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Newsletter March 1998
Part 2
ALLOTMENT WATCH
Rumours about threats to allotments as reported in earlier issues have now taken shape. The City proposes to release some allotment land for low cost housing. This can apply to sites where over 10 per cent of the plots are vacant in other words, the City will provide for current plot usage plus 10 %. but any unused land on a site beyond this margin would make it vulnerable. This yardstick will be applied to the total of allotment land area with varying effect on different sites ; those moved off one site will be given an alternative plot elsewhere. There would be consultations with users, hence the following note. FoE attended the City Council’s workshop/meeting at Ross Street Community Centre, Romsey, on 27th January, to discuss these proposals with David Roberts (City Council Planning Department). More than 80 people packed the hall and some 40 others had attended an earlier meeting in Nuffield Road. Government estimates of the need for 5 million new dwellings by 2016 headed the City's discussion paper, adding that this growth will be reflected locally, hence the pressure for new building sites . Before discussion got under way P. Forman declared that these figures were out of date. Only the day before. John Prescott had announced the abandonment of the policy of "predict and provide" on which these huge estimates had emerged (see Housing Breakthrough, page 7). We were told the City Council were having a meeting about this but we would continue on the 5 million basis for the moment. Highly unsatisfactory, we felt. Mike Knight (City Council Housing) said it didn’t affect Cambridge as there were 3,000 on the housing list. We established from him that this figure ‘‘....is roughly constant". FoE found itself with the Burnside group (only because of a shortage of chairs), which might lose 1 hectare to building and about 10 other groups pooled their objections, ideas and questions. Later, a spokesperson from each put them to the hall. Tony Bland, for Burnside, queried whether this consultation exercise was genuine or had the decisions already been made? No clear answer. There was general agreement all round that we must hang on to these valuable sites. though a couple of people said they would be prepared to compromise if the take-up of plots was low. Some guilt was noticeable about the unhoused, Many sites had already been lost (eg Histon).Old Chesterton Allotment Society had agreed to lose half their site at the Nuffield Road consultation - 70% of it is currently vacant. Other points raised were: Why are we looking at allotments? Once gone, the green space is lost forever. Brownfield sites should be explored first. Also, there is much vacant office space in the city (Kingston Housing Society is actively trying to get retailers to rent space above shops) Allotments were precious as part of the ever-diminishing city's "green lung" Allotments act as wildlife corridors (Burnside a prime example) There is not enough investment in allotments. These valuable sites should be promoted and treated as are other leisure activities, e.g. swimming: Parkside new pool expenditure was mentioned. Organic gardening and growing your own food should be encouraged. Both are media-trendy and expanding. Security of tenure was important (see below). Rent at £10 - £15 pa was thought reasonable but pensioners should be rent free. More facilities are wanted on site: playgrounds for children. What about all the new houses going up? Demand for allotments must therefore be increasing. What happened to the money gained by the City when Histon land was sold ? Answer: it went into new houses. Allotments at Cherry Hinton are monitored by the local society and plotholders are chased up if weeds are too bad, with the result that they have nearly 100 per cent take-up Some of their waiting list is even transferred to the Burnside who have vacancies But Note... An article by Pip Palmer in the TIMES Weekend pages (8th November 97). points out that councils looking for building sites are faced with the fact that 75 per cent of allotment land has statutory protection under the Allotments Act of 1925. which states: "The local authority shall not sell, appropriate, use or dispose of the land for any other purpose other than use for allotments, without the consent of the Secretary of State". The writer then comments: The "get out" for local authorities is to gain Government consent for a change of use of the site, offer allotment-holders alternative plots that have no statutory protection and., if more land is required the second site can be reclaimed without Government approval or further need to replace it. We got this raised at the Ross Street meeting but without much come-back from the officials. So later, we sent it on to the Cllr Ben Bradnack who thought that anyone moved to a different allotment site would carry their protected status with them. He promised to review the point and contact allotment societies about the true position in Cambridge. Sarah Forman Patrick Forman Adds: As reported by the BBC, a house of Commons Committee inquiring into the future of allotments on 24 February, heard evidence of a special threat. Some local authorities (LAs) were encouraging a cycle of abandonment and dereliction in order to win building sites. Labour’s ALLAN WHITEREAD MP said he was convinced that some unscrupulous LAs would help that process along: "If I were a LA wanting to develop land, especially nowadays under pressure to use urban land, I wouldn’t approach it head-on, I would over a period of time not advertise vacant allotments, I would not provide allotment holders with good amenities, I would put a piece in the press occasionally questioning whether the site has got any future and after a period of time, there wouldn’t be many people left on my allotment site. I would go to the Secretary of State and say; "there is nobody on this site, can we please develop it?" Another MP on the same Committee WESTMINSTER, 24th February, suggested that GPs should be able to prescribe allotment gardening as leisure/health therapy in place of prescribing drugs.
