On Saturday 10 May I helped man a stall, organised by David Ruffley and myself, outside the Cornhill Walk Shopping Centre giving out ‘Green Bags’ to try and drive down plastic bag usage in the town.
Patrick Chung, Virginia Tuck and Chrissie Harrod give out Green Bags outside the Cornhill Walk Shopping Centre
10 billion plastic bags are used in the UK each year, each one takes 1,000 years to break down and 1 billion seabirds and mammals die due to plastic bag consumption across the world every year.
David Ruffley explains the merits of the Green Bag to a shopper in Bury St Edmunds
We gave out 500 free bags during the morning and we also arranged to have the bags given out in place of normal bags in Barwells, Butterworths, Churchgate Books, Laura Ashley, Ley-Lou, Scarlet, and Waterstones. Most shops saw their allocation last all day but Waterstones ran out after the first hour and a half of trading.
Barwells was among the stores giving out free Green Bags
The response from the public was incredibly positive and they seemed amazed that the bags were free. Walking around the town later in the day it was pleasing to see lots of people shopping using their new bags.
A number of retailers are making efforts to reduce the use of plastic bags – Marks & Spencer, for example, have recently started charging for each bag used. However, much more can be done; some towns have banned plastic bags altogether and use their own branded ‘bag for life’. I don’t see why, over the coming years, Bury St Edmunds can’t join these towns in banishing plastic bags for good. In the short term, I hope to arrange more of these stalls and involve more retailers each time we do it.
I returned to my car recently to find a leaflet on my windscreen telling me I'm a 'fossil fool'. This week, for the second consecutive year, I have offset all the carbon emissions from my cars. I know that offsetting is no substitute for not creating the emissions in the first place but it helps to counter ‘unavoidable’ emissions as well as those for which we are at fault.
The note I found on my windscreen
Last year, when preparing for the local elections, I was advised that I shouldn’t deliver a leaflet on ‘green’ issues. Apparently, because I own a car that creates over 270g/km of C02 it would make me a hypocrite. I also drive a diesel that returns over 50mpg but this, I was told, would make no difference in the eyes of the public. I recycle avidly, live in a modern well insulated home, try to buy locally produce over goods flown in from around the globe and feel passionately that the environment should be near the top of the political agenda. Yet the gentleman giving me the advice was probably correct – the media, and politicians, have done a good deal to convince the public that it is mothers in SUVs and sports car enthusiasts that are solely responsible for climate change. This year when I taxed the offending vehicle it cost £400. My next car is likely to be charged £950 road tax in its first year on the road.
I have no objection to paying more tax for a vehicle because it cost more than others. Again, I have no objection to paying more road tax because my car is less efficient than others. What, however, I do have an issue with is the idea that simply by owning a car that creates roughly twice the Co2 of your average Ford Mondeo I am somehow irresponsible. I cover approximately 4,000 miles a year in the car that I was told disqualified me from talking about the environment, yet someone who drives a Ford Mondeo over 20,000 miles a year would be free to say what they wished without fear of public ‘outing’. A friend, who drives a Range Rover over similar distances to me, has had his car vandalised and often returns to find leaflets on his windscreen telling him what a dreadful person he is. Is he really any more responsible for climate change than the person that drives ten times the distance in a car twice as efficient? Of course he isn’t. Yet in the eyes of the media and much of the public he is guilty.
I’m opposed to road pricing, however, I can’t help but feel a car tax based on mileage coupled with Co2 emissions would be a fairer method. Some might argue that the price of petrol already does this but I would disagree.
Exhaust fumes the Co2 from which I've offset for the second consecutive year
A survey conducted by CNW Marketing Research concludes that the Jeep Wrangler (a 4.0 litre, petrol 4x4) is one of the most environmentally sound cars on the planet. Their objective was to find the real energy cost from ‘Dust to Dust’ of producing vehicles for consumer use. Was this just a useful bit of PR by the American car industry? Perhaps, but few people give thought to the energy used during the production of their vehicle; 80percent of the energy a car uses is created during production and only 20percent during its lifespan. By this measure the Toyota Prius and other hybrids fare very badly.
The mother doing the school run in an SUV has become something of a cliché. I often wonder whether the outrage directed at the £70,000 4x4 outside a school is motivated out of true concern or simply because it’s easy to dislike someone in a big, expensive car. I can’t help but feel that sometimes it’s a little of both.
