the_palmerston

Here's a summary of Bristol's progress to date. I hope this will
encourage efforts around the country.
It's November 2009 and Bristol has taken another step towards being a
20mph City. Earlier this year the City Council proposed two pilot
20mph areas comprising about 8% of the urban area. The initial proposals
excluded roads where the speed limit would really make a difference and
mainly included narrow residential streets where speeds are already low.
Campaigners made strong objections and now the plans that will go
forward to the formal consultation stage of traffic regulation orders
include most of the streets in the two areas, including most of the
streets that exceed 24mph average speed at present.
While arterial roads are still left at 30mph or higher, the proposals
represent a major success for campaigners and set an important precedent
for going beyond the DfT guideline of limiting the change to 20mph to
streets that already have recorded average speeds of 24mph or less.
Political circumstances have brought this about. The initial proposals
were the initiative of the then ruling Labour controlled council. Local
elections brought a change to Lib Dem control and a new executive with
another energetic executive councillor Dr Jon Rogers became the
executive member responsible for transport. Dr Rogers pushed the 20mph
agenda to new limits by supporting and pursuading highway officers to be
less tentative. The 20's Plenty campaign has had a vital role in
demonstrating public support for the move and making it clear we wanted
"Total Twenty".
Campaigning in Bristol does not stop here. The City Council has
expressed its willingness to look at other areas in Bristol for the
20mph treatment. Even before the first 20mph signs go up Campaigners
will have picked up the baton and be pressing for more of Bristol to be
20mph.
Steve Kinsella
20's Plenty for Bristol

"You Cant always get what you want" wailed Mick and the Boys, unless what you want is a regular zingy newsletter of all the latest news and information from the world of accessibility and assistive technology. In which case he should have sung "You can get exactly what you want just by subscribing to the weekly AbilityNet Newsletter ooooooh Yeah" Testify MIck, just testify

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Contents

AbilityNet News

Access News

Best Of YouTube

Whats Hot on Twitter

Special Offers

Courses

Staying In Touch

AbilityNet News

AAC Resouces launched online

AbilityNet’s “Exploring AAC” Website Launched

www.abilitynet.org.uk/aac

Please take a look at our web resource and tell us what you think.  Feel free to tell your colleagues and clients.

AbilityNet at Technology World 09

AbilityNet will be attending Technology World 09 at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, UK. Technology world 09 is the UK's larest "Speed dating" event for companies with an interest in technology. If you are attending and would like to meet to discuss any aspect of accessible computing email us asap. Contact kareem.monem@abilitynet.org.uk to organise an appointment

YouTube Playlists Updated

Thanks for feedback on the YouTube playlists and how we could make them more useful

New playlists are being compiled as we speak on specific assistive technologies such as Screenreaders and Magnifiers - Find out more at www.youtube.com/abilitynet

History of AT Presentation on Slideshare

David Banes' take on the "History of AT" presentation from BCS InclusivITy day can be found uploaded at Slideshare at www.slideshare.net/abilitynet

www.slideshare.net/abilitynet

Access News

Visually impaired gamer sues Sony

Hot off the presses of many major gaming and technical news outlets is a story about a visually impaired gamer who is suing Sony online entertainment for game ... accessibility as demanded by the Americans with disabilities act (ADA).

Interesting look at the beginnings of the HTML img tag

Why do we have the img element? An interesting glimpse from 1993 when it was first being discussed

Free browsers for vision impairment

Links to 8 browsers designed with vision impaired users in mind, following on from an article on Disaboom

Using NVDA to evaluate web accessibility

Testing web content with a screenreader is essential for highlighting issues that may not be uncovered as part of a standard WCAG2 review. This guide will help you use the open source screenreader, NVDA, to test your website

W3C Cheat sheet

Useful quick access to W3C accessibility tips

Best of YouTube

Google Wave Made Simple

Google has developed a new open source program called "Google Wave." http://wave.google.com Put simply, Google Wave is just like Google Docs for e-mail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS9AbePnE08

Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking as an assistive technology

Don Oliver has had multiple sclerosis for 40 years and is wheel chair bound. Dragon is a critical part of his every day life. What does he use Dragon for? "I use it for everything."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsZo1p_5-o4

Android Accessibility

This is just a quick video on where we are with accessibility for Android

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaLQt35H_10

All of these, and all of our new playlists can be found on the AbilityNet YouTube channel www.youtube.com/abilitynet.

What’s Hot on Twitter @AbilityNet #Accessibility #a11y

Microsoft says speech is the next touch: http://ow.ly/yY6o

Second Life and #Disability: Interview with University of South Australia's Denise Wood: http://ow.ly/yYaq

Living with Asperger's syndrome: http://bit.ly/1dP4L6

How to be a leader with assistive technology http://bit.ly/3kvMK4

Special Offers

E-learning

1 year access to AbilityNet elearning – only £35 per user + VAT

Go to www.abilitynettraining.org for details

Stimulate your Team with ICT Innovation Days

Get your team to look ahead and think about how access technology is going to change during the next 5 years – how will access be happening and what will be the impact. These interactive and hands on days are extremely popular in helping with planning and diversity. Contact David Banes at david.banes@abilitynet.org.uk for further details

Request a free HiSoftware Compliance Sheriff™ accessibility scan

HiSoftware Compliance Sheriff™ is an enterprise accessibility validation solution that scans your Web site for over 172 separate issues and delivers the results in a powerful online report.

Request your free HiSoftware Compliance Sheriff™ accessibility check today.

