Green Party hope to build on last election's success |
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Local manifesto focuses on environment
Ealing Green party is fielding 13 candidates in the May local elections. In Walpole ward Sarah Edwards, who grabbed 22% of the vote in 2002 and beat both Tory and Liberal opponents, is contesting the seat again together with local residents George Foy, a Labour rebel, and Rachel Sanger. Sarah Edwards said, “The other parties talk about the environment, but their policies make things worse. The biggest challenge of all is climate change. Yet the Labour government has given up on its target to reduce emissions. The Green Party will reduce our carbon emissions by greatly increasing the proportion of trips made by public transport, walking and cycling. We will save energy in buildings and promote renewable energy sources and recycling.” Locally the Green party say: * Protect our open spaces . Our parks are the ‘green lung' of Ealing. We will not sell off open spaces for lucrative housing developments. We support town planning, and not town cramming. * Support our local shopping centre . Pitshanger Lane and Northfields Avenue are two excellent and vibrant local shopping centres. We will also support local post offices and local services such as schools and hospitals, which means we won't need to travel so much. * Better local services – democratically controlled, not privatised * Save our trees . Green Party members were in the forefront of the successful campaign to save our lime trees. We will continue to fight to protect trees, wildlife and all parts of the local environment. * Promote Fair Trade . The Green Party will promote Fair Trade and will seek to make Ealing a ‘Fair Trade Borough'. In this way, we will harness the economic strength of the area to alleviate poverty and instability around the world. * Improve energy conservation . The easiest way to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions is to minimise energy consumption in our homes and in all new buildings. The present council's policy is to cram as many new buildings as possible with scant regard for energy conservation. The Green Party's priority is for environmental quality and sharing resources fairly. * Take pride . It is important for us all to take pride in our neighbourhood and enjoy it. This is not just a matter of more street cleaning, important though that is. Local involvement, democratic participation and decision-making are at the heart of Green Party policies. This is in contrast to centralised policies and token consultations of the other parties. Green Party candidates
April 29, 2006 |