SOUTH BEDFORDSHIRE FRIENDS OF THE EARTH
NEWSLETTER FOR MARCH 2008
FUTURE EVENTS
28th March Planting of hedge by county wildlife site by RAF Stanbridge 10.30 am till 2.00pm.
31 March Friends of Linslade Woods Meeting 8pm at Southcott Community Centre (Esther 01525 237760)
1 April Planning Meeting for May Fayre Stall 7.30pm – 41 Corbet Ride (Victoria 01525 385097)
5 April 10.30am – 12 noon Day of Action for the The Big Ask at Dunstable crossroads near the Nags Head (Victoria), followed by photo shoot at Luton Airport.
7 April Monthly Meeting (Dunstable Group) 7.30 for 8.00 at the Victoria (Ruth 01582 758483)
15 April 10.30am Clearing the river north of bridge on Leighton Road (to be confirmed).
21 April AGM (both groups) and Monthly Meeting (Leighton Buzzard Group) at the Crown, Leighton Buzzard (Victoria)
22 April 7.30pm Greening Group Meeting at the White House (Victoria)
22nd April 7.30pm Climate change meeting Friends Meeting House, Euston, London
With Hilary Benn (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Peter Ainsworth (Shadow secretary of state for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)Steve Webb (Liberal Democrat Spokesman for Environment, Food and Rural Affair); contact Howard Whitehead 0207 566 4083
27 April Cycling Demo in the High Street (Chris 01525 382343)
5 May FoE Stall at the May Fayre, Leighton Buzzard (Ken 01525 372036)
16-18 May Power Up weekend residential training on planning and your legal rights (Victoria)
31 May Regional gathering of FoE Local Groups in London (Victoria)
Subscriptions are now due. £5.00 (or £3.00 for concessions). Please pay to the Treasurer, Ken Barry, 97 Bideford Green, Leighton Buzzard, Beds., LU7 2TJ as soon as possible.
MINUTES OF THE MONTHLY MEETING FOR LEIGHTON BUZZARD GROUP ON 11 MARCH 2008
Present: Victoria Harvey (Facilitator), Stella Goddard, Heather Fox, Chris Stevenson, Neil Tidey, Ken Barry.
Setting up of Dunstable FoE Group
A very successful meeting had been held on 3 March in The Victoria, Dunstable. Howard Whitehead from FoE had come along and about 15 people had attended. Priorities for campaigning have been established. The next meeting is on 7 April.
Big Ask Day of Action
This will be held in Dunstable on 5 April 10.30 am to 12.00 noon by the Nags head at the cross roads and is for all members in both Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard Groups. The focus of the campaign is to get aviation included in the Climate Change Bill. Information is available on http://community.foe.co.uk/events/big_ask_doa/ Ali Hines will do the press coverage and liaise with Bedford, Luton and Milton Keynes FoE groups. There is to be a photo shot at Luton Airport with the other foe groups afterwards and Ali will be contacting members by email with further details. There were no volunteers willing to dress as Gordon Brown.
Other Dates
21 April: AGM and Leighton Buzzard Meeting
22 April: Greening Group Meeting
16-18 May Power Up
31 May: Regional Gathering of FoE Groups in London
A Press Training Day was proposed for 29 April – Victoria will check with Howard Whitehead.
Greening
a. A hedge had been planted at Pages Field on 23 February and primroses had been planted on the river bank by the town bridge on 3 March. There is a working party at Clipstone Brook on 16 March to clear litter. Chris has already planted 30 trees by Clipstone Brook. There will be hedge planting at Knaves Hill on 14 March.
b. Victoria had been to a meeting with Steve Lakin, Malcolm Oliver and representatives of Arnold Whites about establishing a green site at the RAF Stanbridge site. Volunteers will be needed to help with planting.
