Green Party Manifesto for a Brighter Rotherham

1: Green Jobs and Business - "A one time only opportunity for Rotherham to carve a position for itself in the industries of the future"

  • Support Green Businesses in fields such as Wind Power, Solar Power, Improving the Energy Efficiency of our homes and Recycling to achieve Sustainable Jobs
  • Support Improvement of the Energy Efficiency of existing businesses
  • Encourage Small Businesses particularly with a local footprint
  • Achieve these by Using Grants, Business rates rebates and Encouraging start-ups
  • Organise support and tutoring
  • Promote strong backing for Britain in Europe
  • Oppose Fracking and the TTIP

2: Health - "A longer healthier life for everyone"

  • Push for more action on the Rotherham Clean Air plan - Rotherham's air quality doesn't meet either European or National Standards although a plan was put into place which was supposed to resolve this issue by 2015. Rotherham Public Health has calculated that poor air quality has been linked to 153 premature deaths per year in Rotherham alone.
  • Reduce the use of Diesel-emissions have recently been identified as a problem
  • Fight for the reinstatement of the NHS - oppose creeping privatisation
  • Encourage the promotion of good health not just dealing with people when they fall ill

3: Education - "Keeping Education Personal"

  • Support education for all ages but focus on quality training and education for young people
  • End exploitative apprenticeships
  • Fight for affordable Student Grants for the less well off
  • Diversify engineering, encourage Women in STEM subjects
  • Develop courses in Green Industries of the future
  • Oppose new Academy schools
  • Save our Local Libraries
  • Focus Education on the needs of the individual not ‘one size fits all’
  • Oppose the government’s disastrous 'Prevent'anti radicalisation policy

4: Green Home - "Greener Housing takes people out of Fuel Poverty"

  • Encourage new house building to greener standards such as 'Passivhaus'
  • Retrofit houses to higher Energy Efficiency using Insulation, Solar Panels
  • Help developers use brownfield sites, possible levy on developing in greenbelt
  • Identify empty homes and examine ways to bring them back into use
  • Look at CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) distribution

5: Transport - "Clean Modern Transport"

  • Protect Public Transport routes and infrastructure
  • Encourage new Public Transport routes to areas not currently served and more regular predictable services on lines that will support it, especially out of hours
  • Develop the use of Green buses - encourage use of Electric and Hybrid vehicles
  • Work towards repairing Rotherham's roads. Many are currently of a poor standard affecting fuel efficiency and vehicle reliability. This encourages vehicles to find alternative routes past homes where children and the elderly or disabled live.
  • Look at a Park & Ride scheme for Rotherham Town Centre

6: Dynamic Communities - "Healing the Rifts betweenRotherham's communities"

  • Work on projects to rebuild trust between all of Rotherham's Communities
  • Make a strong and public stand against those who scapegoat members of one community or another for what are, in reality, the problems of Rotherham as a whole
  • Ask leaders of other parties to do the same
  • Communication is the key
  • Push for Community Champions/Ambassadors to make sure everyone's voice is heard
  • Work with Police and Social services on CSE and Gang Culture in Rotherham
  • Encourage development of Rotherham town centre - cultural quarter?
  • Provide support for Rotherham's LGBTI community

Principles

It has not been good for Rotherham's government to be a one party state - it needs a political opposition from all directions providing scrutiny and challenge.

Greens support Ethical policy making based on hard factual evidence not here-say.

We believe in talking about things not shouting soundbites at each other.