We were recently approached by people living near the Three Maids Hill area north of Winchester who are rightly concerned about the recent planning application (deadline recently extended to 28th May) to expand the site, increase its hours of use and make the site permanent.

We at Winchester Green Party are strongly opposed to this application.

Whilst we understand that some people enjoy motocross, we think the amount of noise - a very annoying and constantly changing buzz - produced by these motorbikes means the idea of having very regular or daily meetings and races there is unacceptable. There are places in the country that already have such courses and we think any new trails or extensions of use should occur in already noise-polluted places - not north Winchester where 3,000 homes are a mile from the course.

If we really must have more bikes and regular sports meetings in Winchester's rural surroundings, I propose the quiet, non-polluting and extremely fitness-enhancing sports of mountain biking and BMXing is given some space and investment instead.

"Don't let Westminster politicians kill your faith in democracy" urges Keith Taylor, Green EURO candidate

The event: Euro and County Council election hustings, Winchester

 7.45-10 pm Friday, 29th May 2009

St Faith’s Hall, Back St, St Cross, Winchester (Click for map)

Keith Taylor, Green Euro candidate for the South East has welcomed a ComRes poll which puts the Green party in third place with 16% of the vote in the South East, four points clear of the Liberal Democrats. He's urging people NOT to let the row over MPs expenses undermine their faith in democracy.

Keigh says he fully understands "the raw anger and dismay as people feel the effects of the global economic collapse in their own pockets, then see the complacency and excess of politicians from the Westminster parties".

Keith will be in town with the Winchester Green Party throughout the afternoon and evening (on Friday 29th May) encouraging people to focus positively on the appetite for change which is emerging from the row.

"With both County and Euro elections on June 4th, we want to engage voters in Hampshire, rejuvenate the democratic process and pull it free from the mire. With the global recession and the real threat of climate chaos, we're facing the biggest challenges of this generation. Time and again our leaders have let us down so it's time to focus on change and focus on the only party which CAN get us out of this mess".

As the election period gets into full swing, we at Winchester Green Party would like to remind you that on the 4th of June there are two elections - for Hampshire County Council and for the European Parliament.

We say a vote for the old fashioned parties - the largely indistinguishable New Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats - is simply a wasted vote because at their cores they all believe the same old rubbish that got us into this bank-destroying, climate-changing, stressed, unequal mess we find ourselves in. Only the Green Party been saying for over 3 decades that we need the kind of clearly different ideas and policies that come from a coherent view of the world.

Send a message and get some real change, vote Green Party!

Hampshire County Council Elections

After we beat Labour in every ward we stood in last summer we became the 3rd place party in Winchester. This time around it's for the much larger County Council divisions and we want to continue to make inroads on the two largely identical leading parties!

When Green councillors get in, they make a real difference as the following video outlines.

Green councillor Andrew Cooper (Leader, Kirklees Green Party), discusses ground-breaking home insulation projects in Huddersfield, led by Green Party councillors.

The Greens have scrupulously analysed the Conservatives' green paper number 8 on de-carbonising Britain, which was published in January and which forms the basis of current thinking at the top of the Conservative Party, if not necessarily amongst Tory MPs and councillors.

A communique from the Green Party said: "A few of the Tories' new ideas closely mirror pre-existing Green Party policies - except that despite all experience, the Tories have preserved their somewhat naive faith in the market - while some of their ideas are frankly stupid, like building more nuclear power stations.

"Nuclear power is not and never will be green. It can't deliver CO2 reductions as fast as we need them. It does nothing to help the green recovery we urgently need to tackle the recession. Nuclear sustains far fewer jobs per megawatt than renewables, so it will create too few jobs far too late."

The communique continued:

"But the more closely you examine the Tory green paper, the more flaws and shortcomings appear."

"They wholeheartedly back so-called 'clean coal,' even while they admit the technology isn't yet proven and might not even be economical. But anyway, unlike renewables, carbon capture isn't even zero-carbon, and it can't deliver emissions reductions fast enough, because it doesn't yet work. Also it will create far fewer jobs per megawatt than renewables."

"They want high-speed rail links to replace some internal flights, but they won't end the massive tax-breaks that make flying artificially cheap and attractive to consumers."

"They misunderstand the issue of biofuels."

"They speak warmly of offshore wind energy, but references to onshore wind in their green paper are few and potentially hostile."

We are dismayed that the transport secretary, Geoff Hoon, gave the go-ahead to a third runway and sixth terminal at Heathrow airport recently.

This is very obviously unwise short termism winning over the needs of the environment, our communities and our lives. The threat from climate change is so immediate and serious that giving the go-ahead to expand Heathrow is dangerous and shows the government's lack of understanding and responsibility.

Not only is this acting in contempt of our threatened planet, but this is not in the long-term interest of the British economy. Many commentators now set the estimate of the peak in oil production considerably ahead of 2030 and as we approach this peak the cost of liquid fuels is expected to soar, with profound consequences for us all, not least the airline industry.

Hoon and Brown’s vision for Heathrow will be cause climate harm and become an expensive white elephant – we will use all our might to stop it and the hypocrisy it represents. We at Winchester Green Party will be fighting this decision with everything we have.

Winchester Green Party have organised an inspirational event with 4 of the most engaging speakers and environmental campaigners

Thursday 11th December 7.30 to 9.30pm at Winchester Discovery Centre, Jewry Street.

On the 11th December at the Discovery Centre is hosting an evening of talks and discussion with some of the country’s leading green thinkers. This is your chance to get involved in a local event about global issues and to ask the questions that are concerning you. The event promises to be a pre-Christmas antidote to the gloomy predictions for the future: come and be inspired!

The four fantastic speakers are:

(Letter by local Green Hazel Agombar published in the Hampshire Chronical)

Sir,

I was appalled to read the comments from the chair of New Alresford Town Council - Ken Yeldham, in last week's Hampshire Chronicle (9th October) about the Alresford Greening Campaign. I would like to challenge Mr Yeldham's criticism that the group is 'spitting in the wind'. Firstly Alresford is far from alone. They are one of many, many grassroots group across the UK which are being established to address the issue of climate change. The combined efforts of this are enormous and help to put pressure on the UK government to pass a strong Climate Change Bill. Here just in Winchester we have groups such as Winchester Action on Climate Change (WinACC) and Friends of the Earth who are working to the same aims.

Secondly, Mr Yeldham trots out the tired arguments about the pollution created by China and India's industrialistion which are used as an excuse for the UK to do nothing. I'm afraid that Mr Yeldham has failed to grasp how interdependent the world is. It is the wealthy countries - mainly Europe and North America - that have caused the problems of global warming, and therefore have the responsibility to take the lead in finding a sustainable way forward. China and India need to develop - we should be promoting the techonologies that enable them to do so without destroying our shared life support systems. Indeed, it will be great for our economy to be at the forefront of developing low carbon technologies.

by Evelyn Parker

Members who listen to Gardeners Question Time will have picked up on the query recently raised about hormone weedkiller residue in farmyard manure affecting some particular plants.

The culprit is thought to be aminopyralid, a hormone-type herbicide which is used on pastures to control weeds. Manure from animals fed on treated pastures contains chemical residues sufficient to damage susceptible crops. Gardeners buying this manure to apply to vegetable crops are coming across abnormal growth, particularly on tomatoes, potatoes and legumes. Symptoms of damage are distorted foliage, cupping of leaves and fern-like foliage. There are no known remedies once damage has occurred, and there is no assurance that affected produce will be safe to eat.

The RHS Horticultural Advisory Service commented that this kind of problem was fairly unusual, and mostly attributed to accidents and carelessness, but instances have risen this year and farmyard manure has been frequently implicated. They recommend that gardeners should seek assurances from their suppliers of manure. Pippa Greenwood, who is a plant pathologist, warned that ground affected by the contaminated manure should not be used for up to two years.

We ourselves came across a similar problem in 1999, and the substance implicated was not FYM but Progrow, the soil improver produced by Hampshire County Council using composted material collected from household collections and stuff taken to the tip. I should add that we have used this product many times and this was the only occasion when we had problems with it.

Winchester Green Party contested 4 Winchester wards in the May 1^st local elections...

In every ward we contested we beat Labour and UKIP!

We're obviously very, very pleased with such a strong result for such a young local party. It's a great start and a great basis for Winchester's our first Green councillor!

Thank you to everyone who voted for us!

The full Winchester district election results are here.

Please read the election statements by our candidates, or find out about our local and national polices.