Incinerator fight hots up!

Labour and Conservative plans for a mass-burn incinerator in Bristol took a battering on Tuesday night as the Council was forced to look again at the whole idea.

We Lib Dems believe that incineration of the type proposed is completely wrong and a backward step on climate change. It is a polluting technology which increases 'waste miles' as lorries are pulled in from the surrounding areas and it gives no incentive to increase recycling or reduce waste production. To find out more about incineration and the cleaner alternatives, see the BAMBI website - Bristol Against Mass-Burn Incineration.

We used the 'call-in' procedure to request that the decision to go for mass-burn incineration should be passed back to the administration for a rething. After a remarkable, but welcome, U-turn by the Tories, who've been enthusiastic supporters of industrial-scale bonfires up to now, they voted with the Lib Dems to defeat Labour. The ball is now back in their court - this doesn't kill the incinerator, but it is Round One to the good guys!

You can see the whole meeting on the Council's webcast (look for meeting on 29th July if it doesn't start straight away). Perhaps the strangest contribution was the incoherent written statement from London-based Tory wannabe Charlotte Leslie who's been bullish about the incinerator up to now. Maybe she got her typing fingers caught in the parachute that's trying to plonk her in Bristol!

And don't forget to sign the anti-incinerator petition!

Update (15th August) : Have a look at this article about the incinerator built in Kent which is going exactly the way we think the Bristol one would do. Interestingly, Kent County Council is Tory-controlled and they are now referring to their decision to build a mass-burn incinerator as "stupid in hindsight" and losing them £1m a year in recyclable materials which are having to be burnt. Why can't Bristol Labour see that it is "stupid" now!?

RPZ update

I had a one-to-one meeting yesterday with Labour transport lead, Mark Bradshaw, about the Residents Parking Zone (RPZ) plans. My views on the current consultation are, I think, quite well-known and we will be delivering a leaflet in Cotham shortly to make them clear.

The meeting with Mark was useful and positive. I explained that I strongly felt that the consultation process had put people off. In particular, I told him that there was very little support for a 24/7 system - it was just over the top for the problems which exist.

I told him that I continue to feel that there are areas in Cotham where an RPZ could work. It wouldn't be 24/7 - maybe just a couple of hours during weekdays to dissuade commuters and people leaving their cars for days on end. He is looking for pilot areas to work with and I offered to try to bring one or more areas with me on getting an RPZ put in, but only if (a) it's a relatively small area of 500 houses, (b) there are other 'gains' for the area, like road safety improvements or 20mph zones, and (c) there is a proper public engagement first.

I will be submitting my own views formally to the Council today. We will know the results of the resident consultation in September and I hope to speak to Mark again then. I sincerely hope that this isn't buried by poor execution - RPZs remain a good idea in principle and do work well in other cities.

Bristol Cars blog

Just a quick plug for the Bristol Cars blog. A humourous look at some of the stranger behaviour by car users in the city. I'm dreading the day I feature... 8-/

Blackboy Hill redesign

I had a briefing yesterday afternoon from the project manager who is seeking to redesign the junction at the top of Blackboy Hill. The idea is to improve traffic flows, especially heading up the hill during the evening rush hour. Apparently there is a serious bottleneck at the moment due to the 'give way' which gives precedence to traffic coming from the right. This seems like an eminently sensible suggestion, especially in order to help the buses move more quickly.

The idea is to add new traffic lights at the top of the hill which will ensure that the traffic heading towards the Downs, including the buses, gets more 'green time'. Also, the current roundabout by Redland House will be remodelled as a crossroads with traffic lights. This would mean that the current pedestrian crossings would become light-operated crossings, which could be a bit of a pain for pedestrians and cyclists as they will have to wait to cross. I'm edgy about this. On the plus side for cyclists, there will be some new marked lanes at the junctions which should be useful.

Also, the little connecting road which cuts across the last bit of the Downs will be taken out and turned into a foot and cycle path only. This will mean the loss of 20 or so parking spaces which are currently used by commuters, but it will effectively bring a bit of the green space back into public use. The loss of the parking spaces worries me, especially with the redevelopment of Redland House more likely to be approved this time - better design and money to ameliorate parking problems.

All in all, I am wanting to think over my view on the plans. At the moment we are at a very early stage in the process and there will be a full public consultation. They are hoping to do the work next spring, so there will be plenty of time for residents, businesses and others to have a say. I am a little concerned about yet more traffic lights, but the experts are convincing about the reasons why they will work.

As always, very happy to hear views...

Residents' Parking Zones consultation

I've not blogged for a while, one of the reasons being that I wanted to write about residents' parking and that I needed to wait until my anger had subsided a bit!

