Noel Lynch (left) outside City Hall alongside Green London Assembly Member Darren Johnson (centre) and Andrew Newby, Green parliamentary candidate for Hendon in 2010 general election (right)

Barnet Green Party is calling on voters to object to Boris Johnson’s plans to remove part of the London congestion charge zone.

Transport for London (TfL) has opened up a consultation asking Londoners for their views on the proposed removal of the western congestion charging zone in central London.

Barnet Green Party is urging people to voice their opinion and urge the Mayor to keep the scheme.

“The zone has been successful in reducing the number of trips by polluting vehicles, and making the roads a safer and more pleasant environment for those travelling on foot or by bicycle.” said Noel Lynch, chair of Barnet Green Party and the co-ordinator of the London Federation of Green Parties.

“Coming just a few days after accident statistics showed a dramatic increase in vehicle collisions in pro-car Barnet, removing part of the C-charge zone doesn’t make any sense, both environmentally and in terms of safety” Lynch added. “Boris Johnson claims to be passionate about cycling, but by pandering to wealthy west London residents he will do nothing for cycling in that part of the capital”.

View the consultation and submit your views on the TfL website. The deadline for submissions is Monday, 2 August 2010.

The western C-charge zone is less than 2 miles from the southern boundary of Barnet, in Cricklewood.

Our bid to fly a kite to the height of the proposed incinerator chimney really irked the Brent Cross Cricklewood developers

Barnet Green Party would like to thank everyone in the borough who voted Green in the national and local elections last week and we would particularly like to thank the dozens of people who helped out, some of whom contacted us out of the blue.

The number of Green votes in the Barnet borough elections almost doubled from 11,637 in 2006 to 20,388 this time, which would have entitled us to several councillors under a proportional election system. Unfortunately, the current winners-take-all system continues to deny us any seats on the council, demonstrating at a local level the urgent need for major electoral reform.

Thankfully Caroline Lucas managed to win the Greens’ first ever parliamentary seat when she triumphed in Brighton Pavilion constituency, while across the country additional Green councillors were elected in Bristol, Cambridge, Reigate, Reading and Rochford in Essex, though the vagaries of the dreadful voting system and linking of the parliamentary and local elections meant we lost a few seats on some councils in London.

“As I monitored the count for East Finchley, the ward where I was a candidate, I saw that an enormous number of people had voted for names from two or three different parties, rather than backing three candidates from a single party. Judging from my strolls around the marquees where the votes were tallied, the trend was the same in other wards,” said Barnet Green Party press officer Andrew Newby.

This proves that a large proportion of people in Barnet borough really would like to see a balanced council, with a fair representation of all the political parties rather than the overwhelmingly Conservative administration that we are lumbered with.

Let us hope that the new British government, in whatever shape it may take, brings in a truly proportional voting system for local councils as well as for parliament.

Meanwhile, Barnet Green Party will continue to campaign on the many urgent local issues, not least our efforts to persuade the council to adopt a 20 mph speed limit in all residential streets in the borough. This would not only reduce accidents but make side streets more pleasant to walk or cycle along, improving people’s quality of life and boosting community spirit.

We will very much need your help in future and hope you will continue to support us as we begin preparations for the next major electoral challenge, the London Assembly elections in 2012, when we and activists across London will be fighting to increase the number of Green members of the London Assembly. Greens have played a key role in shaping policies on the assembly and could have even more influence if we win additional seats.

Andrew Newby, Kate Tansley and Donal Lyven, our local Green parliamentary candidates

Barnet Green Party urges local people to follow your conscience and vote Green both in Thursday’s general election and in the Barnet Council election on the same day, May 6th.

“We know Green policies are popular. Our national policies are in first place in the giant survey of more than 250,000 people on vote for policies, way ahead of Labour, LibDems and Tories. Our main challenge is to persuade voters that there is a chance of us being elected and that a Green vote is a worthwhile vote,” said Noel Lynch, Barnet Green Party chairman and a candidate for the target ward of East Finchley in the council election.

In the parliamentary elections, Donald Lyven is standing for the Greens in Finchley & Golders Green, with Kate Tansley the Green candidate in Chipping Barnet and Andrew Newby the Green man in Hendon constituency.

Newby said: “We call on local people to vote Green in all three constituencies. There is no point in trying to be tactical in order to achieve a hung parliament. You will just end up with an MP from one of the three tired old traditional parties.”

Only the Greens among the national parties would scrap Trident and all British nuclear weapons, saving up to 100 billion pounds. The Greens would also pull out of Afghanistan immediately, saving five billion pounds a year, and would cancel ID cards and other wasteful ‘Big Brother projects’, potentially saving as much as 50 billion pounds.

The Greens are the originators of the Green New Deal project which aims to create a million new jobs by investing in sustainable industries such as renewable energy and insulation.

Locally, the Greens are very much targeting seats on Barnet Council after achieving a strong score last time which would have brought them six seats  if the vote had been held under proportional representation.

“We believe we have a particularly strong chance in East Finchley ward,” said Lynch, who is campaigning with Newby and local stalwart Steve Norman for the three East Finchley seats on the council.

Hopes are also high for Mill Hill ward, where twins Dilan and Dilem Kurt have teamed up with former Barnet councillor David Williams to mount a strong bid for votes.

Noel Lynch, Barnet Green Party chairman and a candidate in East Finchley ward

Next Saturday is your final chance to put your questions to local Green Party candidates in a ‘Meet and Greet’ session in East Finchley.

Some of Barnet Green Party’s candidates for parliament and for the Barnet Council election will be at our stall outside Budgens on East Finchley High Road from around 10 am to 1 pm to respond to your queries and hear your views.

