Aasiya Bora addressing the public at the March for Peace rally in Leicester on Sunday 19th November 2023. To watch the full video head over to our clip on our YouTube channel.

The post March for Peace – 19 November 2023 appeared first on Leicester Green Party.

KEEPING OUR PROMISE TO YOU

PUSHING FOR PLAYGROUND REPAIRS

You told us the play area between Adderley Road and Clarendon Park Road is badly in need of repair – while £millions are spent on buying buildings in the city-centre when a fraction of that could see this much valued play area repaired.

We have pushed the Deputy Mayor to agree to a meeting with us and the playground parent lead, which will now take place in October. We will be strong and vocal in our support to get something done here!

NEW PLANS FOR QUEENS ROAD EX-KMD PRINT WORKS

PROPOSED BUILDING HEIGHT STILL CONCERNING LOCALS

Cllr Mick Gregg scrutinising the mock-ups at a consultation event organised by the developers wanting to knock down the building at the corner of Queens Road and Avenue Road Extension.

Starting from a ‘blank page’ with 4 staggered floors many residents voiced fears of losing  natural light with such a tall building, and the lack of parking provision is also of concern.

“It is not clear who the actual owners are and there were many other unanswered questions. This is one to watch carefully says Cllr Mick Gregg to make sure the development is appropriate for the area.”

SUPPORTING OUR LOCAL HOSPITALS

CAN THEY COPE WITH THE COMING WINTER SEASON?

Cllr Liz Sahu used her role on the Council health committee to hold hospital managers to account. Liz asked how they are going to make sure there are enough staff in our hospitals this winter and hopefully avoid the scenes of last year. She also asked for a plan to reduce the horrendous wait times for children and adult mental health services.

1st LOCAL LUNCHTIME MEET

TAKING THE PULSE FROM LOCAL RESIDENTS

Meet your councillors or campaigners at our new lunch-time meets to air concerns or to find out what’s going on. We discussed Cllr Kitterick’s views on the City Mayor’s vanity plan for yet another hugely expensive £17.6m railway station revamp. Next meeting: 11am Tue 21 Nov, Old Library Café, LE1 6QL

DISABILITY? LONG TERM HEALTH ISSUES?

UK students MAY be able to get extra support

To find out more contact the disability team at your place of study; part time students can apply too.

Similarly, people in work may be eligible for ‘Access to Work’ which pays for support workers or equipment to help your role.

The post Castle Ward News – October 2023 appeared first on Leicester Green Party.

VICKY PARK PAVILION REVIVAL

THE RETURN OF THE CAFÉ AT THE PAVILION iS ONE STEP CLOSER

After many long delays the Council will finally be inviting expressions of interest in reviving a much asked after café at the Pavilion in Victoria Park.

Victoria Park Pavilion has huge potential as a hub for all communities around Castle Ward. Leicester Council has constantly dragged its feet in fully reopening it.

Green Councillors have promised to put a focus on bringing this prized community asset back into use  for everyone. It was one of our six pledges and our pressure is beginning to pay off.

While the Council have remained tight lipped about any further detail, they have stated November 14th as the date for the diary when the ‘expression of interest’ process will be opened.

“I fully welcome this next step in the process to revive the Victoria Park Pavilion and I hope that the Council will now stop dragging its heels over this long awaited and much delayed project. Your Green Councillor Liz Sahu will continue to follow this closely.”

While the building will never be returned to its former glory, as shown on this postcard, it deserves to be put to good use.

If you are an existing café operator, a new entrepreneur or maybe a community group or charity with an interest in running the Pavilion café, then make sure you look out for the expression of interest opening on November 14th, by watching the council website for further details.

The post Castle Ward News Flash – 25 October 2023 appeared first on Leicester Green Party.

Check out what Green Councillor Patrick Kitterick has ben up to this month working hard for our community.

If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to get in touch with any of the Castle Ward councillors here

The post Councillor News Spotlight – October 2023 Update appeared first on Leicester Green Party.

Check out what Green Councillor Liz Sahu has ben up to this month working hard for her community.

If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to get in touch with any of the Castle Ward councillors here

The post Councillor News Spotlight – September 2023 Update appeared first on Leicester Green Party.

Leicester Green Party would like to object to the proposal to shut rail ticket offices or severely curtailed their opening hours.

This shortsighted proposal would have a devastating impact on disabled people and older people in particular, and the digitally excluded.

May we ask if an equality impact assessment has been done on this proposal? Where is it? Which disability campaign groups have been consulted in advance, as the harmful consequences to visually impaired people in particular have clearly been ignored. Does this proposal adhere to the equality act 2010 and its legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments? Why is the consultation period only three weeks? This is clearly too short.

We are also concerned there is no guarantee staff will be retained and at many stations where staff are apparently going to be on hand to help, you need a ticket to even access the platform.

Ticket offices are important hubs of information, and with the hugely complicated ticket system in this country, a ticket office is often essential, as split fares, and other processes are essential to make fares affordable for many.

As a consequence of the complicated ticket structure, people often make mistakes when they buy from ticket machines, and so an office is essential to sort out problems.

In addition, it would have a huge impact on the ability of people to access the county and our great city, and we call on all city councillors and our MPs and Elected Mayor to support our objection.

We ask that this short sighted short term and ill thought out proposal is abandoned.

