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:

Councillor Coates, who leads the 12 strong Green group on the Council, has served on the City Council for the six years and was elected on to Lancashire County Council in 2005. Chris is a time-served carpenter who now works as a freelance project manager on community based construction projects.

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

The meeting saw proposals from Labour, Conservatives and Liberal-Democrats to rejig the cuts proposed by cabinet replacing cuts to the Dukes Theatre and Citizens Advice Bureau with cuts that are likely to fall on Summer playschemes and Youth Sports Activities.
Commenting after the meeting Cllr Jane Fletcher said “These cuts to areas of my portfolio are cuts to invaluable services that play a crucial role in supporting and improving both the physical and emotional health of people across the district. These services enrich the lives of some of the most vulnerable members of our communities, from disabled people, young people at risk from offending, looked after children, and those in rural areas. This work also helps to pull in well over a million pounds in external funding. Except for Green Party Councillors, political groups were eager to cut these services despite my repeated calls to reconsider in light of the serious implications of their actions”

The Green Party had proposed that the grant to the CAB’s be reinstated by a 10% reduction in management subscriptions to professional journals and organisations. This was rejected by other councillors who preferred to take the money from the Arts and Leisure development budget that funds the playschemes and sports activities.

To reinstate funding for Mayoral expenses, public  toilets, The Dome and the Dukes other councillors voted for cuts to playground maintenance, Community Cohesion and the councils Your District Matters Magazine. Cllr Coates added “Whilst some groups have ended up winners, this really has been a case of robbing Janet & John to pay Peter & Paul. Whatever way you look at it this was a bad day for the district.”

Commenting on the DfT announcement, Councillor John Whitelegg (Bulk Ward, Green Party) who gave evidence at the public inquiry into the bypass said:“It took DfT over 3 years of discussion with the County Council to get to this point when it normally takes 6 months.  DfT knows this bypass was not properly evaluated by County, is bad value for money, destructive and damaging to the green belt and the residents of Torrisholme.”

The Green Party and other opponents of the bypass have long argued for alternatives to road building and even Lancashire County Council’s own research shows that a 12% drop in traffic and associated congestion relief can be achieved by non roadbuilding solutions

Cllr Whitelegg went on to say “The decision to grant programme entry is simply DfT cowardice.  The DfT knows that it will not fund the £6 million for the park and ride at Jnct 34 and neither will County.  It knows that that the cost will escalate even more than the current high of £137 million and that County will have to pay 50% of any cost increase and it knows that County will eventually have to drop the scheme.  DfT would rather that County got the political flak for dropping it rather than ministers.”

Lancashire County Council has run a large scale project called “Travel Smart” to reduce car trips and increase the use of walking, cycling and public transport.  In Lancaster this produced a 12% reduction in car trips and a 16% increase in the sustainable forms of transport.  Details can be seen on: http://www.sustrans.org.uk/default.asp?sID=1173362006921

Demolition and construction work is expected to take a month.

Green Group leader Cllr Chris Coates said; “When we were told that it was unlikely that the Prison Service would be looking to put a Titan prison in Lancaster we thought that there was no need to debate the matter further. The proposal by the Ministry of Jutice to build three Titan Prisons in locations across the country has sparked contorversy and protest. Both at the whole concept of super large prisons and the impact they would have on any local community where one was built.

Green County Councillor Chris Coates a supporter of the Compassion in World Farming campaign against intensive farming welcomed the councils move “The County has followed the lead set by Lancaster City Council who introduced free-range eggs in the districts town hall catering earlier in the year. This is really good news especially if you are a chicken!”

In 2007, more than 573,558 eggs were used by Lancashire school kitchens and other venues supplied by commercial services. These include the Bowland Visitor Centre café at Beacon Fell Country Park, Turton Tower, Lancaster’s Adult College and County Hall itself. These will all now be serving only free-range eggs.

“The noise, pollution and increased road traffic danger on Bulk Road as a result of these traffic changes is unacceptable,” says Bulk Ward Green Councillor John Whitelegg, of the disruption to people’s lives and the road traffic danger. “It’s making the lives of local residents a misery and nothing has been done to help them cope with the mess. The dumping of a large road sign on the Skerton Bridge footpath adds insult to injury and is forcing Skerton residents to walk in the road to get round it . The road sign should be removed immediately.”
John has written to the County Council cabinet member responsible for highways and transport (Councillor Hanson) and asked her to instruct County Council staff to get rid of the footpath obstruction immediately and he has written to the Kingsway developers to ask them to compensate every household on Bulk Road and Gladstone Terrace with an ex gratia payment of £100 as a small offer of gratitude for putting up with such a mess.

If the Government does not award the contract to the Post Office, the network will go into further decline The NFSP estimates that the loss of POCA income and associated footfall will force 3,000 more post offices to close.

The NFSP has supplied subpostmasters across the UK with posters to display in their offices; postcards for customers to complete for return to local MPs; and guidance on how to contact their local MP and newspaper Editor.