RIXTON CLAYPITS
Welcome to the web site of Warrington Green Party.
After the encouraging results in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Borough Council Elections Warrington Green Party is a force to be reckoned with in local politics.
We aim to grow results year on year!
Mission Statement.
Warrington Green Party - focused on People and their Environment
Some of our policies will be accomplished in the medium term and some in the longterm.
We aim to:
• end clone town Britain and oppose, by not granting planning permission to, out of town developments such as large hypermarkets like the Omega development, and support local shops and businesses and the purchase of local produce and promote Mobile Traders. We want to subsidise local shops with lower rents and lower rates and bring back local high street shopping by protecting high streets from chain stores (the green party is not anti-supermarkets [provided they conduct their businesses on very ethical principles], it is just anti-supermarket monopolies. We want everybody to have a share of the prosperity including small local shops, because if you force local shops to close you damage and isolate local communities and create crime-ghettos. It's all about communities)
• initiate a stringent review of Council purchasing policies, with the aim of buying more local and recycled goods and supporting the purchase of fairly traded goods
• encourage local entrepreneurs, businessmen, scientists and engineers who are interested in Transition Town development to come up with an action plan to eventually convert Warrington into a viable Transition Town
• continue to campaign locally and nationally for a reduction in the volume of packaging and promote paper-based packaging as opposed to polymer-based packaging where possible
• promote and expand local producers' street markets, co-operatives, skills workshops, and directories of local businesses. HENCE MORE JOBS
• spend all the revenue from eco-taxes on measures to make it easy to be green, not on income tax cuts
• listen to the best science available and commit to a 9% annual reduction in carbon emissions, leading to a 90% cut by 2030
• introduce personal carbon allowances to ensure our emissions are shared out more equally
• encourage ethical clothing stores to start up in the town by reducing markedly the rents for ethical clothing trades people like Clean Slate Ltd, People Tree Ltd, Arkadash Ltd, etc. HENCE MORE JOBS
• work with scrap metal merchants to organise the neighbourhood collections from households of used aluminium foil trays used in the pie-making industry, aluminium foil used in the chocolate wrapping industry, used frozen-fish metal trays and empty metal biscuits and sweets tins. HENCE MORE JOBS
• encourage and incentivise the polymer industry to produce yogurt pots, margarine containers and ice cream containers made from single recyclable polymers and not mixed polymers as they are now, and also standardise the trays used to hold fruit, vegetables and meats in supermarkets, again as single easily recyclable polymers, so that they can be recycled in this country hence creating more jobs in the UK recycling industry. HENCE MORE JOBS
• install solar electricity on all council houses and all council buildings - HENCE MORE JOBS
• promote renewable energy (e.g. solar street lighting and wind turbines), and make this a focus of local job creation schemes (see: http://www.kirkleesgreenparty.org.uk for best practice on this type of scheme) - HENCE MORE JOBS
• press for the farmers market events in Warrington town centre to be adopted on a once a month basis and promote one in Stockton Heath making sure to promote also organic produce and local rustic trades like walking stick making, local pottery, paintings by local artists, fairtrade crafts and produce, and rustic furniture and nest boxes and press for the promotion of more crafts fares so that local craftsmen can prosper and a wider choice of products can be made available to the general public
• press for more local jumble sales on a reuse principle and act together with local churches of all denominations to try to raise more money for charities
• prioritise support and protection for allotments and press for many further allotment sites to be created in the area
• press for more schemes like the Walton Lea project or Community Youth Work (CYW) projects on allotments and the growing of fruit and vegetables by young people
• press for severe fines for fly-tipping but oppose the new bin-tax which would encourage it
• expand recycling facilities for toxic heavy-metal items such as batteries including them in the kerbside recycling scheme where practical, and providing more collection points at many locations where none currently exist. At present 600 million batteries are thrown away in the UK each year. Also at present receptacles for batteries are provided at major supermarkets, but a survey carried out by a Warrington Green Party member found that in the space of 4 hours on 2 recorded periods very few people actually put disused batteries into these receptacles
• NO NEW INCINERATORS IN WARRINGTON – instead improve recycling rates and encourage the building of industrial encapsulated (zero emissions) recycling plants in every town and use Anaerobic Digestion in conjunction with Mechanical Biological Treatment to treat biodegradable waste and sort all rubbish mechanically for reusable materials so reducing landfill. At a conservative estimate modern incinerators fitted with APC (air pollution controls) cost £100 million and the cost of waste treatment per tonne is £100 as opposed to £53 per tonne for Anaerobic Digestion in conjunction with Mechanical Biological Treatment and modern incinerators are 33% more polluting in carbon dioxide emissions than gas-fired power stations. Also not as much nitrogen oxides are produced from bio gas derived from anaerobic digestion as are from incineration gases (nitrogen oxides are 300 times more potent as greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide)
