Press release on Croypost facilities

CLOSING COMPOSTING FACILITIES IS BACKWARD STEP

Croydon Green Party spokesperson, Shasha Khan, today described the closure of composting facilities at Conduit Lane and Factory Lane as a “backward step.”

The compost, known as Croypost, is made from garden and green waste and is widely used by gardeners throughout the borough who collect it at the council’s site at Conduit Lane. Additionally, Croypost is available at the Waste Transfer and Recycling Centre at Factory Lane.

The Croydon Green Party has learned that the composting facilities at Conduit Lane and Factory Lane are due to close in October.

Croydon Council has signed a new contract that will see most green waste in the borough processed at a site in Beddington.

Shasha said, “Closing composting facilities at Conduit Lane and Factory Lane is nothing short of a backward step taken by this council. We should be heading towards a situation where Croypost is available from Croydon’s parks.

“By shifting services to Beddington, the council only succeeds in making it difficult for gardeners to collect the compost.

“Waste is a resource opportunity, not a problem. The council should adopt a zero waste strategy giving residents and businesses the opportunity to reuse, recycle and compost everything possible with minimum effort and maximum convenience.

I’ll be writing to the council demanding an explanation for what is a regressive decision.”

Ends

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Tags croydon, greenparty

What is wrong with this picture?

LOOK CLOSER....

It's prompted me to write a letter to the local paper:

Dear Editor,

I almost careered into an oncoming car when cycling past Labour’s Croydon North Constituency Office the other day. Whilst riding through Thornton Heath High Street I noticed a celebratory card in the window of the office. I had to double back to make sure my eyes had not deceived me. The card said, “Happy 60th Birthday NHS.”
I cannot believe the gall of this Labour Party. To put that card in the window is tantamount to a mugger slowly pummelling and battering their victim, only to have the nerve to send a birthday card to the victim whilst they lie bruised and condemned in a hospital bed – and don’t be getting too comfortable in that bed because the ‘Discharge Coordinators’ will be looking to get you out of the hospital as quickly as possible.

This Labour government are hoodwinking the public and privatising the NHS by stealth. They are actually demolishing the NHS at levels that even Margaret Thatcher didn’t dare contemplate. Goodbye to the founding principles of the NHS, because thanks to Labour we are now customers and not patients.

First the cleaning and the catering in hospitals were outsourced to private firms; now core services like GP surgeries are being run by private firms. Is it any wonder that the British Medical Association has collected 1.2 million signatures in an effort to protect surgeries?

A private firm operating within the NHS by its nature is taking public money and putting it into the pockets of their shareholders. They are attracted to the commercial provider role by the profit that is available and in effect are making money out of people’s ill health. These multinationals will only pick off the profitable services on offer. As a result care for mental health and the elderly are now severely lacking.

We are sleepwalking towards an American system where huge chunks of health expenditure are wasted on the costs of operating in the market, i.e., making and monitoring contracts, marketing, invoicing and even tackling fraud.

If the Croydon Labour Party has any self respect they should remove the card from the window of their constituency office immediately.

Yours sincerely


Shasha Khan
Croydon Green Party
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Tags croydon, greenparty

Comment given to the BBC

Its extraordinary to think that Oasis Academy Coulsdon will open in a couple of weeks time. It was only February when the council cabinet commitee deliberated for a mere 14 minutes the results of the consultation when coming to their decision. I am sure even the Oasis Trust would have preferred at least two years to takeover the school.

Link to the article in the BBC

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Coverage in the Croydon Guardian

Recently the Croydon Guardian has invited comment on non-environmental stories they have carried. For those people who have read the articles, I feel this blog is an opportunity to expand on what was quoted and explain what principles are behind the comment.

Through the Freedom of Information Act, the Guardian reporters obtained statistics which showed that despite high profile police operations there were actually twice as many arrests for possession of a knife in 2003-2004 than 2007-2008. Against a back drop of more police 'stop and searches', it does raise concerns about the quality of police initiatives.

A couple of months ago I was stopped and searched and asked to walk through a knife arch at Thornton Heath station. I was happy to oblige and answer all the questions put to me but I wondered about 15 or so black youths who must have been stopped on an earlier train who were ahead of me.

I hope that Croydon Police is not just sticking to perceived profiles when using 'stop and search' and that they are using intelligence to apprehend knife carrying individuals. Essentially, failure to work smart when using 'stop and search' will only lead to certain sections of the community to develop a mistrust for the police. Black people are seven times as likely to be stopped as white people and six times as likely as Asian people.

The other issue I was asked to comment on was the long running saga of the Croydon Gateway. I am pleased that the winning scheme, now announced, ensures that the Warehouse Theatre will remain in the area, albeit in a new location. But the issue is that current planning legislation is weak in encouraging a greater use of renewable energy. When one considers Chatham House's recent report: which predicts an oil supply crunch within 5-10 years, it is outrageous that new developments are only required to source 10 per cent of their energy on site in Croydon.

