tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29679451267152808552024-03-12T23:19:20.466+00:00A national disgrace, scoundrel and extremist**At least that's what Donald Trump said of me when I opposed his resort at MenieDebra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.comBlogger231125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-34128631850308666022019-08-01T17:07:00.000+01:002020-02-19T16:28:17.662+00:00Cycle FlagI'm feeling pleased with myself, having cycled over 1000 miles this year on my new ebike (up from nothing in previous years). But while all my years cycling in Edinburgh mean I'm pretty relaxed about urban cycling, cycling between settlements can be alarming.
I've had various conversations with the local police about close passes and one officer suggested a flag. The commercial onesDebra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-70286454256135715502019-05-08T16:21:00.001+01:002019-05-10T12:29:54.501+01:00Lies, damned lies and pollsHaving pointed out in my last post, the misfortunate of electing a UKIP MEP in 2014 with 140k votes, while there were 450k votes or more that clearly wouldn't have wanted this stacked up in useless piles, the question is whether anything can be done about this.
Now I spent most of my political life as a member of firstly the Liberal Democrats and then the Greens, both proponents of PR and both Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-63545381201524459372019-05-08T14:34:00.002+01:002019-05-08T15:05:31.955+01:00d'HondtI get slight cross when the method of allocating seats for the European Parliament Elections is referred to as complicated. So long as you can divide by 2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9 its really easy.
Lets look at the last European Result in Scotland in 2014. Scotland has 6 MEPs to elect.
2014 Election
Party
SNP
Lab
Con
UKIP
Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-81651003922819498882018-09-23T17:36:00.000+01:002018-10-10T11:28:30.754+01:00Objection Grounds for 500 houses and visitor accommodation at Menie.
APP/2018/1814[1]
Erection of 550 Dwellinghouses
(Up to 500 Residential Units and a Minimum of 50 Leisure/Resort Units),
Community Facilities (Class 10 Non-residential Institutions and Class 11
Assembly and Leisure), Development Falling Within Class 1 (Shops), Class 2
(Financial, Professional and Other Services), Class 3 (Food and Drink),
Landscaping and Supporting Infrastructure
LandDebra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-53590636793667320122017-04-18T13:50:00.000+01:002017-04-18T13:50:25.856+01:00STV - its not hardHonest, STV isn't hard to understand. What it tries to do is let a group of people select several representatives, not on the basis of 'winner takes all' like First Past the Post but allowing a range of views to be represented. That's fair.
Think of a group of 99 people who are trying to elect 4 representatives. Four groups of 20 people could agree on 4 different Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-49179860382905518012016-07-25T16:20:00.002+01:002016-07-26T17:47:07.934+01:00Trump : PotUS : please no.In Aberdeenshire, we have had, what is in the overall scheme of the world, a minor spat with Donald J Trump.
He came, he made all kinds of promises with his usual mix of hyperbole and bluster. Many people, including key politicians and business leaders were taken in. He got the permissions he wanted. He has since ignored conditions, blocked accesses, done things Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-14510436596200360572016-02-19T15:59:00.000+00:002016-07-25T16:42:24.096+01:00Rather belatedly : Why I resigned from the Scottish Greens<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-469318304146763602015-12-16T12:24:00.003+00:002015-12-16T14:38:06.691+00:00Trump - the great environmentalist* - and hypocrite.* according to Trump
Today we have the news that Trump has lost his appeal to the UK's Supreme Court in his attempt to halt the development of the Aberdeen Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. Good. This development, held up by over two years by Trump's legal games, is not merely an offshore wind farm producing renewable energy but 'will allow offshore wind farm developers Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-38665423054569939882015-12-09T18:45:00.003+00:002015-12-11T14:42:43.152+00:00Who is the National Disgrace now?
Suzanne Kelly who has been a tireless opponent of Trump from almost the earliest days, launched two petitions.
One, launched 10 days ago, asked that Robert Gordon University revoke the honorary doctorate he was awarded in 2010.
Today RGU revoked his doctorate saying that 'In the course of the current US election campaign, Mr Trump has made a number of statements that are Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-48485168368167846342015-10-13T18:24:00.000+01:002015-12-11T14:55:22.661+00:00Regional Predictions for Holyrood 2016 as at August 2015Original post 13/10/15. Editted 14/10/14 using August and September data combined.Editted again 13/11/15 - H&I have 8 constituency MSPs and NE 10.
Now in my previous posts, I have argued that its important that we vote accordance to our beliefs in policies - see Vote for what you believe in - and also that with the SNP riding high and likely to do a clean sweep Constituency Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-25078829336547885712015-05-18T21:34:00.000+01:002015-05-18T21:34:54.434+01:00Holyrood: How does the Additional Member system workMembers of the Scottish Parliament are elected by a proportional system know as AMS (Additional Member System). The official explanation is here but I'm going to try to explain with a minimum of maths and in as simple a way as I can.
Scotland is divided into 8 regions and as well as 73 constituency MSPs being elected, each Region elects 7 list MSPs. TheDebra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-55872783463821183482015-05-18T18:03:00.000+01:002015-05-18T18:03:05.602+01:00Hearts and Minds 2: Gaming PR?Proportional Representation is supposed to ensure that the seats gains
is roughly in proportion to the voting support and eliminate the need
for tactical voting. Some systems are rather better at this than
others. I'm not a great fan of tactical voting : I'd rather people vote according to their beliefs and that this was represented fairly. But as I've argued in Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-41473736267756742692015-05-18T17:55:00.000+01:002015-05-18T17:55:00.761+01:00Hearts and Minds 1: Vote for what you believe inThat's what we all would like to do.
