Worcestershire Green Party: A Manifesto for Worcester City

The Green Party offers a different approach to the other main political parties. At the heart of all Green Party policies is SUSTAINABILITY. This means ... meeting everyone's basic needs (for safe food and water, clean air, housing, energy, education, work and play, caring for each other) without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. This won't be easy, but it can be achieved if people and their Governments work together.

Locally, nationally and globally, other parties have allowed public services to deteriorate, the gap between rich and poor to increase massively, and the natural environment to be ruined in pursuit of profits and economic growth. The Green Party aims to address the root causes of these problems, rather than simply tinkering with the symptoms. Their approach looks beyond the short term and single issues, to offer a coherent long-term strategy for a sustainable future.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT in decision-making stands at the very heart of Green politics. In today's globalised society, too much power lies in the hands of big business, financial institutions and central governments. Greens believe that if local people have control over what happens in and to their own communities, then decisions will be made which are more fair and more sustainable.

The Green Party believes that economic activity should be LOCALLY BASED. As far as possible, companies should be locally owned and run, and goods and services should be traded locally. Benefits will include cleaner production processes, less need for long-distance transport of goods, more local jobs, and more money circulating locally instead of being sucked away by multinational companies.

There are twelve seats up for election to Worcester City Council. With enough support on 1st May, the Green Party could hold the balance of power on Worcester City Council. If elected in sufficient numbers, Green Councillors will:

· Support initiatives which promote low-polluting, people friendly, sustainable transport into and within the city; encouraging cycling and walking routes, more buses and trains, less dependence upon motor transport.

· Support current recycling schemes, and promote policies that move the city towards ‘zero-waste’.

· Tackle litter with an anti-litter education campaign – to include street signs in the worst affected streets.

· Keep shop fronts clear of rubbish by providing proper wheelie bins for commercial waste and recycling.

· Continue to take a leading role in delivering the street safety scheme whilst seeking to extend its remit to include improvements such as tree planting, more bike racks, permanent public art and improvements to building frontages.

· Continue to oppose the building of the ‘link road’, which would bring more traffic, more pollution, more congestion, and more traffic accidents, and which is supported by both Labour and Conservative Councillors.

· Protect Cripplegate Park which, in recent years, has been under threat from both Labour and Conservative administrations.

Real Progress for Worcester with the Green Party

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TRANSPORT:

Long term strategy:

· Supporting home zones.

· Reduction in polluting traffic in the City Centre.

· Fully separated cycle lanes.

Immediate goals:

· Introducing home zones.

· Much more cycle parking.

· Preventing parking on pavements.

The Green Party has a vision of a clear-aired, flourishing city, complete with trees, benches, squares and cafes. Green Councillors will reverse current transport priorities. Our transport policies will put disabled people and pedestrians at the top of the hierarchy, followed by cyclists, public transport, access for freight and finally cars. This approach will spread the benefits of the street network to all of its users. Thanks to high levels of traffic, pollution in Worcester city centre is much higher than is safe to breathe, affecting all who live, work, study and shop in Worcester. The following policies are designed to encourage people to switch from driving to other means of transport.

- The Green Party will explore ways of making all residential streets 20mph zones. The Greens will push for the introduction of more Home Zones where these are wanted by residents.

- The Green Party will work to reduce city centre pollution by reducing the amount of traffic driving into and though Worcester, and by working with bus companies to reduce their emissions.

Pedestrians and wheelchair users:

- The Green Party will remove cycle lanes from pavements and build all new cycle lanes on the road. In areas where traffic is too heavy or too fast to enable this, the Greens will take out traffic orders to reduce the speed of the traffic, or explore ways of reducing the traffic driving through the area.

- Where possible, the Green Party will widen pavements. We will make them as flat and smooth as possible, with good drainage accorded better priority. The Greens will install pavement extensions across side roads, emphasising the pedestrians' legal priority.

- The Greens will take steps to ban car parking on pavements, using available legislation, and policing it with wardens.

- The Green Party will provide much more cycle parking, and put it on the road, not on pavements.

