Royal Borough elections: Green Party says action needed on climate

With the local elections now just two weeks away, we are featuring the main pledges by the Royal Borough parties as they compete for your vote at the ballot box. This week, we will be focusing on the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, The Borough First Independents and the Green Party. We are also aiming to focus on residents’ associations, independent candidates and smaller parties within the next week to give everyone a chance to make their case.

The manifesto of the Green Party has a sweep of proposals for the environment.

East Berkshire Green Party has marked improving air quality and preventing idling around schools as one of its priorities.

It also wants to prevent parking on the pavement and work on cycle infrastructure; looking to add secure cycle parking to all stations and shopping areas.

For buildings, it wants to make swift bricks (for birds) and hedgehog highways mandatory in all new developments.

It also pledges to keep the existing town hall building in use ‘rather than build a costly replacement’ and ‘rapidly accelerate’ insulation of council-owned housing stock.

The Greens want all development of affordable housing on previously developed ‘genuine’ brownfield sites.

The party will seek to work with local energy companies to prepare for home energy retrofits and conversion to heat pump from gas boilers. It will seek to extend at-home recycling services to flats.

Hurley and Walthams candidate Craig McDermott said:

“The greatest priority for us is making sure the council moves quickly to address the climate emergency in all areas of influence, from the planning system to road infrastructure.

“The Biodiversity Action Plan which this council started needs to be moved forward a lot faster.”

On a different note, the party wants to improve mental health care provision especially for those who have been affected by PTSD from military service and those with addiction issues.

It also wants to encourage local schools to work together to establish a supplier of school meals where profits are directed into improving the health of children.