Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Friends of the Earth Scotland's supporter magazine. Focus on access to environmental justice.
Citation preview
Friends of the Earth Scotland’s supporters’ magazineIssue 57 Autumn / Winter 2011
Clean up at Real Foods with free delivery on any web order
over £10
free delivery on Real Foods with
over £10any web order free delivery on Real Foods with
Clean up at
1
Contents
What on Earth 57
Friends of the Earth Scotland (FoES) is:
• Scotland’s leading environmental
campaigning organisation
• An independent Scottish charity
with a network of thousands of
supporters and active local groups
across Scotland
• Part of the largest grassroots
environmental network in the world,
uniting over 2 million supporters,
77 national member groups, and
some 5,000 local activist groups –
covering every continent.
Our vision is of a world where everyone
can enjoy a healthy environment and a
fair share of the earth’s resources.
Friends of the Earth Scotland is an
independent Scottish charity SC003442.
What on Earth is published by and
copyrighted to:
Friends of the Earth Scotland5 Rose Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PR
T: 0131 243 2700
W: www.foe-scotland.org.uk
Editors: Davina Shiell and Per Fischer
Picture Editor: Per Fischer
Design: www.triggerpress.co.uk
Advertising: Sheila Duffy
Tel: 0131 243 2700
Cover Photo: Campaigners dressed as
oil-addicted bankers protest at the RBS
AGM 2011.
Photo: Richard Scott/MAVERICK
The views expressed in What on Earth
are not necessarily those of Friends of
the Earth Scotland. FoES accepts no
liability for errors, omissions or incorrect
data in advertisements.
Printed on Revive pure white silk 100%
recycled paper
RE-USE AND SPREAD THE WORD
When you have finished with this
magazine, save it or pass it on to friends,
a doctor’s surgery, school, student union,
library or café. As a last resort recycle it.
2 View from the StreetStan Blackley's first column for What on Earth since taking over as Chief Executive, on his hopes for reviving the organisation's grassroots.
3 Local Groups and ActivismWe feature two of our star activists, and offer help on how to get a local group up and running.
4 PoliticsWe've been asking five new members of the Scottish Parliament about their awareness of green issues. Learn how each of them became environmentally aware.
6 CampaignsIn recent months, we’ve been to Spain and Hungary, and, closer to home, dressed up as oily bankers. We also have news about our Young Friends of the Earth group.
8 Focus: Access to Environmental JusticeWe take an in-depth look at our Access to Environmental Justice campaign, and how the issues affect ordinary people. We also visit six communities to hear how they are fighting for environmental justice.
15 1000 HutsIntroducing Reforesting Scotland's newcampaign to promote ‘hutting culture’ in Scotland.
16 Film Reviews and Your SupportFor this issue, we've gone to the cinema to review two new environmentally themed films. We have also news about this year's prize draw and a fundraising dinner.
2
Welcome to our autumn/winter issue of
What on Earth, where we are taking a
deeper look at environmental justice and
what it means to local people around
Scotland.
Friends of the Earth Scotland’s Access to
Environmental Justice campaign has been
running for a while now, and the issues
around it are important but sometimes
difficult to grasp.
On pages 8 to 13 you can read an
overview of what the campaign is about,
and many examples of how local
campaigners are fighting for their
environmental rights in their local areas.
If you are reading this magazine and you
are not a member of Friends of the Earth
Scotland, please join us. We are
Scotland’s leading independent
environmental campaigning organisation.
Our work is funded by people like you and
you can make a difference with as little as
£2 a month.
www.foe-scotland.org.uk/join
With best wishes,
Per Fischer, [email protected]
This is my first piece for What on Earth as
the new Chief Executive of Friends of the
Earth Scotland. It is a great privilege for
me to join an organisation that I’ve
personally supported for many years, and
to be able to work alongside some of
Scotland’s most impressive and effective
environmental campaigners.
It is my hope that in the coming months
and years we will be able to reinvigorate
our organisation’s grassroots approach to
campaigning, by building our local group
and member networks, engaging new
activists and supporters, and working in
partnership with those communities and
organisations throughout Scotland with
whom we have a shared vision of a safe,
just, low carbon Scotland.
Our campaigning work on environmental
justice is more important and timely than
ever before, as more and more Scottish
communities are being forced to challenge
poor planning decisions and inappropriate
developments, fight to protect their local
environment and put themselves at
financial risk to gain access to the justice
that they deserve.
This edition of What on Earth contains a
number of articles about just a few of
these communities, who are challenging
new dirty power plants and motorway
schemes or who are fighting to protect
community assets and their quality of life.
Their stories are inspiring yet depressing
at the same time – it’s great that the
people of Scotland are willing to take
action when required, but it’s also
incredibly disappointing that they are
forced to take that action in the first place.
These communities are our natural allies
and we will continue to do everything we
can to support and assist them, and you
can help us to help them.
If you can, tell people you know about
their campaigns, spread the message
through your social networks, pass on this
magazine to someone else when you’re
finished with it, ask us for more free copies
and distribute them locally, take five
minutes for a cyberaction through our
website, and consider signing up your
friends, colleagues and family as new
members of our organisation.
It is our strength in numbers that gives our
organisation its influence, and it is the
unrestricted income from membership
subscriptions that allows us to continue to
campaign for environmental justice and
support community campaigns such as
the ones featured in this magazine. Every
action and every member really does
count.
Happy reading.
Stan Blackley, Chief Executive
Wh
at
on
Ea
rth
Au
tum
n/W
inte
r 2
011
View from the Street
3
Local Groups and Activism
Campaigning groups are made up of
ordinary people who want to make their
area greener and fairer. It’s a way of
helping your town, city or village to connect
to the wider world too, taking part in
campaigns about issues that have an
international impact.
