In this issue

Save the Puppet Theatre!
Saver Neighbourhoods meeting
Amandine Stone selected for University Ward
Greens push for 20mph limits on residential streets
News in brief

Save the Puppet Theatre!

The future of Norwich Puppet Theatre has been left uncertain following the withdrawal of the £60,000 annual grant from the Arts Council for England. The theatre, which educated and entertains 10,000 people each year, needs £180,000 annually to run. This is made up of income from shows and grants from the City and County Councils as well as the grant from the Arts Council.

At the last full City Council meeting, Green Councillor Adrian Ramsay asked what action the City Council is taking to help the Puppet Theatre survive. He was told that senior councillors and council officers are in behind-the-scenes discussions with the people running the Puppet Theatre about how to try to put it back on a firm financial footing. The Green Councillors also responded to the Arts Council consultation to support the case that the Puppet Theatre grant should not be cut.

Councillor Stephen Little, Culture Spokesperson for the Green Party City Councillors, said: "The Puppet Theatre is a crucial cultural facility that deserves full support. It is disappointing to say the least that the Arts Council has withdrawn its grant. The County Council has given the theatre extra money to help in the short term and I hope it can use that breathing space to find enough ongoing income to survive in the long-term."

Photo: Green Councillors Stephen Little, Adrian Ramsay and Bob Gledhill at the recent Save the Puppet Theatre march.

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Saver Neighbourhoods meeting

Green Party University Ward Campaigner Amandine Stone and Norwich South Parliamentary Candidate Adrian Ramsay attended the last meeting of the University and Eaton Safer Neighbourhoods Action Panel (SNAP) on 17 January 2008.

Residents highlighted a number of crime and anti-social behaviour issues in the area that need attention and the panel decided on the following three priorities for Police work in the area for the next few months:

• Anti-social behaviour in The Avenues/Colman Road area.
• Anti-social behaviour in the UEA/Bluebell Road area.
• Graffiti across University and Eaton Wards.

Photo: Amandine Stone by Earlham Library on Colman Road - a priority area for tackling anti-social behaviour.

The next meeting of the SNAP is on Thursday 15th May, 7pm in room 0.06 of the Elizabeth Fry Building at UEA. This is a public meeting where any residents can come along to raise local issues of concern and receive an update from the Police on work on the priorities chosen last time.

For more information on the SNAP please visit www.safernorfolk.co.uk or call the Police on 0845 456 4567.

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Amandine Stone selected for University Ward

The Green Party has selected Amandine Stone as your candidate for University Ward at this year's local elections on 1 May 2008. Amandine lives on Earlham Road and is a postgraduate student at UEA. She is Secretary of UEA Green Party and has been active in University Ward Green Party for the last year, visiting residents across the ward and taking up local issues.

The Green Party currently holds ten seats at City Hall, where it forms a large opposition group to the Labour administration. University Ward already has two Labour Councillors. On 1st May local residents will have the opportunity to elect an active Green Councillor for the area.

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Greens push for 20mph limits on residential streets

The Green Party is collecting signatures for a petition calling on the County Council to introduce 20mph speed limits on residential streets across the city. The City Council has already approved the move but the County Council (which is currently in charge of transport) is blocking the change. Amandine Stone and other Green Party campaigners have been visiting residents in University Ward to ask them to sign the petition.

Photo: Amandine Stone on Cunningham Road, where residents have signed a Green Party petition for 20mph speed limits in residential streets.

Amandine commented: "There are many residential streets in the ward where speeding is a problem and where residents want to see 20mph limits. This move would make the streets much safer, especially for children, and would also improve air quality."

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News in brief

Neighbourhood surgeries are being held each week for residents to speak to Council housing officers and neighbourhood wardens about local issues of concern. There is a surgery at Colman Road library each Thursday between 2pm and 4pm and one at Cadge Road Community Centre each Tuesday between 1pm and 3pm.

The County Council has agreed to 21 innovative recommendations from a working group looking at ways it can reduce energy usage. Chaired by Green Councillor Andrew Boswell, the group investigated energy saving across buildings and services - both to save money and to help plans to cut the Council's carbon footprint by 25% over five years. Green Councillors at City Hall have been pushing for over a year for a similar working group to be set up there. A Green Party motion calling for year-on-year reductions in emissions from Council buildings and services was passed in January 2007 but, at the time of writing, the Labour administration still seems to be stalling on setting up a working group to oversee this process.

The County Council is conducting a review of special educational needs (SEN) schools which could result in a reduction in the number of SEN places available in the Norwich area. Green Councillors are working with parents at Parkside School to press for an increase in the number of SEN places and for the successful models of SEN schooling, such as that at Parkside, to be retained.

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Published by Tom Dylan, 123 St Leonard's Road, Norwich, NR1 4JN
on behalf of Norwich Green Party, 27 Clarendon Road, Norwich, NR2 2PN