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Norwich Green Party Local Elections Manifesto Launch

17 April 2019

Sian Berry, national Co-Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, joined local candidates on Wednesday 17th April to launch Norwich Green Party’s manifesto for local elections on 2nd May. 

Sian said that Norwich needs a strong Green opposition to hold the city council administration to account and promote imaginative solutions to the urgent problems facing us.

Norwich Green Party’s priorities for the coming year include:  

  • Doing more to tackle climate change: Greens would like to see the council act faster to ensure that it moves to CO2 neutrality by 2030.
  • Creating more affordable housing and ensuring that developers pay their full contributions to meet the city’s affordable housing needs.
  • Creating a first-class public transport system for Greater Norwich which would include more provision for electric vehicles as just one measure to tackle air quality.
  • Building safer communities through a range of measures, from more secure entry systems for housing blocks in areas suffering from crime and anti-social behaviour to reducing the speed limits around schools and residential homes.

Councillor Denise Carlo, Green Party Group Leader said: 

“Making radical cuts in carbon emissions would bring improvements in other areas too, such as warmer homes and clean air and more greenery.”

Ben Price, Green Party councillor for Thorpe Hamlet ward said,

“Green councillors will continue to promote zero carbon transport for Norwich.  Besides staving off the worst impacts of climate change, cutting transport carbon emissions would also improve the health and wellbeing of our citizens and visitors.” 

Martin Schmierer, Green Party councillor for Mancroft ward said:

“The biggest issue city-centre residents report to me on the doorstep is the need to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour. Greens have a strong record of working with the police to deal with this. However, it is clear that more needs to be done at council level. That is why we would like to make the installation of security entry systems to communal blocks of flats and the 24hr monitoring of the city’s CCTV a priority.”

Anglia Square, where the Greens launched their manifesto, encapsulates local Green Party priorities. 

Councillor Carlo said:

Greens regard proposals to redevelop the site into a set of glitzy high-rise tower blocks in the heart of the city centre conservation area as a wasted opportunity. Only ten percent of housing on the site would be affordable. This plan does nothing to address the permanent blight caused by council planning policy in the 1970s nor the need for Norwich to become carbon neutral.

“Instead, Greens advocate a new diverse, sympathetically designed, lower rise neighbourhood, with more mixed housing to include more family and affordable housing, built to zero carbon energy standards, which better meets the needs of local residents and businesses.”