Green = More Taxes (for Politicians)

I thought I'd blog an extension to this post as I've been mullling over this all day:
Richmond Transits: Blatant hypocrisy over parking spaces

A few simple ideas:
- Why don't we get reduced VAT (from 17.5 to 5%) on all loft conversions incorporating a planted roof?
- Or a tax credit when installing solar / geothermic central heating?
- Or get grants for all renovations achieving a set target for insulation?

Both would save significant carbon emissions and make buildings more sustainable.

To me, politicians are hypocritical about green issues: it's not that they don't care. They do. A lot: it allows to raise taxes, such as congestion charge, road pricing, etc etc...

The endless greenwhash (non-sensical talks incorporating green keywords) only harms everyone's acceptance of the need to act now whithout producing significant results. Greenwash kills Green Goodwill because the consumers intimately feel they're not getting a good deal.

Blatant hypocrisy over parking spaces

Richmond council announced they will be taxing parents for dropping off their kids at local schools (through ending the 15 mn free parking allowance in a CPZ).

They are blaming the lack of parking places in the borough, paving the way for more CPZ (Controlled Parking Zones): More CPZ to come? (Richmond and Twickenham Times, 25/4/08)

This is simply and utterly hypocrisy: just consider the fact the council limits parking places in new developments such as the scheme in Garden road or the the office block extended in Chalkers corner.

But then, to me it looks like Green has become a synonym for "more taxes": every time taxpayers are being hit, especially in Richmond, it's in the name of the Carbon Reduction God, just like the failed congestion charge is now disguised into a low emission zone, etc...

When I read Jeremy Clarkson saying the greenies are the new trotskysts I thought it was amusing and second degree. Actually, I don't anymore. While I am all for doing everything we can to not leave the planet in a better state that the baby boomers are now handing it over to Generation X, the issue with the "green issue" is polititians who have managed to remove all substance and tax more.

It's always the stick: you drive a large car? Market forces and fuel prices are not enough, here's an additional parking tax. But that applies mostly to motorists, not to Heathrow. Nor do we get carrots: on the continent you get tax breaks for installing solar powered heating, geothermal exchanger, etc... Here, we just get free rockwool. Just like the congestion charge: a plaster on a broken leg.


Tags: richmondtransits.blog, green, CPZ, gardenroad, congestioncharge, london, cars, transportation, UK, politics

Greengauge 21

Found this great web site today, much of it reflects my own positions on high-speed rails in the UK (or the lack thereof) and suggestions for a second high-speed train line (HS2):
Greengauge21 – driving the debate on high speed rail

This should also be of interest to Richmond residents:
The Impact of High Speed Rail on Heathrow Airport, March 2006 500Kb


Tags: richmondtransits.blog, rail, transportation, UK, environment, heathrow

T5 opens, shows BAA-Government hypocrisy and collusion

Annie Mole is penning this great Going Underground's Blog, and she's also local to Richmond. Her Friday post was about London Heathrow Terminal 5:
Heathrow Terminal 5 opened today - great.
For those thinking of an improved travel experience, bad luck: according to this Times article "the £4.3 billion project has its fair share of critics. A report in The
Observer claimed that passengers at nearly half of the terminal’s
departure gates will be bussed to planes, rather than being able to reach
them on foot by air bridges."


Going Underground points to this HACAN page everyone should read:BAA's broken promises to local residents.

Which brings me to my hero of the day: the BBC reports that Conservative MP for Putney Justine Greening criticised BAA for being 'too close' to Heathrow and mounted challenge. I've long said BAA, BA and the DoT were in bed, so I am quite happy to read this....

Extinguishers failing are common sense test

Read this yesterday:
Extinguishers banned as ‘fire risk’ - Times Online

In theit great wisdom, Bornemouth Fire brigade backed the removal of those safety devices in fear that residents would try tackle a blaze rather than flee.

I don't know whether to categorise this a case of health and safety gone bonkers or as a common sense failure. Surely the Firemen would better employ their free time training people tackling small incidents before they turn into major fires???


Tags: humour, UK, richmondtransits.blog, health&safety

Is Heathrow really out of capacity?

I keep reading articles comparing Heathrow with other European cities. Of course I believe that press is independent and not infuenced by



BA bosses urges bigger Heathrow...

