Reason for Our Raise- the story so far
After welcoming our first ever Green councillors in Enfield within the last 6 months, the Enfield Green Party has broken new ground. We now have a voice in Enfield Council for the first time. Our councillors are delivering scrutiny and accountability for Enfield residents that is so desperately needed and otherwise wholly absent. We have led on producing the much lauded Meridian Water scrutiny report, calling in council decisions where any genuine due process appears to be materially absent, and generally holding the council to account more widely.
Delivering Scrutiny to the heart of the Council & a Voice for Our Residents
Having had a taste of what we can do, we do not want to stop there. We are now going all out to defend and increase this voice, for the benefit of Enfield residents. We are fighting on all fronts to defend these two seats, as well as supporting a new wave of ambitious local candidates that we have recently welcomed to the party, who have been inspired by our recent success and mutual desire for a voice for their communities.
As a party, the Greens stand alone in having a "no-whip" policy, whereby any councillors are free to make their own minds up on what is best for their constituents and weigh up each and every proposal put forward on its own merits. This creates the conditions for genuine scrutiny that otherwise is absent from many local councils who frequently get whipped into backing policy regardless of their own views.
Why we need more funds & how they will be spent
We have been keen to support our councillors in communicating with their residents about what they have been up to in holding the council to account, raising awareness of key issues where local democracy is not functioning as it should.
With the help of our small committed team of activists we have distributed an unprecedented level of materials through letterboxes to help do this. Please click the link here below for all our newsletters on issues affecting residents in Southgate we are taking action on.
We CAN win
We want to keep doing this. Times have changed and where a Green vote historically might not have landed a seat on the council, this time it absolutely can. Up and down the country many Greens are getting elected onto local councils. We need to keep the current level of effort up until May, and more, to give our councillors a level playing field against the bigger parties. However, with this extra level of communication comes extra cost and the coffers of our local party are running a little low.
In addition to this recent undertaking, the last five years or so have been more demanding than usual, with an election or referendum almost every year since 2014. While other political parties are funded by wealthy corporate donors, the Green Party is different. We’re a grassroots people-powered party, funded by our individual members contributing via their membership fees every month (this grassroots funding is one of our greatest strengths, we believe!)
This fundraise here will help the local party not to be overstretched and allow us to continue to build for a Green future in Enfield. Any additional money raised will be used to support our campaigns on the doorstep and beyond.
Our Local Campaigners
Our Green councillors pride themselves on listening to our residents; working hard to make their voices heard; being independent and free from any party whipping to better represent residents on the council;
Our two councillors, representing Southgate Green and Southgate respectively, are Anne Brown and Charith Gunawardena :
Anne Brown- Southgate Green
Anne joined us in October 2021, making the personally-difficult decision to leave Labour after a lifetime of being a member. Anne is particularly passionate about delivering action on climate change and about protecting our NHS.
Anne says "I joined the Greens to be able to better represent the residents that I was elected to serve. As a Green member of the council I am now free to stand up for issues that I know impact my constituents and that they care about. I am all too aware of the inequality of outcomes endured by many residents in my area and I stand to deliver justice for them.
I have 2 grown up daughters who both proudly work in the NHS. I know the quality of the care that, together with their colleagues, they routinely provide on a daily basis. I am abhorred by the private interests that increasingly pervade every facet of our once national health service. These entities only ever seek one thing, profit. This cannot be allowed to continue. We should be immensely proud of how our NHS has stood up to the unprecedented stresses it has experienced in recent years and we must now defend its core principles like never before."
"I joined the Greens to be able to better represent my constituents"
Charith Gunawardena- Southgate
Charith comments " I have lived in Southgate for 26 years. I am a passionate localist and care deeply about the well-being of the community and residents here. I have frequently stood alone in the council to try and deliver the scrutiny that I feel is so desperately lacking on many decisions taken. I stand to secure a future of opportunity for our next generations in Southgate, with a council that listens to the opinions of the community it supposedly represents. This has never been more at risk."
"I care deeply about social justice and am keen to ensure that the transition we must make on all fronts to avert climate catastrophe, are not carried on the shoulders of the poorest in society. I am passionate about making sure our borough remains a place that families feel welcomed to set up home and am pushing to ensure any future housing meets those requirements."
Georgia Elliot Smith- Southgate
Georgia says "I have lived in Enfield for over a decade now and have recently located my own business here. I am a mum and believe that the futures of my children and that of their peers is under threat if the right actions are not taken now.
I was so incensed by the lack of accountability in the decision-making process to rebuild what would create a mega incinerator in our borough that I took the government to court. I am now joined in this opposition by many community groups that share the realisation of the detrimental impact this will have for decades to come, and how It is being delivered for reasons of ego and nothing more. I stand to ensure these sorts of decisions are accompanied with the requisite accountability that they clearly warrant. There is no other way to deliver this than from within the council chamber"
Why should you support the Green Party? (In case this wasn't already very clear!!)
Two party politics is bust. Council democracy is bust. We all know the farce that is central government; and too, the autocratic local government we have reluctantly come to know here in Enfield. Taken together, this has resulted in government structures clearly wholly inadequate to carry out any duty on behalf of the people it is supposed to serve. Enfield residents are sick of this. They are understandably entirely disillusioned with any of their so-called leaders. The preference centrally for partying and offering contracts to their mates, at a time of a public health crisis, has eroded any last shred of public trust. This cannot continue. The time for a humble, conscientious and a genuinely listening style of leadership, has arrived. Greens are starting to deliver this on local councils across the country.