Need an accessibility speaker for event or workshop ?

Let us know if you would like us to try to speak at your events – we can deliver onsite or remotely across video conferencing email david.banes@abilitynet.org.uk for further details

Courses

The Autumn Course programme is released

Accessibility in Microsoft Windows Vista and Office 2007

Investigating accessibility within the Operating system and Office Applications

More information and booking for Accessibility in Microsoft Windows Vista and Office 2007 course

Effective Assessment of Problems at Computer Workstations

Helping those involved in workstation assessments respond effectively

More information and booking for Effective Assessment of Problems at Computer Workstations course

Mobile Access Solutions

Exploring the key issues in selecting portable technology

More information and booking for Mobile Access Solutions course

Using ICT to Support People with Dyslexia

Use technology to help those who have reading and writing difficulties

More information and booking for Using ICT to Support People with Dyslexia course

Web 2.0

Demonstrating how to make the most of web 2.0 technologies

More information and booking for Web 2.0 course

Windows 7

Looking at the new accessibility features available in Windows 7

More information and booking for Windows 7 course

And there’s MORE

Stay in Touch with AbilityNet

Come find us at a number of events in the next few weeks...

Access IT 2009

Technology World 09

23rd and 24th Nov, 2009

Venue: Ricoh Arena, Coventry, UK

AbilityNet will be on stand 56 come and find us

Across the Web

Join our daily Twitter channel @abilitynet

Join our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/abilitynet

Read our regular Blog www.abilitynet.org.uk/blog

Join GATE The Global Assistive Technology Encyclopedia

Podcast no 9 close to release

It will soon be available for free from www.abilitynet.org.uk/podcast or via iTunes

The bare facts – the top to bottom of walking statistics

Walking, and high quality street environments, links to so many different policy areas it can be quite hard to separate out the information you’re looking for.

We’ve tried to make it as easy as possible by putting our key facts and stats into different categories, linked to below. If you have any other queries, please contact Anna Powell, Press Officer

Statistics for the new Living Streets Website

• General walking
• Walking and health
• Walking and the environment
• Road safety (including 20mph)
• Walk to school

General walking

Nearly a quarter of people (24%) walk for 20 minutes less than once a year, or never Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005

Twice as many women (15%) walk to work as men (7.3%) Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005

69% of commuting trips are made by car and only 11% are made on foot. Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005

On average, commuting trips by car take 24 minutes, by bus 40 minutes, rail 66 minutes and on foot 17 minutes. Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005

Over 1/5 of trips less than a mile are made by car Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005

A quarter of all shopping trips are made on foot Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005

On average, females make 15% more walking trips than males, making 261 trips a year compared with 228 for males. Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005

Walking and health

A third (33%) of adults say walking for more than 10 minutes is their only form of exercise in a typical month Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005

Walking for just 30 minutes a day during the working week means reaching the Government’s recommended level of daily activity needed to transform your health.

An estimated 70% of adults do not do enough exercise to benefit their health Institute of Sport and Recreation Management, 2006

Only 37% of men and 24% of women in the UK are sufficiently active to gain any health benefits Health Survey for Session 2003–04, Department of Health, 2004

Nearly a quarter of all adults in the UK are obese Department of Health, Health Profile of England, 2007

Walking one mile in 15 minutes burns about the same number of calories as running a mile in eight and a half minutes NHS, Walk your way to health, 207

Walking one mile (1.6km) can burn up at least 100kcal (420kJ) of energy and walking two miles (3.2km) a day, three times a week, can help reduce weight by one pound (0.5kg) every three weeks Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005

By 2050 almost 60% of the UK population could be obese with the economic cost reaching £49.9 billion at today’s prices Government Office of Science, Foresight Tackling Obesities: Future Choices, 2007,

95% of adults agree that walking is a good way to stay healthy Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005

82% of adults agree that walking is a good way to loose weight Department of Health

Regular physical activity improves mood, helps relieve depression, and increases feelings of well-being. A survey carried out by the charity Mind found that 83% of people with mental health problems looked to physical activity to help lift their mood

Walking and the environment

The school run accounts for 18% of car trips by residents of urban areas during term time at 0845am Department for Transport National Travel Survey 2006

Cars consume most fuel and pollute more at the start of their journey when the engine is cold, therefore, walking for short journeys will reduce the amount of CO2 emissions by a disproportionate amount Institute for European and Environmental Policy 2007

The average commuter driving an average car, covering the average commute distance will produce almost one tonne of CO2 per person per year. With 25 million people in the UK commuting, that is the equivalent CO2 emissions that would fill almost 50 billion one litre water bottles every day, or enough to fill 89,000 typical three-bedroom homes, which is a city of some 200,000 inhabitants Workwise UK, 2007

If all commuters left the car at home one day a week this would save enough miles in a year to drive to the moon and back 35,000 times. This is the equivalent emissions reduction of taking over 1.7 million cars off the road and would reduce the UK's total CO2 emissions by almost 1 per cent. Energy Saving Trust

Road safety (including 20mph)

Britain has one of the worst road safety records in Europe for child pedestrians and almost 20% of casualties occur on the way to or from school Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, ‘School Assembly Plans Using Road Safety Themes’

People living in the 10% most deprived areas of England are almost one-and-a-half times as likely to be killed or injured on the roads as people living in the 10% least deprived areas. Department for Transport Road Casualties Great Britain: 2007

A pedestrian hit by a car at 40mph has only a 15% chance of surviving. At 30mph this chance increases to 55%. But at 20mph the chance of survival increases to 95%.

