8/9/2019 Summer 2010 Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth Newsletter

1/4

S h r e w s b u r yFr iends of the Ear th

Newsle t te r Sum me r 2010

For meetings and contacts, see back page

NW RR Update

A W alk for Earth Day

On Sunday April 25th, Shrewsbury FOEorganised a walk and picnic at Cross Hillon the site of the proposed NWRR.About 30 people attended who avoidedthe showers to see the old river bed,kettle holes and beautiful countrysidethat the road would affect.

You may have seen the write-up aboutthe walk in the Shropshire Star or heardinterviews on Radio Shropshire. Seewww.nowaygroup.org.uk if you missedthese.

It's looking less and less likely that the North West Relief Road scheme will get financed, with talk of extreme cuts on their way as soon as the new Government settles in, but that hasn't stopped usbeing very active during the consultation. We've managed to get good publicity with pieces in theStar, Chronicle and Radio Shropshire. There's a new website www.nowaygroup.org.uk which hassome radio clips on it if you missed them. Around 2,000 leaflets have been handed out, there's beenan exhibition in Wild Thyme and we attended most of the exhibition sessions plus a couple of sessionson Pride Hill and the picnic walk. Generally we've received a very good reception, even in Ruyton XItowns, and I spoke to the Coton Hill Residents Association expecting a mixed response but not oneperson there supported the scheme. Shrewsbury Civic Society has now stated their opposition to thescheme and the Shropshire Wildlife Trust got good publicity for their objection.

T h e c o n s u l t a t i o n p e r i o d r u n s u n t i l M a y 1 4 t h s o i f y o u h a v e n o t t a k e n p a r t y o u m a y j u s t h a v e t i m e t o c o m p l e t e t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e t h a t c a n b e f o u n d o n t h e S h r o p s h i r e C o u n t y Counc i l w ebs i t e a t w w w .s hr o p sh i r e.g o v.u k / h w m a i n t .n sf .

Whilst the staff at the exhibitions were welcoming and helpful to us the exhibition was heavily biasedtowards building the road. Photos of crowded streets (including Wyle Cop?) were cheek by jowl withdrawings of Smithfield Road as a leafy oasis. Environmental drawbacks were mentioned but not takenseriously and traffic figures were misleading, although the officers couldn't see this. Interestingly nomention was made of advantages for Ruyton XI towns or Fitz and the figures showed traffic levels onHuffley Lane rising by 30%.

The r e su l t s o f t he consu l t a t i on shou ld be d i scus sed by th e Sh ropsh i r e Counc i l Deve lopm en t Se r v i c es Sc r u t i n y p a n e l a t 5 p m o n Tu e sd a y J u l y 1 3 t h ( T BC) . W e ' r e h o p i n g f o r a g o o d t u r n o u t a n d a l i v e l y d e b a t e s o p u t i t i n y o u r d i a r y. A s s o o n a s w e k n o w f o r s u r e w e ' l l p u t s o m e t h i n g o n t h e Sh r e w s f o e a n d n o w a y w e b si t e s .

Thanks to all who helped over the last month, with any luck we'll be able to put this campaign to bedsoon. DG

8/9/2019 Summer 2010 Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth Newsletter

2/4

Shrewsbury FoE Newsletter Summer 2010 www.shrewsfoe.org.uk Page 2 of 4

Incinerator

The Environment Agency have said they are minded to grant a permit for the proposed incineratorbut asked for further comments before they made a final decision. This didn't surprise us, the EAvery rarely turn anything like this down.

There's no news of a planning committee date, we suspect they're waiting for the EA process tofinish first.

Meanwhile Veolia is rumoured to be ready to pull out of its planned incinerator in Nottingham half way through a public inquiry. This follows many incinerator cancellations over the last year, we justneed to add Shrewsbury to the list.

Anaerobic Digestion or Composting?