But hang on, when I read this I get itchy skin:
BBC NEWS | UK | Heathrow creaks under heavy traffic

Of course they miss the point: no other European city has more 5 international airports! We have Heathrow (2 runways), Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and City (each with a single runway). So that's 6 runways in total, creating noise all around London! Ridiculous.

All the money spent in Heathrow would have been better used creating a new aiport in the middle of the Thames estuary with good train and road links rather than blighting all the airspace around London. But the government seem to think small. No high speed trains network for instance, small project only.

The problem of thinking small is that you end up with a bigger problem...


Tags: heathrow, airlines, transportation, rail, uk, politics, richmondtransits.blog

Restaurant Review: The Brown Dog, Barnes

We went back to the Brown Dog the other day, hoping to confirm it's the next Victoria (in Temple Sheen) as the latter had gone madly overpriced. We were disappointed by this gastropub, feeling the quality had slipped. Good, still good value but no longuer special in our opinion. Annie's not far away knows how to cook good meat blue (why is it a challenge to explain this to Eastern-European waitresses?)

The wine list is OK, just. Food is of European and French influences, perfectly recommendable. For instance I had cod with tapenade, very well done.

The Brown Dog

28 Cross Street
SW13 0AP Barnes
020 8392 2200


Tags: restaurant, review, barnes, european, richmondtransits.blog,

Restaurant Review: Annie's

There's strangely an un-explored niche in the Richmond dining area: good places for brunch.

What's in a brunch? To me, a good brunch is informal (need to be able to bring the kids), good value and offering a range of options, not just a cooked breakfast.

We went to Annie's this Mothering Sunday and liked it. We've been there before and liked it: the decoration is warm, the uncovered oak tables inviting but the chairs are cosy rather than too pub-like. They do offer a brunch menu: full English Breakfast, but also a few eggy versions (Benedict, Florentine, with smoked salmon, etc...), all between £8 and £9, kiddies go full English for a fiver (one is enough for two sub-7 fairies).

I really like it at night too: it's a classic brasseie menu, not too extensive and fresh. Dishes are between £10 and £15 -now I wonder why we don't come back more often? I guess the wine list could be more researched, but it would be adequate for most.


36 - 38 White Hart Lane, London, SW13 0PZ

020 8878 2020
www.anniesrestaurant.co.uk/barnes/

Tags: Barnes,, Mortlake,, restaurant,, review, richmondtransits.blog

Restaurant Review: Malmaison

Although I usually try to avoid restaurant situated in hotels, there are exceptions!

I went to Malmaison last week for a lunch and it's Smithfields best guarded secret: tucked away in a courtyard there's an address with delicate food, ideal for business lunches. Extensive wine card too. I had monkfish sliced very thinly, nice and firm over an tasty risotto. The oxcheek was apparently delicious too and the Savigny les Beaunes 2005 was a good choice.

Club Gascon is still my first choice in the neighboorhood, but as it's overbooked I am sure I'll come back to Malmaison!

Malmaison, Charterhouse Square, EC1M 6AH
020 7012 3700


http://www.malmaison.com


Toptable review: toptable.co.uk/venues/restaurants/?id=1957

Tags: London, restaurant, Barbican, Farringdon, French, richmondtransits.blog, review,

RTT on White Hart Lane level crossing

The Richmond and Twickenham Times has just published an article on the White Hart Lane level crossing.

Network Rail is "thinking about" a bridge (£25k, peanuts compared to the useless repaving of downtown Richmond) and Con. Trigg said "it's a difficult problem to solve". I think it;s quite simple in fact: here are the comments I've posted on their web site:

I've blogged numerous times on the North Sheen crossing which is equally dangerous: only last week a vehicule came stuck in the barrier which caused traffic mayhem all around.

The options offered are just lame: yes, a footbridge would be good, closing the crossing would just cripple the area.

I've travelled a lot in Europe and never saw level crossing in urban areas: are they more clever?

But the real solution would be to either bury the train line underground (expensive but the resulting free land overground could be part sold for profil and converted into commuters parking to incitate people to leave their car and travel green) or digging a road mini-tunnel.

Seriously.

