TORIES BID TO REDUCE NATURAL ENGLAND’S POWERS
Local MP, Thérèse Coffey, believes that politicians should designate Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) rather than experts at Natural England. Along with other Conservative MPs, she is supporting a bill to transfer responsibility for designating SSSI from Natural England to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). If it proceeds into law then social, cultural and economic factors could be taken into account and potentially override scientific interests. Julian Cusack, Green Party candidate for Suffolk Coastal, said ‘The government has a legal duty to halt the decline of species by 2030. Currently only 3% of […]
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GREEN PARTY LAUNCHES LOCAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN WITH FOCUS ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The Green Party of England and Wales today launched its local election campaign in Bristol with a pledge to support councils to massively increase their supply of affordable housing. Co-leader Carla Denyer, who is standing as the parliamentary candidate in Bristol Central, said: “This country faces an acute housing crisis. There are over a million households on council waiting lists. In England the average home for sale now costs more than 8 times the annual average household earnings. “We desperately need a massive increase in the supply of affordable social housing. Councils have a vital role to play but they […]
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LOCAL COMMUNITIES SHOULD HAVE MORE INFLUENCE OVER HOUSING DEVELOPMENT SAYS JULIAN CUSACK
Building more homes in Suffolk Coastal seems like a good idea but they haven’t always met local needs. Too many over-priced new houses have been built without additional energy efficiency measures while there continues to be a shortage of affordable homes to buy or rent. And more new developments are being proposed such as the Howlett Way site, despite local objections and associated environmental devastation. Green Party policy has always been that local communities should have much more influence over plans for large scale housing. The new Green/Lib Dem/Independent (GLI) administration at East Suffolk Council (ESC) is working hard to […]
GREEN PARTY SELECTS RACHEL SMITH-LYTE AS CANDIDATE FOR SUFFOLK POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONER
The Green Party has selected Rachel Smith-Lyte as their candidate for the Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner election taking place on 2nd May. If elected she will join the growing number of women across England who hold these important appointments, bringing a fresh perspective to policing. The Green Party are the main challengers to the Conservatives for the Suffolk-wide role. In last year’s elections they polled higher than ever across the county, beating Labour and winning more than twice as many votes as the Liberal Democrats. Rachel has been an East Suffolk District councillor for Melton ward since 2019. In […]
GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE CALLS FOR BETTER RURAL BUS SERVICES
Recently I filled out a survey for the East Suffolk Travel Association (ESTA), which has been campaigning successfully to protect and improve public transport in East Suffolk since the 1960s. The questions about train services were relatively easy. Yes, I would like improvements such as through trains to and from London, even if only once or twice a day. Of course I would like better station facilities. But I soon realised the priority for me has to be better bus services across the constituency. In a rural area like Suffolk Coastal, where the population is widely dispersed, the train service […]
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NHS CRISIS NEEDS LOCAL SOLUTIONS says Julian Cusack
The NHS is facing a perfect storm. According to the BMA, it has been underfunded by more than £300bn since 2010. At the same time, it has been paying over £2bn a year to service PFI debt acquired under the last Labour government, and outsourced services have been leaking funds to private, profit-making companies. This chronic underfunding has affected the NHS across all areas, whether it is an inability to attract and retain staff, to get appointments with a GP or NHS dentist or to access mental health care. Waiting lists continue to grow and there are increasing delays in diagnosis and treatment. All of this […]
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Energy security achievable without Sizewell C
Writes Julian Cusack How can we keep the lights on without Sizewell C? My short answer is that its 3.2GW capacity is simply not enough to make a significant contribution to energy security, when demand for electricity will at least double on the route to a Net Zero economy. Renewable sources can provide all the electricity we will need, both faster and more cheaply. We anticipate that electricity supply will need to increase to between 2 and 2.5 times the current level. This is because declining fossil fuel use in other sectors will require electrification, notably in transport […]
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GREENS JOIN PROTEST AT SIZEWELL C SITE
GREENS JOIN PROTEST AT SIZEWELL C SITE Green Party Parliamentary candidate Julian Cusack attended a protest outside the gates to the Nuclear Power Station at Sizewell in East Suffolk. He and local residents were protesting about today’s government decision to trigger the start of work on the Sizewell C site. This is happening despite the lack of a Final Investment Decision and without the government having secured financing for the project. Julian Cusack said: “It would be very unusual in the private sector for work to start on a project before funding was secured. This is being done at the […]
GREENS CALL FOR URGENT ACTION ON ROADS NEAR SIZEWELL C SITE
MEDIA RELEASE: 13 December 2023 GREENS CALL FOR URGENT ACTION ON ROADS NEAR SIZEWELL C SITE The Green Party’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Julian Cusack today called on Suffolk County Council and EDF to ‘get a grip’ on road and traffic conditions near the proposed Sizewell C site amid persistent rumours that the Government will ‘green light’ construction in January. Julian Cusack said, “During the early years of SZC construction, the existing road infrastructure will need to take considerably more traffic than ever before. It is now imperative that Suffolk County Council and the Police Authority, funded by EDF, implement integrated […]
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GREENS CALL FOR NATIONAL PARK STATUS FOR SUFFOLK COAST AND HEATHS AONB
The Green Party’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Julian Cusack today called on Natural England to consider designation of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) as the ‘Suffolk Coast and Heaths National Park’. Julian Cusack said, “The government has announced there will be a new national park in England[1] and now would be a good time to think about setting one up in the east of the country.” In the last decade the landscape of East Suffolk has come under attack from a proliferation of proposals for major energy projects including subsea cable landfalls, cable corridors and […]
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Green Party opposes LionLink landfall in East Suffolk
Julian Cusack, the Green Party candidate for Suffolk Coastal, is urging as many people as possible to respond directly to National Grid and reject all its options for LIONLINK, the project to bring offshore wind energy onshore in East Suffolk. The non-statutory consultation by National Grid closes on Friday 3rd November 2023. Julian Cusack said “The consultation process is flawed. National Grid has already decided to bring electricity cables onshore across unspoilt coastline in Suffolk, to dig trenches across areas of outstanding natural beauty and scientific interest, to destroy habitats and farming land and build substations and hubs in rural […]
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Mid-Suffolk Greens cut through the confusion about mowing public land
Green Party councillors in Mid-Suffolk are receiving more and more complaints about grass growing tall and not being cut. To reassure the public and set the story straight, they have published a very short guide to the basics, accompanied by a fuller explanation of meadow management and how it works. Councillor Dr Dan Pratt, an ecologist, said: “We need to do all we can to reverse the decline in biodiversity, including pollinators and other insects. Flora and fauna are under pressure from intensive agricultural practices, pollution, development and global temperature rise. “All species need ways to find nearby habitat, stepping-stones […]
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