This year’s Local Elections are on THURSDAY 5th MAY 2022 (don’t forget to cast your vote!). To find out where to vote and who the candidates are go to Where Do I Vote. 

We have asked the candidates for Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council seats to answer these questions:

1. What do you see as the most pressing climate and biodiversity issue/s facing Basingstoke and Deane at present?
2. If you had the authority of the Council Leader, what would you do to urgently address any such problems you perceive?
3. In the absence of being Council Leader, in which way would you seek to apply pressure to the local decision-makers?

We have had answers so far:

BTN will hold its AGM at 7.00 pm on Tuesday 7th September 2021, by Zoom.  The AGM will be followed by our regular business meeting.  The agenda and report are at: AGM2021agendaMB.  Financial statements for 2019 to 2021: Annual Accounts 2020-2021 Annual Accounts 2019-2020. 

We are looking for volunteers to stand for election for the following roles:

Chair

Vice-chair

Secretary

Please contact the secretary if you are interested.

BTN supports local Transition/Sustainability groups in the Borough

If your group would like support from BTN, please ask the secretary.

See the campaigns discussed at Hampshire Climate Action Network in April:

A Change.org petition against the felling of a number of mature oak and other trees to make room for the planned warehouse next to Junction 7 of the M3 has gathered over 89,000 signatures – see

https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-destruction-of-67-oak-and-3-beech-trees-at-oakdown-farm-warehouse-site/u/28959291

Watch the hustings (here or on YouTube) and find our how the candidates answered the questions put to them.

The next three years are the most critical 3 years in modern times. The Climate Emergency, post-COVID, is the key election issue.

The first council elections for 2 years are upon us. And, on May 6th, we will choose who will be in power for the next 3 years. These will be the three most important years in responding to the climate emergency. This is our last chance to elect people who can respond. Making changes in 2024 will be too late.

We need to be carbon neutral by 2030. And that means the decisions our Council make in the next 3 years will determine if the response is adequate.

Our two local councils – Basingstoke and Deane and Hampshire County Council – make key decisions on things like:

• How many, and how energy efficient, our new homes and buildings will be.
• Our transport policy and whether we tackle the immense environmental damage our transport system is doing to our air quality.
• How we effectively manage waste and recycling.
• How much we invest in renewable technology.
• Whether we lead, or lag, in creating the green jobs of the future.
• How we are going to protect and nurture our land and water resources.

The people we elect on May 6th will determine whether Basingstoke and Deane tackles the climate emergency or falls victim to it.

To help us all decide on who should be making these decisions, and who we should vote for, Basingstoke Transition Network (BTN) has invited all of the major party groupings standing locally in these elections to provide a representative to participate in an online question and answer session.

The Council issued its statutory report on air pollution for 2020 (actually covers 2019 and is dated June 2020)  which is accessible from its page:

https://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/air-quality

Basingstoke Clean Air Campaign has reviewed it and notes the following points:

• 12 sites commenced monitoring air quality in 2017 (including in Bramley and Chineham but mostly on busy roads in the town) of which two have now ceased and 10 sites started being monitored in 2019.
• March 2018 BDBC received Ministerial Direction to undertake targeted feasibility study into NO2 compliance between A339/A33 and Black Dam roundabouts.
• BDBC installed two new diffusion tubes at sites 57 and 58 beside the A339 in 2018
• Levels of NO2 found to be significantly lower than expected and met EU standard on public footpath but marginally exceeded on carriageway
• Despite these results, DEFRA required further work to explore ways of reducing vehicle emissions here.
• This further work indicated that reducing speed limit from 70mph to 50mph may achieve desired NO2 reductions.
• Oct 2018 further Ministerial Direction issued to both BDBC and HCC.
• Council submitted evidence to DEFRA that air quality did not breach exposure levels and no need for speed limit to be lowered.
• Government Direction was withdrawn in July 2019.
• There is no Air Quality Action Plan or Air Quality Strategy though BDBC ‘has taken forward several initiatives in 2019 to pursue improving local air quality’ (Clean Air BDBC campaign, stickers, work with local schools on vehicle idling, electric vehicle charging hub, key themes in local plan, consultation on transport strategy);
• Attitude for the future is ‘we don’t need any Air Quality Management Areas as annual NO2 objectives are not being exceeded anywhere, we will carry on monitoring and do something if we find a problem. It’s up to individuals to minimise their use of cars, bonfires, coal and wood burning stoves’.

