APOLOGIES FOR THE LATE AGENDA!!

7.00pm Thursday 3rd July 2014 at theThe Pencoed Social Club, Hendre Rd. Pencoed (1 minute walk from the station – across the level crossing)

ALL WELCOME (Especially new members!)

AGENDA:

1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Apologies for Absence
3. Minutes and matters arising
4. Officers Reports
5. Councillor feedback
6. Campaigns Update- bedroom tax/fracking/NATO Newport
7. Elections – target to win strategy
8. AOB
9. DoNM

REMINDER – If anyone needs a lift to any of our meetings, let Andy know (andy.chyba@icloud.com) and we will organise it for you.

Click on images to enlarge:

Venue 1

Venue 2

Worth a read!

http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/green-party-best-policies.html

“In my view two of the most common reasons people vote for parties are habit and media coverage.”

FREE TRAINING to make you invaluable at protests, be it Fracking or No To Nato, or whatever! (Looks good on a CV too!)

Legal Observers – Proper stewarding needed. Legal Observer Training workshop in Bristol. Sunday 6th July 2014

11.00 (prompt) – 4.00 Kebele, Robertson Rd, Bristol BS5 6JY (Workshop is free but bring lunch to share)

Legal Observers are volunteers who are part of an organised team gathering information on protests.
Their presence is reassuring to protesters and can protect people from unlawful or repressive policing. You don’t need any special legal background, but you need to be able to take fast, accurate notes, be able to communicate well with others, and to stay calm under stress.

Green and Black Cross (GBC) provide training and support for Legal Observers at hundreds of demonstrations every year, and have branches in London, Brighton, Manchester & Leeds.
http://greenandblackcross.org
http://greenandblackcross.org/legal/trainings

Their standard Legal Observer training is very comprehensive, covering:
– Police tactics
– Stop & search law & procedure
– How to support arrests
– Police ranks & command structure
– Supporting direction action
– How to best legally support activists and nail the inappropriate policing afterwards

Legal Observers are consistently key to helping people at protests, whether that is by handing out key legal advice on bust cards or finding witnesses for arrests.
If you’re an experienced activist there will be parts you know already, but the depth we go into should give you more confidence and knowledge of how to deal with the police.

**Come and be part of the essential infrastructure of protests, and get to know your rights while you’re at it!**

OK I’m interested, what do I do now?

To enroll for the workshop send a short summary of your interest in Legal Observing to Rowland.Dye
https://www.facebook.com/events/315779131911213

(I would also appreciate knowing if you sign up – Andy Chyba)

Food for thought!!!

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dan Iles <Dan.Iles>

Subject: Interactive infographic on the new corporate scramble for Africa

Date: 26 June 2014 12:30:50 GMT+01:00

To: “‘greens'” <greens>

Dear Bridgend Green Party

I thought you and your local members might be interested to have a look at our latest interactive infographics.

Millions of pounds in UK aid money is going towards projects which are helping corporations extract more of Africa’s resources.

Check them out:

The first one is on corporations expanding control:
http://www.wdm.org.uk/new-scramble-africa-food-monsanto-syngenta-yara/

The second one is on the construction of railways to export food out of the continent.

http://www.wdm.org.uk/new-scramble-africa-food-dfid-infrastructure-extraction/

Please share them if you can.

Best wishes,

Dan

Dan Iles | Campaigns and policy assistant020 7820 4900| dan.iles@wdm.org.uk | www.wdm.org.uk
World Development Movement |Justice for the world’s poor

Execllent article by our good friend Paul Mobbs in the Ecologist. Read it in full.

http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2450429/fracking_you_are_not_important.html

Discussing why the pro-frackers largely refuse to engage with anyone, his analysis is spot on:

“Let’s examine this from their point of view. If:

• you are able to fund lots of positive media coverage;
• you have the Government and leading political figures helping your case;
• your friends in the finance industry can engineer a fracking boom;
• one of the industry bosses, Lord Browne, happens to work as a non-executive Government minister …

then you don’t need to turn up for public debates. You can say what you like because, in the controlled conditions under which they will appear, no one would ever challenge what they say.

In short – the public’s concerns don’t matter; and that means that your concerns do not matter!”

I was sad to miss this events yesterday, but thanks to social media we can share some to the atmosphere and keynote speeches.