We need a new approach, that doesn't pander to extreme party factions nor corporate influence. We need a fresh voice in local council chambers, that puts issues and country before party. The next global crisis, the climate emergency that through dither (and partying!) now looms large over all our heads, it demands action now.
It is clear that other parties, whilst happy to make headline promises, are equally willing to budge on the timescales and totality of environmental commitments. Greens are not. We need an approach that prioritises people and planet in harmony. Greens offer just this, and if you want climate action now, there is only one choice.
The Green Party in Enfield stands for
No to Mega Incinerators
Incineration will never be a solution to the climate crisis, nor the health injustice that is currently silently stalking the least well-off communities in Enfield. IT doesn't serve residents now or in the future. To suggest otherwise is utter greenwash at best; or a deceit on the scale that throws the wellbeing of all future generations of Enfield residents into grave jeopardy with scant regard at worst.
The local community has raised its objections continuously, only to fall on deaf ears. Local democracy and decision making has clearly failed them. But we cannot give up. There are much better solutions than the one on the table. It is abundantly apparent that the NLWA is progressing with the current proposal for reasons of convenience and delusions of grandeur from the board members closest to it. A huge incinerator, perpetually wanting to burn huge quantities of waste, can never be sustainable.
The head of the company that has been awarded the contract, without contest, Acciona, himself admitted that the sizing of the incinerator was wrong. It is time to pause and review this white elephant that will lock us in to producing and then burning excess waste for decades to come.
Yes to protecting the Green Belt and Public Parks
The greenbelt land grab that has been set in motion by this council cannot be allowed. We know the huge amenity value that Enfield's precious greenbelt provides to its residents. This value in terms of well-being and health cannot be underestimated. Likewise, and doubly so for the precious green spaces afforded by our parks in Enfield. These together, have provided an absolute lifeline in recent times particularly and a key reason that people set up home here.
To suggest that either of these two massive assets are better utilised by developers for their profits or by large multinational sports companies is a dereliction of duty to future generations of Enfield residents. The housing being proposed would not address the one area of housing shortage in Enfield, affordable family homes. The schemes would inevitably end up only suiting the developers pockets.
No to Climate Chaos- Yes to Action NOW
We need urgent action to avoid catastrophic climate change. With pressure from Enfield Greens together with activists from Extinction Rebellion and many other groups, Enfield Council declared a climate emergency back in 2019. With ensuing national promises at COP26, we now need to ensure that this is followed by appropriate accompanying action on the ground. Mega incineration and building on the greenbelt are not policies of a council who see the declaration as anything more than a nice soundbite. The climate emergency will not be resolved by such inconsistent policy. We will force the council to live up to its promises and deliver a better future for Enfield residents that is resilient to future threats. Greens have led the way for years on tackling climate chaos. Every vote for the Greens helps speed up climate action.
The Green New Deal, as well as directly addressing the Climate Emergency will also mean cheaper energy, better transport, warmer homes and hundreds of thousands of new decent jobs. It is a transformative package that is designed to deliver equitable social transformation as well as the green shift that the planet needs.
Our recent manifesto makes clear our areas of focus.
- The Green New Deal Bill to "get the UK on track to reducing climate emissions to net zero by 2030"
- The Future Generations Bill which would "require public bodies... to balance the needs of the present with the needs of the future"
- The NHS Reinstatement Bill to increase funding for the NHS by at least £6bn per year, until 2030
- The Universal Basic Income Bill, introducing unconditional payments for everyone "above their subsistence needs"
- Scrap the first past the post voting system
We are willing to legislate to ensure the future health of the country is secured.
Why should you support the Green Party in Enfield?
In addition to the above, our candidates are united in delivering on a local agenda. Together we stand united for:
- No to Mega Incinerators and yes to district heating networks powered by renewable energy sources
- Vibrant local high streets and neighbourhoods, that are safe, green and clean, that work for local communities
- Integrated, fair, green transport solutions with affordable public transport and well designed active travel infrastructure.
- Higher recycling levels and enhanced waste collection services
- Affordable, family homes aligned to local household income levels
- Measurable, time bound local action to address the Climate Emergency. A net zero public sector & local economy
- No to Building on the precious Green Belt
- No to the public parks land grab and corporate sell off
- Local community centres and public facilities
- Efficient adult and children services
- Air fit to breathe no matter your location in Enfield
- A truly public NHS
- Good properly-funded local schools, in every postcode
- Fair, less stressful work that pays properly
- A public health approach to knife crime
We can deliver the Green agenda that will directly benefit residents of Enfield.
Whether this means standing up to ensure that the illegal air quality we now find in so many places across the borough is made safe to breathe; we will be an effective voice defending what should be fundamental rights in the 21st century.
We want to deliver the Green New Deal here in Enfield, by creating opportunities for sustainable, renewable and energy efficiency industries to thrive. We believe the scope for improving the quality of social housing stock in the borough is huge, and with it the lives of those that live there.
We're living in exciting times and Greens will pass the benefits of technological advances back to ordinary people, with policies such as universal income and the four day work week.
The Greens are the only party with realistic policies to protect our way of life and put your health and the health of the planet at the heart of decision making.
Help us secure this future. Pledge & Vote Green in Enfield today. Every vote for the Greens is a vote for climate action now.
The planet is on fire. Only the Greens can put the fire out.
Standing to Serve You
Anne, Charith & Georgia
#VoteForaCouncilThatListens #VoteGreen2022 #TurnEnfieldGreen
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*Promoted on behalf of Enfield Green Party by Bill Linton, 39A Fox Lane, Palmers Green, London N13 4AJ.