People Power Forces Council U-Turn

Weston Coyney & Parkhall
Green News
Green
Party
for the common good
Number 4 • March 2015
People Power Forces
Council U-Turn
The Meals on Wheels service in Stoke was
started in 1947 by a local businessman. It
was intended as part of a system of welfare
support. Users of the service pay only for the
cost of the meals with the remaining costs
being met by the council. Recently, the City
Council announced the withdrawal of their
£80,000 financial support for the scheme.
Jan Zablocki, local resident and
campaigner, supported the campaign to
keep Meals on Wheels subsidised. He met
the Vice Chair of the organisation, Mick
Pointon. Mick told Jan that “the
organisation and delivery is undertaken by
unpaid volunteers and could not possibly be
more efficient or cost effective”.
Jan says “The service provides a vital
social link for people who are often frail and
lonely. It improves their chances of
maintaining independent living. The
council’s proposals is for a commercial
business that needs to make profit. It will
escalate the costs to service users
massively”.
A public campaign, led by the North
Staffs Pensioners Convention, gathered 500
signatures of support. The City Council has
been forced to abandon their plans to
withdraw funding. It shows that public
pressure can work!
Jan Zablocki
Green Party
candidate
Email:
greenjanzab@
gmail.com
Jan with Mick Pointon celebrating successful
campaign to retain vital council funding
Telephone:
07933 840737
There’s an “Offal Smell” in Weston Coyney
The ongoing problem of blood and
animal offal being spilt along
Weston
Road
whilst
being
transported to Cheddleton seems to
be getting worse.
Jan Zablocki, local resident and
campaigner, has been collecting the
evidence of the scale of this problem.
He photographed a line of blood and
offal which had been dropped along
Weston Road all the way through
Meir and Weston Coyney. What the
photos can’t show is the stench that
goes with the problem.
Jan has discovered that the City
Council is unable to ban the vehicles
carrying this material through
Weston Coyney. He has written to
local MP, Rob Flello, urging him to
press for urgent action and
suggesting a change in the
“construction and use vehicle
regulations”. This would force
transport companies to use sealed
vehicles for the transportation of
“biological hazard” material. Rob has
agreed to discuss these issues with
industry representatives and the
Under Secretary of State. Jan is
passing his photographs to Rob as
evidence of both the scale and
seriousness of the problem and
threat to public health.
www.greenparty.org.uk www.northstaffs.greenparty.org.uk
Printed by NSGP 37 Lytton Street, Stoke ST4 2AH
Promoted by Jan Zablocki on behalf of North Staffs Green Party,
both c/o 37 Lytton Street, Stoke ST4 2AH
Printed on recycled paper
Pollution in our City:
The Impact on our Health
Here in Stoke we often think of air pollution as a problem
of the past. We aren’t surrounded by coal smoke any more
but our modern society puts a new mixture of chemicals
into the air. These range from microscopic particles to
dangerous chemicals, all harmful to us. Most vulnerable are
children with asthma and the elderly. Government figures
say that 29,000 deaths a year are caused by air pollution.
A lot of this comes from vehicles, which are of course
extremely important to us. Most of us love the convenience
of cars and we have to listen to those for whom driving is
part of the job.
Jan Zablocki, local campaigner says: “This is the sort of
problem that can attacked by ‘joined-up thinking’. The
Green Party calls for an immediate 10% reduction in bus
and rail fares, to both help the low paid and make people
think about alternatives.
We could give more of the transport budget to making
roads more pleasant for pedestrians and bike users. Even
making things better for drivers can help. Improving traffic
flow on major routes like Weston Road means less cars
sitting idling. Electric cars and vans are becoming
completely practical.
People once looked at the smoky skies of old Stoke and
saw only the money being made. Then in the 50’s we
realised that the price we paid in lung disease wasn’t worth
it, and took action. These things take time to accomplish,
and our current government has done next to nothing. We
need to keep pushing. Nowadays we would think it
ludicrous for a teacher to smoke in classroom. Perhaps one
day we’ll feel the same about a huge diesel wagon next to
child in a pushchair. ”
Copy of 1950’s postcard, but pollution is not just a problem of
the past.
Use both your
Banking Madness!
votes this election!
Many people are unaware that they have two votes in the
forthcoming May elections. One is for your local councillor.
The other is for your area MP.
The Green Party are putting up candidates for both
elections as they are aware from the recent surge of interest
that many people want to vote Green to show their choice
for a new way of doing politics. Jan Zablocki has been
selected as your local Green Party candidate for councillor.
Green Growth
It’s known on the internet as the #greensurge. In the last
year the Green Party has grown from 14,000 members to
over 53,000. Locally, our numbers keep going growing. Why
is this?
Quite simply, because we are realists, with a strong and
unique set of ideas. Our country is facing a crisis. Our
economic, social, and environmental systems are all failing
and the last two governments have not made real change.
But people, especially young people, grasp new realities
faster than politicians do. The traditional parties are even
hiring teams just to fight back against us. We take that as a
great Green compliment!
What’s 60 billion Euros between friends? Each month?
That’s the amount that the European Central Bank gives to
banks in the hope they’ll lend it to small businesses. But will
this create jobs for real people?
People know it doesn’t work. The banks are in a mess so
they keep the money. They don’t lend it to companies that
make things. The way to get the real economy going is to
put money into transport, homes, and community projects,
not to give more cash to the banks. And to invest in
sustainable new technologies.
That’s Green!
Contacting Jan Zablocki
Please get in touch if:
• you would like your Green Party campaigners to take
up any issues on your behalf;
• you can deliver Green Party newsletters, would like
to join or want more information.
Website: www.northstaffs.greenparty.org.uk
Facebook: Search for “North Staffordshire Green Party”
Twitter: @NorthStaffsGP