Martin Whiteside - A Green MP for Stroud

Launch of the FOR anti-incineration petition

Martin Whiteside supports the Launch of Gloucestershire Friends of the Earth Network’s (GFOEN) Petition against a Large Scale Incinerator in Gloucestershire on-line on 12.30 pm Friday 26th March 2010

The Incinerator Petition demonstrates the widespread opposition to the way the County Council has been addressing the waste issue.  The Green Party supports positive small-scale alternatives to both incineration and landfill, using latest flexible technology to maximise recycling and energy recovery.  The County Councils planning process, which could lock us into a massive long-term PFI incineration contract, would be disastrous for Council taxpayers and our Gloucestershire environment.

Cllr Martin Whiteside

Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Stroud Constituency

Sustainable waste management

Letter to the Stroud News and Journal

11th March 2010

Chas Townley’s outburst in the SNJ is hard to understand (10th March).
He suggests Greens are extremists for opposing a large incinerator?! He
surely must know that councillors of all other political persuasions
and our own MP David Drew consider it to be the wrong approach and want to see it ruled out as an option to deal with our waste?

Certainly it is true Greens have led on the calls for more sustainable
management of our waste and are delighted that we are increasingly
winning the arguments – recycling is now the norm and all but a few see
that a large incinerator makes no sense environmentally nor
economically. The suggestion that Greens don’t have policies to deal
with the residual waste is just …well rubbish. See our website.

The evidence is that we can get to 80% recycling. The rest we could use
a process like MBT (mechanical-biological treatment). This would
mechanically sort recyclable materials from ‘black bag’ waste and
anaerobically digest the recovered biological fraction to produce
biogas and fertiliser. Small-scale gasifiers work at 95% efficiency
because the waste heat can be better matched to the needs of local
industry. Large incinerators by contrast, works at just 35% efficiency
as the huge heat levels often cannot be used for anything useful.

Large incinerators also waste resources and have a huge potential to be
a white elephant that ties us into a 24 year plus contract. This would
exclude rapidly developing technologies and could even leave us open to
paying compensation to contractors if we don’t produce enough waste.

However where Greens would agree with Chas Townley is the importance of not including garden waste in recycling, the need to collect food
waste, the need to reduce waste in the first place and the failures of
the District Council’s waste contract. It needs renegotiating.

Cllr. Philip Booth,
Stroud District councillor for the Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe Ward

Tory Campaign: Funding Questions

An open letter to Neil Carmichael

Sent to the local press on 20th March 2010

We live in a time when politicians of all parties need to be transparent about finances.

Can you confirm whether or not the large Conservative election posters at the Cainscross roundabout in Stroud and your glossy newssheets were paid for with any money from the “non-dom” Tory peer and donor Lord Ashcroft? If they are funded by him, do you think it is appropriate to receive money from someone who avoids tax by having a special residential status, thus reducing the funds available for the NHS and education by perhaps millions of pounds?

John Marjoram,

Green Party Agent for the Stroud Parliamentary Constituency

Older People: Call for preventative services

Clr Philip Booth writes to SNJ regarding services for older people.

The SNJ reports on the review of support at the District Council’s sheltered accommodation (10/03/10). The review has led to three years of uncertainty for tenants. This is unacceptable; let us hope we can now find a positive way forward. As a local councillor, who also works for a countywide charity providing support to older people with mental health issues, I am concerned about how we are developing services for our increasing numbers of older people.

I certainly welcome the Government’s personal care at home bill and it’s aim to help around 400,000 people with the highest needs. However I have grave reservations about how this will be implemented. The estimated costs are based on many questionable assumptions and any additional costs will fall on local Councils. The reality is that Councils are already over-stretched.

Furthermore in Gloucestershire some fear that the Supporting People preventative services programme could be cut. This would be a serious mistake, as there is strong evidence that they make a significant contribution to the lives of vulnerable people. Research indicates such services led to a national saving of £3.4 billion on an investment of £1.6 billion as they prevent the use of more expensive services.

In Dorset, for example, substantial sums have been saved by joint working practices that refocus resources from acute care for older people to supporting them at home. Indeed they have reduced hospital admissions by 15%.

In Gloucestershire there is already some good practice, but there is room for improvement. We need to cut bureaucratic burdens, involve service users more and develop ways for services to work better together. Churchill, Gandhi and Truman have all said we can judge a society by how it treats its most vulnerable members. Developing the provision of local preventative services is crucial.

Cllr. Philip Booth,
Stroud District councillor for the Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe ward,

The Clear Green Vision

Letter sent to The Citizen, Stroud News and
Journal and Stroud Life

17th March 2010

Dear Editor

David Drew has repeatedly been invited to stand as an independent, and therefore garner support across a wider political spectrum – he has repeatedly and publicly refused to do so.  Therefore he must win or loose on the record of 13 years of Labour government – and a pretty dismal record it is. Although there have been some positive initiatives like Sure Start and investment in schools, these are overshadowed by the illegal war in Iraq, mismanagement of the banking sector, failure to oversee an effective system for MPs expenses and the sad fact that after 13 years of Labour Government, Britain is less equal than at the height of the Thatcher era.

If David Drew looses the election it will because many ordinary Labour voters have become totally disillusioned with New Labour in Government – if they didn’t have Greens or Lib Dems to vote for they probably wouldn’t vote at all.  It is a bit rich for Labour activists now to complain about the unfairness of the voting system, when they had proportional representation in their manifesto in 1997, but failed to implement it once they won power.

A Tory government would be no better than Labour, with no clear direction except swingeing cuts to Public Services – plunging us back into recession and massive unemployment.

This broken system will only change when enough ordinary people stop voting for what is second best and vote to stop the dictatorship of the two big parties. The Lib Dems are at least committed to electoral reform.  I personally will be voting Green as that seems to me to be the party with a clear programme for the future for my grandchildren.

Yours sincerely,

Carol Kambites

Press Release: Young People Do Care

Mr Stephen Hynd, who is currently working with the Stroud Green Party said, “With less than two months to go before the General Election, I was shocked to discover that more than half of 17-24 year olds are not registered to vote(1).  This is a fundamental failing of our democratic system”.

Young people however should and do care about the future that politicians are juggling with.  All over the county, young adults are engaging with the political system and debating.

Steve (24) grew up in Gloucester and is now a Stroud resident.  He has recently returned from Brussels where he spent 15 months working for different International NGO’s including Amnesty International.  Steve is dedicating the next 2-3months, in the lead up to the election, to getting young people in Stroud engaged in progressive politics.  He has started with social networking Facebook groups such as the ‘Green MP for Stroud’ group.

Steve is committed to ensuring that people think carefully about their choices in the coming election, “I want to encourage young people to register to vote, to be active and to take control.”

Young people who want to register to vote can get a form from: http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/.  Anyone wanting to get more involved in Stroud can contact Steve on steve@stroudgreenparty.org.uk.

Notes:

• 1) News release from The Electoral Commission ‘Voters could miss out on General Election’, 3^rd March 2010

Liz Hillary, Press Officer, Stroud District Green Party

14 Burdett Road, Stonehouse, GL10 2JW

Tel: 01453 821246, Mob: 07865 298159

Website: http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/

Printed by, promoted by and on behalf of Stroud District Green Party,

8 Castle Street, Stroud, GL5 2HP. Telephone 01453 750962