In 2008, 572 pedestrians were killed and 28,481 injured on our streets Department for Transport, Road Casualties Great Britain, 2007

20mph schemes in Europe and the UK have cut the number of adult pedestrians killed or seriously injured by 50% and child pedestrians by 61% Transport Research Laboratory, 2003, Review of 20mph zones in London Boroughs

The equivalent of 60 classrooms full of children were seriously injured or killed on our roads last year. There were 1784 child pedestrians killed or seriously injured in Great Britain last year. Based on the average of 30 children per classroom, the number of classrooms of children killed or seriously injured is 60.

In 2005, the National Centre for Social Research found that 74% of people wanted 20mph in residential areas, including 72% of drivers.

Driving at 20mph rather than 30mph reduces stopping distance by 134% and therefore reduces the risk of collision considerably. DfT, 2001, Calculation based on thinking and braking distances taken from Think! leaflet

In the UK, 20 mph zones have been found to drastically cut the number of pedestrians killed and seriously injured (KSI) on our streets. Pedestrian KSIs as a whole are reduced by 50%, and child pedestrian KSIs are reduced by 61%. Transport Research Laboratory, 2003, ‘Review of 20 mph zones in London Boroughs

Road deaths and injuries cost the NHS £470 million and the UK economy £18 billion every year. DfT, 2005, Highways Economics, Valuation of the Benefits of Prevention of Road Accidents and Casualties

The Commission for Integrated Transport’s 2001 study found that where cities have 20mph speed limits covering between 65% and 85% of the urban network, they are transformed “from being noisy, polluted places into vibrant, people-centred environments”. Commission for Integrated Transport, 2001, Study of European Best Practise in the delivery of integrated transport

Child pedestrians from our lowest socio-economic groups are currently a staggering 21 times more likely to die on our roads than those at the top.6 Department for Transport, Trends in Fatal Car-occupant Accidents: 2007

Walk to school

Among primary school children, 54% of girls travel to school on foot, compared with 49% of boys Department for Transport, National Travel Survey 2006

A higher percentage of boys go to school by car, with 44% travelling by this method compared with 38% of girls Department for Transport, National Travel Survey 2006

An 11-year-old starting secondary school is almost twice as likely as a 10-year-old at primary school to be killed or seriously injured in road collisions Department for Transport, Road Casualties, 2006

In 1971, 80% of seven and eight-year-olds travelled to school without an adult, in 2006 it was down to 12% of seven to 10-year-olds Department for Transport, 2006

Nearly 30% of children aged two to 15 were classed as overweight or obese in 2006 Department of Health, Obesity General Information

The average cost of the school run by car per primary school child is £367, which equates to £612 million for transporting all primary school children to school per year. Centre for Economics and Business Research (cebr), 2008, based on ONS, DfT, and AA figures

Volunteers dedicated to cleaning up Northern Ireland’s coastline were honoured at Stormont when they were presented with prestigious Clean Coast Awards by Environment Minister Edwin Poots. The inaugural Coca-Cola Clean Coast Awards, managed by TIDY Northern Ireland, are part of the Clean Coast Programme and are designed to recognise the outstanding contribution of individuals and groups involved in cleaning and protecting our rural beaches, from Benone on the North Coast to Cranfield Beach in the shadow of the Mournes.

Since the beginning of 2009, 875 volunteers have registered on the programme, spending almost 1,700 hours removing 540 bags of rubbish from our beaches.  In addition to the commonly encountered plastic bags, confectionary wrappers and marine debris, items removed have included trousers, cutlery, fridges, a bed and even a boxing glove.

See the winners and read more at www.communityni.org/news/minister-rewards-coastal-clean-volunteers.

Neglect is the biggest reason for a child to need protection ahead of both physical and sexual abuse. While no-one knows exactly how many children in the UK are neglected, studies suggest that it is up to 10% or almost 1.5 million.

The vast majority of us are unaware of neglect, and that it’s happening on our doorstep. Action for Children surveyed almost 2,000 primary school, pre-school, nursery and health professionals who come into regular contact with children and young people, to gauge their understanding of child neglect and its causes. The results reveal some key clear signals for frontline professionals working in schools, nurseries and hospitals throughout the country.

In Northern Ireland Action for Children is calling for a debate in the Assembly on the neglect of children and a shift to services that intervene early.

Read more and join the call for action at www.communityni.org/news/uk-wide-campaign-focusing-child-neglect.

Living Streets is hosting a one day workshop to enable transport planners, designers and engineers to develop successful Local Transport Plan 3 policies and projects which create walkable communities. These will be taking place in Sheffield on 6 Nov and in London on 20 Nov. Find out more information on Living Streets' website.

Free Autumn-themed posters

The latest in our series of seasonal A3 posters is now available to help you promote walking this autumn. You can also order packs of A7 pledge cards which help your employees get in the walking habit. To see the new materials, or to place an order, visit our resource page.

ACT TravelWise conference, 23/24 Nov

The 2009 ACT TravelWise Autumn Conference provides an opportunity to find out just what shape travel planning is in. Delegates will be encouraged to discuss how much strength and vigour Travel Planning has; and examine what it can do for your health, the health of children, customers and employees ... and the health of your wallet. Download the conference programme for more information or visit their website.

Walk to Work Week dates announced!

Mark your diaries, the next Walk to Work Week will be held from 26-30 April 2010. We will be providing you with all the necessary information in the coming months through this e-bulletin and on our website. Stay tuned! Meanwhile, you can read about last year's events on our website.

