Flood plain protest same issues as the Climate Camp?

[Gerrard Winstanley]

Simon,

The an umbilical link between building runways and marauding 
housebuilding companies truly is stretching a point. No it's a 
different constituncy and I'll wager you won't find much support for 
the Heathrow protest in Tewkesbury. 

Most of the people who care about corporte housebuilding excesses 
don't buy into the whole extended climate change agenda which IMHO is 
diverting activists from civil rights into pseudo-science. The fact 
that the ecnonomy is about to collapse, Britain has introduced 
internment, Brian Haw is under seige, the Russians are pulling out of 
the European Peace Treaty signed after world war two and the Israelis 
and Yanks are could be about to nuke Iran. 

Anyway - I'm sure you don't agree with some of that but its more 
reason why this list should stick firmly to TLIO's original aims and 
not get sidelined by Climate Change which is a long haul flight away 
from Land Ownership and distribution which is at the root of so much 
of the nation's problems.

When Britain started getting colder it wasn't any more to do with 
'global warming' became 'climate change'. I don't know enough about 
the science to get excited about it - but there is no science or 
pseudo-science necessary to fight for land rights.

I used to work in Aviation and hate to see the excesses the 
privatisation of BAA has led to. Most of the expansion has been quite 
literaly fuelled by the oil companies, as well as wealth being 
chanelled into business rather than private hands with business 
expense accounts accounting for over 80% of bums on plane seats now. 

Anyway I hope we can agree to differ.... Can we concentrate on our 
snappy little house prices campaign and make something of it. Mark 
promised to organise a meeting in Somerset which hasn't materialised.

Tony


--- In diggers350 at yahoogroups.com, Simon Fairlie <chapter7 at ...> wrote:
>
> Pity they didn't come to Heathrow, it would have made more publicity 
 
> for both causes.
> 
> Simon
> 
> 
> On 18 Aug 2007, at 22:04, Tony Gosling wrote:
> 
> > Thousands take part in Tewkesbury flood plain protest
> >
> > INCLUDING Intl. Economic meltdown briefings
> > http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a.TCzAjLnkKY
> > http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2304.shtml
> >
> > March against flood-plain housing
> > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/6952502.stm
> >
> > Residents of one of the worst-hit towns during last month's 
flooding
> > crisis have staged a march against any plans to build on flood 
plains.
> >
> > Thousands of people walked through Tewkesbury in the rain on  
> > Saturday to
> > urge the government to review its policy on such development.
> >
> > Organisers wanted to highlight the devastation caused by flooding.
> >
> > The government has not ruled out using flood plains under plans to 
 
> > build
> > three million new homes by 2020.
> >
> > The march began at 1400 BST and a moment's silence was held for  
> > those who
> > lost their lives in the floods.
> >
> > It does need the government to look at the issue again
> > Philip Workman Tewkesbury town councillor
> >
> > Tewkesbury resident Mary Daff, 59, told BBC News that her house 
had
> > flooded and she was not expecting to be back in until December.
> >
> > "There has been a good turnout for the march and the mood is  
> > cheerful,"
> > she added.
> >
> > Hundreds of homes and businesses were damaged in Tewkesbury after 
the
> > Rivers Severn and Avon burst their banks in July.
> >
> > Chuck Pavey, who sits on the town council, said: "Any change has  
> > got to
> > come from the top down.
> >
> > "Ministers who say we shouldn't rule out building on the flood 
plain
> > should come and live here.
> >
> > "There were over a thousand homes flooded here - many of them 
brand  
> > new -
> > and some of the businesses will never reopen."
> >
> > 'Better alternatives'
> >
> > Town councillor Philip Workman added: "We have been through an  
> > absolutely
> > awful time in Tewkesbury.
> >
> > "Many, many hundreds of people have been flooded out and it is a  
> > case of
> > highlighting the fact that this is a very real problem for us."
> >
> > The government should think "out of the box" when considering  
> > building on
> > flood plains, he said.
> >
> > "It is a difficult problem, but it does need the government to 
look  
> > at the
> > issue again to review its policy on building on flood plains  
> > because it
> > just seems to the average person a nonsensical thing to do," he 
added.
> >
> > In July, Housing Minister Yvette Cooper told MPs no new building  
> > should
> > take place in areas with severe flood risks, although the 
government's
> > Housing Green Paper is less definitive.
> >
> > It says it should be avoided "if better alternatives can be found  
> > in the
> > same area".
> >
> > Ms Cooper had earlier said some new homes would be built on flood  
> > plains,
> > subject to appropriate flood defences.
> >
> > A spokesman from the Communities and Local Government department  
> > added:
> > "It is councils who decide whether to give planning permissions 
for  
> > new
> > housing developments, but we have introduced the strongest 
planning  
> > rules
> > ever to ensure they properly manage the risk of flooding.
> >
> > "The new planning rules require councils to consult with the  
> > Environment
> > Agency before allowing new building in flood risk areas."
> >
> > Story from BBC NEWS:
> > http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/ 
> > 6952502.stm
> > Published: 2007/08/18 14:52:05 GMT
> >
> > 5.27PM - THOUSANDS TAKE PART IN FLOODS PROTEST MARCH
> > http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp? 
> > 
nodeId=231771&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231754&home=yes&more_n 
> > odeId1=231776&contentPK=18140197
> > Thousands of people have taken part in a march in Tewkesbury to  
> > protest
> > against any plans to build on flood plains.
> > Residents and politicians braved the rain in the hope of 
persuading  
> > the
> > Government to review its policy on such developments.
> > Current policy has not ruled out using flood plains in plans for 
three
> > million new homes to be built in the next 13 years.
> > The march began at 2pm with a minute's silence for the victims of  
> > the July
> > floods.
> > For the full story, please see Monday's editions of the  
> > Gloucestershire
> > Echo and the Citizen.
> >
> > -- 
> > www.public-interest.co.uk
> > www.new-byzantium.org
> > www.radiodialect.net
> > www.cultureshop.org
> > www.evnuk.org.uk
> > www.tlio.org.uk
> >
> > BRISTOL
> > +44 117 944 6219
> >
> >  
>