- The Green Party will install pedestrian crossings on desire lines where none currently exist, and will make light controlled crossings more responsive to walkers i.e. less time to wait and more time to cross. Where possible new crossings will be zebra crossings, which slow rather than stopping traffic, are able to be used when needed with no need to wait, and are cheap to install.

- The Greens will look into the employment of Pavement Wardens to deal with issues of obstruction and pavement cycling.

- The Greens will push for the use of triangular kerbstones to stop the need for sloping pavements where vehicles access properties by driving across the pavement.

- In the long term the Green Party will look at having an officer on each council devoted to pavement users' issues.

Cyclists:

In Worcester cycling is declining. This is mainly due to cyclists' sense that cycling is too risky and roads are too polluted by traffic emissions. To turn this trend around and increase the number of cyclists the Greens will:

- Ensure that cycle routes are safe, smooth and direct. This means using roads rather than pavements for cycle lanes. Where traffic levels make cycling risky or unpleasant the Greens will look into ways of slowing or reducing traffic on those routes.

- Put advance stop lines at all junctions.

- Ensure cycle lanes are continuous and do not suddenly stop at dangerous junctions and narrow bits of the road.

- Ensure that all cycle routes are obvious, with their own distinctive surfacing.

- Enforce ‘no parking’ rules in cycle lanes. All cycle lanes will be made mandatory in the long term, so that any parking in them will be illegal.

- Increase on-road cycle parking provision.

- Consult local cycling groups such as bump.org.uk when designing facilities for cyclists.

Public Transport Users:

Recognising that for many people the only real alternative to car use is public transport use, the Green Party has welcomed the County and City Councils’ Worcester Express project. However, we will also:

- Work with Bus Companies to ensure that all buses are eventually accessible to all people.

- Work towards a system of selling bus tickets in shops, and making tickets interchangeable between local bus commpanies.

- Install bus lanes in both directions on bus routes wherever possible. Where this is not possible priority lights will be installed giving buses priority over private traffic.

- Invoke legislation to stop buses and taxis sitting with their engines running.

- Look into routes to bus stops and bus stations to ensure they are as easy and accessible as possible.

- Consider introducing modern trams on main city routes.

Railways:

As City Councillors, the Greens have little power over railways. However we can use our position to push for certain things, such as:

- Strongly resist any attempts by train companies or Network Rail to reduce train services or close rail routes and stations or sell off infrastructure.

- Promote the opening of new stations, for instance Worcester Parkway at Norton, and the re-opening of disused stations such as Henwick

- Welcome any interim proposals to reopen disused lines for cycle use or walking.

- Seek to coordinate integration of rail and bus services and encourage local break-bulk deliveries (where the freight from larger vehicles is separated for transportation in smaller vehicles).

- Investigate the existing rail links to provide Waste transport.

- Making trains and their operators cycle-friendly.

Drivers:

- Car restrictions in the city should be rigorously enforced.

- In the light of very high levels of city centre pollution there should be a reduction in the number of city center car-parking places except for disabled people.

- If Park and Ride facitities are expanded, then city centre car parking should be reduced by the same number of places as are provided in P&Rs.

- New developments should be car-free where possible.

- All residential areas without off-street parking should be covered by residents' parking schemes.

- The Greens will explore the feasibility of introducing a peak hour Congestion Charge for those driving past Park and Ride sites into Worcester.

Commercial Vehicles:

Greens will:

- Use signage to remind drivers of commercial vehicles that pavements are not to be parked on, and that there are many cyclists on Worcester's streets.

- Establish a 'break bulk' depot on the ring road where small loads for the city centre could be transferred to smaller, ideally electric, vehicles. In the longer term more of such freight should be carried by rail.

Real Progress for Worcester

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CRIME AND SOCIETY:

Greens believe that the causes of crime can only be effectively dealt with by creating partnerships and rebuilding the local community. Our commitment to tackling the causes of crime can only be fully judged by looking at our proposals in the whole of our manifesto. In particular, we seek to promote housing and planning policies that build and maintain stable communities. Those who promise the latest quick fix must be judged by their previous failures. Recent changes in law have made the police more accountable to the communities they serve, who take a role in determining their policing priorities. Greens welcome this.

Long term strategy:

· Rebuilding communities by sensible urban planning.

· Support proper community policing.

Immediate goals: