As members of the Green Party we should look very closely at the lowest rung of our political ladder – that of the town and parish council. Both councils have the same powers including the promotion of micro generation of sustainable energy sources under the recently passed Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act. Being on a parish or town council also provides the opportunity to build up a political identity through case work that could lead to greater opportunities to get elected to the metropolitan, unitary, borough or county councils. This fits very well with the Green Party ‘Target to Win’ strategy and should be seen as a first stage. If you examine the other political parties you will discover that many of their borough councillors are actually parish councillors as well, gaining a base of support at a very local level.
By becoming
parish councillors, Greens can spend money on a variety
of local schemes of benefit to the community, such as
arts initiatives and crime prevention measures. Local
councillors also have powers over certain local
facilities such as halls, open spaces and footpaths and
are consulted about planning applications. Many parish
and town Councils have vacancies due to low levels of
interest in joining them, so check out your local
council, attend a meeting and try and get co-opted into
the vacancy.
My own experience can show just exactly how exciting it can be. I stood for my local parish council, Longden, at the same time as standing for a ward in the Shrewsbury borough elections. I was unsuccessful in the ward election but not in the uncontested parish election. At the first meeting I discovered that we were to consider a planning request for a 10kw 25m wind turbine in the parish. This was the first application in Shrewsbury of this size and it caused a bit of a stir in the press. My fellow councillors were fairly non-committal about the application being more worried about the visual aspect. I did some homework, met the applicant, understood his position and spoke in favour of the project, which was passed by the parish. I was later contacted by the applicant who informed me that the borough planners were recommending refusal of his application on the grounds of it being ‘visibly obtrusive.’ He asked me to speak in favour of the scheme at the borough council’s committee meeting. Again, homework was required about the local plan, planning policy statements, the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act and the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change, that the borough council had recently signed. At the meeting I had three minutes to sell the plan to the councillors and was extremely pleased when they accepted our position and overturned the officer’s recommendation.
The applicant is now a firm supporter of the Green Party and will be recommending the hard work of his Green Councillor to his contacts. The local party gained some good coverage, I learnt much and now we are going to have an exciting wind turbine project in my parish that can be used to promote sustainability to the local adults and children.
My own experience can show just exactly how exciting it can be. I stood for my local parish council, Longden, at the same time as standing for a ward in the Shrewsbury borough elections. I was unsuccessful in the ward election but not in the uncontested parish election. At the first meeting I discovered that we were to consider a planning request for a 10kw 25m wind turbine in the parish. This was the first application in Shrewsbury of this size and it caused a bit of a stir in the press. My fellow councillors were fairly non-committal about the application being more worried about the visual aspect. I did some homework, met the applicant, understood his position and spoke in favour of the project, which was passed by the parish. I was later contacted by the applicant who informed me that the borough planners were recommending refusal of his application on the grounds of it being ‘visibly obtrusive.’ He asked me to speak in favour of the scheme at the borough council’s committee meeting. Again, homework was required about the local plan, planning policy statements, the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act and the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change, that the borough council had recently signed. At the meeting I had three minutes to sell the plan to the councillors and was extremely pleased when they accepted our position and overturned the officer’s recommendation.
The applicant is now a firm supporter of the Green Party and will be recommending the hard work of his Green Councillor to his contacts. The local party gained some good coverage, I learnt much and now we are going to have an exciting wind turbine project in my parish that can be used to promote sustainability to the local adults and children.
Greens
get results
Lewes Councilors: Nicola McGilligan, Roger Murray and Susan Murray
Greens on Lewes Town Council
In May, three Green councillors were elected to Lewes Town Council - two more than four years previously. Councillor Susan Murray started as she means to go on by proposing a motion on plastic bags at the first full council meeting.
It read:-
“This council believes that plastic bags are an environmental hazard and an unsustainable use of a scarce resource. It therefore resolves to support all efforts by local community organisations to move Lewes towards becoming a plastic bag free town.”
This motion generated a lot of local press coverage for us and thus lots of people now know there are Greens working for them on the town council. In the event the motion was passed unanimously by the council (most of them Lib Dems) and it was even agreed to set up a working group which is now surveying businesses in the High Street for their opinions. Meanwhile local organic and fairtrade cotton business Gossypium has brought out the first edition of its Love Lewes - Shop Local shopping bag, now to be seen on the arm of every ethical shopper in town!
At the following council meeting Susan got the council to support a local “Lights Out” initiative to raise awareness of climate change. She requested that the planning committee meeting which coincided with lights out on 16th October be conducted in total darkness - for five minutes.
Making Lambeth Council pension fund ethical
A scrutiny commission into ethical investment, arranged by Councillor Becca Thackray, has been looking into the way Lambeth Council pension funds are invested. At Cllr Thackray’s request, the council has produced a report on its work of ‘constructive engagement’ with selected companies to see how they match up to its ethical policy criteria.
Although heavily laced with warnings about the possible illegality of ethical restrictions on investment portfolios or departing from a policy of maximum returns, the report does consider such things as working conditions for employees, pollution generation, and sustainable resource utilisation. Cllr Thackray plans to follow up by assessing the scale and effectiveness of the council’s monitoring work, and also to urge the abandonment of investment in dubious sectors like arms manufacture.
John Cooper, the AGC co-ordinator, and Miriam Kennet will be managing the drive to win more parish and town council seats. There will also be an annual conference for green councillors and people hoping to become councillors next summer in 2008.
Lewes Councilors: Nicola McGilligan, Roger Murray and Susan Murray
Greens on Lewes Town Council
In May, three Green councillors were elected to Lewes Town Council - two more than four years previously. Councillor Susan Murray started as she means to go on by proposing a motion on plastic bags at the first full council meeting.
It read:-
“This council believes that plastic bags are an environmental hazard and an unsustainable use of a scarce resource. It therefore resolves to support all efforts by local community organisations to move Lewes towards becoming a plastic bag free town.”
This motion generated a lot of local press coverage for us and thus lots of people now know there are Greens working for them on the town council. In the event the motion was passed unanimously by the council (most of them Lib Dems) and it was even agreed to set up a working group which is now surveying businesses in the High Street for their opinions. Meanwhile local organic and fairtrade cotton business Gossypium has brought out the first edition of its Love Lewes - Shop Local shopping bag, now to be seen on the arm of every ethical shopper in town!
At the following council meeting Susan got the council to support a local “Lights Out” initiative to raise awareness of climate change. She requested that the planning committee meeting which coincided with lights out on 16th October be conducted in total darkness - for five minutes.
Making Lambeth Council pension fund ethical
A scrutiny commission into ethical investment, arranged by Councillor Becca Thackray, has been looking into the way Lambeth Council pension funds are invested. At Cllr Thackray’s request, the council has produced a report on its work of ‘constructive engagement’ with selected companies to see how they match up to its ethical policy criteria.
Although heavily laced with warnings about the possible illegality of ethical restrictions on investment portfolios or departing from a policy of maximum returns, the report does consider such things as working conditions for employees, pollution generation, and sustainable resource utilisation. Cllr Thackray plans to follow up by assessing the scale and effectiveness of the council’s monitoring work, and also to urge the abandonment of investment in dubious sectors like arms manufacture.
John Cooper, the AGC co-ordinator, and Miriam Kennet will be managing the drive to win more parish and town council seats. There will also be an annual conference for green councillors and people hoping to become councillors next summer in 2008.
More information can be found at http://members.greenparty.org.uk/agcachievement
Please contact John Hooper: agc@greenparty.org.uk / 01805 622544 or Miriam Kennet at Miriam.kennet@yahoo.co.uk if you are a parish or town councillor.