c. Neil reported that a speaker from Arnold Whites had come to the Stanbridge Parish Council meeting to explain “green issues” in connection with the proposed housing sprawl. The possibility of establishing a cycle track between Stanbridge and Leighton Buzzard was raised as well as problems due to lack of infrastructure.
d. The developers are proposing a sustainable energy scheme involving wood burning for the eastern development, and there was a possibility that Linslade Woods could be used for coppicing to feed this scheme. Local farmers could also be encouraged to plant more woodland for coppicing.
e. The Friends of Linslade Woods had held a successful AGM on 18 February with an attendance of 20 people. They have arranged a further meeting on 31 March at 8pm at Southcott Community Centre to decide on the constitution, to appoint officers and to open a bank account. They will also be looking into sources of funding. Heather has now got her leadership and first aid certificates to enable her to lead working parties.
f. Victoria and Pete Jardine walked the route of the Narrow Gauge Railway and this will be discussed at the next Greening Group meeting.
Big Green Challenge
The Town Council has entered a competition called the Big Green Challenge to reduce CO2 emissions by 60% over the next three years.
Local Shopping
a. Leighton Buzzard Market
Wendy Fair had been fined £250,000 plus £50,000 costs, but have been let off lightly as they have 6 months to pay. Pressure now needs to be put on SBDC to terminate the contract with Wendy Fair and letters to the local papers are needed. Heather will contact FoE’s legal advisors to check on the wording for the letters, and Chris and Heather will send off the letters. Pressure also needs to be put on Cllrs Penman, Nicholls, McVicar and Costins who took the decision to go ahead with the contract to Wendy Fair in spite of legal advice warning against doing so before the outcome of the case against Wendy Fair was known.
Since the meeting Heather has discovered that Wendy Fayre are appealing.
b. Retail Group and May Fayre
A local Business Forum has been set up and Victoria is the only non-business member. They have adopted a ‘I Love LB’ logo printed on reusable bags and are having a stall at the May Fayre and a website. Pete Jardine is to design a ‘shop locally’ display for our May Fayre stall and a snakes and ladders game was suggested. A meeting will be held at Victoria’s house on 1 April to discuss the game and the display for the stall.
c. Plastic Bags and Tesco Day of Action
Chris will liaise with members for possible dates for this event.
Website
Stella appealed for more information to be sent to her for incorporating in the South Beds FoE website.
Transport
a. Wing Bypass - Bucks CC are exploring alternatives and will be looking at station travel plans.
b. Exemplar Site - discussions are still proceeding well.
c. Shared Space – plans are still secret.
d. Cycling – Steve Lakin is applying for Leighton Buzzard to become a Cycle Demonstration Town. Victoria is to write a letter of support on behalf of FoE. The number of cycle racks have been increased at the railway station. Heather has contacted the manager of Waitrose about supplying racks and will follow this up with writing to their head office. Neil has suggested a cycleway to Stanbridge and cycle racks for Stanbridge Parish Hall. Chris will ask Esther to send a list of sites for cycle racks to Victoria who will liaise with Beds CC.
e. Cycling Demo on 27 April – this is a joint event with the Cycle Forum. It will take place in the afternoon and start from the town centre with cycling round all the cycleways. Chris will discuss with Esther about involving Pauline Roby. Victoria will investigate providing refreshments (coffee and cakes)
Other Business
The Junior Housing Minister Ian Wright is visiting Leighton Buzzard on 27 March.
CONTACTS
Officers
Co-ordinator: VICTORIA HARVEY, 41 Corbet Ride, Leighton Buzzard LU7 2SJ
01525-385097
Treasurer: KEN BARRY, 97 Bideford Green, Leighton Buzzard LU7 2TJ
01525-372036
Membership Secretary: CHRIS STEVENSON tel 01525 382343
Publicity Officer: ANDY GAYLER
Dunstable contact RUTH HARRIS SMALL, Tel 01582 758 483
South Beds FOE Website: www.southbedsfoe.org.uk