Gloucestershire Greens are delighted to have it confirmed that the Gloucestershire County Council elections are to go ahead, despite the council’s Conservative leader trying to have them cancelled.

Adrian Oldman, coordinator of Stroud District Green Party, said: “Around the country, people are being denied a vote at local elections in May because the Labour government wants to do away with many local councils and replace them with more unaccountable bodies.

“Cllr Stephen Davies, Conservative leader of Gloucestershire County Council, jumped on this move and tried to have these elections cancelled, because the county’s Conservatives were scared to face the voters with their painfully slim control of the council. Thankfully his request was turned down by the government yesterday, but the local Conservatives have forfeited their right to represent the county as we face an uncertain future for local decision-making.

“Now the government has confirmed that elections are being held here, let’s make sure the government hears from local people.”

Beki Hoyland, coordinator of the Forest of Dean Green Party, said: “The big parties in Westminster claim they want to devolve more power to local councils, but Labour’s latest plans will see this year’s election cancelled in eight counties. Our fragile democracy can’t afford to ignore the people’s right to vote.”

There are already five Green county councillors in Gloucestershire and the party believes it can increase that number significantly in May.

Adrian Oldman added: “We will have candidates standing so that people’s views on what happens in the place they live are heard in the council chamber.”

National Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay MP said: “It’s hard to think of anything more anti-democratic than cancelling elections ahead of a significant change in local democracy. It’s straight out of an authoritarian playbook. How can politicians claim an electoral mandate for major local government changes if those most impacted see their elections cancelled? 

“The Green Party is urging the government to save our democracy, allow these long-planned elections to take place and get around the table to discuss how to make devolution work for people in local areas across the country.

“We want decisions made closest to where they have the greatest impact with significant devolution of powers and funding from Westminster. Without that, people will grow ever more cynical about politics.”

The government’s plans are outlined here:
16 Dec 2024 Local government reorganisation: letter to two-tier areas – GOV.UK
5 Feb 2025 Devolution revolution: six areas to elect Mayors for first time – GOV.UK

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The motion, calling for a sustainable catering and procurement policy, was proposed by Cllr Beki Hoyland (Green, Forest of Dean: Blakeney and Bream) and seconded by Cllr Chloe Turner (Green, Minchinhampton) and passed by a majority vote.

Cllr Hoyland explained that using sustainable food would help address not only environmental issues (industrial farming creates greenhouse gas emissions and is the leading cause of the decline of wildlife) but also health issues (a poor diet leads to illness and obesity, often affecting lower-income people who can’t afford a healthy diet).

Cllr Hoyland said: “This council has declared a climate emergency, has targets to reduce obesity, and is part of a multi-agency ongoing response to the cost-of-living crisis. What we eat has an impact on all these problems, so changing what we eat and where it comes from has the potential to benefit the health of people and the environment. Using more locally produced food will also be good for the local economy and create jobs.”

Cllr Turner said: “I hope this will lead to the GCC caterers offering more seasonal food from local producers, and more plant-based options to cater for the ever-growing number of vegetarians and vegans and the increasing numbers of meat-eaters who would prefer to eat less meat. They would like to be confident that the meat served is locally produced and meets welfare and environmental standards while remaining affordable.”

She added: “It would also be great to see more information about the provenance of the food served at Shire Hall, as I know many staff and visitors would like to choose food that has been supplied by local businesses and farms.”

After consulting with staff on the proposed changes, the council will now try to include more plant-based options, good quality meat and more locally produced, seasonal and nutritious food, in line with the government’s Eatwell Guide. The council will also move to reusable and recyclable packaging and utensils, which should mean an end to the use of certain single-use plastics that have not been phased out yet.

It will work closely with its partners in the Gloucestershire Food and Farming Partnership and with the Sustainable Food Places scheme, which both aim to make local, healthy and sustainable food available to everyone.

Suppliers may be asked to commit to certain standards in the food they supply.

Pictured are the Green councillors on Gloucestershire County Council: left to right Chris McFarling (Forest of Dean: Sedbury), Beki Hoyland (Forest of Dean: Blakeney and Bream), Chloe Turner (Minchinhampton), Cate Cody (Tewkesbury).

• In other news from the same council meeting, on November 8, the council is to work out how much it would cost to provide free bus transport for veterans in the county, after a motion by the Greens.
  
  And the council will look into ways of addressing traffic safety for the cattle on Minchinhampton and Rodborough commons, following a Labour motion supported by the Greens (see report by the BBC).

The post Greens successfully call for more plant-based meal options at Gloucestershire County Council as part of sustainable catering improvements appeared first on Stroud District Green Party.

The cap, introduced on January 1 to help residents with the cost of living, was originally meant to end on March 31 but was recently extended to the end of June.

But the Green group – which includes Minchinhampton’s Cllr Chloe Turner – argued that the Council should ask the Department for Transport to continue it indefinitely. Their motion was unanimously supported by councillors of all parties at the full council meeting on March 22.  

The approved motion reads: “Council resolves to: Write to the Department for Transport and our six MPs to let them know how much we have appreciated this scheme and that we judge it would be beneficial to Gloucestershire to extend the duration of the scheme indefinitely.”

Proposing the motion, Green Group leader Cllr Cate Cody (Tewkesbury) said bus travel reduces traffic congestion and pollution, takes away worries about where to park and is cheaper than running a car (a 40-mile round trip in a car costs about £10, compared with the equivalent trip by bus for £4).

The £2 fare cap had already encouraged more people to start using buses, she said, urging other councillors to join her in using buses to get to council meetings. “By using the bus this morning I have saved our County tax payers money (it’s more cost effective than when we use private cars), and it also values and contributes to public transport services.

“We owe it to the next generation; sustainable transport is really important to young voters.

“We need immediate, radical improvement in active travel and public transport systems. Here’s a scheme that could significantly help us reduce our carbon emissions. What’s not to love?”

The motion was seconded by Cllr Beki Hoyland (Blakeney and Bream), who told the council meeting that buses significantly increased the number of people that could be carried on roads, while reducing carbon emissions per passenger mile by an average of 88%.

But she emphasised that a good bus service was needed, to encourage people to use this form of transport. “The government has to make sure there are buses to be caught before asking people to use them. And we need to increase the variety of public transport, including community transport and on-demand services like the Robin.

“But we cannot do it without our government supporting the infrastructure and the market; to change from a society designed and built round the car to one where owning your own private car is rarely needed.”

Other countries’ governments, she said, subsidise public transport to make it a viable alternative. In Germany, for example, unlimited travel on all local public transport costs just 49 Euros a month.

In Gloucestershire a month’s season ticket is £86 – or passengers can pay £80 a month for a daily commute under the current fare cap, which offers flexibility without a surcharge for using the bus less frequently.

She compared this with the average cost of running a car in the UK, which is about £300 a month.

See the coverage of this story in the Stroud Times.

Pictured are Green County Councillors Cate Cody (Tewkesbury), Chloe Turner (Minchinhampton), Beki Hoyland (Blakeney and Bream) and Chris McFarling (Forest of Dean).

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