A small, determined, team took to the road using whatever resources they could to spread Frank’s green manifesto across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Adlington-Stringer’s candidacy was welcomed by the Green Party’s deputy leader Zack Polanski. He said: “I’m delighted to see Frank has been selected to be the candidate for Mayor. I’ve seen how much Frank cares about the community and will be a vibrant and exciting Mayor that will always have people and planet at the heart of everything he does – he’d be a very wise choice for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire”.

We want to say a huge thanks to all those who voted for the Green Party for the first time and leave you with Franks reaction at the count where it became apparent that he’d achieved something special.

The post Historic 3rd place for Green Party in the east midlands mayoral elections appeared first on East Midlands Green Party.

Significant gains have been seen in areas with previous Green representation, as a sign of widespread approval of the effectiveness of Green Councillors in defending residents’ interests.

The Greens have also seen breakthroughs in the 4 key areas of Erewash, North East Derbyshire, East Lindsey and South Kesteven bringing green representation onto those councils for the first time.

Rachael Hatchett, joint regional coordinator of the East Midlands Greens congratulated the 21 local parties on their hard work, and thanked the hundreds of candidates who stood across 35 different local authorities:

“Our key breakthroughs in the East Midlands show that people are beginning to see that the Green Party does things differently to the other parties, by putting local people and our environment first.”

The decision to elect so many new Greens to local councils follows a long campaign by Green candidates, volunteers and activists, who sought to appeal to voters who wish to see real action taken on pressing local issues.

Rachael went on to say:

“We could not be more delighted with the results. It represents an important step in local communities coming together to stand up against status quo parties who have shown themselves incapable of tackling the pressing issues that residents really care about”

The Green Party’s record gains nationally have been widely recognised as an inspiring sign of the popular appeal of Green policies in advance of the general election expected in 2024.

For more information or to arrange an interview contact coordinator@eastmidlands.greenparty.org.uk.

The post Greens celebrate record success in East Midlands local elections appeared first on East Midlands Green Party.

Wednesday’s strikes saw hundreds of thousands of workers in the NHS, education, rail, the civil service and other sectors walk out to demand pay rises and proper funding for services.

The Green Party has publicly called for public sector pay rises in line with inflation, with funding provided by Whitehall.

The Greens have also called for privatised public services like rail and Royal Mail to be brought back into public ownership.

Derbyshire teacher Brent Poland is helping his union the NEU organise its biggest strike ever. He said: “The response from society at large has been fantastic, and parents are in support of our action. They know we unlike this government actually care about their children’s education. We have no choice but to take this action — there is a recruitment and retention crisis in education, with many teachers being forced to work unsustainable hours and fill in gaps by teaching unqualified subjects.”

Rob Butler, a refuse collector and GMB member in Leicestershire, said: “Council workers and council contractors like me have been have been pressured into accepting pay deals well below inflation. We hope to break this trend this year. I’ll be continuing my support of other striking workers on local picket lines and at rallies.”

Local government worker Lesley Whetton will be at the Chesterfield rally as a Unison rep. She said: After years of attacks from the Tory government on public sector workers, we have had enough, recent ballot results show this. Staff are under pressure so many take work home and work through breaks, equating to many hours unpaid work.”

Chris Williams, a UCU member at the Open University striking on Wednesday, said: “We’re proud that the Green Party is 100% behind the Enough is Enough campaign, and today we’re out alongside our fellow trade unionists to get a result. Last year my branch moved 4000 tutors on to permanent contracts. Casualisation is a choice by management — and if we fight it, we can reverse it.”

The number of Green trade unionists is growing: Green policy on social justice and sustainability is union-friendly. At a point when more workers have decided that radical change is necessary, the Greens are the only party with a national profile and an electoral track record pushing for it.

East Midlands Green Party members are available for comment, including striking workers. Please contact Chris Williams (East Midlands Green Party Trade Union Liaison Officer) on 07718 629651 or elleetoo@gmail.com

The post Green Party Backs February 1st Strikes appeared first on East Midlands Green Party.

The Green Party is a party of social and environmental justice, which supports a radical transformation of society for the benefit of all, and for the planet as a whole. We understand that the threats to economic, social and environmental wellbeing are part of the same problem, and recognise that solving one of these crises cannot be achieved without solving the others. We do not believe that the imposition of a mayoral authority on the people of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, without proper democracy and accountability, will further these aims.

