Clear political divisions emerged at Stroud District Council’s full meeting last week, as the Green administration successfully passed a motion opposing the Labour Government’s proposed rollback of environmental protections.

The motion, proposed by Deputy Council Leader Cllr Catherine Braun, criticised Part III of the Planning & Infrastructure Bill, which would allow developers to bypass on-site nature protections by paying a “nature restoration levy” to fund habitat improvements elsewhere. The Bill has drawn widespread condemnation from national environmental bodies – including the Wildlife Trusts, RSPB, and Woodland Trust – and has been branded “the worst attack on England’s ecosystems I’ve seen in my lifetime” by environmental writer George Monbiot.

Despite an official Labour Group position supporting the reforms, numerous Labour councillors broke ranks at Thursday night’s meeting to back the Greens’ motion, highlighting how many Labour councillors remain concerned about the government’s approach.

Cllr Braun said:

“Like Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and others, we’re calling for Part III to be withdrawn. Letting developers pay to destroy irreplaceable habitats like Rodborough Common or the Severn Estuary is a dangerous precedent. It’s naïve—or underhand—to suggest these special places can simply be replaced elsewhere.”

Labour group leader Cllr Katy Hoffman defended the reforms, citing the urgent need for housing and system overhaul. But Green councillors argued that the focus should be on building the social and affordable homes we need and this should start with the 1.4 million houses that already have existing permission.

Green group leader Cllr Chloe Turner added:

“This isn’t just about wildlife — it’s about people. Access to nature is essential for health and wellbeing and must not become a luxury. Every community deserves nature-rich green space on their doorstep — not compensation schemes that excuse destruction.”

Thanks to the Green-led motion, the Council’s Chief Executive will now write to local MPs urging them to oppose Part III of the Bill. Since the meeting, the Government has proposed minor amendments, but leading nature organisations warn they do not go far enough to stop the weakening of environmental protections.

Pictured: Cllr Catherine Braun, who proposed the motion, with Cllr Chloe Turner, Green group leader.

Notes:

The motion’s resolution reads as follows:

Council RESOLVES to: 1. Request the Chief Executive of the Council to write to the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, relevant Secretaries of State, as well as local MPs, expressing the concerns in the motion on pages 189-192, and calling for the withdrawal of part 3 of the Planning and infrastructure Bill.

2. Ask our district’s three MPs, Dr Simon Opher MP, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, and Dr Roz Savage MP, to oppose measures in part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

3. Share this resolution with neighbouring councils, local civic groups, nature organisations and the local press, to encourage wider opposition and coordinated advocacy.

4. Adopt Gloucestershire’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy, to include bringing it to full council, as soon as it is available and in such a way as to become a material consideration in planning decision making.

• The full supporting text is available here:

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Gloucestershire County Council is to ask central government to consider nationalising failing water and wastewater provider Thames Water, thanks to a Green Party motion.

The motion at the full meeting on Wednesday (July 16) called on Government to review the case for nationalisation of Thames Water and the wider UK water industry, including the potential for restructuring the industry into one or more public benefit companies. It also called for the future of Thames Water to be subject to a transparent, democratic process, with scrutiny from politicians from areas supplied by Thames Water; trade unions and workers; citizens’ groups, and environmental organisations. 

The motion, proposed by Cllr Chloe Turner (Green, Minchinhampton) and seconded by Cllr Paul Hodgkinson (Liberal Democrat, Bourton-on-the-Water & Northleach), passed with majority support.

Thames Water serves thousands of customers across eastern Gloucestershire and has been widely criticised for its poor record on leaks and sewage pollution, as well as its huge debts.

Cllr Turner has been working with Compass, a cross-party campaigning organisation for a good society, which campaigns on the public ownership of water. Lena Swedlow, campaigns manager for Compass, said: “It’s wonderful to see Gloucestershire County Council pass this motion, the latest in an ever-growing number of motions supported by Lib Dem, Green, and Labour councillors across the Thames region.

“Local people and local government are constantly ahead of Westminster on this – from grassroots anti-sewage campaigners to county councils, the national movement for clean, affordable water is succeeding. Local leaders know that public ownership of water is the global norm and that industry workers, environmental experts and the general public remain clear in their demands.”

