Local Manifesto

2024 elections - massive green growth

Coventry Green Party Manifesto

our local Manifesto outlines our city-wide Green Party priorities for Coventry right now.

Coventry needs decision-makers who will make
positive change happen quickly.

Coventry Green Party members say our city council should run better local services for local people. We need people in power who actually listen to what you want!

The hundreds of Green Councillors across our nation are pushing for programmes which retrofit insulation and renewable energy, to keep homes warmer, while reducing energy bills and drastically reducing emissions.

Getting more Green Party councillors in Coventry will:

➔ mean more steps taken to protect our natural world;
➔ increase fairness and community;
➔ lead to sensible, practical solutions;
➔ protect the places we live in and the people we care about.

Check out our General Election & local election results

Both of our Coventry Green Party councillors have been working across Coventry seeking to implement these policies for the common good.

Since May 2023 Councillors Stephen Gray and Esther Reeves have been able to work together on issues affecting everyone living and working in the Holbrook ward.

Download our full Coventry Manifesto here

1. Green New Deal

To tackle the Climate Emergency and deliver social justice, as part of the Green Party of England & Wales, Coventry Green Party supports a Green New Deal.

New green homes, new green transport and new green jobs will get us on track to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions to ‘net zero’ by 2030; this will provide new opportunities for everyone to live happier, healthier and more secure lives.

2. Energy

Coventry Green Party acknowledges that the continued use of fossil fuels is time limited. Increasing energy prices are driving many local residents into fuel poverty.

It is essential that we reduce energy demands and move to renewable energy to power all sectors, whether domestic, commercial or manufacturing.

Green Party councillors will call for Coventry City Council to:

  • Lead the way in moving all of its own offices, vehicles and services onto renewable energy sources;
  • Divest investments into fossil fuel companies while investing in green alternative energy sources;
  • Petition for funding for small businesses to make the switch easily;
  • Petition the UK government for grants so residents can retrofit their houses switching to renewable energy sources to power and heat their homes.

3. Housing

Coventry Green Party believes that Coventry residents deserve to live in warm, adequately ventilated, energy efficient homes, with easy access to local amenities such as green spaces, schools, dental and GP surgeries, bus routes and shops.

Coventry Green Party councillors will:

  • Promote better insulation and encourage energy efficient heating for all homes which need it, and prioritise the building of energy efficient council homes;
  • Encourage the Council to improve communication with Coventry residents so they are aware and able to take advantage of any government initiatives to retrofit insulation to older housing stock;
  • Prioritise building on brownfield sites over green field, in order to guard arable land for the future, and to restrict the loss of more green spaces;
  • Demand that all new housing and commercial constructions use sustainable materials where feasible, are carbon neutral, and are designed from the outset with energy efficiency in mind, including full insulation, solar panels and heat pumps;
  • Insist that any new housing development include provision for adequate green spaces with wheelchair or pushchair access, take into account school places, footpath, road and cycle infrastructure, near public transport links, and available medical facilities.

4. Transport

Coventry Green Party appreciates that Coventry residents need to be able to travel around the city and we will advocate for a sustainable local transport revolution.

We want people to be able to have viable options to enable them to travel cheaply, safely and conveniently on trains, buses, cycles and by foot, thus reducing both pollution and also wear and tear on our roads.

Our Green Party councillors will:

  • Demand the development of an Active Travel strategy with a focus on walking, cycling and public transport; and take action to enable more local journeys to be made on foot, ensuring safe pedestrian access to all local facilities;
  • Push through a policy of swift repairs to existing walkways and dropped curbs on all junctions, to make it easier and safer for pedestrians and wheelchair users to get across Coventry;
  • Work to transform Coventry into a ‘Cycle City’ to rival Amsterdam or Copenhagen; call for more cycle paths, separated from motor traffic and with more consultation to ensure a joined up network that goes where people want to go; and encourage city planners to add more cycle parking especially for larger cycles;
  • Demand greater consultation on bus routes, and investigate ways to make it easier and more affordable for families to use public transport, like improving shuttle bus services between Coventry rail station and Pool Meadow bus station;
  • Work hard with local planners to keep reducing congestion and air pollution near the city centre, moving freight routes away from the centre of Coventry.

5. Education

Coventry’s children are our future and it is essential that their needs are not forgotten.

Coventry Green Party believes all children deserve an opportunity to grow up safely, with access to excellent education, in clean, green spaces and air they can safely breathe.

Elected Green councillors in Coventry will:

  • Work with schools and nurseries, to improve ventilation and air filtration in classrooms, to ensure a warm but healthy environment for both pupils and staff;
  • Call for parent and toddler groups to be fully funded, ensuring that working families, especially single parents, are adequately supported during pre-school years;
  • Ask all schools across the city to establish: walking-bus arrangements to support pupils with walking safely to school; safe cycling routes to and from school; adequate secure on-site bicycle parking; and a programme of encouraging more of their pupils to cycle to school;
  • Work with Coventry schools to establish pupil-led nature groups, with the aim of managing school grounds for the benefit of both people and nature, thus improving their knowledge of and appreciation of our natural world;
  • Investigate how to provide a school-based/owned allotment for every school, where pupils will learn about growing their own food, and provide opportunities for pupils to learn how to cook with seasonal fresh produce;
  • Work with community groups to provide an education programme that could be delivered to schools, to encourage children to take responsibility for their own litter, with the aim of reducing the amount of rubbish discarded onto our streets.

