effect of Olympic bid on North East London

This morning I was interviewed by BBC London about the Green Party's view regarding today's meeting to decide which firm will be appointed Masterplanners for the Olympic bid. I stressed our view that the Olympics could be of great benefit to London, but that the current bid was the wrong bid at the wrong time.

The company that is appointed today will have to prepare the masterplan by the end of November, giving them less than four months to set up, run and draw conclusions from consultation with local communities. The masterplan will impact on the lives of Londoners for generations, whether or not the Olympic bid is successful. No matter how good they are as planners, no company can run a genuine consultation about a project of this scale in the time they have been given.

The interview should be broadcast on BBC London News at 6.30pm this evening on BBC One.

internal organisation

At this stage in an election campaign (10 months out), there is still a fair amount of planning to be done and I spent the last two evenings in organising meetings.

Elthorne Community Festival

I spent Sunday running the Islington Green Party stall at the Elthorne Community Festival, which has spread out in recent years to cover the whole of Elthorne Park and Sunnyside Gardens. This really is an excellent festival, strongly supported by the local community - it managed to keep Jessica (9) entertained all afternoon as well as enabling those of us on the stall to meet many existing and potential Green supporters.

Hackney Green Party booksale

I spent an enjoyable Saturday morning helping out at Hackney Green Party's fundraising booksale in Stoke Newington. This also gave me an opportunity to visit Stoke Newington Farmers' market.

effect of the Olympics on Hackney

Last night I spoke at a meeting organised by Hackney Environment Forum about the impact of a bid to host the 2012 Olympics in London.

The meeting was well attended and I was joined on the panel by representatives from the Mayor of London's office, Lea Valley Park, Hackney Council and by a Labour member of the London Assembly.

Some very positive commitments were given by the Mayor's office, including a commitment that no permament or temporary development would take place on Hackney Marshes or London Fields. When pushed about the exact meaning and geographical boundaries of this commitment, a degree of uncertainty crept in, but there is a promise to make a definitive statement in the near future - something I will report here when it is made.

However, on many of the key issues of social, economic and environmental impact, such as transport links, the creation of long-term rather than temporary jobs and the development of low-impact facilities with a genuine value to the community long after the games are finished, the responses were peppered with far to many "ifs" and "aspirations" for my liking and for the majority of the people at the meeting.

It is one thing to state that a London Olympics must improve on the standard set by Sydney's "Green Games", but it is quite another to deliver. From the audience response to my comments compared with the response to those of the Labour politicians and the Mayor's advisor, it was clear that many people are not yet happy with the assurances that are being made.

The Mayor's advisor stated that "if we can't convince the people of East London that the games will deliver long-term economic, social and environmental benefits to their area then we will not win the games." Last night's meeting showed that the bid if a long way from meeting those criteria. The consultation process will go on until November and the bid will be submitted in January 2004, it is vital that individuals and other local groups engage in the formal consultation structure and arrange independent meetings like the one last night to make sure that if this bid id to go ahead it does so for the benefit of the people of East London and not for the benefit of corporate sponsors like Nike, McDonalds and Coca Cola.

recycling in Islington

I was quoted today in the Islington Gazette about the LibDem Council's low ambitions for recycling. A London-wide fund is passing money to North London councils to improve recycling with a target of 17% of all waste recycled. I pointed out that even if this target were reached it would leave over 80% of household waste to be incinerated or dummped in landfill. I called on the council to be more ambitious in their targets and to aim to reduce waste as well as increasing recycling rates.

killing of Saddam's sons

This letter was sent to the London morning newspaper "Metro" in my capacity as the Green Party's national speaker on peace and defence issues.

"It is shocking that the US troops in Iraq have stampeded a villa in Iraq
and shot dead Saddam's two sons instead of seeking to capture them and bring them to trial for their crimes. (Metro, 24th July)

"The Green Party maintain that the proper way to deal with all tyrants is through international criminals courts, not through assassination. It has also emerged that a 14 year old boy may have been killed in the shoot out. This outrageous act will not aid the US and British forces in Iraq, it will only make their job more dangerous and infuriate the Iraqi people.

"By engaging in summary executions and the murder of children the British
and American governments come closer to Saddam's brutal regime than the democratic ideals they espouse for the future of Iraq. The occupying powers in Iraq must set an example to the world by adhering to international laws and seeking to bring the criminals of the former regime to justice."

Jon Nott
Green Party defence spokesperson

technical bits

Day two of this blog, which is still hosted for free at blogspot on a template.

I'm lining up a transfer to www.jonnott.org.uk and hopefully I'll dig out the FTP details in time to shift over by the weekend.

Next technical priority is to do some work on the template so that it is a more appropriate colour and includes some images.

introduction

Hi, I'm Jon Nott. I live and work in Islington.

I'm the Green Party's candidate for the North East London constituency of the London Assembly. I'm also standing for the Green Party's London-wide list.

This blog will keep you up to date with my campaigns to get more Greens elected at all levels, in order to deliver the London we all deserve.