CAROLINE LUCAS:

OWEN JONES:

RUSSELL BRAND

THE MASS MARCH:

And what of all this on the BBC?
Here is a screenshot (click on it to enlarge) from the BBC News website of a search for People’s Assembly coverage this week:

So, not a word yesterday (21 June) at all!! Nothing the day before that, despite the briefings they had.
Compare this to coverage of anti-government demonstrations elsewhere in the world, as shown by the screenshot of a search for ‘anti-government demonstration on the BBC News website:

If you were to look through all the articles listed just for June 2014, you will find the BBC covering anti-government protests in all these countries:

• IRAQ
• ALBANIA
• EGYPT
• UKRAINE
• HAITI
• TURKEY
• BAHRAIN
• VENEZUELA
• BRAZIL
• MALAWI
• THAILAND

but not a word about yesterday’s events in London, in Parliament Square, outside the BBC HQ even!!

Until this morning, that is. The coverage today almost certainly comes from the barrage of complaints about the complete silence about a huge anti-government demonstrations in this country. And here it is the coverage in its entirety:

The video is 25 seconds of marchers milling about – with no commentary whatsoever.

How on earth can this be? Answers on a postcard, please, to the Director General of the BBC,
BBC Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London, W1A 1AA

He is Lord (Tony to his mates) Hall of Birkenhead, son of a Banker, privately educated Oxford PPE graduate, with a long history of working in BBC News and Current Affairs. He should feel ashamed.
Email address: tony.hall@bbc.co.uk

Just another small incentive to dodge the frackers!!

Dear Mr Andrew ChybaWe’re really pleased you’ve joined us and thought you might like to know about our refer-a-friend offer.Simply invite your friends to join us using your unique code below. You will both then receive vouchers worth up to £50 to spend at Ecotopia* – when they switch their energy supply to us.We know our customers are our biggest fans and the best people to promote what we do. It’s a simple truth that the more people that join us, the more we can do. We call this People:Power. There have never been so many good reasons to join Ecotricity. We have just one simple 100% Green Electricity tariff that costs less than the standard Big Six tariff in your region for the average customer, our Green Gas comes with a ‘frack-free’ promise, we’ve frozen our prices until October 2014 – and our award-winning customer service is awesome (we recently came top in the annual Which? energy company survey of consumer satisfaction). As always, we take the money our customers spend on their energy bills and use it to build new sources of green energy – turning ‘Bills into Mills’.
Invite a friend to join Ecotricity and, when they sign up, you’ll each receive vouchers worth up to £50 to spend at Ecotopia* our online shop as a thank you. Three ways to invite a friend Forward this email to your friend. Pass on your unique invitation code, shown below, and tell your friend to quote it when they switch to Ecotricity either online or on the phone. RAFE-F4J1G Or share your invite on Twitter or Facebook!	Mr Andrew Chyba thinks you deserve more from your energy supplier. Why join Ecotricity? The satisfaction of seeing your energy bills used to create new sources of green energy. It costs less to be with us than the standard Big Six tariff in your region, for the average customer. Great customer service – the best you’ll find, in fact. We’ll send you (and the friend who referred you to us) vouchers worth up to £50 to spend atEcotopia* our online shop when you join us. To find out more, simply call our Welcome Team on 08000 302 302 or visit us online.
* Terms & Conditions apply. View the full terms and conditions here. We’d love to hear from you, contact us with your questions & comments. And of course you an unsubscribe.

At the end of the TALK ABOUT FRACKING EVENT in Swansea last week, I was asked for my Top Tip on how people can help the campaign.

I said with to a Green Energy provider such as Ecotricity so you are not paying money to frackers.

I have had people since saying that this is fine for electricity, but how does it help the gas situation? Well ………

ECOTRICITY SUPPLY GREEN GAS AS WELL AS GREEN ELECTRICITY

Screenshot (click on it to enlarge):

http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-green-energy/our-green-gas

Check it out and switch today!! (Prices are more competitive than you probably think too!)

Andy Chyba

Begin forwarded message:

From: Welsh Affairs Committee <Welshcom>

Subject: Press Notice – Welsh Affairs Committee Report: Energy generation in Wales: Shale Gas

Date: 16 June 2014 08:47:55 GMT+01:00

Welsh Affairs Committee

Select Committee Announcement

PUBLICATION OF REPORT
POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL BENEFITS OF SHALE GAS FOR WALES MUST NOT COME AT EXPENSE OF ENVIRONMENT

In a report published today, Monday 16th June the Welsh Affairs Committee says shale gas represents an opportunity for Wales but that it must not come at the expense of Wales’s natural environment. Both the UK and Welsh Governments must consider environmental risks, including the traffic and noise caused by commercial shale gas operations as well as the visual impact and other environmental risks associated with fracking.

The Government forecasts that nearly 70% of the UK’s gas supply will be imported by 2025. It is vital that the UK identifies new sources of gas if it is to safeguard the UK’s security of supply.