Northern Ireland Office
www.communitysafetyni.gov.uk                                                                                                  

Remember, most callers to your
home will be genuine

In your home
If an unknown caller tries to enter your home,
telephone the police.
Or, if you have any information about a
suspicious person, telephone Crimestoppers on
0800 555 111
• Your call is free
• You are not asked for your name
QUICK CHECK is a FREE telephone service,
available 24 hours a day all year to residents
throughout Northern Ireland.
They will check with the company on your
behalf, that the person at your door is
genuine. If they are not or they think there
is something suspicious, they will contact the
police immediately.
Remember if in doubt check your caller out
with QUICK CHECK on 0800 013 22 90
The stickers below may be used to attach to
your telephone or convenient location.
Incident reporting
QUICK CHECK
FREEPHONE
0800 013 22 90
QUICK CHECK
FREEPHONE
0800 013 22 90
Most people who call to your home will be genuine.
But sometimes, people turn up unannounced, with
the intention of tricking their way into your home to
steal your money and valuables.
You should always be aware when someone you don’t
know calls at your door. By using the advice in this
leaflet, you can protect yourself and your family.
Unknown callers may be smartly dressed, young
or old, male or female and may claim to be from
the council, the police, gas, water or electricity
companies. Sometimes they may want to use the
phone or ask for a drink of water.
When answering the door always remember to:
Use a security bar/chain
before opening the door
Ask for and carefully check
the callers identification
If in doubt, close the door
while you check out the
caller with Quick Check
FREEPHONE 0800 013 33 90
Do not let anyone into
your home unless you are
satisfied as to who they are
Dealing with an unknown caller Further advice
Working together to help you
Remember, most callers to your
home will be genuine
Some companies operate a password scheme - you
can arrange to use one with them.
Do not keep large amounts of cash at home.
Only let callers in when you are absolutely sure that
they are genuine.
The advice in this leaflet will help you, your family
and friends to stop this crime so you can live safely
and securely in your home.
If you want further advice about home security,
contact your local police station and ask for the crime
prevention officer

Community Drug Awareness Training (CDAT) These training programmes are aimed at building capacity in the Voluntary and Community Sector and the general public around substance misuse related issues. All courses are free to those who work or live in the Belfast or South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust areas.

These training courses are delivered by the ASCERT, FASA and the Falls Community Council as part of the Eastern Board Drug and Alcohol Consortium, and are funded by the Eastern Drug and Alcohol Co-ordination Team

If you require any information on the attached course please contact me

James E Scott

Community Support Worker (S&E Belfast) EDACT

Forum for Action on Substance Abuse

Forum for Action on Suicide Awareness

178-180 Shankill Road

Belfast

BT13 2BH

Tel: 028 9080 3040

Email: james@fasaonline.org

A survey, published today to mark the start of International Walk to School Month, has found that 40% of parents would be happier letting their children walk to school if speed limits were reduced to 20mph.

The new findings, released by national charity Living Streets’ Walk to School Campaign, show just what an impact reducing speeds would have on children’s exercise levels.  One in five parents whose children don’t currently walk to school say they would be more likely to if traffic speed were reduced, with a fifth of regular walkers reporting that a switch to 20mph on local streets would make them happier about their child’s walk to school.

These findings should act as a wake up call to councils stalling on 20mph limits.  Government statistics show almost half of primary school children currently don’t walk to school regularly, with an enormous 41% driven to the gates, despite the majority of pupils living around a mile from school.  This situation is particularly alarming given predictions that the percentage children classed as clinically obese in the UK will reach a quarter by 2050. Walking to school is one of the simplest and most accessible ways to increase the amount of physical activity that a child does, yet with our streets dominated by fast moving motor traffic, it’s no wonder that the number of children walking has declined over the past 3 decades.

The new research strongly suggests that reducing the speed limit to 20mph where we live, work and play will have an immediate impact on the number of children walking to school. When traffic is moving at 20mph or less, parents become more confident about letting their children walk and play on their streets.  And with good reason.  One in 5 pedestrians that are struck by a car at 30mph die. At 20mph this number is reduced to one in 40.  Existing 20mph schemes across the UK and Europe consistently report a significant decline in the number of pedestrians killed or seriously injured on our roads. Hull city council introduced 20mph zones to a quarter of its roads has seen a 74% reduction in the number of child pedestrian casualties.

Tony Armstrong, Chief Executive of Living Streets said:

“Walking to school has so many benefits we need to make sure it’s an attractive option for families right across the UK – something that can be impossible when faced with by speeding traffic.  The evidence in favour of 20mph schemes is so well established it’s shocking there aren’t more council-wide limits in place – it’s time for less talk and more action.   Local authorities around the UK are catching on and talking about setting 20mph as the default, we want more to follow suit, and the government should be making this process as easy as possible.

“We’d like every parent to:
• Give walking a go during October. We think you’ll be amazed by how easy and enjoyable it can be
• Write to your local MP and council calling for 20mph limits where we live, work and play
• Sign up to our website for tips, advice and suggestions of how to improve your walk to school

“We are facing a child obesity time bomb and changes need to be made to curb this trend.  If we can get children walking more on their journey to and from school we can help more of them reach the daily 60 minutes of activity as recommended by the Chief Medical Officer, and all the health benefits that brings.  But drastic action needs to be taken on our streets to make this happen – creating safe, attractive and enjoyable places for everyone.  Reducing the speed limit needs to be our priority up and down the country.”

