Medway Green Party Manifesto Offerings

Green group starts to gather for candidate briefing

(In 300 words as provided to Medway Messenger)

If elected we would continue to challenge the proposals in the Local Plan consultation for mass house building on the Hoo Peninsula, much of which is targeted at London migration, unaffordable locally and would do little or nothing to address homelessness, while destroying valuable agricultural land, threatening important wildlife habitats, and increasing air pollution.

Rather than develop agricultural land on the Hoo Peninsula, vital to self-sufficiency as the effects of climate breakdown are felt, we would push for development to be directed to the creation of a thriving, vibrant, new urban complex in the centre of Chatham.

We would hold Medway Council to account and insist that it reaches a carbon neutral target by 2030, using joined up actions that are part of the solution rather than part of the problem.   We would provide guidance on how to reach this target including insulation of housing, investment in proper cycling infrastructure and low carbon, affordable public transport, alongside charging infrastructure for electric cars. We would look at ways to implement clean air policies in all of our town centres.

We would promote renewable energy by offering incentives to businesses developing these technologies, look at harnessing the power of the River Medway and work with property developers to encourage them to include renewable energy systems in all new developments. We would encourage producers of zero-carbon factory built houses to locate in Medway, creating local green jobs and providing homes that both protect the environment and reduce utility costs, alleviating fuel poverty.

We would seek alternatives to market housing, through encouraging community-led cooperatives and pushing the Council to invest in social housing.

We would work with Councillors from any party, work to ensure the Council listens to the people it is meant to represent and campaign for Proportional Representation nationally and locally.

Medway Greens in Strood supporting Demand Democracy Day

Local Green Party members were in Strood Town Centre on Saturday 30th June supporting “Demand Democracy Day”[1] arranged by the campaign group “Make Votes Matter”. Make Vote Matters had arranged the national day of action as part of their cross party campaign for a change in the voting system from the current First Past the Post system to Proportional Representation. Proportional Representation is any voting system in which the share of seats a party wins matches the share of votes it receives.

Marilyn Stone who organised the local event said:

“It was great to be able to chat to passers-by about the issues with our current voting system and why it needs to change. The most striking problem with the current system is that a political party can win power on a very small percentage of votes, leaving the vast majority of people without a voice”.

Medway Green Party had also brought along a petition for electoral reform in Council elections which they plan to grow during the campaign period before the May 2019 elections.

Clive Gregory, Green campaigner, said:

“Recent developments, particularly those affecting those living on the Hoo Peninsula, show that the Council is not and has no intention of listening to the vast majority of local opinion. It’s time all local people were represented and not just those who favour the dominating party”.

[1] https://www.makevotesmatter.org.uk/news/demand-democracy-day

Medway Greens call on Medway Council to “go back to the drawing board” with their Local Plan

Medway Green Party recently submitted a detailed response to Medway Council’s Local Plan consultation.  This was an article we sent to the press at the time…

Local Green campaigners have slammed the latest proposals in the Local Plan consultation describing the options as “serving the Council’s own laissez faire agenda”.

Bernard Hyde, Green Campaigner and local Architect says: “The rhetoric of the Medway Local Plan is worthy but the options presented are ill conceived and add to the problems we face instead of being part of the solution. We have to face up to the inevitable effects of climate change with all the many and varied impacts that it is going to have on all our lives. Our Council leaders, like Central Government, are avoiding the important issues, whether they be flooding, homelessness, failing harvests, lack of water or pollution, to serve their own laissez faire agenda”.

In particular, Medway Green Party has hit out at the proposal to build a new rural town on the Hoo Peninsula claiming that, not only is it unwelcome to local people, and damaging to the local environment, but that it stores up problems for the future because of the area’s clay soil.   Mr Hyde says:  “The developments will be built on clay which currently costs more to build on than chalk, will suffer more from the extremes of weather caused by climate change and may result in buildings that are uninsurable. Medway Council needs to go back to the drawing board on this”.

Clive Gregory, Medway Green and Hoo Peninsula resident adds: “There is little evidence that Medway residents were calling for development on the Hoo Peninsula.  In fact largely the opposite is stated in the Council’s own report on the last consultation.  It seems that the latest proposal is in the interests of developers and their short term profit rather than in the interests of the existing or future local population”.

Medway Green Party is however not without suggestions of how things can be done differently, and Mr Hyde delivered a hard copy of the Green Party response to the Local Plan Consultation to the Council Offices on Monday, together with a file of background information and references. He said: “The Local Plan consultation document is not particularly accessible to the average citizen due to the length of the consultation document and the mountain of material that accompanies it. We expect the planners to read the documents we have supplied”.

