On FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, at 8pm, writer Zoe Skoulding, musician Alan
Holmes, and community artist and academic, Nick Clements, will discuss
their work with the public and local artists.

Zoë Skoulding is a poet and editor, now in charge of the international
quarterly, Poetry Wales. Zoes latest book, Remains of a Future
City (Seren) was on the Welsh Book of the Year list, 2008.

One of the most exciting aspects of Zoes work is her combination of
poetry with experimental soundscapes, based on collaborations with many
musicians.

One of these is Alan Holmes, who has played in a host of adventurous
rock groups in Wales, including Ectogram, and is praised by critics for
his sheer inventiveness. This is Alans first visit to Porthcawl, an
occasion modern music-lovers should not miss.

Nick Clements helped found Pioneers Art Group in 1981, which created
hundreds of murals, mosaics, sculptures, stained glass, ceramic, and
many media art works until 2004. Pioneers worked with tens of
thousands of local people to create landmark art, as well as developing
public art commissions. Nick is now Visiting Professor at Staffordshire
and Warsaw Universities.

For a fascinating evening, Sustainable Wales hopes to see you February
4, at 8pm, 41, John St., Porthcawl, for the latest GREEN ROOM event.
Remember: those who have art have all.

Entrance is £4 for a wonderfully varied evening of performance and
debate.

More information: Margaret Minhinick 01656 783405
mm@sustainablewales.org.uk

Directors of Public Health in the North West have produced the report, which draws attention to the high rates of death and injury on roads in the region where children are more likely to be injured in road traffic collisions than anywhere else in the country.

Green Party spokesperson on sustainable development Prof John Whitelegg commented:

“This is an incredibly important report from NHS Directors of Public Health. It says we have a serious problem with death and injury on the roads and it says the solution is a 20 mph limit. I agree.

The report presents compelling evidence that lives could have been saved and injuries reduced if 20 mph limits had been introduced in residential areas.

The report’s main points include:

• Child casualty information shows that two-thirds of children who are killed or seriously injured on the roads are boys.
• Over four-fifths of child casualties occur on roads that have a speed limit of 30 mph, and statistical modelling shows that up to 140 killed or seriously injured child casualties could be saved each year if 20 mph speed limits had been applied in these areas.

In the report, road traffic casualty rates are measured for all local authorities in the North West. Stockport is the best with 342 casualties per 100,000 population and Eden the worst at 793 per 100,000 population. Lancaster is 477 casualties per 100,000 population.

Other regions may have slightly better records, said the Greens, but they would be advised to follow the 20 mph policy to reduce road deaths further.

Notes

1. The full report, Road Traffic Collisions and Casualties in the North West of England, was produced by the North West Public Health Observatory in conjunction with NHS North West, the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University, the Child and Maternal Health Observatory and the Trauma and Injury Intelligence Group. See http://www.nwph.net/nwpho/Publications/Forms/rta.html.

2. Further information from Green Party press office, 020 7561 0282.

SITE A – A mere 400 metres along the footpath to the north of the isolated Llangeinor Arms public house. OS Grid Ref: SS 923 884
The site is distinctly visible on satellite photos taken some time ago – as an area where the grass has been removed revealing very pale – almost white – rock exposed. I believe this dates from test drilling operations that BCBC allowed in 2008.
The site is just as the steep path from the pub starts to flatten out a bit. There are magnificent views over the villages of Llangeinor and nearby Bettws. St. Cein’s Church is next to the pub. The substantial church in such an isolated spot is typical of villages that moved away after burying their dead in the churchyard during the Black Death. A new form of sinister plague could be about to revisit the area! The surrounding land is currently used for grazing sheep. Any surface run-off from here is likely to make its way to a small stream just to the west of the site and from there down into the River Garw flowing through Llangeinor village, and on to join the River Ogwr at Brynmenyn. Earlier posts highlight the probability and dangers of spills of highly toxic fracking fluid. The harmful effects are known to occur at incredibly low concentrations.