9 September 2009

Press Release issued by NI-CO

Northern Ireland’s leading international development consultancy, NI-CO, has secured a €1 million contract from the European Commission to deliver a ground breaking equality project in Israel. The Belfast based organisation is being tasked with strengthening the capacity of the recently established Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) in Israel, a body set up in 2008 to challenge discrimination in the workplace.

Commenting on the award of the contract, NI-CO’s Chief Executive, Graeme McCammon, said: “NI-CO is delighted by the award of this flagship project in Israel. Over the last 5 years the company has developed a strong profile in the Eastern Mediterranean region using the unique reservoir of expertise which exists in Northern Ireland to support good governance programmes in Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories. The award of this latest contract makes an important contribution to raising the positive profile of Northern Ireland throughout Europe and beyond and is testimony to the strength of our skills base in delivering efficient, effective and accountable public services for all sections of the community.’’

NICO will be supported by the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland and will be providing expertise and guidance to the EEOC throughout the 18 month project.

Evelyn Collins, Chief Executive of the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland, comments, “The Equality Commission is pleased to support the work of NI-CO and we look forward to the opportunity to work with the recently established Equal Employment Opportunities Commission in Israel. We will be sharing with them the expertise and experience we have developed locally and helping to strengthen their capacity to promote equality and challenge discrimination in the workplace. “

The NI-CO expert team will be working in partnership with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission and Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour in Israel to help the EEOC develop sustainable employment opportunities for all sections of the Israeli population with a particular focus on vulnerable population groups such as women, the Arab community and Orthodox Jews.

Tziona Koenig- Yair, E.E.O.C. National Commissioner, heralded the project as a unique opportunity for Israel to learn from the Northern Ireland experience on equality in the past decades.‘’ We look forward to this cooperation and have high hopes for the impact this project will have in terms of strengthening our capacity and mainstreaming equality into the workplace in Israel. “

Ends

For further information please contact :

Melanie Maxwell

Marketing Director

NI-CO

Tel : 02890347769

E mail : mmaxwell@nico.org.uk

Notes for Editors

1) NI-CO is a not for profit, public body dedicated to the pursuit of building efficient, accountable and sustainable public sector institutions capable of managing donor aid effectively and implementing positive change through promoting the skills and experience of the Northern Ireland public service abroad. Over the last 17 years, NI-CO has delivered over 400 contracts across 66 countries in a diverse range of areas from policing and accessible justice, to healthcare and economic development.

2)The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland was set up in 1999 as an independent public body established under the Northern Ireland Act 1998. Its mission is to advance equality, promote equality of opportunity, encourage good relations and challenge discrimination through promotion, advice and enforcement.

3)Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (E.E.O.C.) The E.E.O.C. in Israel was established by law in January 2008 due to the inadequate enforcement of equal employment opportunities legislation. The Commission’s main objective is to battle discrimination in the workplace and promote equality on the basis of age, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, reserve duty in the army, gender, parental status.

4)The Northern Ireland based bid was submitted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on behalf of the United Kingdom, in competition with bids from France and Spain. The EC funded institutional twinning project is one of the first equality programmes to be supported by the international donor community in the Middle East.

• PACT Public Meeting - 29th September 2009

Please find attached the Panel Priorities for Action following the PACT Public Meeting held last evening.

The next PACT Public Meeting will be held on:

Tuesday 24th November at 7pm in the Heyn Hall - St Marks Holywood Road

The theme of our  meeting will be Domestic Burglaries. As we will be 4 weeks away from Christmas this will be timely.

In times of economic challenge and budgetary constraints we don't want to see families loosing gifts from under the tree!

Our brief community focus will the Connswater Greenway Project.

Please note the date and plan to attend.

Your support in this partnership makes a difference

Peter S Quigley

Chairman - PACT

Police Partners and Community Together

Victoria Ward - East Belfast

( 07818062370

E A S T B E L F A S T S P E A K S O U T

When: Wednesday 30^th September 7.30 to 9.00 p.m.

Where: Ashfield Boys’ School

Admission is free. Doors open at 7 p.m.

AIM

The aims of the debate are twofold: 

1. To provide access to leading politicians to discuss issues of general concern to the

    public

2. To encourage active participation in the political sphere from a cross-section of

   what can be seen to be a currently disappointed electorate/population

METHOD

There will be four or five guests each time and an independent chair.

The chair for 2009 will be Conor Bradford from BBC NI.

Panelists are:                   Laurence Robertson MP (Shadow Minister for NI, UCUNF)

Jeffrey Donaldson MP MLA (DUP)

Naomi Long, Belfast Lord Mayor and MLA (Alliance)

Gerry Kelly MLA (Sinn Féin)

Patrick Corrigan (Programme Director, Amnesty International)                                          

THEME & PUBLICITY

The theme for questions from the floor is “Facing up to the future”

The event will be publicised chiefly throughout East Belfast communities and sixth forms.

James Smyth;   tel:  028 4461 7575.

james.smyth@nispeaksout.org.uk

September 2009

The Palmerston Residents Association are pleased to announce that its first year attempt at the Translink Sponsored  Ulster In Bloom Festival Sydenham Station came second place in the unmanned halts award. First place award went to Whitehead station, Terry Hoey of the Palmerston Residents Association says he is very pleased by this award. Sydenham Station was up against very strong opponents as other Halts had been entering this event year in and the plants had been able to mature where as our plants have only been planted in the past six months.  He also said this is a great achievement for the Sydenham area as it shows just how much can be achieved  by the Sydenham Community, this will put our station in a prime position to win this award next year when we have our community garden finished and planted out ,it is also the very first time that Sydenham has entered such an event and been awarded second place.

