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:

Green councillors have called on the County Council to prioritise gritting of pavements rather than just major roads.  John O’Gaunt ward Councillor Jude Towers said: “Many people, including me, have fallen over in the last few weeks and there seems virtually no gritting of pavements outside the town centre. Lots of old people have been rendered virtually housebound – especially in hilly areas such as Moorlands.”

Cllr John Whitelegg who has seen problems on steep roads and icy pavements in his area said: “Residents in Bulk Ward are happy to lend a hand themselves – however, the County Council has refused my request to re-fill the grit-bins on the Bath Mill estate. Surely, pedestrians should be a priority in this sort of weather.”

Green councillor Jon Barry has contacted County Council officers and asked for a change in policy so that pavements as well as roads are gritted. Green County councillors Sam Riches and Chris Coates will be formally asking for this change in policy at the February County Council meeting.

Following yet another round of ‘consultation’ on inpatient mental health services in Lancaster and Morecambe  Lancashire Care have issued a statement saying that it is there intention to develop the existing Oaklands Unit in Lancaster as a functional inpatient service and close Ridge Lea. It also says that  “…the Trust is no longer pursuing plans to develop a new inpatient unit on Royal Albert Fields and has formally notified North Lancashire PCT that this land is no longer required.”

County Cllr Chris Coates said ” This brings to an end months of speculation as to the Trusts intentions. It is still not clear to me exactly what is planned for the Ashton Road site or whether this will provide adequate mental health facilities for the district.”

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.

Green Cllr Chris Coates (pictured) said: “The NHS prefers Option 3, but concentrating more services on Ashton Road could make it easier for them to develop Royal Albert fields later on. I will push for Option 1, and I urge residents to do the same.”

For more info, see: http://www.lancashirecare.nhs.uk/consultations.php . The deadline for responses is 21 Sept.  A consultation event will take place at the Trust’s Lancaster HQ (Moor Lane Mill) on Monday 7th Sept, 6-8pm.

The Green Party held Lancaster Central and gained Lancaster East in the Elections for Lancashire County Council on June 4th – congratulations to Chris Coates and Sam Riches and their teams! There was also a Lancaster City Council by-election in our strongest Green ward (Castle) as Catriona Stamp stepped down after a 6 year stint on the Council – Melanie Forrest won it by a long way and joins the 11 other Greens on the City Council for the next 2 years – congratulations Melanie, and thanks to Catriona for all her work over the last few years.

Unfortunately we missed out on other hoped-for wins in Lancaster South East and Skerton – but Jane Fletcher and Ian Chamberlain both came within 300 votes of winning.

The Conservatives now have a big majority on the County Council (51 out of 84 seats), with Labour on 16, Lib Dems on 10, Independents 3, Greens 2, Idle Toad 1, BNP 1 (in Padiham & Burnley West). Overall turnout was 38%.
Results for Lancashire County elections can be viewed at http://www.lancashire.gov.uk

Councillors representing wards across the City have argued that:

• The development will damage retailing in Lancaster City centre, Morecambe and Carnforth.
• The job creation claims are not credible and do not take into account job loss amongst existing retail and service sectors of the local economy.
• It will generate significant amounts of extra traffic on an already congested highway system and the proposed highway measures do not deliver a fundamental solution and will add to the volume of rat-running and environmentally damaging traffic impacts on Derwent Rd and Ullswater Rd.
• The proposals will worsen air quality and add to the health problems of local residents in direct contravention of European and Uk requirements to improve air quality to protect health.
• It is contrary to planning policy at national level and to the Lancaster Local Plan
• The applications will result in a development that will generate considerable amounts of extra greenhouse gases and this is inconsistent with Planning Policy Supplement PPS1 “Planning and Climate Change” and the binding CO2 reductions in the Climate Change Bill currently completing its parliamentary progress. 

For the Full details of the objections to the scheme see;public-inquiry-canal-corridor-objection-march-2009.pdf

To nominate a street simply contact your ward councillor. The deadline for nominations is Friday February 9 2009
 

The scheme, put forward by developers Centros, would see the triangle of land bounded by Stonewell, Moor Lane, the Lancaster Canal, Alfred Street and St Leonards Gate become an alternative city centre shopping mall with potentially disastrous consequences for the existing centre.

Councillor Andrew Kay who objected to the proposals at the two day long local planning committee meeting said on hearing the latest news “Centros is bad for our local  economy as more shops would close in the city centre Now at last local people will be able to have a real voice – not just  our ‘3 mins of fame’ at the  planning committee.”

No date has yet been set for the inquiry, although it is likely to take place later in 2009.