Letter to the editor

19.04.07

Dear Editor,

The governments own Stern report shows that the real costs to the economy are up to 20 times greater if real action is not taken imminently to tackle global warming.

Readers that have watched ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, the feature film documentary on climate change, will be aware that the movie highlights recycling as a way individuals can make a positive difference. It is without doubt that kerbside recycling improves overall recycling rates. Even taking into account the councils latest improvements (Croydon Guardian April 18th - New service aims to make it easier to tackle food waste), why is it that over half the wards in Croydon are still waiting for a second recycling box for their plastics, card and garden waste?

Yours sincerely

Shasha Khan
Croydon Green Party

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Greens in the news

Taken from Croydon Guardian

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Next Meeting April 10th

The next meeting of the Sutton and Croydon Green Party will be on Tuesday 10th April at 8pm at the Centre for Environmental Initiatives (aka ecolocal) Carshalton, map here.

Please come along.
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Tags croydon, greenparty

Press release: Greens expose kerbside recycling scandal

Press Release: photo opp:
Date: Saturday 31th March
Time & Place: 11.30am – Queens Gardens


Local Greens welcome news that 4 more wards will receive improved kerbside recycling collections BUT ask, “what about the other 16 wards?”

Local Green Party spokesman Shasha Khan said, “I welcome news that plastics, cardboard and garden waste recycling will be extended to four more wards. However, is it right that these wards are likely to be selected with political gain in mind and not the needs of the community? Moreover, what about the other 16 wards?”

From my experience of talking to residents, people demand better recycling facilities. They want to build a sustainable future for their children and to cut waste.

In Croydon, Labour and Conservative councils alike are using recycling as political tool to clinch votes and not as a solution to our sustainability problems.”


In April 2006, one month before the council elections, the then Labour council extended kerbside recycling in four wards (Addiscombe, Shirley, Waddon and Norbury) in Croydon. It was supposed to be trial. It was cynically marketed as a borough wide expansion. Additional collections for cardboard, plastics and garden waste were introduced in these wards.

Arguably, Addiscombe, Waddon and Norbury were selected because they were Conservative targets. The margin between the Consevative and Labour vote was minimal in these wards. So, the ruling party improved the services in that ward to clinch those all-important votes.

Nearly one year after the Conservative party have taken power, rather than roll out a borough wide extension, they have merely made permanent the ‘trial’. This is not surprising because they won Waddon and Addiscombe with slim majorities.

Shasha Khan continued, “After the 2006 local elections, Upper Norwood and South Norwood have become the new marginal seats. So, don’t be surprised if these two wards are selected for extended kerbside recycling. Is it right that we all pay the same council tax, only for some wards to receive more services purely on the grounds of political gain? The council has a statutory recycling target of 30% for 2007/8 (1). Unless a principled stance towards recycling is adopted, they are going to miss that target.”

Croydon Green Party will be using street theatre - using a bookmaker’s odds board - to demonstrate how easy it is to predict the wards that will be chosen because they are nearly always marginal seats.

Ends

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Tags croydon, greenparty

A Day in Brighton

After being up to an hour late I didn't really know what to expect when I entered Brighton. A group of activists from South London had met Cllr Simon Williams at the station already, I managed to make my way to the Brighton Green Party headquarters and as soon as I entered the office I was immediately hit by the scale of the operation, the professionalism of the party and just how organised the campaign was.
A couple of friendly activists helped me sort myself out and took me to where I was supposed to be, firstly helping to hand out the local Green Party newspaper, "GreenLeaf". I was lucky enough to meet the hard working MEP Caroline Lucas who was down to give her support to the Brighton campaign.