Groups do all sorts of activities: reclaiming
derelict land to make gardens, meeting with
local councillors and MSPs, speaking to the
media, putting on events and film
screenings, promoting cycling, supporting
renewable energy, tackling polluting
developments and raising money for
campaigns.
Being part of the Friends of the Earth
Scotland network means you’re acting in
solidarity with partners from all over the
world. You also have access to experienced
campaigners, researchers and
communicators who can give you all you
need to make your point locally.
Local groups are open to all. Starting one is
easier than you think. We’ll help you get off
to a flying start with training, resources,
support and ideas.
Ana and Marcela have been
working on our summer outreach
project for over a year now.
They’ve planned and prepared the
programme, and then tirelessly
pitched up at festivals and chatted
to people about Friends of the
Earth Scotland campaigns.
Organising volunteers, travel and
materials takes a lot of work, and
Ana and Marcela have been a
huge help. They also need to be
up to speed about all of our
campaigns and be able to
communicate them in a relevant
way to the public.
Their work has been priceless in
getting our campaigns out and
about. We’ve made contact with
hundreds of new people who want
to support a low carbon future in
Scotland, or who care about
access to environmental justice.
We’ve also found lots of new
people who want to get involved
in our network for young adults –
Young Friends of the Earth
Scotland.
Thank you Ana and Marcela!
WHAT YOU CAN DODoes your area need a Friends of the
Earth Scotland group to kick-start some
green living? Now is the time to get in
touch and link up with other members.
There are people interested in starting
a group in Perth and on the Isle of
Skye, so call 0131 243 2700 to link up
with them, or others in your own area.
The Dumfries group recently held a film
screening to raise awareness about tar
sands in Alberta, Canada. Tar sands are a
form of oil found deep under the boreal
forest in Canada and other countries. The
extraction of tar sands causes even more
environmental damage and carbon
emissions than conventional oil extraction.
The event attracted a good crowd of people
who had an engaging discussion about how
we can reduce our energy use, and the
demand for environmentally destructive oil.
“It’s good to campaign on local issues, and great to be in a crowd of people who
feel the same way as you about it. It’s easier to do it in a crowd than it is to do it on
your own.” – Annie Shirra, Falkirk Group.
Campaigners in Inverness and Ross are
asking shops and businesses to close their
doors this winter to save energy, money
and CO2. The group received a grant from
the Scottish Government’s Climate
Challenge Fund and have employed a
member of staff to run workshops, give out
information, and keep their buildings nice
and cosy.
4
PoliticsW
ha
t o
n E
art
hA
utu
mn
/Win
ter
20
11
The Holyrood election in May delivered a landslide SNP victory
and majority government. With 48 new politicians it also brought
about the largest turnaround of MSPs since Parliament convened
in 1999. Our Parliamentary Officer, Francis Stuart, has interviewed
5 of those tipped to make an impact over the next 5 years.
Q: What issue or event first made you environmentally aware?
Ruth Davidson: I started becoming aware of big, world-wide
environmental issues when I was at primary school, around
1988. I really remember drought and famine appeals in Africa
(Ethiopia and Mozambique specifically) and also the Exxon
Valdez disaster. These events made me realise that we couldn’t
take the world around us for granted, that we are active agents
in affecting things in our local area as well as on a global scale.
Alison Johnstone: From an early age my younger brothers and
I spent much of our lives playing outdoors, and I think this was
when my love of green spaces began, long before I ever heard
the term “urban environment”. Later on I became involved in
distance running, and the great outdoors has always continued
to be an integral part of my life.
Jenny Marra: It was waste. I wondered as a child how the earth
could eat up all these big bits of plastic and rubbish that we put
in the bin. I liked to save and re-use things.
Willie Rennie: Acid rain was a big concern when I was growing
up. This combined with the disasters in Bhopal India and
Chernobyl had an early effect on me.
Humza Yousaf: I can’t think of one single issue that made me
sit up and take notice of environmental issues. But it is
something that I’ve become acutely aware of through events -
particularly the 2010 floods in Pakistan when I fundraised and
did some work for the relief effort by helping to arrange for
essential provisions to be sent from Scotland. That was a time
when the extent of the challenge we face around the
environment and climate really hit me.
Q: What do you understand by the term environmental
justice and what do you think should be done about it in
Scotland?
Ruth Davidson: Environmental justice is about ensuring that
the dividends and burdens of what we do with our world are
shared equally - I think we need to see the Scottish
Government’s renewable energy plans actually benefit the
people of Scotland and not just the European companies that
are bidding to make the hardware.
Alison Johnstone: Without true environmental justice, it will
continue to be Scotland’s poorest communities that face the
worst environmental blights, like high traffic volumes, neglected
parks and new incinerators. Change will be needed across
government, from better planning laws to improved access to
the legal system.
Jenny Marra: That some people live in a worse environment
because of other people’s actions. The biggest environmental
justice issue facing Scotland is fuel poverty. We need urgent
5
Politics
action this autumn to make fuel prices fairer. The poorest pay
the most for fuel while people who can take out direct debits pay
the least. Fuel poverty could become a crisis this winter. Many
people are choosing between warm homes and food. This
shouldn’t be happening in Scotland in this day and age.
Willie Rennie: It’s the right of individuals and communities to
have their voice heard on local planning or developments that
may be affecting their environment or the wider environment.
We need to look at the ease and complexity of the current
arrangements so that people can receive justice without creating
a system that encourages those with a desire to only disrupt
without real justification.
