It’s always good to share good news, and on Friday we received just that. After months and years of campaigning by CRAIN (Carlisle Residents Against the Incinerator) and Rockcliffe residents, the planning committee of Cumberland Council decided to reject an application by North-west Regeneration. They wanted to develop an ‘Energy from Waste (EfW) facility’ which would have included a Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) fed Gasification Plant with a 23m high flue stack. The site for the facility was planned for land next to the former Unit D on Kingmoor Park Rockcliffe Estate.

Councillors voted 5 to 2 against the proposal on the grounds that the evidence of the long-term health implications was unclear. In reality, this was just one of the many reasons that objectors were against the proposal, other factors included a total lack of transparency on the part of the applicant, the council, the EA and Natural England; a massive increase in HGV traffic; pollution that would affect local wildlife; previous non-compliance with fire safety legislation by the applicant and the fact that the project would actually increase greenhouse gas emissions.

We in the local Green Party were proud to support CRAIN and Rockcliffe residents through attendance at demonstrations, submitting objections to the planning process and helping gain signatures for petitions.

This is a clear example of how ordinary people can bring about change through consistent, organised action. Well done to everyone.

The post Gasification Plant application rejected appeared first on Carlisle & District Green Party.

Peri is a stay-at-home Mum and proud parent of two children. As a social worker, Peri worked in Adult Social Care and Children’s Services. She has the skills and dedication to scrutinise the council, making sure our area gets its fair share, and that residents’ concerns are heard.

Peri says: “I went into social work because I wanted to help people. I still feel the same, but now I know it’s the systems that needs to change.

There are so many issues in Carlisle and its surrounding district, including buses that don’t turn up, inadequate access to NHS dentists and massive waiting lists at the hospital. We need actual change, and I will fight for us all.”

Peri says: “I have previously voted Labour, and for Cyril Weber in Harraby North. Voting for him was easy. I felt he was a hard-working councillor who cared for his community. However, I cannot continue my support for Labour under Keir Starmer, and what he has done to the Party. He has utterly failed to oppose the Conservatives and their destructive policies.
This by-election won’t change who runs the council, but giving me your vote will put a Green in the room and send a powerful message that people want a real alternative.”

The post Peri Conner Announced as candidate for Harraby north appeared first on Carlisle & District Green Party.

When mixed these chemical cocktails have a disastrous impact on water species including amphibians, fish, insects, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and algae. The adverse effects on these creatures included stunted growth, reduced cell function and lower survival rates.

Prospective Green Party parliamentary candidate Gavin Hawkton said:

“We must take better care of our waterways for the sake of environmental and public health. The government monitors and regulates individual levels of chemicals but it is this damaging mix of substances that is being ignored”.

This news comes after Environment Agency data suggested that six of the ten longest sewage discharges last in in England happened in Cumbria.

Gavin adds: “Currently water companies are dumping, almost without impunity, sewage into our rivers, waterways, and coastal waters. This is a disaster as our rivers and lakes are facing ecological collapse as a result”.“

The failure of privatisation is clear to see. Over the last 30 years £57bn that should have gone into improving infrastructure has instead been trousered by water company executives and shareholders”.“

Water companies have announced that they are going to put up our bills by £10bn to pay for their failures. Yet, at the same time they will continue to pay £14.7bn in dividend payments to their shareholders by the end of this decade”.

“The transfer of wealth from families paying inflated bills to the pockets of shareholders is a scandal given the state of our waterways. We need to end shareholder pay-outs in the short term and bring water companies back into public hands”.“

It is only the Green Party with the courage to demand the nationalisation of water companies that is needed.”

[ENDS]

Contact:

contact@carlisle.greenparty.org.uk GavinHawkton.GreenParty@gmail.com

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Carlisle Green Party parliamentary candidate Gavin Hawkton welcomed the judge’s announcement:

“Beyond the clear environmental concerns, arguments in favor of the mine have notably unraveled over time. We have been told this coal is desperately needed, yet 83% is expected to be shipped abroad, and with anticipated high sulphur content, there are limits to it’s potential with steel making”.

“This is all at a time when the steel industry is rapidly investing in green production. The coal mines operational lifetime would itself exceed the UK steel industries target for reaching net zero emissions by 2035”.

The Green Party have been pushing for a change in direction, with Cumbria well placed to be at the forefront of a green industrial revolution. Gavin adds:

“Sadly, we are held back by a regressive Conservative Party who are unwilling to truly invest in our future and level up the North”.

According to the Local Government Association, there is potential for over 6,000 green jobs in Cumbria by 2030, in areas such as energy efficiency, solar power, offshore wind and low carbon heating. Close to 600 of these could be in Copeland where the mine would be built.

Gavin adds: “We should be creating skilled green jobs that would revitalise our area and help bring energy bills down”.

