Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Crawcrook Coffee Morning

LIBERAL Democrats in Blaydon Constituency will be holding a coffee morning on Saturday 28th March at Holy Spirit Hall in Crawcrook from 9.30am to 11.30am.

Local groups will have stalls selling a variety of local crafts and there will be a jam stall as well.

All residents are welcome to call in.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Gibside Farmers Market

National Trust owned Gibside hosts a monthly farmers’ market. There are stalls selling a variety of locally produced foods, drinks and crafts. Forthcoming markets are on the following Saturdays from 10am to 3pm: 18 April, 16 May, 20 June, 15 August, 19 September. Entry is free.

This video was filmed at the market held on 21st March 2009.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Anger as housing given go ahead in Dunston

A ROW has broken out on Gateshead Council following a decision to allow 4 houses to be built in Dunston on what was formerly greenbelt land.

The Council’s planning committee tied seven votes for and seven against with the Chairman using his casting vote to allow the development on Market Lane to go ahead.

But there was anger that Liberal Democrat Councillor, Peter Maughan, who represents the area in Gateshead Council, was refused permission to speak against the plans at the meeting.

“This was a very controversial application,” said Cllr Maughan. “It erodes the green area between Dunston and Swalwell and in my view, and the view of many residents, is little more than ribbon development that the greenbelt was invented to stop.

“I am also very angry that as ward councillor, elected to represent the people here, I was refused permission to speak against this application. I was gagged.”

Peter’s ward colleague, Councillor Allison Chatto said, “The decision to allow these four houses to be built is death to the greenbelt by a thousand cuts, with small slices here and there building up over time.

“I am deeply disappointed that this plan has been given the go ahead.”

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Energy efficiency is as easy as A to G

Energy rating labels can now tell you everything you need to know to make sure you go out and buy that all important energy efficient product - giving you vital information about energy consumption, performance and efficiency.

Energy efficiency labels are currently found on goods such as washing machines, freezers and light bulbs and are soon to be extended to a number of other energy using products such as televisions. But energy saving is set to become even easier as new proposals to extend energy efficiency labelling have been given the green light by MEPs.

A vote in the European Parliament's Industry Committee has endorsed plans to extend the A to G scheme to energy related products - that is, products which cause a significant waste of energy if they are badly designed. This includes household fixtures such as shower heads and windows.

The straightforward A to G labelling method clearly shows that products labelled with an 'A’, get top marks for energy saving performance, whilst those at the other end of the scale branded 'G' are the worst.

Gateshead Lib Dem Euro-MP Fiona Hall, who sits on the Industry committee, and voted to support this move, said, "It all boils down to a clearer choice for energy-conscious shoppers. At a time when everyone is watching what they spend, more information about energy efficiency is a boom. For example, plasma TVs use much more energy than LCD ones, yet hardly anyone out there buying a TV knows this.

"Driving up energy standards for everyday goods is also crucial in the battle to cut CO2 emissions and tackle climate change.

"I am particularly pleased that MEPs voted last night to keep the A to G approach, which is widely recognised and understood. Technology is improving all the time so we want to see a date added to the A to G label too. An ‘A’ from five years ago is not as good as an ‘A’ today."

MEPs also supported the idea that, in future, information about energy usage should be included not only in the A to G label at point of sale but also in any advert giving technical data.