The Green Party results in Leeds for the Local Council Elections on 5th May 2011 are as follows:

Adel & Wharfedale Paul Marchant  337 (4.08%)

Armley Jane Morrison  748 (13.70%)

Beeston & Holbeck David Smith  308 (6.56%)

Bramley & Stanningley Kate Bisson   514 (10.01%)

Burmantofts & Richmond Hill Peter Exley  356 (6.56%)

Chapel Allerton Colin Noble  484  (7.47%)

Crossgates & Whinmoor Ben Goldthorp  253  (3.94%)

Farnley & Wortley Ann Blackburn  2995 (47.42%) ELECTED 

Guiseley & Rawdon Colin Avison  529 (6.92%)

Harewood Patricia Capstick  400 (5.36%)

Headingley Christopher Foren  682 (17.57%)

Hyde Park & Woodhouse Robert Simpson  689 (18.30%)

Kirkstall Morgan Tatchell-Evans  527 (9.35%)

Pudsey Irene Dracup  321 (4.67%)

Roundhay Paul Ellis  559 (6.53%)

Weetwood Martin Hemingway  596 (8.96%)

Thank you for your support.

Cllr Ann Blackburn said of the result:

“I’d like to say thank you to the dedicated team who helped me, and to the people of Farnley and Wortley for their continued support. It was lovely on the day to have people coming along giving me the thumbs up and seeing the Green Party posters in people’s windows. You get a continuous buzz from people’s support. The idea is to have someone in the ward who they know and works hard for them. That’s the key. But it was a good clean campaign between the candidates and a lot of work went into it. I look forward to carrying on doing my best for the people of Farnley and Wortley.”

Elsewhere the other Farnley & Wortley Green Party candidates returned improved figures. Jane Morrison in Armley polled 748 (13.7%), Kate Bisson polled 514 (10%) in Bramley & Stanningley, and Morgan Tatchell-Evans polled 527 (9.35%) in Kirkstall.

Farnley & Wortley Green Party would like to thank you for your support.

Ann Blackburn is 57 years old and is married to David Blackburn. She has a grown up son and step-daughter. Originally from Armley, she has lived in Farnley for 28 years and worked in the area previous to that time. Ann was elected to Leeds City Council in 2002 and had represented the Farnley & Wortley area since that time. She is Leader  of  the Council’s Green Group.

A Message from Ann

It is now just under nine years since you elected me as one of the Green Councillors on Leeds City Council. During that time we have been able to achieve many things, but there is still much more to do. To me being a councillor is not just about attending meetings, but doing things in the community, and over the years I and the Green Party team have worked hard tramping the streets leafleting and door knocking in all weathers. You can be assured that as long as I am physically able I will be out at the front doing the same and trying to do my best for the people of our communities.

I ask you to support me on Thursday 5th May 2011 so that I can continue in my efforts to benefit Farnley and Wortley as a whole.

Other Farnley & Wortley Green Party Candidates

The Farnley & Wortley Green Party have selected the following people as their candidates for the Local Council Elections in May:

Armley Ward Jane Morrison

Bramley & Stanningley Ward Kate Bisson

Kirkstall Ward Morgan Tatchell-Evans

Pudsey Ward Irene Dracup

Green Party Candidates in other Leeds Council wards

Adel & Wharfedale Paul Marchant

Beeston & Holbeck David Smith

Burmantofts & Richmond Hill Peter Exley

Chapel Allerton Colin Noble

Crossgates & Whinmoor Ben Goldthorp

Guiseley & Rawdon Colin Avison

Harewood Patricia Capstick

Headingley Christopher Foren

Hyde Park & Woodhouse Robert Simpson

Roundhay Paul Ellis

Weetwood Martin Hemingway

Please support a Green Party candidate in the May elections. More Green Councillors working hard for you around the year means a better, cleaner, more sustainable Leeds.

The Farnley & Wortley and Headingley parties continue to exist and retain their autonomy, but the new city wide party will act as a membership branch for those members without a local ward party and help new local ward parties form should they wish.

The Inaugural Meeting saw the election of the new Officers, some final amendments to the constitution, and the start of the process towards setting up a bank account. The new party is now able to concentrate on the coming elections and campaigning. The next meeting will take place after the Local Elections.

The Leeds Green Party elected Officers are:

Coordinator & Chairperson: Andrew Pointon (Farnley & Wortley Green Party)

Fundraising & Events Officer: Jane Morrison (Farnley & Wortley Green Party)

Local Party Contact: Martin Hemingway (Headingley Green Party)

Membership Secretary: Kate Bisson (Farnley & Wortley Green Party)

Nominating Officer: Ann Blackburn (Farnley & Wortley Green Party)

Secretary: Chris Foren (Headingley Green Party)

Treasurer: Wendy Selina (Headingley Green Party)

For more information contact either Martin Hemingway (0113 2749159) or Andrew Pointon (0113 2718717)

Olof Palme, World Interests – and what Wikileaks tells us about diplomacy as an institution
by Professor Johan Galtung

Johan Galtung is founder and Director of TRANSCEND – A Peace and Development Network for Conflict Transformation by Peaceful Means, with more than 300 members from over 80 countries around the world and Rector of TRANSCEND Peace University (TPU).

Professor Galtung has published more than 1000 articles covering a wide-range of fields, including peaceful conflict transformation, deep culture, peace pedagogy, reconciliation, development, peace building and empowerment, global governance, direct structural and cultural peace/violence, peace journalism, and reflections on current events, and more than 100 books translated into dozens of languages.