“It is the lack of political will that is really holding us back here”.

[ENDS] Contact:
contact@carlisle.greenparty.org.uk

GavinHawkton.GreenParty@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/Gavin4Carlisle

The post Greens welcome legal challenge into coal mine appeared first on Carlisle & District Green Party.

Speaking after his selection, Gavin said: “I’m delighted to have the backing of members and I’m looking forward to providing voters with a genuine alternative at the next general election”.

“Whether it’s the broken pledges by Keir Starmer or a Conservative Party embroiled in scandal after scandal, people feel let down by the main political parties and want a fresh approach”.

“The North-South divide grows year on year and the fantasy of ‘levelling up’ needs to be challenged. Genuine investment in a Green New Deal to tackle the cost-of-living crisis and create thousands of jobs is the positive vision I want to set out”.

The Green Party is the party on the rise after making record gains at the local elections in May. Gavin believes the approach of tackling the interconnected issues of environmental, economic and social injustices is one that resonates with voters and is crucial to securing a positive future for future generations.

“We need a party that seeks to improve society for the benefit of all, not just a small elite, I’m looking forward to getting out on the streets putting the Green case across” he said.

Carlisle Green Party had an open and democratic husting where all members were free to stand before deciding between candidates in an internal ballot. Tom Adams, Chair of the Carlisle Greens said: “The party is going from strength to strength and its very encouraging to see the talent emerging from within the party” adding “Gavin will be a strong voice for Carlisle”.

[ENDS] Contact:
contact@carlisle.greenparty.org.uk

GavinHawkton.GreenParty@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/Gavin4Carlisle

The post Green Party candidate to provide a “genuine alternative” at the next general election appeared first on Carlisle & District Green Party.

Carlisle Green Party has called for a massive programme to create secure, well-paid jobs by insulating thousands of homes in Cumbria.

In the run up to the local elections in May, the party has said there has never been a more important moment to elect Greens who will work hard to help their community deal with the cost of living crisis while tackling the climate emergency and reducing inequality.

For a long time now, the Green Party have been calling for a retrofit revolution to transform the UK’s housing and make all homes warmer and more energy efficient through insulation and renewable energy installation. Hundreds of thousands of low carbon jobs would be created nationally, and recent reports show that at least 9,000 could be created within Cumbria itself.

Rather than pitting the need for jobs against sustainable solutions to reduce carbon emissions, employment opportunities in renewables and retrofitting should be sought. This contrasts sharply with the Conservative’s push to open an unsustainable coal mine in West Cumbria.

Tom Adams, Green Party candidate for Brampton said:

“Rural areas in particular could see huge benefits from a retrofit revolution. Greens are calling for £25 billion to be invested every year through local councils to retrofit homes. This would address problems of energy security and poverty in Brampton’s outlying areas, reduce carbon emissions, and create jobs all at the same time.”

“Brampton already has a community interest company and non-profit groups working towards creating employment opportunities in the retrofit sector and promoting repair shops. These kinds of initiatives need to be encouraged more and supercharged with funding secured from central government. Under Green Party proposals, local authorities would be given powers to direct newly created training and skills programmes, like apprenticeships, and would be able to decide how related funding is spent. Only funding on this scale will achieve the council’s target of net carbon zero by 2037.”

“Greens are often charged with how this can be paid for. The answer is taxing pollution and wealth. That includes increasing the tax already charged on North Sea oil and gas to 40%, raising 5 billion pounds and bringing us closer to a full blown carbon tax, making polluters pay for their activities.”

Carlisle Green Party Chair Gavin Hawkton added:

“A retrofit revolution will bring down the cost of living, improve our access to local rather than imported energy, and reduce carbon emissions, all while creating new high-quality jobs.

“Carlisle should be benefitting from the retrofit revolution and the green jobs it can bring. If elected, Green councillors will work to deliver that.”

ENDS

For interviews and information please contact Gavin Hawkton: contact@carlisle.greenparty.org.uk

Further information here:https://greenworld.org.uk/article/retrofitting-homes-forgotten-key-achieving-net-zero

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● Greens issue warning that lack of government leadership and support is preventing councils from helping refugees

● Carlisle City Councillor Helen Davison: “Councils and their constituents all over the country are ready to step up for Ukrainian refugees, just like they were for Afghan refugees. But the biggest barrier is this Conservative government”

Carlisle Green Party has called on the government to provide our local councils and communities with the support and coordination necessary to be able to provide Ukrainian refugees with proper assistance.

The Green Party warns that local councils and their constituents, who want to help those fleeing Russia’s war in Ukraine, are being prevented from doing so by the Government’s failure to adequately provide support services and clear advice and help. 