Cllr Turner said: “Water is too important a resource to be in private hands. For Greens, nationalisation is the only credible option to end the unlawful dumping of sewage, stop rewarding shareholders for failure, reinvest all profits back into fixing leaks, and build new infrastructure fit for the future.”

She added: “The government claims nationalisation would cost too much, but this assessment is based on a report commissioned by the water companies, who are hardly unbiased sources. The reality, according to independent experts, is that Thames Water could be nationalised at minimal cost. And nationalisation works: water services in 90% of the world are already in public ownership, which has been shown to bringgreat benefits to customers, staff and the environment.”

Cllr Hodgkinson said: “I’ve seen first-hand the widespread sewage pollution in the Cotswolds. This in itself is totally unacceptable but it’s clear that privatisation of the water industry has been a disaster for clean water, a disaster for Gloucestershire and a disaster for everyone in the Thames Water area.”

Green group leader Cllr Beki Hoyland (Forest of Dean: Blakeney & Bream) said: “We can exist for three minutes without air and for three days without water, it is one of our basic human requirements. Indeed it violates the UK’s health and safety regulations to deny tap water to someone.

“So how can something as basic as clean, drinkable water and the safe management of sewerage infrastructure be used to make huge individual and corporate profit? How can this vital service not have public scrutiny? This motion demonstrates this council’s support for taking water out of the hands of for-profit organisations.”

Cllr Turner is pictured with Cllr Steve Williams (Green) of Waverley Borough Council and Green peer Jenny Jones, Baroness of Moulsecoomb, outside the Royal Courts of Justice demanding a Thames Water “Alternative Board” earlier this year.

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See our previous message of solidarity here. Stroud Greens have also this week written to Ecotricity owner Dale Vince to express our backing for his decision to display the flag.

After the gathering many of us went to the weekly vigil for Gaza, alongside comrades from other political parties and none who deplore the genocide in Palestine.

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Background: Stroud District Council (SDC), after receiving several complaints about energy company Ecotricity displaying a Palestinian flag on its Stroud HQ building, has asked the company to apply for planning permission.

Stroud District Green Party was subsequently asked by a journalist if this action by minority Green-led SDC conflicted with the local Green Party’s earlier statement in support of the Palestinians.

The following is our response:

“Councils – as the local planning authorities – are required to abide by national government planning legislation around which flags are allowed to be displayed.

The Council had received public complaints about the Ecotricity flag, so SDC officers were obliged to take advice on the matter. This confirmed that the Palestinian flag is not listed among those with automatic or deemed consent, because Palestine is not a state recognised by the UK Government (unlike in 147 of 193 UN Member States). As a result, the Council has had to invite Ecotricity to submit a planning application for the flag on its building.

Unfortunately, this disappointing outcome is not a matter where political leadership can intervene: councillors, even those who are part of a council’s administration, have no influence over this aspect of planning policy – rightly so, as politics should be kept out of such planning decisions.

Regardless of the action SDC is required to take as Local Planning Authority under national legislation, the Green group of councillors and the rest of Stroud District Green Party support Ecotricity in the decision to display the Palestinian flag on their building. The Ecotricity flag is a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinian people, and a protest against the violations of international law and the catastrophic violence being inflicted on them by the Israeli government. We join with Ecotricity in calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza and we share their support for all civilians caught up in the conflict. We will be writing to Dale Vince to express this support.

The Greens believe that this situation highlights the pressing need for the UK government to formally recognise the State of Palestine.

Recognising Palestine is a vital step towards justice, equality and a sustainable peace. It demonstrates a commitment to international law and a balanced approach to the region.”

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Stroud District Green Party says the decision dangerously conflates direct action with terrorism, and that the Government put MPs in an impossible position during the vote, by lumping Palestine Action together with two extremist organisations which do clearly fall under the definition of terrorist groups.

SDGP coordinator Adrian Oldman said: “Unlike the other two groups, Palestine Action falls far short of the rightly high bar for the definition of a terrorist organisation. But MPs were given the choice of banning all three or none at all.

“Only 26 MPs, including the four Greens, took the courageous step of voting against the blanket ban – and the Greens are furious that in doing so they were forced to vote against proscribing two clearly terrorist groups.”

