Shale Gas Extraction in the Swansea Area

(Letter to the South Wales Evening Post)

The letter from Dave Lees (Have Your Say, Monday 30 April) is typical of those who advocate the exploitation of shale gas, focussing solely on the economic argument and telling us nothing about the wider environmental and social consequences of shale gas extraction.

Nor does Mr Lees mention the impact of a new dash for gas on the future of renewable energy or on action to combat climate change.

Growing evidence from the US suggests that there is serious cause for concern around water and air pollution caused by fracking.

Legitimate questions are now being raised by communities in the UK around the effects on the local environment and on water resources, which are already stretched to capacity in many places.

This is why greens are calling for a moratorium on both onshore and offshore exploration of shale gas until the impacts can be more fully understood.

With the real possibility of shale gas extraction in the Mawr area, this is a matter of great concern for the people of Swansea and the arguments of John Childs and others should not be glibly dismissed.

 

The answer is staring up from the plate

Chef and food campaigner Jamie Oliver, who attacked Education Secretary Michael Gove on Sunday over food standards in academy schools, would find real sustenance in the Green Party’s policies on school dinners.

Greens would ensure that funding is available for all schools to have their own kitchens, producing fresh, tasty and nutritious lunches every day.

They would also require all schools to provide an area for children to learn how to grow food and include food and farming in the curriculum.

Keith M Ross, Green Party Candidate for Uplands, said, “Green food policies are just what the doctor ordered. The importance of promoting children’s health is widely recognised. Obesity and ill health caused by diet place large future burdens on the health service. It’s extraordinary that Michael Gove could be so short sighted.”

Community Action Plans for Swansea

(Letter to the South Wales Evening Post)

People across Swansea will sympathise with residents of Mumbles who are concerned about decline in the village (‘Village is neglected instead of invested in, claim traders’, page 5, Monday 23 April).

Whilst Swansea Council has pursued their grand plan for the city centre, other areas have suffered from years of neglect and decline.

There is no doubt that the City Centre Action Plan has had a positive impact, as evidenced by the Keep Wales Tidy report which found the city centre was of “an incredibly high standard”, to name but one recent report praising the city centre.

However, this is not a description that could be applied to many other areas of Swansea.

In our local election manifesto the Green Party is calling for the implementation of Community Action Plans for every area of Swansea so that the whole of the city and county can be developed to the high standards that we have a right to expect as citizens of Wales’ Premier City.

Yours,

Keith M Ross, Swansea Green Party

Vote Green Party for Green Spaces

With a recent study showing that fewer than ten per cent of children play in wild places; down from 50 per cent a generation ago, the Green Party calls for anyone committed to the health of their children to vote Green on May 3rd.

Keith M Ross, Green Party Candidate for Uplands said, “Children are more at risk from falling out of bed than they are in nature. There are very clear dangers of not getting outside enough: increasing childhood obesity and depression among children and young people are just two examples. The Green Party recognises the link between healthy children and a healthy environment and has a manifesto filled with pledges to improve both.”

Lib Dem Spin

(Letter to the South Wales Evening Post)

Council Leader Chris Holley must be dizzy from all the spinning he’s having to do about the short list for Traveller sites. (‘We may reject all 5 shortlisted traveller sites’, Monday 16 April, page 6).  But then the Lib Dems are no strangers to spin.

Their latest leaflet being circulated in Uplands & Brynmill contains the astonishing statement, “Tenants voted overwhelmingly to keep the Lib Dem Council as their landlords”; as if the vote in 2007 was a ringing endorsement of Lib Dem management of Council Housing in Swansea.

In fact the vote was an overwhelming rejection of the Lib Dem proposal to transfer Swansea’s Council Housing stock to a Registered Social Landlord.

Since then the council has struggled to find the funding required to implement the Welsh Housing Quality Standards – until now that is, when, as if by magic, they find £80million to spend on upgrading council housing over the next few years.

Nothing to do with the impending election of course!

Yours,

Keith M Ross, Green Party Candidate, Uplands Ward

Waste and Litter in Uplands & Brynmill

(Letter to the South Wales Evening Post)

Sir,

This morning I took a stroll around Beechwood Road, including Ernald Place.  Despite the sunshine it was not a pleasant walk, and I can confirm K Evans’ observations (Have Your Say, Wednesday 11 April).

It seems the Bank Holiday has confused a lot of people, and not just students.  In addition to several piles of black bags put out incorrectly last week and left in the street, a significant number of people have put their bags out on the usual collection day rather than a day later as they should.  Many of these bags have been ripped open by birds, foxes or rats and a lot of food and other waste has been scattered around the pavements.

Alternate weekly collections have lead to a significant increase in the amount of waste being recycled, and consequent reduction in waste going to landfill saving a lot of public money.  But it seems that the message is still not getting through to some people for some reason.

Throughout the whole of the ten years I have lived in Brynmill people have been complaining about waste and litter in the area.  Despite many promises of action and seemingly endless discussions at public meetings, the problem has continued to get worse.  Waste and litter lying around the streets of Uplands and Brynmill is now a daily reality for all residents, and the Health and Safety implications of this need urgent and serious consideration.

When the newly formed Council convenes following the election on 3 May we are going to need fresh thinking and a whole new approach on this issue so that we are not still in the same situation in another 10 years.

Anything else would be a serious dereliction of duty on the part of the Council.

Yours,

Keith M Ross, Green Party Candidate, Uplands and Brynmill

Wondering why things are so quiet?

Not much going on here at the moment, because it’s all happening over on our new election blog ‘Greens for Uplands & Brynmill‘. Check it out, or if you prefer follow us on Facebook: Swansea and Llanelli Green Parties.

Green Party Election Broadcast launched today

Check out the Green Party’s Election Broadcast for the Local Council Elections at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLtzd6-tVhY&feature=youtu.be

Wales Green Party Leader’s visits ‘Down to Earth’ in Murton, Swansea

Wales Green Party Leader Pippa Bartolotti visited Swansea on 3 April to support local candidates in their campaign for the council elections on 3 May.

The day began with a visit to the ‘Down to Earth‘ project in Murton where Pippa was given a tour of the site by  project directors Mark and Jen McKenna.

This was followed by a visit to the home of Mr and Mrs Williams in Newton where she viewed a recent solar panel installation by GES Wales, a local renewable energy company run by Green Party member Ross Walters.

Later in the day Pippa was out and about with local party members canvassing in Uplands Crescent, Swansea.

In the evening Pippa gave a public talk at the Environment Centre Swansea, explaining why Frieburg in South West Germany is the greenest city in Europe.

Prescription Charges

(Letter to the South Wales Evening Post)

The Conservative Party seem to be in a bit of a muddle with their arguments about prescription charges (‘Tories criticise free prescription policy’, page 2, Monday 2 April).

Here in Wales they are arguing that the policy of free prescriptions is “not sustainable”, yet in England Health Minister Simon Burns seeks to justify the rise in prescription charges by claiming that 90% of items are dispensed free. 

If charges are only being made in 10% of cases, then surely it would be better to scrap the charge altogether and save money on administration?  That is, after all, the very argument that the government made for cutting the top rate of income tax.

Based on the government’s own arguments, it seems that Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have got it right on prescription charges, and that England is lagging behind.

Yours,

Keith M Ross, Green Party Candidate, Uplands & Brynmill