Humza Yousaf: There is a real discrepancy between those
countries that contribute most to climate change and
environmental impact and those that bear the brunt of it. I think
that’s a situation that has to be addressed and should serve as a
real motivator for developed nations to take responsibility and
take action.
Q: What is the one environmental issue you would like to
see action on in the next session of Parliament?
Ruth Davidson: Retro-fitting social housing and government
buildings to save energy. This can cut energy usage, help with fuel
poverty and give a hand up to a struggling construction industry.
Alison Johnstone: If I could make one simple change today, it
would be to cut down on waste at source. Suppliers and
producers should be required to act as quickly as possible - far
too many goods are produced which cannot be recycled, reused
or composted.
Jenny Marra: I have two but they work together. Making
Scotland a zero waste country, and holding the government to
its promise to reduce carbon emissions by 42%.
Willie Rennie: Monitoring the delivery of the strict targets that
have been set for climate change and other environmental
issues. The Scottish Parliament needs to be active to ensure
these are met. As a liberal, environmental sustainability has
always been central to our philosophy with our social
conscience extending beyond those sharing our world today to
those who will share it tomorrow.
Humza Yousaf: I’m very proud of the commitment the Scottish
Government has taken to tackle emissions and hope that
everyone in Scotland will get behind that effort.
Left to right:
Ruth Davidson MSP, Glasgow,Scottish Conservative andUnionist Party.
Alison Johnstone MSP, Lothians,Scottish Green Party.
Jenny Marra MSP, North EastScotland, Scottish Labour.
Willie Rennie MSP, Mid Scotlandand Fife, Scottish LiberalDemocrats.
Humza Yousaf MSP, Glasgow,Scottish National Party.
6
Wh
at
on
Ea
rth
Au
tum
n/W
inte
r 2
011
WHAT YOU CAN DOIf you are aged 18-30 get involved with Young Friends of the
Earth Scotland by contacting Paul on
Find us on Facebook – Young Friends of the Earth Scotland
Follow us on Twitter – YFOES
Paul Daly is an intern in our campaigns team and a member of
the Young Friends of the Earth Europe steering group. He
travelled to Hungary with two other volunteers to attend the
Young Friends of the Earth Europe Summer camp.
We met up with 50 other participants from 15 countries to share
experiences and campaign strategies to help build the network
in our own countries and across Europe.
The venue was fantastic. We had full use of a school and its
grounds as well as access to the town’s fortress, which was a
stunning venue for seminars, presentations and watching
thunderstorms. The local Mayor attended most days as the
village Ónod had recently suffered from dramatic flooding which
they attribute to climate change.
We are now ready to launch the first Young Friends of the Earth
Scotland campaign. We will be working with Push Europe to
encourage the European Union to strengthen its carbon
emission reduction target to at least 30% by 2020 and keep
global warming below 2 degrees.
Our Parliamentary Officer, Francis Stuart, reports on his recent
visits to Madrid and Budapest to share our experiences of
campaigning for the Climate Change (Scotland) Act with Friends
of the Earth groups that are pushing for similar laws in their own
countries.
Although the groups in Spain and Hungary have been running
excellent campaigns, they have their work cut out. The expected
election in Spain of the centre-right party next year makes a
climate law look less likely. In a country with 20% unemployment
and people camping in the streets protesting against the political
system, it is also unsurprising that climate change isn’t the
public’s most pressing concern. Friends of the Earth Hungary
almost achieved success last year but came up against a strong
big business lobby that at the last hurdle crushed a law
promising 40% reductions by 2020.
This made me reflect on why we were successful in Scotland.
I think there were four main factors to our success:
• we worked effectively through the Stop Climate Chaos
Scotland coalition
• we used grassroots activism to ensure MSPs were lobbied by
their constituents
• we had a bit of political luck with a minority government
• and perhaps most importantly of all, we captured the public’s
imagination in the run up to the Copenhagen climate talks.
So what are the lessons for environmental campaigning in the
countries we visited? Based on the need for capturing public
opinion, Spain could probably have significant success
campaigning for green jobs and investment – “a green new
deal.” Hungary, where 80% of the population lives in fuel
poverty, could have success campaigning for energy fair shares
or an energy guarantee. Where does that take them in terms of
getting a Climate Law? Not very far I’m afraid.
The good news is that Friends of the Earth Finland, who we
visited back in February, have managed to get a climate law
proposal into the programme for government following the
recent election.
Campaigns
Parliamentary OfficerFrancis Stuart speakingat the event in Spain.
During our summer outreach programme
we made lots of new contacts amongst
people who are willing to fight dirty
developments in their local area and
advocate clean energy. In the next stages
of the campaign, we’ll be running
community training sessions providing
straight-forward information about energy
supply, and are hoping to attend
community council meetings in areas with
high renewables potential.
7
Campaigns
Hard on the back of the widespread
criticism of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s
sponsorship of Climate Week that we
generated earlier this year, we were back
on to the tar sand-financing bank’s case at
their Annual General Meeting in April.
Dressed as bankers addicted to oil to
symbolise the problem banks like RBS
have in weaning themselves off financing
the fossil fuel industry, we headed down to
RBS’s Gogarburn headquarters to hand
out flyers to shareholders explaining what
their money is really being spent on.
We were joined by activists from a
coalition of environment and development
groups, as well as representatives of the
Canadian First Nations communities who
are directly suffering from the effects of
the tar sands industry.
While we courted the media outside, inside
the RBS Board faced the anger and
emotion of our Canadian friends Jasmine
Thomas, Melina Laboucan-Massimo and
Clayton Thomas-Muller, who attended the
meeting officially as proxy shareholders.
It’s no wonder they were angry. Figures
published in April show that RBS has
raised £5.6bn for companies operating in
the Canadian tar sands industry since it
was bailed out by taxpayers money in
2008.