Tags: level, crossing, railways, sheen, richmondtransits.blog, transportation, trains

Non-reparable household goodies aren't green

Following the comment of Mike on my previous post (Richmond Transits: Free marketing advice for Dualit), here's some more advice for them:

when doing brand extension (like the low-end SoftTouch), make sure the new products abide by the same brand values. After all, I always say that marketing is a promise, and if you market stuff that robs the customer perception your overall brand is devalued. Just go and ask Mercedes-Benz what they think about it after they had quality issues in the 80ies...

Also, if you're not green the consumers will lash back. It is my personal prediction that non reparable goods will be seen as non-green and won't be able to attract a premium. As the market will fork, consumers will buy Miele or chinese washing machines, little in between. So, sort out your after-sales and make your stuff fixable.

Manufacturers supply chain will also need some attention, and that's potentially a financial gain: as James puts it here, Green is a form of Lean

Childcare costs

Read this yesterday and it's certainly corroborated by personal experience:
BBC NEWS | UK | Charity says childcare costs soar.

I was listening yesterday to the Children's Minister yesterday and she said that most families can get some help.

I thought, oh really, some good news this morning?

And then she went on saying that funding is available to families earning less than £40k per couple.

Indeed she's quoted here:
Beverley Hughes, the children's minister at Westminster, said: "I recognise that childcare costs are a serious matter for some families in some areas.

Do they really believe their spin or is that sheer hypocrisy?

The AVERAGE national salary was little under £30k in 2005-2006, meaning it's way above in outer London, where the cost of childcare is higher.

BOTTOM LINE: this is a serious handicap for women who want to pursue a career and a strong contributor to gender inequality.


Tags: children, childcare, family, UK, politics, richmondtransits.blog

Monday Mayhem at North Sheen level crossing

The infamous North Sheen level crossing came once again to public attention on Monday morning. It was shut for most of the morning after someone drove into it (I don't have more details but it's what the PC guarding it told me). This meant major mayhem on the roads all around Richmond and Sheen....

All interested parties in starting a campaign group for its removal contact me via the blog.

It's about time indeed

In the Times this morning:
It’s time to make way for £50bn high-speed network, says rail chief - Times Online

It's about time indeed -20 years after the French- to rejuvenate the British Rail Network, take market share on air travel.

If the goverment is really serious about cutting CO2 emissions and provide a sustainable future for our children, it should invest in fast and affordable public transport infrastructures. Then the commuters will switch from planes and car, but they won't if there are no alternatives even if taxes keep rising.

Tags: transportation, railways, trains, UK, politics, richmondtransits.blog

Is Heatrow in the wrong place?

This article points out the dangers of an airport in densely populated area:
BBC NEWS | UK | Will a third runway add to the risk?

What the article conveniently forgets, is that as I've been saying before, Heathrow in badly situated.

The dominants winds in Europe tend to be Westerly, and with LHR directly on the West boundaries of London, flight paths are directly over the city -probably a unique sad fact in Europe?

This means that over 2 millions of poor souls live (and try to sleep) under the flight path. Very scenic, but isn't that an un-necessary risk? We're told that given the improvement on reliability, 2 engines are enough for long flights over large bodies of water. Preliminary reports after yesterday's accident point to a failure from both engines about 90 seconds before crash-landing, I guess around above Richmond. For myself, I prefer 4 engines 4 long haul as in the Virgin ad...

Bottom line: if the Government wasn't in bed with BAA (and BA), it would develop the other 3 airports which are using flight path over less densely populated areas -namely Stanstead, Luton and Gatwick.

Tags: heathrow, airport, BAA, DfT, transportation, environment, richmondtransits.blog

Glad I managed to land... (and Heathrow expansion lies)

Major panic at Heathrow after a BA 777 crash landed short of the South runway:
Heathrow drama after aircraft crash lands - Times Online

My flight managed to land just 10 mn after, and was not diverted....

We don't know why but it puts into equation the risk element of having a shorter third runway within a densely populated area.

