Canterbury District Local Manifesto
Our key concerns for the District focus on:
1.
Reducing traffic congestion and air pollution
· no multi-storey car
park on Station Rd West – a genuine transport hub at Canterbury West instead
· a non-profit-making
electric or biofuel hopper bus service in Canterbury linking cross-town points
such as Canterbury West and East stations, and going through the Westgate
Towers
· a park-and-ride for
Whitstable and for North Canterbury
2. Ensuring decent housing for all
·
building genuinely affordable homes, such as
social and co-operative housing, preferably on brownfield sites, and
encouraging self-build and custom-build that directly meet peoples’ needs while
empowering the builders/occupants
·
setting up a living rent commission to make rents no more than a third of
local median incomes, ensuring secure tenancies and the Right to Rent if a
householder falls behind on mortgage payments.
·
making sure
all Houses in Multiple Occupation are registered and inspected so they provide high-standard
accommodation
3. Providing better health services
·
campaigning for better community health services
· campaigning for more doctors, dentists, mental health
specialists, district nurses and midwives
4. Maintaining open space
·
fighting planned development on Chaucer Fields and other amenity
sites
5.
Improving recycling rates and cleaning up our streets
·
returning waste collection to the Council as a non-profit-making service
· carrying out an intensive campaign to educate all residents on recycling
and disposal of all kinds of waste
·
providing multi-compartment bins on high streets and beaches
6.
Helping independent small businesses and cooperatives
· promoting and expanding local
producers’ street markets, co-operatives and directories of local businesses,
encouraging independent shops
7.
Preventing flooding
· making it a number one priority to secure the funding and measures
necessary to protect people from the increased risk of flooding in future years
8.
Improving local democracy
- campaigning
for more powers to be devolved to local councils and elections using
proportional representation
· campaigning to introduce higher bands of council tax for larger
properties and making the tax paid more proportionate to the value of the
house in order to generate more income for public services and reverse cuts
For more detail on our policies, read on:
1. Reducing traffic congestion and air
pollution
Traffic congestion and the air pollution it causes have long been
problems in Canterbury and Whitstable. They not only affect residents’ health
and quality of life but are also bad for business and tourism. We were
instrumental in commissioning a Sustainable Transport Blueprint for Canterbury
from sustainable transport expert Dr Lynn Sloman and have been highlighting
ways of cutting congestion for several years, aiming to make it easier to cycle,
walk, share cars and use public transport.
If elected we pledge
to:
- fight the
building of a multi-storey car park on Station Rd West and champion a
genuine transport hub at Canterbury West instead
- put forward
plans for a non-profit-making electric or biofuel hopper bus service in
Canterbury linking cross-town points such as Canterbury West and East
stations, and going through the Westgate Towers
· ensure a park-and-ride for
Whitstable and for North Canterbury
- prioritise funding for
sustainable transport
- extend pedestrian and shared
vehicle-pedestrian zones
- fund more comprehensive
monitoring of air quality in all parts of the District, taking action if
it doesn’t meet EU and UK standards and poses a long-term risk to health
- extend bus lanes on routes
into the city
- provide frequent bus
services from all surrounding areas
- complete as soon as possible
all cycle routes identified in the Council’s Transport Strategy
- introduce 20mph speed limits
in all residential areas
- make sure any new
developments are close to major public transport hubs and well designed
for access to public transport and cycling
- take steps to encourage
car-sharing
Click here to read the Green Party's plan for #BetterTransport
2. Ensuring decent
housing for all
We reject the overall number of houses proposed in the Local Plan, which
has had to conform to central government's dysfunctional top-down targets for
housing and takes no real account of local need and demand.
Our own modelling would suggest that homes for around 16,000 adults may
be required (plus 1,400 supported housing places) and with the current
occupancy rate of 2.3 adults per dwelling, this equates to around 7,000 homes
over the period up to 2031 (not the 16,000 in the Local Plan).
Furthermore, the vast majority of demand is driven by internal migration
and we reject this as a driver of economic growth over sustainability. The Council
should plan for sustainability rather than being complicit with the national
strategy for economic growth at any cost.
We oppose building large-scale developments in a few places on
greenfield sites. We favour smaller-scale developments of affordable and
lifelong homes on brownfield sites without the need for extensive and expensive
new infrastructure. Howe Barracks is a good example of such a site.
According to the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), there are 61
hectares of brownfield in the District. This provides the potential for 7,000
homes and therefore no need to allow any greenfield site building.
There are currently 443 homes in the District which have been empty for
over 6 months. There are over 2,300 on the waiting list for housing.
Then there are the impacts of poor-quality housing to be taken into
account. According to Defra, 30.4% of emissions in the South East come from
heating and running homes. We believe there is an urgent need to combat fuel
poverty and waste of energy by means of a District-wide campaign to make houses
more energy-efficient.
We also believe the Council should build up a stock of social housing
and that these homes should always remain in Council hands.
In order to address the issue of unaffordable rents and rent rises, we
will campaign to set up a ‘Living Rent Commission’ which would implement a
genuinely affordable rent control policy dependent upon local median incomes
and not upon local market rents.
We will also campaign for a 'Right to Rent' policy, meaning that home
owners who are unable to meet their mortgage payments and are under threat of
repossession would have a right to transfer ownership to the council, at less
than market value, in exchange for the right to remain in the home and pay rent
as council tenants.
