The Meeting is at 5pm on Thursday 9th October 2008 at Sobells Sports Centre, Aberdare.

At the Planning Meeting R.C.T. Councillors will be deciding on the Gloucesters/Ironworks site planning application which will have a huge effect on the village of Hirwaun.

A company called Piper Homes want to build 130 houses on the Hirwaun Gloucesters and old Ironworks site. This area is much valued and used by the community as an area for recreation and leisure and home to an abundance of wildlife and flora.

The letter criticises the chain for using Indiana Jones posters, packaging and toys to promote its Kids Menu. The promotion comes just months after the high street giant signed a pledge that purported to cease all advertising to children on TV, in print or through the internet. The campaign is calling on Burger King to end its practice of using film tie-ins to promote its brand to kids.

Burger King was found to be giving away one of eight Indiana Jones themed toys with every purchase from its kids menu. This is despite the fact that in December 2007, Burger King was one of eleven food companies which signed the EU pledge, committing itself to “change…food and beverage advertising to children in support of parental efforts to promote healthy lifestyles”.

Toys include Boulder Escape Indy; Stunt Jump Indy; the Tricky Treasure and the Temple of Mystery.

Jackie Schneider, mother of three and founder of Merton Parents for Better Food in Schools, said “This deal is a seedy attempt by Burger King to appeal directly to our kids to repeatedly visit Burger King, and undermines parental attempts to encourage a balanced diet.”

This shameless attempt to cash in on the success of the Indiana Jones film to sell burgers to children is completely inconsistent with Burger King’s claims to support health. Once again, the food industry has shown that they cannot be trusted to self-regulate.

The letter, and pictures of Burger King’s Indiana Jones burger bag, are available at www.sustainweb.org/news.php?id=217

It’s rare for a Private Members Bill to succeed, and despite an overwhelming response from campaign supporters, the Bill was talked out by MPs who oppose regulations on advertising, and ran out of time on 25th April. MP Philip Davis, who worked for Asda before entering Parliament, was still speaking when the session came to an end.

Nigel Griffiths, the MP who introduced the Bill, said “I’m absolutely furious a former supermarket executive from Asda, who doesn’t believe in advertising controls, has done this.”

The lobbying from campaign supporters wanting better protection for children was brilliant. Over 2000 emails were sent to MPs, as well as over 250 postcards. Early Day Motion 445, calling for an end to junk food marketing which targets children, was signed by over 220 MPs, making it one of the ten most popular EDMs in Parliament.

The high-profile crackdown on dog fouling throughout the county borough includes a poster campaign of someone treading in dog mess with the bilingual slogan “Pick it Up! Codwch E!”. Dog owners are warned on the posters to clean up after their pets or face a £75 fine.

Since April 2007 Council Officers have issued 10 fixed penalty notices of £75. One resident was found guilty by a magistrates’ court and further prosecutions are also likely to reach the courtroom if dog owners do not pay the fines they are issued with.

Support grows among MPs for the Food Products (Marketing to Children) Bill

Writing to your MP about the Bill is the one most effective thing you can do to help protect children from junk food advertising, and will take no longer than five minutes.

Pressure is growing on MPs to attend the Second Reading of the Food Products (Marketing to Children) Bill. The Bill will protect children from all forms of junk food marketing, whether via TV, the internet or packaging.

Thanks to all the support we have received from our members and from national organisations in the fields of health, consumer rights and children’s welfare, Early Day Motion 445 which calls for an end to unhealthy food marketing has now been signed by over 190 MPs.

With just over two weeks to go until the Bill’s Second Reading, we now urgently need more MPs to agree to attend. Many MPs have committed to supporting the Bill when it enters Parliament, and many more have expressed interest.

But for the Food Products (Marketing to Children) Bill to succeed, we need a hundred MPs to turn up and support it. That is why we are asking you if you haven’t already, to write to your MP asking them to attend the Reading. There’s a template letter you may want to use at http://www.sustainweb.org/childrensfoodcampaign/

Several MPs have told us that they are attending after being contacted by a constituent, so your letters really do make a difference.

