The Nottingham Green Festival is held annually, in May or June, at the Arboretum.
It has developed from the annual festival that used to be held on the Victoria Embankment on the first Sunday in September. Organised by volunteers, it was originally the Green Festival and probably attracts around a thousand visitors.
I've run a stall at the event for many years. What I found at the Embankment events is that visitors are not necessarily that pro-environment.
Other cities across Europe hold events during an environment week in June and probably in locations which naturally higher numbers of visitors. Other events have also evolved, such as the Big Wheel's "Big Day Out", held in September.
Nottingham's Green partnerships run a range of events in May and June.
So it was a pleasure to see that the first Green Festival to be held in June, in 2005, was a success.
Please find the speech I made in opening the 2005 festival -
Welcome, everyone, to the Green Festival.
Congratulations, on taking part,
And to those who’ve organised the event ... a special mention to John Truscott.
This is the first of 3 weeks of events organised to “Celebrate Sustainability”.
If you’re on the side of sustainable development, you are on the side of the angels.
Just one plea, which I make as a portfolio holder for sustainable development, consider whether you can do more to persuade, whether you can do more to make your presence felt – with government and public agencies, and with the public – via even simple things like writing public letters.
To win the public over.
The Nottingham public are doing more –
- 8.7% of waste recycled;
- 5.3% of waste composted;
- waste per person has been steady when it had been expected to increase.
The brown bins have made a difference, but it’s not been without complaint, and we need people to back up the progress being made.
It is worth campaigning.
Forty years ago, planners drew up plans for Nottingham’s Inner Motorway.
The “Forest Way” – an elevated road, was to run across the north of the Arboretum public park with a small version of spaghetti junction taking up the North-West site of the park.
Those plans were revisited, and Nottingham’s tradition of radical transport policy began.
How appropriate therefore to be here today, 40 years on, in a popular public park, served by the best tram system in the country.
We want to do more – and the Workplace Parking Levy is an example of us being prepared to argue a difficult case.
Please back us publicly during the debates and Inquiry to come.
And do what you can to back Tony Blair and Gordon Brown on climate change and aid for Africa.
However self-evident it is to you that more should be done, remember how averse many of the British public have been to cutting their dependency on petrol; and to giving more in tax.
I find many people who visit today are casual visitors and I know tThere is still persuasion to be done.
I’ve held a stall with Mapperley Labour Party at the Green Festival since 1995.
So it’s a pleasure to be asked open the Festival, and to call upon all here today to help persuade the public of the value of the cause.
[Last updated 2006-06-01]
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