Bergen - Now that is a green city

You would expect Norway 3rd and Norway's Last Europen City (Stavanger, this Year) of Culture to be over run with cars and people but I have never seen such an understated city - It really is fantastic and also part of the city form (above) form part of a world hertiage area.

It has everthing going for it, a port, an airport, a rail way station and fantastic landscape

and as such it really is a green city, buildings of sustainable materials, no cars road pricing, Electric Buses ,A Train statition in the city centre - I now i really want to live there!

There must be a down side?, and yes there is the cost of living !

It also must be the most expensive place in the world , except of course to Olso.

Carrier bags - do we still need them? or just wasteful?

We all drive in our cars to the supermarket and put our shopping in carrier bags to take the food/shopping home and we are still guilty of using hundreds of carrier bags a year.

I for one have now used my last carrier bag and find it unbelievable that the sales staff still offer a carrier bag for one or two items when there has been so much press about their use!

Is it not possible to invent something else that is cheaper more sustainable that a carrier bag??

And what is more unbelievale is online shopping which may be more sustainable that traveling to a supermarket , but they still hand out carrier bags with the food that is then put into portable boxes?

I know Tesco et Al are clever so come on come up with something better! It will be more economic in the long term and it may just help the planet.

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smoking? Will it do any good to hide fags from display?

It never ceases to amaze me the arugumenst that are put up in support of smoking- I have an 86 year aunt that chain smokes , and she justifies smoking by saying it never did her any harm- I have given up arguing now, because she has a point but it will get her in the end! Her mother died at the age of 92,

There is no doubt that smoking will kill you and it has a massive drain on the NHS , either booozing or smoking account for most illness in local hospitals, and if folk wont take responsibility for themselves then unfortunaly I am in favour or governement intervention, in the strongest way.

I just dont understand why kids statrt in the first place- I used to drop my son off at school and was horrified at the number of school kids were standing in the surrounding streets smoking.

Is it beyond common sense for the parents to know if there children are smoking, you can smell it for one, and if you dont stop them you are effectively helping them ultimatly to die young(er)

empty properties-EDMO

It is estimated that around 280,000 properties in England have been unoccupied for 6 months or more, and from June 2006 local authorties have the power to take over such properties and rent them out.

I think that the powers are probably "under used" and there are certainly empty properties in the locality that could be taken over via the EDMO's. This one little unknown law could go a long way to helping the housing shortage.

If you know of a property it may well be worth getting in touch with the local council and test how far they will go and ultimatly how commited they are to reducing a problem?

I just wonder that given the credit crunch and hosuing depression how many LA's will undertake the EMDO's with all of the empty apartments around.?

If you let me know of any properties let me know and i am quite happy to confront the council on this issue

eco town- what we missed out on!

This is the most succesful eco town in europe in a town called Vauban, Freiburg in Germany- I haven't seenit yet but i will certainly be taking a trip in summer to see how the germans do it! - Its just a shame that some of the local councillors didnt have a trip to Vauban , before they decided against the eco town outside Nantwich and I just wonder if pochins withdrew the application without going to germany.

It always good to have some facts before you rule something out of hand, and it makes my blood boil to see these people in such postion making decision that will effect us all -Centarl government suggests that we need 3 million new homes by 2020. Where do they suggest that they are built?

NIMBY

some interesting facts

• All houses are built to a low energy consumption standard, with 100 units designed to the Passivhaus ultra-low energy building standard. Other buildings are heated by a combined heat and power station burning wood chips, while many of the buildings have Solar collectors or photovoltaic cells.

• Vauban is connected to the town center by a tramway (line 3, Paula-Modersohn-Platz).
  Around 40% of the households have agreed to live without their own cars, while others have to leave their vehicles in at the edge of the development. Consequently most streets are pedestrian friendly and suitable for kids to play, and have a 5km/hour speed limit.

• The site was originally developed as a military base in 1936, and was occupied after World War II by the French forces occupying the region. The military left in 1992. Over a period of some years the vacant structures were occupied by various tribes of hippies and anarchists. Following battles with the city government, squatters won the rights to four of the original twenty barracks. The other sixteen were re-appropriated by the city and have been converted into private apartments or student dormitories for the University of Freiburg. Some former residents of these structures have taken up residence in a diverse assortment of cars, vans, and retired civil service vehicles, forming what has been named Wagenplatz.

can they really argue?

Bad Planning? or Bad design?

Sometimes we get a little too desparate for things that we don,t look at the details!

These are grade 1 listed railways cottages, in the heart of Crewe Town centre, and would look fantastic in any town or city, but if you look to the end of the street you see a "grey blanket of uninspiring design!" what a mistake.

Who is to blame the cllrs, the planners, or the developers, or us as we were a little too eager to get a leisure scheme.