Flooding bill planned!

I'm at the Labour party conference this week having taken some holiday from work.
Lots of ideas and a real buzz!
One thing that I particularly was pleased to hear at a fringe meeting on flooding is that there are firm plans for a new bill in the next few months to address flooding.  This is really good news for parts of Whitley that have had so many problems with flooding in the past.  Full details are not yet anounced but the government has taken on board all the recommendations of the independent review.

There was also a representative of Yorkshire water at the meeting, and it was good to see one water company at least engaging well on the issue!

Junction 11 improvements

Yesterday I went to see what the contractors are up to at Junction 11 with Cllr Mike Orton.  From what we could gather it seems to be going well and if all goes to plan it will be a big improvement on the old system.  I was particularly keen ot see how it would affect walkers and cyclists and was pleased to be shown that there will be a 3m wide walk and cycle way both leading into town and across the junction so it will be straightforward to get from Whitley Wood across to the business park.

It was also good to see that the provision for buses - which will also help car drivers.  We will be keeping an eye on the work including for any complaints that residents have.

Wake up Reading! part 2

Well I think that counts as a success!

More people than I expected, media coverage (including speaking live on BBC Berkshire – to the delight of a colleague who heard me on her way home).

Below is the press release:

Reading delivers wake up call to world leaders!

 Reading residents gathered in Broad Street on Monday for an event that could help change the course of global climate negotiations.

As synchronized phone alarms sounded, around 50 people came together in “flash mob” style to take a photograph before making phone calls to the government urging the government to take bold action to help achieve a fair, ambitious and binding global climate pact.

Rachel Eden, the event organizer also spoke to local radio stations and the group attracted friendly attention from passersby.

Some 2682 events in 134 countries sounded the alarm in advance of a meeting of world leaders meeting in New York (September 22). A UN climate deal in Copenhagen in December risks failure unless world leaders revive bogged-down negotiations.

A broad coalition of major environmental and anti-poverty organisations as well as faith, civic and youth networks - called the TCKTCKTCK campaign for the ticking-clock urgency of climate change - is backing the campaign effort.

Ricken Patel, executive director of campaign network Avaaz.org which created an online hub for its 3.6 million members to organise events said:

"The idea of a global climate wake-up call got going just a few weeks ago, and it's snowballed into a massive mobilisation of millions around the world who want leaders to do more to stop runaway climate change."

"Climate change is not just a dire problem, it’s a massive opportunity to unleash a new green, clean economy. Reading residents have joined people around the world in sending an unmistakable message. Our leaders need to wake up and smell the opportunity," he added.

 To see images and stories from the worldwide wake-up call: http://avaaz.org/en/sept21_hub/

The TckTckTck campaign is a broad alliance of faith and youth groups, trade unions and non-governmental organisations including Avaaz.org, Greenpeace, 350.org, Oxfam and WWF calling for a new international climate treaty that is fair, ambitious and binding. Well over 1 million individuals have already pledged support online: http://www.tcktcktck.org

10:10 | Cutting 10% of emissions in 2010

10:10 | Cutting 10% of emissions in 2010

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'Wake up' to climate change - 5.10pm Monday!

There are plans for a 'climate wake up' call around the world on Monday and I thought it would be good for Reading to have it's own version so I've set up a flash mob event for 5.10pm in Reading town centre with the aim of getting into the local papers and raising awareness by people leaving work or going shopping.

Already on the site there are 12 'yes' I'm coming responses and 3 'maybes' from people I don't even know and I've had emails from a couple of friends who are coming, so it wont just be me!

Whatever happens I'll put a couple of photos on this blog afterwards!  If you are going to be in Reading - why not come along!  There is a international petition to sign as well!

Whitley's council candidate

It's just been announced by the local Labour party that I am standing for the council in Whitley ward in the next set of elections.  I'm really looking forward to the campaign and being involved in the community in a different way.  It's a great bunch of people standing for election with lots of different things to offer.  I really hope that we'll do well and be able to work together for years to come!  I've put a full copy of the press release below:

Labour name ten candidates for 2010

Reading & District Labour Party is pleased to announce its first batch of ten prospective candidates – five of them women - for the 2010 Borough Council elections. The remaining candidates will be announced in the next few weeks.

Bet Tickner, who has represented Abbey for six years, will be standing there again for Labour. She is in the Cabinet as Lead Councillor for Community Action and chairs the Safer Reading Campaign and the Ethnic Minorities Forum.