 

One year to go to Medway Council elections

While many people in the country are milling over the results of the 2018 Council elections, in Medway we were asked by local reporter, Dean Kilpatrick, to provide some thoughts on Medway Council’s elections next May.

Please see full article from Medway Green Party below:

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Medway Council is not renowned for its recognition of democracy and there appears to be little exception to this in regard to the Local Plan consultation.  The latest proposal to build a “rural town” on the Hoo Peninsula arguably favours the interests of developers over local people who want to preserve our green spaces and certainly don’t want a new town at Hoo.

This together with the continued identification of the SSSI at Lodge Hill and now Deangate Ridge Golf Course and other valuable green spaces such as Capstone Valley in housing proposals is I predict likely to be the biggest issue on the agenda as we approach the 2019 local elections.

Both the Conservatives and Labour administrations fully support massive development and fail to recognise and indeed simply don’t understand the importance of our environment locally. We are privileged to live in an area of international importance and need to preserve it. Only the Greens are questioning both the need for so many houses and the decisions the Council is making about where to put them.

The proposals are also completely inadequate in fulfilling local need for affordable housing.  Medway is regularly being advertised as a commuter town with pitches for buyers for new, undoubtedly expensive, riverside apartments in the pipeline. Is this the pipeline development mentioned in the Local Plan which the Council has already approved?  The current requirement of local people should be addressed first; this is social housing. There also needs to be more proactive effort to reduce climate change by ensuring that any building allows for maximum energy production and efficiency.

As with many legislative bodies from the EU commission down to the humblest local council, transparency is an issue. Medway is a good example of a few individuals thinking they know best and to implement their plans they involve others reluctantly.  Local people no longer accept this style of governance – its day is ending. What people are calling for is to be included in planning and decisions.  Proportional representation would be the best way to begin this change.

Meanwhile, both Tories and Labour seem to believe that the only answer to overpriced housing is to build more houses ignoring the need for more socially rentable housing locally and ignoring the role that financial markets have had in the massive escalation in prices of market housing.  Most people are completely unaware that the economic system is at the core of the majority of disastrous policy decisions. Some like Kate Raworth in her book “Doughnut Economics” [1] or the Positive Money group [2] challenge the status quo, but the problems with our economic system are largely left out of debate.  Greens will endeavour to highlight alternative economic solutions both at a local and global level.

The risk of increasing congestion and rising pollution from all the additional cars on our roads is also likely to be a factor.  We will need to be thinking of more sustainable travel solutions.  We also need more electric car charging points.  There seems to be no anticipation by the Council of the emergence of electric vehicles.

Concern regarding single use plastics is becoming more prominent following the excellent Blue Planet programme.  While the Council has agreed to stop using SUPs on Council premises more can be done. It surprises me that while the charge on plastic bags has helped reduce use, that plastic bags haven’t been eliminated altogether. Why don’t shops supply paper bags for groceries as they do in America?  The Council also needs to do better at reducing landfill. That Medway Norse has taken over the contract for running household waste recycling centres is something that needs watching.  They don’t seem to have done very well with Deangate Ridge Golf Course!

Finally the fight to protect our local public services including health, education and social care is likely to feature, all of which are suffering through Government cuts to the Council budget.

Who can predict any result in these unpredictable times but we believe that in May 2019 there will be even more need for Green voices on the Council.

Clive Gregory

Green Campaigner and PPC for Rochester and Strood

[1] https://www.kateraworth.com/

[2] http://positivemoney.org/

 

Vote Green on International Women’s Day – March 8th #RochesterWest

The Rochester West by-election is on the same day as International Women’s Day (1). One of the reasons I decided to enter politics was because of a lack of female voices in public life.  I felt that if I wanted women to have a voice, I needed to stand myself to contribute to that change. So as the only female candidate in the by-election, I feel honoured to stand on this day which begins a year-long campaign to further gender equality.

International Women’s Day was started by the Suffragettes in the early 1900s; the first International Women’s Day was in 1911 (2). Thanks to the suffrage movement’s determination to effect change, women have had the vote for 100 years and my view is that this has helped the country to enjoy relative peace since 1945.

However, we have to remember that the right to a political voice is often fought for, it is not given! Men and women’s voices still need to be heard on issues such as the blight of litter and landfill on our communities, the fundamental right to have a home and to continue to have accessible health services.

Medway Green Party considers that social rights are inextricably linked with the environment, but rights have to be fought for peacefully. This fight, which for me has been inspired by the determination of the Suffragettes, is one I aim to continue on behalf of the people of Rochester West, if elected on International Women’s Day on 8^th March.