He added: “We certainly don’t support everything Palestine Action do or say, but the group should not have been banned, a completely disproportionate response. Individual protestors can be sanctioned under existing criminal law if they commit a crime, while maintaining the right to non-violent direct action as a legitimate form of protest in this country.”

He pointed out the hypocrisy of Keir Starmer, who was one of the defence lawyers for the Fairford 5, who broke into a military base in 2004 because of their opposition to the Iraq war. “And we saw Home Secretary Yvette Cooper stand alongside other female MPs to celebrate the suffragettes this week,” Adrian said, “yet they are another group who could have found themselves proscribed as a terrorist organisation under this Government’s heavy-handed approach.”

“We believe the Government has overstepped the line by ignoring the long-held and much-cherished fundamental principle in our country of civil disobedience as a form of political protest. Had the Government merely wanted to deal with the damage caused by Palestine Action at the air base, they could have done so through existing criminal law by bringing charges such as those for criminal damage, violent disorder or aggravated burglary. Clearly they wanted much more than this: to shut down protest against the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

“Once again this Labour Government has cynically, dangerously and wrongly used anti-terrorism law to shut down legitimate dissent.

“The complicity of the British state in the ongoing atrocities in Gaza needs to be exposed. This issue will not go away; Government will not stop the growing groundswell of anger and outrage about the plight of the Palestinians.”

[The picture is a stock photo from a pro-Palestine demo in Stroud earlier this year.]

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The world has changed dramatically since Donald Trump became U.S. President.
Britain now faces a shifting global landscape shaped by the war in Ukraine, tensions over Israel and Palestine, and the rapid rise of the Reform Party at home.
These developments raise important questions. How should we respond? Who can we trust? Are there new allies to turn to – and is there a path back to Europe without losing face?

We have an outstanding panel of expert speakers:
• Richard Kirkpatrick, campaigns manager at the European Movement UK, which aims to rebuild the UK’s relationship with the EU.
• Mick Fealty, Stroud-based founder and editor of award-winning news and opinion portal Slugger O’Toole, which focuses on politics in Ireland and Britain
• Baroness Natalie Bennett, Green Party Peer in the House of Lords
Everyone is welcome and it’s free to attend.
Following the presentations there will be time for audience questions and discussion – we welcome everyone and the session is free.
Can’t join us on the night? Register anyway and we’ll send you the recording.

Register here: https://actionnetwork.org/events/new-world-order-how-will-britain-face-the-challenge?source=direct_link&

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Dear Minister

On June 24, you announced that the Government intends to abolish the committee system within local government, and force those councils currently operating this model (including Stroud District Council) to transition to the ‘leader and cabinet’ model.

Councils like Stroud District that use the committee system model (and those keen to change to it from the cabinet model) favour it because it is more collaborative, transparent and democratic. The committee system has been used at Stroud District Council for over a decade, supported by Labour, Lib Dem and Green councillors over those years. By giving SDC councillors across all political groups a say in decision-making, the system fosters cross-party collaboration, something we know our communities support and have benefited from as a result.

Your proposals, introduced without consultation, mean that decisions affecting communities in our district – and all those impacted by this announcement – will no longer be taken by cross-party committees of elected councillors debating in a public forum. Instead, the leader and just a handful of councillors will make key decisions on behalf of residents, often behind closed doors.

This is the latest in a series of decisions and proposals from this Labour Government that have been made without consultation, and that strip away the ability of local government to ensure public services deliver for the communities they are intended to serve. This has been a theme of central government decision-making since and including the English Devolution White Paper published last December. Every one of these undermines local democracy, through reducing the power and funding of councils, and taking democratic decisions away from the most local level.

Other examples include the proposal to remove the powers of planning committees to decide many local planning applications, the withdrawal of funding for neighbourhood planning, and the decision to move responsibilities away from the district and county council level to new strategic authorities covering a much wider area, including powers for housing, planning, transport, and skills. These strategic authorities across England are each to be led by one mayor, elected under the first past the post voting system, who will control vast amounts of public money and be subject to less scrutiny and weaker governance structures than current local authorities. 

