The Lib Dem leaflet

Canvassing on Granville Road yesterday I discovered that the Lib Dems have issued a local leaflet. I am very disappointed that much of it is negative campaigning against the Green Party and would like to put a few points straight.

Manor Castle is most definitely not a "2 horse race" between Labour and Lib Dem. As you can see from the graph, the Greens came second to Labour last year, and are closing the gap fast.

Lib Dems say "Voting for any other party just helps Labour here". This is just silly! The more votes and councillors the Greens get, the more influence we will have in the Council chamber. In the event of a tie between the Labour and Lib Dems, the Greens could hold the balance of power alongside the Tories and the one Independent Councillor.

Lib Dems say "Greens fail on the environment". They claim that we have failed because we didn't support their budget amendment to increase recycling. What they don't tell you is that the two Green Councillors voted against their budget because of the cuts that were proposed to other vital Council services. We do of course want better recycling facilities. See our full waste policy here.

Lib Dems say "the Greens just back Labour". This is not true. Sometimes the 2 Green Councillors have supported Lib Dem motions, sometimes they have supported Labour motions, and quite often they have disagreed with both parties. We backed the Lib Dem motions against the war on Iraq and on Trust Schools; we supported Labour's emerging strategy on renewable energy generation, though we pushed them to go further and set a carbon footprint and reduction targets for the city as a whole and to do more on energy saving (e.g. insulation,
public transport); we would go much further than Lib Dems or Labour in supporting local businesses - we were the only ones who spoke out against Sheffield's Supercasino bid, that if it had been successful, would have put lots of pubs and clubs out of business. Unlike the other parties the Greens don't have "whips" that ensure Councillors vote in a certain way, and we vote on each issue as we see fit. If we do have a hung council it will be very interesting to see how the other parties cope with our different style of politics.

I think it is very sad when politics stoops so low that we can't believe what is written in election leaflets. It's what puts people off politics and causes people to mistrust all politicians. I wish politicians would just campaign for what they believe in, rather than misrepresenting what the others are saying.

Things that make me happy when out leafletting/canvassing

• people coming up to me to ask for Vote Green posters!
• people genuinely interested in politics, even if they don't agree with me.
• friendly cats!
• coming across beautiful gardens in otherwise uncared for areas.
• people who understand that they can make a difference if they get involved in the local community.
• people realising that voting Green can mean a new sort of cooperative politics at the Town Hall
• young people enthusing about the local election and getting involved.
  

Things that make me sad

• abusive teenagers
• dangerous dogs- I am very thankful I have still got all my fingers!
  
• paved over front gardens-we need all the soil we can get to avoid flash flooding from heavy storms that climate change will bring.
  
• people who refuse to vote, like my Rastafarian neighbour who wont have anything to do with "politrics". I have a lot of sympathy with him, that's why I am standing to make things better!
• people who say "I've always voted Labour and I'm not going to change now". But there aren't so many of these now!
• other parties misrepresenting what we say. Some leaflets are full of attacks on the Green Party. We prefer to positively state our policies, rather than waste our time talking about what the others have or haven't done. It may be that the Council will be equally divided between the Lib Dems and Labour after this election, in which case the parties will have to work together to decide the best policies for the city. The Greens realise that the state of the world and our city is much more important than party politics. We will work with other parties to ensure we are moving in the right direction.
  

Problems on the Manor

The Star reported on its front page this week that the RAC now refuses to visit the Manor Estate at night, following an assault on one of its rescue staff. I sent the following letter in response.

Dear Editor

I was not surprised to see your headline on Tuesday 24th
(RAC Manor no go area) but am very disappointed with the
RAC's attitude. If emergency services refuse to go to the
Manor it means that the yobs have won. I am under no illusions
about the difficulties. As a candidate in the local elections
I have spent much of this week delivering election leaflets
on the Manor. I have been threatened and verbally abused by
two different gangs of youngsters. I came across a resident
who had just found that her car window had been smashed and
the contents stolen. I have visited blocks of flats where the
corridors were strewn with broken glass and the stairwells had
puddles of urine.I have noticed "home made" road blocks,
presumably to prevent police cars following stolen vehicles.

However, on my travels around the Manor I have also met polite
and friendly young children, found immaculate, beautifully
cared for, front gardens and talked to many residents, old and
young, who are concerned about their community and want to
improve it. The Manor is a massive estate, and most of it
does not deserve the stereotype of a "sink estate" that is
often given to it.The emergency services have a duty to the
many good decent folk of the Manor to help and protect them.

