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Photo by Virginia Fassnidge

The perennial complaint from drivers that they are excessively taxed has been challenged by a study which concludes that road accidents, pollution and noise connected to cars costs every EU citizen more than £600 a year.

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Local man David Highton has been awarded the British Empire Medal. He is chair of West Ealing Neighbours and was instrumental in getting the council to make the Lido Junction safer for pedestrians

Bees and other pollinating insects are vital to:

·         our food supply – they pollinate most of our fruit and vegetables

·         our economy - without bees, the costs for farmers would rise, leading to higher food prices

·         our quality of life – our gardens, parks and countryside

And bees need us. British bee numbers have fallen dramatically in recent years, and the way we farm our food and plan our towns and cities is making the problem worse.

FoE is asking David Cameron to help save bees by introducing a National Bees Action Plan. Visit www.foe.co.uk to sign the petition.   

Bees are pretty difficult to photograph, as they are quite small and tend to move away when you get close to them, so we’re very pleased to have three winning pictures to display. 

When they took their photos, Elyse and Mina were in Year 7 at Brentford School for Girls, and Oliver, who lives in Greenford, was ten years old.

A public meeting on the issue of population was held at the Polygon, St Mary’s Church in South Ealing on 5^th December 2011.

Over 40 people attended the meeting, which was organised by Population Matters and EFOE.

Nina Clarke and John Collier, speakers for Population Matters, showed how the earth’s population has rocketed in recent decades and how it is forecast to increase.

Nina said: “It is not good enough to say resignedly that with population growth we will need many more resources both in the UK and abroad.  We must have the courage to consider population growth itself as an issue both at government level and within our individual lives and learn to appreciate the benefits for us and our children of smaller families.”

Nic Ferriday, speaking for EFOE, showed how environmental impacts are related as much to population as to over-consumption or inefficient technology.

Nic said “All environmental impacts increase and become harder to solve with more people. Whether it is air pollution, destruction of forests or climate change, controlling our population is essential if we are to safeguard the future of the planet and its people.”  

Old-style incandescent bulbs have to be disposed of with general waste (preferably wrapped in case of breakages). They should not be put with other glass items as they contain metal.                                                                          more ...

The United Nations designated 31^st October 2011 as the day that the seven billionth citizen was born.  World population has been increasing more and more in the last few decades, and the trend continues upwards.                                                                                                                                     more ...

Ealing Broadway Interchange

Urban Gardens

Ealing Council's consultants' report on possible new arrangements for buses at Ealing Broadway has now been made public.  The council intend to take forward 3 of the simplest and cheapest options. These are estimated to cost between £4m and £10m. If they get funding from TfL they plan to put these to public consultation in Autumn 2012.

In the meantime we would like to offer a new alternative arrangement for traffic and buses which should make life easier for bus passengers.

Nick O'Donnell, Assistant Director of Strategic Transport at Ealing Council, has said he is happy for this option to be included in the later consultation on options.

The Royal Horticultural Society has just launched a new campaign on the importance of urban gardens based on quite extensive research .The key findings were: urban garden plants and trees help to cool the air in towns and cities, helping to combat dangerous temperatures caused by heat waves; trees and hedges can bring energy costs down in winter by providing insulation; garden plants and trees intercept intense rain and slow runoff, while garden soil absorbs rainwater, reducing the risk of flooding; urban gardens support a range of wildlife and help to maintain biodiversity; gardening has a beneficial effect on mental and physical health. There are some potentially negative aspects of urban gardening, in particular the need for water, and the indirect contribution to carbon emissions through the consumption of manufactured and transported horticultural goods and the use of power tools.

The RHS has produced a useful 4 page leaflet which can be downloaded here:

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/Sustainable-gardening/pdfs/RHS-urban-greening

and you can find much other valuable information on sustainable gardening on their website, including a number of leaflets on conservation and environmental issues.

Another interesting publication is London : Garden City? a research project carried out for the London Wildlife Trust, Greenspace Information for Greater London and the Greater London Authority.

Gardens cover nearly a quarter of Greater London, and as already outlined, they are valuable in many ways. But they are under threat. This project establishes the current garden resource in London , quantifies recent land cover changes in London ’s gardens, and provides evidence for campaigns, policy and other action to promote and protect gardens as an important environmental asset.

It highlights the significant changes that have taken place in recent years: garden greenspace has been lost at the rate of two and a half Hyde Parks per year and hard surfacing increased by over 25% in the 100-month study period.

A summary of the report can be downloaded from the London Wildlife Trust’s website www.wildlondon.org.uk

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