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In the Plymouth Green Party we believe we are at an important turning point for humankind. Our action over the next few years will determine what sort of life we will leave for future generations due to the impacts of climate change, pollution and resource depletion here and around the world. While other political parties make fine promises and then carry on pretty much with ‘business as usual’, putting profits above people and environment, we don’t and won’t! We recognise the fundamental changes we need to make to ensure a future for our children. We ask for your vote in order to address these critical issues and to help create an honest debate about our future.
See
also Why
vote? and National Green
Party policies
Our
philosophy
•
Over the coming years and decades our economy will have to adapt to
the increasing costs of environmental damage, climate change and reduced
availability of oil and many other resources. We believe that efficiency
in delivering health and happiness needs to improve and that we must
start planning for this now.
•
We believe that sustainable communities will lead to increased levels
of health and happiness and reduced levels of illness, poverty and crime.
• We need to ensure that our living standards do not jeopardise
the wellbeing of our descendants, or of those living now in other parts
of the country or world.
• We positively look forward to a diverse city of the future which
will provide lifestyles within an economy in balance with the environment,
and which operates within the constraints of long term realities.
Our
priorities
We
believe that to be resilient and flourish in a changing world we must
develop a society that does not damage itself in the long term in order
to benefit in the short term. To achieve this we need to develop:
• resilient
local communities and businesses
•
sustainable
transport systems
•
sustainable
food systems
•
better
ways of generating and using energy
•
improved
education
•
responsibility
for managing waste
•
warm,
affordable housing •
healthy
lifestyle opportunities for all
•
more
power to the people
Our
aim is to develop vibrant communities which will be resilient and able
to flourish in the very different world which is just around the corner.
Within a generation we will need to live using far less fossil fuel
and other finite resources. We see the growing pressures of climate
change, pollution and resource depletion as opportunities to develop
a better local and global society which will be happier and healthier
and with better prospects for the future.
What
will the Green Party do in
The
Green Party has radically different policies to any other major or minority
party in the
RESILIENT
AND HEALTHY LOCAL COMMUNITIES
Through
the planning system we want to develop the network of
• We will encourage the council’s early work on linked communities
to become the central plank of local planning. Sustainable neighbourhoods
within
• We will protect open spaces from building development, recognising
that they play a vital role in individual and community health and wellbeing.
• We will foster a sense of neighbourhood identity and community
spirit by supporting vibrant public places and centres.
WARM,
AFFORDABLE HOMES
A
secure and warm home which does not lead to debt is a basic need for
everyone, and one that can be provided using all possible energy efficiency
and renewable energy options. Reduction of profiteering and speculation
in the land and property markets can be addressed using tax and fiscal
measures.
• We will encourage community-led housing development and co-housin
• We will lobby for full use of empty buildings.
• We will encourage the highest possible energy and cost-saving
measures and highest possible level of renewable energy generation.
SECURE
EMPLOYMENT AND VIBRANT ECONOMY
We
seek to adjust taxation regimes so that land and resources are taxed,
rather than labour.
• We will do everything possible to help local businesses to set
up, develop and prosper
• We will promote the food and renewable energy sectors as being
the most viable future options for the local economy – as guaranteed
sources of jobs requiring people with all kinds of skills and inclinations.
• We will promote the idea of a minimum living wage, so the ridiculous
situation of people being worse off if they take a job can never happen.
• We will push for a maximum differential between the highest
and lowest paid worker to be agreed and stated for each company operating
in the area
• We will push for adoption of a Land Value Tax to reduce profiteering
and speculation in land.
SUSTAINABLE
TRANSPORT
Success
in creating a sustainable transport system depends on significantly
reducing the use of private cars to get to work, schools and shops:
• We will encourage the expansion of cycle routes throughout
• We will encourage more priority bus lanes on all major routes
into the city and extend park and ride to surrounding settlements.
• We will press for an integrated train and bus station at the
railway station.
SUSTAINABLE
FOOD SYSTEMS
• We will aim to provide allotments for everyone who wants one,
as is the statutory duty of any local authority. We will support urban
farms and community gardens wherever possible so that people can learn
about the food they eat. We will protect against building on any
• We will develop links with local food producers with the aim
of providing as much local food as possible for schools and hospitals.
• We will encourage food retailers to source as many of the products
they sell as possible from local Producers
• We will invest in information and training to encourage local
production, processing and retailing, leading to jobs, in the
• We will provide freely available information and promote healthy
food habits.
SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY GENERATION AND USE
Oil
and gas are becoming scarcer and the damage being inflicted on our environment
demands that we use less. We need to use the energy supplies we have
far more efficiently
• We will encourage energy efficiency and microgeneration in all
public buildings.
• We will ask for lease agreements for the city centre to stipulate
energy efficiency measures and lights to be switched off when shops
are shut
• We shall encourage all new housing to be carbon neutral and
to install microgeneration technology (solar, heat-pump, etc.)
IMPROVING
EDUCATION
We
will need to educate the next generations nearer their homes and in
a way that bears more relation to the reality of our lives and times:
• We will encourage the development of a truly local education
system so all children can attend schools within their neighbourhoods.
• We will ensure that everyone is given the opportunity to learn
how our most basic need, food, is produced, and how to develop personal
lifestyles that do not harm people or environment.
• We will ensure that everyone is given the opportunity to learn
social skills, and how to live well with others - in communities, neighbourhoods,
cities, regions and countries.
• We will encourage education that enables people to live a full
and creative life, developing the skills needed for meaningful livelihoods,
rather than for just passing exams and working in soulless environments.
RESPONSIBILITY
FOR WASTE The
city council and council tax payers will no longer subsidise the throw-away
culture while manufacturers avoid responsibility for the disposal of
their products. The only real long term solution to this problem is
to reduce the amount of waste we produce:
• We will encourage everyone to return waste packaging to the
supermarket it came from.
• We will increase levels of composting through neighbourhood
composting facilities that include kitchen waste. with compost being
used to replenish local environments.
• We will increase the availability of facilities for repair and
reuse of products.
RECREATION
AND LEISURE
A
diversity of recreation and leisure opportunities is needed for different
ages and preferences, with a major motivation being seeking respite
from the 24/7 city life we live in. Public and open spaces are crucial
for all ages to provide individual and community health and wellbeing.
• We will encourage neighbourhood development of skateboard parks
and places for teenagers to spend time in
• We will encourage development of free open access culture –
such as fairs and plays in parks, community cinemas and centres
SO,
PLEASE VOTE GREEN!
We
need your help! In this changing world we encourage everybody to do
everything they can to take part in society and how it functions. At
every level of society, from the individual to the corporation, it has
never been more important to be cleaner and greener, and the impending
costs of not doing so are becoming more terrifyingly clear. We can do
so much for ourselves, our businesses and communities, but changing
the way politics works is also increasingly important. A vote for the
Green Party will ensure that you have impressed upon the other parties
the need for the future to be taken into proper consideration, the need
for politicians to be honest with the population about the opportunities
and dangers we face, and to be clear about the things we need to do
to survive and to survive well.
VOTE
GREEN FOR REAL CHANGE
We
meet on the first Wednesday of every month, at the Centre for Sustainable
Futures, Kirkby Lodge, 7pm - See News and
Events for more details
JOIN THE GREEN PARTY TODAY
www.greenparty.org.uk
FIND
OUT MORE ABOUT GREEN PARTY POLICIES and WHAT GREEN PARTY COUNCILLORS
HAVE ACHIEVED IN OTHER CITIES
http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/
MAKE
SURE YOU ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE – JUST TEN VOTES CAN MAKE ALL
THE DIFFERENCE! VISIT: http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/