After handing out a few newspapers I met up with local activist Dave Walsh and a fellow traveler, Andrea Hughes, down from Lewisham for the day to deliver GreenLeafs. I spoke to a couple of residents who seemed very happy to be getting Green Party literature and wished the party well.
The Brighton Greens are a beacon of what a successful Green Party grouping is capable of, the candidates at last General Election in all 3 Brighton seats saved there deposits, with Cllr Keith Taylor taking 22% of the vote. Currently they have 6 local councilors and significant gains are expected by the party and independent onlookers (yet Labour leaflets still insist the Greens can't win!). With only 6 councilors they have still been able to put a lot of pressure on the Labour council, such pressure has led to the greening of developments, fairer secondary school admissions process, ensuring children from poorer families get the chance to go to the best schools in the local area and much work has been done to help protect small and independent traders in the town.
The Brighton Greens show that a Green vote is not a wasted vote, this is why I urge all voters disillusioned with Blair's Britain in Croydon to vote for real progressive and positive change in your local community. Help us elect YOUR first Green Councilor in Croydon... Lewisham and neighbouring Lambeth have both done it and so can you. Next time anyone from Labour tells you a Green vote is a waste, point out to them the success of the Greens in Brighton!
I also urge all local Green Party members to make the journey down to Brighton for an afternoon and help out with some leafleting or canvassing.... I assure you it will not be a wasted afternoon!


Martyn Post

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Tags brighton, greenparty

Local shops leave posters up!

During the Bensham Manor election campaign many local

shops supported the Green Party. They put posters up in

their shop windows to demonstrate their support. Some

shops still have their poster up! These supporters recognise

the need for a genuine opppostion to Conservative and Labour pandering to the whims of big business.

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Press release: Local Greens budget response

BROWN'S BUDGET: COMPLACENT IN A MOMENT OF CRISIS BROWN IS GAMBLING WITH THE CLIMATE

Bernice Golberg, from Croydon Green party, today responded to Brown's budget, deeming it a failure to tackle climate change: "

It is not prudent to gamble with the climate - Brown's failure to act now on tackling climate change means we will pay later - as the Stern review has shown. "

After 6 months of rhetoric on climate change, there is a shocking absence of substance in this budget. Brown is being complacent in a moment of crisis."Brown needs a new golden rule - carbon cutting.”

Bernice Golberg went on to criticise the specific measures and targets outlined in the budget with regard to the environment: "

An additional 50 per cent for green grants for homes equates to just £6 >million - peanuts.

"A 30% increase for top band vehicles to £300 this year and £400 next year flies in the face of the governments’ own research about the price difference required to change behaviour.

“We need to see a rise to at least £1800 tax for the worst gas guzzlers to ensure people switch to greener cars.

"Exempting zero carbon homes from stamp duty sounds good but means little it will not incentivise installation of micro generation and insulation measures on existing homes.

"If he had raised fuel duty by 19p that would have cut carbon more than the rest of this budget put together - some 19 million tonnes over the next year. "Brown was right to reject VAT on domestic flights as having limited impact. But he has lost an opportunity copped out - Greens would have slapped an additional £100 on Air Passenger Duty on all flights to reduce CO2 emissions by 5 million tonnes.

"Cutting corporation tax is another step towards reducing the tax burden on big business - a step in the wrong direction."? The abolition of the lower tax band will be a blow for the lowest paid workers. Although tax credits may offset this for those with children what about those people and in poorly paid jobs without children?

Ends

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Letter to the editor - "Vote Labour - get Tory policies"

Picture taken from Answers.com

20.03.07

Dear Editor,


Isn’t it amazing? One week, Labour MP Malcolm Wicks warns Bensham Manor voters that, if they don’t vote Labour, the Tories will get in then, the next, he happily joins forces with those same Tories to push through policies that the electorate don’t want!

The most recent example is last week’s Commons vote to spend billions on unwanted, unnecessary and illegal nuclear weapons; strongly opposed by the general public but pushed through by a willing alliance of Labour and Tory MPs.

Of course, it’s far from the first time; this cosy marriage has also been used to push through everything from University top-up fees to the attack on Iraq. Little wonder that Labour’s support is plummeting – at present it’s ‘vote Labour - get Tory policies’.

Yours sincerely


Shasha Khan
Croydon Green Party

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Tags croydon, greenparty