Patrick Forman
Elizabeth Arndt Adds:
I have been asked, in my role on the Sustainable City Steering Group, to endorse a paper produced by one of the Sustainable City working parties as a response to the Council’s allotment consultation. The working party called on the Council not to build houses on allotment land and, failing this, not to consider building unless there is at least a 20% vacancy rate on the site concerned. I feel that the present uptake of allotments is high, given the very little effort which the Council has made to promote allotment use in recent years (see September 1997 Newsletter), and have therefore suggested a moratorium on considering housing on allotment land at least until after the Council has spent a couple of years actively promoting allotment use. In September I asked any members with allotments to get in touch, so that I could then encourage you to write letters of objection to the Council once they started consulting on using allotment land for housing Unfortunately. I didn't hear from any of you! I would still really like to have an idea of how many of our members have allotments so please do let me know. More importantly, if you live in the City (whether you have an allotment or not) please do write to the Director of Planning Cambridge City Council stating why you feel that it is important for allotment land to be preserved as such. Please write a letter.
Elizabeth Arndt
There are 1600 plots on 27 sites all owned by the CityCouncil. One site is owned and managed by Peterhouse. Eighteen sites are shown on the map below. In 1996 there was one plot for every 35 households, taking the total number in use,. If all plots were used it would be one plot per 27 households.
WE STOPPED THE CROP - PRESS RELEASE
This week brought the exciting news that the Ministry of Agriculture has refused to grant commercial approval for two oil seed rape varieties which have been genetically modified to be herbicide resistant The government has effectively halted the planting of the first genetically modified crops in Britain, dealing a big blow to the £250 billion biotechnology industry. Friends of the Earth were calling on the government to halt the use of genetically modified crops until research showed that it would benefit farming, the environment and consumers. On Saturday January 31st in Cambridge Market Square, local members of FOE were also asking members of the public to support the campaign by sending a postcard to the Agriculture Secretary Jack Cunningham, urging him to introduce a moratorium on crops which have been genetically modified. Local protesters dressed up in protective clothing to highlight the toxic effects of herbicide in the environment and warn about the potential hazards of eating oil seed margarine made from genetically modified plant varieties. Postcards were signed and stamped by the local Cambridge people. 60 people signed cards at the FOE stall and also gave a 20p donation towards their postage. 200 more cards were handed out to other members of the public who showed an interest in the campaign. The first genetically engineered crops grown in this country would have been a type of oilseed rape resistant to a weedkiller, gluco-phosphate. This would have allowed whole fields to be sprayed with the herbicide, whilst leaving the crop unharmed. FOE believe this would lead to a major increase in pesticide usage and damage to wild life. In addition, the toxic effects of margarine made from genetically modified rape seed oil are as yet unknown. English Nature, the governments wild life agency was, also concerned that genetically modified oil seed rape could lead to aggressive weeds being formed that would require the use of more chemical herbicides and considerable increases in losses of farmland birds and insects. The application to grow oil seed rape was made by Plant Genetic Systems who describe the genetically modified varieties as "herbicide friendly". The Ministry of Agriculture announced that it will have to vet the new varieties, which effectively means there will be no early sowing of genetically modified oil seed rape in Britain due to the introduction of a long consultation period of up to 3 years. FOE will be keeping a close eye on developments and maintaining pressure on the government to keep a halt on the use of genetically modified crops in the U.K. We would like to thank everyone who took part in the campaign and all those who sent off a postcard to the Ministry of Agriculture.
