Action Plan Archives - Dover & Deal Green Party

Action on Climate Emergency

Editorial Team — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 15:01:25 +0000

Theme 1 of our Action Plan 2019

Dover District Council needs to take steps to ensure our district is carbon neutral by 2030.

On current trends, world temperatures will overshoot the global target of restricting temperate rises to 2 degrees centigrade, which will already have extremely serious effects.

Not enough is being done.

Kent County Council and Dover District Council can do much more.

We will:

make sure DDC use information provided by the Association of Green Councillors so that best practice is adopted by DDC.
work cross-party for radical change that will impact all areas of KCC/DDC activities.

This article covered one of the 14 Themes of Dover and Deal Geen Party Action Plan:

The post Action on Climate Emergency appeared first on Dover & Deal Green Party.

Open Government

Editorial Team — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 14:05:37 +0000

Theme 2 of our Action Plan 2019

We at Deal and Dover Green Party (DDGP) want Dover District Council (DDC) to work more openly.

Local people need to be empowered so they can know what is really going on and become empowered to make a real change.

All council meetings should be videoed and published on the internet.
Council officers should be directly accessible to the public to answer questions.
Records of internal council deliberations should be available.
Documents should be written in plain English not bureaucratic jargon.

When a council like DDC is run without effective opposition for many years there are bound to be problems of accountability – shutting out communities.

In the UK, the government has become an establishment run by experts who control the flow of information too closely. Open government means choice.

This article covered one of the 14 Themes of Dover and Deal Geen Party Action Plan:

The post Open Government appeared first on Dover & Deal Green Party.

Improving Democracy

Editorial Team — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 14:02:53 +0000

Theme 3 of our 2019 Action Plan

In the UK, for local government, each elected member represents 2,605 people compared to 250 in Germany. Our system of government is too complex and distant.

We think DDC should work with local community groups and concerns – ‘open government’.

Deal and Dover Green Party would work for an increase in the powers of Parish Councils – as the level of government closest to local communities.

Parish Councils should:

have an obligation to consult with their local communities and express their views
have the right to receive a clear and reasoned response from KCC and DDC.
organise ‘community consultations’ and inform their local communities through their web sites and meetings.
have more say in housing developments, especially environmental effects and infrastructure needs.

We would give support to Parish Councils on safe speeds for cars through their villages, where limits are placed and putting in speed panels.

We want local people to have more say.

This article covered one of the 14 Themes of Dover and Deal Geen Party Action Plan:

The post Improving Democracy appeared first on Dover & Deal Green Party.

Value for Money

Editorial Team — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 14:01:43 +0000

Theme 4 of our 2019 Action Plan

Value for money is a Green issue – too many resources are wasted by our current distant and opaque local government.

It is value for money to use planning powers to make sure new housing is Carbon neutral. Spend a bit more today to save a lot tomorrow. The choice is between cheaper heating bills for homeowners and a reduction in CO2 emissions or more profits for volume builders.

What certainly is not value for money is Dover District Council (DDC) spending our council tax money taking a case to the Supreme Court in defence of a luxury housing development, at Farthingloe, on an area of outstanding natural beauty.

Especially since the judges found that DDC had given no adequate reasons for their planning decision.

Value for money has been used as an excuse by Kent County Council and Dover District Council to pass on devastating budget cuts and allow our environment to deteriorate.

They have allowed public services to be run by financialised corporations. This doesn’t work, as we see in the privatised bus network etc.

It is a myth that the market always provides better value for money than publicly run utilities.

The culture of ‘leave it to the market’ has resulted in too close a relationship between lobbyists, PR, politicians and corporate managers.

The Herald of Free Enterprise disaster, and the Stagecoach service cuts and price rises show what can go wrong.

Value for money requires proper democratic decision making informed by open government.

This article covered one of the 14 Themes of Dover and Deal Geen Party Action Plan:

The post Value for Money appeared first on Dover & Deal Green Party.