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Eco-towns fight heading for court

1:08am Sunday 10th August 2008

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Campaigners opposing plans for a new eco-town at Weston Otmoor are planning to take their case to the High Court.

The Weston Front, formed to fight the controversial 15,000 home development, will join forces with fellow anti eco-town protesters, campaigning against a similar development at Middle Quinton near Stratford upon Avon to take the Government to judicial review.

The Weston Front is backed by former tennis British number one Tim Henman's father Tony, who lives in nearby Weston-on-the Green.

He said: "The arguments being put forward to all practical purposes are virtually identical to our case, although we have some additional complaints.

"We have not been told the criteria under which we have been selected as a potential site for an eco-town and we believe the consultation process has been fatally flawed."

The Better Accessible Responsible Development Campaign, which opposes the Middle Quinton scheme is expecting to go before a High Court judge in the next month to determine if there is sufficient evidence for the case to go ahead.

If there is, the Weston Front will join in the legal action as an "interested party" in a bid to get the Government to rethink their plans on eco-towns.

A list of 27 potential sites for eco-towns was originally released by the Government, with a shortlist of 15, including the Weston Otmoor site, announced in April.

The Weston Front claimed the site, which included part of the greenbelt, was inappropriate - and that they had not been told why, or how it was chosen.

Mr Henman said: "We are hoping this will force the Government to either withdraw from the whole process on the basis that it is fatally flawed or they will have to start all over again.

"We are all in agreement that we need more housing and more affordable housing but there are different methods of increasing the housing numbers."

He said houses should be built in Oxfordshire's existing towns, such as Didcot, Banbury, Bicester, Wantage and Witney, rather than on a new site.

Oxfordshire county and Cherwell district councils both oppose the scheme.

Mr Henman said if the action went forward, the Weston Front would apply for their financial costs to be protected, meaning if they were unsuccessful they would not be hit by a huge legal bill for the Government's court costs. It is expected their own legal costs will be in the region of £1,000.


Your Say YourOxford Mail

John W. Whitworth, Oxon says...
9:57am Sun 10 Aug 08

One masterplan for the shortlist, another for the consultation and now a third for the sustainability study. If the government can't conduct public business properly it's entirely their fault when they are challenged legally. They are wasting public money.
The Weston Front want eco-towns built where they are wanted by local people and where they are sustainable, ie not where they wreck countryside and cause gridlock.


Tom, says...
4:34pm Sun 10 Aug 08

I ask myself today.....

Why bother commenting in this rag that is the Oxford Mail?.

Censorship is rife,they do not like to upset the minoriy,so censor the majority who are sick and tired of being criminally mistreated.

You should be ashamed of yourselves, as traitors to your own city and your own families.

Mr Ison, England says...
6:03pm Sun 10 Aug 08

Notice the Front organisation?

Mr Ison, England says...
7:02pm Sun 10 Aug 08

This may not work.

http://img225.images
hack.us/img225/2167/
1000784ov7.th.jpg

Mr Ison, England says...
7:05pm Sun 10 Aug 08

This may do,can ya tell what it is yet?

http://img225.images
hack.us/img225/2167/
1000784ov7.th.jpg

Mr Ison, England says...
7:11pm Sun 10 Aug 08

It's a Gatekeeper,AKA the Hedge Brown.

Tom, says...
8:44pm Sun 10 Aug 08

Mr Ison wrote:
It's a Gatekeeper,AKA the Hedge Brown.
Mr Ison i think it looks like Rebecca De Mouilpied.Do you remember her?

Tom, says...
8:48pm Sun 10 Aug 08

Mr Ison wrote:
It's a Gatekeeper,AKA the Hedge Brown.
Or are you a man of the cloth?

gary, oxfordshire says...
8:52pm Sun 10 Aug 08

Tom wrote:
I ask myself today..... Why bother commenting in this rag that is the Oxford Mail?. Censorship is rife,they do not like to upset the minoriy,so censor the majority who are sick and tired of being criminally mistreated. You should be ashamed of yourselves, as traitors to your own city and your own families.
Tom, in the morning I'm cancelling my Oxford mail subscirpion. I will never purchase another Oxford mail for as long as I shall live. You're absolutely correct in your observation of us the majority being sensored to keep the minorities happy, and yes the should be ashamed of themselves, and yes they are traitors to themselves and their families and more importantly us, speak the truth about ethnic minorities and you'll be sensored. What a disgrace Oxford mail, hang your head in shame. Muslims in the UK are trying their best to bring about civil war. I just tell it as I see it. I expect the soviet Oxford Mail to now delete my comments.

