Winchester Green Party news

Welcome to Hampshire's first Green Councillor!

Alison Craig — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:18:31 +0000

Winchester Green Party welcomes the decision by County Councillor Alan Weeks to defect from the Liberal Democrats to become Hampshire's first ever Green Councillor.

Alan was the Chairman and Campaign leader for the New Forest group of the Liberal Democrats until shortly after the May election. Originally elected onto the New Forest District Council as the youngest ever councillor, Alan has over twenty years of substantial experience in local politics. He has pledged to give local Greens a big boost.

Energy Bill: our open letter to Steve Brine MP, 13th June 2011

Alison Craig — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 16:16:53 +0000

We are pleased that you, as our MP, have been selected to serve on the Committee dealing with this Bill.

Winchester Green Party’s vote-share jumps another 50 per cent

Alison Craig — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 12:45:33 +0000

Our candidate in the City Council election (St Bartholomew Ward), Alison Craig, achieved 17.5 per cent of the vote, up from 12 per cent last year.

This shows a strong and steady rise in our vote, and was among the Green Party’s best performances in Hampshire.

Alison says, 'It's exciting to be part of a new movement in Winchester. We thank everyone who voted for us, and we promise to work on for a better future for this District than the other parties will ever deliver.'

In the St Michael Ward, our candidate Mary Tiles also achieved a good result, with over 7 per cent of the vote-share, a remarkable showing for a new candidate.

People before cars!

Alison Craig — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 21:21:09 +0000

Winchester Green Party is calling for the total closure of Hyde Church Lane to dangerous traffic.

Cars are STILL being allowed to drive both ways along Hyde Church Lane which is extremely narrow and has no pavements for most of its length. Huge lorries are using the lane, often guided by their satnavs.

A recent survey by local residents found that over 700 pedestrians, including small children and elderly people, use the Lane per day. They are forced to share it with more than 200 vehicles per day.

The City Council decided on an inadequate compromise solution last December. The plan is to close the Lane – but only at one end (the Worthy Lane end) – by next month.

Press release: Big rise in long term empty homes in Winchester

Alison Craig — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 04:16:34 +0000

The number of long term empty homes in Winchester has risen by almost a quarter in just 9 months. This news has emerged as the City waits in suspense for the Secretary of State’s decision on Barton Farm, a proposal to build 2000 new homes on the last remaining ‘green wedge’ of the City.

In response to Freedom of Information requests by Winchester Green Party, the Council has disclosed that in June last year, there were 118 long term empty properties in City wards, and now there are 146, an increase of 28 properties.

‘These properties must be brought back into use as an urgent priority’, says Alison Craig, Green Party local election candidate for the St Bartholomew Ward. ‘It is a dreadful waste of existing housing stock to have it standing empty.

No to cuts, yes to green investment and jobs, says Winchester Green Party

Alison Craig — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:28:53 +0000

Winchester Green Party joined the Unison demonstration against HCC job cuts on 24th February, to demand green jobs in Hampshire.

1200 jobs, or 8 per cent of the HCC workforce, is to be cut under the latest Council budget plans. Alison Craig of Winchester Green Party says ‘Nothing but steady deterioration, high unemployment and lost opportunities can be expected from public sector job cuts.’

Close the doors campaign hits the High Street

Alison Craig — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 09:06:15 +0000

Winchester Green Party has written to dozens of retailers asking them to keep doors closed, and to stop wasting heating and energy.

Even in snowy weather, many shops in the High Street have been keeping their doors wide open, while turning the heating up, in the hope of attracting more customers.

Press release: Green guerillas swoop on neglected city flowerbed

Alison Craig — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 19:19:31 +0000

Today (Sunday 28 November) members of Winchester Green Party and other local residents took over a civic flowerbed in a dramatic ‘guerilla gardening’ coup.

They planted up the flowerbed on the corner of Hyde Street and Worthy Lane with hundreds of daffodils and crocuses which they donated themselves.

The flowerbed (owned by Hampshire County Council) had been neglected for many years and was a mass of nettles. Local residents had tried to draw attention to its plight, without results.

