Canterbury District Local Manifesto - May 2019
Our top priorities for
Canterbury, Whitstable and Herne Bay are:
·
Improving congestion and parking
·
Providing affordable housing
·
Reducing plastic pollution
Our key concerns for the District focus
on:
1.
Reducing traffic congestion and air pollution
·
A park-and-ride for Whitstable and North Canterbury.
·
Extend residents’ only parking in busy residential
areas.
·
A non-profit-making electric hopper bus service in
Canterbury linking cross-town points such as Canterbury West and East stations
and the bus station, and going through the Westgate Towers.
·
20 mph speed limit in all residential areas.
· Encourage the
installation of charging points for electric vehicles in public car parks and
housing developments.
2.
Affordable 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 to directly meet residents’ needs.
· 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.
Reduce plastic pollution
·
Support the activities of ‘plastic-free’ campaigns
in Whitstable, and across the District.
·
Make sure the Council carries out its commitment to
banning single-use plastic on its premises and by its contractors and
licensees.
·
Install double compartment waste/recycling bins for
beaches and parks.
·
These are increasingly used in other areas, leading
to disposal of less plastic and other recyclable materials in landfill sites.
·
Campaign for an alternative to the
thousands of disposable takeaway cups and glasses being used by cafés, pubs and
festivals.
·
Increase the number of free public water dispensers.
4.
Providing better health services
·
Campaigning for better community health services.
·
Campaigning for more doctors, dentists, mental
health specialists, district nurses and midwives.
5.
Maintaining open space
·
Fighting planned development on Chaucer Fields and
other amenity sites.
6.
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.
7.
Helping independent small businesses and
cooperatives
·
Promoting and expanding local producers’ street
markets, co-operatives and directories of local businesses, encouraging
independent shops.
8.
Preventing flooding
·
Reducing Council carbon emissions.
·
Encouraging use of renewable energy.
·
Secure the funding and measures necessary to
protect people from the increased risk of flooding in future years.
9.
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.
Parking,
traffic congestion and air pollution
Parking is a problem for many. It wastes time, increases costs and produces
excess pollution and carbon emissions as cars drive around in search of a
parking spot.
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:
·
Ensure permanent park-and-ride services for Whitstable and
North Canterbury.
·
Extend residents’ only parking in busy residential
areas, such as Whitstable town centre.
·
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 the bus station, going through the
Westgate Towers.
·
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.
·
Prioritise funding for sustainable transport.
·
Extend pedestrian and shared vehicle-pedestrian
zones.
·
Extend bus lanes on routes into Canterbury.
·
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.
·
Campaign for more electric vehicle charging points.
·
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.
Affordable, 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 more smaller-scale developments of affordable and
lifelong homes on brownfield sites without the need for extensive and expensive
new infrastructure.
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 in
Canterbury District.
The impacts of poor-quality housing need to be considered. According to
Defra, 30.4% of heat losses in the South East come from poorly insulated 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.
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.
Reduce plastic pollution
As a coastal area, we have a particular responsibility to protect
the seas from plastic pollution. Local action is needed to tackle this global
problem that so badly affects our living planet. We also need to protect the
food chain. Plastic that goes into the sea eventually makes its way into the
fish we eat. The Green Party promotes the culture of reducing, reusing and
refilling, and has a long-standing commitment to the circular economy.
If elected, we pledge to:
·
Support the activities of ‘plastic-free’ campaigns
in Whitstable, and across the District.
·
Make sure the Council carries out its commitment to
banning single-use plastic on its premises and by its contractors and
licensees.
·
Install double compartment waste/recycling bins for
beaches and parks. These are increasingly used in other areas, leading to
disposal of less plastic and other recyclable materials in landfill sites.
·
Campaign for an alternative to the
thousands of disposable takeaway cups and glasses being used by cafés, pubs and
festivals.
·
Increase the number of free public water dispensers.
Click here to read the
Green Party’s plan for #A protected environment
4.
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 #Public NHS
5.
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.
6.
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:
· 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.
·
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.
7.
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.
Click
here to read the Green Party's plan for a #FairEconomy
8.
Preventing flooding
Flooding blights lives. The risk of more severe weather events,
including flooding, is increasing with global warming.
If elected we pledge to:
· Reduce Council carbon emissions by conserving energy and making more use of renewable energy to heat and power Council buildings and services.
· Encouraging use of renewable energy by making it easier for businesses and homes to move to solar and wind power.
· Promote a public transport hub at Canterbury West, instead of a multi-storey car park which will put more cars on the road.
· 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.
Click here to read the
Green Party's plan for a #SaferWorld
9.
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.
Click here to read the Green Party's plan for #A Citizens' Democracy
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
·
We will tackle air pollution through:
o Proper monitoring of
high traffic areas.
o Raising awareness of
serious health effects. Deaths from air-pollution-related diseases are ten
times higher than those from traffic accidents and constitute sixth highest
cause of deaths: 800-1,500 a year in Kent. In addition, respiratory and
cardiovascular diseases are a huge cost to the NHS along with the individual
personal impacts.
o Campaigning for
stationary vehicles to turn off their engines.
o Reducing subsidies
for roads and investing the money in public transport, cycling, rail network
and electric vehicle charging points.
o Returning bus
services to local authority control where possible or encouraging more
competition among bus companies to reduce fares and improve services.