Jane Goodall
BIODIVERSITY GROUPS CHARTER FOR WILDLIFE
On the 15th of January, after the Christmas break, the Bio-diversity Sustainable City Group held a meeting. The Biodiversity Group, together with groups for Transport, Health. Energy and Waste is part of the wider Cambridge Sustainable City and the Local Agenda 21 which are trying to draw up plans for, and carry out different projects in their areas at a local level. The meeting, chaired by Dr. Mark Collins, Chairman of the Cambridge Sustainable City Steering Group and Chief Executive of the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, was attended by people from Cambridge City Council including Kristina Peat (Local Agenda 21 Co-ordinator), Wildlife Trust City Group, University of Cambridge, Eco-projects and Cam Conservators This is a short document drawn up in previous meetings with the original aims of raising awareness of biodiversity. encouraging action and linking in with the action plan process on which Sustainable city Groups are currently working. It was suggested that the group should concentrate on practical issues such as what is the Charter trying to achieve, what will it do, by whom and how will it be implemented, and where will the cash and resources come from? One option could be that when an organization has signed up to the charter, it would receive an information pack and help from local experts to develop an action plan. The expert help could come from the Wildlife Trust with a contribution from the Botanic Gardens and possibly the Employment Foundation scheme for particular aspects of a plan. A meeting with the Wildlife Trust was seen to be important to clarify their possible involvement (voluntary time given to the project etc.). As regards the idea of promoting wildlife gardening, it was felt that the Charter should target the business sector, land owners (especially the Colleges) schools and churches. On the other hand the group thought that if the public signed up to the principles of the Charter it would encourage business to become involved. Finally it was agreed that the first signatory should be the City Council. Later, there was a presentation by John Wetherall, a senior Arboricultural Officer for the City Council. His team has produced a City Wide Arboricultural Strategy which is due to be reviewed soon and it was said that the group may wish to have an input into this document. There was a discussion raising many questions, such as the use of chemicals, percentages of native tree species in the city. etc. It was pointed out that the 90,000 or so trees in the city is less than the number of inhabitants. Which raised the idea for a possible campaign. "Where’s your tree?" The discussion moved on to the possibility of a Biodiversity Demonstration Garden and whether there was the possibility of a Collaboration with John Wetherell’s team. He pointed out the limited time basis and it was said that any funding for a project like this could come from the Sustainable City Programme. Finally copies of the Draft Action Plan for Cambridge Sustainable City were handed out n order for the group to make comments in writing to Kristina Peat, as well as to complete a questionnaire which will be returned towards the end of January. The next meeting (provisionally 19th March) will assess the Draft Action Plan in detail and continue working on the Project ideas drawn up so far for the Biodiversity Group, which are as follows: The Charter for Wildlife targetted at business, organizations and landowners; The Charter for Wildlife for householders; The Biodiversity Demonstration Garden; The establishment of a link between projects relating biodiversity and trees and a possible input into the Arbo-ricultural Strategy. To end with, I would like to say that if anyone would like to join the Biodiversity Group or any other groups from the Local Agenda 21, contact Kristina Peat on 01223-4571 74 for information.
Carmen Simms
WILDLIFE ACT CAMPAIGN
Between 1991 and 1996 one in five of our most important wildlife areas (SSSIs) in England and Wales have been damaged. Rare species such as the great crested newt and the marsh fritillary butterfly are suffering from habitat deterioration and human disturbance Plant diversity in different types of British streamsides has fallen by 6-17% since 1978. Between 1984 and 1993 Britain lost over a quarter of its hedgerows. At present there is a system of voluntary agreement with the landowners of SSSl's to protect them. When his breaks down, however, the landowner cannot be compelled to continue to protect the site. Grafham Water, for example is virtually dead and may never recover, as a result of eutrophication caused by sewage and subsequent attempts to clean it up. In Cambridge we have been looking into damage done to local SSSIs so that information can be posted on the National FOE website (http:/www.foe.co.uk. wild places). If any Cambridge FOE members have first-hand information about threats or damage done to SSSls in their locality we would be most grateful if they could get in touch. You can identify your local SSSIs by logging on to the Website with your postcode or town. Members of the B & H Campaign group have also been writing to MPs to ask them to sign Early Day Motion 559 which calls on the Govern-ment to provide better pro-tection for SSSIs. We would like as many Cambridge FOE members as possible to write to their MP to express concern about the loss of biodiversity and to urge them to sign the EDM 559. Any replies received should be sent to: The Parliamentary Unit,. Friends of the Earth, 26-28 Underwood Street, London N1 7J0.