Shale gas production across the UK is currently at the exploratory stage and there is no good data yet on the amount of shale gas in Wales. Should considerable reserves of shale gas be present—as industry representatives predict—it could be a decade before a viable shale gas industry is created in Wales.

The Committee’s key conclusions and recommendations are:

· The UK Government and the Welsh Government should work with commercial companies and others to provide a reliable range of estimates of shale gas available in Wales. This should be published by the end of 2014.

· Both the UK and Welsh Government should assess the overall impact of shale gas supply on the level and mix of energy produced in Wales and the UK.

· The Welsh Government should begin now to consider how the employment opportunities presented by shale gas production could be maximised. This should include a detailed examination of the skills required by the industry and the extent that Wales already has people with those skills.

· The UK Government must provide further information about how local communities in Wales will benefit, financially or otherwise, from shale gas operations in their area.

· Both the UK Government and the Welsh Government must ensure that the regulatory and planning framework gives due weight to the traffic and noise caused by commercial shale gas operations, in addition to the visual impact and other environmental risks associated with fracking.

· The issue of treatment, transportation and disposal of wastewater is a growing concern: toxic and radioactive water must not be allowed to contaminate water courses.

· The Government should consider the case for minimising ground-level shale gas operations in sensitive areas in Wales, such as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and National Parks. It must set out how it would ensure that development does not compromise designated sites, in particular those in environmentally sensitive areas.

· Commercial companies should pay for an independent Environmental Impact Assessment at the exploratory stage of any significant shale gas development.

David Davies MP, Chair of the Committee, said:

“Shale gas offers a wealth of potential benefits for Wales, in terms of energy supply, economic benefits and employment. We know there is some environmental risk: the UK and Welsh Governments must demonstrate that everything has been done to assess and mitigate that risk – both to the environment and Welsh people’s enjoyment of it – before we move forward and maximise the benefits for Wales.”

Copies of the Report can be ordered from The Stationery Office (Tel: 0845 702 3474) or from the Parliamentary Bookshop (Tel: 020 7219 3890). It can also be viewed on our website from the day of publication at: http://www.parliament.uk/welshcom

Enquiries to Welsh Affairs Select Committee at: welshcom

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Committee Membership is as follows: David T. C. Davies MP (Chair), Glyn Davies MP, Guto Bebb MP, Geraint Davies MP, Stephen Doughty MP, Jonathan Edwards MP, Nia Griffith MP, Simon Hart MP, Mrs Siân C. James MP, Karen Lumley MP, Jessica Morden MP, and Mr Mark Williams MP

Specific Committee Information: welshcom tel: 020 7219 6189

Media Information: Jessica Bridges-Palmer bridgespalmerj 020 7219 0724

Committee Website: http://www.parliament.uk/welshcom

Watch committees and parliamentary debates online: www.parliamentlive.tv

Publications / Reports / Reference Material: Copies of all select committee reports are available from the House of Parliament Shop (12 Bridge St, Westminster, 020 7219 3890) or the Stationery Office (0845 7023474). Committee reports, press releases, evidence transcripts, Bills; research papers, a directory of MPs, plus Hansard (from 8am daily) and much more, can be found on www.parliament.uk.

You can follow us on Twitter @CommonsWelshAff

UK Parliament Disclaimer: This e-mail is confidential to the intended recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and delete it from your system. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, or copying is not permitted. This e-mail has been checked for viruses, but no liability is accepted for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail.

Report – Energy generation in Wales Shale Gas.pdf

If you haven’t heard of Will Potter, you should familiarise yourself with his work. He focuses on how eco-activists are are now considered the United States’ number-one domestic terrorism threat, and they are being prosecuted as criminals.
The Tories are trying to import such attitudes to this country, as we have seen all too clearly at Balcombe and Barton Moss.

http://blog.ted.com/2014/01/31/will-potter-on-of-treating-environmentalists-like-terrorists/
Excerpt:

How did environmental activism come to be treated as a terrorist crime?

I think the most important thing I found out in my research is that all of this was actually created by the industries that are being protested. In the mid-1980s, these corporations got together and created a new word called “eco-terrorist” — because at the time, these protest movements were growing very quickly and effectively, and they had widespread public support. There clearly was a concern that unless public opinion shifted, there’d be a really big problem on their hands.

So they made up this new word, and then started using public relations campaigns, lobbying, and held congressional hearings. Eventually, that language changed the popular discourse of how we talk about protest. And it was incredibly effective, to the point that now not only does the FBI label animal rights and environmentalists as the number-one domestic terrorism threat — even though they’ve never harmed a single human being — but we have new legislation that singles these protesters out for felonies and as terrorists for what are, in some cases, nonviolent protests.

Learn about his book “Grren is the new Red” here:

http://vimeo.com/20753052