In this issue:
click in box to go straight there - use your back button to return

OUR HAGUE WEEKEND
“He which has no stomach to this fight, let him depart.”

A few weeks before the Climate Conference in The Hague last November, the call went out from FOE Head Office for volunteers to join in the action organised by FOE International to lobby the delegates, create some media attention and remind everyone why they were there. The proposal was to gather together thousands of protesters to construct a sandbag dike, which, in Holland, means neither a drainage ditch nor a lady wearing sensible shoes, but a high wall constructed firmly enough to withstand considerable pressures of wind and water.

The request was discussed at one of our meetings, and those of us who were not too busy/fearful/decrepit decided it would be a good lark with a serious purpose – and so it proved to be. Our funds were in a prosperous state so that our journey could be subsidised, and Head Office were organising things, so nothing could go wrong.

“Now all the youth of England are on fire.”

Of course it could go wrong. The planned Ferry was cancelled and not everyone booked to travel with us on the communal ticket could change their plans to take a later one. When the motley crew assembled at Dover dock it was very apparent that one at least of our party was going to be a handful, and we would be very very lucky to make all the connections to arrive in The Hague with our full quota of infantry. But, on a wing and a prayer we made it, only to find that the huge marquee which was the protesters’ HQ and protection from the lashing rain was in darkness because of a power cut, and staffed by a band of delightful but distraught people who had no clue what was going on. Our billet for the weekend turned out to be a school, and the arrangements were simply “Find an empty room, put down your sleeping bag and keep quiet”. By this time we had split up into three groups, and had varying success in repelling invasions by marauding bands of French, Austrians and Snorers.

“The game’s afoot.”

Saturday was demo day. There had been a call for volunteers willing to be screened and searched to undertake the wall-building inside the perimeter of the Conference building, and so it was that a couple of us were marched off through the town to check in for additional duties. In the event, the security check was no more than a couple of Dutch police smiling broadly at us as we turned a corner of the Conference building and literally ran up against a hill of sand prepared for the task. Then followed four hours of hard graft, standing in line and passing filled sandbags to the dike builders. There is an art to the construction of a dike which I have yet to master and which the Dutch have acquired over the years – each sandbag has to be tucked up like a pillow and pummelled into the right shape and positioned on the wall so that the final construction will stand firm against whatever is thrown at it. The hours went by, and the size of the sandheap seemed to diminish hardly at all; the awful truth dawned on us that every grain would have to be used to achieve the aim of the demonstration, and the wall by then would be not at knee level like the barriers to the thresholds in Sandgate on a stormy day, but well above our heads! Meanwhile, our comrades outside the perimeter seemed to be having a much more jolly time, marching about, listening to speeches and bands, and, more to the point, eating and drinking. At one point, I was suddenly aware of a dapper gentleman standing next to me in the line. He introduced himself as the Conference delegate from Guadeloupe, an island in the West Indies, which had suffered terrible tropical storms as a result of global warming. He wanted to be seen and photographed with us and seemed pleased to heave sandbags for a few minutes as a gesture of solidarity. The Chairman of the Conference visited. He appeared harassed and we understood he was slightly desperate to achieve agreement, which as it turned out was completely understandable. Jackie materialised beside me at another moment, was allowed inside the perimeter as “accredited photographer”, and we had a bizarre ten minutes photographing our mascot “banana prawn” on the top of the dike as a record of our concerns about genetic modification combined with fears about global warming…or something.

“Men are merrier when they are from home.”

At last the task was finished – or near enough for me! I escaped to a restorative cuppa and chips, and even caught the end of the set from The Skatellites (bliss for an unreconstructed 2-Tone fan!) After a trudge and a bus-ride it was party time in the HQ marquee and some 5,000 protesters, delegates and lobbyists drank and boogied into the night. Once again the rain set in, and it was a crew soaked inside and out who took their ease on the hard school floor much later that night.

“Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day.”

Sunday morning came, and the prospect of collecting up the bedraggled band for a dicey trip back to Folkestone. Would the shuttle bus ever come? Why has the train been cancelled? Is there a Sunday service to get us to Ostend? Will the ferry run? Where the **** have the 17 ticket people run off to this time? Somehow we negotiated all the travel hazards and our responsibilities eventually fell away at Dover docks. We had done what we had set out to do, and had a high old time for the rest of the weekend.