What I have not seen, in all my time leafleting, is a single
police officer. If we are to restore order to this community,
we need a much bigger police presence, not just in cars, but
on bikes and on foot. What is also very relevant is that the
Youth Service has been decimated. If we can't engage young
people in useful activities, then they are likely to get
up to no good.

I have written to the RAC asking them to change their
policy of not visiting the Manor at night. Most Sheffield
drivers will at some time or other go along Prince of Wales
Road, even if they don't venture into the estate. My advice
to all Sheffield drivers would be to leave the RAC and join
the Environmental Transport Association,that not only offers
an excellent breakdown service to all areas of the country,
but also campaigns for environmentally friendly transport.

Yours sincerely

Graham Wroe
Manor Castle Green Party

I have as yet not had a reply from the RAC.

Use your vote!

Last night I went to see Making Mayhem, a play at the Library Theatre by Alice Collins. It was all about the suffragettes in Sheffield, and the suffering they went through to win votes for women. Now we take voting for granted, but there are still some countries, like Saudi Arabia, where women don't have the vote. In last years election in Manor Castle the turn out was only 24%, and many other people aren't registered to vote. We really should exercise our democratic duty. Before I started standing in local elections and there wasn't a candidate I was happy to vote for, I used to spoil my ballot paper by writing on it what I thought! However, I hope this year you think there is a candidate good enough to vote for!

Our ridiculous voting system doesn't encourage people to vote. Last time the Greens got more than 10% of the vote across the city, but only one Green Councillor was elected. This year we're likely to increase our percentage, but we are unlikely to win more than one seat. In Scotland they have just introduced proportional representation for local elections, so the Greens are bound to do much better. People will be able to vote positively for the Party they want to represent them and not feel they have to vote negatively to "keep the other lot out". In Manor Castle I need to quadruple my vote to get elected under the first past the post system- but as concern rises over climate change, our local transport system, housing and the creeping privatisation of schools and health services, I am beginning to think that it's possible.

I got the election leaflet from the Labour candidate, Jennifer Armstrong, through my door today. I was very disappointed that it didn't really tell me anything about the candidate. Voters will not know how well qualified she is to serve them on the Council. There are no hustings in this ward, so they wont have the opportunity to hear her speak. There is no information about her on the internet that I could find, except that she contested the Broomhill local elections last year, coming third.(behind the Greens!) So all we know about her is that she has recently moved to the ward, has been selected to stand by the Labour Party, and has planted some bulbs outside the Trades and Labour Club! I think the local people should at least be given the opportunity to ask the candidates some questions before they vote. Where are the community organisations, churches and mosques? Why aren't they inviting candidates to hustings? People died in order for us all to have the vote- we really should take local elections more seriously!

Gun tragedy

Leafleting on Sunday evening in Manor Park I came across 2 young kids with toy guns. They pretended to shoot me. All harmless fun you might think. Then yesterday we have the terrible shooting disaster in Virginia. America's love affair with the gun I suppose goes back to the wild west, but here in Sheffield the number of gun deaths seems to be rising too. What should we do about it? Well the Green Party policy is to crack down on gun crime by introducing a tough licensing system working to cut off gun supply to the UK and banning the sale of replica guns. Two of my favourite campaigning comedians have for a long time campaigned against guns. Michael Moore has been doing a great job in the States and Mark Thomas has written "As used on the famous Nelson Mandella" which exposes how easy it is to set up in the arms trade business. If we learn anything from the Virginia tragedy, I hope it is that we must stop the spread of these dangerous weapons- and if you are a parent, I hope you will think twice before you give your kids a toy gun. Guns are not for having fun with, they are instruments of death and destruction.

Claywood flats site

What do you think should be done with the Claywood flats site? It has now been empty for some time and the Council have designated it a "major development opportunity". I am trying to find out what exactly the Council have got in mind.

I think it is very important that the pedestrian routes are improved, so that you can walk easily from Norfolk Park, through Claywood and on to Sheaf Valley Park.This will create a terrific amenity for the city. Talking to friends and neighbours most people seem to think the best thing that could be done is to make it into parkland and plant more trees. I agree, but this seems an unlikely scenario- so if the Council insist on building an "iconic building" what purpose should it have? We don't want another white elephant like the National Centre for Popular Music- we want something that will meet the needs of the local community. I know some influential people are beginning to read this blog, so now is your chance to have a say! What do you think would be most useful?

