This article, by Councillor Robin Bennett, Leader of South Oxfordshire Council’s Green Group – where the Greens share power with the Lib Dems – was published in GreenWorld on 29th March 2022

South Oxfordshire is a large rural district stretching from Oxford to Henley and the edge of Reading, taking in the market towns of Wallingford and Thame and the much-expanded railway town of Didcot – now designated a ‘Garden Town’. Much of South Oxfordshire is wealthy and affluent, but it also has real pockets of deprivation and challenges of inequality; I see this in my own ward, which contains both opulent manor houses and draughty social housing, in some cases with five children sharing one bedroom. The district is also under immense development pressure with high housing targets affecting the rural character of our area and its infrastructure.

The Conservatives kept council tax artificially low for years, reducing the council’s reserves – gained from the previous sale of its housing stock to a housing association – by millions of pounds per year. They had also outsourced many core services. While the promised ‘savings’ looked good on paper, they soon evaporated and stripped the council’s internal capacity and expertise. So, while we could take some quick steps to bring Green policies into the council, there was a lot to unpick and fix first. We also picked a major planning fight with Robert Jenrick, but that’s another story.

All residents deserve warm homes, good quality community facilities, accessible parks and green spaces, as well as a stable climate and thriving natural world around them. As a council, we don’t have all the tools we need to provide these things, but we do have some, and it’s right to use them to challenge some of these inequalities that exist within our district.

In late 2020, we created a member-led ‘corporate plan’, a key strategic document establishing the core projects and principles the council would work on for the next four years across all departments. This work was led by Green councillor and cabinet member for Corporate Services and Policy Andrea Powell. We are now into year two of this plan, which is monitored on a quarterly basis with published performance reports. We have also just signed off the council’s Climate Action Plan, in which Green councillor Sam Casey-Rerhaye has played a key role as chair of the Climate and Ecological Emergencies Committee.

Last month we delivered a budget representing a step-change in how the council invests in our communities and collective priorities. If our first budget responded to the council’s poor financial position, and the second to the existential challenges of the pandemic, this third budget is the first fully realised expression of the projects in our corporate plan.

Our administration’s approach to bringing services back in house is a clear reversal of our Conservative predecessors’ policy, and has put us in a much stronger position both financially and practically. As a result, Heads of Service can manage costs more effectively, improving the long-term position and freeing up £500,000 for immediate additional investment. We have split these funds between three of our key priorities: Protect and Enhance Nature, Taking Action on Climate Change, and Community Wellbeing.

This will enable us, for example, to accelerate activity to support the retrofit of homes and development of green construction skills, run green business fairs in towns, and support car-sharing clubs.

Another Green councillor, Peter Dragonetti, is one of our Tree Champions. We are supporting tree and hedge planting by towns and parishes, including on council-owned land, and have just approved planting by community groups on two substantial council-owned sites in Wallingford.

There’s also funding to invest in access to green spaces and our rivers. Green councillor Jo Robb is the council’s River Thames Champion, and has campaigned to raise awareness and take action on sewage pollution in our river, which runs 47 miles along the length of the district.

We have also allocated funds to renovate our much-needed public toilets and support community litter picks and children’s activities.

As well as bringing services in house, we’re saving money by working on a joint local plan with our neighbouring Vale of the White Horse district. We are planning to move out of expensive rented offices (an arson attack destroyed our council offices in 2015), by making a substantial investment in the centre of Didcot Garden Town for a new civic building. We’re buying houses to use as temporary accommodation rather than paying for hotels.

We know these are tough financial times for many of our residents. Although South Oxfordshire has one of the lowest levels of council tax of any shire district, it’s vital that we deploy all the funding we can access, especially to support facilities used by our residents, whatever their income level. By introducing new action and policies on developer funding contributions, we have improved the council’s ability to spend them more quickly, and as a result, we are able to make substantial investments. In this budget, we have released nearly £2 million to support community leisure and wellbeing facilities, as well as in some cases supporting a specific need, such as improved access to the Thames for wheelchair users.

Also included are some innovative ideas such as a partnership project with Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment, allowing local organisations to bid for a share of £50,000 for local nature projects, and £25,000 for a pilot site for a Tiny Forest.

In my role as cabinet member for development and regeneration, I am leading on a £5 million investment over two years, using affordable housing funds from developers to enable the council to purchase and invest in its own council housing, another vital step toward reinstating the council as a provider of housing for those most in need. This follows major commitments last year to Henley and District Housing Trust and for our own Didcot Broadway development of new low-carbon council housing.

Having a group of Green councillors has made a clear and positive difference to these plans. Alongside our Lib Dem partners, with welcome support from other groups on the council, we are showing that there’s a different way to do things, putting communities, climate and nature first, while also improving the council’s long term financial resilience.

The post Changing our Council’s approach: community and climate come first appeared first on AGC.

