Membership Secretary and local election candidate for West Ecclesfield.
Kathy Aston
I am married, in my 40′s and teach English for academic purposes at Sheffield University to overseas students of all nationalities and cultures. I live just outside the ward in a terraced house in Hillsborough and have stood as the Green Party candidate in West Ecclesfield in the last 4 elections. I am the Press Officer for Sheffield Green Party.
I am passionate about the environment and taking action on climate change. I bike to work and use the tram. I am a keen composter and I share two allotments with friends. I shop locally and have a weekly organic box of fruit and vegetables from a local supplier.
Our local communities are under threat and I support the “Living Streets” campaign for residential areas where people can reach a post office, chemist, bank and a food shop within a 15 minute walk of where they live. The Green council group are working hard in this area. They got funding for 10 extra pedestrian crossings in the council budget for 2008/9 and it was their motion which enabled Sheffield to become the first city to opt into the Sustainable Communities Act in 2008. The council says that that it is viable to open more supermarkets in the north of Shefffield but it will mean the inevitable loss of local shops and shopping parades.
Car drivers are frustrated by gridlock with North Sheffield residents struggling to get through hotspots like Hillsborough. We all suffer from traffic pollution and noise. Keeping services local reduces the need to travel. If more journeys were made on foot, bicycle or public transport, it would help essential car users. We need better railways, trams and buses. The Green Party is pushing push for re-regulation of the bus service, public funding of any further routes axed by the commercial operators and more spending on pedestrian crossings.
Cuts to vital public services, benefits and pensions are not needed if the government:
• Closes massive tax loopholes
• Gets more people into work
• Cuts Trident nuclear missiles
• Taxes the money markets
• Taxes bank profits and cuts bonuses
Greens say create 1 million new jobs by investing in renewable energy, public transport and housing. Scrap tuition fees and reinstate the Educational Maintenance Allowance.
The Green Party says NO to cuts and YES to investment in jobs.