If elected we pledge to:
- build genuinely affordable homes, such as social and
co-operative housing, preferably on brownfield sites, and encourage
self-build and custom-build that directly meet peoples’ needs while
empowering the builders/occupants
- set up a living rent
commission to make rents no more than a third of local median incomes,
ensure secure tenancies and the Right to Rent if a householder falls
behind on mortgage payments.
- campaign
to charge 200% council tax on homes left empty for longer than 6 months
and set aside the extra revenue received to provide free roof and
cavity-wall insulation to residents in the District.
- make sure all Houses in
Multiple Occupation are registered and inspected so they provide
high-standard accommodation
- ensure all new housing is of
high quality requiring low energy and fitted with photovoltaic panels
- oppose planning permission
for building on greenfield sites
- use the Sustainable
Communities Act to lobby government for an end to the ‘Right to Buy’
council housing or housing association homes
- support flexibly supported
housing options and access to intermittent high-need accommodation without
loss of tenancy rights
Click here to read the Green Party's plan for #DecentHomes
3. Providing better health
services
Canterbury City
Council isn’t responsible for NHS services in the District but we would press
for better community health services with more doctors, dentists,
mental health specialists, district nurses and midwives.
Click here to read the
Green Party's plan for a genuinely Public NHS
4.
Maintaining open space
It is vital that every person in Canterbury District has access to open
space. All open space should be valued as a community asset; the walk to the
shops should be as welcoming as a walk in the park.
We support the preservation of Kingsmead Field, Chaucer Fields and
Duncan Down as community open spaces and the creation of a riverside walk/cycle
path all the way from Chartham to Sturry.
If elected we pledge
to aim for the following provisions for all residents:
- recreational amenity (exercise, dog walking,
sports)
- functional/social amenity (allotments)
- visual amenity (a still and empty green open
space has a value in itself)
- all within a 5-10 minute walking distance from
home
5.
Improving recycling rates and cleaning up our streets
We believe that public services should be in public hands, not using
taxpayers' money to provide profits for private companies and shareholders.
When the contract for District refuse disposal and collection comes up for
renewal, we would bring this service back into the public sector.
If elected we pledge
to:
- ·carry out an intensive campaign to educate all residents on recycling and disposal of all kinds of waste
- provide multi-compartment bins on high streets and beaches
- ensure that bins and inserts
lost through no fault of the householder or tenant are replaced without
charge
- make landlords and letting
agencies responsible for ensuring their tenants are familiar with and
comply with regulations concerning refuse disposal and collection
- provide all houses in
multiple occupation with a red-top bin for paper and card (instead of the
inserts in the blue-top bins) at the landlord's or letting agency's
expense
6.
Helping independent small businesses and cooperatives
Greens support local
shops throughout the District, keeping money circulating in the local economy.
Large numbers of
visitors are important for our local economy. Many of them arrive on the
high-speed rail service to Canterbury West.
If elected we pledge
to:
- promote and expand local producers’ street
markets, co-operatives and directories of local businesses
- protect visitor attractions and heritage sites
- make sure the gateways to Canterbury, like St
Dunstan’s, are welcoming and attractive
7.
Preventing flooding
Flooding blights
lives. The risk of more severe weather events, including flooding, is increasing
with global warming.
If elected we pledge
to:
- make it a number one
priority to secure the funding and measures necessary to protect people
from the increased risk of flooding in future years.
- implement a robust
tree-planting programme throughout the District (Trees absorb 67 times the
amount of water as compared to grassland.)
- promote the installation of
rainwater harvesting on all new builds and introduce a programme of
retrofitting to older buildings
- promote the installation of
green roofs and sustainable urban drainage systems that reduce flooding
from storms
8. Improving local democracy
Local people know
best how money should be spent in their areas. We should have more control over
the decisions that affect our lives.
If elected we pledge
to:
- campaign for more
powers to be devolved to local councils and elections using
proportional representation
- campaign to
introduce higher bands of council tax for larger properties and
make the tax paid more proportionate to the value of the house in order to
generate more income for public services and reverse cuts
Kent Greens Manifesto
Kent Greens want to create a fair and sustainable society in Kent but what does this mean?
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." World Commission on Environment and Development - Our Common Future, 1987.
Fairness begins with taking responsibility for what we are doing. We do not have the right to live as if we could squander everything that Kent, or our country, or our planet has to offer. We have a duty, to our own children and future generations, to ensure that we pass on a better Kent to those who follow us, not one which continues to be damaged by Conservative misrule. In practice, this means having private and public sector activity contributing to the greening of life in general. A sustainable economy is our aim. We need private and public sectors working for the common good throughout Kent.
So why should you vote Green? The Green Party has consistently offered the best alternative policies of any Party in Kent to the current Conservative regime.
Transport: Make our air fit to breathe and keep the roads safe: 20's plenty
Education: Local schools for local kids under local control; good education for 100% not just 25%; better together
Social care: stop the cuts and support the vulnerable
Abolish KCC and set up unitary authorities: more local democracy
Local development: decided by local people
Youth Services: invest in youth not bombs
Ethical investments: reinvest in the local economy
Waste management: waste is resource - nothing will wasted