6. Local Services

Coventry Green Party supports further investment in the arts, museums and heritage projects in Coventry, which we feel are vital to help us recover from the social, mental and cultural isolation brought on by the pandemic.

Green Coventry City councillors will call for:

  • Funding to be reinstated for youth groups in Coventry, which would help to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour on our streets;
  • Reinvestment into all of Coventry’s local and mobile libraries, to ensure that a library facility is within walking distance of nearly every resident within the borough;
  • Funding to be reinstated for Coventry’s museums and for arts funding to be increased, with the aim of reaching out to all Coventry residents so all of our lives can be enriched.

7. Business & Employment

Coventry Green Party will strive to encourage all large and small businesses and industry to reduce their carbon footprint, by moving to energy efficiency, sourcing locally, and increasing self-sustainability within our region.

Coventry Green Party councillors will:

  • Work to encourage employers to recruit and train local residents in new green jobs;
  • Encourage employers to offer solutions to enable employees to work from home where it is beneficial to do so;
  • Call for improved internet provision to all Coventry residents to be subsidised by the government;
  • Call for employers to enable their employees to travel to their place of work either by bicycle, on foot, or by public transport;
  • Call for an increased variety and diversity of shops and amenities to be available to every local community across Coventry;
  • Call for support of small businesses or social enterprises which are willing to repair, recycle and repurpose domestic white goods and electrical products, since Coventry Green Party will support the consumer’s right to repair;
  • Work with local farmers and food producers to make more connections with local markets for their produce, reducing transport time and costs, and encourage healthy and sustainable food and farming systems.

8. Nature and the Environment

The pandemic proved to Coventry residents how important nature and access to green spaces is to both our physical and mental wellbeing.

Coventry Green Party say it is essential to provide space for everyone to reflect, to connect with nature, to exercise and be able to meet our friends while enjoying fresh, clean air.

Elected Green councillors in Coventry will:

  • Continue to fight to protect all our green spaces, whether in the city centre or in the suburbs, from inappropriate development;
  • Work with local residents, landowners and community groups like the Coventry Tree Wardens Network, identifying appropriate sites where trees could be planted, planning and enabling tree-planting projects, while ensuring the trees we already have are cared for and benefit future generations;
  • Draw up a strategy to ensure that Coventry’s parks are maintained and protected for the benefit of both people and wildlife, and make it easier for everyone to enjoy a walk in nature;
  • Call for Coventry City Council’s Rangers to work with community groups to seed more wildflower meadows and to add managed wildlife areas to parks;
  • Develop a plan to provide a better network of paths and cycleways to enjoy these spaces, with wider and improved access for all Coventry citizens including those with disabilities;
  • Challenge the City Council Rangers to work with local residents and community groups to create additional pockets of green space especially in the city centre, to promote biodiversity and help all Coventry residents access the health benefits of interacting with nature.

9. Waste Reduction & Management

The issue of waste management and street litter is something Coventry residents have so frequently had to raise with us, because of the failure of this Labour council to resolve the ongoing problems.

Rubbish left lying on the streets, in addition to being unsightly, is a health hazard for people and wildlife alike. Research shows that if a space looks well looked after, people will treat it better; leaving rubbish to build up encourages more fly-tipping and littering.

Coventry Green Party councillors will:

  • Change the current council policy of refusing to remove fly-tipped rubbish from property entries;
  • Work with local businesses to develop a strategy to reduce plastic waste and waste in general;
  • Work with local businesses to develop a strategy to reduce plastic waste and waste in general;
  • Demand more and accessible recycling facilities, as well options for re-use and upcycling, and reinstate public street bins for common recycled items;
  • Challenge the council to introduce services to handle difficult to recycle items;
  • Discuss how to enable Coventry residents to have large items of rubbish collected from their homes and at a reduced cost, with the aim of removing the cause of domestic fly tipping;
  • Prioritise getting more street cleaners working on our city streets;
  • Encourage relevant council departments to work with volunteer community groups who already do a fantastic job of keeping streets and green spaces clear of litter.

10. Democracy, Equality and Justice

Coventry Green Party stands for local level democracy for all. Whether or not we are elected, our members always work to ensure that, no matter their identity, abilities or wealth, all individuals working or living in Coventry will have a voice which can be heard and access to fair justice.

11. Your Local Community

Each elected Green Party councillor will not only work across Coventry city to seek to implement these policies for the common good, but will also focus on issues affecting people living and working in their own ward.

Any Questions? Contact US!

If there is an issue not mentioned here that you are concerned about, please contact us, your local Green Party in Coventry, and we will be happy to learn more about the issues that impact Coventry residents. Email us at info@coventry.greenparty.org.uk

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