Christina Marshall
PEAT CAMPAIGN 1998
It’s that sorting-out-the-garden time of the year again... weeding, mulching, repotting. This year, however, please make a decision not to use peat in your pots. or on the garden. Peat for the garden is dug from, and is destroying, some of our best wildlife sites. Whereas traditional peat-cutting could actually benefit wildlife because it was on a small scale and there was time for cut-over areas to regenerate, large-scale operations end up totally destroying the peat bogs. This means the loss of the homes of rare species’ like the Golden Plover and Bog Rosemary. It also means the loss of archaeological, botanical and climatic records. It takes thousands of years for bogs to form and only minutes to dig up and destroy them. There are alternatives on the market - your garden centre will almost certainly stock some of them. To take one example: B & Q on Newmarket Road stock peat-free composted chippings and coconut shells. These products even work out slightly cheaper than peat. Gardeners often claim that peat gives better results than the peat free alternative. However, B & Q claim that tests on their peat-free gro-bags, for example, show that these perform just as well as peat. We are planning a Day of Action, over the Easter Bank Holiday. If any of our members would like to help us please would they ‘phone me on 517509.
Christina Marshall
BARRINGTON CEMENT WORKS
Earlier this month we were dismayed to learn that the Envirorment Agency has given Rugby Cement the go-ahead to increase the content of secondary liquid fuel it uses from 25% to 40%, despite lobbying by ourselves and particularly the local campaign group CamAir 95. We would be delighted to find someone prepared to challenge this decision in the courts, but so far no one has come forward who would be prepared to take this step.
Elizabeth Arndt
WATER BUTTS SUCESS STORY
Water butts success story You may remember reading in the December issue of this newsletter about a project suggested by Cambridge Friends of the Earth, and taken up by Cambridge Sustainable City for Cambridge residents to buy water butts at less than half the usual cost. Well, the GOOD NEWS is that since that newsletter, not only was the scheme launched on 2nd February, but since then as much as half the initial stock (800) has already been sold. The launch took place at Arbury County primary school on Carlton Way. It was attended by Anne Campbell who awarded a butt to the school. Kristina Peat from the City Council. Trevor Seeley of the National Grid (whose National Grid Community 21 Award scheme awarded the scheme £5000), and Claire Price and myself (both of us were members of the team involved in setting up the project). The butts cost £15 and are available from the Castle Project, The Paddocks, 347, Cherry Hinton Road, Tel. 01223-413203. If you are on a pension, or receive benefits, you are also eligible to have the butt fitted free of charge by the Employment Foundation (01223-457207), or for a fee if you do not qualify. The Castle Project has been so inundated with orders that it has had to set up a special team to deal with the work involved. So let us now just hope for some decent rain to fill up the butts!
Elizabeth Bellord
TRADING NEWS
Double congratulations are due to Helen McRobie. First (chronologically) for achieving record sales in the run up to Christmas. Second, on the birth of her son, Charles Allan on 1st February 1998. We’re looking forward to seeing both of them in the office before long. If you know of anywhere (e.g. school fete or similar) where we can have a stall, particularly over the summer, please contact Helen via the office. One of our best selling Christmas items was the ever popular recycled Christmas cards made by Ursula Stubbings. If your old cards are still cluttering up the house please bring them into the office for re-use next Christmas. We have arranged with Arjuna that they will stock our newsletter and rainforest postcards. If you can help arrange sales anywhere else, please contact the office
Elizabeth Arndt
ALTERNATIVES FAIR
On 19th February CAMFOE had a stall at the alternatives fair at the New Museums site, Pembroke Street, run by Cambridge University Careers Service. It was a well run carnival event and gave CAMFOE a chance to talk to undergraduates and students from Anglia University and elsewhere. There was much interest, as ususal, about working for FoE. We directed such interest towards National FoE and hoped to hear from these volunteers at our campaign meetings.
Sarah Forman
NOTICEBOARD
ANNUAL STREET COLLECTION
Saturday 23 May in the City Centre. Please contact the office if you can help.
ENVELOPES: DOES ANYONE RE-USE THEM?
Used envelopes are piling up in the office, not to mention my home, as I am unable to throw things like this away, if anyone can use large quantities of recycled envelopes, please get in touch
Elizabeth Arndt
NEW MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY
We are very pleased to welcome Tandy Harrison, who has taken on this vital task after Pete Strover's departure from Cambridge at the end of last year. Thanks to Pete for all of your hard work.
Web Site for Cambridge FOE
The response to the item in a recent newsletter was positive and a small group is now working on setting up a web site for us. If you are interested in becoming involved, please e-mail Roger Lilley on: rogerl@dial.pipex.com
CHEAP WATER BUTTS FOR CITY RESIDENTS
To find out more phone the Castle Project on 413203. If you are on a pension or benefits you may be eligible to have the butt fitted free of charge. Phone: The Employment Foundation on 457207 See logo throughout the newsletter
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