With an all-out election coming in May we encourage readers to ask the candidates about their plans to reduce air pollution in the Borough.  In particular, we should like to know how “business as usual” after the pandemic can be restored while keeping whatever air quality benefits the lockdowns have had (which will be evident in the “2021” report).

Cars trying to join Basingstoke bypass on a winter morning, January 2018.

 

https://www.hants.gov.uk/aboutthecouncil/haveyoursay/visionforhampshire2050

The Hampshire 2050 Commission of Inquiry reported in 2019, and more recently, on 21st July 2020, held a meeting on “Creating a Sustainable Hampshire”, the report of which is here:

https://www.hants.gov.uk/aboutthecouncil/haveyoursay/visionforhampshire2050/hampshire-2050-partnership/21-july-2020

This (virtual) meeting looked at five key areas:

1. Rebuilding a more sustainable economy
2. Cutting air pollution and promoting active travel
3. Creating greener, digitally connected homes
4. Supporting the vulnerable
5. Promoting the natural environment

The report is worth reading and drawing to the attention of Borough and local/parish councillors, especially on matters of planning.  It identified ten priority projects (comments in italics are mine):

1.Development of a Green Homes retrofit programme potentially linked to the government’s Green Homes Grant initiative and involving corporate partners. (Make sure new homes don’t need the retrofit)

2.Building a digital inclusivity strategy helping to cut carbon emissions and support vulnerable groups.

3.Further boosting low carbon community energy initiatives to increase awareness and up-take. (This might require reversal of planning presumptions against onshore wind.)

4.Exploring what a ’15-minute community’ looks like in reality potentially testing the concept in Winchester and/or Portsmouth.

5.Boosting the electrification of transport covering commercial as well as public sectors. (Hampshire CC is at present considering a transport plan including mass rapid transit for Basingstoke)

6.Developing a pioneering airport and port initiative showcasing a new way of operating that cuts carbon.

7.Further boosting tree-planting and access to nature for all sections of society. (Strategic thinking on green infrastructure is necessary.)

8.Building a sustainable food strategy for the county seeking to reduce food waste, encourage healthy eating and reduce environmental impact. (This might feed through into domestic waste disposal policy in Basingstoke.)

9.Explore the feasibility of creating a county-wide carbon literacy programme boosting awareness and inspiring people to reduce carbon emissions.

10.Further evolve a circular economy strategy for the county starting with the highest impact areas.

One of the overarching principles is that: “There was agreement that increased efforts should be made to build a wider coalition of collaborators”, including local and community initiatives.

homegrown marrowfat peas – sustainable food strategy

BTN urges its supporters to comment on the Borough Council’s consultations on the Local Plan, and on Climate Change and Air Pollution.  See:

(a) Local Plan Update – deadline Monday 9^th November

https://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/issues-and-options

(b) Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy – deadline Sunday 15^th November

https://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/climate-consultation

BTN will be considering its collective response on Tuesday 3rd November 2020 and would welcome your views – contact secretary@basingstoketransition.org

It is important, though, that you put in your comments as an individual as well as letting us know.

From Sheila Peacock, secretary, BTN: I spent an afternoon reading the government’s proposal for reforming the English planning laws, which are at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/launch-of-planning-for-the-future-consultation-to-reform-the-planning-system

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/planning-for-the-future

Deadline is 11:45 pm on 29th October (that will be GMT since the clocks go
back the previous Saturday – so you get an extra hour to ponder it – !!)

There are some good and some alarming suggestions in this document, and the implications for house-building, infrastructure and local democracy in Basingstoke and Deane are profound.  I shan’t try to colour your thoughts with mine, but urge every supporter of BTN to have a look and make a comment.