Redbridge Green Manifesto 2014

1. Housing

Housing is the key issue for many Redbridge residents and people rightly feel their needs are being ignored in favour of wealthy developers and buy-to-let landlords. Redbridge’s homes are a community resource for residents and should not be seen as a way for wealthy people to make money.

Mandatory licensing for private landlords

Redbridge Greens will introduce a scheme to force all private landlords and their properties to be licensed with the council. This will ensure all privately rented property in Redbridge is properly managed, benefiting both tenants and their neighbours. The scheme will be paid for via a licence fee, with the surplus used to create the post of Tenancy Relations Officer, who will offer advice to tenants and support them in disputes with landlords.

Truly affordable housing policy

Redbridge Council regularly fails to meet its target of 50 per cent ‘affordable’ housing in all new developments,

Redbridge Greens will press the council to ensure developments provide truly affordable housing, with housing targets that reflect and meet the borough’s needs. Residents should get full value from new housing developments. We will also work with elected Green Party politicians across the country to change the government’s definition of ‘affordable’ to ensure it really is just that. 

No evictions on the basis of bedroom tax

The Green Party will not evict council tenants who have fallen into arrears because of the Coalition’s Spare Room Subsidy – the ‘Bedroom Tax’. A council that genuinely stands up for the poorest people in our society should not enforce this brutal and short-sighted rule.

 2. Democracy

No to unrepresentative Area Committees

We support local people getting involved in local decision making at Area Committee level, but these must be genuinely democratic and inclusive with co-optees.

Restrict betting shops, payday loan providers and inappropriate fast food outlets

We will lobby central government to give the council power over local planning decisions so that our streets are not overwhelmed by betting shops, payday loan providers and other companies that suck money out and give nothing back. We will insert a covenant in all new council leases of commercial premises to prevent them from being used for these types of businesses.

We will amend council policy, using an Article 4 Direction, so that new “pay day loan” shops needed planning consent. Coupled with our support for credit unions, this would help to create more affordable short term lending.

We will also amend council policy so planning consent is not given to any new fast food takeaways within 400 metres of any school – even in shopping centres, which are currently a special exception. We will also investigate how the council can work with existing takeaways to help them offer healthier meals.  

3. Local Economy & Community

Despite the ongoing problem of deprivation in areas of the borough, Redbridge has a strong sense of community pride that we can build on to make a genuine difference to the living standards of all residents. 

A Living Wage for all

The Council must take the lead on fair pay. Greens will work to embed a Living Wage in the council’s service procurement policy. That means that any worker – whether directly employed or working on behalf of the council – is paid at least the London Living Wage and with the same terms and conditions pro rata as regular staff.

Create a Sustainable Economic Strategy

We will draw up a strategy to ensure that the council is doing as much as it can to enrich the borough’s economy – and at the same time creating sustainable, green jobs. The strategy will look at procurement, employment and training and spearhead innovative projects. It will also aim to switch economic activity wherever possible away from environmentally damaging activities and instead promote design, light manufacturing, repair and refurbishment and creative industries. 

We will also encourage council suppliers to become Fair Tax Businesses, symbolised by a kite mark for those that are proud to pay their tax, not avoid it: http://www.fairtaxmark.net/

Support repair of small electrical and electronic items

We will support a scheme allowing residents to get electrical items repaired – to save people money, reduce landfill costs and provide training and jobs.

Support for Credit Unions

Many people in Redbridge have to resort to ‘payday loan’ companies to obtain cash to tide them over or when they have been turned down for bank accounts because of poor credit ratings. The Green Party would support credit unions and community banks, which provide more ethical and sustainable banking and borrowing and enable them to expand their support for local people.

Campaign against street harassment

Women should feel safe walking Redbridge’s streets without fear of sexual harassment. The Green Party will investigate a campaign on bus stops and in local work places to make it clear that street harassment is unacceptable and encouraging women to speak up about their experiences locally

 4. Transport & Health

Redbridge  has high levels of air pollution, with many roads revealed last year to exceed EU emission limits by 300 per cent indeed parts of the A406 are amongst the polluted roads in Britain. Poor air Quality contributes to everything from childhood asthma to lung cancer, air pollution is killing more than 10 times the number of people dying from road traffic accidents in London, according to Clean Air London. Greens want to defend our health service from cuts, encourage healthy, pollution-free travel and make our streets safer and more people-friendly.

