Don’t let council election get hijacked

We are just two weeks away from local elections that will determine the future of our communities for the next five years.

Decisions about how our schools are run, how the vulnerable are cared for and how our precious green spaces are protected are just some of the hundreds of areas that councils control.

It’s disappointing then that some parties are seeking to make these elections about national constitutional issues which councillors will have no role or say in. Electing candidates who are entering politics with an axe to grind rather than a genuine belief in local democracy, local services and the people who deliver them could backfire spectacularly. With turnouts at council elections at around only a quarter of the electorate there is a danger that these vital elections get hijacked.

One of the biggest issues for me as an elected Green over the last five years has been the plight of the greenbelt around the Stirling area. With multiple threats now being faced it’s more important than ever that there is a larger group of Greens at Stirling Council. The outcome of this election is in the balance and the record of Labour, Tory and SNP Councillors on greenbelt issues have been at best mixed. We have seen most SNP councillors back development at Airthrey Kerse and Park of Keir, while Labour and Tory councillors recently commissioned the Airthrey-Kildean Link Road which will devastate the greenbelt and increase traffic. Only a group of Green councillors can be the strongest voice to protect the greenbelt going forward working as a team with me at Holyrood.

Our parks and green spaces are hugely important parts of our communities that can improve our health and wellbeing and create a home for nature. For many families it’s a struggle to keep children amused on a budget during holidays and weekends. Having good quality parks and greenspace within our communities is a lifeline. Many green spaces can also be managed to provide a haven for nature as well connecting countryside with town.

But a survey last year of UK parks showed that while we are using them more and more, their quality is declining as council cuts kick in and budgets for maintaining them are cut back. We could be at a tipping point where our parks and green spaces start to seriously go to ruin.

I recently secured a commitment in Parliament from the Scottish Government to push for a green space network that would stretch across the whole of Scotland and protect areas from development. We face similar pressures with wild spaces too. Habitats such as woodlands, meadows and hedgerows used to be more abundant but have been removed through decades of intensive farming. Where schemes to bring these habitats back have been put in place they are often piecemeal and the areas don’t join up. A network would create corridors allowing wildlife to move freely. Some of these corridors could also be footpaths and cycle ways to allow us to move around the countryside as well.

Another cross over between work at Holyrood and Stirling has been my proposed Member’s Bill to make 20mph the default speed limit for residential areas across Scotland.

Electing candidates entering politics with an axe to grind, rather than a genuine belief in local democracy, could backfire spectacularly

Clackmannanshire and Fife have already achieved this and Edinburgh is on its way, it’s time Stirling also got on board. Recent figures have shown that speed limit switching to 20mph could save around 1000 casualties a year across Scotland. Let’s hope there is a majority of councillors at Stirling Council after May who support a local roll out.