Friends of the Earth quiz members of three parties
Local candidates have been quizzed on green issues by members of Hammersmith and Fulham Friends of the Earth in the run up to the 4 May elections.
Campaign group co-ordinator Paula White explained, "“There is now clear evidence of the effects of global warming and we’ve heard a lot of talk from UK political party leaders about their concern for the environment. We want to know what our local council is planning to do to protect and improve our local environment – as well as contributing to addressing the wider impact of pollution which needs to be addressed globally.”
Lib Dem candidate Henrietta Bewley, the Conservative’s Nicholas Botterill and Labour Councillor Stephen Burke took questions from Hammersmith and Fulham Friends of the Earth members at their April meeting.
All were keen to discuss their opposition to night flights and the expansion of Heathrow, their commitment to improving recycling, energy efficiency of council buildings and housing, and encouraging walking and cycling. Tory and Labour candidates both mentioned their plans for lower parking permit charges for less polluting vehicles. Nicholas Botterill suggested compulsory household recycling, Henrietta Bewley explained her campaign for a joined up rail link around London, and Stephen Burke emphasised measures the current Labour council has already taken. He explained the differences he believes have been made by some of the current council’s policies. Since 1996 housing energy efficiency has improved by 21.5%, with work under way to replace traditional boilers with condensing boilers, introduce cavity wall filling, and increase insulation.
The council would aim to improve energy efficiency of council buildings by 10% over the next four years, with better lighting and heating. Mr Burke also mentioned that since 2003, the council has improved the amount of electricity bought from green supplies to 45%.
He explained how the council has worked to promote cycling and walking to school, offering cycling training, improving town centres by putting pedestrians first, and that three home zones have been introduced. He said that a Labour run council would continue to work with developers to provide safer walking routes, and support cycle awareness as the council has previously offered local residents bicycle training. Mr Burke also explained his party’s commitment for a least 10% of energy from new developments to come from renewable energy installations.
Ms Bewley explained that a Lib Dem run council would like to set up a regular environmental audit of all council activities, checking what is currently in place and what could be improved. This would include seeing how energy efficient the borough’s council housing and office buildings are, and ways of increasing the use of renewable energy in council buildings. If elected, the Lib Dems would work with council staff to make sure they are involved in environmental policy and can offer advice to local residents and business about recycling and improving energy saving energy. She also mentioned her personal campaign to build a rail link around London, joining up existing London mainline and tube stations, for example Silverlink Metro stations, to avoid making rail passengers cross central London.
Conservative candidate Nicholas Botterill said it’s time to think about how individual actions impact on the environment and for the council to think about how it runs its operations from a green perspective. He was also keen to have more evidence of which current council policies, such as walking and cycling, are working in encouraging residents to adopt environmentally friendly lifestyles. Mr Botterill explained that although the borough’s recycling rates compare well in London, following a successful trial of compulsory household recycling in Brent, the Tories would consider introducing compulsory recycling in Hammersmith and Fulham.
Hammersmith and Fulham Friends of the Earth is a volunteer-led campaigning group which raises awareness about how people can influence policy and practice to protect and improve their environment.
May 3, 2006
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