By the way, I've tried to fill in the Government consultation on Heathrow expansion from the airport on the way out, but the "free access" kept cutting off half way -infuriating.
The consultation document is biased for many reasons:

1. The economic impact is not proven
2. It does not present other alternatives such as developping a high-speed train network to relieve the airport from domestic flights
3. It does not say why, out the 5 London airports, Heathrow has to get a 3rd runway. After all, Gatwick could too, Stanstead and Luton could get a second one -but it might be a bit tight to expand City aiport....
4. The pollution takes into account a large zone around Heathrow (otherwise they would not meet EC criteria) and does not take into account the fact that air travel pollution is not well measured.
5. We can't trust the government as it's in bed with BAA and BA, after all they kept the expansion plans quiet until T5 was built despite T5 planning permission was granted on the condition to keep aircrafts movements to 480,000 (the expansion would bring this number to over 700,000!!!).

Do also read those 20 airport questions for Ruth Kelly from the 2Mgroup.

ACT NOW!

Check the Richmond Borough guidelines on how to fill in the consultation document (here), Sign the petition to oppose Heathrow expansion (tips on how to do this here), participate to the mass rally on Feb 25th...

Links:
http://www.2mgroup.org.uk/
http://www.hacan.org.uk/
http://www.richmond.gov.uk/home/environment/pollution/noise_pollution/aircraft_noise.htm
http://www.stopheathrowexpansion.com/


Tags: heathrow, airport, BAA,, DfT, transportation, environment, richmondtransits.blog

Better State Secondary Education in SW14 Petition

Another petition, this time for a new secondary school in Richmond. Quite strange indeed that the area is well deserved with primary school but not with secondary education:

Better State Secondary Education in SW14 Petition : [ powered by iPetitions.com ]


Tags: sheen, school, education, richmondtransits.blog, children, childcare

Save Barn Elms Playing Fields - Say No To Sale

In its great wisdom, Richmond council is planning to sell up to 5.5 acres of the Barn Elm playing fields and has put a tender out to private health groups.

Read more on BBC - Action Network - Save Barn Elms Playing Fields - Say No To Sale:
"The council will decide on preferred bidders on January 14 2008. We believe the cost for the regeneration of the fields and facilities should be provided from our substantial tax reserves and that there are alternative funding sources as well. There should be an increase to the sport and leisure opportunities and the grounds and facilities should be better maintained and managed. There should be equipment on site so that children can play constructively. There should be facilities for all age groups to encourage coummunity participation and a more healthy life style. These fields are important to the schools and the community at large, they should not be sold to a private health club developer! Please contact us if you wish to sign our petition."

Selling assets is both unwise (why not leasing them out rather than selling them right out?) and does little to promote sports.


Tags: barnes, barn, elm, richmondtransits.blog

Pan-European Maglev....

In this post, the Greenmonk Associates rejoin my conclusions about increasing the share of rail vs. air transport:
Tax and Travel in EU: On Carbon Added Tax (CAT) and Maglev

I just have to comments:

1. Maglev is a power hog, much more than steel-on-steel. But since the UK is going back into nuclear, it’s less of an issue?

2. The main point though is on reducing friction, not from a technology standpoint but more on individual journeys: reduce the number of interconnections (for instance by removing intermodal discontinuities) and adoption climbs rapidly.
In this respect, pan-european TGV like France is spearheading works but only if there’s sufficient parking at stations and easy connection with local public transports. The smartest at this are the Dutch who have two bikes: one at each station of their daily commute, plus bike-sheds with repair facilities.

In a nutshell, make it easy by investing into infrastructure and the air CO2 emissions (although is CO2 the real issue?) will diminish: see my previous posts on More on Heathrow and No will for carbon friendly transportation strategy.

Much more efficient in the long term than simply taxing cars. But isn’t short termism the root cause of anthropogenic climate change?"

Tags: transportation, trains, railways, UK, politics, environment, richmondtransits.blog

Health and safety gone bonkers

I was today denied a rare tuna steak by the catering company at work, on the basis that it was against their corporate policy -which I imagine has been devised by a health and safety consultant. I hate overcooked tuna!

The health and safety epidemic is spreading at a fast rate, at the expense of common sense -which seems to be in short supplies those days. Other examples I've come across recently include:

• why motorways are closed for minor incidents
• how to deal with a broken light bulb if you're a parliment janitor
  
• 10 best from the Daily Telegraph

And I haven't even started on the subject of political correctness....

Tags: richmondtransits.blog, health&safety, humour, funny