January 14th, 2010
Irresponsible and unacceptable – this was how environmentalist Rebecca Lush described the building of the Weymouth Relief Road which got underway last year. The views of thousands of environmental protestors and locals were ignored, irrevocably scarring an area of natural beauty and dramatically increasing traffic, congestion and Co2 levels in the area. Even the incredible discovery of an ancient Roman burial site during clearance work, did nothing to slow the destruction process…
For more pictures and information visit the Bypass The Bypass website where you can also register your support and/or make a donation.
Tags: 2012 Olympics, Bypass the Bypass, carbon emissions, Green Olympics, Weymouth Relief Road | Posted in 2012, New Road Protests, carbon emissions, environment
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June 29th, 2009
Set 35 yrs into the future, time is the predominant theme. From the minute the opening credits start to roll there’s no escaping it, or more specifically, the lack of it. The impressive opening sets an ominous tone, but the cut to supposedly ‘special’ effects representing the impact of climate change on society, although believable as concepts, sadly are not believable as effects.
Things only get worse once the Archive is introduced; a computer generated ‘Matrix’ like structure so foreboding it has to be accompanied by the mandatory clap of thunder every time it’s in shot – it’s more evil villain’s lair than last vestige of civilization. Unfortunately the Archivist Pete Postlethwaite goes on to utterly ruin this film and I can’t stress this strongly enough. The whole idea of the archivist is an appallingly week structure on which to hang such an important narrative, turning a series of fascinating documentaries, into nothing more than Government Warning Footage for schools. It’s not Pete Postlethwaite’s fault, but this character belittles the audience to such a degree you cringe every time he comes onto screen.
Of course there is a seriously powerful message; the film is engineered to make you want to pass the word around. In a perfect world everybody must watch this film and act upon it immediately before it’s too late. Naturally, nobody will really enjoy it, but everyone should see it – seriously.
Together with the educational message there is a liberal dishing out of shame and guilt along side healthy measures of blame, particularly if you live in the developed world. Quite rightly so – the depth and scale of unashamed and revolting corporate corruption is truly shocking. Facts and statistics are brilliantly illustrated, e.g. the immoral and irresponsible actions of Shell Oil in Nigeria and the utter and indiscriminate rape of Africa throughout the ages. The price other people are having to pay for the west’s extravagance and thoughtlessness is really driven home.
All of the above are forgivable, in fact pretty much unavoidable in a film with this subject matter. However, there is very little hope and I think that is a failing. The futility of mankind’s situation corrodes any faith in humanity you may previously have held. Designed to rally people into positive action before it’s too late, it succeeds in casting serious doubt as to whether humanity can even be saved from itself or whether reducing, halting or reversing our carbon emissions is just beyond us.
… Still want to see it? Well you should.
Starring: Pete Postlethwaite. Director: Franny Armstrong
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Tags: Age of Stupid, carbon emissions, Climate Change, Film, Global Warming, Review | Posted in Airport Protests, Climate Change, New Road Protests, Transport
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June 12th, 2009
At least 45 dismembered skeletons have been discovered in a burial pit by archaeologists digging on the site of the planned £87m relief road in Dorset.
The road has been heavily contested on the grounds that it will irrevocably scar an area of outstanding natural beauty. Protestors also contend that the road, which is intended to provide better transport links for the UK sailing venue for forthcoming Olympic games, is unnecessary when taking into account the huge carbon footprint it will generate and that Weymouth’s infrastructure will be unable to cope with the extra traffic the road will create.
David Score, project manager for Oxford Archaeology, called the find ‘remarkable’ saying “We have counted 45 skulls so far, these are in one section of the pit, and several torsos and leg bones in separate sections of the pit. It is rare to find a burial site like this one.”
Experts think that the skulls are predominately those of young men. “At the moment we don’t fully understand how or why the remains have come to be deposited in the pit but it seems highly likely that some kind of catastrophic event such as war, disease or execution has occurred.”
At present it doesn’t look as though this momentous find will impact upon Dorset County Council’s highways project. Mass demonstrations, eco campers living in the trees and continued impassioned pleas from locals and supporters of the campaign Bypass the Bypass have so far been unsuccessful to halt works.
