival can stipulate that all food traders use biodegradable / compostable / recyclable plates & cutlery etc, what is stopping Brighton & Hove City Council from working with traders to introduce similar measures on the seafront?

More on this soon I hope, in conjunction with work I've been doing on sustainability at events in the city...