The Government is offering to take in 200,000 people fleeing Ukraine [1], but the Greens warn that there could be a repeat of the catastrophic handling of the Afghan refugee crisis last year. [2]

The Greens have repeatedly warned over the last year that refugees and asylum seekers, including children, are being accommodated in often overcrowded and unsuitable hotels due to the lack of appropriate housing. [3] They have also warned that the lack of funding for fostering, and children’s services is leaving children without the support they need to recover from trauma. 

Carlisle Greens state that the chaos that accompanies the Homes for Ukraine project is a direct result of the Hostile Environment policy put into place by this government which has caused so many problems. Now the goodwill of the British public and of its statutory and non-statutory sectors working to help refugees and asylum seekers is being sorely tested by the ineffectiveness, confusion and heartlessness shown by the present governments lack of planning and support.

The Green Party is calling on the Government to provide the help that is needed for local councils to resettle refugees in appropriate accommodation where they can restart their lives with help from local communities.

Green Party City Councillor Helen Davison: “Councils and their constituents all over the country are ready to step up for Ukrainian refugees, just like they were for Afghan refugees. But the biggest barrier is this Conservative government”

“We need to match the generosity of our European neighbours by waiving visa requirements for refugees fleeing war and we need money unlocked to provide decent accommodation and adequately fund support services. Councils with support can provide housing by repurposing empty homes, partnering with private landlords and building affordable new homes.”

Tom Adams, Green Party candidate for Brampton added: “Local communities in Carlisle, Brampton and elsewhere are rallying together to play their part in helping Ukrainian refugees. For example, the Brampton Area Action Group co-ordinated a response to supply vital food and medical supplies delivered directly to their point of need. Central government needs to match these local responses and rapidly catch up in terms of its support and funding for refugee resettlement”.

Gavin Hawkton, Carlisle Green Party Chair said:

“The Conservative government does not understand the urgency of the situation and the scale that is needed to save lives and keep people protected.

“We need a comprehensive system for the resettlement of refugees, without this those seeking asylum will continue to wait in limbo and sometimes be forced to live in unacceptable conditions. 

“The goodwill of the British public is clear, yet those who want to help are being prevented by a confused and ineffective government who have failed to provide the scale of planning and support that is needed.

ENDS

Notes  

            1

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uk-could-over-200-000-130221772.html

            2

https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2021/08/18/green-party-warns-government%E2%80%99s-pledge-to-resettle-afghan-refugees-is-%E2%80%9Cempty-pr%E2%80%9D/

            3

https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2021/08/17/green-party-urges-local-authorities-to-take-in-fair-share-of-child-refugees/

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• A ground-up approach to insulate social housing
• “Change for the better – cutting fuel bills, creating hundreds of new jobs and slashing carbon emissions.”

Carlisle & District Green Party have pledged to tackle growing levels of fuel poverty and the cost-of-living crisis by supporting a retrofit revolution.

Greens point to a ground-up model, currently being implemented by Green-led Lewes District Council [1], that will see local councils in an area work collaboratively together to insulate social housing. They say the program will cut fuel bills, create hundreds of new jobs and slash carbon emissions.

By focusing initially on social housing, a local, stable supply chain and workforce can be created and lead to economies of scale that will help bring down the price of retrofitting for all households, including those in the private sector, Greens argue.

Carlisle Green Party Chair Gavin Hawkton:

“The cost-of-living crisis is leaving many low-income households across Carlisle having to choose between heating and eating. We need a program to lift people out of fuel poverty while creating hundreds of new jobs and slashing carbon emissions.

“Greens are showing leadership, demonstrating how we can do things differently, by implementing a ground-up approach. The creation of the new Cumberland Council gives us an opportunity to really tackle this issue by creating a locally trained workforce that can both deliver a retrofit program and boost the local economy. This would not only create a guaranteed pipeline of work, but it would also mean that private renters and homeowners can benefit from cheaper retrofitting too.

“Greens are bringing about change for the better – cutting fuel bills, creating hundreds of new jobs and slashing carbon emissions.”

Tom Adams, Green Party candidate from Brampton adds:

“Many rural areas around Brampton have particular problems with aging, poorly insulated properties. Retrofitting requires a skilled workforce, ramping up the number of apprenticeships and investment in sustainable sources of energy for heating. Pooling financial resources like the Lewes model provides a practical blueprint for achieving this.

The post Homes & Energy appeared first on Carlisle & District Green Party.

Media notice – for immediate dispatch

Worrying voices are being raised within the Conservative Party that a return to fracking, with all the polluting effects, is back on the cards.

This is also a narrative spun in Carlisle by the deputy leader of the City Council, Gareth Ellis, who recently stated that fracking is needed in response to rising energy costs. This is false. It also distracts from the reality that it is the failure of this Conservative government to invest in renewables and energy efficiency that is costing us all right now.