All residents in Cotham should have had a consultation pack through the mail about three weeks ago. These had details about what was being proposed and a questionnaire to complete and return to the Council.

The packs have been roundly criticised across the city. The information is simplistic and doesn't really explain the rationale for the scheme and how it was developed. The questionnaire is truly awful. It's very short, with only seven questions. It doesn't ask obvious things like whether people have off-street parking. Worst of all, you are only 'allowed' to comment on the details of the scheme, like operating hours, if you have said that you are against the whole concept!!! Bizarre. For my critique of the consultation, see my letter in the Evening Post and a follow-up article about the Keep Parking Free campaign.

The shame of all this is that I think Residents' Parking Zones can be a good idea, especially where areas are swamped by cars from outside which make things very difficult for residents, especially those with mobility problems or small children. They work well in other cities. The problem is that the consultation process has been so bad that it's put people off the whole idea. I don't know whether this is that the Labour Council don't know how to engage with people or whether they are just trying to stitch things up to support the decision they've already come to - a sham or a shambles?

I have had lots of correspondence from residents about the RPZ proposals, as well as being approached by other interested parties, like business, local churches and transport organisations. The basic view which I've expressed to people is this :

1. I support the concept of residents' parking zones.
2. Whatever your view, the consultation has been a mess - Labour don't know how or don't care.
3. I support the idea of neighbourhoods should decide for themselves whether they want to opt-in or opt-out. The Council should not impose.
4. There is no basis for a 24/7 system, in my view. This is heavy handed nonsense.
5. There is no problem with having multiple schemes with different rules to meet local demands - people will get the hang of it and Labour's view that car users won't get it is patronising.
6. People need to have faith that there is no 'profit' for the Council.

I hope that areas where RPZs are popular in Cotham (like maybe the area around Chandos Road) won't lose heart as a result of the consultation mess. I am meeting the Executive Member in a couple of weeks and look forward to giving him a free and frank account of my views!

Labour's shame

I have just been reading my newsletter from Liberty. Two little snippets jumped out at me.

The first is that Labour have finally admitted that so-called 'extraordinary rendition' flights have landed on British territory. For those not familiar with NewLabour NewSpeak, these are flights where terror suspects are transported to places where they can be 'legally' tortured for information to help the US 'War On Terror' (TM). Labour had always denied that the UK was complicit in this.

The second was a little story about a group of schoolgirls who wanted to protest about Labour-controlled Salford Council closing their school. The Council wanted to charge the four 16 and 17 year olds £2,000 for organising a march in the city! Democracy and right to peaceful protest!? This puts me in mind of Bristol Labour's reaction to schoolchildren protesting the closure of their school earlier this year...

Blackboy Hill - new layout

I was rather taken aback to discover that radical new plans have been tabled for rejigging the way in which the junction at the top of Blackboy Hill works. One of things I've discovered as a councillor is that we are often the last to know when things are going on - I found out about this from the Evening Post.

The basic plan is designed to facilitate the new 'showcase' bus route up Whiteladies Road, and will include the introduction of new bus and cycle lanes, three new sets of traffic lights and the loss of some parking. In a separate development, new roadside cameras are proposed for accident hotspots on Whiteladies Road.

I haven't had a chance yet to look in detail at what is proposed, but I would be grateful to hear from anyone with a view.

Roadworks

A number of residents have been in touch with problems arising from the Cotham Brow roadworks. A number of new rat-runs have opened up as drivers try to avoid the advertised diversions and shave another 30 seconds off their journey. In particular, there are problems around Arley Hill and Cotham Grove.

I have asked the council's traffic management people to put up warning signs at these places to alert drivers to the fact that pedestrians and cyclists are used to having some routes to themselves and that they need to reduce their speed.

The rat-runs are necessary in the short-term to alleviate traffic pressure, but we need to make sure that they aren't causing unnecessary danger. I would be keen to hear from anyone having problems or aware of accidents which have happened.

Differentiated public rubbish bins

I've recently got back from a weekend at the Glastonbury Festival (and a dose of flu afterwards). Aside from the great music and atmosphere, one of the things which struck me was the effort placed into recycling the vast mountains of waste which the Festival produces. All throughout the site are colour-coded bins for plastic, cans, food waste and so on. I was amused but heartened by the sight of rather tipsy and boisterous groups of young men taking time out from their reveling to diligently separate their waste!

So why doesn't Bristol have separate public bins for different types of waste. These are a common sight in many cities and towns now, but, as usual with recycling, Bristol is well-behind the game. I am going to start asking some questions about this - it seems like a no-brainer which would make another dent in our landfill impact.

UPDATE : I presented a statement to the Sustainable Development & Transport Select Committee today (24th July) calling for the urgent installation of public recycling bins. I await the response...