Incinerator not an Option decide Labour Party Environment Forum
At Peterborough Labour Party Environment Forum, Labour Party members and environmentalists got together at The Glass Onion on Wednesday 4th June to discuss Environmental Issues affecting Peterborough and the Country as a whole both now and in the future.
Many issues were discussed and will be fed upwards to The Labour Party National Policy forum as well as local issues being taken forward to The Peterborough Labour Party for consideration in Local Parliamentary and City Council campaigning and policy making.
Attendees included Ed Murphy, Labour Party Parliamentary Spokesperson who added to a very progressive debate with environmentalists including representatives from Greenpeace and Eco-Art Projects.
The Forum was held to coincide with Peterborough Environment Fortnight which ends on Sunday and is part of a continuing programme of "Labour Listens Forums" to be held over the coming year.
Some clear messages from the meeting on Wednesday include:
< Tightening up the Climate Change Bill to include yearly targets
< Phasing out inefficient light bulbs but having clearer methods of disposal
< More information on what can be recycled
< Bigger and better British built Wind farms
A clear agreement that The Incinerator is not an option to reduce landfill but is just an easy soft option being pursued by The City Council that Peterborough Labour Party will continue to oppose.
There was a majority view that Nuclear Power is not the answer for our future energy needs and that future building of power stations should be cancelled.
There was discussion about local power generation and Transport in Peterborough.
The meeting agreed that Peterborough City Council just plays lip service to sustainable public transport and that alternative transport in addition to extending bus services should be looked at.
This could include Trams and/or Light Railway using existing unused lines as previously suggested by former Councillor Ray Palmer.
At Present Peterborough does not entirely deserve the title of Environment Capital City, we need to be more radical to achieve this accolade.
Angus Ellis
Peterborough Labour Party Chair | 