Sonia Hyner – Green Party Candidate Rochester West

Sonia was inspired to write this letter by reading “Hearts and Minds – The Untold Story of How Women Won The Vote” by Jane Robinson – Penguin books 2018. http://www.jane-robinson.com/

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NOTES

[1] https://www.internationalwomensday.com/

[2] https://www.internationalwomensday.com/Theme

Some additional information on the Suffrage Movement:

Women’s Full Political Enfranchisement – 1792 to 2018

The right to a political voice is often fought for, it is not given!

This is seen in Mary Wollstonecraft’s book of 1792:

A Vindication of the Rights of Women

A Bill to enfranchise women was presented to the House of Commons in the years: 1872,

’75,  ‘ 76, ’ 78, ‘ 79, ’84, ’86, ’87, ’97, ’92, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99 and in 1901, ’04, ’05 and so on. All of these Bills were lost.

In 1897, the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) or Suffragists was formed under the leadership of Millicent Garrett Fawcett who espoused change through political reform.

The Suffragettes under Emmeline Pankhurst founded The Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) 1905. Empty political rhetoric resulted in them smashing the windows of the gentry and tying themselves to railings. Emily Wilding Davidson fatally threw herself under the King’s Horse at Epsom.

By 1907, women organised a large-scale outdoor women’s suffrage meeting through the NUWSS, called the Mud March. Fifty-four suffragettes were arrested.

In prison, under the Cat and Mouse Act, suffragettes were forced fed, released to get well and re-arrested and force fed again.

The Representation of the People Bill received Royal Assent on the 6^th February 1918, allowing qualified women of 30 or over to vote. The Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act was passed in 1928, extending the franchise to women aged 21.

 

Candidate profile – Sonia Hyner #RochesterWest

Sonia Hyner has lived in Medway since 2002 and has been an active peace and climate change campaigner for some time.  She worked for Citizen Advice for 21 years, supporting members of the public to alleviate poverty and secure housing, before recently retraining to teach English to adults at Further Education College. Sonia also stood as the Green Candidate for the Rochester and Strood constituency in the 2017 General Election.

Sonia says: “One of the reasons I decided to enter politics was because of a lack of female voices in public life.  I felt that if I wanted women to have a voice, I needed to stand myself to contribute to that change.  The Conservatives currently dominate the Council and people feel that the Council doesn’t take their wishes and needs seriously. People deserve better!  Voting Green in Rochester West will help to provide more balance on Medway Council as well as encouraging and protecting values that currently have little or no voice such as….

 

Medway’s Environment and Sustainability:

A Green councillor would work to put environmental sustainability, health and wellbeing at the heart of council decisions and to protect our local countryside and green spaces from needless development. Globally many plants and animals have died out because their natural habitats have been destroyed. We must fight to protect our healthy green spaces, and clean up our toxic air, as well as for all development and transport to be truly sustainable. One of my key interests is in reducing litter and landfill and improving recycling locally.

Our NHS and Public Services:

Nationally our NHS is being sold off to private companies at an alarming rate. Our local services are at risk – this needs to stop! The recent Carillion disaster demonstrates a total failure in both Labour and Tory economic policy and their management of public services. I would do all I can to protect and improve our local public services.  People need to come before profit!

Homes that meet the needs of Medway:

We need to provide homes that local young people can actually afford.  The Medway Local Plan consultation estimates that 75% of new homes need to be affordable over the next 25 years to meet the needs of the local population, but the Council is only planning to enforce a requirement for 25% and is failing currently to achieve even that. There are alternatives such as Community Land Trusts which support local communities to build their own homes at prices they can afford and many would agree that we need the Council to start providing enough homes again. I would do all I can to ensure that all local people have a decent home.

If elected as councillor in Rochester West, I will make it my duty to strive towards making Medway the responsive, supportive and secure place I know it should be; respecting and listening to ALL voices in the community.”

Sonia Hyner to stand for Greens in Rochester West by-election #RochesterWest #GreenMedway

Sonia Hyner has been selected as the Green Party’s candidate for the upcoming by-election in Rochester West.  An active peace and climate change campaigner for a number of years, Sonia worked for Citizen Advice for 21 years, supporting members of the public to alleviate poverty and secure housing. She recently retrained to teach English to adults at Further Education College. Sonia stood as Green PPC for Rochester and Strood in 2017 and knows the Rochester West area well, having been a campaigner on the doorsteps in recent years.    