I predict that Croydon Gateway residents five years from now will be scratching their heads wondering why higher levels of sustainable provision were not considered when fuel bills really rocket.

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Letter sent to the South London Press about the troubles after the Lambeth Country Show

24.07.08

Dear Editor,

Of all the sights and sounds that I could have taken away from the Lambeth Country Show on Saturday 19th July, be it the sheep sheering; the stunts of the African Acrobat Company; the tunes of the South London Jazz Orchestra or the soulful songs of Omar; it is the events that occurred after the close that has occupied my mind.
After the event finished my wife and I walked to the 468 bus stop towards Croydon. Ahead of us we could see dozens of police some in full riot gear. To our amazement we saw the police appear to commandeer a bus heading towards Southwark and force dozens of young people on to the bus. There was a degree of mayhem in all directions on the corner of Herne Hill. At one point we were ‘steamed’ by around twenty youths running away from the riot police. For a moment it was terrifying but in an unusual way, I felt no fear because the youths that were running around were in their own world and we were unlikely to be victims of any violence. I must commend the police for the way they handled the situation, especially with so many families and children streaming out of Brockwell park. What could have been more than a flashpoint was swiftly dealt with.

On the bus on the way home, the top deck was buzzing with excitement with what had just happened at Herne Hill. We could hear mobile phone conversations and groups chatting. It appears that the gangs from Peckham were forced onto the bus to avoid any trouble with the gang from Brixton.

It is difficult to explain the gang phenomenon and I recognise that gangs have an organised crime element to them but most if not all those involved were juniors. Nevertheless, the events of Saturday have given me an understanding of how basic human traits were actually exhibited on the streets of Herne Hill. Arguably, status and pride coupled with a sense of belonging to a group were on display. Also for those youths who were involved in the ‘cat and mouse’ chases with the police and other gangs, for them there was a sense of excitement born from tension. Those youths who were sitting at the back of the 468 bus there was a similar sense of excitement which had materialised from the tension on the street.

It is not unusual to see young people wanting excitement in their lives. Similarly, it is clear that young people want to be known, respected and talked about. The gang that was bundled on to the bus heading to Southwark felt important – they were the centre of attention; they were being talked about.

What is a real shame is that these basic human traits are not channelled in a positive way and not through notoriety. Is it not possible for this drive for status and competitive spirit to be directed into sport or music or even education? It just goes to show how important genuine facilities for this generation of young persons are required to ensure that their potential is not lost to mindless gang violence.

Yours sincerely

Shasha Khan
Croydon Green Party

Images of the trouble at the close of the Lambeth Country Show can viewed at AW Balfour's flickr album

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Save our schools demo.

Sadly, the sham consultation looks like continuing in its present form despite the Labour group on the council positioning themsleves as defenders of secondary schools in Croydon. The Tory councillors reminded Labour at the council meeting that Schools Secretary, Ed Balls says these schools are failing.
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Tags croydon, greenparty

Stab victim dies in Thornton Heath

04.07.08

Dear Editor,

I had moment of ‘déjà vu’ whilst listening to the radio this morning. The presenter of the news headlines on the radio announced that a stab victim had died in South London. Automatically, I felt dismay and then I wondered where the incident had taken place. The report went on to say that the teenage victim was stabbed in Thornton Heath. Hasn’t this happened before?
A quick check on the Internet and reports suggest the victim was stabbed repeatedly by six hooded youths on Thursday afternoon.
To try and evaluate and analyse the spate of knife crimes in Croydon and London cannot be done in a single letter to the local paper. I am not even sure a thesis on the issue could address the complexities of this phenomenon. There are so many elements: community policing; media reporting; status and respect; self protection; relative poverty; demonisation of young people; tougher sentences, social mobility; school exclusions, family breakdown and peer pressure are just a few that are banded about. One other element that is put forward is the young persons’ unwillingness to take responsibility for their own actions. This idea interests me because you can take it further: the moment that a young person decides to carry a knife then somewhere along the line a malfunction has occurred. Someone or something has failed. If a young person deems it necessary to carry a knife, be it for their protection or to gain status and respect, then someone needs to take responsibility for this failure.
Therefore it is incumbent on parents, schools, police and the authorities to also take responsibility for their actions and work together with young people to tackle the root causes of this knife carrying phenomenon.

Yours sincerely

Shasha Khan
Croydon Green Party

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Shan Oakes - The real civil liberties candidate

Shan Oakes has been selected as the Green Party's candidate standing against the Conservatives' David Davis for the seat of Haltemprice and Howden on July 10th 2008.

Any offers of campaigning help can be directed to Martin Dean at sokuto12 'at' sokuto12.karoo.co.uk

Read Shan's new blog at http://shanoakes.blogspot.com/

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Tags greenparty