Failure of St Matthews tenants association to achieve a cleaner, greener St Matthews
The first question I have is about planning permissions. Let me illustrate.
It doesn't take a genius to work out which is the best for children, a few trees or a carpark!
I will be asking Ms Jean Williams, the Chair of St Matthews Tenants Association how she can justify the spending of money on unregulated car parking as opposed to say keeping the Contact Project - a local social enterprise that actually engaged with the young people of the estate- going.
From the latest annual report of the TA it seems that a lot more people want a cleaner, greener estate then want car parking.
I have also heard on the grapevine that the Lord Mayors £20 million fund for communities is only listening to one voice from the estate . This would be a mistake as it seems that Ms Williams is not listening to the people and is not to be trusted with the future planning of the estate unless we want our children to live in a place dominated by car parking and concrete.
I am sure that my two and a half year old has the right to play without having diesel fumes blown in his face. What is the Lord Mayor doing to help the children on the St Matthews get their fair share of clean air. Does my son have an enforceable right to clean air or at the very least air that complies with the legal standards required by EU membership.
Yesterday the Estate had another heavy spray of gyphosate to kill the few small plants that might support bees, or filter the air, or capture carbon or any other of the right things we should be doing.
Enough is enough I say, plant more trees, dig up some of the carparks and stop spraying that cancer causing chemical in our childrens play areas without even applying the basic safety standards of the chemical manufacturer. For example no children or animals should enter the area sprayed for at least 4 hours. The WHO says this chemical is carcinogenic, France, Denmark and Sweden are not keen to renew the EU licence for this chemical.
Just to remind you the last chair of the parliamentary committee that licence glyphosate here in the UK had a £35,000 stipend from Monsanto - a major manufacturer of glyphosate - registered in the House of Commons registrar of interests.
I am asking for an immediate halt on the use of glyphosate on the estate and if anybody from policy in the city council is reading this, please explain the policy using the comments form.
I will be photographing the damage tomorrow and posting the pictures here.
This sign needed planning permission.
This carpark didn't.
Which one had the biggest effect on local people and their built environment?
The same road had two other car parks built on it that also had no planning permission. Check planning applications for Manitoba Rd, St Matthews here . These car parks were paid for with money made available to the local tenants association to meet the most pressing demands of their constituency and to improve life on the estate.
Remember over half of the population on the estate are children who have no say in the shaping of the environment they are to grow up in.
Let me remind you
Manitoba Rd in 2008 and 2016
It doesn't take a genius to work out which is the best for children, a few trees or a carpark!
I will be asking Ms Jean Williams, the Chair of St Matthews Tenants Association how she can justify the spending of money on unregulated car parking as opposed to say keeping the Contact Project - a local social enterprise that actually engaged with the young people of the estate- going.
From the latest annual report of the TA it seems that a lot more people want a cleaner, greener estate then want car parking.
I have also heard on the grapevine that the Lord Mayors £20 million fund for communities is only listening to one voice from the estate . This would be a mistake as it seems that Ms Williams is not listening to the people and is not to be trusted with the future planning of the estate unless we want our children to live in a place dominated by car parking and concrete.
I am sure that my two and a half year old has the right to play without having diesel fumes blown in his face. What is the Lord Mayor doing to help the children on the St Matthews get their fair share of clean air. Does my son have an enforceable right to clean air or at the very least air that complies with the legal standards required by EU membership.
Yesterday the Estate had another heavy spray of gyphosate to kill the few small plants that might support bees, or filter the air, or capture carbon or any other of the right things we should be doing.
Enough is enough I say, plant more trees, dig up some of the carparks and stop spraying that cancer causing chemical in our childrens play areas without even applying the basic safety standards of the chemical manufacturer. For example no children or animals should enter the area sprayed for at least 4 hours. The WHO says this chemical is carcinogenic, France, Denmark and Sweden are not keen to renew the EU licence for this chemical.
Just to remind you the last chair of the parliamentary committee that licence glyphosate here in the UK had a £35,000 stipend from Monsanto - a major manufacturer of glyphosate - registered in the House of Commons registrar of interests.
I am asking for an immediate halt on the use of glyphosate on the estate and if anybody from policy in the city council is reading this, please explain the policy using the comments form.
I will be photographing the damage tomorrow and posting the pictures here.
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