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JESSIKA HULBERT
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MAY 2023 - The votes are in and the Conservatives are out. Now the victors need to take their seats out for a spin, and try to come up with reforms that might make a difference. Affordable homes and a rolling stock of land to be able to supply to self builds and flat packs. No services are required in the modern world. It is cheaper to stay off the grid, with water treatment units and boreholes for water supplies. Solar panels can supply all the energy you'll need. But renewable hydrogen could be a game changer. Supplied as green methanol, to pass through a fuel cell, via a reformer. The world is your oyster.
Contact Jessika - Home address:
The Green party is a political group that either has, or is looking to develop policies to tackle climate change and the UN's Sustainability Development Goals.
The failure of Labour and Conservative parties to implement any kind of climate cooling reversal policies based on reliable information, or to tackle the lack of affordable housing, represents a political opportunity for any party who has the solution, or more correctly implements the policies that are needed to get the UK on track for a sustainable future.
Conservative and Labour parties only know how to borrow more money, to get them through their terms of office, personally profitably, not worrying about the mess that puts the rest of us in. Just look at the National Debt, of some £2.7 trillion pounds. This kind of borrowing is not honest politics, and makes workers into financial slaves. News Flash: we are no longer an Empire. It's time to stop strutting around on the world stage pretending we are a super power. When we are in reality bankrupt. Let's not live in denial any longer.
THANKFULLY,
IN 2023 WEALDEN IS NO LONGER CONTROLLED BY THE CONSERVATIVES
A wave of
alternative wins has swept Wealden – making history by winning an unprecedented
number of seats. Greens gained two seats in 2019 and added two more in by-elections – and on May 4th nearly tripled their presence on the Council. With these results, the Green Party has established itself as a leading force
within Wealden District
Council.
INHERITED QUAGMIRE - The problem for those newly elected, is the mess the outgoing Tories have left you to clear up. And it is a huge pile of poop, make no mistake. You'll really have to put your thinking caps on. Pushing for affordable housing is one potential solution. For which the Green Party, Liberal Democrats and Independents, could take the credit - perhaps as a coalition. No doubt Members with executive housing, rented out as part of a portfolio (perhaps) might not want affordable housing coming onto the market, but if downsizing the economy in the face of global warming, this is exactly what is needed - to balance up the books.
PASSING
THE BUCK - President
Biden said a US default on its $31.4tn (£25tn) debt by Monday's deadline
(5th June 2003) would have been "catastrophic". The ceiling was justified by a theoretical $1.5 trillion in savings. But what happens if spending creeps up again, or those savings cannot be made?
RECESSION OR CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Downsizing, is much the same as a recession in economic terms. But we have to downsize, where we are using roughly 2.4 planets in terms of sustainability, or a Circular Economy, in a Climate Crisis. Meaning, this is nothing to be ashamed of, and something Jeremy (nuclear) Hunt and Rishi Sunack have avoided calling it. Though in reality, it is a good thing. Something to be proud of, not something to be ashamed of. A Maifesto should perhaps be constructed around achieving United Nations Circularity, and telling the truth, as in SDG 16. It is a mistake to keep raising the debt ceiling, as in Joe Biden's recent debt crisis. Where such a practice is unsustainable.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Where at the moment, councils are not providing land for low cost housing, Wealden might stall consents for executive housing, until developers provide low cost housing up front - as per a High Court ruling relating to a London Borough. See: Parkhurst Road Ltd v Sec of State for Communities & Local Gov & Anor [2018] EWCH 991 (Admin)
The 2021 National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) provides that there should be "Entry Level Exception Sites" (Section 65 (d)). And at Section 68 (a), where they have to identify Specific Deliverable Sites - for a five year period. Wealden District is just one geographical location taking advice from Local Government Association advisers, on how to avoid meeting their obligations. With global warming and the cost of living crisis, there are quite a large number of "Exceptions."
