Snow-free Summerway sunset ... a big plus.

Beautiful sunset this evening.

As I watched the sun withdraw its gold I realised I was appreciating the watery gleam on the cars and road as much as I enjoyed the winter-pale sky colours. 

Not hard to understand why.

It's a whole year since Exeter suffered serious snowfall. 

Twelve months ago driving was treacherous. Too few roads were cleared quickly. Buses struggled. 

Cycling was scary - partly because drivers didn't want to share 'their' two parallel tracks with a cyclist. 

But no-one, by foot or bicycle, dared share space with the soon-slithering vehicles going too fast for the conditions.

 
All of which might not have mattered - we might have enjoyed wintery walking through stunning scenic views of our city - if only our pavements had been cleared/gritted. Instead every footway became a churned-up skid-pan.

So, until there's a sensible solution to keeping Exeter moving after snowfall... I'm dreaming of a white wet Christmas, not like the one we knew last year.

Orangutan mince pies

Thank goodness for the small shops that bring variety and genuine purchasing choice to Exeter.
I looked for mince pie mincemeat in Pinhoe's Aldi - they had one brand on offer.
I checked out Pinhoe Sainsbury's. They had their own bottle, tub and 'Taste the Difference' jar, plus Robertsons Classic and Duerrs luxury 1881.
Choice surely? 
No.  
Not one bottle or tub was free from palm oil.
BBC Panorama says this about palm oil - Orangutan survival and the shopping trolley
So I went to Magdalen Road shopping centre, where variety and choice are genuine and often local. 
Small traders still dominate and I could buy a jar of palm-oil free mincemeat. 
Last year I didn't have this problem.
Sainsbury's know about the palm-oil issue. They are trying to switch to sustainable palm-oil; so far only in their biscuits range.
But Greenpeace points out the problem of being sure whether oil that's called sustainable truely is
I don't want to feel I'm adding to the biodiversity threat to our world's forests and their inhabitants every time I eat a mince pie.
Has anyone else found a mincemeat brand that is palm-oil-free?
Please let me know if you do.

Nature nearby

How can urban areas have nature nearby?
Natural England have an inspiring answer  - they invite local residents to get together to create "doorstep greens". Exeter City Council calls these "pocket parks".
Whatever the name we're aiming to start up soon in the Whipton area of Pinhoe Ward.
If you're interested in getting involved come along at 10.15 a.m. on Friday 2nd December to Whipton Community Hall Pinhoe Road, near Whipton shopping centre.
I will be there, as will the  RSPB and  Exeter Wild City.

Thanks to Exeter's street sweepers

Autumn winds and rain have been flinging millions of leaves down onto our pavements and roads.

Sometimes lovely to look at. 

But as they rot and grow slippery, not always easy to walk or cycle over.

And definitely not easy to sweep up.

So it's a big thank you to Exeter City Council's street sweepers for being out there in all weathers tackling the problem. Very much appreciated.

Tories' sham-green shame

Many thanks to The Independent news paper's exclusive - Backlash grows over Camerons green sellout  for the following list of the promises that have gone sour as the Govt back-tracks on environment policies and plans.

Planning New rules will strip away protection of the countryside from development – the Government has so far resisted a continuing, widespread campaign against the plans.

Motorway speeds To the horror of environmental campaigners, the Government is raising the limit to 80mph, adding more than two million tons a year to carbon emissions.

Forests Ministers announced last year a mass sell-off, despite no reference in the Conservative manifesto or coalition agreement, but a public campaign forced a U-turn.

Green investment bank A flagship environmental policy has been severely undermined by a Treasury block on it providing loans. It will not be allowed to borrow until 2015.

Eco-homes Another legacy of Labour, but any new homes built with "zero carbon" credentials will not have carbon emissions from electrical appliances counted, undermining the definition.

Quangos The Forestry Commission, Natural England and the Environment Agency have all been prevented from policy-making, while the Sustainable Development Commission and the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution have been axed.

Illegal tropical timber Ministers have scrapped a Conservative manifesto pledge to criminalise the possession of illegal tropical timber.

Aggregates The Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund, which diverted £20m in taxes raised from the sand and gravel industry to 200 green projects, has been scrapped.

Daylight lights: what big switch-off?

Very many Pinhoe streets are scheduled to switch over to 'part-night-lighting', which is the "glass-half-full" way of saying Devon County Council proposes to create lots of darkness across Pinhoe sometime in the not-too-distant future.

See - Part-Night Lighting: Carbon reducing scheme

The switch-off/on can't happen until each street lamp has been replaced with one more readily controllable.

Which brings up the seeming lack of any control at the moment down Parkers Cross Lane to Orchard Close.

At least a dozen lamps were shining brightly at mid-day today - as I reported to the County Council number - 0845 155 1004 for highways faults  /problems.

There was an explanation. Sometimes, as the My Devon voice told me, lamps are deliberately left on for repairs checks. Plausible, I thought.

Except, as I cycled on I couldn't see any repairs vehicles parked anywhere. And the two residents I stopped and spoke to told me the lights were often on. Night and day, that is.

So when part-night-lighting does reach Parkers Cross Lane the County Council will be saving a whole lot more carbon than they thought. Unless, of course, they still leave their lamps on during the day.

