'Green' reunion - reflections

A couple of weeks back we had a party to celebrate ourselves - everyone who's been involved in Halton Green Party.

It's been 5 years (early 2004) since Jim Craig and I, with others, started the Green Party in Halton and Jim managed to get up here to be with us for this celebration (Jim started the party in Runcorn at the same time but had to move down south following his employment late 2004).

Jim's departure was a big blow to me personally as he is a hard working really creative person and was the main link in Runcorn. Its difficult basically being on your own and starting a local political party. My wife (Linda) has really helped and I've had support from various people over the years (even some friends who might not necessarily have voted Green - I really thank them!) But it's not the same as having a political activist soul mate, to hear you out, to bounce things off and bring you down to earth sometimes, who's always physically near - its different than phone calls.

It seems to me that this has been the experience of other Green Parties starting off up and down the country. There are not too many activists out there especially in non city areas. Nevertheless the Green Party has grown nationally at some rate over the past decade and now we are the fourth party numerically in terms of numbers of councillors in the country. It's almost as if the Green Party's time is now. There are signs currently, for instance, that the party is on the verge of winning its first seat at the next general election (Brighton Pavillion - Caroline Lucas).

In the areas where the Green Party has established itself locally and started to win seats it has tended to stir things up politically and motivate other politicians of different political colours to become more active in their local wards which has got to be good for local democracy.

Anecdotal evidence in the Halton View ward where the Greens are virtually breathing down Labour's neck (130 votes behind Labours top candidate in the ward) would seem to indicate that this is the case. Not only this, but Halton Council appears to have become more acutely aware of Green issues and has been initiating some really useful projects in relation to energy saving and recycling initiatives - Phil Harris one of Halton Council's Executive Board members has done some stirling work in this area which I would applaud. I wonder though, how much of this has been related to our presence? This of course could be wishful thinking on my part!

What have we been up to in the past 5 years?

Well in practical terms among many things we've been involved in:- Successfully campaigned over safety issues at Runcorn Docks (2004/6); ensured that the council complied with legislation in relation to providing public seating in Halton that could be accessed by older people and people with disabilities (2005); provided written evidence at Public Inquiries against proposals for incinerators at Ince Green and Weston Point (2006/7); Helped residents in their campaign to try to stop a mental health secure unit from being set up in the Halton View ward (2007/8); provided written evidence to the Second Mersey Crossing Public Inquiry in opposition to the proposal in terms of it's not being the appropriate solution re congestion (2008/9); helped initiate a residents Lorry Watch Scheme in Halton View (2008/9)and provided written evidence to a public inquiry against a proposal for quarrying and landfill site near Halton View ward (2008/9)


In terms of opportunities we've provided for people - perhaps we've brought likeminded people together to start asking questions about what they're able to offer their community; hopefully, without sounding pompous, we've got people to think about the real challenges we are facing in today's world and different ways of solving such challenges; provided people with an opportunity to vote for an ethical party which is just as much concerned about people in other parts of the world as it is in our community that sees linkages between how they fare and how we fare socially, economically and ecologically.

Perhaps all this is too grand and if we asked a Green Voter in Halton View ward why they have voted Green in the last few elections it might just be that its provided them with a real possibility of voting in someone new in the ward, an event which has not happened for some considerable time.

This is a real possibility in May 2010!