The East Midlands Green Party welcomes any additional funding for our region but disagrees with the proposal and has submitted a detailed response setting out its reasons.

The post Green Party Opposes Proposed East Midlands Combined County Authority appeared first on East Midlands Green Party.

Further details, including guest speaker line up and ticket booking service will follow, but for now we’d encourage you all to make a note in your diaries for what we’re sure will be another triumphant conference and ideas exchange!

The post East Midlands Green Party Regional Conference appeared first on East Midlands Green Party.

The post Greens dismayed at rise in greenhouse gases appeared first on East Midlands Green Party.

‘Extreme weather events’ are becoming a new normal.  Flooding is now imposing increasing costs on local authorities and households – costs that in the era of public austerity have been difficult to meet.

The Year 2000 was the wettest autumn on record in the UK, a largely ignored warning of the reality of a changing climate.  That year’s deluges caused extensive flooding in Sheffield leading to demands for better flood defences.  Despite this work, Sheffield flooded again in 2007, 09, 13, 18 and now again in 2019.

Since then, flooding has become more widespread across the whole country with some dramatic and record breaking incidents.

• 2004 – a massive flash flood ripped through the Cornish village of Boscastle.
• 2007 –  the most damaging flooding on record.  Thirteen people lost their lives and hundreds were stranded as a result of the floods that hit Tewkesbury in July.
• In 2009 – Cockermouth in Cumbria devastated by flash floods;  late that Autumn  record flooding hit Keswick.
• The winter of 2013-14 – massive flooding in the Somerset levels, along the Severn and  Thames Valleys and into Kent.  The mainline railway through Devon washed away at Dawlish.
• 2015 – twin storms Desmond & Eva in December caused severe disruptions in NW England, Western Scotland, Wales & N. Ireland;  Eva caused severe flooding on Christmas day in Central Lancs & Yorkshire.
• June 2016 – a  succession of storms saw torrential rain and flooding across the north and Midlands and London.
• November 2017 – torrential rain caused widespread flooding & power blackouts across Lancs, Greater Manchester & North Wales.
• 2018 – storms hit Wales, the worst in 30 years.

Now in 2019, South Yorks floods again for the sixth time in 20 years.  Prior to 2000, the previous serious flooding in Sheffield had been in 1973, and before this 1864, when a dam burst at Low Bradfield.

This year’s flooding has affected over 1500 properties across the Midlands extending down into the Severn valley.  The village of Whaley Bridge was nearly lost when a pooley maintained dam was overtopped by water after a cloudburst.

The message is clear, flooding is becoming more widespread and costly to deal with. Tens of thousands of homeowners are having to pay an unfair part of the clean up bill and cope with increasing insurance costs or find that their properties are uninsurable.

Traditional flood management  has aimed to move floodwaters quickly away from land and property by dredging, raising banks and straightening rivers.  Often what this achieves is to move more water more quickly to communities downstream.  In a new era of higher rainfall and risk we need a new approach.

First, allowing houses to be built on floodplain must be stopped.  If planning authorities and developers insist on floodplain development, they have to be made liable for any flood damage that may result.  Managing floodplain is an important part of flood control.  By allowing it to flood, water can be held away from housing and then allowed to slowly drain away as river levels fall.

Following disastrous floods in Stroud in 2007, Green Councillor Sarah Lunnon pioneered what has become known as the Rural Sustainable Drainage System.  This involves working with nature to enable the land to hold more water and to release it more slowly.  It has the added benefit of helping to improve water quality and biodiversity in the catchment.

Allowing land to be restored to a natural state will help to increase the water holding capacity of the catchment and slow runoff rates.  This will help to reduce flash flooding that was so disastrous in Boscastle and Cockermouth.  Such nature based schemes are cost effective, but they do require the cooperation of landowners who will need payments in recognition of the possible loss in market value of their land.

Fighting nature with concrete and steel hasn’t worked.  We need a new approach that works with natural processes.  Engineering will have its role, but it must be part of comprehensive catchment-wide flood management schemes.

The post Flooding becoming the new normal as the Climate Emergency gains pace appeared first on East Midlands Green Party.