Green News And Action From The Last Year
These centre pages highlight a selection of the local issues that your Green Councillors have been campaigning on over the last year. Please re-elect Rupert Read to ensure there is a strong Green team at City Hall to continue to campaign on these and many other issues.
May 2006: At the local elections, the number of Green Councillors at City Hall increases from five to nine – making the Greens a large opposition group. The Green Councillors continue to play a constructive role in cross-party discussions. They start by securing a commitment to include a requirement of a 30% renewable energy quota in all new developments in future council planning policies – one of the most progressive policies in the country.
June 2006: Green Councillors support a LibDem motion calling for the introduction of 20mph speed limits on all residential streets. Only the Green Councillors call for money to be redirected away from road-building and invested in road safety measures.
July 2006: Former LibDem Councillor Dawn Castle-Green defects to the Green Party, citing the unwillingness of the Norwich LibDems to oppose incineration as a key reason for this move. Later in the year she is joined by fellow former LibDem Councillor Simon Richardson who joins the Green Party partly because of the Green Councillors' opposition to the demolition of the structurally sound council flats on Barrack Street.
October 2006: Green Councillors propose a motion calling on the council to encourage businesses in the city to reduce the amount of packaging they use. Council officers take the issue up with the City Centre Management Partnership. The Greens argue that national taxes on packaging are needed to tackle the problem effectively but that raising the profile of the issue locally will also help.
November 2006: Wensum Green Councillor Rupert Read works with residents of the Henderson Green area to successfully persuade the NELM Development Trust not to pursue the installation of a mobile phone mast on Ivy Road.
October 2006: Mini recycling banks for glass, paper and card are installed in various city centre locations. The Greens call for investment in further such banks for other parts of the city.
November 2006: The local councils launch a scrutiny review of local bus services. Green Councillors highlight the need for a Quality Bus Contract to bring about reasonably-priced and reliable bus services for the city.
January 2007: Following lobbying from Green Councillors and local residents, an application for a mobile phone mast to be erected outside the Police Station on Earlham Road is rejected by the City Council. Local residents had expressed concern about the health implications of another mast in this densely populated area.
January 2007: Green Councillors oppose the decision of the ruling Conservatives at County Hall to axe the orbital bus service, just 17 months into its three-year trial period.
January 2007: The City Council adopts a Green Party motion opposing any incineration of Norfolk's waste. A few weeks later the County Council confirms that incineration is no longer its preferred option and that it plans to pursue the more environmentally-friendly option of a mechanical biological treatment plant at Costessey.
January 2007: The City Council adopts a Green Party motion asking for a commitment to reductions in carbon emissions from council services. The council later agrees to appoint an energy officer to secure energy efficiency measures in council buildings.
February 2007: The City Council agrees funding for significant improvements to local recycling facilities over the next two years. The improvements will include the collection of plastic bottles as part of the doorstep scheme and provision of recycling banks for flats.
February 2007: Green County Councillors propose an alternative budget, including a lower council tax increase, saving £1million that is currently spent each year on the expensive NDR road project and setting up a Climate Change Mitigation Fund.
March 2007: Green Councillors join in the lobbying of government ministers not to allow the sell-off of part of the Blackdale Middle School playing fields. Greens argue that the fields should be given to the enlarged Earlham High School when the reorganisation of local schools comes into effect this autumn.
April 2007: Residents raise a variety of issues with Rupert Read whilst he is canvassing which he agrees to pursue after the election if re-elected. These include:
- better maintenance of Earlham House shopping centre.
- better lighting at the play facilities on the old Bowthorpe School site.
- more litter bins around North Earlham.
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"As one of your local councillors I enjoy taking up a wide range of local issues on behalf of residents and I hope that you will re-elect me to continue to represent the area. The Green Party has increased its number of council seats each year for the last five years and we now form a significant opposition group on the council. On 3rd May we are asking residents to return more Green Councillors to City Hall to help us work for a socially inclusive city, for a clean local environment and to protect the unique character of Norwich.