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Archive: front page

When Greens are in power

Posted on News and Views by Bartley Shaw · March 03, 2021 11:43 PM · 1 reaction

In the week that Southwark Housing cabinet member and Labour councillor Leo Pollak resigned from his post, here at Southwark Green Party we have been focusing on more positive news.

Landing in our inbox today was a snapshot of the positive and responsible impact that elected Green Party representatives are having around the country.

Rather than hiding behind anonymous twitter accounts (see Southwark News for details), elected Greens make good things happen for the communities they represent that are also good for the planet.

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Southwark Green Party Annual General Meeting

Posted on News and Views by Bartley Shaw · February 20, 2021 4:37 PM · 1 reaction

Almost every single organisational review taking place in 2021 will likely start along the lines of ‘2020 saw a complete change to our ways of working and great challenges’. At our AGM, we too recognised 2020’s upheaval, change and challenges – but recognised the many achievements we have had as a local party. It has been a difficult time since lockdown first started in March 2020, but our members have been vigilant members of the community and continued to campaign on vital issues, such as the climate emergency.

Overall, since November 2019 (the last AGM) our ambition has stayed constant: secure the representation of elected Greens

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Southwark Green Party Responds to Southwark Council Climate Change Consultation

Posted on News and Views by Eleanor Margolies · January 15, 2021 6:57 PM · 2 reactions

Southwark Green Party welcomed the declaration of a Climate Emergency by the London Borough of Southwark in March 2019 but councillors and council officers are not acting in a way that responds to the gravity of that declaration.

We call for action that recognises the emergency.

Southwark Green Party members have responded as individuals to the draft climate strategy, and some are also members of the council’s Partnership Steering Group (established in March 2020) and have contributed detailed comments on policy through that process. This response will not duplicate that work, but rather highlights some key failings of the draft strategy and these nine points that define how we would approach the task.

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Tree of the Day - the Heygate Legacy

Posted on News and Views by guy mannes-abbott · December 06, 2020 9:41 AM · 1 reaction


In a guest post, Guy Mannes-Abbott celebrates Tree Week with stories of the Foxglove tree (Paulina tormentosa), one of many species that make up the Heygate Legacy. He led what became a community campaign to force Southwark Council and developers Lendlease to recognise the public welfare or commons value of the urban forest of 458 trees on the old Heygate Estate at Elephant and Castle.

Early in the first lockdown this year I decided to tweet a Tree of the Day from my account @leaftoleaf; images and notes about a new network of trees that I had an intimate relation with in my neighbourhood. Those trees included Persian ironwood and silk trees, Indian bean and horse-chestnut trees, hornbeams and field maples, black pines and poplars, and the trusty London plane in estates, streets and parks centring on the Elephant and Castle.
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Covid-19 and Democracy

Posted on News and Views by Bartley Shaw · November 17, 2020 10:34 PM · 1 reaction

*update* 21/12/2020

Latest guidance on campaign activity for Green Party members can be read here https://members.greenparty.org.uk/covid-19 (membership log-in required).


Earlier in the year we hosted with our friends and colleagues in Lambeth Green Party a series of events with leaders from the Green Party under the banner: Beyond Covid-19. I am sure that most of us at the time assumed that months later we might indeed be beyond the pandemic, or at least closer to the end than we are. Nonetheless, with positive news about a vaccine, perhaps we are close to the beginning of the end?

And what about democracy in the time of a pandemic?

The London Assembly and Mayoral elections were due to take place in May 2020. These elections were postponed, now go-ahead in May 2021 and campaigning has begun again. This important election will impact many aspects of our city and provides an excellent opportunity for our Green Party candidates.

  • National Co-leader Siân Berry is candidate for London Mayor and captured excellent polling ahead of the postponement
  • Two Assembly Members – Siân and Caroline Russell – were elected in 2016 via the Proportional Representation element of the vote for London-wide representatives.
  • The ambition is to re-elect Siân and Caroline and to increase the Green representation to at least three and beyond, with Zack Polanski and Benali Hamdache third and fourth respectively on the Green Party list.

   

Teams in Southwark and across London have been out distributing campaign literature to Londoners – but is this safe or advisable during the pandemic?

Evidence-Based Decisions

As a party that prides itself on evidence-based decision-making, we are following the science and official guidance from Public Health England. What this means broadly is:

  • Voters can be confident that receiving campaign literature does not present a risk
  • Door-knocking is not authorised
  • All campaigners are briefed on ‘safe’ leafletting, which means it needs to be done alone, with a mask on and with regular application of hand sanitiser
  • Distributing leaflets is a volunteer activity and therefore is permitted during lockdown

Our guidance is regularly updated but for the time-being, the right type of campaigning is on. Across the borough dedicated campaigners are making a significant contribution to the London-wide campaign. The ambition of this campaign is to reach several hundred thousand voters with multiple rounds of campaign messaging. A massive thank you to those making this happen and for observing the guidelines.

Should you wish to join them, there are always opportunities to do so – the more of you, the better to spread the load. Let us know via [email protected] and we will let you know where and when. Equally, if you have been campaigning and have any concerns or questions, please raise them with your co-ordinator or via the central email.