• support Warrington Borough Council in its bids to eventually close Risley Landfill site. Green waste management sustains more jobs per tonne of rubbish than either landfill or incineration. Typical, accepted ratios per million tonnes of waste processed are: (Landfill; 40-60 jobs/Incineration; 100-290 jobs/Composting; 200-300 jobs/Recycling; 400-590 jobs). HENCE MORE JOBS
• introduce a subsidised reusable nappy scheme financed by Landfill Tax savings raised by diverting disposable nappies from landfill. Disposable nappies make up 4% of the national waste stream. We want to make reusable nappies free in Warrington
• press for the introduction, with the help of the supermarkets, of a ten pence charge for plastic bags used by shoppers in order to cut down on the number of plastic bags going to landfill (worldwide between 500 billion and 1 trillion plastic bags are made each year and only 2% of these are recycled. The rest are incinerated or go to landfill. The UK produces 9 billion bags each year. The UK government is trying to push manufacturers to make plastic bags containing 40% recycled plastic by 2015, but a countrywide charge on plastic bags will have more effect)
• introduce a £100 council tax rebate for all households who install either solar panels or small wind turbines on their roofs to supply electricity to heat their water and their properties but nationally, we would prefer to see offshore wind farms where investment in wind power is proposed. Where on-shore wind farms are proposed, we would wish to ensure that they are of a suitable scale for the surrounding area and do not cause undue levels of disturbance to local people. HENCE MORE JOBS
• insulate the properties of all people with cavity wall or loft insulation (to a minimum of 25 cm thickness) for free in order to eliminate 'fuel poverty' in the borough. HENCE MORE JOBS
• give low cost loans to householders who want to put in renewable energy technology. The loan would be paid back only when they sell their homes and then used to fund even more renewable energy
• work with organisations such as the Empty Homes Agency to ensure that empty properties are brought back into use as quickly as possible
• make it harder to demolish houses in order to rebuild larger ones. We will encourage the reuse of building materials where houses are demolished. HENCE MORE JOBS
• encourage more affordable homes to be built on brownfield sites, because these areas are near the centre of town with better public transport. It should be correspondingly harder to get planning permission in more rural areas in order to reduce urban sprawl.
• fully support the green belt as a matter of principle, a policy which was created and has been vigorously defended over several decades with much hard work. There must remain a general presumption against building within the green belt
• negotiate with electricity companies to pay home-owners a good feed-in tariff if they use excess electricity generated from solar panels on their roof to feed into the National Grid
• resist the loss of local green spaces by opposing unnecessary housing and business developments (a study in Tokyo found that, if people lived near tranquil, tree-lined, urban green spaces the positive feeling they obtained increased good health and longevity. Walking became a pleasure and it encouraged everyone to take exercise no matter what age. Lower environmental noise also plays a vital part in their good health. The tranquil nature of the linear park [Sustrans cycle/walkway] is a good example of this much-needed facility and is why there is such an outcry to keep such green spaces)
• encourage schools to use their local parks as much as possible and to become involved in adoption schemes or be in close co-operation with local parks groups
• encourage the planting of more perennials and less use of herbicides and pesticides in parks, providing finance for the training of park staff in organic gardening methods if necessary. HENCE MORE JOBS
• encourage the planting of small trees, shrubs and flowering perennials in raised beds in areas of high traffic density in the town in order to reduce pollution risks like Asthma to pedestrians. One particular area would be the area near the Bus Interchange which experiences high levels of exhaust fumes throughout each day. Many other areas spring to mind. HENCE MORE JOBS
• Support and extend educational projects to increase wildlife awareness amongst the public, especially children and try to persuade the government to give the gift of a tree, planted in a local wood, to all children in the country under 16 years of age. HENCE MORE JOBS
• cut down on car traffic and encourage people to use their cars less and improve air quality in Warrington by introducing free safe lock-ups with security guard protection in car parks all over the town for the storing of bicycles in order to encourage more people to cycle to work
• support the Warrington Cycle Campaign’s policies towards cycle lanes. These policies are aimed at ensuring that cycle lanes are placed at locations where they offer benefits to cyclists, while being designed to very high standards to minimise the traffic hazards
• fill in all pot holes in roads on a regular basis to make cycling easier. HENCE MORE JOBS
• introduce a simple, unbureaucratic procedure to make it easier for developers to provide cycle parking and the local authority to police this.