Tags: Archeological find, Dorset County Council, Olympics, skulls, Weymouth Relief Road | Posted in New Road Protests, News
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April 28th, 2009
As Dorset County Council are busy wrecking Ancient Woodland in Two Mile Coppice, destroying ancient trees, hundreds of years old in preparation for a few weeks in the summer of 2012, I thought it was worth re-capping on a few salient points made by Rebecca Lush in March 2007. She delivered a brilliant speech to the seemingly deaf ears of the DCC Planning Committee.
Explaining Natural England’s objections to the Weymouth Relief Roacd scheme, Rebecca Lush pointed out that the organization is a statutory environmental body with a duty to protect Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, including investigating proposed road schemes. She emphasized that with a limited budget Natural England could ill afford to object to road schemes unnecessarily.
Natural England contracted out the examination and analysis of the Weymouth Relief Road scheme to the research body Transport Research Laboratory. Their findings were that ‘the traffic case for the scheme did not add up – that the road simply would not work, by dumping more traffic into the town. It would actually increase congestion in Weymouth. They advised Natural England that the scheme was therefore not a justified intrusion into the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.’
The crucial point here is that Natural England’s objection is based upon hard analytic evidence undertaken by a professional and impartial body. The fact remains, that the findings of the TRL clearly state that ‘the road scheme will not work on its own terms.’
As Rebecca Lush very neatly concludes and not without a hint of irony; “The national taxpayer will be paying anywhere between £77m and £100m to destroy nationally important natural assets for a road scheme that won’t even work, and will increase traffic, congestions and CO2 in an era when we must do all we can to move towards a low carbon economy. This is irresponsible and unacceptable.”
I could not agree more – estimated in Dorset County Council’s Environmental Statement that the additional traffic generated will increase CO2 emissions by 2347 tonnes, it seems ludicrous that this scheme even got the go ahead, let alone that as I type this, the above mentioned Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are being destroyed.
For more information and to read Rebecca Lush’s speech in full visit:
Bypass The Bypass website at: www.bypassthebypass.org
You can also register your support and/or make a donation at the above address
Tags: Climate Change, CO2 Emissions, Dorset County Council, Olympics, transport debate, Weymouth Relief Road | Posted in New Road Protests
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April 21st, 2009
At the end of the day, the best way to get about for our bodies and our environment is always going to be under our own steam. Left to our own devises, who wouldn’t want to travel this way? After all in many cases the journey is as much an experience as the destination. Unfortunately for us, despite all of our time saving devises, time is always critical. We can seldom afford the luxury of walking, cycling and smelling the flowers on route . Time is very often money; we need to get to where we are going quickly, efficiently and hopefully with as little impact on the environment as we can possible get away with.
Driving in a relatively fuel-efficient car (25-30 miles per gallon) usually generates fewer greenhouse-gas emissions than flying. According to the environmental website Grist.org, a trip of around 300 miles, would generate about 104 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) in a typical medium-sized car, regardless of the number of passengers. Flying that same distance on a commercial jet would produce some 184 kilograms of CO2 per passenger.
From an economical standpoint however, the high price of fuel means that it would be far more cost efficient to hop on a cheap internal flight than to drive a long distance. Of course, you would also have to factor in the time spent in restaurants and hotels along the way and of course the extra time it would take to get there.
Perhaps before over analyzing the best way to get somewhere, we should first spend some time considering exactly where we are going and why….
Tags: carbon emissions, ethical transport, fuel efficiency | Posted in New Road Protests
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April 15th, 2009
Plans for the Weymouth Relief Road are being fast tracked in order to support the sailing events at the 2012 Olympics.
The road has long been a topic of great contention with protesters desperately trying to make their case heard. Proposed construction by Skanska, is due to commence at the beginning of 2010 and will cut a deep wound in the chalk hills of the Dorset Downs, destroy ancient woodland and of course contribute significantly to rising CO2 levels. The question is – is this damage worth it for a brief stint in the global limelight in the summer of 2012?
The website for The Campaign to Protect Rural England summarized this neatly saying; ‘So much for a “Green Olympics” when the 2012 event is used to justify environmental destruction and increased carbon emissions on this scale.’ For more info visit http://www.cpre.org.uk/news/view/386
The Skanska Construction contract is due to be completed at County Hall on Wednesday 13th June.
Tags: Olympics, Weymouth Relief Road | Posted in New Road Protests
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