News: Community, environment, regeneration

27.08.2004 Scotland’s most powerful wind farm, Crystal Rig, opened this week. Friends of the Earth Scotland urge politicians to back further investment in onshore wind.

23.08.2004 The proposed new Thames Gateway bridge will lead to more traffic congestion, air pollution and noise pollution, a new study for Transport for London has revealed. But campaigners have accused the study of downplaying the negative impacts of the bridge, which, they say, will cause even worse blight to local communities, while not necessarily creating the number of jobs promised.

19.08.2004 Living near a petrol station or commercial garage may quadruple the risk of childhood leukaemia. A recent study in France has found a link between cases of acute leukaemia among youngsters and how close they lived to a petrol station or a garage carrying out car repairs.

12.08.2004 The government will miss its target to recycle and compost at least 25 per cent of household waste by 2005, according to new figures. Eighty-nine local councils in England failed to improve recycling rates between 2001/2 and 2002/3, with the national rate increasing by just 2 per cent. Campaigners want more funding for recycling and penalties for underachieving local authorities.

04.08.2004 Residents in Slough, west London, are fighting to remove the planning permissions for a monster incinerator on their doorstep. Severe health concerns, and the revelation of shady deals between the waste management company and local politicians, have led to public outcry and are fuelling a powerful public campaign.