Rich Tory old boy Richard Benyon has decided that now is a good time to appear green. Green at the gills perhaps, but anyway, he is now (following a long period of negative or no comments) decided that he is in favour of Wind Farms and Wind Turbines.
Adrian Hollister said, "I notice that in Newbury Weekly News 21st May 09 Richard Benyon is now in favour of Wind Turbines after being a parliamentary sceptic(1). It's all good being in favour of Wind Turbines but I can't help wondering, given the size of Richard Benyon's estate, how many Wind Turbines he has?"
The landed gentry eh - they are in a different world to the rest of us (at least in mind if not body).
Now if he was serious, he would do what I suggest here: tell the American's it's time to leave RAF Welford and use it's high flat ground (next to the Motorway) for a wind farm. The position is not overlooked (except perhaps a golf course and a handful of residents who I'm sure would be happy seeing all those dangerous munitions go); it's a brown field site; and there is good motorway access for construction and maintenance vehicles.
Mind you if Richard Benyon kicked out the American's from one base it would seriously damage his love of weapons exporting and his beloved DESO (2) then what would he have to talk about in Parliament?
References:
1. typical example - http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmpublic/planning/080122/am/80122s01.htm#08012280000167 - where he doubts the countries ability to get it done.
2. http://www.theyworkforyou.com/search/?s=DESO&pid=11727 - pages of the stuff here.
Thursday, May 21. 2009
Landrover Discovery 300TDI rusted boot panel
The old Landrover Discovery 300TDI has a rust spot or two (well ok, a lot of rust spots) all around the boot area in the usual boot panel and under the wheel arches. Rust is such a damn nightmare on these older landies, and with the disco's boot floor up you can see why...

As you can see from this I've taken the boot panel out. What a darn tedious nightmare it is to remove all of the spot welds! Anyway, as you may be able to see in the picture, the underseal doesn't cover much, especially any of the crevices that water and muck just loves to stick. A lot of the panels around the outside have rusted as well and there are some very nasty rust spots in the wheel arches (big enough to get my arm in). I don't want to take the sills off yet, but I suspect they are in just as good a condition.
After a good clean up and a lot of angle grinder action we are back to bare metal and ready to weld on new bits. I've decided not to paint the chassis or cross members as the rust is only surface, so I've wire bushed off the worst and used a high zinc spray to cover the tops of everything. When I've put the panels back I'll underseal the lot and it should last for quite some time. More pictures to come of the boot panel going back in and the nightmare that is undersealing
As you can see from this I've taken the boot panel out. What a darn tedious nightmare it is to remove all of the spot welds! Anyway, as you may be able to see in the picture, the underseal doesn't cover much, especially any of the crevices that water and muck just loves to stick. A lot of the panels around the outside have rusted as well and there are some very nasty rust spots in the wheel arches (big enough to get my arm in). I don't want to take the sills off yet, but I suspect they are in just as good a condition.
After a good clean up and a lot of angle grinder action we are back to bare metal and ready to weld on new bits. I've decided not to paint the chassis or cross members as the rust is only surface, so I've wire bushed off the worst and used a high zinc spray to cover the tops of everything. When I've put the panels back I'll underseal the lot and it should last for quite some time. More pictures to come of the boot panel going back in and the nightmare that is undersealing
Tuesday, May 19. 2009
DB Schenker’s greed & lost community spirit
In support of the residents of Theale who have had their driveway access blocked by road barriers installed by the DB Schenker, I have sent emails and letters to company executives calling for them to reconsider their actions.
“From: Adrian Hollister
To: Heller, Keith
Cc: Meiklejohn, Graham
Sent: Tue May 19 10:48:42 2009
Subject: Garage Dispute in Theale
Sir, I am greatly disappointed to read in Newbury Today that you have decided to block access to the garages of homes in Theale. Whilst your business is a valued part of our community, each business has a responsibility towards our community too. The amount of monies involved, the cost of recovery and the bad press you are rightly receiving over the issue must far outweigh your need to take profit from one or two members of the community.
I urge you to reconsider the blocking of access to these properties and to consider allowing free access as part of DB Schenker's give back to the residents of this community.
Yours sincerely,
Adrian Hollister
Parliamentary Candidate
West Berkshire Green Party
email: adrian@westberksgreens.org.uk
website: http://www.westberksgreens.org.uk”
Looking to email them directly? Try keith.heller @ dbschenker.com and graham.meiklejohn @ dbschenker.com (take the spaces out from around the @ sign)
“From: Adrian Hollister
To: Heller, Keith
Cc: Meiklejohn, Graham
Sent: Tue May 19 10:48:42 2009
Subject: Garage Dispute in Theale
Sir, I am greatly disappointed to read in Newbury Today that you have decided to block access to the garages of homes in Theale. Whilst your business is a valued part of our community, each business has a responsibility towards our community too. The amount of monies involved, the cost of recovery and the bad press you are rightly receiving over the issue must far outweigh your need to take profit from one or two members of the community.