Affordable housing is vital

Today's news that public sector workers such as teachers, nurses, police and firefighters cannot afford to buy homes in seven out of 10 UK towns, underlines the Green Party policy of increasing the amount of affordable homes in new developments. There is a desperate shortage of affordable homes, yet most new developments are fancy apartments out of the price bracket of key workers and young people looking for their first home. Meanwhile in our ward it has just been announced that the land to be vacated by Castle College (on the right hand side as you go down Granville Road) is to become housing. The plans are for 177 townhouses and apartments. These will be built when the new college is finished. The buildings will be up to 3 and a half stories, and they will be aimed at families as well as single people. Work on the new southside campus starts this summer. There is no housing partner as yet.

I think it's really important that a good proportion of these new homes are affordable, and also that they meet the highest eco-standards. Where insulation standards are high the need for energy is low. Germany has set a target for all its existing homes to be zero energy "passive hause" homes by 2020-we should be following suit.

Road Safety

Out and about on the Wybourn this morning the good people from Streetforce were busy painting the lines on the road. It reminded me that I have been pressing the Council to take some simple steps to improve safety at the junction of Fitzwalter, Stafford and Glencoe Roads, but no action has been taken because no one has yet died as a result of an accident here. Way back in 2004 I presented a petition to the council. It would not be expensive to turn the junction into a mini roundabout by simply painting the lines on the road. At present traffic coming from Stafford or Glencoe Road can't see oncoming traffic from Fitzwalter Road when they stop on the Give Way lines. Cars creep forward until they can see, by which point they are in the middle of Fitzwalter Road. Cars often come very quickly down Fitzwalter Road, so this is an accident waiting to happen. I don't understand why the local planners are so opposed to mini roundabouts. My Mum lives in the London Borough of Sutton and my in-laws live in Tyne and Wear. Both authorities have mini roundabouts all over the place- but in Sheffield there are hardly any.

Another junction where the Council are about to make some improvements, is the one between Granville Road and Fitzwalter Road. Stopping parking near this junction should improve the view for traffic turning into Granville Road. The pavement is going to be widened on the corner of Norfolk Park Road to make it easier for pedestrians to cross.

If you would like some action taken on the five way junction, please add a short comment below and I will forward these to the Council.

Financial Inclusion Services

There is some good news hidden away in the business section of tonight's Star. Financial Inclusion Services Yorkshire (FISY) have been awarded £18,000 from Barclay's Bank. I am a member of Sheffield Credit Union, and you can see me here outside the office on the balcony by Castle Market. The Credit Union is an excellent way to save, and if you need a loan you can borrow much smaller amounts than the banks will lend you, at a much lower rate of interest. Many people in our area fall victim to loan sharks. These come in various guises- the old fashioned caller at the door who offers you cash in hand when you need it most, but then continues to demand repayments at ridiculous rates of interest- or the modern shop that looks totally legitimate, who encourage you to buy stuff you can't really afford, and when you read the small print you realise that by the time you have finished paying for the goods you will have paid three or four times the value of the item. Please don't do business with these people! If you need a loan and the bank can't help you, Moneyline should be your first point of call- they will charge a higher rate of interest than the Credit Union, but much lower than the doorstep loan sharks. Even better, start saving a little bit each week with the Credit Union, then when you do need to borrow you will be able to access the lower rates of interest from the Credit Union.
Find out more about FISY here.

Good to see Vote Green posters going up around the ward. Thank you! If you haven't got a poster but want one, please email me your address. No sign of any electoral activity from the other parties as yet. If you get a leaflet from one of the other parties please pass it on to me as they often miss my house out!

Save ESOL Campaign

At College I am privileged to be able to work with asylum seekers and refugees who have recently arrived in this country, usually as a result of war or persecution. They are so grateful to be getting an education and are keen to learn to help fit in to our culture and become more useful members of our society. Unfortunately the Government are making cuts in the provision of English as a Second Language (ESOL) so a campaign has been launched to protect it. Please sign the petition at
http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1975

Of all the local MP's, only Nick Clegg from the Liberal Democrats signed the Early Day Motion calling for Esol to be protected. Sheffield is a welcoming city for refugees, but it's a terrible shame the MP's can't act to ensure that those that most need it can have the education they deserve.