Press release: draft Town Access Plan surrenders city to the car, says Winchester Green Party

Alison Craig — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 20:25:55 +0000

Winchester Green Party (WGP) warns that the draft Winchester Town Access Plan (WTAP) is not fit for purpose and promises a future for Winchester that is even more car-blighted than today.

The Greens say that, despite the rhetoric about tackling the negative impacts of traffic in Winchester, what the Plan actually proposes in terms of car control is next to nothing.

Alison Craig, Convenor of Winchester Green Party, says:

Green Party response to draft Winchester Town Access Plan, November 2010

Alison Craig — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 19:43:48 +0000

About the Green Party and our transport policies

The Green Party has a well-developed and longstanding set of transport and access policies, and has for many years been at the forefront of radical thinking on the need for transportation and how it can be efficiently achieved with minimal damage to the environment and without causing social exclusion.

December Meeting

Jim Kirkpatrick — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 13:36:37 +0000

Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - 19:30 - 21:30

Hyde Tavern, Hyde Street, Winchester, SO23 7DY

Our monthly Winchester Green Party meetings where we discuss issues, greet new members, plan campaigns and enjoy a pint, too!

Please contact us for the agenda.

Letter to media on energy waste in High Street, October 2010

Alison Craig — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:59:45 +0000

Letter to Hampshire Chronicle, published 28 October 2010

On Thursday morning, with frost on the roofs and the temperature below freezing, a short walk along Winchester High Street, from Colebrook Street to Jewry Street, showed the following premises with wide-open doors:

Letter to media on Climate Change Vision and Strategy, September 2010

Alison Craig — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 22:48:27 +0000

Letter to Hampshire Chronicle, published 30 September 2010.

Now that the City Council’s Planning Committee has signalled a positive attitude towards wind energy with the approval of turbines at Kirton Farm (front page, 23 September 2010), Winchester Green Party urges all public sector organisations in Hampshire to get on with a transfer to renewable energy. After an initial investment, massive savings could be made in heating and lighting costs, and Hampshire’s overall carbon emissions would be substantially cut.

Thank you!

Alison Craig — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 08:21:33 +0000

Winchester Green Party is fighting to get the first Green Councillor in Hampshire elected.

Although we did not win in the St Bartholomew Ward this time (Winchester City Council election), we took 12 per cent of the vote, the second highest for the Green Party anywhere in Hampshire, and more than double our vote share last year.

We are really grateful if – against the electoral odds – you entrusted us with your precious vote. We aim to ensure your trust is justified.

Press release: Winchester Green Party lambasts HCC Carbon Strategy, July 2010

Alison Craig — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 22:44:56 +0000

Winchester Green Party is so concerned about Hampshire County Council’s draft Carbon Strategy, to be decided at a Cabinet meeting tomorrow, 26th July 2010, that the group is making a deputation. The Council climate change Strategy aims to reduce the organisation’s own emissions by 20 per cent, but not until 2015. Many other organisations, including Winchester City Council, have higher targets – 20 per cent by 2012.

Letter to media on economic strategy, June 2010

Alison Craig — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 22:41:22 +0000

Letter to Hampshire Chronicle, published June 2010.

Winchester City Council is about to sign off a lengthy document, the Economic Strategy for the Winchester District, 2010-2020, which will have a major influence on local jobs and our environment. How frustrating that its grasp of how things will be different in the years to come seems so tentative.

Winchester Green Party in bid to make history

Alison Craig — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:35:51 +0000

Winchester Greens are going flat out to get the first ever Green Party councillor in Hampshire elected, in the Winchester City Council election on 6^th May.

Alison Craig is standing in the St Bartholomew Ward and says her chances are good. She says ‘Brighton, Oxford, and Norwich have had Green councillors for years. As a result they are much greener places than Winchester.

Imagine Winchester City after another 20 years of just the grey parties: a car-blighted, polluted urban sprawl. Everyone we have talked to says there are too many cars in Winchester.’

Although Winchester Greens have stood in the local elections in previous years, this is the first time they have run a campaign in a target Ward. Their top opponent is Liberal Democrat and retiring Mayor, Dominic Hiscock.

