Photos and press cuttings from Sustainable Communities Act demo

Shasha Khan and Amelie Boleyn - highlight the emergency

Croham Road, South Croydon

Brigstock Road, Thornton Heath

Lower Addiscombe Road, Addiscombe

Online version of article can be viewed here.

PRESS RELEASE – “ACT NOW!” Photo Opp.

For Release on Wednesday 1^st July:

CROYDON SHOPKEEPERS AND LOCAL CAMPAIGNERS CALL ON CROYDON COUNCIL TO JOIN OTHER COUNCILS AND ‘OPT IN’ TO THE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES ACT.

Croydon Green Party campaigners today stood alongside local shopkeepers in the north, centre and south of the borough (see locations and time below) in calling on this council to ‘opt in’ (1) to the Sustainable Communities Act (2). This Act, would give the council the opportunity to charge business rates on the car parks of out of town retail parks. The money that is collected could be given to shops on our local high streets in the form of a discount on their business rates. Local shops that have yellow lines or red routes outside their premises are presently disadvantaged.

This Act of parliament gives local communities the opportunity to improve the quality of life and social wellbeing in their local area.

Commenting on the council’s failure, Shasha Khan said:

“Having spoken to many shopkeepers over the last few weeks, I am now acutely aware that local shops – which define our communities - need support to get through this recession.

“Unfortunately, local shops can’t compete on a level playing field and this Act addresses the situation.

“We all realise the importance of thriving local communities with local shops and services. Thanks to this piece of legislation, which was championed by groups such as the National Federation of Postmasters and Help the Aged, councils can put forward proposals to government which assist the economic wellbeing of a community.

“However, time is running out for Croydon council to ‘opt in’. The London borough’s of Lambeth, Lewisham, Sutton and Kingston have joined the process and so should Croydon. 31^st July is the deadline so today marks the start of the final month.

“The last time I spoke to a council official about the Act, I was told they were thinking about it.

“I am forever seeing Conservatives mourning the loss of local shops and post offices but I am beginning to think that these are just gestures. By not ‘opting in’ to this Act, Croydon Council will fail to help local businesses. The reality must be that Croydon Conservatives are signed up to the big business agenda and champion the unrestricted growth of supermarkets and cloned retail parks. Local shopkeepers regularly identify these developments as the main reason why they are closing down.

Green Party campaigner Amelie Boleyn added:

“We have started a petition because it gives worried customers an opportunity to express to the council how important local shops are for our communities. Croydon Council must act now so we can give more say to our communities”

Customers can sign the petition where they see the Croydon Council Act Now! posters. An online version is available at:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/sustainable-communities.html

Three separate protests will be held in the north, centre and south of the borough on 1^st July.

• 10.30am outside Bouquet Florists 21-23 Croham Rd South Croydon, CR2 7PB
• 11.15am outside Gibson Butchers 301 Lower Addiscombe Road, Croydon CR0 6RF
• Midday outside Roberts Greengrocers 50 Brigstock Road, Thornton Heath, CR7 8RX

Ends

Notes:

(1) (2) http://www.localworks.org/

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Croydon Cyclestreets and other Open Tech

I spent yesterday at Open Tech 2009, a meeting of self confessed geeks who are interested in making society a better place, some pretty impressive activists, and even an ex government minister. The emphasis was on getting access to data to enable ordinary people to make better decisions about their own lives. At the core of this group are some of the people behind MySociety who have radically changed the way you can follow your MP in parliament. They are now being actively consulted by Parliament about how the expenses process can be made open and accountable.

You can follow your local MP via one of these links

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/malcolm_wicks/croydon_north

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/andrew_pelling/croydon_central

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/richard_ottaway/croydon_south

My Society have several other projects, some built with government funding, it is worth taking a look at them here http://www.mysociety.org/projects/

Beyond MySociety there are many other exciting projects being put together by small local groups. The one which caught my eye was Cyclestreets.net an initiative built by Cambridge Cycle Campaign using OpenStreetMap data. It is still in Beta at the moment, but it looks pretty useful. They have built some local sites already, including one for Croydon, http://croydon.cyclestreets.net/ so try it out.

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Tags croydon, Open Tech

Letter on people before profits or profits before people

08.06.09

Dear Editor,

I read Conservative Jason Hadden’s letter with interest. I understood it as an attempt at distancing himself from the political class currently embroiled in the expenses scandal. It is good to see politicians claim that that they “got into politics to help people”.
However, I disagree with the conclusion that the best route to help people is by joining the Conservative Party, a party whose roots are deep in the political class, that views those trimmings that come with the job as an entitlement, a party that is well known for prioritising profits before people.
By contrast, Green politicians are not looking to board the gravy train. It is no accident none of our elected representatives have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar and audits and league tables prove this.
Long before the ethics of MP’s expenses became news, Greens have been committed to transparency and honesty. It is unsurprising that last month’s YouGov poll concluded that Green politicians are “least likely to put self-interest before country” and that the Green Party’s leader Caroline Lucas MEP has just been voted ‘Ethical Politician Of The Year 2009’ – an accolade she has now one twice in the last three years.
Voters in their droves are realising that the Greens are the fresh alternative to the grey parties, representing people as a whole. You only need to see the results of the Euro Elections in Croydon where our polling increased by 50 per cent.

Yours sincerely

Shasha Khan
Croydon Green Party



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Tags croydon, greenparty

Message sent to Five Live earlier in the week

Sent:17 June 2009 07:25:38
To: breakfast@bbc.co.uk

Hi Breakfast,

I listened to Nick Clegg's U turn on the Trident Missile System at 7.10am this morning. It's the right decision - Trident is waste of money. However, the timing of his conversion is interesting. I don't suppose it has anything to do with the fact that the Green Party were only 5 percentage points behind the Lib Dems in the Euro Elections??

Best wishes,

Shasha Khan
Croydon

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Greens riding high in Croydon

Thanks Rob and David for knocking up this chart which certainly makes for interesting viewing. The chart depicts the percentage gains or losses made in Croydon by the seat winning parties for the London region. In Croydon, the Green Party vote rose by 39%. The BNP vote also rose, but only by 33% (it could have been a lot worse). But the Lib Dems (-24%), Labour (-21%), UKIP (-9%) and the Conservatives (-1%) all experienced a negative sensation. HOORAH!

For me, our positive experience was already materialising at the count - even before the serious number crunching. Thoughtfully, the Green Party's London Coordinator Noel Lynch had the 2004 results in his pocket. After I had managed to collate the results for Croydon, I called them out to Noel who responded by approximating whether they were "up" or "down", taking into consideration the lower turnout. We realised the Green vote was up but then one by one it became apparent, apart from the BNP, that all the other parties had seen their polling fall. The only one we were not sure of was the Tory vote.

THANK YOU FOR VOTING GREEN!

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Tags croydon, greenparty