Chuka Umunna MP

Chuka recently got an opportunity to congratulate Streatham’s London Leaders 2012, Zoe Robinson and Paula Owen, and had a chance to discuss their views on sustainability and Streatham business issues, with Lee Alley, below.

Streatham MP Chuka Umunna has joined students at Fenstanton Primary School in Tulse Hill, opening the school’s new community recycling area at its launch event which took place last week.

The launch of the facility took place alongside the school’s Big Tidy Up event to clean up the school environment.

Mr Umunna cut the ribbon alongside students who had worked on creating the community recycling area. Students of Fenstanton and other nearby schools have been involved, including art students from nearby secondary school St Martin-in-the-Fields who have assisted.

Primarily, Fenstanton’s year six contributed to the project which is their gift to the school before they leave to secondary school.

Commenting, Mr Umunna said: “The community recycling area will provide an excellent facility and I was pleased to be able to meet with the students whose hard work created it.”

The future of local allotments has been thrown into doubt under government plans to abolish legal protection for growers, Streatham MP Chuka Umunna has warned.

Currently, councils are required by law to provide allotments where there is local demand but the government is reviewing this duty on councils for allotment provision, which has existed for more than 100 years. Although local government is responsible for providing allotments, national government sets the policy framework in which they operate.

The National Society for Allotments and Leisure Gardeners which represents allotment users has expressed concern about the potential abolition of the duty on councils to provide plots.

The review of statutory duties of local government has been undertaken by the Department for Communities and Local Government and Secretary of State Eric Pickles is due to make a final decision on the matter shortly.

Lambeth has allotment sites at Helmsdale Road in Streatham Vale as well as Stockwell, alongside a number of other privately-run allotment sites. There are estimated to be almost 300,000 allotments across England.

Commenting, Chuka Umunna MP said:

“Allotments are an important resource in an urban area like ours, enabling people to grow their own food and reduce their carbon footprint.

“There is a real danger that the government will tear up important protections for allotments which have existed for over a century”

Chuka met with volunteers at Streatham’s Oxfam charity shop and signed Oxfam’s petition urging the government to do more to protect the world’s poorest people from the effects of climate change.

Commenting, Chuka said:

“I congratulate Oxfam on this campaign and in particular the volunteers at Oxfam’s Streatham shop for all their hard work. It is crucial that we tackle the causes of climate change and keep up the pressure for action”

Chuka’s people’s question time on planning issues is taking place on Thursday evening at 7.00pm on at English Martyrs RC Church, 2 Mitcham Lane, SW16 6NN (for a map, follow this link)

For further details, please follow this link.

Chuka is holding a people’s question time on planning issues – in particular focusing on the issue of house conversions. Lambeth Head of Planning Les Brown is attending.

This is taking place at 7.00pm on Thursday March 31 at English Martyrs RC Church, 2 Mitcham Lane, SW16 6NN (for a map, follow this link)

This week, Chuka asked the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate change about funding for groups working locally to increase sustainability such as Transition Town Brixton.

Chuka asked what funding the Department for Energy and Climate Change has provided to Transition Towns and other voluntary groups designed to increase sustainability through local activities in the last 12 months.

Minister of State for Climate Change Gregory Baker responded:

“DECC has provided funding to Transition Towns and other community organisations over the last 12 months through the Low Carbon Communities Challenge (LCCC) and the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP).

“In the financial year 2009-10, DECC provided £20.58 million in funding through LCBP to projects such as housing associations, schools, churches, and other not-for-profit organisations, and the forecast expenditure for the financial year 2010-11 is £53.41 million.” Chuka is a supporter of Transition Town Brixton, a community-led initiative to increase environmental sustainability locally and raise awareness of climate change: effecting Brixton’s transition to a low-carbon economy. Among other projects, it has developed the Brixton Pound. Chuka will continue to press ministers to continue support for such initiatives.

Labour is committted to maintaining the campaign for global action on climate change. The Labour government has a strong track record on green investment, but is seeking to help Britain continue to reap the rewards of early action at home.

Following on from the Budget announcements of £60 million for offshore wind energy investment and a new £2 billion Green Investment Bank, more investment has been announced for renewable energy as well as moves to ensure that Britain has the skilled green workforce it needs – including 2,500 apprenticeships in wind energy by 2017.

After the progress made at the Copenhagen Summit, the government has renewed calls for a legally binding international climate change treaty. Labour are in favour of building on the strengths of the Kyoto Protocol, strengthening the UN decision making process to push through reforms, and pushing the EU to improve its plans to cut emissions.

In our manifesto, we are pledging to expand renewable energy so that 40 per cent of electricity comes from low-carbon sources by 2020 and create 400,000 new green jobs by 2015. We will also move towards a ‘zero waste’ Britain by banning recyclable and biodegradable materials from landfill. Britain already has more offshore wind-power than any other country in the world, and our plans could see this increase by up to 40 times.

Brixton’s brand new Windrush Square will open this weekend, with celebrations on Saturday and Sunday including live music and a lantern-lit procession by local children.

The development is a part of the wider Brixton Town Centre programme, which is enhancing the local urban environment alongside upgrading the area’s roads and pavements to improve access and safety.

Creating a new focal point in the heart of Lambeth, the new town square will also be a venue for community activities and events, joining together the old square with Tate Gardens to create a single pedestrianised open space.

The square’s name was chosen in 1998 with help from local residents and businesses to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush from Jamaica on 22 June 1948 which was a landmark event in the development of our modern multicultural society.

The rejuvenated square has been built with a new fountain, improved lighting, wider crossing points and improvements such as cycle stands to encourage more people to cycle. It also features 21 new trees. Added to this there will be high quality landscaping and surfacing and sculpted granite seating, creating what will be a thriving centre for our area.

Sustainable Streatham will be screening Food, Inc. at the Streatham Odeon this evening at 8pm. The documentary, which was directed by Robert Kenner, examines the food industry in the United States and its environmental impact. Entry to the screening is priced at £5.

To find out more about Sustainable Streatham and its work, follow this link.