In this issue

Please vote Green in the City Council elections
Manifesto and election video
Did you know…
Making good use of allotments
Recycling for flats
Mount Pleasant traffic calming
Next Safer Neighbourhoods meeting
Council to engage with young people
Council must focus on fighting Tesco Appeal, say Greens
New OAP bus passes
Save the Vauxhall Street Post Office!
News in brief

Please vote Green in the City Council elections

Samir Jeraj (pictured left) is your Green Party Candidate for Town Close Ward in the City Council elections on Thursday 1st May. Samir, who lives off Unthank Road, is an active member of the Town Close Green Party team. Samir and your Green Councillors have been delivering newsletters, visiting residents and taking up local concerns all year round. Recently they have been campaigning to save the Vauxhall Street Post Office, for traffic calming measures on Mount Pleasant and for improved recycling facilities across the ward.

Help build a Greener Norwich: please elect Samir Jeraj on Thursday 1st May.

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Manifesto and election video

Norwich Green Party's full Manifesto for the 1st May City Council elections is now available online. If you would like a paper copy please call us on (01603) 611909. We will provide a summary in our next leaflet.

Or… watch our election video here!

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Did you know…

The Green Party holds three Council seats for your area (Town Close Ward). The ten Green Councillors provide a constructive opposition to the Labour administration at City Hall. On Thursday 1st May please elect Samir Jeraj as your Green representative for a strong Green team at City Hall.

The election result in Town Close ward last year

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Making good use of allotments

The City Council has adopted a Green Party motion to make better use of the city's allotments. The motion, proposed by Town Close Councillor Janet Bearman, highlighted that many plots are overgrown or unused and that there are long waiting lists for city allotments. The Council agreed that:

• there should be greater use of allotments by schools and community groups;
• potential new allotment holders should be offered a plot suitable to their needs and given support from experienced allotment holders.

The Council's Scrutiny Committee will investigate the issue later in the year to see what impact this new approach is having and what further changes are needed.

Green Councillors believe that allotments bring many benefits, from local food production to education and exercise, and would like more people to benefit from them.

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Recycling for flats

Residents living in flats in various parts of Town Close Ward have been asking when they will be given local recycling facilities. The Green Councillors have consistently argued that flats must not be forgotten as the new recycling facilities are rolled out across the city. Some flats in Town Close have already been provided with communal bins for recycling paper, tins, plastic bottles and glass. Recycling bins will be installed at the Suffolk Square and Johnson Place flats in the next few weeks. City Council officers have produced a programme for more flats to be provided with facilities but have not yet confirmed the timescales. The Green Councillors believe that all flats need to be given these facilities as soon as possible.

In the longer term the Green Councillors would also like to see recycling collections for food waste, batteries, different types of plastic and tetrapaks.

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Mount Pleasant traffic calming

Photo: Samir Jeraj on Mount Pleasant.

Several residents of Mount Pleasant attended last month's full meeting of Norwich City Council to ask questions about when traffic calming will be introduced on their road. They highlighted that when the 20mph speed limit was introduced on Unthank Road it could also have been brought in for all the residential streets leading off it. The residents were told that the Council is still developing its plans for traffic calming in the area and will be consulting them again soon.

Local Green Councillor Janet Bearman said: "It is very frustrating that the Council is taking so long to respond to residents' requests. We need road safety to be a higher funding priority so that important measures like this can be put in place more quickly when residents are asking for them."

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Next Safer Neighbourhoods meeting

The next meeting of the Central West Safer Neighbourhood Action Panel (which covers the part of Town Close between Unthank and Ipswich Roads) is on Monday 12th May, 7pm at the City Church on Nelson Street.

The next meeting of the Lakenham Safer Neighbourhood Action Panel (which covers the part of Town Close between Ipswich and Hall Roads) is on Wednesday 21st May, 7pm at St. Alban's Church Hall, Grove Walk.

In both cases, residents can come along and make suggestions on community policing priorities for the area.

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Council to engage with young people

Norwich City Council is to improve the way that it consults and engages with younger people in the city, following a successful Green Party motion to last month's full Council meeting. The Council's Scrutiny Committee will talk to young people from different parts of the city about how it can best give them a say in the Council's work. Options to be discussed include setting up a Youth Council.

This proposal is part of the Green Party's campaign for Norwich City Council to be more open, democratic and inclusive in the way it operates and the way it consults residents. For more information on Green Party policies for an Open Council please see the party's Manifesto.

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Council must focus on fighting Tesco Appeal, say Greens

Photo: Green Councillors Chris Hull (left) and Adrian Ramsay outside the Unthank Road side where Tesco wants to build a store.

The Green Party has welcomed the news that the City Council will be actively fighting the appeal by Tesco over its application for a store on Unthank Road. A report to City Councillors last month suggested that Council officers should consider whether to invite a new application from Tesco, not contest the appeal or to fight the appeal. The Council's Head of Planning has now confirmed that Council officers are now preparing for a legal representative to fight the appeal when it is formally lodged.

The City Council Planning Committee has rejected Tesco applications for this site four times and given clear reasons, primarily relating to the impact of a new store and associated delivery lorries on the local traffic situation. Tesco said in February that it would be appealing against the decision to reject its latest application but at the time of writing this appeal has not yet been formally lodged.

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New OAP bus passes

The new England-wide bus passes for free bus travel for the over 60s came into effect on 1st April. However, as reported in the local press, many residents are still without their passes.

Council officers are emphasising that residents can continue to use their old passes for free bus travel within Norfolk, while they wait for their new ones for free travel within the rest of England.

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Save the Vauxhall Street Post Office!

Photo: Samir Jeraj outside the Vauxhall Street Post Office.

The Green Party is campaigning against the proposed closure of Vauxhall Street Post Office. The National Post Office is currently conducting a consultation on its proposals to close 51 of Norfolk's 316 Post Office branches, including three in the City Council area. One of these three is the Vauxhall Street branch.

Your Green Councillors asked the Postmaster how we could best help the campaign to keep the branch open. He said we should encourage people to respond to the consultation to let the national Post Office know their views. In responding, it is helpful for residents to highlight that: many of the Post Office users are elderly and would find it difficult to travel to another branch; the branch is located in an area with a dense and growing population; there are excellent disabled facilities; car parking is available outside; the Post Office and its cash machine are crucial to the parade of local shops.

Samir Jeraj, Green Party Candidate for Town Close Ward, said: "Many people rely on this Post Office and would be unable to get to the suggested alternatives. We must put pressure on the Government to stop its planned large-scale closure of local Post Offices."

Branches in and near Nelson which are not recommended for closure are Earlham House, Dereham Road Co-op, Castle Mall and UEA.

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News in brief

The long-awaited new Skateboard and BMX park is to be built in Eaton Park this summer. Keen Norwich skateboarders have been waiting for this for years. Green Councillors are disappointed by the delay but pleased that this important recreational facility will soon be available.

Plans for improving and re-opening the Memorial Gardens between the market and City Hall are now a step closer. The long-awaited planning application is set to be submitted this summer, with the work to take place between 2009 and 2011.

The Green Party and many local retailers supported the recent plastic bag free day in Norwich. The day was an opportunity to highlight the importance of re-using plastic bags, or using alternatives. This is because of the environmental problems caused by plastic bags relating to litter, landfill and harm to wildlife. Green Councillors are now pressing for more long-lasting action on the issue.

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Published by Tom Dylan, 123 St Leonard's Road, Norwich, NR1 4JN
Samir Jeraj, 27 Clarendon Road, Norwich, NR2 2PN