Cardiff Greens - If this saves just one childs life it will be worth it!

‘If this saves just one child’s life then it will be worth it...’

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/wales-news/2007/11/30/if-this-saves-just-one-child-s-life-then-it-will-be-worth-it-91466-20183897/

Nov 30 2007 by Phillip Nifield, South Wales Echo

GREEN campaigners have launched a drive for 20mph speed limits to be introduced across Cardiff.

Cardiff Green Party’s “20’s Plenty” campaign is aimed at persuading the city’s council to follow the lead of authorities such as Portsmouth, where 85 per cent of its residential roads will have the reduced speed limit by the end of this year.

Parents living in the Canton area have given their support to efforts to slow down traffic on residential streets.

Jake Griffiths, secretary of Cardiff Green Party, said: “Most of us want to live in a quiet, pleasant street, a safe street in which children can play out alone.

“Nobody wants to live in a hostile street which you cannot walk across thanks to fast-moving traffic or one that is an occasional racetrack.

“When traffic is slowed, existing 20mph zones show that people begin to enjoy their environments and use local amenities more.

“If this campaign results in the saving of child’s life or from having a serious accident in Cardiff it will have been worth it.

“It could also significantly improve the prospect of Cardiff being able to achieve its target of increasing people cycling in the city and reducing the levels of childhood obesity.”

Mum Sarah Manners, who has boys aged three and eight and lives in Canton, said: “I think it is long overdue and would support it.

“Child safety is really important. Certainly vehicles speeding through residential streets does not encourage parents to let their children walk to school, although I do.

“We need tightening up on speed limits and stiffer penalties for those who break them.”

Fellow Canton mum Eirian Rees, who also has two children, added: “I live in a block end street, but we still get motorists reversing down at high speed in frustration when they find they cannot get through. Action is needed to slow down traffic.”

phillip.nifield@mediawales.co.uk

http://www.greenparty.org.uk/

Stockholm 'world's most livable city'

No surprise there then ..wonder where Cardiff came? Pretty low I would guess ..being a car orientated city ..

Stockholm is the world's greenest, most livable city, according to a survey carried out by the Reader's Digest magazine.

Using a range of sources, environmental economist Matthew Kahn, from UCLA's Institute of the Environment, ranked 72 major international in terms of how 'green and livable' they are.

Environmental legislation, energy prices, waste production and disposal and available parkland were among the factors considered.

Stockholm was ranked number one, followed by Oslo in second place.

http://www.thelocal.se/8578/
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/8578/
"You shouldn't boast, but Stockholm is the world's most beautiful city," said mayor Kristina Axén Olin .

"I get happy every time I come back to Stockholm after being away. We probably don't realise what a unique environment we have," she told Aftonbladet.

A third Scandinavian city, Copenhagen, was ranked tenth, but the top ten was dominated by German and French cities.

Munich was third, with Frankfurt (5th), Stuttgart (6th) and Dusseldorf (8th) completing a German quadruple. Paris was rated the fourth most livable city in the world, with Lyon and Nantes in 7th and 9th places respectively.

The first American city to make an appearance was New York, in 15th spot, while London only managed 27th place.

Reader's Digest also ranked countries and, as is usually the case with these kinds of surveys, the Nordic nations grabbed the top spots. Finland was top, given high marks "for air and water quality, a low incidence of infant disease, and how well it protects citizens from water pollution and natural disasters".

Iceland came second, with Norway and Sweden in third and fourth places.

The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)



Living Green
http://www.rd.com/content/greenest-locations-on-the-globe/3/;jsessionid=84A6BE610B0479316CD56C8026A2FD3F.app2_rd1
Ranking the best (and worst) countries.
By Matthew E. Kahn, PhD, and Fran Lostys
From Reader's Digest October 2007

How Countries Rate
Top 5

1. Finland

2. Iceland

3. Norway

4. Sweden

5. Austria

Bottom 5

137. Chad

138. Burkina Faso

139. Sierra Leone

140. Niger

141. Ethiopia

Air Quality
Rates concentration of several pollutants in urban areas

1. Moldova

8. Finland

63. United States

126. Ethiopia

141. Guatemala

The World's Greenest, Most Livable Cities
Using different data, we analyzed 72 major international cities and ranked them in terms of being green and livable. The sources included The Millennium Cities Database for Sustainable Transport (2001) by Jeff Kenworthy and Felix Laube of Australia's Murdoch University, the World Bank's Development Economic Research Group Estimates, and our own reporting on local environmental laws, energy prices, garbage production and disposal, and parkland.

