Guy Otten
Green Party
Littleborough Lakeside Ward
I am a resident of Littleborough, living within 100 yards of Littleborough Parish Church.
I have been a member of the Green party for about 4 years. I am 74 years of age. I joined the Green party because of the urgency of our need as a community and as a human race to respond to and deal with the damage being done to our globe by our excessive use of fossil fuels and by the impact of our species on the natural ecology of the Earth.
A local symptom is our vulnerability to flooding which has prompted the constriction of a flood basin up the Roche valley. Flood basins are an expensive way to out sticking plaster on a systemic problem
I pledge to promote and support the increase in numbers of turbines in the hills to the North of Rochdale and to their upkeep and maintenance. This renewable source of energy is clean and cheap and will contribute in years to come to cleaner air across Greater Manchester.
I am a member of the Littleborough Toad patrol which saves toads, newts and frogs from being squashed by traffic passing along a section of road by Hollingworth lake
I am active in the cause of green politics because of I am concerned for my grandchildren and the future of our people.
But there are also pressing and immediate social needs caused mostly by the impact of austerity which has been deliberately imposed on our community by Government policy over the last 12
years, the shortage of housing, the affordability of food and energy and the lack of clean air.
All these problems must be addressed both in Littleborough and throughout the borough of Rochdale by government and local government action which is properly funded out of taxation. This action must have the dual purpose of addressing the climate emergency as well.
These are local elections, but national Green Party policies are relevant locally. The council should clearly and openly oppose fracking. Integrated publicly owned railways and buses are common sense. These should also be electrically powered.
We will work to bring back railways that have been closed and extend the tram and bus system to make public transport a cheap, safe, reliable and frequent service that will appeal to our fellow citizens and reduce car usage.
I want Calderbrook Road repaired to make the currently closed section a good bike way and walkway. Bikeways and bus lanes are vital contributions to local healthy transport, starting for children going to school.
The party is firmly opposed to housebuilding on green belt land and we want the Akzo site decontaminated and restored for safe use.
Building laws should insist that all new buildings incorporate environmentally sound measures such as solar panels. Policies to improve the environment are of particular concern to me. Having experienced pollution elsewhere I know how important it is to stop choking the planet.
These measures should always be in the minds of the local council and opportunities should be taken to further them where possible.
People have been let down by politicians, and the tired old parties that have failed this town. We want things done differently, to be bold and challenging.
We are fed up with policies that tinker around the edge. We want real change that benefits those living in this borough and our environment.
A Real Change: from austerity and welfare cuts to investment in real decent jobs that help to make our environment better. £10 minimum/living wage, and an end to Zero hours contracts for those that need guaranteed hours. Ending of the bedroom tax.
A Real Change: from subsidies for Fracking and dependence on fossil fuels to a sustainable world we can pass on to our children.
The Green Party stands for that real change that we need. A real change for Littleborough Lakeside and a real change for Rochdale.
Rochdale Green party has a local manifesto called ‘Greening Rochdale Borough’ with links to our national policies, policies that address many of the problems we face locally, nationally and world wide.
Please vote GREEN in the local Council elections and for Guy Otten in Littleborough Lakeside, on Thursday 5th May.
Vote Green for the Common Good now and for your children and grandchildren.
Contact me by email: otten.guy@gmail.com