Firstly, the sentiment on the ground is favourable to Greens: more and more people are becoming aware that we need sustainable policies, serious action to tackle the climate and ecological emergency and a move away from ‘business as usual’. This means voters are looking at Greens in a different, more positive light.

Secondly, by-elections offer a much more level playing field which is advantageous to Greens – especially since we are very good at campaigning locally and often our literature is excellent, something other, larger parties struggle with. From calling the election to polling day can be as little as 25 days – not much time to find a candidate, write the literature and get delivering and canvassing. And the issues in a local election are almost always hyper-local.

This is where our Green councillors have been a key factor in Green by-election success: they know to be constantly on the lookout for a potential by-election so that the local party can have as much advance notice as possible. As hard-working councillors who are active in their community, they know better than most councillors about the issues on the ground and know that local party resources are often limited, stepping up themselves to help with all aspects of campaigning. In fact, we have had several Green councillors take on the role of campaign manager – so keen are they to get more Greens elected to their councils!

But, above all, people are now seeing that voting Green makes a real difference and that Green Councillors deliver on their promises. Where Greens are in power, they see them providing constructive solutions and effective leadership on the issues that they care about: last year, Green-led Lewes District Council opened Saxonbury House, the first council housing built in Lewes for over 30 years, which the previous Administration had allowed to fall in disrepair; in Herefordshire, the Green-led Council supported local businesses in the run-up to Christmas by offering a free £15 Shop Local card; led by Greens, Stroud District Council has increased recycling from 23 per cent to 61 per cent; and in York, where the Greens hold the Transport Portfolio, the Council is investing £3.3m in walking and cycling infrastructure and improvements to public transport.

In opposition, voters can see the impact of the “Green in the Room”, where Green councillors are holding the Administration to account and pushing a Greener agenda. Having led the drive to get their councils to recognise and declare the Climate Emergency, they have been instrumental in getting this commitment embedded in core Council Strategies, for effective scrutiny processes to be in place and for meaningful action: Mid Suffolk Greens persuaded the Council to purchase almost three acres of riverside land to create a new biodiversity corridor; Norwich Greens successfully lobbied for the establishment of a Climate Commission; South Tyneside Greens persuaded the Council to adopt of Fair Tax Policy which commits the council to shun companies not paying their fair share of tax and Peterborough Green Councillors successfully proposed council action to mitigate the impact of climate change through an Action Plan to protect residents from flooding, heatwaves and other extreme weather events.

And the voters like the more collaborative, constructive way that they see Greens doing politics, such as in Herefordshire where Greens have encouraged gender-balance Boards, youth representation and community engagement through a Participatory Budgeting process as part of its Climate Assembly.

The Green Councillor network – the Association of Green Councillors – is strong and supportive. Green councillors have been invaluable in answering questions from potential candidates about what being a councillor involves and then, when a by-election is won, in mentoring the new councillor through those first uncertain months in a new and challenging role.

The good news is that it seems there will be many more by-election wins in 2022, which will present more opportunities for our Green councillors to help. Success breeds success so, now we know we can do it, there will surely be more of a willingness to have a go. As we learn what works and what doesn’t, our collective belief that we can win and our collective understanding of how to win will combine to make Greens, supported by our hardworking Green councillors, an increasingly formidable force when it comes to winning by-elections right across the country.

The post Success breeds success for Green Councillors appeared first on AGC.

The AGC recently caught up with three of Glastonbury’s Green Councillors, Mayor Jon Cousins, Lindsay MacDougall, and Mike Smyth. Jon and Lindsay are also District Councillors and were keen to tell us about the difference having a Green-run Town makes. Greens started as a minority administration in 2015 and now have the majority. They told me how they are working hard to bring environmental and social improvements to the town.

Jon says, “Glastonbury Town Council is one of 9,000 Parish and Town councils in England, with 80,000 councillors, serving 16 million people, raising £1billion in precept. That’s a lot of collective power, and – while Governments do nothing – Parish and Town Councils can take responsibility and lead the way in helping to address the Climate and Ecological Emergency!”

One of the things they are most proud of is hiring a Climate Emergency and Resilience Officer, Melissa Taylor. She has audited the Council’s carbon emissions (48 tonnes per year) and has already reduced them by a quarter in her first year in office. They are also encouraging residents to reduce their carbon footprints by supporting programmes that enable the collaborative purchasing and installation of solar panels.

Glastonbury Greens are focussed on helping their town practically. When cuts were made to Youth Services the Council stepped in and funded the town’s two youth clubs. Lindsay supported the campaign to alleviate the heavy traffic in Glastonbury which has resulted in a 20mph zone throughout town throughout the town. This is a key change that makes a real difference, helping to improve air quality, reduce noise pollution, and encourages more physical activity such as walking and cycling.

