November Update

Well, thinks have been reasonably busy since the last post, but the season means it has mainly been indoor lobbying.

As well as our regular meetings, we had our AGM meeting in October.
The Committee was re-elected with Nick Boldrini as Campaigns Co-Ordinator, Tim Maiden as Treasurer and Membership Secretary, and Paul Burton as Secretary.
At the AGM we also started a bit of a Group review to see what we want to be campaigning on in the next year or so and check people are happy with the way things are. Happily they seem to be, but we still need to sort out our focus for the next year - which will be done at the January meeting.

There will be no meeting in December as we will be having a Christmas social instead.

On the campaigning front, we have got Newcastle Friends Meeting to sign the Big Ask pledge, and a few of our members have been lobbying MPs about the Big Ask through visits to Surgeries. This will continue over the coming months.
We have also been involved in trying to find out what the South Tyne Waste Partnership is up to - with limited success. A colleague in BANWaste had a request for information about the Private Finance Initiative funding bid the partnership has applied for turned down, so now we are having a go. We'll let you know if we find out anything!

We recently got Little Wasters to sign the Big Ask Pledge. If your group wants to show support for the campaign by signing the pledge (which basicaly just involves sending a postcard to your local MP) then get in touch.

Other Groups in the Area

As our name suggest we cover Newcastle and Gateshead area, but there is a network of local Friends of the Earth Groups in the North east. For more info you can use the Friends of the Earth Group finder.

Other nearby Groups are South Tyneside , Wearside and North Tyneside.

Today we held another Big Ask stall, and tried a different venue for a change on West Road in Newcastle. A lot quieter than Monument but its good to try and reach different audiences than just seasoned shoppers.

We recently got BANWaste to sign the Big Ask Pledge. If your group wants to show support for the campaign by signing the pledge (which basicaly just involves sending a postcard to your local MP) then get in touch.

South Tyne and Wear Waste Management Joint Municipal Waste Strategy 2007 - 2027 Consultation

I attended a Stakeholder consultation on this on 19th July 2007 and was rubbing shoulders with waste management companies, Government Office of the North East, Environment Agency etc. It was hosted by the South Tyne and Wear Waste Management Partnership, made up of Sunderland, Gateshead and South Tyneside Councils.

The presentation was good, but made it clear that out of all the options presented, none were definitely in or out. It was also clear that this was likely to be the only consultation on the strategy, and that some decisions, such as the implementation plan (which would actually decide on the options to take forward) would be taken based on the Consultation responses. It also made it clear that the whole process is being driven forward at a fast pace by the aim to have the option for a Private Finance Initiative bid, which could deliver a treatment facility within the area of the partnership. Again this is not certain, but I think it is highly likely the PFI route will be chosen if possible.

Consultation on line information is at http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Environment%20and%20Waste/Waste/jointstrategy.aspx

All the above means that it is important that any consultation responses strongly highlight which options they support and those they don't - which is difficult from the online form as it doesn't go into them, but for guidance see below. The consultation runs until 20th August.

Waste Minimisation

1 Do nothing
2 Do some programmes
3 Do all programmes

Programmes include promoting home composting, reusable nappies, education etc

NGFoE would suggest supporting Option 3 (do everything they can)

Recycling and Composting

Options are as follows:

1 Encourage increased Participation
2 Enforcement of participation
3 Collect Plastic at Bring sites
4 Introduce commercial recycling
5 Collect Plastic at Kerbside
6 Collect textiles at Kerbside
7 Collect card at Kerbside
8 Collect Kitchen Waste at Kerbside
9 Collect Waste and recycling on alternate weeks (they call it Segregated Weekly Collection)

NGFoE will suggest supporting all of these options but suggest an order of preference would be kerbsides over bring sites, and also that enforcement and alternate weekly collections should only be introduced after the other systems have been in place for enough time to bed in, and education policies to increase participation have been exhausted.