Attacking the car driver has become fashionable yet, according to the UN, the environmental damage caused by all forms of transport worldwide (including air) is less than that caused by the global cattle rearing industry. Somehow I don’t think we will see the left leaning media leading the campaign against bovinae or people slipping leaflets into packets of beef in Waitrose – it just doesn’t have the same crusade like ring to it.
‘Green’ campaigners should be congratulated for their work driving down Co2 emissions and encouraging car manufacturers to do the same. It is an important part of the battle against climate change and I'm looking forward to some of the more exciting results, such as the Tesla Roadster. I’m just a little tired of being told that I don’t care about the environment because of the car I own – I’m a sports car enthusiast and, as long as I use the vehicle responsibly, feel I should be free to pursue this hobby.
When Ming Campbell became leader of the Liberal Democrats he drove a vintage Jaguar. Shortly afterwards he sold it stating: ‘Global warming is a big issue. Everyone has to do his or her bit. I had to change my habits. I used to have a 12-cylinder Jaguar with a 5.3 litre engine which I loved, but I realised I couldn't continue to drive it and talk about global warming’. Is the argument really this simplistic? Is Ming right and am I wrong? Can I campaign on buying local produce and environmental issues without being labelled a hypocrite? I know what I think but please let me know your views.
Every month or so I normally spend a week eating food sourced entirely from the UK. This is partly motivated out of a desire to see how easy it is to do during the different seasons and partly as a conscious effort to reduce food miles. It isn’t as easy as it sounds but I’d got down to a pretty fine art so, on Wednesday of this week, I decided I would spend a week only eating and drinking produce sourced from within East Anglia. I gave myself two rules: 1) that I won’t make any extra effort to drive to find the food – it will have to be purchased on normal shopping trips or already planned journeys and 2) it isn’t enough for it to be produced locally – all the major ingredients of a product will need to be sourced from East Anglia.
Wednesday, I thought, would be a good day to start and I began in a positive frame of mind. Initially I tackled Bury St Edmunds market and came away with:
Eggs Sausages Mushrooms Rabbit Crab
Ryne Park Farm's stall provided the main ingredients for a couple of meals
It was immediately clear, however, that fruit and vegetables would be a problem. I asked at each market stall and either got confused looks or was told that they ‘sometimes’ had local strawberries and raspberries in season. Meat and fish were easier to find – Ryne Park Farm’s stall outside Palmers had a fantastic selection of rare breed pork and lamb while Mummery Brother’s stall had plenty of North Sea sourced fish for sale. The difficulty was everything came loose, not sealed in packaging, which meant it wouldn’t last as long as supermarket sourced food. I quickly decided that I would return for more provisions on Saturday rather than get lots of things that would go off.
Local eggs were easy to find but, sadly, none were both free range and organic
Approximately half the fish on Mummery Brother's stall was sourced from the North Sea
My next stop was Barwells, here I thought I would find the majority of food to see me through the week. I was wrong. It is a fantastic shop with helpful staff, quality food and a strong emphasis on local produce. Unfortunately, I had shot myself in the foot with my strict rules; while there was plenty of food made in East Anglia, many of the ingredients were not from our area. It was here that I spotted some ‘Suffolk Tea’ and , after a second contemplating where in our county might be suitable for growing tea, quickly realised that this was going to be much harder than I had hoped. After a lengthy discussion with the staff (during which they very politely called me insane) I left with a few products that I could be sure were sourced entirely from East Anglia:
Suffolk Gold Cheese Manard House Orchards Apple Juice St Peter’s Suffolk Gold Beer Suffolk Honey Blackcurrant Ice Cream
Barwells were very helpful and had a great selection. Unfortunately they couldn't tell me if the 'local' produce was made from East Anglian ingredients
I then walked to Waitrose, stopping off at Viv’s Patisserie to get a loaf of bread, wondering if I could survive a week on what I had obtained so far. Waitrose has an East Anglian section so this was fairly easy. I was able to buy:
Potatoes Tomatoes Carrots Onions
Viv's Patisserie had a good selection of bread but I forgot to ask if the ingredients were sourced locally...I may have failed already
Fruit remained a problem – it’s not that British fruit isn’t available, there were apples, rhubarb and strawberries, but none were grown in the region. Later in the afternoon I made my way to Tesco and came home with some East Anglian Milk. To their credit they had pretty much the same selection of East Anglian vegetables as Waitrose.