Tom, says...
8:56pm Sun 10 Aug 08

gary wrote:
Tom wrote: I ask myself today..... Why bother commenting in this rag that is the Oxford Mail?. Censorship is rife,they do not like to upset the minoriy,so censor the majority who are sick and tired of being criminally mistreated. You should be ashamed of yourselves, as traitors to your own city and your own families.
Tom, in the morning I'm cancelling my Oxford mail subscirpion. I will never purchase another Oxford mail for as long as I shall live. You're absolutely correct in your observation of us the majority being sensored to keep the minorities happy, and yes the should be ashamed of themselves, and yes they are traitors to themselves and their families and more importantly us, speak the truth about ethnic minorities and you'll be sensored. What a disgrace Oxford mail, hang your head in shame. Muslims in the UK are trying their best to bring about civil war. I just tell it as I see it. I expect the soviet Oxford Mail to now delete my comments.
The Israelis have the right idea.No PC crap there.I get my international news from the JPOST.


I have nothing but admiration for them having been there, and seeing how they deal with the cancer that is muslim extremeism.


Tom, says...
8:58pm Sun 10 Aug 08

extremism.....even.

gary, oxford says...
9:12pm Sun 10 Aug 08

Tom wrote:
extremism.....even.
thanks for that tom,we should be going mad.

ricky, Oxford says...
9:33pm Sun 10 Aug 08

would be nice to see my kids ,in the us its kidnap ,here its fine to up and take them.

paul, says...
9:40pm Sun 10 Aug 08

ricky,has no freedom of speech.

mike, says...
9:58pm Sun 10 Aug 08

Freedom of speech is being able to speak freely without censorship. The right to freedom of speech is recognised as human right in under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognised in international human rights law under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The ICCPR recognises the right to freedom of speech as "the right to hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression". Furthermore freedom of speech is recognised in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights which establishes human rights law on a regional level.

The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to denote not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. Freedom of speech and freedom of expression is closely related to, yet distinct from, the concept of freedom of conscience and freedom of thought.

In practice, the right to freedom of speech is not absolute in any country and the right is commonly subject to "limitations". This is because exercising freedom of speech always takes place within a context of competing values. Limitations to freedom of speech may follow the "harm principle", for example in the case of pornography, or seek to limit "hate speech". Liberal democracies have varying approaches to balance the right of freedom of speech with other values and principles. For instance, the United States First Amendment theoretically grants absolute freedom, placing the burden upon the state to demonstrate when (if) a limitation of this freedom is necessary. Many liberal democracies recognized that restrictions should be the exception and free expression the rule.


peter, london says...
9:58am Mon 11 Aug 08

Emergency plans have been drawn up over fears that a prison officer could be taken hostage by Muslim fanatics inside Britain's jails.


The dossier has been compiled in the past few months amid mounting racial tension in the prison system.


It details the action to be taken in the event of the 'worst-case scenario'.



Attacked: Prisoner Dhiren Barot was scarred for life after boiling water was poured over his head


A senior prison source told the Mail that it was 'a real, live threat'.


Intelligence gathered from within Britain's eight top-security prisons claims specific threats to kidnap and behead an officer first surfaced six months ago at Whitemoor Prison in Cambridgeshire.


But sources say the growing concern over security and the threat to prison officers is not confined to one jail.


'This is a threat faced by officers in prisons across the country,' said the source.


'This is why the prison service is preparing direct intervention if ever a prison officer is taken hostage.'


Details of the contingency plans emerged just days after Muslim prisoners at Frankland prison in County Durham claimed they would kidnap and execute an officer and film it on mobile phones.


The threat was made during a four-hour riot in the prison's segregation unit last weekend.


Nine inmates went on the rampage causing £20,000 worth of damage while demanding that they be transferred to another prison.



Threat: Racial tension is rising at Whitemoor Prison


In a written statement seen by the Mail, one inmate who witnessed the disturbance said: 'They were shouting that they were going to cut off the head of one of the officers and film it on their phones.