That’s £5.6bn into what is described as
the most destructive industrial project on
Earth, money that could have gone
towards projects that the proposed Green
Investment Bank will support to create the
transition to a vitally needed low carbon
economy.
The good news is that as a result of all
this activity, an RBS Board member and
sustainability staff met with Jasmine,
Melina and Clayton immediately after the
AGM. They emphasised that they were
keen to learn more about why extracting
oil from tar sands is a bad idea, and
develop policies on the matter.
This is of course welcome, but the bank
must pick up the pace and start treating
the issues we are highlighting more
seriously. With human rights and the
environment at stake, there is no time for
dawdling.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
If you would like to support us by
standing up for clean energy
developments in your local area,
contact Hannah Kitchen on
0131 243 2700 or email
WHAT YOU CAN DOEmail business secretary Vince Cable
now to demand that he ensures the
activities of the bailed out banks don’t
undermine the objectives of the
Green Investment Bank.
http://bit.ly/rbsaction
8
Campaign focus: Access to Environmental JusticeW
ha
t o
n E
art
hA
utu
mn
/Win
ter
20
11
Campaigner Mary Church explains our Access to
Environmental Justice campaign.
Decisions are made by public authorities every day that impact
on individuals, communities and our environment. It might be the
decision to approve a planning application for a new road or a
bridge, or to grant a licence for toxic waste disposal.
If such decisions are poorly made, they can have a serious
impact on our environment and on our human rights. The
environment can’t take a public authority or company to court, so
it’s up to local people or organisations such as Friends of the
Earth Scotland to take action and stand up for our right to a
healthy environment.
Environmental RightsThe good news is that there is an international treaty – the
Aarhus Convention – that enshrines the right of people not only
to be informed about and involved in decision-making that
impacts on their environment, but also to have access to the
courts if they suspect a poor decision has been made, or an
environmental law has been broken.
The right for individuals and communities to be informed about
and listened to in planning decisions is particularly important, as
this helps to shift the balance of power away from well-resourced
and experienced developers, towards the communities who are
affected by these decisions. In the context of climate change,
affected communities can mean all of us when it comes to dirty
developments like new coal fired power stations.
Individuals, communities and non governmental organisations
(NGOs) often feel that they haven’t been properly engaged in
decision-making, and this is where the right to access justice
comes in. If people have easy, affordable access to the courts to
challenge decisions that harm the environment and human
rights, then there is an opportunity for such decisions to be
overturned.
Unfortunately, we are failing in this respect in Scotland. We have
freedom of information legislation, and planning regulations that
demand community consultation and strategic environmental
assessments of developments, but we do not have broad and
affordable access to the courts.
Barriers to accessing justiceAll kinds of barriers stand in the way for people, communities
and NGOs who want to challenge poor decision-making by
public authorities. For example, if you want to judicially review a
decision, you have to prove to the court that you can pay not
only your own legal costs if you lose, but also the other side’s.
These costs can amount to over £100,000, as in the ongoing
case challenging the development of a new coal fired power
station at Hunterston in Ayrshire.
You also have to convince the courts that you have ‘standing’,
the right to have your case heard. In Scotland we have a
particular restrictive test of ‘title and interest’ that means even
apparently clear-cut cases can fail on this point. For example,
the court ruled that Mary Forbes, whose home is under threat
from Donald Trump’s golf course development in Aberdeenshire,
did not have standing to seek review of the decision to grant him
planning permission.
The odds are so stacked against the ordinary citizen who wants
to challenge an environmentally damaging decision or act, that
going to court to defend a healthy and clean environment has
become a luxury that effectively only the very time and money
rich can afford.
The odds are so stacked
against the ordinary citizen
who wants to challenge an
environmentally damaging
decision or act, that going to
court to defend a healthy and
clean environment has become
a luxury that effectively only
the very time and money rich
can afford.
What needs to changeOur Access to Environmental Justice campaign is calling on the
Scottish Government to make it easier for individuals,
communities and NGOs to challenge poor decisions by
introducing changes to ensure that:
• the process of challenging breaches of environmental law or poor
decision-making is free or inexpensive, so that people and
communities are not put off taking action by the threat of huge costs
• people, communities and NGOs are able to take cases to court if
they demonstrate ‘sufficient interest’ in the issue, or are acting in
the collective interest of people and the environment
• the merit or substance of decisions can be examined by the
courts, not just whether due process has been followed
• public legal education is improved, and the court system is made
more user-friendly so that people learn to recognise problems
and injustices that may have a potential legal solution.
Campaign to dateSince handing in our campaign petition – with over a thousand
signatures – to the Scottish Parliament last year, the Public
Petitions Committee has taken up the issues we raised with the
Scottish Government. The Committee was not content with the
Scottish Government’s response, which denied that Scotland is in
breach of the Aarhus Convention. The Committee recommended
that the new Parliament takes up the case after summer recess,
and we hope that they will initiate an inquiry into the matter.
In June we held an event to launch a new report ‘Tipping the
Scales’ on complying with the Aarhus Convention. The event was
well attended by legal stakeholders, MSPs and people directly
affected by environmental injustice, including many of those
whose case studies are featured in this issue of What on Earth.
We also worked with the Environmental Law Centre Scotland to
produce what’s known as an ‘intervention’ in a high profile case
at the UK Supreme Court, which could have significant
implications for access to justice in the Scottish courts as it deals
directly with issues around standing.
Technical as it sounds, this is all pretty groundbreaking. There’s
a good chance that this test case will have an impact on current
cases in Scotland, such as the Hunterston judicial review.