The impact of all these decisions is to allow the central government agenda to be delivered more quickly, with less local oversight, challenge and scrutiny. This is clearly demonstrated through this announcement, as no evidence has been offered to support the abolition of the committee system, and no consultation has been conducted with those affected. In no way can these moves be seen to be about empowering local communities and pushing power out of Whitehall and into the hands of local leaders, which you claim is your aim.

Most importantly, these unwelcome changes will not solve the big problems that local authorities and residents face: tackling social and health inequalities, delivering social housing, building and maintaining public trust, the challenges in special educational provision and social care, and in responding and adapting to a rapidly changing climate. Furthermore, none of your changes meet the urgent need for proper investment in our communities which, as Greens, we feel could easily be funded through taxing wealth fairly.

If this proposed change goes ahead, the Government will further damage democracy and public trust at the local level, reducing transparency, accountability and opportunities for resident engagement in places like Stroud district.

We call on you to reverse this unwelcome, under-informed and dictatorial meddling and let local councils get on with the job. We currently have the freedom to choose what’s right for our communities, which we have been elected to do, and Stroud has benefited from the collaborative and transparent approach to local democracy it has created as a result.

This letter is being copied to Dr Simon Opher, MP for Stroud, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, MP for North Cotswolds and Dr Roz Savage, MP for South Cotswolds.

Signed: The Stroud District Council Green group

Cllr Beki Aldam, Cllr Martin Baxendale, Cllr James Boyle, Cllr Catherine Braun, Cllr Martin Brown, Cllr Sarah Canning, Cllr Jonathan Edmunds, Cllr Helen Fenton, Cllr Marisa Godfrey, Cllr Steve Hyndside, Cllr Cate James-Hodges, Cllr Carol Kambites, Cllr Kate Kay, Cllr Pete Kennedy, Cllr Gareth Kitchen, Cllr Gary Luff, Cllr Martin Pearcy, Cllr Natalie Rothwell-Warn, Cllr Matthew Sargeant, Cllr Lucas Schoemaker, Cllr Moya Shannon, Cllr Gill Thomas, Cllr Chloe Turner, Cllr Tricia Watson

(Pictured: the SDC Green/Labour/Lib Dem cooperative alliance members celebrating 10 years of the alliance in 2022. The sort of collaborative, cross-party working demonstrated by the committee system has played an important role in Stroud District for many years.)

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A £3.5 billion government fund that paid for energy efficiency work at public buildings across the country – including three in Stroud District – has been axed as part of Labour’s spending review.

The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme funded the installation of air source heat pumps, when the old gas boilers needed replacing in 2023 at the Council’s Active Lifestyles leisure centre and Museum in the Park in Stratford Park, Stroud and at the Active Lifestyles Pulse centre in Dursley (formerly known as The Pulse).

The cutting-edge green technology extracts heat from the outside air and uses it to heat the building (including recycled heat from the swimming pools and changing rooms at the leisure centres). Additional rooftop solar panels help reduce the electricity usage.

The upgrades, which have made these buildings significantly more energy efficient, enabled Stroud District Council to meet the requirement of the then government to decarbonise all public buildings by 2035.

Thanks to a grant of £4.69million secured by the council from this energy efficiency fund, the council only had to contribute £700,000 towards the work.

Cllr Chloe Turner, Leader of SDC’s Green group, said: “I’m grateful that Stroud District Council officers were able to secure such a huge grant while the money was available, which has enabled us to modernise our heating systems and reduce our environmental impact in our most energy-intensive buildings. But this fund was a vital source of local government funding for climate action across the country, and culling it with no suggestion of replacement is an extremely frustrating decision from a government that likes to call itself ‘the greenest ever’.”

Projects that have already been awarded money will go ahead but there will be no further money available. Cllr Turner commented: “Many councils will have assumed that there would be a furtherfunding round – so this disappointing news has significant implications for low carbon and energy efficiency projects around the country. It will stop councils investing in modern, efficient, environmentally efficient systems for their high-energy buildings and could put net zero targets into question.”

She added: “The government claims it remains committed to building on the existing Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme and is ‘looking at ways to incentivise the public sector as a whole to take steps to decarbonise’. But this seems meaningless, when the vital funding has been withdrawn.”