Treatment of residuals

Options are as follows:

1 Anaeorobic Digestion of Food and Garden waste
2 Anaeorobic Digestion of all waste
3 Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT) to produce Refuse Derived Fuel(RDF) as fuel for incineration of some sort
4 MBT to landfill
5 Autoclaving
6 Energy from Waste (EFW)
7 Advanced Thermal treatment
8 Aerobic Digestion
9 EFW with Combined Heat and power

NGFoE would not support any treatment which would rely on thermal treatments (incineration by any other name but essentially Options 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9) but would support other such as 1, 2, 4, and 8. This is because destroying resources is a bad idea, no matter what energy you capture in the process.

South Tyneside, Gateshead and Sunderland Councils have joined forces to create a Waste Management Partnership. They are consulting on the strategy at the moment, and after attending a couple of Consultations on 16th and 19th July, it is clear to us that it is possible waste incineration could be one option pursued. You can comment on the strategy at Gateshead web site, and please make comments that make it clear that Incineration is not an acceptable option.

On July 14th we held another Big Ask stall, in Gateshead this time, to try and get more people to support a strong climate change bill

Press coverage of the Park action from the Chronicle of 4th July 2006.

Taking it easy after creating the park.

Way back in July 2006 we created a temporary park in Newcastle. Here's some pics of it as well as some press coverage.

On 30th Sept 2006 we organised a Public Meeting at St Thomas Church, Haymarket to discuss the issue of Climate change as part of the Big Ask campaign. Speakers were the Right Rev Martin Wharton, Bishop of Newcastle; David Clelland MP for the Tyne Bridge Constituency; Councillor Diane Packham, Lord Mayor of Newcastle and Tony Bosworth of Friends of the Earth. No photos of this I'm afraid

On 25th August 2006 some of us met Jim Cousins to lobby him to support our Big Ask campaign. This happened at a house which was being insulated for free as part of the Newcastle Warm Zone scheme.

On 4th April 2006, we organised a Public Meeting at the Eco Centre to discuss Climate Change generally, and the Big Ask campaign in particular. Speakers were David Golding of the Make Poverty History Campaign; Nick Brown MP for Newcastle East & Wallsend and Katie Elliot from Friends of the Earth

On July 7th 2007, some of us held a stall at Monument in Newcastle to highlight the proposed changes to the planning system which will see the right to be heard on major applications (such as nuclear power stations, wind farms, or waste incinerators) removed. To protest against this check out this online action. Find out more about this important issue at the FoE main webpages.

In June this year we attended the Newcastle Community Green Festival, where our main activity was getting signatures in support of the Big Ask Campaign with the aid of a Polar Bear Costume (picture to follow hopefully).

Newcastle Gateshead Friends of the Earth cover, as the name suggests, Newcastle and Gateshead Council areas. Other groups in the network cover North and South Tyneside.

The easiest way to get in contact is via email to ngfoe1ATgooglemail.com replacing AT with an @ or calling 0191 469 9042.

At the moment our main campaigns are on climate change http://www.thebigask.com and waste and recycling. We are also campaigning in support of renewable energy in the area.

If you would like to get involved please come to our next meeting. We meet monthly, on the third Thursday of the month, at the Ecocentre, Ouseburn, Byker, Newcastle (next to the Cluny pub, down Stepney Bank from Byker Bridge). Meetings start at 7:30 PM and end at 9PM. Directions are here http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=NE1+2Pn

We keep in touch with a mailing list which you can join by contacting the above email address
Hope to see you around soon

Waste

The Campaigns Co-ordinator campaigning against incineration of Waste in Gateshead in Jan 2006

Penguin about 2004

An old photo of one of us campaigning for a Climate Change bill at Monument in Newcastle as a Penguin

Ouseburn Valley Eco Centre

Here's a pic of the Ouseburn Valley Eco Centre, where we hold our meetings.

There's a potted history of the Ouseburn Valley here.

(image courtesy of www.monkchester.co.uk)

Other stuff

Assorted witterings by the ngfoe cast are labelled 'other stuff' and may be utterly irrelevant.

Resources

Here are various links to some interesting (and many very dull) documents.