Information for Voters

If you are reading this as someone who has received campaign literature from us and have questions or concerns, we welcome hearing from you.

For those voters who are vulnerable or who are nervous about voting in person in May, it is useful to remember the option to cast your votes by post or by proxy. Details are available from the Southwark Council website here.

Finally, remember that British, European and Commonwealth London residents can vote but you must be registered to do so. If you or members of your household are not registered to vote, you need to visit here.

Space to walk and cycle safely - needed now

Posted on News and Views by Eleanor Margolies · June 01, 2020 4:56 PM

With so many fewer cars on the streets during lockdown, air pollution has fallen by up to 50% and people have been walking and cycling to local shops and parks, as well as to work.

But now, as lockdown eases, cars are returning to the streets. If Southwark doesn’t act to provide more space for pedestrians and cyclists, all Southwark residents will suffer.

  • Many people will not be able to travel safely to work. The majority of residents don’t have access to a private car and there will be reduced capacity on public transport for months to come.
  • More people will choose to drive, creating gridlock - causing delays for those who do need to use motorised transport, including delays to buses.
  • Increased air pollution means more heart disease, asthma and strokes, as well as exacerbating the impact of coronavirus.

It's a question of social justice: 60% of Southwark residents do not have access to a car. With limited capacity on public transport, they need safe ways to walk and cycle. Workers in health care, retail and construction who can’t work from home are more likely to be on lower incomes and most in need of safer ways to commute. 

If Southwark Council doesn’t act quickly, there’s a real risk that as people avoid public transport, Southwark will become a corridor of choking gridlock, from the southern suburbs to the river.

Meanwhile, people still need extra space on pavements for daily exercise, recreation and essential tasks while keeping a safe distance from each other.

But the last few months have shown that rapid changes are possible.

Photo (above, and top): the Low Traffic neighbourhood around Van Gogh Walk, Lambeth
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Beyond Covid-19 Universal Basic Income

Posted on News and Views by Bartley Shaw · May 29, 2020 10:06 PM

In early May, Southwark and Lambeth Green Parties welcomed Siân Berry as first guest in its speaker programme, Beyond Covid-19. The topic: Universal Basic Income (UBI).

With much to cover, Siân provided an informed and passionate overview of Green Party policy on this issue and explained some of the research that has gone into this globally, as well as answering members’ questions. It became clear that the concept of UBI and the support and resilience it provides was a key policy that first attracted Siân to the Green Party.

 

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The #MasksForAll campaign

Posted on News and Views by Eleanor Margolies · April 19, 2020 10:00 AM
Photo: Adam Hypki

'Once 80% of the population wears a mask, the spread of a virus during a pandemic can be stopped almost immediately.'

Study published in the United States National Library of Medicine

 

There is evidence that masks can significantly reduce the amount of virus spread by people who have Covid-19 but may not realise it. To a lesser degree, they also provide protection against catching it. It’s a pro-social action to wear a mask: My mask protects you; your mask protects me.

The campaign for #Masks4All is gaining momentum. In the Czech Republic, it started as a grassroots campaign and then passed into law. Within three days, almost 100% of citizens were wearing homemade masks.

Professor Trish Greenhalgh spoke on the World At One on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday 16 April, pointing out that masks can be made of almost any available fabric, and that even if homemade masks are not 100% effective, if a high percentage of the population are wearing masks, there will be a huge drop in transmission rates.

Wearing cotton masks for essential trips to shops or on public transport is a simple, effective action that will protect all of us, and above all key workers like bus drivers and shop assistants. Homemade masks do not replace existing essential measures - hand-washing, keeping a safe distance, staying in - but they are another tool to fight the virus.

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Bessemer Nature Garden

Posted on News and Views by Eleanor Margolies · April 05, 2020 8:23 PM · 1 reaction

We're very concerned to learn of a planning application made by Southwark Council for permission to chop down four mature poplar trees and eight ash and maple trees in Bessemer Grange Nature Garden (also known as Nairne Grove Nature Garden).

This small, biodiverse garden is used by pupils from Bessemer Grange Primary, as well as for Forest School community activities. The school's catchment area includes three large council estates - Champion Hill, Denmark Hill and Dog Kennel Hill. Many of the pupils live in flats without gardens. For them, the chance to learn about nature in a woodland setting is rare and highly valued.

This photo from the school's website shows a Year 1 class in the garden.

Photo shows four Year 1 children in red school uniform and winter coats, their backs to us as they look at mixed woodland beyond. Photo from Bessemer Grange Primary website http://bessemergrangeprimary.co.uk/1jm/

The trees are covered by Tree Protection Orders and the garden is listed as a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation by Southwark Council, as well as being in a 'Critical Drainage Area'.

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Community Response to Covid-19

Posted on News and Views by Bartley Shaw · March 31, 2020 10:52 PM

Interview with Claire Sheppard, Green Party candidate and community campaigner

Can you tell us a bit about Nunhead Knocks?

It was started by a handful of folks local to Nunhead who had skills in tech, community connections and backgrounds in organising who wanted to find a way to help the many people in our neighbourhood who have been affected by the virus.

How did you get the idea for Nunhead Knocks? Is it just you?

Read more
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