Our wall was short-lived. The TV coverage of the Conference later in the week included not only the token sandbag on the podium, the pie in the face
of the immovable USA delegate and the Prescott tantrum culminating in an unhelpful walkout from the debate, but also a disillusioned protester pushing the wall of sandbags into the fountain outside the Conference. The debate had reached stalemate in the face of the obstinacy and arrogance of the USA delegation, a situation lamented by the group of young American Greenpeace activists who had been very visible among the protesters. We can only hope that they can spread their message in time to avert the disastrous course their Government appears to be set upon.

From a personal point of view, thanks to Barrie and Thomas for sharing my bedroom floor, to Adam, Orly and Mark for showing me that veggies are not earnest little souls all the time, to Jackie and Jane for the silliest bus-ride for many years, to Ken for finding something to love in everyone, and Dave for a weird, weird view of the world! We might just have moved a bit of sand about, but we did it with passion, and that’s what’s important.

Rhona Hodges

We recently received the following letter from the Greater London Authority and our response is printed below.

TRANSPORTATION OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE BY TRAINS INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE

I am writing on behalf of the Assembly of the Greater London Authority to invite you to submit evidence to an investigative review of the transportation of radioactive waste by train through London. I am chairing the special committee set up by the GLA to review this matter, which is of considerable importance to London, and I believe you will be able to assist us with our enquiries. The Assembly would be most grateful for your assistance.

The London Assembly is empowered by statute to investigate matters of importance to Greater London. The transportation of radioactive waste raises particular concern to Londoners because of the safety and emergency planning issues.

Our objectives for this review will be:

· look at the current emergency planning in the event of a radiological release in an area of dense population and to see how the emergency services and technical support offered by the nuclear industry would deal with this situation; and,

· to examine trackside contamination (including the phenomena known as ‘sweating’ or non fixed contamination) and the subsequent effect on surrounding communities.

We aim to report our findings formally by July 2001. In order to meet our timetable, may we have your response by 26 February?

I apologise for this tight deadline. We may then invite you to answer questions and discuss specific issues in more detail.

Darren Johnson

(Assembly Member & Chair, Radioactive Waste Trains investigative Committee)

Our response was as follows:

We should like to make the following points that we believe should be of great concern to populations in any area through which nuclear train transports pass or park up in sidings:

q General

The transportation of radioactive waste through the UK should be of particular concern to all but more so in densely populated areas such as London. Not just because of the obvious fact that more people would be affected by a nuclear incident but because of the logistics involved. Emergency planning, derailments etc would pose a nightmare to emergency services trying to access the site and controlling the number of people involved.

If panic were to set in, as it might well do, a nuclear accident could have grave consequences for law and order - and in a city as dense as London ……..?

q Derailments

In the first instant we believe that apart from anything else these transports pose a serious threat by way of their sheer weight! They are some of the heaviest loads to be carried on the rail system and the thought of derailments on bridges or down embankments in London does not bear thinking about.

q We would like you to ask BNFL & an independent expert several very important questions:

1) How long can the spent fuel remain safely out of a cooling pond, ie in the flasks, between the power station and Sellafield? In the event of a derailment this time scale would be critical. How long could the flask remain safe on its side? Upside down? With some coolant leakage?

2) Some years ago at Rugby a flask was heard to be ‘crackling’ suggesting some form of overheating. It was never revealed what the cause was although witnesses said that the flask was taken with haste to Sellafield. What was the cause of the crackling? Could it happen again?

q The threat of nuclear terrorism.

