District Energy Scheme in Croydon

A motion was passed last week by Croydon Council to explore the business case for a District Energy Scheme. The Financial Summary reads as follows:

The report proposes developing a detailed business case based on the following:
Installation of a District Energy (DE) scheme for the Croydon Metropolitan Centre (CMC) is estimated to cost approximately £55m. The cost could be met through developers’ contributions in lieu of their own heating systems and by capital borrowing against an anticipated income of £7m/year from selling heat and electricity. The scheme could be run by a new special purpose vehicle, contracted to a public sector partner or fully contracted out through competitive procurement.
An internal Project Board is developing proposals for a first phase based on the CCURV developments at the Taberner House and College Green sites and, subject to negotiation, adjacent sites such as Park Place. This phase has been provisionally modelled at £18m with potential income of £4m/year. An EU (JESSICA) loan of £5-20m is possible, subject to a successful bid. Such a loan could be paid off from private capital or Public Works Loan Board after a period e.g. 10 years. This would allow the council to exit from its financial commitment, or to choose to re-commit to further phases. Subject to the resources being available, £215,000 of Area Based Grant will be used to fund the development and assessment of this significant regeneration opportunity.

Comment was given to the Croydon Guardian.

A district energy system would represent a significant

improvement on the current situation.It really serves

to highlight the inefficiency within the current system,

where heat produced as part of power generation process

is wasted resulting in yet more fossil fuels having to be

burnt to heat our buildings.



But the paper completely sidesteps the critical issue:

how the energy will be generated.

The fact is that by 2025 when the scheme comes fully

on-line, we will have hit peak oil and fossil fuel prices

will be climbing rapidly. The report makes no mention

of this and thus smacks of being written by well-meaning

officers who need to water down proposals for those

Tory councillors who are still sceptical about climate

change and the value of renewable energy.

 

The Croydon Green Party would prefer to see this proposal

to feature as part of a comprehensive Energy Descent Plan,

similar to the one produced by the Totnes Transition Town

group (http://totnesedap.org.uk/). It would not make sense

to go ahead with the DE plan before thoroughly thinking

through the broader picture of Croydon's energy dependence.

Reducing our energy dependence is the unglamorous,

yet most effective way to meet our carbon emissions targets.



Producing a report on a District Energy scheme before really

working out how the heat and power will be generated puts

the cart before the horse.

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Afghani children face deportation

Link to online version

On the same day the World Cup started, I was quoted on the front page of the Croydon Advertiser with regard to the forced deportation of hundreds Afghani children. Through my involvement with Friends of Thornton Heath Recreation Ground and youth work activity, I have had a chance to get to know these young persons. I wanted to give more detail to the Croydon Advertiser. However, confidentiality and clearance issues meant I didn't disclose the harrowing experiences these children had to endure in Afghanistan. The story continued the following week, too.

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Gordon sends books to South Africa

Here is the piece from the Croydon Advertiser about Gordon collecting books for South Africa.The newspaper says they are sending them by air, but they are going my sea; a much Greener way to send them.

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Video of London Demo: Israeli attack on Gaza flotilla

Members Croydon Green Party marched with 20,000 other demonstrators on Saturday (5th June) in protest against the Israeli attack on the Gaza Flotilla.

The Green Party has called upon the UK Government, and the EU, to apply
pressure to lift the ongoing blockade of Gaza, which makes essential humanitarian aid for the population of Gaza virtually impossible to deliver.

After the march, Croydon Green Party member Gordon Ross said:

“I condemn the attack on the flotilla. Israel has no justification in attacking a humanitarian flotilla in international waters.”



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Tags croydon, greenparty

Proportional representation letters in the local paper

19.05.10

Dear Editor (Croydon Guardian) - above left

Thank you to all the discerning readers of this paper who voted Green on May 6^th. You all voted for what you believe in. Now that the dust has settled, analysis of the council and general election results shows that both the Conservative and Labour Parties successfully reminded their traditional voters, “If you don’t vote for us, the other lot, - the party you really don’t want - get in”. This is best demonstrated by the Labour doorstep slogan, “Vote Green, get blue.”

We heard throughout the election campaign, and the hallowed leaders TV debates’, that we need a new politics. Yet, Labour and the Conservatives benefit from using the politics of fear to win seats, especially in an area like Croydon which is split geographically into a red north and blue south. Its is clear the only solution to our archaic and unfair voting system is genuine proportional representation. This will add value to every vote in the borough. Rather than bouncing back and forth between dictatorships of one shade or another, Croydon would have a more consensus-oriented system, where every serious issue is debated widely and the general public is much more engaged.

Closer examination of the council elections shows that Labour has one councillor for every 4670 votes cast, and the Conservatives one councillor per 4839. Meanwhile the Green Party polled 31470 votes for zero seats; the Lib Dems faired even worse. We need proportional representation now!

Yours sincerely

Shasha Khan

Croydon Green Party

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21.05.10

Dear Editor (Croydon Advertiser) - above right

On Election week, a letter (on this page) from Mr. Bowker from Thornton Heath noted the turnout in the local elections would double because it was “more than 100 years ago, if ever, that the local elections in London were last held on the same day as a general election,” and he wondered “how this will effect the result”.

Well, we now know Croydon is now split geographically into a red north and blue south because the big two successfully deployed the politics of fear.

Conservative and Labour Parties successfully reminded their traditional voters, “If you don’t vote for us, the other lot, - the party you really don’t want - get in”; and this tactic had an additional affect of shoring up their vote in the locals, too.

It is clear the only solution to our archaic and unfair voting system is genuine proportional representation. This will add value to every vote in the borough and engage the general public in between elections. Moreover, closer examination of the local elections shows that Labour has one councillor for every 4670 votes cast, and the Conservatives one councillor per 4839. Meanwhile the Green Party polled 31470 votes for zero seats; the Lib Dems faired even worse. We need proportional representation now!

Yours sincerely

Shasha Khan

Croydon Green Party

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Tags croydon, greenparty