I urge you to reconsider the blocking of access to these properties and to consider allowing free access as part of DB Schenker's give back to the residents of this community.
Yours sincerely,
Adrian Hollister
Parliamentary Candidate
West Berkshire Green Party
email: adrian@westberksgreens.org.uk
website: http://www.westberksgreens.org.uk”
Looking to email them directly? Try keith.heller @ dbschenker.com and graham.meiklejohn @ dbschenker.com (take the spaces out from around the @ sign)
Monday, May 18. 2009
Poll Puts the Green Party Four Points Ahead of the Lib Dems in the South East.
With the European elections just over a fortnight away, a ComRes poll has put the Green Party in the South East in third place with 16% of the vote, four points clear of the Liberal Democrats. The Conservatives and Labour are in first and second place with UKIP trailing behind the Greens with 15%.
Meanwhile a YouGov poll released tomorrow (Monday 18 May) found 34% of respondents said they would either definitely be voting Green or would consider voting Green. This is the highest percentage ever to indicate potential support for the Greens.
Interestingly, the largest group who would consider switching were LibDem voters. It's far more common for the Greens to attract former Labour voters, who were the second largest group considering switching. Also interesting was the fact that around one-fifth of those considering switching were Conservative voters - the group normally the least likely to switch to Green.
Adrian Hollister said, "We find the same here in West Berkshire, many of our new people are ex-Liberal Democrat voters. Most are just confused and angry about their confused policies and their involvement in the expenses scandal." If you would like to know more about the Green Party in West Berkshire please see our web site www.westberksgreens.org.uk - you can find my contact details there. We also have a first Sunday coffee and market day in Newbury where we meet up with family and friends in one of the cafe's near the farmers market - your welcome to come along and have a chat.
Meanwhile a YouGov poll released tomorrow (Monday 18 May) found 34% of respondents said they would either definitely be voting Green or would consider voting Green. This is the highest percentage ever to indicate potential support for the Greens.
Interestingly, the largest group who would consider switching were LibDem voters. It's far more common for the Greens to attract former Labour voters, who were the second largest group considering switching. Also interesting was the fact that around one-fifth of those considering switching were Conservative voters - the group normally the least likely to switch to Green.
Adrian Hollister said, "We find the same here in West Berkshire, many of our new people are ex-Liberal Democrat voters. Most are just confused and angry about their confused policies and their involvement in the expenses scandal." If you would like to know more about the Green Party in West Berkshire please see our web site www.westberksgreens.org.uk - you can find my contact details there. We also have a first Sunday coffee and market day in Newbury where we meet up with family and friends in one of the cafe's near the farmers market - your welcome to come along and have a chat.
Thursday, May 14. 2009
Caroline Lucas our local MEP will be in Newbury
Wednesday, May 13. 2009
Vote clean vote Green
I stole the title here from members of Reading's ever increasing Green Party, but the point is the same. The Telegraph's revelations about MP's expenses must be an utter embarrassment for what are often wealthy Conservative, trade union funded Labour and should know better (perhaps) Lib Dem members of parliament. Is it a surprise that MP's have been making vast amount of money selling their second homes as their policies boost house prices? Is it a surprise that New Labour and Liberal Democrats behave in the way we would traditionally associate with the fat cat Tories? I don't think so. Politics has become so grey, with all three of the main parties looking Tory, walking Tory and talking Tory. We have what seems to be three main parties stinking of greed.
What happened to the honest politician? What happened to the conviction politicians? Did Maggie convert them all to wannabe Tories?
So what about the Greens then? Has there ever been a Green Party politician (and there are many councillors, MEP's and London Council members) accused of financial irregularity or abuse of power? No. There never has - why would there be? We all try to do what is best for society, best for our communities and best for our future. We are not motivated by the greed that has corrupted other parties.
If you want a clean parliament, then vote clean, vote Green.
What happened to the honest politician? What happened to the conviction politicians? Did Maggie convert them all to wannabe Tories?
So what about the Greens then? Has there ever been a Green Party politician (and there are many councillors, MEP's and London Council members) accused of financial irregularity or abuse of power? No. There never has - why would there be? We all try to do what is best for society, best for our communities and best for our future. We are not motivated by the greed that has corrupted other parties.
If you want a clean parliament, then vote clean, vote Green.
Thursday, May 7. 2009
Biodiesel in my Landrover 300TDI
So, I've gone through my first full tank of Biodiesel from Thatcham. 90 Litres of the stuff. How did I get on? I ran very very low on the oil veggie oil that was in there to ensure that I had as pure a mixture as I could get and filled it to the brim in Thatcham. I've got to say that I've not noticed any difference from running on either straight Diesel or cetane boosted straight veggie oil. I wonder why we everyone doesn't start using this type of fuel? Mind you, a lot of diesel cars can easily run on filtered waste veggie oil which would be better still. Why have manufacturer's not picked up on this and started marketing their cars this way?
(Page 1 of 1, totaling 7 entries)