• NO BIOFUELS – instead money spent on increasing the fuel efficiency of cars and research on perfecting further smart cars and electric cars and electric buses in order to provide an alternative to petrol engines. HENCE MORE JOBS
• oppose the use of arable land to grow biomass since it is more valuable for food crops
• GIVE COAL-FIRED POWER STATIONS THE BOOT – instead invest heavily in renewable technologies and help people and businesses to save energy in as many ways as possible. Non-nuclear renewables sustain more jobs per megawatt than either nuclear or fossil-fuel power. HENCE MORE JOBS
• lower council tax bills for people who have a proven record of good recycling practices
• invest in high-speed continental rail networks and video conferencing
• switch to organic farming methods where viable and create new jobs. Organic food production employs 20-30% more people per hectare than chemical- and mechanical-intensive farming. HENCE MORE JOBS
• provide free composting receptacles to every Warrington household. The objective being to reduce waste going to landfill
• provide free seeds and fruit bushes to every Warrington household that commits to growing their own fruit and vegetables. The objective being to encourage people to eat more fruit and vegetables and improve their diets
• commit to making Warrington self-sufficient in food by 2020 by converting as much free uncultivated land as possible over to the growing of fruit and vegetables. Every spare piece of ground should be used to supply food to the town. The population of this country is set to rise by 10 million by 2050 so with future rises in food prices due to shortages and the demand to use cultivated land for biofuel crops instead of food crops (which the green party disagrees with), it will be necessary to do what the town of Todmorden in Lancashire has done and commit to making the town self-sufficient in food by 2018. Every garden and every piece of waste ground is being turned over to grow food in Todmorden. This if accomplished in Warrington by 2020, would also end supermarket food monopolies in Warrington and save on air miles and hence carbon dioxide emissions due to transport of food over long distances to the town and create jobs for community groups of all kinds and unemployed people who wish to grow fruit and vegetables for their local community. Companies that own derelict land and do not allow cultivation to take place will be made subject to compulsory purchase orders so that the land can be brought back into community use. HENCE MORE JOBS
• set up Community Agriculture schemes like the one operating in Stroud. These are a new type of sustainable farming. Built on cooperation and mutual support the risks and rewards of farming are shared between the farmers and consumers. The consumers commit themselves to supporting the farm and providing a fair income for the farmers. The farmers can then develop the health and fertility of the farm, its wildlife and environment. All the produce from the farm is shared between the supporting consumers or sold locally if there is a surplus. The aim is to expand the farm to feed more local people. As the schemes get more members the participants will look to extend the range of produce on offer. This may include dairy produce, lamb, eggs and soft fruit, etc.
Members collect vegetables each week and can also buy a share of the meat, if they want to. Everyone pays a monthly contribution towards the farm and a fee for their share of the produce. The eventual aim is to encourage people from all backgrounds and income groups to get involved and also set up a small bursary fund to provide help if needed. These schemes encourage community spirit and help socially isolated people such as elderly and disabled people to gain friends
• commit to a policy in the UK of growing TREES, TREES, TREES........ as many as humanly possible and as quickly as possible. The trees that are planted must be primarily trees with a lifetime greater than 200 years which is the lifetime of a carbon dioxide molecule. This is a better option by far than carbon capture and storage because trees store carbon much more efficiently than cavities in rocks that are capped and they do it a lot less expensively. The more trees we have on the earth the more CO2 and H2O are pulled out of the atmosphere and built up to large complex organic molecules within the structure of the trees. Conversely the more fossil fuels we burn the more water and CO2 escapes into the earths atmosphere and the more global warming. So TREES, TREES, TREES.... are the best answer as well as renewable energy technologies which are non-fossil fuel alternatives to meet our energy needs. A lot of local industrial estates and business parks have larger amounts of lawned areas than tree-lined areas. We would encourage more trees to be planted there to redress this imbalance. HENCE MORE JOBS
• provide free seeds for people wishing to create wild gardens, with primarily wild flowers, on their land in the outer regions of the borough and encourage the sowing of wild flower seeds on derelict land in the interim period before development. The objective being to encourage the growth of bee populations and other insect pollenators in Warrington and the UK
• introduce rainwater harvesting schemes in all new housing developments
• support the advancement of the Fairtrade philosophy and practices in the Borough of Warrington by offering 50% reductions in rents and rates to Fairtrade outlets. HENCE MORE JOBS
• RE-INVENT, RENEW, REJUVENATE the MANUFACTURING BASE OF THIS COUNTRY by investing in the GREEN NEW DEAL and HENCE 1 MILLION MORE NEW JOBS CREATEDSOCIAL POLICY STATEMENT FOR THE TOWN OF WARRINGTON AND THE UK
Why not come along and join us?
We need youthful, enthusiastic as well as wiser and more experienced people to help shape Warrington's future!
Meetings are held at 7:00 pm every 3rd Monday of the month in the back room of the Bull’s Head Public House on Church Street in Warrington.
You don’t need to be a member of the party - Come along and help Warrington Go Green!
To sign an online petition against the building of a waste incinerator in Warrington visit:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Warrinc/
To sign an online petition supporting the establishment of a regular monthly Farmers Market in Warrington visit:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/WarringtonFarmersMarket/
To sign a petition supporting the restoration of Birchwood Walled Garden to its former glory visit:
http://www.bri2e.co.uk/places/birchwood/walledgarden.htm
(The images on this web site are copyright of photographers contributing to and licensed by www.bigstockphoto.com)
Promoted by David Ward of 28 Killingworth Lane, Gorse Covert, Birchwood, Warrington, WA3 6TA. on behalf of the Warrington Green Party.