Some of the local produce I managed to find
This is the first day of this experiment and, after an evening meal of sausages, mashed potato and mushrooms, I’m feeling fairly positive that it will be a success. The main problem, aside from the lack of fruit, is that I fear I will die of caffeine withdrawal before the week is out. My other gripe is that I’ve had to give up on my philosophy of only eating organic/free range produce, if I had continued with this it would have been nigh on impossible. I'm visiting my mother, who lives near Ipswich, on Thursday evening and may have to drop in at Jimmy's Farm Shop. My wish list, if anyone has any suggestions, is for the following East Anglian sourced produce:
1. Free Range Chicken (I’m refusing to give in and eat battery farmed meat) 2. Butter (I’ve found milk, cheese and ice cream so butter can’t be too far away) 3. Cooking oil (rapeseed perhaps?) 4. Fruit
Farmers' markets are getting more and more popular and I would love to see one come to Bury’s Market from time to time. We have a continental market so why not one celebrating the food from our own region? It is clear that people in the town care passionately about the environment; Zero Waste Week was a resounding success and I am certain that given the availability, and publicity, locally sourced produce would have the success it deserves.
I have been giving a lot of thought recently to the upkeep of commercial properties in the town centre. The shop fronts of a number of properties are falling into disrepair and the image this conveys is somewhat contrary to the image of Bury St Edmunds as a prosperous market town.
Scenes of disrepair in the town - I've tried to obscure, as much as possible, precisely where these are
I have talked to a couple of shop owners about this and one, for whom I have a good deal of respect, has suggested that a bylaw is introduced compelling property owners to maintain a certain standard of upkeep within a given area. After doing a little bit of research I have discovered that Hastings has such a bylaw in place – in fact it is an old law which they revived to push through the restoration of a number of dilapidated properties. On face value this seems like an excellent idea.
Marchants, Javelin and Trotter & Deane show what can be achieved
When something like this is suggested, I like to set out arguments for and against before arriving at a firm position. I will repeat these below.
For introducing such a bylaw:
By compelling property owners to maintain a certain standard of upkeep of the property it will improve the environment in the town and thus improve its appeal to shoppers and shop owners alike. This will, in turn, increase trade in the town and make business more viable not only for national chains but also independent traders. Bury St Edmunds is already a popular tourist destination and improving its appearance even further will only add to this. The bylaw could also be such that properties had to fit to a certain specification and, therefore, national retailers could be pushed (more so than they are already) to ensure their shop front fits in with the image of the town. With the opening of the Cattle Market development this bylaw will improve the appearance of the existing town centre and help maintain its attraction to visiting shoppers. Such an improvement in the town’s appearance will only aid its success in competitions such as Britain in Bloom and thus its profile nationally. It will also discourage discount shops from opening on short term leases and detracting from the retail offer in the town.
Would a bylaw forcing businesses to maintain their property enhance Abbeygate Street?
Against such a bylaw:
Retail nationally is in something of an economic downturn and, by imposing more regulations, already struggling businesses may find it difficult to make ends meet in the face of this extra expense. This increased red-tape could discourage people from setting up their business in Bury St Edmunds and they may, instead, choose a similar or neighbouring town where such regulations do not exist. This bylaw will also discourage discount shops or businesses on short term leases from opening which, after all, would not survive if there was not a demand for them. The opening of the Cattle Market development will provide new, serviced properties and having such a bylaw in place will put the historic town centre at a commercial disadvantage. Finally, any such bylaw will require enforcement and this will be an increased burden on already stretched public funds.
Personally I think that the idea has some merit. Firstly, whatever the local press may have us believe, trade in Bury St Edmunds is much better than elsewhere in the country. This is not to say that things aren’t difficult but many independent retailers have demonstrated that a good business model can succeed here regardless of the picture nationally. Secondly, any new business that opens will normally have its frontage painted or improved – such a bylaw only asks that this standard is maintained. Thirdly, the argument that improving the image of the town will increase tourism and improve trade is a compelling one. Abbeygate Street, in particular, is one of our town’s most attractive streets but, sadly, many of the properties have been allowed to deteriorate to an extent that many would find unacceptable. Finally, although this requires further investigation, I don’t believe the administration costs will be too onerous – the majority of cases would probably be resolved through the issuing of an enforcement notice. Ultimately, I believe we need to be ambitious in our plans for the town and if we market Bury St Edmunds as the finest market town in England, which it surely is, then a policy like this can only help us achieve our goals.