Ultra Low Emissions Zone

Green councillors will introduce a motion to the council to include Redbridge in the London-wide Ultra Low Emissions Zone to help to improve air quality.

20mph on all Redbridge roads

Greens will introduce a 20mph limit on all residential roads.

Improved cycling provision

We fully endorse the London Cycling Campaign’s ‘Space for Cycling’ initiative including youth provision, cycle parking and promoting the cycling economy.

Improved streets for pedestrians 

We will work with Living Streets and other community groups including Age UK to make our streets safer, easier to navigate and more pleasant environments. Particular attention should be paid to the condition of the footways and obstructions and street furniture should be minimised. Where a pavement cross-over point becomes redundant, we would require developers to reinstate the pavement. We support Living Streets' and Disability Backup’s call for a `winter contract' to deal effectively with snow and ice.

Improved pedestrian crossings

Every junction with traffic lights should also have a pedestrian phase with adequate crossing times. 

Accessible Transport

To work with TfL to provide more fully step free stations both on the Central line as well as those stations serving Crossrail.

Support for the NHS

We oppose privatisation of the NHS. Public services should be run in the interests of the public, not to make profits for private companies. As such we will continue to campaign against cuts in services at King George Hospital which are being forced by the ill conceived PFI scheme to build the Queens Hospital in Romford 

5. Energy, Environment & Animals

The Green Party is closely associated with environmental movements and campaigns around energy and climate change, however we believe these policies are not just good for our environment but also for residents and our financial future.

Cut energy bills for residents

We will draw up a Big Green Energy Plan, including support for local energy co-ops and access to housing insulation schemes.

100% renewable energy tariff

We will ensure that all the council's energy supply, including leisure centres, is on a 100% renewable tariff.

More solar panels on Redbridge roofs

We will install as many solar panels as possible on council-owned roofs, part-funded by offering shares to the public as a form of ethical investment.

Make Redbridge a “One Planet” Borough

We will draw up a strategy to reduce radically the council's environmental footprint with the aim of achieving zero waste and zero emissions.

Biodiversity

We will ensure that a Biodiversity Action Plan is implemented and protect all of our Green Belt land threatened natural environment from damaging developments.. 

Ensure new developments support wildlife

We will require new planning applications to demonstrate how they encourage wildlife, for example bird and bat bricks or lighting restrictions.

Refuse & Recycling

We will review the council’s recycling activities to ensure that all recyclable waste is used to reduce the amount of waste ending up in landfill sites.

The Green Party recognises the adverse effect that fly tipping has on the borough and would work towards a fully funded scheme to clear bulky waste.

6. Children & Young People

Reinstate Education Maintenance Allowance

We will investigate funding to reintroduce this for students meeting eligibility criteria, as in Tower Hamlets.

End unlawful exclusions

We will encourage schools to adopt the recommendations of the Children’s Commissioner for England. This includes standard protocols for exclusions, with a central reporting system to discourage unlawful ones. 

Promote secular, comprehensive education
The Green Party opposes academies and free schools, we believe that all schools with state funding should be secular, with pupils taught respect for others' religions but with no religious instruction or compulsory acts of worship.

7. Sports

Redbridge needs to ensure that our population has the opportunity to enjoy a fit and healthy lifestyle. In addition to the promotion of cycling Redbridge Greens would oppose the selling off of all parkland and sports grounds. In addition we support the building of a new swimming pool in the south of the borough, but on a brown field site to preserve our precious open space.

8 Anti social behaviour

Public Drinking

Redbridge suffers from areas where anti social behaviour makes life unbearable for residents. Redbridge Greens would support the introduction of controlled drinking zones across the borough and "No drinking” signs where appropriate

Alley Gates

The Green party would support residents seeking to install gates on alleys and garage sites both to improve security and discourage groups congregating

9. Beyond Redbridge

 The Council's primary duty is to provide services to its residents. But just as our lives don't begin and end at the borders, so the council has a responsibility to be a positive voice and influence in the wider world - for London, for the UK and beyond. As such Redbridge should be an active member of the Nuclear Free Local Authorities movement and object to nuclear materials being transported on the railway running through Ilford South.