Leeds Civic Hall

Sunday 23^rd January
6.00pm

More Information from: 0113 2474339

Free guest entry: email peace@leeds.gov.uk stating name and desired number of places

Proposing the motion Cllr. David Blackburn (Farnley & Wortley) said that a city wide party would provide a forum for members living outside the active branches, and could provide support for the growth of new ward parties with the City.

Supporting Cllr. Blackburn, Martin Hemingway from Headingley Green Party stated that the branch would not replace the current branches, but would provide the focus for growth of the party in the City.

He said “At the moment we have three political parties that have betrayed the country, a Conservative Party imposing cuts that are not necessary, a Liberal Democrat Party that has abandoned every principle to outdo the Tories in its cuts agenda, and a Labour Party that is proposing all kinds of things that it failed to do during thirteen years of government.”

In their first detailed report to members since the agreement to support a Labour Administration in Leeds, Cllr. Ann Blackburn (Farnley & Wortley) said that some of the measures asked in the agreement were already being delivered on. The review of the future of City of Leeds School had been done resulting in the school staying open, and the biggest energy efficiency scheme in the country was in the planning stage, and would bring energy savings across the city, as homes were insulated for free. The scheme would create hundreds of ‘green jobs’ at a time when unemployment was been used again as government weapon.

Contact for the new party is 0113 2790336 – mobile 07930 116395.

Cllr. Ann Blackburn

On Light Night a mini tour of the Leeds Peace trail will be offered. Guided walking tours lasting approximately 30 minutes will depart from Civic Hall steps and tour around 6 of the central trail sites. At each of the selected sites the group will stop for a short story, poetry, piece of drama, musical break or related activity.  Every walker will be given a limited edition A5 folded peace trail map to take away free of charge. The tours will leave throughout the evening whenever a suitable group forms with the last tour at approximately 9.30pm.

Peace trail sites included

All suggested activities subject to risk assessment etc etc

Planning team

• The Peace Museum – Clive Barrett
• Peace & Emergency Planning – Roger Carter
• Together for Peace – Jill Mann

A team of volunteers will be mobilised by T4P and via Peacelink to coordinate the event, guide the tours and provide the entertainment. Drama Students and Event Management students will be recruited along side volunteers from VAL.

Volunteer roles

• Meet & greet – man the stall outside Civic hall, distribute maps
• Tour guides/Actors – to guide the tour, story tell, deliver set pieces at locations

Cllr. David Blackburn, Green Party spokesman on Fuel Poverty and Climate Change today welcomed the Green Party’s agreement that has enable Labour to take control in Leeds.

A key element of the Green Party’s agreement with the incoming Labour administration is to secure funding for a free insulation programme for all private households in the Leeds Council area.

It is estimated that this programme would cost around £30 million over a three year period, but half these costs would be met by energy utilities under their Carbon Emissions Reduction Target obligations.  Around 90,000 homes would receive free loft insulation or cavity wall insulation saving a minimum of £100 per year off their energy bills.  This would put around £8 million back into the local economy each year and the value of those savings would rise as energy bills rise.

Cllr. David Blackburn said:

“This programme would create 200 new jobs and save 48,500 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide emissions whilst cutting residents’ energy bills.

The Greens and Labour will work together to identify the capital resources necessary to make this scheme a reality over the coming months.  It is anticipated that this programme will commence in 2011-12 and will enable the Council to hit the previous Government’s target on insulating every loft and cavity wall by 2015.”

This proposal is based on a similar free insulation scheme that was successfully proposed by the Green Party in 2007 in Kirklees.  The programme there has insulated over 50,000 homes and has won several awards.

Caroline Lucas MP

The General Election of 6th May saw the historic election of the UK’s  first ever Green Party Member of Parliament, Caroline Lucas MP who won in the constituency of  Brighton Pavilion.

On 25th May Caroline Lucas  Green MP, writing for Channel 4, proposed an alternative Queen’s Speech for the State Opening of Parliament.

The alternative speech sets out the priority “to modernise the British economy for a low-carbon future, to create an economy more balanced between manufacturing and services, more resilient in the face of financial crises, where wealth is more equitably distributed and the more vulnerable in society are offered greater protection” – beginning with a £44 billion investment package which would create over one million new jobs and training places, mostly in the low-carbon sectors the Greens believe the UK must develop rapidly in order to meet demanding CO2 targets.

The speech promises to tackle the budget deficit, but with greater emphasis on taxing higher incomes. It refers to halting any new private finance initiative (PFI) schemes, and to keeping the Royal Mail in public ownership.

The alternative speech also talks about wide-ranging financial reforms which would include separating retail from investment banking, setting up a national network of not-for-profit community banks, severe restrictions on bankers’ bonuses and the introduction of a “Robin Hood tax” on financial transactions. The redistributive tax measures will ensure that a non-means-tested citizen’s pension may be introduced at the level of £170 for individual pensioners and £300 for couples. This will ensure that no British pensioner is living below the poverty line.

Other measures would include an early withdrawal from Afghanistan and the scrapping of the Trident missile system and its proposed replacement.

The full article can be found here.

On 27th May Caroline Lucas MP delivered her maiden speech to Parliament, a truly historic moment. Caroline’s full speech can be read here.

The Labour Group of Leeds City Council, with the agreement of the Green Group,  has today written to the Chief Executive announcing that they intend to form a Minority Administration which will take back control of the Council from the Conservative / Liberal Democrat Coalition that has run it for the past six years.

Councillor Ann Blackburn, Leader of the Green Group (Farnley and Wortley Ward), said:-

“Bearing in mind that Labour now have 48 of the 99 seats it would be undemocratic of us not to allow them to take control of Leeds City Council.  In doing so we have put forward some matters that are important to us as a Green Party and the Labour Group have agreed to work with us to implement them.”