Wednesday 15 July 2009

Kitchen Cupboard Drama




This picture of devastation was taken yesterday at 1-8 Hutton Court, Victoria Road, Stroud Green. What you can see in front of me is the remains of an old council-fitted kitchen. I say this with some authority because it looks just like my old council-fitted kitchen which we replaced ourselves last year!

This is the second time I’ve come across masses of dumped builders’ waste outside a Homes for Haringey block in Stroud Green this year – I reported on this back in February. Whether the Decent Homes programme is to blame on this occasion or not is as yet unclear, but whatever is the case, it is completely unacceptable.

I’ve reported this to the council and will check up at the weekend to see whether it has been removed or, as so often is the case, yet more crud has accumulated…

Wednesday 8 July 2009

Kingsnorth - Surrounded!


It’s not every day you find yourself, along with a thousand or so other people, surrounding a coal-fired power station, chanting:

“E-On!
Kingsnorth!
Is this what our planet’s worth?”

But on Saturday, after a walk through undulating wheat fields in the baking sun, this is just what I did. I was accompanied by my husband, Chris, and two year old Clementine, possibly the youngest of the Green Party’s ‘Young Greens’.

We were there to highlight the fact that new coal-fired power stations cannot be the allowed if we are to meet the Government’s aim of a reduction in Carbon emissions of 80% by 2050. Talk of ‘carbon capture’ is just that – talk – and whilst we continue to bury our heads in the sand and think coal, we neglect to invest in and to develop renewables – which could provide jobs for millions.

Kingsnorth is in many ways a litmus test – if it is allowed to go ahead, we will be giving the green light for more of the same. If cancelled, perhaps we will have the courage to leave coal behind and build really sustainable solutions.

My own belief is that there is not just one solution, but an amalgamation of many would be the answer. There are lots of questions still to answer but surely we should be investing more and more in finding those answers now, before it is too late?

It was an inspiring day, visiting the site which has already made history, after the so-called ‘Kingsnorth 6’ climbed the cooling tower there are wrote ‘Gordon’ down the side. I highly recommend Nick Broomfield’s short film on the subject, by the way – I should think it will inspire many people to become activists:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sidpgz8iGQ8

We’ll certainly be needing an army of those over the next few years!