Veolia also have plans to build a huge 'in vessel composting' facility. It'll be in Telford but used forShropshire's green and food waste. We don't understand why they're pushing for one largeinefficient composter rather than several smaller anaerobic digestion (AD) plants. A recent report hashighlighted the advantages of AD (entitled 'Assessment of the options to improve the managementof bio-waste in the EU, was published earlier this year by consultants ARCADIS and Eunomia, if you

want to see it ask Dave Green for a link ). The report states that while using both technologies wouldoffer "significant" cost and environmental benefits to society - as much as 6 billion between 2013and 2020 - AD "yields the highest benefits in terms of green house gas emission reductions". We'llbe pushing for Veolia to reconsider their composting plan as soon as more details are released.

GREEN FI NGERS?

An allotment holder needs someone totake care of a plot for three months in the

Summer. This could provide a greatopportunity for a budding vegetable

grower to gain some experience.

Please call 01743 214310.

Shrewsbury FOE will have stalls at:

THE SQUARESaturday May 22 nd

SHREWSBURY GREEN FESTIVA LSaturday July 3 rd

See the Walks and Talks for more details.

Shrew sbury Green Guide

The latest edition of the Shrewsbury Green Guide waslaunched at the Pride Hill Centre on Saturday March27th. It was a busy day and lots of booklets werecollected by shoppers.

This is the Transition Town edition of the guide inrecognition of the transition movement, where townsand communities are coming together to make positiveresponses to the need to learn to live without fossil fuels,reaching Shrewsbury. The Green Guide is edited by JudyColeridge who has done a fantastic job once again.

The guide is supported by Friends of the Earth,Shropshire Community Recycling Ltd., and GrassrootsGrants funding delivered locally by the CommunityCouncil of Shropshire.

The Green Guides have been distributed widely aroundthe town. Look out for them at Shirehall, Guildhall,Tourist Information Centre, Market Hall, Wild Thyme etc.

8/9/2019 Summer 2010 Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth Newsletter

3/4

8/9/2019 Summer 2010 Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth Newsletter

4/4

Shrewsbury FoE Newsletter Summer 2010 www.shrewsfoe.org.uk Page 4 of 4

Contact details:E-Mail:

judith@shrewsfoe.org.uk

Please keep in contact by sending usyour E-Mail address!

Or Visit: www.shrewsfoe.org.uk

See also : www.foe.co.uk

Judith Rice Co-ordinator 792790

Dave Green NWRR 360055

Philip Pool Transport, Walks & Talks 367968

Judy Coleridge Walks & Talks 364157

John Rice Treasurer 792790

Jon Haycox Newsletter 235865

Sue Fisher Membership Secretary37 Sunnybank Rd SY2 6RG

358449

MONTHLY MEETINGS - business and soc ial

Our monthly business me etings normally ta ke p lac e a t Ma rc hes Energy Age nc y, next to the G ate wa yon the first Mond ay of the mo nth at 7:30pm a nd a im to finish by 9:00pm . How eve r, p lease ring o ne of usab ove as this ma y va ry.

After these meetings, some members usually adjourn to the Woodman public house at 32, Coton Hill toc ont inue disc ussing issues of interest in a m ore informa l way. Do fee l welcom e to join us but p lease d ogive us a ring b eforehand in c ase no o ne is go ing to the p ub o n that e vening.

On the o ther hand, if you c annot ma ke a m eet ing b ut would like send us informa tion or c om ments, doplea se em ail me a t judith@shrewsfoe.org.uk

Judith

Want To Join? If youre not a member already and would like to join please send 8 (6concessions) or 22 for three years to Sue, thank you. Extra donations are always very welcome.The membership year runs from January to December.Many thanks for supporting your local FoE Group.

Sue Fisher Membership Sec.Suefish@talktalk.net

National FoE Subscriptions are completely separate to local group subs. If youre a nationalmember you should receive the Earth Matters magazine, if not then we strongly urge you to join.Do so by going to www.foe.co.uk or ringing 020 7490 1555.

This newsletter was assembled by Jon Haycox, layout by Mike Richardson. Printed on 100% recycled paper.

If you print meOver-fishing means UK trawlers have to work

17 times as hard for the same fish catch as120 years ago.

BBC Website, 4th

May 2010

Shrewsbury FOE now has a Facebook page which has dates of walksand talks plus updates on campaigns and links to relevant information.

To find the page search for Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth onFacebook or use this shortened link http://tinyurl.com/39jj3z9 .