The finest market town in England?
I would be interested to know what others think.
Will the future of retail in Bury St Edmunds be stormy...
or is there light at the end of the tunnel?
UPDATE 14/03/2008:
After investigating this further, I have discovered that, while some towns have a bylaw in place governing the upkeep of buildings, such a bylaw is not strictly necessary.
The desired result can, I am reliably informed, be brought about through the proper enforcement of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and, in particular, section 215 of this Act. This does change the onus of this topic somewhat and removes the complex element of introducing a bylaw. The Act applies equally to all properties, not just commercial ones, and has been used very proactively elsewhere. I will continue to investigate this and may make it the subject of a future blog rather than extending this one.
Rufus, being so low to the ground, draws immediate attention to problems with the surface we are walking on. Since he was very young, he is now 10 months old, it has been incredibly difficult to preventing him snapping up the many edible, and indeed inedible, items that litter our streets. He grew out of eating cigarette butts but chewing gum remains a major issue. Persuading an enthusiastic dachshund to release his grip on something that tastes good is rather a challenge, especially when it is as sticky as the aforementioned treat. I was, therefore, delighted to see the pavements in the town being cleaned over the past few days. This morning’s walk was interrupted less than usual by Rufus’ attempts to lever gum from the pavement.
Chewing gum - so near yet so far
Recently cleaned streets in the town centre
Cleaning the pavements of gum presents a major expense and it is frustrating to see public funds being spent due to the laziness of others. The much publicised ban in Singapore is rather extreme but it has had the desired result. Alternatively, if gum were made of biodegradable material then the problem of cleaning up gum would be over. Apparently researchers at the University of Illinois have been experimenting with replacing part of the gum base with biodegradable maize protein. I wish them luck (Rufus, however, may not).
On a more positive note, Rufus has made me realise just how lucky we are to have such fantastic parks on our doorstep. This evening we walked through Hardwick Heath and out onto a footpath through the fields to its south. Despite having lived in and around Bury all my life, I never realised how easy it was to step directly onto a footpath and out into seemingly endless fields. I must confess to being slightly embarrassed to learn this a full seven years after moving to the town centre. Hardwick Heath and Nowton Park, in particular, are a delight to the dog and dog walker alike. Had it not been for Rufus’ arrival in my household I would have remained grateful for their presence but far less aware of what an excellent resource they are.
Rufus enjoys a run off the lead on Hardwick Heath
Fields just south ofHardwickHeath
Similarly, our frequent walks have highlighted the terrible litter problem around the footpath and cycle path between the bottom of Spring Lane andBeetonsWay. To his credit DavidNettletonresponded immediately to my observations and I’m sure it won’t remain an issue for long.
Litter strewn cycle path between Spring Lane and Beetons Way
My tip to anyone wanting to discover more about the joys and problems on their doorstep rather than waiting for them to be pointed out – get a dog.
As you can see I have decided, after some initial resistance, to start blogging. As I work fulltime there are likely to be one or two posts a week and, for the same reason, comments will normally be approved at the end of the working day or during my lunch hour.
I’m also going to lay down a few ground rules. 1) no personal insults and 2) no off topic posts. I’m also going to be more strict with anonymous contributors than I will be with registered users – I’ll accept comments naming individuals and giving constructive criticism or praise from registered users but not from anyone identifying themselves as ‘anonymous’. Initially I’ll accept general comments from anonymous users but I may review this in the future. Finally a message to my fellow Councillors – your personal grudges do not interest me, if you wish to perpetuate some ongoing disagreement do so elsewhere. If any registered user persistently contravenes these guidelines I will accept no further contributions from them – constructive or otherwise.
My posts will generally be on matters relating to our area and council business. I do not intend to bore anyone with details of my personal life but I may occasionally stray into discussions of a wider nature.
My first ‘proper’ post should make an appearance this evening.