Alison says, ‘The current incumbent has done the job for ten years and it is time for a change. We need fresh ideas on Winchester City Council.’

A Green Thought #2 - April 2010

Chris Gillham — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:38:54 +0000

News and Ideas from Winchester Green Party — Issue 2, April 2010

To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please use the link at the foot of this email.

News

It's been confirmed that the General Election will be on May 6th, coinciding with District elections. As the big parties are already squaring up in the national media, and the same old pots are criticising the blackness of the same old kettles, the hustings process has begun even in Winchester.

Winchester Greens are going flat out to get the first ever Green Party councillor in Hampshire elected: Alison Craig is our candidate in the St Bartholomew Ward.

Letter to media on empty homes, April 2010

Alison Craig — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 22:39:09 +0000

Letter to the Hampshire Chronicle, published 1 April 2010.

With the recent reminder that house prices in Winchester are 40 per cent above the Hampshire average, how depressing it is to see yet another formerly publicly-owned building, the Hampshire Reference Library, Austen House, being developed into expensive flats.

Tories on the city council know that average household incomes in this district mean 74 per cent of households can’t afford to buy even the lower-priced properties, but they do little to tackle the problem.

Local Election 2011

Jim Kirkpatrick — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:26:39 +0000

If you think the Green Party is just an environmental organisation, think again. A single underlying philosophy does not make us a single issue party, and we tackle all the usual areas of policy – and means of paying for them – including economic policy, education, housing, health, transport, food and more.

Letter to media on park and ride, March 2010

Alison Craig — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:32:21 +0000

Letter to Hampshire Chronicle, published 11th March 2010.

The planning application for the Pitt Manor development makes the extraordinary claim that it will reduce traffic on the Romsey Road. The basis of the claim is that the developers will provide a 200-space car park on the site, which will operate with the proposed bus service from the Bushfield park and ride site to be opened in April.

Letter to media on 10:10 campaign, March 2010

Alison Craig — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:21:17 +0000

Letter to Hampshire Chronicle, published 4 March 2010.

The decision by the Conservative group of Hampshire County Council councillors on 18th February 2010 not to sign up to the 10:10 Campaign on climate change – a commitment to reduce HCC’s carbon emissions by 10 per cent in 2010 – was nothing short of disastrous for Hampshire.

Letter to media on Copenhagen summit, December 2009

Alison Craig — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:16:00 +0000

Letter to Hampshire Chronicle, published 3 December 2009.

On the eve of the global Cophenhagen climate conference, the gulf between what people want, and what politicians are delivering, could not be more clearly illustrated than in Hampshire.

A Green Thought #1 - September 2009

Chris Gillham — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:39:57 +0000

(Green Thought is also available as a PDF file below...)

The Winchester Green Party Newsletter — Issue 1, October 2009

The Winchester Green Party was formed in 2007. While we have published election campaign literature before, this is our first edition of a more general paper that will bring, not just news of what we are doing, but what we hope will be seen as thought-provoking comment.

We don’t have all the answers. There should be no debate now about the scale of the problem facing us, but there will be much disagreement about the effectiveness of solutions. This is matter that we can debate within these columns.

Strong Green opposition to the Three Maids Hill Motocross application

Jim Kirkpatrick — Mon, 25 May 2009 16:39:03 +0000

We were recently approached by people living near the Three Maids Hill area north of Winchester who are rightly concerned about the recent planning application (deadline recently extended to 28th May) to expand the site, increase its hours of use and make the site permanent.

We at Winchester Green Party are strongly opposed to this application.

Whilst we understand that some people enjoy motocross, we think the amount of noise - a very annoying and constantly changing buzz - produced by these motorbikes means the idea of having very regular or daily meetings and races there is unacceptable. There are places in the country that already have such courses and we think any new trails or extensions of use should occur in already noise-polluted places - not north Winchester where 3,000 homes are a mile from the course.

If we really must have more bikes and regular sports meetings in Winchester's rural surroundings, I propose the quiet, non-polluting and extremely fitness-enhancing sports of mountain biking and BMXing is given some space and investment instead.