The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has given the lie to UK Coalition government claims that its field studies show that neonicotinoids do not cause unacceptable damage bees.
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Last week the House of Lords voted to put on hold the ConDem government’s plan to abolish the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB). They intend to scrutinise the proposal, which would open the door for supermarkets and agribusinesses to cut farm workers’ already low wages.
Unite, the Trade Union, said, Continue reading
Here’s hoping Hebden Royd Town Council will accept the recommendations of the York Fairness Commission and make Hebden a Living Wage Town.
The York Fairness Commission, set up by York Council to investigate how the Council can reduce social inequalities and increase fairness in York, has recommended that the Council should
“make York a Living Wage City and inspire Yorkshire to become a Living Wage Region”.
The Hebden Royd Town Council Strategy and Review Committee Meeting on 23 October 2012 agreed that the Town Clerk would investigate the process for Hebden Royd Town Council to nominate a community asset to Calderdale Council for inclusion on the register/list of community assets, and bring the information to the next Strategy and Review Committee in December.
The Committee will then decide on making a recommendation about this to the next full Council meeting.
Hebden Royd Town Council will consider the Mytholm Works planning application on 31st October.
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The Climate Change Committee’s 4th Progress Report, published at the end of June 2012, shows that the UK’s in danger of breaking its legally binding carbon emissions reduction targets.
Since the Climate Change Committee’s 4th Carbon Budget Report in 2010, the UK has a statutory greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target for 2025, of 50% of the 1990 GHG emissions.
In order to stay within the law set down in the Climate Change Act, the UK needs to reduce its emissions by 3% each year, through actions like increasing renewable energy generation and building insulation. To hit this target, the UK will have to up its carbon reduction game times four.
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The ever-wonderful Otesha project is blogging about who’s who on the official UK delegation to Rio +20 (not hug-a-husky David Cameron, though).
In brief:
There is Non-Government Organisation (NGO) and Business representation on the delegation, something which has not previously happened at the The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Otesha Project blog asks:
” Is it good that Oxfam and WWF have close access to the delegation? Maybe, although it brings up interesting questions about how entrenched NGOs have become in the UN processes. Is it good that Unilever and Aviva do? I don’t think so…at the end of the day they are representing their shareholders… Because companies’ sole obligation to their shareholders is to turn a tidy profit.
And… if NGOs and Business get to have an official voice on the delegation… where the eff is the youth representation? Some of the other countries have official youth delegates, and rightly so. Because there are no other stakeholders who are going to be more affected by what happens here at Rio+20 than young people. Last night, we found out that any mention to a potential High Commissioner for Future Generations has been deleted from the text. This is not good enough. “
For the full list of our democratic representatives at Rio +20, see the blog.
Hebden Royd Town Council has recently adopted guidelines that it will use when considering wind turbine planning applications.
At the Hebden Royd Town Council meeting on 23 May 2012, the Council approved wind farm guidance from the Strategy and Review Committee meeting on 25 April 2012.
No wind turbines in Special Protection Area
The guidelines require the Council to refuse applications for wind turbines in the Special Protection Area of moors to the west of Hebden Bridge, and in areas where turbine construction would disturb or destroy peatcover.
In what looks like bad news for agency workers on farms, Defra is looking at ways to reduce the powers of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority, which exists to prevent the worst abuses of casual farm workers and construction workers.
This is part of the ConDems’ recently-announced plans to weaken a variety of environmental and other protective laws.
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http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/local/cutting_carbon_is_one_way_of_creating_jobs_1_4213849
If you want to read the Calderdale Council documents about Calderdale’s Energy Future they’re downloadable here
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