On May 1st
VOTE GREEN, VOTE:

Dear Voter,

It’s easy to despair when faced with issues like climate change, but it is not too late to leave future generations the world they deserve.  The Green Party have been warning about climate change for two decades and wherever we have been elected have taken positive steps to reduce carbon emissions.  This issue is much too important for the lip service approach of other parties.

I am a member of the Green Party because I care about the environment but we don’t just campaign about green issues!  The Greens support free prescriptions and NHS dentistry. We are campaigning for a citizen’s pension, regardless of savings, and linked to earnings not inflation. And we believe in pursuing peace and justice; the Green Party was against the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and opposes attacking Iran.

Why vote for me on May 1st?

I am an experienced community politician having already served 12 years as a Leeds

City Councillor, heavily involved in issues of housing, environment, energy and peace. I have lived in Weetwood – on the Beckett Park Estate – since moving back to my family roots in Yorkshire in 1986. Formerly an archaeologist,

I now teach Geography and Law in a Bradford School. I am married and have two children. Always environmentally concerned, I served as a Leeds City Councillor from 1990 to 2002. Within the Labour Group I worked on issues that were on the green agenda – waste collection, recycling and disposal; provision of good housing; peace activities and peace education; opposition to nuclear power and weapons; green purchasing. I persuaded the Labour Group to oppose waste incineration in the city. In the end I could not defend the activities of the Labour government, and the illegal invasion of Iraq was for me the issue that saw my move to the Green Party. Green politics is not only concerned with the issues of the environment. It is concerned with every issue that affects people, but sees it from a green perspective – sustainable communities, a sustainable quality of life, a sustainable future. The concerns are no narrower that those of other parties, the principles are stronger.

There is no point in despairing about things we have the power to change. Getting a true Green perspective, and a larger Green vote on Leeds City Council can make a big difference.

Martin Hemingway

AGAINST INCINERATION

The Green Party believes that we must reduce the amount of waste we produce, and then reuse and recycle as much as possible.  Incineration is unnecessary and landfill should only be used for the small amount of waste than cannot be reused or recycled.  The Green Party is working within the coalition in Leeds to find an environmental and economically practical alternative to the current incinerator plans and has voted to get the issue reopened.

THREE MAJOR PROBLEMS FACING WEETWOOD

• The impact of a growing university campus resulting in parking problems and the running down of housing stock;
• The lack of variety in local shopping – too many fast food and drink outlets, too few shops to sustain daily life;
• The traffic and pollution issues resulting from our position relative to the city, and from the high population density.

IF ELECTED I WOULD WORK WITHIN THE COUNCIL FOR …

• The compulsory registration of ALL landlords, support for agencies and organisations working for family housing in Weetwood and Headingley (e.g. housing associations, Headingley Development Trust etc.); and a halt to primary school closures in our area.

• Better waste collection, recycling and disposal without incineration and less waste production by introducing green purchasing policies.
• A serious attempt to provide safe routes for cyclists the introduction of an integrated transport system, a road pricing system and incentives for everyone to use public transport. All these work together for a future with less polluted air and safer streets

For copies of this in leaflet form and for more details and offers of support please contact:
Headingley Green Party, 2 Grove Lane,
Leeds LS6 2AP, Tel: 2741011,
Email: info@headingleygreens.org.uk

Download election leaflet in pdf format (330KB)

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