The simple act of retaining a register, with the get-out that they cannot provide land with services, is not a valid excuse for failing to provide the five-year rolling stock of land set out in the NPPF. Simply because, once land is identified in Local Plans, and made available by earmarking for low cost housing, then flatpacks and other mobile units can be installed Stand-Alone, and Off-Grid.
With the latest technology, water, waste, electricity and Wifi can all be provided at reasonable prices without connecting to conventional services. Further reducing the cost of living, and pushing sustainability.
Low income earners are forced to rent at market levels - increasing their carbon footprints - not of their own choosing. So pushing vulnerable families into unaffordable debt - the rents going to overseas investors in many cases.
Once again, this is a loophole that needs to be closed. Wealden DC has compulsory purchase powers to obtain land, once it has been identified in a local plan, to be used for affordable homes, that locals can afford to buy. Making the workforce happier (mental health) and more productive. The key then is setting out the Local Plan, to support sustainable and affordable housing. Which at the moment, is very wide of the mark.
Money that goes to rental companies and wealthy landlords, frequently finds its way offshore, so that generated wealth (typically part housing benefits) is taken outside of the UK economy. Thus, creating a drain on UK assets, that would otherwise be spent on taxable goods within the UK. Wealden DC have purchased land, but not for affordable housing. Ask to see details of land purchases. And, while you are at it, ask where all the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) payments are going, if not to provide an Infrastructure - as in Road Repairs and EV charging, etc. For sure the state of Wealden's roads is appalling, from years of Pothole Party neglect.
We advocate transparency in all dealings, especially as to where voters taxes are going, pay for council employees and pension funds. The Road Fund Licence is not being spent on roads. What then. More gold flock wallpaper for No 10? A Big Red Bus, or maybe Parties. And is it not about time for a Written Constitution.
Education is key to alerting the electorate to these issues. Agenda 21 was once taught in schools. Should we not be teaching about sustainable living, as per the United Nation's goals. Perhaps with a little home economics thrown in, as to living within our means.
Lastly, nuclear power can never be sustainable, because radioactive waste cannot be managed long term. In the end, the taxpayer has to foot cleanup bills, whenever there is another leak. And there are plenty of those. Many outside the shores of the UK, so beyond our control. But, we can set a good example. And with renewables now being cheaper than traditional power sources; what is the problem? The problem is fossil fuel lobbyists, vested interests, not in the interest of the planet. Gas and oil, fuelled Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
There are many ways to store offshore wind energy, such as hydrogen generation and conversion to green methanol. Methanol can be used in ordinary Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars, with a tweak to the fuel injection system. Meaning, we can use existing service stations. While we wait for fuel cell H2 cars to catch up.
JCB have developed diesel engines that run on hydrogen, and so have Rolls Royce, for aircraft turbines. What is the problem?
GREEN PARTY MEMBERS IN 2023
CO-OPERATIVE PARTY DEMOCRAT UNIONIST PARTY PLAID CYMRU SINN FEIN SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC AND LABOUR PARTY ULSTER UNIONIST PARTY
Social Democratic and Labour Party
We are concerned with how the make up of the above parties and (reasonably) popular policies affects the Wealden district, because we are all brothers on two islands in the Atlantic Ocean and what we do of fail to do is likely to rebound on ourselves and our fellow man in other nations around the world. How we act today influences policies in other countries in our global community. It is not just about us and our patch.
East Sussex has five District and Borough Councils, each with a border on the coast. From west to east they are:
There is also East Sussex County Council as the provider of services to the 5 East Sussex districts.
As near neighbours and with councils now sharing facilities and working together, these area of Sussex are included in our remit and an area where climate change and affordable housing are issues that need urgent attention. Where the coastline is a feature in every Council, Blue Growth is a food security issue, especially where this side of of our local economy is under-exploited.
LINKS
https://wealden.greenparty.org.uk/ https://wealden.greenparty.org.uk/
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