Ultra-rapid bicycle rescue

Firstly - big thanks to the Pinhoe resident who alerted me to the Claude Butler bicycle. Beside the Exeter-to-Waterloo railway track - below Exhibition Way Bridge.

Secondly - equally big thanks to Pinhoe's excellent PC and PCSO for the speed with which they got the bicycle removed.

They're now trying to trace its owner.

Hope the bike's not too badly damaged and the owner's story of loss has a happy ending.

Let's be clear about drains

A drain doesn't need to be kept clear just because it's a drain. 

Devon County Council, cutting back everywhere, seems to have forgotten that the purpose of keeping a drain clear is to get water off our streets and pavements. Doh!

And - as global warming increases rainfall intensity - we more often need good clear drains to keep water out of our homes and businesses too.

Perhaps I notice more as one of Exeter's many cyclists and walkers, but the last few days have brought us plenty of rain, and too much of it stays around too long.

Puddles turn to pools. Pools turn to lakes. Walking becomes wading.

And as for cycling - some 'lakes' are too large to stop pedaling and coast all the way through. And all that water certainly hides nasty pothole surprises. 

But it's driver behaviour that seems to have become decidedly inconsiderate as drain maintenance gets worse. 

For goodness sake - just drive at 5mph for five seconds when going through undrained pools. Don't fling up water all over nearby walkers and cyclists.

Fly-tipping gets worse - why?

We have two excellent recycling centres in Pinhoe.

First is the new, superb Pinbrook Road Recycling Centre

The second is the small group of bins in the corner of Sainsburys  car park 

So why do people still fly-tip? 

Almost anywhere, 

but also right beside the Sainsbury's bins.

I asked at Sainsburys enquiry desk how frequently tipping happened.

Far more often now - was the reply - it's since people have had to pay to recycle.

I tried to explain that it was only building waste which was charged for, but really, that explanation needs to reach everyone, not only the person at Sainsburys enquiry desk. 

Because he was right. 

Purely by making one category of waste chargeable it has some-how sent a message that recycling centres now charge for anything. 

As a result, many more people are resorting to fly-tipping. And clearing up the fly-tipping costs a lot of Council money that could be better used. 

I wouldn't be surprised if it costs more than the income  made by charging for the building waste. 

An own goal, Devon County Council?

World warms before your eyes - scary

Today's Guardian brings a video showing how the world has grown steadily warmer 

global warming study - conclusive proof to climate sceptics

it's part of the paper's report of the most massive global warming study yet to be done - billions of records checked and cross-checked.

Report includes the reaction of Exeter University's leading climate system dynamics expert Peter Cox.

Not Scilly to recycle

We're back from a week with friends on the Isles of Scilly.

The stay was as wonderful as ever - but there's a spoiler. 

Apart from glass bottles there's NO recycling of waste. 

Eric Pickles would love it - everything just shoved into one bin. 

By the end of the week it felt like a desecration of the place you admire for its beauty and peacefulness.

It's high time recycling got started.

And I also mean the recycling of Labour ideals and achievement. 

I visited Harold Wilson's grave - saw how lovingly well it is tended.

His legacy contains bold moves and a greatness we need to remind ourselves about. 

• the Open University
• comprehensive schools
• a  welfare state where ordinary families benefitted from his Government's efforts to make British society more equal.- on a scale never seen since
• not being a yes-sir-USA-poodle for calamitous wars - he resisted huge pressure from the States to take Britain into Viet Nam
• his government repealed the restrictive laws on homosexuality, censorship and divorce

Harold Wilson inspired everyone with his 1963 conference speech about Britain forging ahead with the 'white heat of technology'. 
We now need to use the 'heat of green technology' to grow strong in the 21st century.
The Labour Party pushes for this progressive future.
The Condems don't.

Tories fail green-o-meter test

Check this link - see the truth about the Tories
greenometer-interactive-greenest-government?
And the Lib Dems can't counter-act the failure.

Not surprised.
Increasingly infuriated.
We can't afford a Government that sees little 'value' in the environment, biodiversity, nature, wildlife.

We don't want a Government that shows no grasp of the urgency of the biggest issue our planet has ever faced - that one of the species upon it is doing it and every other species massive harm.

Sustrans message gets great response

Ben, Hannah, Sue and I spent a hectic time yesterday at Exeter Uni's main campus. Our Sustrans stall was in the sports hall, though to us Sustrans is about transport rather than sports cycling.
So we split up and took turns covering the rest of the Freshers Day stalls.
As ever, masses of students with ever-growing armfulls/bag-fulls of literature.

And so many of them said "Yes!" and took our cycling leaflets.
Exeter is such a cycling friendly City, it's actually quicker and easier to get to campus by bike than by car.

Can't praise this company enough.
Seddon Group painters along with Danielle, their Public Relations manager, spent all last Friday and some of Saturday finishing off the painting of the children's play area in  Pinhoe's Arena Park.
They gave their time and materials free.

Exeter City Council's parks maintenance team quickly strimmed away the grass growing at the bottom of the railings and we were off! Residents, volunteers and Seddon's painters enjoying the great sunshine weather as we worked hard.
Thanks also to Jean, the volunteer from Exeter Parks Watch who most often gets stuck in with the residents on local projects.
The children's play area is far more attractive now. There's new play equipment. And with the plans in the pipeline there's more to come.