'They have been bragging since they came on to the segregation unit how they are going to do it.'


It was the latest in a series of violent confrontations in the past 12 months at the category A jail.


In June 60 inmates fought running battles after the cell of a convicted Al Qaeda terrorist who stabbed a police officer to death was set ablaze.


Five prison officers were injured during the violence.


Sources there say the prison is 'like a powder-keg, just waiting to go off', adding that 'the tension is rising daily'.


In July last year Dhiren Barot, an Al Qaeda operative serving 30 years for a dirty-bomb plot, had a pot of boiling water poured over his head.


Barot's lawyer, Muddassar Arani, warned at the time that 'race riots' had erupted at the prison, describing it as 'an extremely dangerous environment for ethnic-minority prisoners'.


She claimed: 'People talk about radicalisation, but if there is a death that takes place in custody, then there will be a backlash.'


The source at Frankland said the prison was 'at boiling point'.


A Prison Service spokesman said: 'For security reasons, we do not comment on individual plans.'



gary, oxford says...
10:08am Mon 11 Aug 08

Toddlers should be taught about racism and singled out for criticism if they have racist attitudes, a Government-funded advisory group said yesterday.


It told nursery teachers, playgroup leaders and childminders to record and report every racist incident involving children as young as three.


These could include saying 'Yuk' about unfamiliar food.

Even babies should not be ignored in the hunt for racism because they can 'recognise different people in their lives', a new guide for nurseries and child care centres said.

The instructions for staff in charge of pre-school children in day care have been produced by the National Children's Bureau, which receives £12million a year, mostly through taxpayer-funded organisations.


The NCB, which describes itself as 'an umbrella body for the children's sector', has long used its resources to campaign on controversial issues, for example in favour of a legal ban on smacking by parents.


It also runs the Sex Education Forum, a campaign for more sex education in schools.


The new 366-page guide, Young Children and Racial Justice, warned that 'racist incidents among children in early years settings-tend to be around name-calling-casual thoughtless comments, and peer group relationships'.


It said such incidents could include children using words like 'blackie', 'Pakis', 'those people' or 'they smell'.


Children might also 'react negatively to a culinary tradition other than their own by saying "yuk".'


Nursery staff are told: 'No racist incident should be ignored. When there is a clear racist intent, it is necessary to be specific in condemning the action.'


If children 'reveal negative attitudes the lack of censure may indicate to the child that there is nothing unacceptable about such attitudes'.


Nurseries are encouraged to report as many racist incidents as possible to local councils.


'Some people think that if a large number of racist incidents are reported, this will reflect badly on the institution,' it said. 'In fact, the opposite is the case.'


The guidance said that anyone who disagrees is racist themselves.


It also suggests cultivating the home languages of new immigrants - despite Government anxiety to promote the learning of English.


It said: 'English is now viewed as the major language of the world but this is not because it has any innate linguistic advantages - it is because English is the language of power in a world dominated by English-speaking peoples.'


Critics of the race programme for pre- school children labelled it 'totalitarian'.


Author and researcher on family life Patricia Morgan said: 'Stepping in to stop severe bullying is one thing, but this is interference in the lives of children. It smacks of totalitarianism.


'It is regulation of private speech and thought. They intend nursery staff to step into children's playground squabbles and then report them to the local council as race incidents. Who would ever have thought that the anti-racism crusade would go so far?'


Case Study

Judge Jonathan Finestein ordered the local authority to review its decision to prosecute
A boy of ten has already been taken to court for calling a mixed race 11-year-old '****' and 'Bin Laden' in a school playground argument.

The pair subsequently made up and became friends again, yet the Crown Prosecution Service decided to go ahead because the victim's mother made a complaint.

The ten- year- old eventually appeared at Salford Youth Court in 2006 where he denied a raciallymotivated offence under the Public Order Act of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause another person harm or distress.

But District Judge Jonathan Finestein (pictured) ordered the authorities to review their decision to prosecute.

He said of the defendant: 'I shouldn't think he understands Bin Laden or Al Qaeda. I'm not condoning what he supposedly said but there must be other ways of dealing with this apart from criminal prosecution.'

Prosecutors later decided not to pursue the case.


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