Tag: London

Your Green Candidate for Forest Gate North!

A Coalition of Environmental Groups hand in the Microbeads Petition

Hi, I’m Elisabeth, and I’m the Green Party candidate for Forest Gate North. I live on Sebert Road under the Goblin line, having decided to move here when I fell in love with Wanstead Flats four years ago. Forest Gate has been my home for a relatively short time, and yet I feel more a part of the community here than I have anywhere else since I moved out of my parents’ house. I guess it’s that kind of place.

In my professional life I’m an environmental campaigner (in the above photo I’m handing in a petition against plastic microbeads to Number 10!). I’ve led successful campaigns to create marine reserves in far flung corners of the world, getting to know island communities and working with them to protect their incredible underwater life. I also helped to achieve a reversal of government proposals to water down the National Curriculum’s requirement to teach children about nature.

IMG_9902 editedMy degree in psychology and my experience in environmental campaigning have given me the skills to understand how to tackle issues like flytipping, one of the most pervasive problems that this area faces. The recent decision to introduce a £20 charge to collect bulky items seems to me to be a big step in the wrong direction, and shows a real misunderstanding of local people’s circumstances.

You might have met me when I worked at Coffee7 a couple of years ago. While talking to other people who live here, I’ve heard that many are deeply dissatisfied with the current council and Mayor. No matter what your political allegiance, it’s surely bad for democracy to have only one Party represented on our council, with no opposition to scrutinise their decisions.

In the last local elections here in 2014, the Green Party came second in Forest Gate North. If you want to send a strong message to the council, increase the democracy and accountability of the council, and elect a candidate who will listen to residents and fight hard for their concerns, then please consider voting Green on 14th July.

This blog first appeared on forestgate.net

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Siân Berry launches the Greens’ East London manifesto

Friday saw the official launch of the Green Party manifesto for East London (pdf), ahead of the Mayoral and London Assembly elections on Thursday 5th May. Support for Green policies is at an all-time high, with a particularly strong presence in East London, and we are aiming to increase the numbers of Greens on the London Assembly from the current two.

Green Party Mayoral candidate, Siân Berry, and local candidate, Rachel Collinson, were joined by local Green Party members outside of the proposed Bishopsgate Goodsyard site.

EL Manifesto Group

Rachel Collinson, who is also the Newham Green Party Chair, said: “The Bishopsgate Goodsyard development controversy perfectly illustrates what is wrong with London’s urban planning system. Boris Johnson has repeatedly ignored the wishes of local residents and Councils. The Green Party’s Jenny Jones AM challenged the Mayor on the decision, and it has now been deferred until after the Mayoral election!

R&S“The Green Party have a strong record of supporting communities, and holding those in power to account. If elected to the assembly I will work with residents to ensure local concerns continue to be heard.”

The Green Party have already highlighted their flagship policies on housing, transport, policing, the living wage and air pollution during this campaign. The manifesto provides more detail on each of these areas and gives examples of what Siân a Green Mayor and Green London Assembly Members would do for East London. Such as…

200,000 new homes across London, for ALL Londoners – with 50% to be built by smaller developers, communities and housing associations to provide truly affordable housing across the city. In East London the party will take a stand against the proliferation of luxury developments for the super-wealthy, such as Bishopsgate Goodsyard and the Newham Council Masterplan to replace the social Carpenter’s Estate with private developer blocks, and fight for the development of genuinely affordable housing for Londoners.

Celebrating and supporting London’s diversity – including rethinking the flawed and discriminatory Prevent strategy, creating a new City Hall position for monitoring policy impacts on London’s older residents, and making sure London remains a leader in LGBT+ rights and culture.

Ending the air pollution crisis – bringing pollution below legal limits by 2020 at the latest. In East London, we will continue to resist the proposed Enderby Wharf Cruise Terminal in Greenwich and the Silvertown Tunnel at Blackwall which would increase pollution across several boroughs that are already dangerously polluted. Also, we’d close London City Airport and use the land for homes and up to 16,000 more jobs.

The London Living Wage for all – currently one in five working Londoners are still paid less, many of whom live in Newham and surrounding boroughs. Siân also pledges to create 150,000 high­ quality apprenticeships, and improving conditions and opportunities for part-time workers.

This comes just a week after Siân and Rachel were joined by fellow Green Party candidates Shahrar Ali and Benali Hamdache to launch the Manifesto for Londoners from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds (pdf) in Newham’s Queens Market.

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Rachel Collinson – A Greener London is possible

You might have noticed we have the London Mayoral and Assembly elections coming up in May.  This weekend we held the official launch of local candidate, and Newham Green Party Chair, Rachel Collinson, who is running as the candidate for City and East.

Assembly Member Baroness Jenny Jones presided over the launch, which took place in Shoreditch, by the proposed site of the controversial £800 million development of Bishopsgate Goodsyard. This proposal has been rejected by local residents as well as Tower Hamlets and Hackney Councils, and has also been opposed by the Green Party.

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Rachel said “The controversy surrounding the planned development of Bishopsgate Goodsyard is a perfect illustration of what is wrong with London’s urban planning system. Boris Johnson is ignoring the wishes of local residents and both Tower Hamlets and Hackney Councils. A strong Green Party voice within the London General Assembly is crucial for redressing the mayor’s follies.”

We currently have 2 Green Party members of the London Assembly, Baroness Jenny Jones and Darren Johnson AM, who have worked hard to provide Londoners with civil partnerships, the Living Wage and a huge increase in the cycling budget, as well as helped design the new Low Emissions Zones. Just imagine what we could accomplish with even more Green members on the Assembly!

Green Party supporters were out in force, and we were joined by members from the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Hackney, and Tower Hamlets and the Young Greens from Queen Mary University. We had a fantastic turn out, and the weather was on our side – only raining after we’d finished our tour of the area and outdoor activities!

Jenny Jones AM, who has served on the Assembly since it was established in 2000, said “It’s great to see so many local Green Party members turning out to support the City and East campaign launch. East London has a vibrant and growing community of dedicated Green Party supporters, and if the enthusiasm on display here today is anything to go by, you can be sure they’ll be making their voices heard loud and clear in the run-up to the London Assembly elections in May!”

If you’d like to make your voice heard too, we’ve launched a crowdfunder campaign this week, to help us pay for the election deposit and campaign materials.

Rachel Collinson, is determined to provide a voice to the people of East London who share our vision to create an inclusive, prosperous, safe area for people to lead productive, well connected lives.

To do this, we need to raise money for our election campaign. This money will go directly to help us stand our candidates and ensuring our vision for a fairer future is delivered to every constituent. By building a Green voice in East London, we can capitalise on the current Green surge and work towards Green success throughout London.

Green Party members of the London Assembly have achieved great things, please help Rachel to carry on their work for a fairer, healthier London for all.

Support Rachel’s campaign

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