Meanwhile, we are continuing to put pressure on the Scottish
Government to ensure that the broader moves they are planning
to reform our justice system take account of the distinct
problems and needs relating to environmental justice.
With many thanks to the The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for
funding this campaign.
9
Campaign focus: Access to Environmental Justice
WHAT YOU CAN DODownload our report at
www.foe-scotland.org.uk/tippingthescales to find out more
about the intervention, and the barriers to justice. Ask the
Justice Secretary to act now, at http://tinyurl.com/a2ejaction
Launch event for the"Tipping the Scales"
report at Holyrood Hotel.
10
Campaign focus: Access to Environmental JusticeW
ha
t o
n E
art
hA
utu
mn
/Win
ter
20
11
In 2005 committed environmentalists in St Andrews became
concerned that natural areas in and around St Andrews were at
risk when they saw that local authority development plans
proposed building 1000 new homes. They were concerned that
the new developments would destroy the outstanding natural
beauty of St Andrews.
Members of the St Andrews Preservation Trust, a charity
established in 1937 to secure and safeguard the amenities and
historic character of St Andrews, have been actively
campaigning for the redrafting of the development plan over the
last few years. The plans are currently subject to an
examination, but campaigners are concerned that there may not
CASE STUDIES
Campaigns intern Emilia Hannah speaks to six communities
that are fighting for environmental justice on their doorsteps.
These cases highlight the importance of Scotland complying
with the Aarhus Convention so that communities and individuals
have easy access to inexpensive review procedures to
challenge flawed decision-making that impacts on our
environment.
For over three years, Coal Action Scotland has been supporting
South Lanarkshire communities in the Douglas Valley in their
efforts to stop new open cast coal mine developments by
Scottish Coal, and to seek justice for the decades of ill health
and negative impact that they have experienced because of
Scottish Coal's operations. They are also working with other
community groups to oppose the development of a new coal
fired power station at Hunterson in Ayrshire.
Coal Action Scotland aims to directly challenge the use of coal as
an energy source because of its devastating environmental
impacts both locally and globally, and to work in solidarity with
communities experiencing the social injustice of high emissions
industries and the planning process. They have linked up coal-
mining communities in South Lanarkshire, Midlothian and North
Ayrshire with those in Colombia, Appalachia (USA) and Indonesia.
The group’s latest campaign is to oppose Scottish Coal's plan to
mine four million tonnes of coal from a site at Glentaggart East,
just 1.5km south of Douglas, and close to both Douglas and
Glespin Primary Schools. Most of the Glentaggart East site is
blanket bog – protected habitat under EU law, a vastly important
carbon sink, and home to an abundance of bird life. For each
year of operation at Glentaggart East, the equivalent of over 7%
of Scotland's total CO2 emissions will be emitted.
The land at Glentaggart East is wholly owned by Douglas and
Angus Estates, the estate of local land owner Lord Home. As
was the case with Mainshill and other open casts in the area,
Lord Home stands to make around £7m from this application
through leasing the land to Scottish Coal, totally against the
wishes of the community.
WHAT YOU CAN DOObject to the application to mine coal at Glentaggart East
on Coal Action Scotland’s website
www.coalactionscotland.org.uk
Nestled between two streets in Glasgow’s Maryhill lies North
Kelvin Meadow. It boasts wild woodland, a large grassy space,
community composting facilities, and a vegetable garden
bursting with life. Over the years, North Kelvin Meadow has
come under continual threat, and it is only thanks to the
enthusiastic work of local volunteers that it is flourishing today.
Only a few years ago, the site was a degenerated wasteland,
used as an illegal dumping ground, with rubbish, old sofas, and
broken televisions strewn across the land. In 2008, local
residents learned that Glasgow City Council planned to sell off
the land to a developer who wanted to erect 115 flats on the
site.
Residents wanted to save the land and turn it into a green space
that the community could enjoy. So, in 2008 the Save North
Kelvin Meadow Campaign was born, gaining the support of an
overwhelming 96% of local residents.
Rather than waiting for the fate of the land to be determined
through a lengthy planning process, volunteers got stuck in
straight away. In just three years, they have cleared the land of
rubbish, put in 20 raised beds to grow vegetables enjoyed by
over 20 families, and hosted outdoor events.
But the council still wants to sell the land, and a developer can
put in an application to build the block of flats at any time. The
campaign has shown resilience in the face of being served with
eviction orders by the council, and two members being taken to
court for attempting to build raised beds.
Douglas Peacock, chairman of the Save North Kelvin Meadow
Campaign says that the council is in breach of its own planning
policy. However, although Peacock believes there may be
grounds for taking the council to court if it eventually approves
the development, he feels sure that the high costs of going to
court would make this impossible in practice.
11
Campaign focus: Access to Environmental Justice
CASE STUDIES
be a public hearing and their views will not be taken into
account.
The group believes that they have a good case to take Fife
Council to Court but they cannot afford the costs they would face
if they lost, and would put other key activities of the Trust at risk.
However, one member, Penny Uprichard, felt so outraged by the
proposals that she lodged a legal challenge on her own. She
went to court relying on her own funds as well as raising over
£40,000 through a public appeal. Her case was heard in court in
January 2010, but dismissed six months later by Judge Lord
Uist. Penny lodged an appeal, which was heard by three judges
in July 2011. If she loses the appeal, she will have to pay the
costs of the original case and the appeal, but the total amount
for which she would be liable in that case will not be known until
after the decision.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Read the outcome of Penny Uprichard’s first court case at
http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/opinions/2010CSOH105.html
Find out more about the St Andrews Preservation Trust at
http://www.sapt.demon.co.uk/
WHAT YOU CAN DOFind out more and get involved if you live locally:
http://northkelvinmeadow.com/
www.facebook.com/northkelvinmeadow
Dear Green Place. Glaswegians enjoying the fruits of their labour.