You can find out who your local MP is by logging on to: www.writetothem.com.

More evidence that TV ad regulations are failing children

Programmes with the most child viewers are not covered by current rules on junk food advertising, a survey has found. Out of 20 of the programmes most watched by children, only one is covered by Ofcom restrictions on junk food advertising.

The survey, carried out in January by consumer protection body Which? found that advertisers were free to broadcast junk food adverts in all but one of the programmes with the highest number of children in the audience.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of programmes surveyed did carry adverts for foods high in salt, fat and sugar.

The current regulations are deeply flawed, as they classify programmes using the proportion of children in the audience, rather than the absolute number of children in the audience. This means that The Simpsons, with a child audience of less than 400,000, is covered by restrictions. However, ‘family’ programmes such as Dancing on Ice, with more than a million child viewers, are not.

The survey shows that current regulations are clearly failing to protect children, and highlights the urgent need for a 9 pm watershed. Ofcom’s current regulations on TV junk food advertising were designed as a fudge between children’s health and the economic interests of the industry. We continue to argue that children’s health should come first.

More children are watching junk food adverts despite television restrictions

Research from the Department of Health show that the number of times that children watch TV junk food adverts has risen by 26% in the last two years.

Dr Will Cavendish, Director of Health and Wellbeing at the Department of Health, described the figures as ‘worrying.’ “We know large numbers of children are still seeing TV ads for high fat, sugar and salt food and drink, though in programmes not specifically aimed at children”, he wrote, and advised ministers to take tougher action at a time when almost a third of 11 year olds are classified as overweight or obese.

By passing Nigel Griffith’s bill, MPs will be able to tackle the rising number of TV adverts for junk food that children are exposed to, as well as ending the barrage of junk food adverts in non-broadcast media.

www.independent.co.uk/news/media/more-children-are-watching-junkfood-adverts-despite-ban-805395.html

The food industry fights back

Following the success of EDM 445 which supports protecting children from junk food advertising, the Food and Drink Federation have fought back.

The FDF, a trade body which exists to protect the interests of food manufacturers, have introduced their own EDM opposing further restrictions on junk food advertising.

However, EDM 963 isn’t doing too well at the moment, and to date has gathered a grand total of 7 signatures. Two signatures are from MPs, who have also signed EDM 445 supporting restrictions on junk food advertising.

The EDM is also signed by Derek Conway, the disgraced MP who was suspended from Parliament for paying his son an excessive salary as a researcher.

Adrian Shepherd (in the photo left), Field Secretary of Mordecai’s Allotment on Merthyr Road, Trallwng, explained : “Rhondda Cynon Taf are proposing the sale of the allotment land as surplus to requirements”.

Occupancy at Mordecai’s Field Allotment site is 100% with a long waiting list. There are plots on the allotment taken in a partnership with a local school offering precious experiences to children on how food can be grown locally.

Allotment gardening in Rhondda Cynon Taff is very popular with full occupancy and waiting lists throughout the County Borough. There is, however, intense pressure on the Labour-controlled County Borough Council to allow the sale of land for housing development. News about Mordecai Allotment comes only weeks after threats to evict the Haigside allotment gardeners in Treherbert.

To help save Rhondda Cynon Taff Allotment gardens for your Community … Get involved. Contact the local Allotment Secretary. Put your Name down on the Waiting List. Ask your Local Councillors – who are standing for Election on May 1st 2008 – to support Allotment Gardens for your community.

Nestling in the shadow of Conwy’s town walls, an unloved patch of scrubland contains the last remnants of a centuries-old orchard containing rare varieties of apples, pears and the unusual Denbigh plum.

But a campaign has now begun to restore the untended site, crammed with the finest Welsh fruits of yesteryear, to its former glory.

Mark Watson-Jones, organiser of the Conwy Community Orchard Group, said the trees still bear fruit every summer and autumn although many decades have passed since the trees received any tender loving care. Most of the fruit now goes to waste because the site is so overgrown.

Fulls story on the Icwales website here