The Photo on the right hand side shows what we will be looking at if the Car park at the New Stadium gets the go ahead on the Holywood Road Belfast . The scenery  in the middle shot will be destroyed and replaced with a car park  twice the size of the car park pictured on the far left, the picture on the right was taken from Tesco Knocknagoney it shows the site at the fork on the Holywood Road and the Sydenham bypass city bound and the approach to  George Best City Airport. we must ask our Belfast City Council to think again and to stop this happening.

They would have to be Mad to rip up this scène, to have it replaced with a park and ride service for a Train Station to accommodate a new stadium what are the planners thinking,  We have seen some mistakes made in the past but this is surely the biggest yet how could our MLAs let this happen to our green spaces are they going to leave our children nothing are they going to throw away our green spaces and say it is progress how can it be. No other country in Europe would let this happen,  the trees that are now standing on the site would be removed from the Knocknagoney Round About Site that stretches to Inverary Avenue, to destroy hundreds of trees and ruin one of our great wild life habitats.We ask our Councillors are you really going to support such a scheme as this that will bring thousands of cars to an area that is already a bottle neck, to ask the people who elected you to just put up with it.  We implore you to look at the streets that will be effected by such a car park   

have the residents who live in these homes been ask what they think of a 4000 space car park on their door step, we ask our councillors to think again these are the people who possibly elected you, surely their opinion must count for something or maybe not. Will we see these quiet streets be taken over by cars that cannot get a parking space at the stadium car park. We must ask our councillors to hold a public meeting and give everyone the chance to give their opinion on what will be taking place on their doorsteps. We would also ask the question if they are planning a rail link with a park and ride car park and also a 4000 space car park where will the coach park be?  We ask the developers to come clean on all the plans  for this site and when they will involve the community in their plans.

This is the scene you see going up the Holywood Road from the Knocknagoney round about it looks very impressive now but what will it look like when it becomes a Car Park ,all our trees would be ripped out only to be replaced by tarmac we must ask the councillors and planners where will all the rain water go  when the green is covered over. We already hear UK councils taking residents to court for turning their gardens into drive ways. Research has shown that the more area covered by tarmac and concrete the more the possibility of flooding, the Holywood Road and Parkway already have this problem.We ask our councillors and MLAs to show us the risk assessments  they have carried  out and their impact studies on traffic flows to the site of the car park we call on our First and Deputy First Minister to call a public inquiry in to the placing of such a car park so close to a major road junction such as the Knocknagoney Round about. It begs the question what would happen if there was a major incident at the Stadium, how would so many cars be evacuated from the site in a short space of time, or would car owners be expected to leave their cars at the site,  with a feeder flyover interring the car park site from the Belfast Bangor side of the carriageway how would these cars exit the flyover if a major incident occurred  while entering the site. As you can see by our photograph the Holywood Road  is used by the offices along the Holywood road to park the employees cars, again we ask the councillors and planners  where would these cars use and in what streets would they be pushed on to, we also see from our photograph that the Holywood Road is only two lined how would cars on the approach to the car park ever get access when there is a feeder flyover from the Sydenham By Pass.

Palmerston Residents Association ask for funding from the Community Safety Summer Splash 2009 programme to change this piece of land in to a Community Garden, and to involve our young people to help with the project. This was to continue all of the school summer holidays, it would have given some of our young people an activity through the summer holidays. This space is going to be a community garden and remembrance site, it is also to be used as an outside classroom for the local schools, Northern Ireland Railways will give talks about the dangers of playing on the railway lines. The Palmerston Residents Association ask for a grant of £1000.00, it would have been used as part of other sponsorships we are planning to involved in this project. It comes on the back of being turned down for funding also £1000.00 to stage an event for a Community watch Community Policing Event on the 22 August 09. The association felt the council would have funded these projects as they always say there are funds available, but as Terry Hoey chairman of the residents association has always maintained it is better to try and find funds from other sources. In the past four months we have been turned down for three grants to help with community projects within the area, Terry says he is only glad this has happened now and we have learnt our lessons on funding from the Council. We would have been in a worse state if it had been for our major event we are planning for next year. The Community Watch Emergency Services Event that will involve all the emergency services, we are hoping to involve services from both the UK and Ireland, the Palmerston Residents Association ask the council why there is not enough funds available to stage projects like ours, that will help within the community and give something back, and also teach our children to respect our community policing teams, as well as show them the dangers of alcohol abuse and drug abuse at a time when our young community are on leave from school. We say this is such a missed opportunity for them and for the council.     

The Chairman of the Palmerston Residents Association Terry Hoey would like to thank Beverley Surgenor of the Wesley Housing Association for the meeting at the site of their new development and the tour of the site, Terry would like to say how well it fitted into the surroundings and how sympathetic the new development is with the new trees and the surrounding gardens that have been made to complement the new development. The private garden to the rear of the development is an added touch and works well with the overall development,Terry was also very impressed with the interior of the new development the high finish and standards that has been reached for the residents of the home. They have taken care to insure that it has been finished to a very high standard and we thank them for that.