·
We will introduce 20mph limits in residential areas
and a much lower speed limit on country lanes (currently 60mph – people can't
cycle or walk dogs on them because they’re so dangerous).
·
We oppose the Lower Thames Crossing.
·
We oppose the Operation Stack lorry park. This will
cost £250m for facility rarely used – we need to cut down the number of lorries
on the roads e.g. put the emphasis on rail freight.
·
We will open more railway stations (Thanet Parkway,
Canterbury Mountfield Park if developments go ahead) and expand the rail
network.
·
We want solar panels over our car parks.
·
We want more thought given to transport when
planning developments around Canterbury.
·
We will encourage car clubs – these take a lot of
cars off the road and help those who are struggling to afford their own car.
·
We will raise awareness of health and fitness
benefits of cycling and we will encourage cycling generally.
Education: Local
schools for local kids under local control; good education for 100% not just
25%; better together
· Children have different abilities and learn in different ways. We need a big portfolio of teaching ability to cater for different needs but don't want huge schools. Children need to identify with small groups, local fully-funded comprehensives allowing individual learning are the right way to go.
· We will end grammar schools in Kent. Education needs to be for today not for the 1950s. Mental health problems higher among grammar school children and tutoring has made some children pass 11+ though unsuitable for this kind of school. Having a separate school for the more academic children reduces standards in the other schools with many not achieving minimum qualifications.
· We will campaign to see an end to academies and free schools. We need local control and local democratic accountability.
· We want more funding for vocational and further education.
· We will provide after-school clubs for literacy, and help address social issues in ‘deprived’ areas.
· We will bring back career education.
Social care: stop the
cuts and support the vulnerable
· Kent Greens believe we should be welcoming refugees and caring for them. We need to work with those doing great work in France to support the refugees and look at what can be done in each district council for refugees and asylum seekers.
· We will fight to end homelessness. KCC should support the voluntary sector to help the homeless. We will help the compulsory purchase of empty properties, while promoting real affordable housing and social housing.
· We will work with the local NHS to promote access to mental health services with a maximum two-week limit on seeing a consultant (the same as for cancer). We recognise that there is a huge investment required for both young and old.
·
We will tackle the unsustainable workload of social
workers. Social services are struggling with a shrinking budget and increasing
demand. We will value and support carers and we will fight against social care
becoming a two-tier system for those who can pay and those who can't.
Abolish KCC and set
up unitary authorities: more local democracy
·
We will champion subsidiarity – devolution of power
closest to those it serves. The current system is inefficient and undemocratic,
too many decisions are imposed from central government. We need more
streamlined system with much less bureaucracy and far more transparency.
·
We want four unitary authorities taking over the
powers of KCC to ensure greater local democracy and accountability, as well as
input into planning, transport and the environment:
(1) Tonbridge &
Malling, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks
(2) Medway, Maidstone,
Swale
(3) Dartford, Gravesham
(4) Canterbury, Ashford, Dover, Shepway, Thanet
·
We would enhance the competencies of town and
parish councils to devolve some power further.
·
We would introduce a Kent Regional Assembly on the
Manchester model in charge only of health care, social care, police, fire and
ambulance services – all other responsibilities devolved to the unitary
authorities (N.B. Kent has a bigger population than Northern Ireland, which has
an assembly).
·
All bodies would be elected by a system of
proportional representation.
Local development:
decided by local people
· We will fight for more local decision-making through neighbourhood plans. We will fight to end the favouring of developers over local people.
· We will stop unsustainable development. There is gridlock on our roads while there are many empty houses up North.
· We will ensure that if any development is permitted, it must use brownfield land. Neighbourhood plans will identify where sites are. We will implement BIMBY (Beauty in My Back Yard).
· We need high-density family homes, cheap to buy/rent, cheap to heat, not luxury detached houses developers want in order to make maximum profit.
·
We will build more social housing, or compulsory
purchase of empty properties where possible.
Youth Services:
invest in youth not bombs
· We want better mental health care and autistic funding, better one-to-one mentoring, better education – money spent now saves money later.
· We will ensure that agencies to talk to each other more.
· We will help young people be fit and healthy – stop selling school playing fields, have more exercise facilities, remove soft drinks vending machines from schools.
· We will abolish 11+ which leads to stress and acute sense of failure in those who don’t pass.
·
We will ensure better careers education.
Ethical investments:
reinvest in the local economy
· We will invest council pension funds in long-term assets for the benefit of the local economy and people rather than in fossil fuel or tobacco companies. 8% of the KCC pension fund is currently invested in fossil fuel and tobacco companies.
· We will stop the sell-off of council assets which has been catastrophic. We will reinvest in them, in the local economy e.g. social housing, invest in running good bus services while providing local jobs as well.
·
We will bring back local authority bonds abolished
by Thatcher government.
Waste management:
waste is resource - nothing will be wasted
· We will emphasise reuse/repair of appliances, furniture, etc. rather than scrapping – currently household waste recycling centres have no separate bin for appliances which work (26%).
· We will increase recycling rates. Only 46% of Kent’s waste is recycled.
· We will support alternative local energy generation e.g. Allington incinerator could be used for local heat network.
· We will ensure that all boroughs have doorstep recycling and food waste collection.
· We will build more anaerobic digestion to produce green gas.
·
We will fight for a levy on packaging which can't be recycled.
