Alphington Green Party Candidate
Vote for Andrew Bell on May 1st
Your Alphington Green Party candidate
70 Church Road, Alphington, Exeter, EX2 8TA
01392 410624
Contact Andrew
Lib Dems green credentials up in smoke as they back Alphington incinerator.
You might think that an incinerator on our doorsteps was one of the most critical issues facing Alphington. Yet not a word on this from the main parties.
The proposed incinerator in Marsh Barton, next to the Exe Valley Park, would be huge. It would burn a massive 60,000 tonnes of waste a year. Not only would it deal with Exeter’s waste, but waste would be carted in by a large numbers of lorries from East Devon, Mid Devon and Teignbridge. At least we would be able to watch it all as the tall chimney stack would be visible for miles!
Burning so called rubbish is a waste of materials and resources. Incineration also emits dioxins that are a risk to health, in particular raising the risk of cancers and posing risks to pregnant women and their babies.
The incinerator is being sold as an ‘energy from waste’ plant. But the climate wrecking carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions amount to a staggering 45,000 tonnes every year. That is half of Exeter’s annual target for CO2 emissions by the year 2030!
As if all that is not enough the incinerator would cost Exeter’s tax payers £32.5 million to build and £6 million every year thereafter.
Its time to ask our Lib Dem councilors why they support such a health threatening, expensive and environmentally damaging scheme for dealing with our left-over waste.
- No to incineration - this is the very worst way to deal with our left-over waste.
- Yes to waste reduction – more effort must be placed – through taxation and incentives – on reducing the amount of waste created in the first place, not just a focus on recycling.
- Yes to MBT – a small scale 10, 000 tonne mechanical and biological treatment plant which deals with Exeter’s waste only. This process breaks down and screens waste to allow more of it to be recycled and composted.
20 is plenty – for ALL of Alphington
Alphington is next in line for the introduction of 20mph zones. This is extremely welcome news to those who have campaigned for many years on this and to the 1000 residents who signed a petition calling for such a zone in Alphington.
However, in the past, many 20mph zones introduced around the city have been poorly designed, or, more accurately, not designed at all! Simply putting up a 20mph sign without any traffic calming guarantees failure. Also 20mph zones are often only introduced on a few minor residential streets. It is clear that to have any meaningful impact, 20mph zones must be introduced along the busiest and fastest residential streets in an area, otherwise they will fail to create a safer environment for pedestrians and cyclists, especially children.
The introduction of 20mph zones in Alphington is a test for our Lib Dem councillors. Will they support a 20mph zone, enforced with traffic calming measures, in ALL residential streets in Alphington, including the busiest streets?
- We welcome the fact that Alphington is next in line for the introduction of 20mph zones.
- BUT we believe for such a scheme to be successful it MUST include all the busiest residential roads including Church Road, Chudleigh Road, Ide Lane, Dawlish Road, Chantry Meadow and Haven Road/Water Lane.
- These roads in particular must be traffic clamed with measures such as pinch points, chicanes, speed cushions and raised level pedestrian crossings.
A Green Party victory… but the battle goes on…
Following a consultation with local residents, Devon County Council ultimately decided to abandon its insane plan to dual the outbound section of Alphington Road between Exe Bridges and Marsh Barton Road. This is a tribute both to the groups that raised the alarm – Exeter Green Party, Friend’s of the Earth and Transport 2000 – and to local residents who fought a great campaign against the scheme.
However, plans are still progressing to dual the outbound section from Marsh Barton Road to Alphington Cross and widen the junction of Cowick Lane and Alphington Road. These plans are futile, counter productive and a gross waste of money.
They will do nothing to alleviate the congestion in the residential part of Alphington Road as the real problem is around Exe Bridges; under the railway bridge and along Alphington Road as far as Marsh Barton Road. Nor will the plans address the problems of air quality in the area; local residents in the Alphington Road area are forced to breathe some of the most poisonous air in the country. Furthermore, it is ironic that plans to widen roads and increase capacity for yet more traffic comes at a time when scientists almost unanimously agree that we face serious problems from climate change if we do not act swiftly and radically to reduce carbon emissions. Traffic accounts for over half of Devon’s carbon emissions, so without reducing traffic, we cannot seriously tackle climate change.
Finally, the scheme would be hugely costly; money that would be better spent on improving local bus services and carrying out a feasibility study into measures such as congestion charging that would address the root of the problem: too much traffic.