The Palmerston Residents Association would also like to thank Wesley Housing Associations Beverley Surgenor for agreeing to let the residents association place a plaque depicting the Smiles Family the history of the family in the local community and connections to Gustav Wolff, and their links to the Belfast Rope Works. This will give the community of Sydenham much pride, the plaque will be placed outside the development with a small garden to enable the community and its visitors to know the Smiles Family once lived on the site that is now the new development, this is a great achievement showing just how local communities and private enterprise can work together in building better community relations. We hope to work with Wesley Housing Association on other projects within the area.

We look  forward to the official opening of their new development ,and we wish them every success for the future, they have done a great job in improving the area and making sure that the surroundings complemented the area.           

Terry Hoey Chairman of the Palmerston Residents Association is pleased to say we have formed links with a new community group that has been set up in the lower Holywood Road in East Belfast.

We will work together on the proposed new Stadium planned for the Holywood Road in East Belfast, both groups have fears the site will destroy one of Northern Irelands prestigious routes along the Holywood Road and may wipe out a number of the green spaces.

The proposal is to replace the green spaces with 4000 car park spaces, the community groups involved feel this just cannot be allowed to happen, to destroy green spaces to accommodate a car park is unbelievable. We say to the the Belfast City Council to name any other City in Europe that would destroy a park,trees and wildlife habitat to replace with a car park.

The Planned Stadium will cause so many restrictions to the residents of the Lower Holywood Road, also two of our major schools in the area Ashfield Boys High School And Ashfield Girls High School, it begs the question has any thought gone into this plan, we already have a bottle neck at the Knocknagoney Roundabout on the Holywood Road and the Parkway entrances to the Belfast Side of the Sydenham By Pass at early morning  and throughout the day.

Our greatest fear would be on a match day, we have a lot of young mothers and senior citizens who travel along the Holywood Road to Tesco and the Holywood Exchange, what would the effect be on them if the Stadium was to hold a rock concert how would they get out to shops. We must remember that our planning services have not taken into account the need for local shops in the communities that will live around the proposed Stadium.

We also fear the volume of new vehicles that will travel along the Sydenham By Pass to the Stadium and new traffic that will also travel along to and from the Stadium along Parkway and the Holywood Road. This will make it almost impossible for local residents to carry on their normal daily lives .

Our community will lose out by the removal of our Children's Park, Football Pitches,and the local site that is used for lighting the seasonal bonfire, also clubs that  use the park for model airplane flying it has taken very hard work on behalf of community workers in the area to build a community for our young people, to see the possibility of them losing more resources in an area is beyond belief, the community has already been robbed of one asset to the area that being the Sydenham Youth Hall.

Our groups would like to see a full public inquiry into this proposed site, and to see impact studies on Traffic,Green Spaces,Wildlife and what effect it will have to local residents who live on the lower Holywood Road in their day to day existence. This is a major development planned for the area, we feel that our residents must have a say in this matter before the first sod is cut.

News Release

Sydenham Community Station

We are very please to tell you that Palmerston Residents Association has been in talks with NIR, George Best Belfast City Airport, EBCDA, Parks and Leisure Department and Neighbourhood Watch.

What is going to happen?

New Flower Beds

Tree Planting

Community Garden

Fencing along front of station removed at disabled access

Flower Beds

Will take into account both rail platforms shrubs are to be planted, along with roses in all colours. This work will be carried out for you the community of Sydenham

Tree Planting

Will include the front of the station and along the Bangor side of the track with various tree specimens. This work will be carried out for you the community of Sydenham

Community Garden

This is a very special garden with raised planters made from railway sleepers and disabled access. The garden will be special because the planters will be used by the local schools in the area to grow plants and shrubs. Our senior citizens will also have a planter in the area which will also be used by NIR as an open class room to teach our children about the dangers of tracks and rail lines. There will also be a memorial garden set aside for local residents and community workers who in the past worked for the better of our community to bring about better living standards for all us. This work will be done for you the community of Sydenham.

Fencing

Fencing will be removed the length of the disabled entrance to give the station the appearance of a much softer look, adding character to the frontage

of the station. This work will be carried for you the community of sydenham.

Our Sponsors

The Sydenham Station has been sponsored by NIR, George Best Belfast City Airport, EBCDA, Parks and Leisure and Neighbourhood Watch,

The Palmerston Residents Association has been working with our sponsors to make this happen for our community, the association has felt for some time that our station did not reflect our community we felt the Sydenham Community has been left for to long with out improvements to the life of the local community. The Residents Association has seen great changes taking place within our community, people are working very hard to bring enjoyment to al of our community. We only have to look at the Titanic festival last year and the George Best Community Cup this year running with the Titanic Festival. These events are all being organised by the local youth in the area. Palmerston Residents Association are still in talks with NIR to have it rebranded and known as Sydenham Community Station, we are also in talks with them to bring special trains to our community station for away days for the local children in the area. We would also like to see NIR bring their special train for children with face painters for the younger children. Why do we want this to happen? The Palmerston Residents Association cares about the community and will work hard to bring about changes for our senior citizens, Young Mothers, the Youth, in fact everyone in the Sydenham area.

Sydenham Station Footbridge

We can confirm that NIR are not the owner of the bridge, we believe it to be the responsibility of the road service. We now want changes to the bridge and we are hoping to have talks with the road service, backed by NIR to have something done about the footbridge to enable all the community to have access to all of the services at Sydenham Station.

