Environment Report Backs Our Campaign Against Third Runway

Yesterday (Tuesday) in Parliament a report by the Environmental Change Institute of Oxford University was published assessing the impact of aviation on our environment and climate change. It examines in substantial detail whether the Government's policy of supporting the expansion of air travel will enable it to meet its commitment to a 60% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. This is the UK's major contribution to averting the climate change threat to our planet.

This independent scientific report states firmly that "the UK will be unable to meet its targets for reducing climate change impacts without action to curb the demand for air travel." The report describes how under existing government policy air passenger movements would increase from about 200 million a year in 2003 to 470 million a year in 2030. This is set to double the emissions coming from aviation between 2000 and 2030 and could increase to between 4 and 10 times between 1990 and 2050.

According to the report the UK generates more flights than any other European country and is developing an "air dependent culture" with Government estimates that there is a £17 billion deficit between the amount UK residents spend abroad than overseas visitors spend in Britain.

It is clear from the report's findings that aviation expansion as set out in the Government's Aviation White Paper last year is just not sustainable. The proposals for a third runway at Heathrow fly in the face of the Government's commitment to reduce emissions and tackle climate change.

This report is another nail in the coffin of a third runway and any further expansion at Heathrow.

Local Police Officers' Anger Over Pay Claim

Over the last month I have received quite a number of letters from Police Officers who live in Hayes and Harlington. It is not usual for an MP to receive correspondence from serving Police Officers as they are extremely careful about not appearing in any way to become involved in any form of political lobbying.

Police Officers have the same right as anybody else though if they feel that they are not being treated fairly as employees within the public sector.

Well the reason I am receiving letters from Police Officers who are my constituents is that at present they are not being treated fairly over the issue of their latest pay talks.

This is the situation. In 1978 a Committee of Inquiry under Lord Edmond Davies recommended that the unique position of Police Officers, who are unable to take industrial action and are accountable for their actions on and off duty means that their annual pay awards should be determined by an independently assessed pay formula.

Every year for 27 years this approach has operated and each year the Government has honoured the basic pay formula.

This year the annual indexation of police pay would have resulted in a 3% pay rise from 1st September.

However in August the employers backed by the Government refused to honour the agreement, despite assurances given to the Police Federation reprsenting Police officers that there would be no meddling with the pay formula.

I am writing back to Police Officers who are my constituents to tell them that I believe that the Government and Police Authorities should honour their agreement and should pay the increase that has been recommended.

Refusal to abide by the system specifically established to deal with the special circumstances of the Police is in my view a betrayal of trust.

I met with representatives of the Police Federation in Parliament this week and offered them my support in their campaign for fair pay.

Earlier this month a similar issue arose with Prison Officers. Under the last Conservative Government Prison Officers had their legal right to take industrial action taken away. When Labour was in opposition it promised the Prison Officers Association that this right would be restored.

It hasn't been and whenever Prison Officers take even the most limited forms of action such as not co-operating with extra overtime or additional duties, the union is threatened with legal action. Indeed this month the Government almost had the President and the General Secretary of the union imprisoned for contempt of court when POA members wanted to show their anger at the way they were being treated by their employers by limiting their co-operation on voluntary duties.

The Government needs to keep to its word on both the pay of Police officers and the commitment it gave to restore the basic employment rights of prison officers. Otherwise we risk undermining the morale of many of the people who serve our community in the most difficult circumstances.

The Mystery of Harmondsworth Barn

The great barn at Harmondsworth is one of our local, historical treasures, celebrated both nationally and internationally. The barn dates back to at least the 15th century.

Earlier this year the company which owned the site upon which the barn is located went into receivership. This raised real concerns within the local community about the future of the barn.

The receiver offered the barn to the local council but Hillingdon Council refused to take responsibility for this much valued local asset.

At that stage I convened a meeting of local residents at St Mary's Church in Harmondsworth to discuss how we could work together as a community to ensure that the barn was protected and secured for the future.