Labour’s candidate in Battle will be Sarah Hacker, who works for Prudential, and is married with one son. She’s lived in the ward since she was three – she’s the daughter of Battle Councillor, and former Mayor, Chris Maskell – and attended Wilson and Meadway Schools and then Reading University.

Former Councillor Malcolm Powers, now Labour’s Regional Director, will be fighting to regain Church. Malcolm is an experienced and hard-working campaigner who says he looks forward to working with local residents to make sure that ongoing local problems such as anti-social behaviour are tackled.

In Katesgrove, Richard Stainthorp has been finding it difficult to combine his work as a Councillor with his increasing responsibilities as a teacher, and will be standing down after 20 years on the Council, including a turn as Mayor. The Labour candidate will be Matt Rodda, a former civil servant and now a charity project manager, with a strong commitment to protecting public services.

Labour’s candidate in Minster, where the party is bidding to take the one remaining Tory seat, will be retired teacher Marian Livingston. Marian is a governor of her local children’s centre – which she says is making a huge impact - and a chair of governors and has played an active part in her local Neighbourhood Action Group.

Peter Jones, who has represented Norcot on the Borough Council since 1997 and on the County Council before that, is standing for the ward again. Peter has been very involved with the plans to regenerate the Dee Park estate and is a Governor or Wilson School.

Changes to Shirley Merriot’s full time career mean further demands upon her time and she has reluctantly decided to step down as Councillor for Park, where the Labour candidate will be former Councillor Richard McKenzie. Richard has lived in the area for 25 years, founded the local residents’ association, and is a Governor of Alfred Sutton Primary (which his children attend) and volunteer lollipopman, and active member of the NAG.

Labour’s candidate in Redlands this time will be Kelly Edwards, who as a Parliamentary candidate in 2005 achieved a big increase in Labour’s vote. Operations director of a local company, she lives in the town centre and is very familiar with the planning and environmental issues that affect the ward’s terraced streets.

John Ennis will be standing again for Labour in Southcote, where he was first elected in 2003 and has been a very active local Councillor. A passionate defender of Kennet Meadows, John was previously Lead Councillor for Housing and is now Lead Councillor for Children’s Services.

In Whitley, Mary Singleton-White is standing down to care for her second child, and the new candidate is another woman, Rachel Eden, who is Women’s Officer for Reading Labour Party. Rachel is a qualified accountant working in the town centre, and also a school governor.

Cllr. Jo Lovelock, Leader of the Labour Group, says: “I am very impressed with the calibre of the candidates Labour is putting forward in these crucial elections. Reading has done well with Labour: it has a great community spirit and is facing up well to the challenges of the world economic downturn. We’ll be working hard to show we have the team to continue to take the town forward – with a good mix of experience and some excellent young candidates.”

Went to Reading Pride last week. Partially for the music and entertainment and also helped out on the Labour party stall. We were collecting signatures for a petition asking the Conservative MEPs to break with the Polish Law and Justice party. It was very popular as were the 'never kissed a tory' stickers - although some of the younger visitors had to ask us what a Tory was!

Have delayed publishing this to wait for the photos but will update this post once they come through.  Have an announcement to make later!

On the theme of farm animals...

... I am better from swine flu (if that was what it was).  Thank goodness, I can't remember feeling so horrible for ages!

Secondly just a quick plug for this campaign.  I signed up to it last year and they're having another push now.  "Chicken out" is an attempt to get supermarkets, the government and us as meat eaters to take some responsibility for the welfare what we eat. 

The downside is that chicken would cost more and I know that chicken is a big part of lots of people's diet (I have one friend who I think more or less lives on chicken curry).  But the good thing about this campaign is that at the moment there is often a choice between very expensive organic chicken and very cheap intensive chicken.  Sometimes I can afford the organic chicken, but sometimes I want to buy chicken that's had a 'happy' life but I'm not worried about it being organic.  This campaign goes towards that.
It's also better for farmers as they would get a fairer price


The other problem as a consumer is that to be honest I don't cook every meal from the start and if I buy a ready meal normally the meat is not happy meat.  Anyway as soon as you start to think about the conditions battery chickens are kept in it seems worth being more careful (I now tend to by veggie ready meals)

Ultimately I now eat less meat and pay more when I do.  It's probably good for my waistline too.