12
Campaign focus: Access to Environmental JusticeW
ha
t o
n E
art
hA
utu
mn
/Win
ter
20
11
Road Sense is a community-led organisation based in the north
east of Scotland that has spent the last six years campaigning
against the construction of the proposed Aberdeen Bypass
(Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route).
Road Sense campaigners claim that the proposed 46 km road is
not a sustainable solution to the transport and traffic problems of
the North East, that it will increase carbon emissions and
pollution levels, and that it will cause severe irreversible damage
to protected landscapes and species if built. They claim that the
projected £400m cost is unrealistic, and that the money should
be spent on improving public transport services instead.
Campaigners have consistently challenged the proposal through a
flawed consultation process, a Public Local Inquiry where the scope
and remit considered were limited by Scottish Ministers, and more
recently through a judicial review case in the Court of Session.
William Walton, Road Sense chair, says: “Taking our case to court
was no small matter. The costs of going to court can run to
hundreds of thousands of pounds, and if you don’t have the funds
you are simply stuck. Complainants have to cover their own costs,
and if they lose, they are faced with paying the other side’s costs
too. This acts as a huge disincentive for people to challenge poor
process or decision-making, or environmental injustices.”
Even with a Protective Expenses Order of £40,000 in place,
which limits William Walton and Road Sense’s liability for costs,
their exposure lies in the region of £80,000 – £100,000, a sum
that many individuals or organisations could not afford.
At the time of going to press, the Road Sense campaigners had
just lost their latest legal challenge against the new road.
However, they are seeking legal opinion and are investigating a
further challenge in the Supreme Court.
WHAT YOU CAN DOFind out more about Road Sense at www.road-sense.org
CASE STUDIES
Forth Energy has plans to build four biomass plants in
Grangemouth, Leith, Rosyth and Dundee, which will burn wood
residue to convert it into electrical energy. If approved, the plants
will run counter to the Scottish Government’s efforts to mitigate
climate change, as well as putting the health of local people
living near the plants at risk. The biomass plants would rely
predominantly on virgin wood imported from overseas.
If approved, the Forth Energy plant proposed for Grangemouth
would be built in an area which has already been declared to
have excessive amounts of pollution by European standards.
Grangemouth is home to one of the largest oil refineries in
Europe, and residents are concerned that the pollution caused by
the combustion of biomass will only worsen their quality of life.
Grangemouth Community Council has been campaigning since
2010 to make sure that the plant does not get built.
Walter Inglis, Community Council Convenor, explains, “Our sole
aim has been to ensure that our local community environment is
not further degraded in pursuit of a perceived national economic
gain. Grangemouth and its residents have over many decades
paid a high price in environmental terms to sustain national
economic growth associated with the oil and chemical industries.”
The hard work of the Community Council led to over 900 letters
of objection being submitted to the Scottish Government, and
was instrumental in Falkirk Council’s planning committee
opposing the proposals.
13
Campaign focus: Access to Environmental Justice
One of the most notorious and well-known cases of
environmental injustice in Scotland is that of business tycoon
and American celebrity Donald Trump’s golf course. In 2006,
Trump bought up 1400 acres of land in the Menie Estate,
Aberdeenshire, with the aim of turning the land into the Trump
International Golf Links – a £750m development with two golf
courses, a 450-room hotel, 950 holiday apartments and 500
residential homes. Work began on the course in 2010.
From the outset, the development has been embroiled with
controversy. The golf course threatens a protected sand dune
system, and impinges on the land and livelihoods of local
residents. Residents and environmentalists set up the ‘Tripping
up Trump’ campaign to oppose the development.
Planning permission for the development was originally refused
by the local planning subcommittee, but was approved following
a planning inquiry in November 2008 after Scottish Ministers
‘called in’ the decision. Controversially, the inquiry found that the
economic and social benefits of the golf resort outweighed the
environmental damage caused by its development.
In 2009, Donald Trump was given permission by Aberdeenshire
Council to apply for compulsory purchase orders to move people
out of their homes on the Menie Estate. These included four
family-owned properties, one of which is a former coastguard
station adjacent to the new course belonging to David and Moira
Milne.
Not only have the Milnes feared a threat of compulsory
purchase, but also, large banks of earth were built around their
house by the venture, so that their property was not visible from
the course. The banks have now been replaced by Sitka Spruce
and Scots Pine which were planted around the house. “We’re
pretty well hemmed in at the moment,” says David Milne.
Mary Forbes, another resident faced with compulsory purchase
of her property, wanted to challenge the decision to grant
planning permission for the course, but unbelievably, the court
ruled that she didn’t have a case. In Scotland, to take a case to
court, petitioners must demonstrate that they have ‘title and
interest’ to sue, but the judge found that Mrs Forbes had failed to
show that she was “affected in some identifiable way” by the
works. Mrs Forbes – a pensioner – has now been waiting for
months to hear whether she will be found liable for Trump’s and
the Council’s legal costs.
Local resident Mike Forbes came up with a plan to allow
members of the public to enter into joint ownership of a 1 acre
piece of land, known as ‘the bunker,’ making it practically
impossible for the land to be bought. “Within two weeks of
launching the bunker, about 5000 people owned a portion of it,”
explains Milne. “It essentially has put a hold on things. It is
possible that as a result of the bunker, Trump will not go ahead
with the plans for the hotel and housing.”
Indeed, Trump’s developments are currently on hold. Citing the
economic recession as the reason, Trump announced in June
that his golf course would not be open by next year.
CASE STUDIES
WHAT YOU CAN DOSupport the work of the Grangemouth Community Council
by calling or emailing your MSP or local representative to
talk to them about biomass today.
