Nigel Hennerley

Green Party

IN response to the carbon reduction toolkit document from Cheshire East

Council, it is very good to see that the climate and ecological emergency has now become mainstream.

And this document reflects the work that Cheshire East and local parish and town councils have done and are doing to combat this crisis.

The Green Party has always been and always will be at the forefront of this issue, but what I find frustrating is the inconsistency of policy at both national and local level.

On the one hand, the very ambitious targets set by the government - and enormous efforts by communities across the county - are so often undermined by economic policies and unsustainable growth models. HS2 is a case in point and cannot be justified in its construction and purpose in the face of the climate emergency.

It would be far better to electrify the remaining 60 per cent plus of the existing rail infrastructure for a start.

It is far better to tackle people’s local transport needs as a priority, like user friendly, safe cycleways around our towns including Macclesfield and improving bus services, particularly in our rural areas in Cheshire.

The Greens believe it is important that our elected representatives are free from party policy constraints and able to act in the best interests of their constituents at national and local level.

Buildings are another important issue.

We need to be building housing to the best environmental standards only and they need to be on brownfield sites, such as old mills and disused pubs, not on our ever depleted green spaces.

Much of our housing stock is in the rented sector.

There needs to be much more done to both safeguard our environment and residents from fuel poverty, lack of good insulated homes and renewable energy options.