Sonia says:
“I would understand that people may be a bit weary of elections having been through eight elections in the past three years in Rochester West, but this does provide an opportunity to produce a bit more balance on Medway Council. The Council is currently largely dominated by Conservatives, with Labour the only real opposition.  A Green voice on the Council would provide more opportunity to put environmental sustainability, health and wellbeing at the heart of Council decisions. Currently those who support Green values have no consistent voice on the Council at all. I would call on anyone who does to get out and vote Green on March 8th”.

Steve Dyke, Medway Green Party Coordinator says:

“I am delighted that Sonia has been selected as our candidate in the by-election.  She is a passionate believer in green politics who would work hard to represent the interests of all those in Rochester West, whatever their background, while bringing a much needed environmental perspective to the Council.”

Medway Green Party response to Rochester Town Council proposal

We have been surprised at the degree of opposition to the proposed Rochester Town Council as this is something that could in theory give local people a greater say in how things are run where they live. Medway Green Party will always support local democracy and decisions being made closest to those they affect.

However there are several aspects for consideration with this idea and Medway Council’s consultation is reportedly rather vague. Things for people to consider are what a Town Council would be able to achieve in practice, whether its existence would, in reality, improve the decision-making power of local residents and what any financial costs might be.

Thus we hope that the current consultation is being regarded as one that simply allows residents to consider the idea of a Town Council in principle.  Rochester residents have a right to know what this would mean to them in practice.  Similar to the EU referendum, the people affected must be given another opportunity to consider this more thoroughly once full details of the workings are available.

Steve Dyke, Medway Green Party Co-ordinator

 

Thank you voters – General Election Count 2017

We would like to thank everybody in Medway who voted with their hearts last week for a Green future in the General Election.  We had anticipated a lower vote this time due to tactical voting by people trying to overcome the limitations of the ‘first past the post’ electoral system.  While out canvassing, many people told us that although they would prefer to vote Green and intend do so in local elections, they would be voting Labour this time in an attempt to defeat the Tories. Unfortunately this didn’t actually change much locally.

Nationally, while we welcome the big shift towards progressive politics, we are left with a minority Tory government who will go to any lengths to retain power, including an irresponsible deal with the DUP, a party with controversial views on climate change, abortion and gay rights. Yet more people voted for progressive parties! Also of note is that while the DUP received fewer votes than the Green Party, they now have ten MPs while we still have only one!

Our current electoral system is inherently undemocratic by failing to reflect the true opinions of voters.  The Green Party will continue to fight for a fairer voting system in which everyone’s vote counts.

Locally, we are undeterred and looking forward to continuing our various campaigns in the coming months and years to allow more of you to see what Green politics is about.

Clive, Sonia and Bernard, our candidates after votes had been declared

Medway Greens call on other party candidates to commit to voting reform #MakeVotesMatter

Medway Green General Election candidates have signed the “Make Votes Matter” pledge to do all they can to bring in proportional representation if elected and are calling for candidates of other parties to do the same.

The Make Votes Matter campaign is encouraging all General Election candidates to pledge to support the campaign to make everyone’s vote count equally. The Medway Greens are also claiming that a vote for them will help to stop this issue being sidelined.

In the 2015 General Election the government were elected with only 24% of possible votes. The Green Party attracted over 1.1 million votes and yet only one MP in parliament; the Conservatives achieved just over 11 million votes and have 320 times the number of MPs.

Clive Gregory, Green Party candidate for Gillingham and Rainham says:

“Millions of people are denied representation at Westminster because of our out of date voting system and, faced with this reality, the number of people who don’t vote often outnumbers those who do.  This is really bad for democracy.  We need to move towards a fairer voting system in order to have a true say in our future. This is something the Greens will continue to fight for whatever the outcome on polling day. We also support votes for 16 and 17 year olds as we think they should have a voice in their future too.  We are calling on the other parties’ candidates in the Medway Towns to support the Make Votes Matter campaign and pledge to campaign for electoral reform”.

Sonia Hyner, Green Party candidate for Rochester and Strood adds:

“Over the weeks leading up to this election we were pleased to have encouraged some who hadn’t intended to vote to do so.  Every vote is important, as it increases the national vote of whichever is the preferred party and prevents the issues people care about (such as the push for electoral reform) being sidelined.  From a Green point of view it is also particularly important to keep up the pressure on other parties to ensure that our environment is protected, particularly as we risk the loss of vital EU protections. However it would be much fairer with proportional representation as everyone’s vote would count the same.”

Details of how voters can approach candidates to ask them to pledge their support for voting reform can be found on the Make Votes Matter website –  https://www.makevotesmatter.org.uk/