GREENS ACTIVE LOCALLY

The Green Party in Cornwall is fielding four candidates in this election.  Party members are also active in their local communities - serving on town and parish councils and, also, active in local organisations such as transition towns and climate-friendly communities.  The Green Party ethos is that government should be as near to the people as possible and decision making should be bottom-up, not top-down.  In Cornwall they support residents' representation on Local Community Networks and believe that Cornwall Council's activities need to be open and transparent, as well as responsive to local opinion.

Dear West Briton,

Cornwall, like the rest of the country and, indeed, the planet faces some formidable challenges in the next few years - we are not out of recession, we have a housing crisis, we face resource depletion and, most importantly, we must urgently deal with climate change.  It does not fill me with confidence when our unitary councillors seem to spend a good deal of their time and energy on in-fighting and the blame game (West Briton letters 4th and 11th March).  Thankfully, I have political allegiance to neither the Conservatives nor the Liberal Democrats - if I did I would find their behaviour embarrassing.  As it is, given that the bulk of Cornwall councillors are drawn from their ranks, I should like them to stop their petty squabbling over who was right and wrong regarding the finances of the changeover to unitary status and start listening to and supporting the people of Cornwall, many of whom are working hard to secure a future for our lovely county that does not involve developers, major retailers and concreting over as much of the countryside as possible. It is not acceptable that decisions are taken along party lines - Cornwall is not a political football to be kicked around by these people.

Press release 23rd March 2010

PUBS AT THE HEART OF COMMUNITY

Green Party election candidates in Cornwall welcome the Government's recently announced package of reforms to support local pubs - including allowing tied houses to buy local ales rather than tying them to contracts with pub companies, allowing them greater flexibilty to diversify by adding shops and post office services and enabling local communities to purchase their local pub, should it come on the market.

"Local pubs are at the heart of our communities and provide a lot more than a place to have a pint", said Ian Wright, candidate for Truro and Falmouth.  "They are places for people to socialise, to have meetings, to make friends.  They often support other activities, such as cricket teams or charity fund raising".