WHAT YOU CAN DOFor more information about local campaign efforts against
the developments, or to purchase a piece of the bunker,
visit Tripping up Trump at http://www.trippinguptrump.com/
You can also visit http://www.menielinks.com/
Find out about the 2011 film, ‘You’ve Been Trumped,’ at
http://www.youvebeentrumped.com/
14
Wh
at
on
Ea
rth
Au
tum
n/W
inte
r 2
011
Eco–building
Angus Calder is a project architect on an
innovative low energy eco-house now
nearing completion in West Edinburgh.
Our firm, Edinburgh’s Simpson & Brown
Architects, was commissioned to design
an eco-house in the grounds of an existing
Victorian villa in South West Edinburgh.
The house is compact, super-insulated
and airtight, incorporating a sensible mix
of renewables. Above all, it will be airy,
light and beautiful.
The client was from the outset very
committed to making the house deeply
sustainable. She also required the house
to support the possibility of future limited
mobility, which, in practical terms, involved
providing a certain amount of core
accommodation at street level, with other,
additional, spaces on the other levels.
The restricted site access and
considerations of build quality suggested
that a prefabricated build would be
advantageous. A lightweight, timber
based, prefabricated panel system was
chosen.
The overall strategy we adopted to ensure
energy efficiency was simple: first get the
building fabric itself right, thereby reducing
energy demand, and only then supply any
residual demand using low carbon sources.
Reducing demand for energy was vital.
The house was built to maximise natural
light and solar gain by orientating glazing
to the South and West, and it is compact
to reduce heat loss. The walls are very
heavily insulated (they are almost half a
metre thick) and, and the fabric is super
airtight.
This project has been a fantastic proof
that small does not necessarily mean
simple. The steeply sloping site in
particular has been a real challenge, with
the expected bedrock to which the house
was to be fastened proving elusive,
requiring a last minute rethink on the
foundations while the project was already
underway.
The performance of the house is to be
evaluated for up to two years after
occupation, to test the success of the
design strategies, and construction
methods used. Funding for this is being
sought under the Government
Technology Strategy Board’s ‘Building
Performance Evaluation’ scheme.
Thermal Mass
100mm unfired clay bricks were proposed
to form the rear wall (a load bearing
internal partition) in the main one-and-a-
half storey living space. This wall,
together with the tiled and screeded floor,
provides sufficient thermal mass to
smooth out internal temperature
fluctuations.
Airtightness
Ensuring a very high level of airtightness
required a ruthless focus on the detailed
design and specification at openings,
junctions, and penetrations.
Heating
The Mechanical Ventilation and Heat
Recovery (MVHR) system supplies the
minimal amount of space heating
necessary in the house. Estimated annual
space heating costs are £50 a year
(perhaps 1/6th of an average 2010
building regulations compliant dwelling).
Solar Photovoltaics (PV)
PV was chosen over Solar Thermal (hot
water) panels as a better match for a
single person household with very low,
and intermittent, hot water requirements.
The feed-in meter allows excess
electricity to be exported to the grid, as
well as quantifying payments due under
the Feed-in-Tariff scheme.
Surface Water
The planted roof helps to reduce and slow
the flow of surface water off the roof,
before it is stored in rainwater butts for
garden use.
Healthy Materials
Extensive use was made of
natural/sustainable materials (timber
frame, Scottish Larch cladding, recycled
glass insulation, low VOC paints etc). As
a consequence, the house will have
excellent indoor air quality.
Sustainability measures that were included:
15
Reforesting Scotland recently launched a
campaign to promote hutting culture in
Scotland. Their Director, Ninian Stuart,
explains the ethos behind it.
A Thousand Huts is a campaign centred
around the simple hut as a place, an
experience, an endeavour, an ideal for all
to enjoy. In contrast to many other
European countries, Scotland has a
modest historic tradition of hutting whilst
in Nordic nations hutting is well
established as a way of life.
Building huts with local timber can
strengthen community resilience and
revive skills that all rural communities
once took for granted.
In Scotland, hutting is predominantly
associated with a working class
movement that developed early in the
20th century when small holiday huts
began to be built on land close to
Scotland’s main industrial cities. The best
known site is at Carbeth in Stirlingshire.
Reforesting Scotland, with the support of
land rights expert Andy Wightman,
broadcaster Lesley Riddoch and others,
has launched the Thousand Huts
campaign to promote huts and hutting for
living, working and recreation in the
countryside. This will be achieved by
securing a change of culture, attitude and
reform of the law to enable more hut
building and usage in the countryside.
The campaign will focus on:
• raising awareness and publishing
research
• encouraging urban and rural
community, youth and cultural groups to
build and use more huts in the
countryside
• working with landowners to develop
woodland hutting communities or
retreats for people who don’t own land
• promoting good hut design and building
techniques
• lobbying for legal protection against
eviction for existing hutters
• campaigning for a change in planning
legislation to create a “hutting consent”
and a new building class of “hut” within
building regulations.
WHAT YOU CAN DOFor more information or to get involved visit ww.thousandhuts.org or email
[email protected] – Twitter @thousandhuts
Rachel Farey and her husband Robert
Chalmers are delighted with the hut that
they have rented in the Lothians. They
plan to share the accommodation with
friends and use it for rest, relaxation and
a place for Robert, an architect, to learn
more about off-grid technologies.
Rachel speaks enthusiastically about the
development of a hutting culture in
Scotland. “For a harassed family living in
a city tenement with no garden it could be
a lifeline, an ideal place to escape to for a
peaceful weekend listening to the birds
and the wind.”