They work in a collaborative way with their fellow councillors, and all of the projects they have implemented, or are in the pipeline, come out of a process of in-depth community engagement.

When the government announced the Town Deal scheme, Glastonbury Councillors were keen to get involved, but had to prove that they could get things done rapidly through an ‘Accelerator Fund’ – £0.5 million worth of projects, which were carried out in six months. Mike championed ‘The Glastonbury Way’ – a circular route of approximately seven and a half miles, using the ancient pilgrim paths and rights of way, highlighting the history, myths and legends of Glastonbury around the town of approximately seven and a half miles, the route created using the existing long-standing pilgrim paths and rights of way. Jon was involved in the renovation of St. Edmund’s Community Hall, which is in one of the most deprived wards of the town. The Green-led council facilitated improvements to the town centre, and also improved ‘Herbie’s Field’ – a large site, purposely bought as a permanent home for Glastonbury’s annual ‘Tor Fair’, the UK’s second oldest fair, granted a charter by Henry I in 1127.

Once Glastonbury qualified for the Town Deal, a board was created, which has worked with residents to put together a Town Investment Plan that details over £23.6 million worth of projects to improve Glastonbury. At the heart of the 12 projects proposed is the Glastonbury Clean Energy Project, which will be implemented by the community-owned Avalon Community Energy. They are excited about providing a new leisure centre, a new environment centre, and a new food and regenerative farming centre.

They are  now awaiting a decision from the Government about what will be funded. With elections to fight in May 2022 the Glastonbury Greens have a proud record of achievement to stand on.

The post What Greens can do in Power appeared first on AGC.

Green Leader of Brighton and Hove Council, Phelim Maccafferty, has won the prestigious Local Government Association Clarence Barrett Award.

The Clarence Barrett Award is the highest award presented to LGA Independent Group Members, and recognises those councillors who go above and beyond in their work, to contribute something significant to local government and residents. Previous recipients of the award include Green Councillor Carla Denyer (Green, Bristol) for her work on climate change.

The post Green council leader wins prestigious award appeared first on AGC.

“I want to be in the room where it happens”, sings frustrated politician Aaron Burr in the musical Hamilton. Since my election to St Albans District Council in 2011, I’ve been in the room. OK it’s not the White House. But stuff does actually happen at the Council, which might not be visible to local residents.

Seeing the effect of being in the room

Since day one, I’ve seen it. It’s extraordinary. Officers and councillors glance nervously at me whenever environmental subjects come up. Officers explain, partly to me, partly to everyone else, what the Council is doing or wants to do or did last Tuesday. Councillors compete to mention how much they recycle at home, or avoid flying, or turn down the thermostat. Some of them even have beards and sandals.

I don’t have to say anything and this happens. Don’t get me wrong, I say plenty. But much of the influence I’ve been able to have has simply been being in the room. I’ve heard similar stories from other Green councillors around the country (there are 362 of us).

On top of this, I’ve had the advantage of being in the Council while there are small or non-existent majorities. That means even more can happen.

Getting sustainability on the agenda

In 2011, sustainability wasn’t even mentioned in the Council’s Corporate Plan. Today, the climate emergency is the Council’s number 1 priority. Of course that’s not all down to me! The science is better understood, we’ve seen youth climate strikes, Extinction Rebellion and increasing local awareness driven by Sustainable St Albans and others. Action on the climate now forms part of all parties’ manifestos. When the vote on declaring a climate crisis came to the council, it had cross-party support and the vote was unanimous. But I’ve certainly been part of the process, shifting the debate, encouraging colleagues from other parties to come on board, and you can see that things have moved a long way.

With a minority Conservative administration elected in 2011, I was able to get a shopping list of environmental measures added to that first budget, in return for not blocking its progress. So in my first year as a councillor, I won agreement to expand the farmers market, insulate Council buildings, switch communications from paper to email, plant more perennials instead of annuals, and lots more.

Building on early success

In following years, with the administration still a minority, I made further progress, particularly negotiating a budget amendment for investment in solar panels on leisure centres and leading an initiative to replace ordinary litter bins with recycling bins. From 2015 there were 4 years of majority rule that made progress trickier. I worked more behind the scenes, having built relationships with officers and understanding more about how things worked.

Since 2019 we’ve had a minority Lib Dem administration, so the foot is back on the pedal (bicycle pedal, obviously). I’ve negotiated plans for a district-wide insulation programme, more solar power, more electric car charging, and a massive tree planting operation. I’m vice chair on the committee overseeing the response to the climate emergency. And I persuaded other councillors to unanimously support a motion calling for Hertfordshire to dump its fossil fuel investments. 

So I feel lucky to have been able to achieve a lot, with the support of my party colleagues outside the Council. But there’s a lot more to do, and it’s never been more urgent.

The post What a Green in the Room can achieve on a finely balanced council appeared first on AGC.