We demonstrated at a level crossing in Lydd, Kent, with the help of the Channel 4 programme, The Mark Thomas Comedy Product (broadcast March 1999)*, that stationary, unguarded nuclear trains are extremely vulnerable to terrorist attack. The industry claims that the flasks are safe from terrorists, as they could not easily use the spent fuel for bomb making. We claim that a suicide terrorist would only have to threaten to remove or blow the lid off the flask, especially in a densely populated area, to gain a great advantage for his cause.

q Emergency Planning Procedures.
Experience in our area has shown that the nuclear emergency planning procedure is a sham and is unlikely to work outside a textbook scenario. They need to be practiced much more frequently with a much wider range of scenarios “in co-operation with as many people as possible from the local community," so that idiotic plans would be shown up as unworkable. (more info available)

q Flask Safety

1) Nuclear flasks are drop tested from 9 metres on to an unyielding surface. In our area (Folkestone), and also I believe in Bromley, Greater London, nuclear flasks have been transported over viaducts 30 metres high!!

2) Nuclear flasks are designed to withstand an 800 degree centigrade fire for 30 minutes. Should they be involved in a fire in a tunnel, temperatures exceeding 2000 degrees centigrade are possible and the timescale would be unpredictable. A fire in a rail tunnel involving a train transporting petroleum raged for 3 days.

q Considering alternatives to transporting radioactive waste by train:

Ideally the waste should not be transported anywhere but stored on site above ground in safe monitorable conditions.

But, we do not live in an ideal world and at Dungeness, for example, there are added problems with coastal erosion and future possible sea level rises due to climate change. (More info available)**

Future transports from Dungeness might have to be made.

We conclude that:

1) By road it would be more dangerous and vulnerable

2) By air - apart from public opinion, the immense weight and new flask design needed would probably make it a non starter as far as BNFL is concerned.

3) There is very deep water off Dungeness and the possibility of transporting waste by sea would not be impossible. Taking into consideration the commencement of the decommissioning of both Dungeness nuclear power stations within the next ten years we think that sea transportation is the best solution for the transportation of radioactive wastes from Dungeness.

With regard to the current situation for London, we believe emphatically that the trains simply should not pass through such a densely populated region.

We hope that this will be of some help in your investigation.

* Video footage available, contact:

Jack Cheshire, Vera Productions, Channel 4, Telephone: 0207 436 6116 or mobile: 0961103054.

**The low lying area of Romney Marsh has twice been below sea level in recent history.

PS: VERA productions produced a DISPATCHES TV programme for Channel 4 about fixed contamination on nuclear flasks and have sent me a copy of an interesting BNFL fax that they used in their programme. I have included this as a separate attachment. Again contact Jack Cheshire for further information on that fax or the Dispatches programme.

STOP PRESS:

We have been invited to attend an evidentiary hearing in London on March 15^th and will report back on the outcome in the next newsletter

Barrie Botley

CPRE CAMPAIGN SEMINAR

We have recently subscribed to the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE).
Here are details of our first mailing from them:

“CPRE are holding a Campaign Seminar called ‘Sprawl Patrol’ in Wye, near Ashford, on Monday 23 April from 10.45 am to 4.00 pm.”

The Sprawl Patrol campaign is being launched to address the opportunity to put an end to sprawl and get housing development right. To develop the campaign, workshops are being organised around the country for CPRE volunteers. This workshop will provide:

§ A detailed introduction to the new Government guidance on housing (PPG3) and how it can fundamentally change the extent, site selection, density and design of housing development.

§ An opportunity to question policy staff from national office on the guidance and seek their advice on applying PPG3 to local issues.

§ A chance to exchange information with colleagues on the problems and solutions associated with implementing PPG3.

§ Ideas on the planning, timing and execution of campaigns at local level.

Come and find out how you can contribute to the success of this campaign.

Buffet lunch provided (please let us know of any special dietary requirements).

Shepway FOE will pay travelling expenses. Anyone interesting in attending - contact Barrie Botley on 01303 257045 ASAP.

BELIEVING IN FOLKESTONE COMMUNITY CHEST

What is the Community Chest?

The Community Chest is an exciting new way for residents groups, voluntary groups or organisations in Central and East Folkestone to get financial help for projects which improve the quality of life within the community of Central and East Folkestone (ie, the wards of Central, East, Harbour and Foord). Any voluntary group, large or small, can apply for funds from the Community Chest.

What kind of project can obtain funds from the Community Chest?

· Projects for children

Projects for young adults

Projects for older people

Projects for people with disabilities (learning or physical)

Projects for those with mental health problems

Projects to improve your local environment

Projects which involve your local community

If you would like more information on the Community Chest, phone Barrie Botley on 01303 257046.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder has become the latest, fast-growing, ‘fashionable’ and media attention-grabbing illness of the young. It has been around for some time. In the 70’s and 80’s, relatively few children experienced the syndrome. Isolated cases attracted little attention, except on a localised level, between family, family doctor and school.

During the 90’s the number of cases began to escalate. In 1993, 3,500 were registered as victims of ADHD. Today the figure stands at 73,000-plus. It seems there are many more yet to be labelled. By 2007 it is estimated that one child in seven will be affected - a significant proportion of our population - made even more worrying by the fact that these children are the parents and citizens of tomorrow. And, at the present rate of increase, who can guess how many will be ‘ADHD-positive’ by 2010, 2020 and so on?

The problem is even more acute in the USA. (Who would expect it to be otherwise?). Currently 7,000,000 children are registered ADHD sufferers and the numbers are rising fast. It has long been known that the trend of today in the USA becomes the fashion of tomorrow in Britain - and, indeed, the rest of the world. So - we know what to expect and its portent is frightening.

What is being done to ‘stem the tide’? Hooray, hooray, the medics have perfected a wonder drug, Ritalin, which cures the problem. Or does it? Certainly, children on Ritalin become meek and seemingly attentive - but overly so. As one teacher, who has six children on Ritalin in his class said, “At first it was wonderful. We finally had peace and quiet, but then I began to worry. Ritalin stripped them of their personality. It dampened their humour and ruined their creativity.” In other words, they became the nearest thing to Zombies. This comment is typical of those observing the reactions of Ritalin users.

Sooner or later the effect of the drug wears off and a further dose is needed - meaning that the ADHD sufferer will have to take the drug, at least into adulthood, if not longer. It is by no means clear, as yet, that the victim grows out of the problem. So, we certainly don’t have a cure - only the usual palliative, so typical of modern medicinal practice, of treating the symptoms, without curing the cause.

What is the cause? The cause has long been known - food additives, with food colourants being the chief culprits. You may remember some years ago, an orange dye called Tartrazine attracted much attention. It had been positively identified as the trigger for most cases of hyperactivity in children. A fairly vigorous campaign saw its removal from most of the food chain - particularly from soft drinks, where most attention was focussed. Hooray, you cry - but Tartrazine or E102, although the worst of them, is only one of a whole group of AZO and coal-tar-derived dyes used in the food industry, capable of causing similar reactions. Originally discovered as dyes giving bright, clear colours, they were used for dying fabrics, wallpapers, etc, to add the zest that dyes extracted from mainly vegetable sources could not give.

Look at the foods, drinks, sweets, ice-lollies etc, readily available today. Look at the bright, attractive colours and you will see a plethora of E numbers, identifiable as Azo and coal-tar-derived dyes. I have on my desk a ‘Smarties’ tube. There are seven dyes listed, of which six are on the ‘guilty’ list. They give the smarties their vivid coating. The seventh and innocent colour is white.

These dyes are everywhere in the food chain, down to the orange-coloured breadcrumbs coating so much of today’s convenience foods. Even frozen peas don’t escape. A bright green frozen pea owes its ‘freshly-picked’ look to a dye. You won’t see it labelled, because such products are exempt. Some manufacturers, who have nothing to hide, list their ingredients, as an act of good faith - but others, such as “Birds Eye”, don’t.

A favourite drink of mine was ‘Roses Original Lime Juice Cordial’, until I looked at the label one day and discovered E104, a coal tar dye, which gave the cordial its ‘fresh’ lime juice look. Not even a British Institution such as Roses Original is sacrosanct.

Why do we not demand their removal from the food chain, with the same vigour as the campaign against Tartrazine? Because, to remove one culprit is no industry-shattering event - but to remove the whole lot would cause political and economic upheaval and billions to restructure - and who would pay? No politician would have the courage to tackle the problem. He or she is only interested in surviving the next general election. It’s easier and cheaper to damp down the symptoms of the industry’s victims.

Moreover, we are now into the second generation of a large proportion of our population raised on additive-packed junk and convenience food. It’s what they know - it’s what they like. As one young mother declared vociferously, on hearing that her children’s school was about to make a valiant attempt at serving only meat and two veg style food in its canteen: “Now I’ll have to take my kids to McDonalds for a proper meal.

David Horsley

EDITORIAL

Sadly, we are about to lose one of our most active and stalwart members, Peter Nuttall, who is moving to Bishops Stortford.

Peter has worked tirelessly for our group in the many years he has been a member - not only ‘on the ground’ but in his regular contributions to our Newsletter- both in his own name and under his ‘nom de plume’, “Onlooker” - ever exhorting us to greater efforts. Perhaps his finest achievement was as co-presenter of our case to the Public Inquiry into the A259 Road ‘Improvement’ Scheme. He spent countless hours researching and presenting our objections.

Many thanks for all your hard work, Peter. Our very best wishes go with you and Joan to your new home.

At a recent meeting of Shepway District Council’s Environmental Forum, Biodiversity was the theme, which immensely gladdened the heart. As you know, LA21 is all about sustainability, which means a viable future for all species and their habitats. Up to now the emphasis has been on sustainability for Shepway’s human population, so that, when asked about development or land usage, buildings have taken precedence over birds, bees, butterflies and bluebells, It now appears that when the same question is put to SDC in the future, birds, bees,butterflies and bluebells stand a fair chance of winning. We must ensure they do.

Another encouraging fact emerged - namely that SDC’s considerable annual Parks and Gardens budget is soon to be spent locally. Currently and for years past SDC has obtained all its materials - bedding plants, dressings and other paraphernalia from a contractor in Yorkshire, would you believe? On the East Cliff, where I live, two forty ton lorry loads of dressings, etc, are delivered every autumn to the Bowling Green/Tennis/Golf complex. And this is only one example. The quantity delivered annually to the Shepway District as a whole, must be enormous - a nonsensical practice.

As was pointed out, somewhat vociferously, by attending members, (us included), local sourcing would considerably boost Shepway’s flagging economy, by providing much-needed employment. Moreover, money spent in the District would tend to be circulated in the District - thus assisting sustainability. Full details of the meeting can be obtained from Penny Wright, our representative on the Forum.

The latest disaster to hit our farming industry, foot & mouth disease (FMD) - which, as I write, is still escalating, seemingly out of control. There is no need to comment at length on this. The media are currently packed with details. But did I hear our esteemed Prime Minister aright when he spoke about rethinking current factory farming methods? Was he having a brainstorm when he talked of sustainability? Let us hope that a sense of humanity will now begin to prevail, leading to fair treatment of the wretched animals caught up in the cold calculations of cheapest production, maximum profit that is the farming industry of today. Are we about to see animals being treated as sentient beings and not as commercial commodities?

I don’t want to become involved in an argument about the rights or wrongs of raising animals for food. However you view it, the practice will never cease - but those animals so raised have every right to a decent way of life in the time allotted to them - even if it means that the consumer must pay a higher cost. Those who eat organic meat already pay this premium and are content to do so.

I can remember the time when today’s farming methods, falsely dubbed traditional, were still to come and the practices, now called organic, were the norm. FMD was round then but on a smaller, more localised scale. Animals remained mostly on the farms or in the areas where they were born and were not moved long and, for them, distressing distances - which has today assisted the spread of the disease. Animal welfare was largely par for the course. It was in the farmer’s own interest to look after his stock, in a responsible fashion. Massive handouts in compensation, etc, were not to be had. Curiously, in the part of Oxfordshire where I grew up, many local farmers added minute amounts of borax to their animals drinking water, which kept their stock free of FMD, however close the disease happened to be on farms where borax was not used. Has this practice died out? The MAFF has dismissed it as a ‘quack’ remedy, I learn. I wonder why?

David Horsley

DIARY DATES

Thursday 22 March	Shepway FoE Monthly meeting. 25 William Avenue, Folkestone, 7.30pm.
Monday 23 April	Shepway FoE Monthly Meeting, Hythe - 7.30 pm White Hart pub, Hythe High Street, come and catch up on whats happening.
Thursday 17 May	Shepway FoE Monthly meeting. 25 William Avenue, Folkestone, 7.30pm.