Greens hope for first seat on city council

12:40pm Wednesday 5th May 2010 in Local Election News Photograph of the Author By David Paine, @davidpaineWN #worcsnews

Greens hope for first seat on city council Greens hope for first seat on city council

THE Green Party is hoping to win its first ever seat on Worcester City Council.

While almost all of the focus has been on the general election, residents in Worcester will also get to cast their votes tomorrow in local elections being held in 12 wards across the city.

That count will be taking place Friday afternoon after the general election results have been announced in the early hours of the morning.

The Green Party and its candidate Louis Stephen have been concentrating efforts on the Cathedral ward where Councillor Mohammed Riaz (Conservative) is standing down after six years service.

Abdul Riaz is the party’s replacement and the pair will be up against Sharafat Ali (Labour) and Edith Barnes (Liberal Democrat).

Mr Stephen said that the Green Party has been gradually increasing its share of the vote in the Cathedral ward area in recent times and that last year’s county council election results were encouraging in the Riverside and Rainbow Hill – the wards which were most similar to the Cathedral ward’s boundary.

As a result Mr Stephen, who is also the Green Party’s parliamentary candidate for Worcester, said he is “hopeful” of making history after a busy month knocking on doors and canvassing residents.

He said: “We would be a fresh voice on the council with a different way of thinking. It has been the three main parties for so many years and we would bring a fresh take on the general running of the council.”

Mr Stephen said if his party were to win its historic first seat on the council he thought it could have ramifications on future elections in the city.

“It would show people we can get elected and would dispel the myth that we never get in,” he said.

Comments(5)

Demigod says...
1:27pm Wed 5 May 10

We can not let the Green Party get their claws in anywhere. If you read their manifesto it is basically designed to penalise anyone who isn't a cycling vegan with a penchant for sitting in darkness and singing hymns. Whilst we should all be more environmentally friendly, they are as extreme in their discrimination against people who drives cars as the BNP are regarding some of their immigration policies.

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Matthew Jenkins says...
4:16pm Wed 5 May 10

Demigod, I think you have a rather twisted view of the Green Party. In other parts of the country when Greens get elected people like what they see and elect more Green Party councillors.
Promoting public transport, walking and cycling in Worcester should not be seen as an attack on the motorist, but as a way of improving how we move around our overly congested city. This will benefit everyone, car drivers included.

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Demigod says...
4:27pm Wed 5 May 10

Not when they plan to stick an 8% rise a year on petrol. Build more cycle lanes and improve the public transport by all means but an annual 8% rise on fuel would kill small businesses overnight and would severely hit big companies causing massive job losses and destroying our already frail economy.

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pudniw_gib says...
10:11am Thu 6 May 10

I am a cycling vegan..
My small business would get by happily with an increase in fuel tax, most businesses would be ok, companies already take fuel price increases into account and share transport etc.
It seems that there is a big paranoia about better facilities for cycling and public transport, mostly held by hardened and embittered car owners.
The reality is that transport has got to change, whether it is getting freight onto rail or people onto the bus.
The forced grounding of air travel has given us a glimpse of what it is like to have a slightly quieter and cleaner environment.
Less traffic in the air and on the road must be a good thing, unless you have shares in the fuel companies and have bought into the myth of the ever expanding motorised transport system being good for all of us.

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pudniw_gib says...
1:23pm Thu 6 May 10

I just read that road traffic has decreased by 2% in the last year.....
the report..

Car traffic fell 3% and heavy goods vehicle traffic was down 2%, but van traffic rose 2%, according to the statistics from the Department for Transport.

The figures also showed that the average delay on the slowest 10% of journeys on England's motorways and major A-roads fell to 3.65 minutes for the 12 months ending March 2010.

This compared with an average delay of 3.90 minutes for the 12 months ending March 2008 - the period used for comparison purposes.

The statistics showed that on British roads, comparing January-March 2010 with January-March 2009: Car traffic decreased by 3%; light van traffic increased by 2%; heavy goods vehicle traffic decreased by 1%; traffic on motorways fell by 2%; traffic on rural A-roads decreased by 2%; traffic on urban A-roads was unchanged; traffic on minor rural roads fell by 3%; traffic on minor urban roads was down by 3%.
Does this mean that more goods are going by rail and courier?
And does it mean there is an increase in the use of public transport and other non car commuting?
The cynical might say it is the economy I suppose.. but then there is more van use.

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