At that meeting we established a local community group, called "The Friends of the Great Barn of Harmondsworth." We are particularly indebted to the assistance provided by local historians Douglas Rust and Philip Sherwood in setting up the group. Our aim is to ensure the barn is secured for the enjoyment of the local community and for future generations to come.

Since then the current ownership of the barn has become something of a mystery. We have discovered that the barn is now owned by a company named "Harmondsworth Barn plc" and that this company is in turn owned by a trust located in Gibraltar.

It is believed that the trust belongs to someone who has or has had family connections with Harmondsworth.

It would be interesting to know more about the trust and who it is that has intervened to take ownership of our barn. If anyone has any information please contact me.

The new owners have appointed a managing agent for the site who has been very co-operative in his dealings with members of the local community and with our Friends group. The managing agent appears to have a real interest in ensuring the upkeep and future of the barn. The barn is a listed building and so English Heritage has also taken a close interest in the maintenance of its fabric and any decisons about its future.

The Friends of Harmondsworth Barn are presently preparing an application for a small grant to the Hillingdon Community Trust to launch a project to promote the appreciation of the barn in our local area and beyond. This project will involve republishing the history of the barn and working with local schools and colleges to produce a DVD film about the history and architecture of the barn and to produce a radio programme for broadcast on Hayes FM. The aim is to undertake this project in the New Year and to launch the film and radio programme at a seminar on the history of the barn in the summer of 2007.

If you would be interested in participating in this project or have any reminiscences of the barn please let me know. Also if you would like to become a member of the "Friends" of the barn please contact me.

This is yet another excellent example of how local people rally round whenever needed in the interests of our community.

My Local Blog Launched

I am launching my local blog this week. My aim is to use the blog to report my local activities, keep people informed of local initiatives and campaigns and also to raise issues for local people to comment on. If anyone has an issue they would like me to address this blog will give them the ideal opportunity to bring it to my attention. I am really anxious that local people use the blog not just to air their views but also to propose actions that we can take forward together as a community.

I also have a national blog which is part of my campaign to become leader of the Labour party and which I use to comment on national and international issues. You can visit this website on www.john4leader.org.uk

Locally the good news to report is that at long last work has started on the Hayes Station site. I have been campaigning for 15 years to have this derelict site regenerated and last week I visited the site to commence the construction works.

The redevelopment will include new housing both owner occupied and social housing, new shops, an arts complex, a restaurant overlooking the canal, gardens and a town square. The station will be renovated and prepared for the arrival of Crossrail.

My aim was that this regeneration initiative would kick off the redevelopment of other sites in the town centre. This appears to be happening with new proposals coming forward shortly for the redevelopment of the remainder of the former EMI site on Blyth Road.

After years of neglect and poor policy making our biggest challenge over the last two decades has been recreating Hayes Town centre as a viable and flourishing centre. With these developments we could be on the verge of realising our dream.

On the bad news side I was furious that the Council's Planning Committee agreed the Council's own planning application to demolish Judge Heath Lane Stadium, without even visiting the site in the usual manner. It was also revealed at the Planning Committee that the council had already started to dig up the stadium's running track and that not all the income from the sale of the stadium will come back to Hayes. Instead it will be used in part to subsidise projects in the North of the borough.

In my view this is a deliberate policy by the Council of asset stripping Hayes and shifting resources to fund projects in the North of the borough. If you examine the health statistics for the borough there are higher levels of morbidity and shorter life expectancy in the South of the borough. It is in our area therefore that investment should take place in sports to encourage healthier lifestyles. Selling off Judge Heath Lane stadium also flies in the face of the policies of the Government and the London Mayor urging young people and people of all ages to increase participation in sports in the run up to the London Olympics.

I am urging local residents and local community organisations to write to Ken Livingstone, the Mayor for London, at City Hall to ask him to object to the council's sell off plans and to allow us to have a public inquiry to determine the future of our stadium.

Why can't the Council work with the local community rather than against us in this way? If the council co-operated with the community we could work together to bid for funds from the government and the lottery to refurbish our stadium for future generations and not lose this valuable site forever.