Green and open spaces

Every park, however small, is precious. Young people need places where they can play sports or just hang out, keeping them off the streets and giving them some independence and interest. The Green Party has supported “friends” groups and helped direct “planning gain” money into improving parks and small green spaces. I am a member of the Friends of Sheaf Valley Park (the green area between the Station and Park Hill). I want the pedestrian routes to be improved, with better lighting, to encourage more people to walk to town. A new pedestrian/cycle bridge to link Park Hill to the city centre is a possibility which would greatly benefit our area

See http://www.sustransconnect2.org.uk/projects/project_detail.php?id=127

to support the project.

Internet voting

I found out today that all the candidates for Manor Castle have addresses in the ward. I think this is the first time this has happened in all the years I have been standing. I am very pleased that whoever wins, our new Councillor will know at first hand what it is like to live in our ward.

If you haven't registered to vote yet, you need to get a move on! Visit
http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/your-city-council/elections/e-voting-pilot-2007

to find out about voting arrangements. Although it is important to make it easy for people to vote, I am not very happy about internet voting. As someone who loves technology and has a blog, this may surprise you- but the trouble is, you can't physically see internet votes. When you attend the count and see the different piles of votes for the different candidates it is usually clear who the winner is. But with internet votes the returning officer tells you the number cast and the candidates just have to accept it. The whole system just seems open to the possibility of corruption. Call me old fashioned if you like, but I much prefer the good old ballot box. If Sir Bob is reading this, perhaps he can reassure me how it will all work!

Candidates announced

The list of candidates has been announced. In Manor Castle my opponents are Jenny Armstrong (Lab), Dave Croft (Lib Dem) and Christina Stark (Con). Apart from Christina, who lives on my road, I don't know the other candidates. It will be interesting to see where they live. Fortunately there are no BNP candidates in this ward- the election will be much better without their politics of hate. Jan Fiore, the sitting Labour Councillor, must be retiring.

Today's Sheffield Telegraph letters page was great, with 4 letters supporting the Green viewpoint on waste policy. I have been influential in pushing our new policy forward- you can see the report we wrote at http://www.sheffieldgreenparty.org.uk/downloads/wastestrategy230307.pdf
The new manifesto will be on the website soon.
The other parties have really got to understand that to combat global warming we need to reduce the waste we produce in the first place. The council should be doing far more to help people start home composting, promote re-useable nappies and challenge local businesses to use less packaging and fewer plastic bags.

I spent most of yesterday organising the leaflet delivery for Manor Castle ward. If you'd like to help the campaign by putting up a poster or delivering some leaflets for me please let me know.

Litter and fly tipping

When I go and knock on doors and ask residents about their concerns, the most frequent comments are about litter. Why is it our area is so bad? Some local heroes still clean the streets around their house or organise street cleans. But the litter bugs seem to be winning. If I was a councillor, would you expect me to be spending more council tax money on street cleaning? Unfortunately our area needs it, but what we really need is for people to stop dropping the stuff in the first place! We need people to have pride in the areas where they live so they want to keep it nice.

The Green Party Councillors have worked with various residents groups to tidy up streets and footpaths, install litter and dog waste bins and recycling facilities. If you are fed up with litter on your street, why not do something about it? You could e-mail streetforce@sheffield.gov.uk
and copy one to me, asking them to come and clean your street.

Which are the worst streets for litter in Manor Castle? Can we make them better?

In last night's Star there was a letter entitled "Clearing up my mother in laws house was a total nightmare". http://www.sheffieldtoday.net/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=2219896&SectionID=2249
which shows how difficult it is to get rid of unwanted stuff in Sheffield. The Council really need to do better on this- it's no wonder people resort to fly tipping when faced with unhelpful council bureaucracy.The Council should publicise websites like Freecycle more, that help people find homes for unwanted things. But they should also be preventing so much stuff going to landfill and incineration, by promoting re-use, repair and reduction of waste as well as recycling- but more of this tomorrow!

Welcome to my blog

Hello and welcome to Manor Castle Green Party! Over the next 4 weeks I will be sharing my thoughts on the local election campaign in this blog. If you live in Manor Castle Ward, please get in touch and tell me what you think the most important issues should be. The two Green Councillors have made a terrific difference to Sheffield politics and it is time they were joined by a larger group, who can really start to green the city. Last year I came second in the local election, and with the Labour Party continuing to fall in popularity I hope to do even better this time!