If you can’t make it on Saturday you are welcome to send in a question or a comment to info@barnetgreenparty.co.uk and we will reply as soon as we can.

On Barnet Council, our pledges are:

We’ll fight for: jobs, homes, insulation, a 20 mph speed limit, better public transport, good policing.

Nationally, a Green MP from Barnet would:

Save tens of billions by scrapping British nuclear weapons, withdrawing at once from Afghanistan, cancelling ID cards and scaling back other ‘Big Brother’ projects.

Newby (left) and Lyven with Kate Tansley, Green candidate for Chipping Barnet

If you are ready for some light relief amid the election campaigning why not join us for kite flying on Sunday at Clitterhouse playing fields near Brent Cross?

Anyone who would like to bring their own kites to fly alongside ours will be especially welcome.

Next Sunday, April 18^th, Donald Lyven, Green Party parliamentary candidate for Finchley and Golders Green, and Andrew Newby, Green Party candidate for Hendon, will attempt to fly a kite to 140 metres, the height of the chimney at the incinerator which the developers of the 4.5 billion pounds Brent Cross Cricklewood project propose to build.

The attempt will take place at Clitterhouse Playing Fields (Claremont Road, NW2) at 1.00 pm. Media have been invited. (Contact Donald Lyven on 07727 748209 or Andrew Newby on 07947 402945 or andrewnewby1@gmail.com).

Lyven and Newby’s kite flying plan aims to mock the Brent Cross Cricklewood developers’ denial that the 140 metre chimney will spew fumes across the whole of North London.

“Of course it will,” said Lyven. “140 metres is an enormous height. The legal maximum height for flying a kite is less than half of that – 60 metres in fact. If anyone tries to stop us we’ll ask how come the developers expect to get away with building a polluting chimney 140 metres tall when we can only fly a kite to 60 metres.”

NB: The Civil Aviation Authority has given approval for Lyven to fly the kite to 140m so there should be no trouble.

Andrew Saffrey, Golders Green candidate for the Green Party in the coming Barnet Council elections, believes the incinerator will blight Golders Green and spread pollution far and wide.

The waste incinerator has been dressed up in the consultation material as a “gasification plant” or a “CHP station”. Whatever it is called, it will emit large quantities of harmful emissions from a 140-metre chimney into the suburbs of North London,” he said.

With prevailing winds taking these emissions to the east, the Boroughs of Enfield, Haringey and Waltham Forest would also be affected, as would the Counties of Essex and Hertfordshire,” he said.

Newby said: “When the Brent Cross Cricklewood plans came before Barnet Planning Committee its Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat members of the planning committee all just rolled over and let their tummies be tickled by the developers.

They approved the plans almost on the nod when the sheer number of objectors and the broad scope of the various objections – the incinerator is just one of many problems – meant that the only truly democratic decision would have been to call a public enquiry,” he said.

Giant Cody box kite to be flown on Sunday

Barnet Council needs a strong Green group to hold the administration to account not just on environmental policy but on jobs, housing, social issues and certainly planning,” said Newby.

Labour’s Communities Minister John Denham may have blocked the development for the moment but he has not ruled out approving the scheme after the election, still without the vital public inquiry needed to expose the many flaws in the scheme. For kite enthusiasts, the kite is a Giant Cody Box kite made of Ripstop Nylon & Fibreglass. Size 245 x 145cm. Speed 5-18mph.

Today the Green Party’s Election Broadcast was launched via their Only Green website. By visiting the site voters can not only look at our key policies but take a Policy Matchmaker test to see how close their views match ours. Why not visit the Policy Matchmaker page here. You could have more in common with the Green Party than you think.

Yesterday Caroline Lucas was interviewed by Andrew Marr. Here is the interview in full

Today Barnet Green Party successfully launched its 2010 Council Election at Tally Ho Corner in North Finchley. Candidates from across the borough were  joined by Green Party MEP, Jean Lambert.

Candidates, members and supporters of Barnet Green Party gather at Tally Ho Corner.

For more information visit our Council Elections Page.
Press coverage: MEP Jean Lambert backs Barnet Green Party’s campaign launch at Tally Ho today

Barnet Green Party is prioritising job creation in its pledges for both the national and local elections. Here are our pledges for the Barnet Council election on May.

Jobs: We will press Barnet Council to do more to help prepare local 16-24 year old people for the world of work and to help them find jobs.

Nationally, the Greens want to create a million new jobs through the Green New Deal.

Homes: We will work to ensure that Barnet Council takes serious steps to encourage the building of affordable homes to buy or for rent.

Barnet’s performance in meeting local housing needs is among the worst of all the London boroughs.

Insulation: The Greens’ national ambition is for free insulation in all homes. We plan to submit proposals to Barnet Council for improved policies on insulation for public and private homes.

20 mph Speed Limit: Barnet Green Party is proposing a 20 mph speed limit on all residential and shopping streets in the borough.

Lower limits lead to a sharp reduction in accidents and also reduce people’s sense of fear and danger. People walk and cycle more and feel safer about letting their children walk or cycle to school.

Public Transport: Greens will continue to campaign for better local bus services and will fight any threat to Tube services or ticket office staffing at stations in the borough.

Green Party councillors in Barnet will also:

• Support community services such as libraries and post offices.
• Fight any new plans for major supermarkets in the area.
• Protect local parks, green spaces and allotments.
• Propose measures to help local businesses continue providing vital services to local people.
• Encourage a high visibility by local police and support officers to deter crime and make people feel safer.
• Spur Barnet Council to adopt a more sustainable approach

For further information contact: Andrew Newby