Chair of the Carlisle Green Party Gavin Hawkton:

“Yet again, we see a Conservative politician attempting to shift blame for another Tory mess onto others – this time Councillor Ellis wants you to believe that it’s the ‘environmentalists’ who are to blame for rising fuel costs”

“The truth is it is our leaders who have failed us. It is their failure to invest in renewables and energy efficiency that’s costing us all right now”

“We need to change direction and be part of the solution in Cumbria. The drive towards free and abundant renewable energy is the direction we need to be moving in. The Green Party is calling for a Green New Deal to tackle the climate crisis and create thousands of sustainable and good paying jobs. The Cumbria Action for Sustainability report highlighted that 9,000 Green jobs could be created in Cumbria alone.”

“Cumbria Action for Sustainability has also stated that Cumbria could attract £8.8bn of investment in low-carbon sectors through to 2025, while also reducing its annual energy costs by £854m”

“For this to happen we need braver politicians who are willing to change course, stop an over-reliance on foreign gas and tackle the huge profits being made by energy companies. Conservative politicians have been busy looking after their mates rather than help ordinary residents with their fuel bills”

“A windfall tax alone could raise 4 billion pounds to protect the most vulnerable in society from falling further into fuel poverty. It could also help to insulate our homes, which are the most energy inefficient in Europe, to help get our energy bills down”

“The politicians that we currently have are not going to bring this change. Councillor Ellis incoherent ramblings on the matter was that ‘environmentalists would rather we imported gas from despotic war mongering regimes than get the stuff out of the ground ourselves’ and that ‘green taxes should be suspended immediately’ in favour of fracking”

“This is an irresponsible message to send out as we face a climate crisis and one that stands in contrast to his own Conservative-led City Council who claim to be pushing towards achieving net zero by 2037. Environmentalists have been clear that they want all fossil fuels, including gas, to stay in the ground”

“Rather than going back to fracking, polluting our environment and further enriching shareholders of gas companies we need a clean energy system of the future. The Green Party is calling for an energy system that is brought back into public ownership so that we’re all in control of our destiny. It can be done. We need the political will to make it a reality”.

ENDS

The post No return of fracking appeared first on Carlisle & District Green Party.

PRESS RELEASE

Dated: 10^th January 2022

Subject: GDF in West Cumbria

OUT OF MIND

This is a joint statement by both Allerdale & Copeland and Carlisle Green Parties in opposition to the proposed development of a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) in West Cumbria. It is our view that such a development is potentially and irredeemably unsafe.

Both Copeland and Allerdale Borough Councils have expressed an interest in hosting a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) and have set up working groups to progress this idea. The Working Group in Copeland has identified two community partnerships “to investigate whether the areas will be suitable to host a GDF” and Allerdale has defined a “search area” that includes much of Allerdale apart from the National Park.

Over the last year we have witnessed local residents being inundated with glossy PR material about the ‘advantages’ hosting a GDF will bring to the local community including the promise of money and jobs. Exhibitions have been held and advertisements have been taken out in the local press. This extensive PR campaign has also invaded our schools as proponents have even been round local schools with a Lego GDF for the children to build!

Secretary to Allerdale and Copeland Green Party, Jill Perry, said: “We are told that the process will be community-led but there is no evidence of community support in any of the areas of search. All we know is that councillors are in favour.”

Local communities are being told that a “GDF will only be built if it can be shown that it is safe to people and the environment” (Allerdale GDF Working Group) but the key problem is – it can’t. We know that high level nuclear waste has a lifespan of millions of years. If the proposed GDF goes ahead highly radioactive nuclear waste will buried under Cumbrian soil and permanently sealed in containers. There are no guarantees that this waste will remain adequately sealed over such a colossal time period – resistant to water ingress and movements of the earth.

The next stage of the process will take 10 – 15 years, while communities across West Cumbria suffer the blight of potentially hosting a nuclear waste dump and no possibility of withdrawing themselves from the process. Jill Perry added “We are gazing blindly into the mouth of a Venus Fly Trap”.

Nuclear waste is not just a problem for Cumbria, but also for the whole world. We have a responsibility to future generations to look into alternative solutions today. Nuclear scientists across the planet are currently working on better, less risky and less environmentally damaging options to store nuclear waste. The Green Party is calling on our local councils not to rush into a decision that could put millions of lives at risk.

The Geological Disposal Facility is a misnomer. It is not possible to dispose of high-level nuclear waste. The best you can do is to store it and let it degrade somewhere where it can be monitored and kept visible and safe over the years, not buried out of sight, out of reach and out of mind.

ENDS

Contacts for further information

Keith Fitton: Chair Allerdale and Copeland Green Party

E-mail: co-ordinator@allerdalecopeland.greenparty.org.uk

Phone: 07901 592764

Gavin Hawkton: Chair of Carlisle & District Green Party

Email: contact@carlisle.greenparty.org.uk

Phone: 07511 899234

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