Vote according to our beliefs, confident in the knowledge that we then get our fair say in how we are governed.
But that simple ideal is currently polluted by fears of our votes not counting, a desire than X shouldn't win, overwhelming the desire to vote for the real preference, etc.
The Greens sister party in England and Wales ran Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-47020461449736510262015-05-12T14:32:00.004+01:002015-05-12T14:50:49.002+01:00Many nations - a challenge for federalists
OK. It's clear that Scotland and England are different but it's a wee bit more complicated than that as the above graph shows.
Would federal solutions help better reflect the aspiration of the different nations and regions? Possibly but I'm not sure Tories would like to see their natural power base eroded to the southern counties.
Will the SNP work with Plaid, GreensDebra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-73630873625562175332015-04-12T14:14:00.002+01:002015-04-14T14:50:52.522+01:00What can you do to ensure elections are properly conducted?I got really hacked off with the daft vote rigging stories that circulated after the IndyRef and wrote one calm post and one less calm as people shifted ground. This post explains the basis process.
Each step of the entire process can be observed by people appointed by the various campaigns. In addition, the staff at the polling station and count are drawn from a range ofDebra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-34170006411880088162015-03-04T18:38:00.001+00:002015-03-04T20:47:16.758+00:00Scare stories re voter registration<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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statements for the benefit of people who won’t read further.
Letter from my local ERO
Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-4410970938358926172015-02-21T19:26:00.003+00:002015-02-21T19:33:01.383+00:00How popular are Green policies?
Since the middle of last year, the Green parties have been growing with an explosion of members aroudn the time of the IndyRef in Scotland. And still they come.
We've always known that, at least amongst people who like that kind of thing, 'blind shopping' of Green policies against other parties has produced very favorable results. But until now, the Scottish Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-51960142276086939012015-02-14T17:40:00.000+00:002015-02-17T12:40:09.813+00:00National disgrace, scoundrel and extremist
The untouched dune system.
The mobile sand sheet moved 5-15m north each year, leaving behind a time series of botanical
colonisation, one of the finest examples of such in northern Europe.
I'm often asked why this blogs normal title is National disgrace, scoundrel and extremist. This phrase evokes to me a significant change in my political life. And explaining that might also Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-84874348608056151892015-02-11T21:21:00.005+00:002023-04-20T20:14:33.751+01:00Cycling needs infrastructure built for cycling.As I have posted before, we have a government promising significant modal shift to walking to cycling for doing almost nothing to make it happen, even when spending hundreds of millions on major roads.
At most we seem to get some shared path signs on existing pavements - which no-one supports as good practise - or dotted white lines on roads.
Rachel Aldred researched the views of Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-28706283031149228322015-02-10T12:16:00.004+00:002015-02-10T12:20:44.793+00:00 Strength, Functionality and Beauty - returning to DundeeDundee is a city that has evoked mixed feelings in me. My mother was born there but left as a teenager. For many years she would smile ruefully at 'Dundee is a great city to come from'. That view was shared by Mike Galloway the Head of Planning for Dundee who said in December 2014 'A return to Dundee focused on an urgent need to tackle the central
waterfront: “an embarrassment Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-21753764999969307562015-01-28T17:31:00.002+00:002015-01-28T17:32:58.000+00:00Local Planning? Let's not bother.
Aberdeenshire Council has debated and approved new planning policies
for inclusion in its proposed new local development plan (LDP). The policies in the Local Plan had been developed through a lengthy
process of public consultation, consideration by Area Committees but
were then redrafted to comply with revised Scottish Government planning
policy, published in June 2014, and later guidance.
Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-39039209812451672922015-01-28T17:20:00.000+00:002015-02-11T21:26:25.185+00:00No thought for cyclistsShortly, to the north of Aberdeen, there will be oodles of money spend dualling the A90 from Balmedie to Tipperty and starting to build the AWPR.
You'd like to thing that those in charge as well as thinking about motorists would spare a thought for other road users. Everyone knows that designing things right int he first place is cheaper than retrofitting later.
Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-23936207666724989472014-10-17T18:29:00.001+01:002015-02-07T19:07:53.655+00:00Smith CommissionLast Friday was the deadline for submission by the five political parties to the Smith Commission, charged with trying to make a silk purse out of the sow's ear that is the aftermath of the Independence Referendum.
I have made an attempt to summarise the five submissions as a Google Doc so people can see the areas of concensus and dissent for themselves. It's not perfect but I hope Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-22224465123029633582014-10-09T17:37:00.002+01:002014-10-09T18:03:32.593+01:00Serious about active travel?The difference between stated aims and delivery by government's fascinates me. We have great statements about promoting Active Travel (walking and cycling to normal people but you need a new buzz phrase). Now the benefits of this are huge - health from the activity itself and the increase in social interactions - economic from increased use of the local shops - environmental Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967945126715280855.post-9046103792017902282014-09-24T11:13:00.002+01:002014-09-24T13:13:50.067+01:00Blank Backed Ballot Papers.So you turned up at a polling station and voted. Or you sent in your ballot paper by post.
But somehow or other, you had been passed an invalid ballot paper without the printing on the back (and yes, they were all the same design - the barcode on the back was unique - see Personation above).
Somehow (as this seems to be about trying to overturn the vote), these blank-backed ballot papers Debra Storrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.com17