Pic 1 – 400m north of Llangeinor Arms – the site is now under grass again.
Pic 2 – Looking SW from the site towards Llangeinor and Bettws on the far hill – about 1.5 miles away

SITE B – Surrounded by Ogmore Forest at a site labelled Mynydd y Gwair on OS maps, at the junction of two bridleways, at OS Grid Ref: SS 944 894
The site is extremely secluded, to the point of being hidden away. Access to the site will be along the bridleway path that starts at the end of Rhiwglyn Road in Ogmore Vale. This rough track is about a mile long to the site. Despite planning approval not being granted as yet, the land has been cleared – and is clearly visible as a whitish clearing on satellite images taken quite some time ago, again, presumably from test drilling in 2008. Surface run-off from this site is most likely to streams that run-off down through Cwm Dimbath towards Glynllan and through Blackmill into the River Ogwr, on on through Bridgend. Any spills along the majority of the rough access track will directly threaten Ogmore Vale and Lewistown. All the fracking fluid brought back to the surface (it will be many thousands of gallons even in the pilot stage) has to be carefully collected and tankered away, through our towns and villages, to sites (so far unspecified) for de-contamination and (hopefully) safe disposal.

Pic 3 – From site looking back down the access track that leads down into Ogmore Vale, a mile away.
Pic 4 – The actual drilling site – that is already cleared. Satellite images suggest that testing drilling was done here at the same time as the Llangeinor site – but this looks very recently cleared to me – you can still see tyre tread marks in the mud and there is no evidence of regrowth.

Are we going to stand by and watch our land be raped again by corporate greed? This is even more insidious than the coal mining era. It will not produce many jobs. The thousands of jobs in mining came at a high price to miners health. This is a threat to the health of every living creature – including me and you.

Our native British bees are dying out at an alarming rate – and with them go a third of our fauna flora and diet!

It is estimated that we have, at best, a decade to save them and avert catastrophe.

So what can we do to help? (Click on these links for more detailed information)

1 Stop using insecticides

2 Plant Bee-friendly plants

3 Create natural habitat gardens

4 Find out more about bees

5 Support your local beekeepers

6 Make you own ‘Wild bee’ house

7 Become a beekeeper

8 Lobby your local MP or MEP

9 Sign petitions banning pesticides

10 Encourage your local authority to do more to help bees

Bridgend & District Beekeepers Association do agreat job and are the best starting point for anyone keep to offer practical assistance, or even those considering starting their own colony.

http://www.bridgendbeekeepers.co.uk/

Another excellent place to find out more, and/or contribute to good work in this field, is here: http://www.helpsavebees.co.uk/about-us.html

As ever, it is incumbent on all of us to try and do whatever we can.

BRIDGEND GREEN PARTY:

AGM on 17th February, 2011, Haywain Function Rm., 7.30pm

Items for agenda by 31st January. Nominations (self-nominate, or if nominating someone else please check they are happy to stand first) for officers by 2nd February please. Posts in BOLD must be filled.

· CHAIR

· TREASURER

· ELECTIONS OFFICER

· MINUTES SECRETARY

· Fundraiser

· Young Greens Coordinator

· Membership Officer

We are lucky to have it on our doorstep so it would be good to see as much support for it as possible from local members. It is very worthwhile.

25th 28th February Angel Hotel, Cardiff

Discounted rates are available until 7th February

http://www.greenparty.org.uk/conference/online-booking-page

Helpers are also being asked for from local parties. If you help out for a 3 hr shift, you can enjoy the rest of that in Conference for FREE!

If interested in volunteering email Eamonn Ward at:

eamonn.ward@btinternet.com

(Andy is planning to volunteer on Friday and Monday.)

Naomi Klein is a Canadian author and social activist known for her political analyses and criticism of corporate globalization from a democratic socialist perspective.

She is well worth listening to – listen out for her passing reference to the fracking blight we are fighting to avoid here in South Wales. She provides insight into what motivates these companies to continue these reckless endeavours.

(Can’t say I approve of the film tagged on (NOT by Naomi) at the end though – Coca Cola as a champion of women’s liberation Africa is a little rich!)

Andy

Hope to see as many of you as possible at the meeting:@

Thursday 20th January
HAYWAINMEETING ROOM
7.30PM


Andy Chyba
Bridgend Green Party
Blog: https://bridgendgreens.wordpress.com/
Mobile: 078 1066 3241
Email: greens

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jan/17/uk-shale-gas-warning

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/latest/2011/01/17/call-to-ban-shale-gas-extraction-115875-22854888/

http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/223642/Ban-on-shale-gas-extraction-urged/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1347850/Shale-gas-trials-begin-Britain.html?ITO=1490 – even one from my least favourite newspaper!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/9255520.stm

More lessons we can learn from elsewhere. But are we?

We need to find out.