Signed by: Ursula Bilson, Co-ordinator Leicester Green Party,
Aasiya Bora, Membership Officer Leicester Green Party,
Mags Lewis, Press & Media Officer Leicester Green Party,
Cllr Patrick Kitterick,
Cllr Liz Sahu,
Cllr Mick Gregg

The post Objection to rail ticket offices closures appeared first on Leicester Green Party.

Here is a brief summary of just 7 days worth of activity:

Wednesday 12th July – Attended the Planning Committee and spoke out against a planning application in the Woodgate area of the city and its impact on residents of Balfour Street and its lack of contribution to green open space.

Thursday 13th July – Attended a webinar on divesting Leicestershire County Council Pension Fund of its holdings in Fossil Fuels

Friday 14th July – Met with local contacts to advise on reviving the Art Beat festival in Clarendon Park

Monday 17th July – Met with local business around Leicester Train Station about the impact of the planned demolitions by the city council will have on their workers.

Tuesday 18th July – Spoke out against the closure of Hastings Day Centre by Leicester City Council unfortunately Labour Members railroaded it through

Wednesday 19th July – will attend the Governance & Audit committee to raise the failures of the Haymarket Theatre project and the continual delays surrounding the Jewry Wall Museum Remember, if you have any local issues to discuss or raise, then don’t hesitate to get in touch with your local councillors or green party organisers here.

The post A week as a Councillor – July 2023 Update appeared first on Leicester Green Party.

I was delighted to read that Leicester City council have finally submitted plans for Hospital Way in Evington. However, I’ve got to voice my utter frustration at the delays and time it has taken so far.

This estate has stood derelict for many years now, and the city council have owned it for over two years. In that time, houses which just needed some TLC and updating have been  reduced to rack and ruin. Guards patrol the estate 24hours at great expense.

Why is it taking so long? We were promised the mayoral system would mean things happen swiftly, but this has proved anything but the case.

In the mayoral election, I questioned the mayor about this derelict estate in the BBC radio hustings event, which was recorded.

Sir Peter made a number of excuses, first claiming  the city council had only owned the properties for less than a year. He then claimed that 50% of the work needed had already been done. Both of these claims were clearly  mistaken.

With a housing crisis in the city, we’ve got to ask why is it that this estate has remained derelict and unloved when people desperately need homes. The Council should’ve acted first by insisting the Hospital trust kept the houses in a usable condition. Since they’ve owned the properties for over two years, they should have had a plan and acted immediately.

When will we actually see people able to live in these houses? Where are the climate ready sustainable plans for these buildings, too?

Our housing strategy in Leicester desperately needs a reboot and far more speed. This case also indicates that the current mayoral system is not fit for purpose: The mayor claimed the mayoral system would give him absolute power to act. He has absolute control and authority here, and absolute power, I believe,  to appoint and handpick his deputy mayor in charge of the housing strategy . This lies with them. Either the mayor accepts responsibility , or he insists his personally appointed deputy , cllr Cutkelvin accepts responsibility. Which is it? Is the mayoral system , supported by barely a third of voters, fit for purpose?

If you would like to sign the petition calling for a referendum or receive more information about the referendum campaign, please visit peoplesvoteleicester@gmail.com .

Best wishes and thanks from,

Mags Lewis, Mayoral candidate 2023

The post Letter to the Mercury appeared first on Leicester Green Party.

The post Saffron Ward Green Issue #9 appeared first on Leicester Green Party.

As they continue to smash the NHS into thousands of disparate pieces, and fail to protect the environment or workers’ rights, they also leave us all to the mercies of a badly regulated and dysfunctional energy market.

Whilst pressures on all of us continue to mount, the consequences for disabled people are even more acute.

For example, many disabled people rely on energy, both to keep warm (more disabled people are housebound and need to keep warm due to their conditions) and crucially, to power their essential electronic equipment.

Keeping warm and keeping equipment going are pretty basic needs, but recently there have been heartbreaking cases where this has been impossible. For example, a family in Wales can’t afford to keep their house heated overnight, so have lost overnight nursing support for their profoundly disabled child as staff can’t safely work in areas below 16 degrees.

Another example of the consequences to the disabled community is the astonishing decision by our energy Minister Grant Shapps to leave planning energy blackout emergency planning to individual disabled people.

Bearing in mind many disabled people need vital equipment like dialysis machines and oxygen machines to actually stay alive, leaving this to personal choice or whatever the phrase of the day is cruel, ill-thought out and will lead to deaths.

The stress this puts on us all,  especially disabled people and their carers, is limitless.

These measures hit the vulnerable and excluded the most. But we need to look closer to home, too. People in the disabled community are used to being ignored, sidelined and forgotten by our government, but even within the green movement, we have seen examples where disabled people and their needs have been too often sidelined.  For example, car-free zone ambitions. We need mitigation measures and access to city centres for disabled people who may rely on their cars. These needs have been misunderstood or downplayed by the environmental movement at times.

This is why it is absolutely essential that disabled people are front and centre of any policy decisions or changes, and that starts with our party. We can all be more mindful of the needs of disabled people. Many do, but ALL local parties need to welcome and make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, such as posting minutes if needed or phoning VI people with updates once a month.

We need to make sure our conference venues make small meaningful and visible signs of inclusion, such as putting out water bowls for guide dogs, and ensuring ramps and lifts are available as a default, without being asked.

Disabled people are tired, but have so much to offer and contribute if given a chance. True inclusion is the responsibility of us all.

The post Disabled People Must be Front and Centre of Policy Changes appeared first on Leicester Green Party.