The PSDS was launched in 2020 to support public sector organisations in England to install low carbon heating and energy efficiency measures in their buildings, such as leisure centres and hospitals. These measures helped councils and other organisations to reduce their carbon emissions and their energy bills.

Pictured is Cllr Chloe Turner next to the air source heat pumps at the Active Lifestyles leisure centre in Stratford Park, Stroud, which were largely paid for by the now-axed government fund.

Background notes

The work at the three SDC buildings, funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, was delivered by Salix Finance and SDC and carried out by Stonehouse-based Cotswold Energy Group.

The council’s Ebley Mill HQ and Brimscombe Port Mill have both been heated by water source heat pumps since 2022.

An air source heat pump system is estimated to last for at least 20 years and these three installations will reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 14,652 tonnes over that time.

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The Severn ward by-election yesterday (June 11) saw Moya Shannon becoming the 24^th Green Party councillor on Stroud District Council.

Moya won with 439 votes, ahead of the nearest rival, the Conservative candidate, who got 425 votes. The other candidates were from Reform (421), Labour (177), the Liberal Democrats (112) and UKIP (5).

Moya will take the seat previously occupied by Labour councillor Richard Maisey, whose death in April sadly triggered the by-election.

Moya said: “I am very grateful to the voters of this ward for putting their faith in me and the Green Party to represent them and I look forward to working for the best interests of the many voices in our community.

“I come to this job with my own particular set of values and goals. The healthy and sustainable use of our local environment and the agricultural, business, wildlife, and living spaces within it, are all very important to me, as are local transport solutions and community energy production. I hope to support people and make a positive difference in these important aspects of our lives.”

She added: “Having lived in this ward and raised my family here I have a deep connection to the place and the people, and it is both for the place and for the people that I intend to work. 

“Many people have approached me with their ideas and with issues that need resolving and I aim to listen to and work on the concerns that have been brought up during this campaign. I will expect to hear many more and I will do whatever I can within my role to address these for all the people of the Severn ward.”

Cllr Chloe Turner, leader of the SDC Green group, said: “We’re delighted with this result, which reflects the strength of Moya as a local candidate and champion for her community, and wider support for our Green administration at Stroud District Council.

“We were always in a strong position, given feedback from residents showing that there was a local appetite for the Green ethos of fairer, greener politics. Richard Maisey was a very popular councillor and the people of Severn clearly wanted a community focused, green-thinking and warm person to replace him.

“I look forward to working with Moya as part of the newly enlarged Green group; she will be an asset to our friendly, dedicated and collaborative team.”

The official results can be seen here:

Read more about Moya here:

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Thankfully, there are people who care about and monitor the air pollution in towns, cities and countryside – people prepared to stand up to big industry and government and call out bad practice, often with consequences for their actions.

The speakers are at our latest Cloud Cafe event on Wednesday June 11 will be:

 Dr Gary Fuller from Imperial College. Gary has been a leading light in the UK Research and Innovation Clean Air Programme. He led the development of the London Air Quality Network, is a member of the Medical Research Council Centre for Environment and Health, Defra’s Air Quality Expert Group and a project reviewer and steering group member for the Irish EPA.

Tom Jarman is co-founder of Community R4C, a community-owned organisation advocating for lower-cost, environmentally sustainable waste management. He will share their legal struggle against the installation of the incinerator and the latest research on the true costs of the incinerator (the most expensive in the country), current progress on legal advice and auditor complaint – and how this leads to a way forward which can mean less incineration of household waste, less pollution and lower costs.

Ruth Kettle-Frisby is co- founder of Clear the Air in Havering – a group connected to Mum for Lungs, a Quaker organisation whose purpose is to raise awareness about air pollution, tackle misinformation and champion the right to clean air for everyone. Ruth has taken Havering Council to court via a judicial review as a desperate last resort to challenge their recent decision not to designate land as contaminated. If they are successful, Havering Council and the Environment Agency will have to clean up the site once and for all.

Come and join us for an evening of discussion and debate with guest speakers. Everyone is welcome and the event is free. Can’t join us on the night? Register anyway and you will be sent the recording.

Register here: https://actionnetwork.org/events/the-health-of-our-planet-the-air-we-breathe/

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