Rachel and Robert have rented their hut
from a farmer who has several huts on
her land dating from before the war, when
people used to go there to get a breather
from the city. The hut has a bedroom, a
living room and a WC with water coming
from a butt and flushing into a septic tank.
They plan to introduce electricity with a
solar panel and perhaps a small wood
burner later. The tenants are responsible
for the upkeep of the huts and can
decorate them how they like inside.
Previous tenants left behind a propane
gas fridge and cooker.
Rachel hopes that the Thousand Huts
campaign will change government
attitudes to encourage them to make
provision for rural huts and open up
opportunities for landowners to provide
land.
Eco-building
You can now help support our work by donating your old CDs
and DVDs and games. Send them to us at our office then we
will forward them to Music Magpie who will give us a
donation for them.
Please see foe-scotland.org.uk/musicmagpie for more
information on what can and cannot be accepted.
Following on from last years successful collaboration with
Henderson’s vegetarian restaurant we are holding another
fundraising dinner in October 2011. For details and booking:
foe-scotland.org.uk/dinner
It’s that time of year again for our annual prize draw. Again,
we have some wonderful prizes including £150 worth of
vouchers for the online store Green People, solar charge
backpacks from Infinit and of course our first prize of a long
week end (or 4 day midweek break) at the beautiful
Cruenbeg Highland Holiday Cottages near Aviemore.
Ticket stubs must be returned to us by 1 December 2011 to
be included in the draw. If you don’t find a book of tickets in
this magazine and would like some please call 0131 243
2724 to get them sent to you. By buying or selling our prize
draw tickets you are ensuring that 100% of the money raised
will go directly toward our activities to promote a clean,
healthy environment for all.
foe-scotland.org.uk/prizedraw2011
At the end of July we held a craft fair in Edinburgh and
despite it being the most gloriously sunny day we had a
really good turn out. There were 25 different exhibitors with
crafts ranging form jewellery and beads, gourmet
marshmallows, scented candles and hand made cards to
name a few.
We are holding another craft fair in the same venue the Eric
Liddell Centre, Morningside Road, Edinburgh, on Saturday
12 November from 10:30 to 3:30. Come along for unique
Christmas gifts and have a tea or coffee with some delicious
home baking. foe-scotland.org.uk/craftfair
By Hannah Kitchen
This is a beautiful, kind, funny, hopeful and rousing film that left
the sellout audience amazed. ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ gently
listens to the residents’ histories – of what the dunes and the
coast have meant to them and their families, and the difficulties
they’ve experienced since the Trump development has started.
This film highlights why we’re campaigning for access to
environmental justice – so that people with money can’t just
tread over things that we hold dear without even being
challenged on it by those with less. If you get a chance to watch
the film, it comes highly recommended.
16
Film reviews Your supportW
ha
t o
n E
art
hA
utu
mn
/Win
ter
20
11
By Natascha Deininger
Countdown to Zero is unabashed about being an activist film,
calling for the immediate reduction and eventual abolition of
nuclear weapons, its release kick-started a summit on nuclear
proliferation and called for the mobilisation of a civic campaign
to reduce nuclear weapons to zero.
The film immediately confronts the viewer with the profound
reality of a nuclear threat – be it from terrorists acquiring a
nuclear weapon, or from a control room accident. The message
throughout is clear: unless the number of nuclear weapons is
zero, a nuclear accident or attack, however small its probability
might be, will occur.
The film, however, completely ignores the issue of nuclear
power. The film neither explicitly opposes or supports nuclear
power and wishes to remove its own cause from the nuclear
power dialogue completely.
TMTM
INTRODUCING A NEW SOURCE OF ENERGY FOR THE FUTURE.YOU.
OWN THE FUTURE OF UK ENERGY.
2011 RENEWABLESSHARE ISSUE
For a prospectus visit www.triodosrenewables.co.uk
TNISIERAHSNER1102
ORTEUSS
SELBAWWAE
CUDO
G NIC
G
NATNI
FO
WENORT
NEF
OSWCUDO
GRE
CRUOG NIC
OFYGGY
E CG
R O
FOHT
NEFUFEH
GREUTU
OFYGGYERU
R O
OYYO
.UO
FEHTNWO
or 24,500 homesf
and no,searor 15 yf
e built and managv’eW
ce behind the foreal fr
eserf inte oga sur
e and rising oil prices hahange ctClima
NEKUFOERUTUF
ee delivv’e w Since 2005,.or 24,500 homes
ee enough eltaenerw g and no
ge enerablweneed re built and manag
y coulgf enere outurce behind the f
Bu .yy.ge enerablwenet in res
e lve and rising oil prices ha
yy compangener
es us the UKmak
aised frThe capital r
ting annualised legtar
n oturee ragerva
psorparoF
.o join usou te yd lik’e W.yy.
enewned ry ot widels mos’es us the UK
ef sharom thousands oaised fr
f ns oturem rerong-tting annualised l
ooking ahead,7% and lf 5.n o
tisivsutcep
doirt.wwwpsorparoF
elaWdnadnalgnEnideretsigerdeussisitnemesitrevdasihT
oc.selbawenersotisivsutcep
naBlartneChctuDehtybdesirohtuasi)2103RBsefosesoprupehtrof)sodoirT(VNknaBsodoirTyb
laicnaniFehtybnoitalugerdetimilottcejbusdnak
stekraMdnasecivreSlaicnaniFehtfo12noitceS
doirTfotnetxeehttuobasliateD.ytirohtuAsecivreS
oswalehtrednudetaroprocni(sodoirT.0002tcA
s ecivreSlaicnaniFehtybnoitaluger’sod
,yy,tilibaildetimilhtiwsdnalrehteNehtfo
