A vote for a Green Party councillor is a vote for:
A COUNCILLOR THAT LISTENS
Listening to people; getting their voices heard on local and global issues.
REAL ACTION ON THE CLIMATE & NATURE EMERGENCIES
MK Council has declared a Climate Emergency and committed to be carbon neutral
by 2030. But the council’s current policies will not deliver that. Its policies need to be
more radical to reach that target.
We would create a Green New Deal and encourage:
- Carbon neutral housing which meets the communities needs
- Provide better insulation for every dwelling in Milton Keynes over the next five years to reduce energy consumption and energy bills
- Generation of more electricity locally from renewable sources, including solar and wind power
- Solar panels and heat pumps on all suitable council owned buildings and Solar panels over surface car parks
- Council to procure its electricity from renewable sources
- Community owned energy company
- Protecting wildlife habitats and enhancing biodiversity
- Plant more trees in streets, parks and green spaces
- Work with grassroots organisations to implement a sustainable food strategy for the city
- Stop water companies discharging sewage into our rivers. Bring the water companies back into public control so we can clean up this industry
- Reduce litter and fly-tipping
- Reduce waste and encourage and support repair, re-use and recycling
DECENT HOMES & NEIGHBOURHOODS
- Provide more affordable social housing to reduce waiting lists and homelessness
- Push for more secure tenancies for renters and smart controls to stabilise rents
- Ensure that residents have the final say over any regeneration proposals
- Ensure that the New City Plan prioritises people, providing the homes they need and protecting biodiversity and the environment rather than building large numbers of unaffordable houses on greenfield sites
- Insist that any enlargement of MK is matched by supporting infrastructure, such as schools, surgeries, dentists, transport, green spaces
A HEALTHIER, CARING CITY
- Improve public health by more information about diet and exercise
- Oppose privatisation of NHS and fund it properly
- Provide more youth services
- Provide mental health support for young people, including positive activities to aid mental health such as sports, arts, clubs, access to outdoor spaces, and facilities
- Challenge the reduction in central government funding for MKCC which has led to cuts in services
- Protect schools, libraries, post offices and other local services from cuts, closures and privatisation
- Support the voluntary sector
- Offer to provide a free lunch in all state schools every school day to every pupil
- Support food banks and other agencies that help people deal with the effects of government austerity and cuts
- Support people in need of adult social care to remain in their own homes where practicable and ensure good quality residential care provision
- Continue to fight for equal rights for disadvantaged and minority groups.
- Give more support to services countering domestic abuse, forced marriage and FGM
- Fight for social justice, offering support and advice to those who are being affected by benefit cuts and Universal Credit
JOBS IN A LOCAL ECONOMY
- Encourage and support MK’s thriving arts scene and seek to protect live performance venues from threats of closure due to nearby developments
- Support the Night-Time Economy to help revitalise the city centre with locally owned venues and businesses and throughout the city in regeneration/expansion plans
- Encourage local employers and council contractors to pay the Living Wage
- Support MK University
- Support smaller, local businesses and a growing localised economy
- Support Worker Coops and Unions. Encourage more worker-owned businesses
- Champion local food production and farmers markets
BETTER PUBLIC TRANSPORT & SAFER STREETS
- Provide better and more reliable bus services, including more evening and weekend services, and better facilities for bus users so people can choose to leave their cars at home
- Make roads safer by introducing more 20mph speed limits in residential areas and reducing speed limits on grid roads
- Install Electric Car charge points in new build housing and more on-street charging points
- Promote more people cycling and walking in MK
- More Redways in old towns and rural areas
- Improve maintenance of footpaths, Redways and street lighting to encourage more pedestrians and cyclists
- Encourage more children and parents to walk or cycle to school to decrease problems with parking outside schools and make children healthier. Stop engine idling outside schools.
- Support East West Rail from MK Central to both Oxford and Cambridge and ensure the line is electrified. Support Eastern entrance at Bletchley station.
INTERNATIONAL
Six months on from the horrific Hamas attacks on Israeli citizens, it is clear that the Netanyahu government’s response has been totally disproportionate. Green councillors would support motions to MKCC calling for a full bilateral ceasefire, the release of all hostages, the suspension of arms exports to Israel, and for key players in the Netanyahu government to be held accountable for possible war crimes.
Greens support the UN General Assembly’s call for Russia’s unconditional withdrawal, a just and lasting peace based on the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine and the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities. A just peace must also include the investigation and prosecution of war crimes.
If you would like to know more about MK Green Party, please get in touch.
