Just when you thought all Party Political Broadcasts were the same

 - see the new Green Party Broadcast.

” Morph or Wallace and Gromit meets serious green politics.”

And when you’ve watched it – Customise it and send it to a friend!

Lancashire County Council has rejected plans by American gas company Canatxx to store 1.2 million tonnes of gas under the Wyre countryside. The county council’s Development Control Committee  voted 13 to one to reject  the plans. Despite assurances from Canatxx UK that safety concerns had been addressed county planning officers said there had been no adequate risk assessment.

Green Party general election candidate for Lancaster & Fleetwood, Gina Dowding said ” This is the third time Canatxx has submitted plans and the third time they have been rejected. The compnay should really listen to the people of the area and stop bringing these ill conceived plans forward .”

Canatxx have said that they will appeal the decision.

We all receive scam mailing and most will immediately bin. The serious problem is that the small minority that do get sucked in are unlikely to make a complaint when they finally realise they have been scammed.
Scamnesty will be running from 1 February to 26 February where people are being ased people to take scam mailings they receive to Libraries Citizens Advice or Trading Standards so the extent and range of the mailings being used can be assessed.

The campaigns aim is to gather intelligence on the scams circulating. The more info they  get the greater the chance that the problems can be tackled, either by agencies in the UK or by partner organisations overseas.

Your library will be the nearest drop off point.

Full details of the national campaign can be seen @
www.oft.gov.uk/scamnesty

The Co-operative has launched Plan Bee, a campaign and 10-point plan to help save the bee. Worried about the disappearance of bee colonies in recent years the campaign aims to get research going on the causes of the losses and to get people involved in saving bees.

As part of the Campaign the Dukes Cinema is showing the film The Vanishing of Bees on Thursday 21st of Jan at 6.30pm

The Plan BEE website has suggestions on what people can do to help including:

North Lancashire Green Party Parlimentary Candidates Gina Dowding and Chris Coates met local Wyre farmer Ian Pye and  representaives of the National Farmers Union to discuss farming issues and the NFU’s “Why Farming Matters” Election Manifesto.

Keen to learn the view of local farmers, the Green Party candidates asked about the NFU’s views on how farming can provide renewable energy, the power of supermarkets and the future of the Common Agricultural Policy. Mr Pye, who hosted the meeting at Old Holly Farm near Garstang, said that the most useful think that could be done to help farmers would be to reduce the ammount of paperwork that has to be done to qualify for enviromental schemes.

The Gina Dowding said after the meeting: “I fear there will be little discussion about farming in the run up to the next general election so I thank the NFU for this opportunity. Farming needs to be high on the agenda.”

For further info on thise story see the NFU Website

Lancaster District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) welcomed the famous peace activist Bruce Kent at the Friends Meeting House on Thursday 3rd December for a talk entitled “Abolishing War in the 21st Century”.  Bruce is the honorary Vice-President of CND and has been campaigning against nuclear weapons for the last 5 decades.  His audience were inspired by his energy and optimism for the future. 

Gina Dowding, the Green Party parlimentary candidate for Lancaster & Fleetwood, said after chatting to Bruce Kent at the end of the meeting. ” I agree with much of what Bruce said – particularly the waste of money on the replacement of the Trident Nuclear submarines – they really are expensive white elephants .”

More than 60 people attended the event, including the Lancaster and Fleetwood Green Party parliamentary candidate Gina Dowding, who expressed her support for CND’s campaign against nuclear weapons. The evening was a great success, with an enthusiastic audience participating in the question-and-answer session following the talk.  Lancaster District CND is now looking forward to the 2010 General Election with the intent of challenging other parliamentary candidates during hustings on whether they oppose Trident replacement.

Betting website Paddy Power now has Green Party leader Caroline Lucas as 5/4 favourite to win the Brighton Pavillion seat at the general Election Next year. The website that allows punter to place bets on the outcome of all seats at the election also has Lancaster & Fleetwood Candidate Gina Dowding climbing into third place at 20/1 way ahead of  the Libdems who are trailing as 100/1 outsiders.

Green County Councillor Chris Coates has called for ‘Green Jobs’ to be a priority for Lancashire. The call came as North Lancashire Green Party launched a report on what a Green New Deal for the County could look like.

The report includes suggestions for a County wide Green Skills Network, help to improve energy efficiency in the areas housing stock and help for those in fuel poverty as well as measures to support local business.

The local report is based on the national document published last year by the New Economic Foundation.

The Action Group is urging supporters of a Fleetwood Town Council to attend their next meeting on February 10. where they will be discussing the next steps after what they feel has been an undemoctratic council vote. The meeting will take place at the Senior Citizens Hall in Warrenhurst Road starting at 7pm.

For the full story see the Fleetwood Today Website.

There is an e-petition calling for the train operators to provide an integrated system for the carriage of bicycles and ensure there is adequate capacity available. To add you name go to: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/bikes-on-trains/