Local member Yogi Rajah passes away

........................ Yogi Rajah in Croydon Town Centre .......................................

Yesterday, the Sutton and Croydon Green Party were very sad to hear the news that local member Yogi Rajah, aged 73, had passed away peacefully in his sleep. His daughter Lyn telephoned us last night to advise us of his passing.

Yogi was a prolific canvasser and leafleter. He would talk to absolutely anyone about the virtues of a greener lifestyle and society. I will best remember him for his efforts in the 2004 GLA election. He single handedly canvassed most if not all of Upper Norwood! He certainly had a major hand in the 10 per cent the Green Party polled in Upper Norwood that year.

He would take a box load of leaflets and posters from my flat and then return with astonishing speed asking for more. What is even more astonishing, as I found out yesterday, was that he was 70 years old at the time!!! He will always be an inspiration to us all and will be greatly missed.

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Greens demonstrate outside Clocktower

Prees Release - Photo Opp:

Croydon Greens to demonstrate outside Clocktower

Croydon Green Party will be staging a demonstration outside Croydon Clocktower on Thursday 13th December from 7pm onwards. The protest will be directed towards Malcolm Wicks, Energy Minister and Croydon North MP, who is due to give a talk entitled 'Lessons from Antarctica'.

Mr Wicks visited Antarctica earlier this year. Commenting on this event, spokesperson for Croydon Green Party said,

"This evening's talk by Mr Wicks is a prime example of this government's approach to climate change - all talk and no action. Was it really necessary to fly all the way to Antarctica to find out about the effects of global warming? I think not - it's just a stunt!"

"The Prime Minsiter has said that climate change is the greatest challenge we face. Yet, Mr Wicks' department has slashed the grants for household renewable energy (1). Other countries such as Germany are way ahead of us in micro-generation."

Mr Khan continued, "It is clear that this government does not have the political will to tackle climate change."

Ends Notes:(1)
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Tags croydon, greenparty

Footage of Climate March with press release

10.12.07

Press Release:


Croydon Greens braved the wind, rain and freezing conditions to march with 6000 others at the National Climate March (1) on Saturday 8th December.

Protesters marched from House of Commons to the US Embassy. The organisers of the protest delivered a letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown when marching past 10 Downing Street. The letter demanded the passing of strong Climate Bill.

Spokesperson for Croydon Green Party, Shasha Khan, said, “This is a crucial time because we are midway through the UN Climate Talks in Bali. We were told at the rally at the US Embassy that 50 countries had taken part in this global day of action, including Uganda, Bangladesh and Taiwan. All over the world people are calling for action to stop runaway climate change.”

Ends:
(1) http://www.campaigncc.org/
(2) Picture attached
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Tags croydon, greenparty

Letter on increased traffic printed

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Greens attend Green Strategy 2007

Jim Killock and I went along to a business strategy event late last month. It was held at the IET at Savoy Place. The conference covered everything from the relationship between the environment, science and commerce to creating sustainable operations. What I found most interesting was that businesses were keen for government to use regulation to address climate change.

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Tags croydon, greenparty

GP Leadership Result

The following communique was sent to all members:

Jim Jepps, Cambridge Green Party and Electoral Returning Officer, reports after the count on Friday, November 30:

“The leadership motion has been passed by more than the 2/3rd majority required.Votes against 963 (27%)Votes for 2,634 (73%)Eight spoilt papersThe turnout was 48.3% with 3,605 ballot papers cast.”

Green Party Principal Speaker Caroline Lucas said: "I'm delighted about this result. The party can now move forward together and onto the job in hand. We have an urgent green message to communicate and many votes to win.

"This is a fantastic day for the Green Party and will help ensure we have a party that is understandable, recognisable and effective. But we now need to demonstrate to all our members, regardless of which way they voted, that this is not about weakening our principles, it's about strengthening our effectiveness."

Green Party Principal Speaker Derek Wall said: "We need a Green Party which is effective and empowering, doing things differently from the top down traditional politics that turns voters off.

"The result of this referendum challenges the Party to create a leadership structure that is true to green ideals. It has put our future leaders on notice that the membership expects a more focussed, more effective party, with a leadership team that is truly accountable to the membership in a real and effective manner."

Richard Mallender, chair of the Green Party executive, said:

“I’m very pleased to see such a high turnout and that we have a clear result. I would like to thank everyone who took part in the ballot and also extend thanks to the ERO and the standing orders committee for the smooth conduct of the ballot. “The referendum was an excellent example of democracy in action.”

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Letter to the editor re Croydon 'then and now'

Image scanned from Your Croydon - November 2007


20.11.07

Dear Editor,

Page 15 of November’s issue of ‘Your Croydon’ has an interesting ‘then and now’ comparison photo feature. Twenty five years ago the local photographer Frazer Ashford was asked to provide photographic images for an official guide for Croydon. Mr Ashford has recently gone back to the same spot to recreate those images using the same lenses.
The article shows a comparison of the western end of the Croydon Flyover then, and as it looks today. After briefly looking at the pictures and reading the article, I found myself playing a ‘spot the difference’ puzzle with the two images. I am pleased to say that there are more trees in the 2007 picture - which is good! But what struck me was the number of cars in each image. The picture taken 25 years ago has only two cars and the picture taken this year has eleven cars. Even if you make allowances for the time of day and introduce an element of chance - that’s still quite a jump to roll back from.
Studies by The Department of Transport, which roughly correspond to the time period in the photographs, show that total road traffic increased by 82 per cent from 1980 to 2004. What is even more of a concern is the amount of road traffic that we can expect in the near future. Projections by the Department of Trade indicate that between 2000 and 2015 the level of road traffic is set to increase by 29 per cent, resulting in even more congestion, pollution and frustration for everyone.
I hope Mr Ashford keeps those lenses in good condition because I look forward to more image comparisons. However, in the future I expect we will be looking back at the image in the eighties with an element of disbelief rather than nostalgia.

Yours sincerely

Shasha Khan
Croydon Green Party

Stats 1
Stats 2

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Tags croydon, greenparty

White Poppy at the Clocktower Memorial

Mike's white poppy still sitting proud in the centre of the Clocktower memorial.
Read more

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Tags croydon, greenparty