5 Best

1. Stockholm

2. Oslo

3. Munich

4. Paris

5. Frankfurt

5 Worst

68. Bangkok

69. Guangzhou

70. Mumbai

71. Shanghai

72. Beijing

How U.S. Cities Rate

15. New York

22. Washington, D.C.

23. Chicago

26. San Francisco

36. Atlanta

43. Denver

46. Houston

55. San Diego

57. Los Angeles

60. Phoenix

Water Quality
Rates pollutant levels as well as other factors that affect water purity

1. Norway

2. Finland

22. United States

127. Ethiopia

141. Morocco

Greenhouse Gases
Rates carbon emissions per capita and by GDP

1. Chad

18. Ethiopia

75. Finland

107. United States

141. Turkmenistan

Energy Efficiency
Rates conservation efforts and use of renewables such as hydropower

1. D.R. Congo

17. Ethiopia

66. Finland

106. United States

141. Trinidad & Tobago

Environmental Health
Rates childhood mortality, disease; deaths from intestinal infections

1. Austria

8. Finland

125. Ethiopia

16. United States

141. Turkmenistan

New Labour turn its back on a cleaner and greener Wales

Forgotten what it was like?

Re-open St Mary St now, says opposition
Story in the Echo Sep 1 2007 by David James, South Wales Echo THE leading opposition group on Cardiff council today demanded immediate changes to the “ill-thought-out” St Mary Street traffic ban. Cardiff council’s New Labour leader, John Sheppard, said the ban was “badly-timed, ill-thought-out and has been the subject of inadequate consultation”.

Obviously this new labour dinosaur has forgotten his New Labour Manifesto
where NEW Labour talk about "A cleaner and greener Wales, safe, green transport system, a green Wales.......In our first and second

terms Labour pioneered action to promote sustainability and to make our communities greener and cleaner. In a third term we will implement practical policies to tackle climate change and improve the local environment. We are determined to leave a clean, green and sustainable Wales for future generations and not a legacy of pollution and non-sustainable Development... We will promote new opportunities for walking and cycling and provide public transport alternatives to the car. Whoops John Sheppard Leader of the New Labour group on the council has forgotten where he is with policy altogether ..New labour policy on Cars: Road pricing is a key Labour policy, with plans to charge motorists according to how much and where they drive. The party is also looking into introducing the congestion charge in major towns and cities across the country. Is he sure he knows what party he is in?

I recall the WWF calling for .."Better leadership is needed to reduce Wales' impact on the world - A major report launched 10 March revealed that Welsh politicians need radical changes to reduce the impact of Wales' population on the world. A WWF survey demonstrates that increasingly people in Wales are becoming more environmentally aware and expect strong leadership from Governments to tackle the ongoing threats of climate change, waste mountains and traffic congestion," said Stuart Bond, Sustainable Development Officer for WWF Cymru."

People in Wales and in Cardiff want a cleaner more environmentally friendly city.

Cardiff Council said in its in depth report in 2004 that it had recognised that to ensure that the City does not become grid locked in the future it must start planning now. To this end the Executive in February published a green paper on Transport, followed in May by a white paper entitled “Getting Cardiff Moving”.(Report of the Environmental Scrutiny Committee 2004) Where was Cllr John Sheppard then if he was on the council from 1995 - not a cheep until today and now he gets cold feet - this is the worst sort of political opportunism!!

Julie Morgan New Labour MP said "The first step to achieving a debate based on sound evidence is to try and see through local pilot schemes how road pricing can tackle local congestion."

City centre retailers underestimate the number of their customers arriving by bus, walk and cycle and their spend profile and overestimate the number and effect of car borne customers.

A commission for integrated transport study revealed that public transport users do not spend significantly less than car users in city centre, particularly once income bias is eliminated. Therefore, any reduction of existing car shoppers should not result in significantly less retail spend. People travelling by bus, cycling and walking are more likely to support their city centre, visiting it more frequently than car users.

It is a myth that reducing traffic will harm the economy.

Research carried out by the German Institute for Urban Research6 indicates that a sustainable transport approach benefits trade in German towns. It says: "Retail trade in central city districts increases with policies that encourage environmentally friendly transport
Modes” Another German study showed there was no relationship between the amount of car parking provision and the amount of money people spent in shops.

SHEPPARD. John B.A. Dip. Educ. MBA.11, Hardwicke Court Llandaff CARDIFF CF5 2LB
Tel: 0292 553810 Fax: 02920553810 feedback: Contact the Councillor (No Email required)
Portfolio:
Serving the Llandaff Electoral Division, elected on 10 June 2004 John was first elected on 04 May 1995. The Llandaff electoral division has an electorate of 7270 (1 December 2005) and has 2 seats.