Palmerston Residents Association would like to thank all the sponsors involved in bringing about the changes that are now taking place we would also like to thank all the people in the background that work on behalf of our community and who have helped with this project

Katy Best, Michelle Hartfield, Gerard McAtarsney, Alan Mc Haffie, Chris Deconnick Sean McCormick, Sandra Workman, David McConnell, Robert McCreary, Naomi Long, Chris Lyttle and Jim Rodgers,

We would ask all our community both young and old to look after our Station, we are still in talks with NIR to bring youth and child based away days to our community. We hope this will take place soon we need your help do not let anyone damage or spray-paint in or around our station as this will affect everything we are trying to do with the station. PLEASE HELP TO MAKE OUR COMMUNITY BETTER FOR ALL OF US.

Terry Hoey

Palmerston Residents Association

Speed limits exist to protect all road users police resources alone have only a limited impact in enforcing them.We have found that community involvement enables far better coverage especially in terms of time available to devote to this important cause, for this reason surrey police provides training and equipment via the community Speed watch scheme to empower residents to help tackle the dangerous problem of speeding.

Volunteers to the scheme are provided with a speed gun,signs and essential user training. Once a suitable area is approved,Speed watch teams note the registration number and speed of the speeding vehicles in designated locations and report them to the police who, in turn write a warning letter to the registered keeper.

If a vehicle is caught a second time a final warning letter is hand delivered and a warning given in person. Any further offences may result in a fine or penalty points on a licence the scheme was recently established in Shamley Green and Ellen Green and it is hoped that Alford and Dunsfold will follow suit early in 2009 (source)(Safer Neighbourhoods Surrey Police)

The Palmerston Residents Association has been calling for a 20mph for some time to control speed on our main roads like Station Road, Palmerston Road,Inverary Drive, Larkfield Drive, Connsbrook Ave and Pimms Ave. Speed has been a great worry due to road conditions in the areas we see more cars parking in the area on footpaths that in turn causes problems to young mothers with prams, our senior citizens and disabled community.

The problem gets even more congested on Sundays when our churches are being used and other cars are then coming from other areas to park and attend their church. We see the the problem of speeding as a massive problem as more and more cars use the area,our children are put more and more at risk coming home from schools in the area.

We would look to the Surrey policing project and ask why this cannot be tried here as a test area and if it helps to cut down in speeding it could be rolled out in other areas using the Neighbourhood watch groups to carry out the speeding checks,the Palmerston Residents Association has looked at this problem for some time now we are well known for pointing it out to the planning office regarding traffic in the area, when they let developers build apartments in the area at that time we warned how bad the area was becoming due to excess traffic.

The Palmerston Residents Association want action on speed and parking in the area, we would also ask for double yellow lines at the Entrance of Victoria Road as it meets with Palmerston Road to save a fatal accident taking place at this junction.  

As you can see by the Belfast Telegraph photo impression on how it will look when you look at the plans they might show a different story our concerns would be parking in the area of the stadium, it will have car spaces for 4000 cars this is a vast amount of cars going to a main route and junction. We would ask where the entrances and the exits will be placed at such a busy junction as the Tillysburn round about. Looking at the photo the only entrances would have to be on the Holywood Road, this will bring 4000 extra cars onto a single lane in both directions on to Holywood Road.

We would be interested to know has a traffic survey taken place for the Holywood Road and the Sydenham By Pass, if so what were the results of this. We would also be interested to see what the outcome was with regard to the two major schools also sited on the Holywood Road, what health and safety issues would have to be introduced for the extra volume of traffic when games take place.

The Stadium is state of the art and a centre of Excellence with a national training centre our concerns would be that the Youth in the Sydenham and surrounding areas may forfeit football pitches that they all ready have in the Inverary Playing Fields. Our concerns would be the Youth in the area be able to play football at the new pitches now being planned and if not where would the Youth go.

Stadium grounds show a road leading down the side of the pitches to a bowling green and travelling across the Sydenham by Pass, is this an entrance to the site from the Sydenham By Pass and we would also be interested to see the traffic surveys  for this link with cars travelling to George Best City Airport. We would have concerns regarding tailbacks leading up to the intersection from the airport.

The new railway halt we would be very interested in this halt and to its purpose of use will this halt be a state of the art halt to get both passengers to and from George Best City Airport, and also have passenger travel ramps along the covered bridge and will there be Disabled Access to both sides of the rail track with toilet facilities. we ask Northern Ireland Railways to tell us what the plans are for Sydenham Station. We as a Residents Association are working with Northern Ireland Railways in relation to Sydenham Station.

Inverary Playing Fields are a place for the whole community of Sydenham with major events taking place each year, it is a place where everyone is welcome with a lot of work on behalf of Sandra Workman, Robert McCartney and David McConnell, they have brought about great events to Sydenham such as the Titanic Festival and now the George Best Community Cup. They have worked very hard with these events, and our concerns are will they be able to still take place.  Sydenham cannot afford to lose any of these events because of the great community relations they have brought to the area.

The Palmerston Residents Association want to know what payback will the Sydenham area get and what payback will the Community get ,the Stadium looks very impressive but will the local community be able to use it, our area will look run down and not vibrant. The Residents Association want to see our areas upgraded to enable it to take its place beside such an investment as £128m. We want to see our youth centre established as a state of the art youth and learning centre, to enable everyone in the community to have a home and a place to call their own with a coffee shop, computer suite and workrooms for both able bodied and disabled. We want to see our senior citizens and disabled have the right  to travel to Bangor an the Belfast City Airport by train with out having to scale 41 steps up and 42 steps down to a station platform,we hope this will be pay Back time for our community

Palmerston Residents Association