Despite all this, the Lib Dems support this damaging road widening scheme.
- We will continue to oppose all road widening schemes in the city as they always lead to more traffic.
- Traffic is the principle cause of air pollution in the city and responsible for the majority of Devon’s carbon emissions – the main gas causing climate change.
- We need measures to restrict and restrain traffic and invest in the alternatives: safe cycling and walking routes and regular, reliable and affordable public transport.
West Exe Technology College PFI scheme – looks good but it stinks!
PFI – the Private Finance Initiative – being used to fund Exeter’s new secondary schools is a sham that will ultimately cost taxpayers in Exeter an estimated £315 million - far more than it would cost if properly funded through the public sector. This is because it costs more for the private sector to borrow money for infrastructure. Even the government’s own National Audit Office has produced reports that show PFI costs more. Also PFI schemes give massive profits to private companies with very little accountability to the public.
And these private companies can’t even deliver the goods! The completion of West Exe Technology College, along with other secondary schools in Exeter, is way behind schedule.
PFI is the Labour government's way of delaying payment for essential public services and rewarding the private companies who are awarded the building contracts. But, as we have seen recently, the Labour Party in government has become the party for the rich and the elite and has a distinct smell of corruption about it.
In the long run taxpayers will pay through the nose for basic provisions such as health and education delivered through the private sector.
- There is no place for private profit in public services. We oppose PFI schemes - which offer poor value for money compared to traditional methods of organising and financing school building and improvement. We believe that Councils should have their own revenue raising powers – which have been taken away from them by this government – to avoid reliance on the private sector.
Fighting to keep our local businesses central to our economy…
The Green Party campaigned hard to keep the highly successful and popular Farmers’ Market in a central location in Exeter. We helped collect 1000 signatures for a petition calling on Exeter City Council to keep the market in a location in the city centre. However, despite this public pressure and the call by traders (who have seen a 30% drop in takings since the move), Exeter City Council refused to listen and moved the Farmers market to South Street/Fore Street.
Small wonder that Exeter has been dubbed the UK’s number one ‘clone town’. All but one shop in Exeter’s High Street is a multinational chain store. The Farmers’ Market in Bedford Square each Thursday offered something distinctive and unique; something to challenge Clone Town Exeter - small local businesses offering excellent locally produced and organic foods from Devon.
But thanks to the hugely oppressive Princesshay development, the Farmers’ Market has been forced out, returning Exeter High Street to a dull mix of the usual multinational suspects!
- Diverse and distinctive local businesses ensure a thriving local economy. We need to prioritise small local businesses that provide meaningful local jobs, instead of pushing them out of our city centres through extortionate business rates which only multiple chain stores can afford. This would allow money to be recycled back into the region rather than disappearing off to distant multinational business leaders and their shareholders.
Why vote blue when you can vote green?
The Tories are fighting the local election campaign on a ‘vote blue, go green’ ticket. But unlike the Green Party, the Tories neither understanding nor agree about climate change. John Redwood MP, Chairman of the Economic Competitive Policy Group – a key aspect of the Tories current re-branding – has said it's 'not clear that human activity is changing the climate'!
Cameron is trying desperately to portray an image of concern and social responsibility. In reality, the decisions the Tories make when in power, at any level, show a very different truth.
At a local level, Tory led councils across the country are ensuring that congestion charging schemes are rejected, wind farms don't get built and motorways continue to be built. In Lancaster, Conservative Councillors have repeatedly voted in favour of building a huge new dual carriageway to the north of Lancaster which will cost some £118 million and destroy 70ha of Green Belt. In David Cameron's own constituency, Witney, Tories are seeking to build yet another monstrous bypass - the Cogges Link Road in Whitney, that will cut through precious green space.
- Green representatives in the European Parliament, on the London Assembly, and on councils across the country are already demonstrating what real Green action means; thanks to Greens councilors in Kirklees, Huddesrfield is now responsible for generating 5% of the UK's total solar energy. The Green Party are the only really green party fighting for green initiatives such as renewable energy and further investment in public transport, opposing privatisation of our public services and putting people and planet before profit. This is the polar opposite of what lies dear to the Tories.
So it’s clear, if you really want green action go green by voting for the Green Party, not the blue lot!
Voting for Andrew Bell in the City Council elections is the only truly green option this May.