Scottish Greens' Blogs

Another day at the office - another knife in the back

Yesterday my ward colleague Cllr Rob Merson (SNP) sprang an emergency motion to remove me as Vice Chair of the Formartine Area Committee. To my astonishment, Rob was unable to clearly articulate what the emergency was - but the Chair Cllr John Loveday (LibDem) agreed to take the motion. And the motion was passed.

Cllr Merson cited comments I have made about my colleagues' indecisiveness re the siting of a new Ellon Academy and my failure to attend some site visits as the reasons for my removal a Vice Chair. I don't think these have anything to do with me as Vice Chair. And indeed I have received no complaints or even adverse comments regarding my role as Vice Chair.

So what motivated Cllr Merson and the other Formartine Councillors to act in this way?

I know Cllr Merson doesn't like me mentioning him on my blog (see comments to this post on my blog). And of course we have political differences.

But I think this is simply a continuation of the divide on the Formartine Area Committee post-Trump. Faced with a planning application at Menie, my colleagues are prone to saying things like "We must press ahead as quickly as possible with this development". No. We have a duty to scrutinise all proposals and ensure that the conditions of the permission granted by the SNP government are complied with.

Not being Vice Chair will not stop me doing that job. And it will not stop me speaking out to protect the Menie residents whose homes remain under threat because my colleagues refuse to rule out compulsory purchase and keep giving the Trump Organisation every reason to believe that they can ask and it will be given.

Aberdeenshire Council will have to do much better

Aberdeenshire Council is failing to meet its own targets on sustainability and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. This has been confirmed by the latest data collected by the Council to monitor its performance against the commitments in its Sustainability Charter. It is clear too that the Council will not achieve the reductions in carbon emissions required by legislation unless it dramatically improves.

The figures compiled by the Council show:
* Energy consumption in Council buildings has increased in each of the last three years (180,617,786 kWh in 2007/08; 180,646,224 kWh in 2008/09; 183,317,802 kWh in 2009/10).
* Increased fuel use by Council vehicles but a small decrease in business mileage claims from staff (councillors' total mileage claims, however, increased by 0.7 per cent in 2009/10 compared with 2008/09).
* Increased carbon dioxide emissions from Council buildings.

Bluntly, this is nowhere near good enough. Aberdeenshire Council is not living up to its own environmental promises. While it is clear considerable effort is being put into training and awareness-raising, the Council's actual performance is getting worse. Energy and fuel use have increased, carbon emissions have gone up.

There will certainly have been an effect on last year's figures from the hard winter. The data collected since 2007 though show that the poor performance is not confined to last year. At best, the Council is standing still. Generally, there is a trend in the wrong direction. There is absolutely no sign the Council is capable of delivering the year-on-year cuts in emissions that will be required under the Climate Change Act. Nor is there any sign that the Council's leadership has the faintest idea how to bring the Council's performance up to the required standard. Nor do most councillors show much interest in addressing the problem; last year, Aberdeenshire councillors voted not to take part in the 10:10 national campaign to cut carbon emissions.

To meet the target of a 42 per cent cut in emissions by 2020, an annual 3 per cent cut in carbon emissions is necessary. I would be the first to say that it will be very difficult for Aberdeenshire to cut emissions by this amount. But it is going to have to - and councillors need to wake up to that and start doing something about it. Now.

My Big Green Weekend

I'm feeling suprisingly refreshed after an action-packed Green weekend! On Saturday, I was up bright and early to go to our national Party Council meeting, which this quarter was held in Edinburgh. Then on Sunday, at Glasgow's West End festival, I dipped my toe into a classic form of fundraising, steeped in Green Party lore and tradition - the home baking and bric-a-brac stall.

Saturday's Council meeting heard reports from all corners of Scotland, as activists from branches large and small told us all what they'd been up to and what they've got planned. As Young Greens Convenor, I was pleased to report that since the election, we've got some excellent new people and are all getting together soon to come up with plans to make good Green things happen. To expand on this a little, as I see it, the Scottish Green Party has got tons of ideas for ways that our communities, our nation and ultimately the world could be better organised to create a greener, more equitable world where we humans live well, and within our means.

Though we may not yet be forming governments, our elected Green Councillors and MSPs are working incredibly hard to communicate these ideas, to make the case for radical change and to get real Green wins where they can. And while they're doing that, I'd like to see Green activists coming up with ways to show people, rather than just tell them about our great ideas! Could that mean doing bits of guerilla gardening? Organising a workshop on something practical? Getting some ladders out and de-plastic-bagging beautiful trees? A bit of fun street performance or story-telling to go along with a street stall? What do you think?

To return to my action-packed Green weekend, after Council's exhange of info and ideas, we retired to a pub for chit-chat, a cool beverage and to play with Martin's new iPad.

Then on Sunday, our stall at the festival was a big success. By the end of the day, we had sold out of fairy cakes, loaves, traditional sweeties, tomato plants and healthy young sunflowers - "CHEAPER THAN THE GARDEN CEN-TUUUR!" as I called out truthfully and often. Cllr Martha Wardrop also got loads of people to sign up to oppose plans to build a huge block of luxury flats on much-loved Otago Lane.

The big picture and the small picture, the national and the local - it all matters massively. Two different kinds of satisfaction, both good for the soul. One comes from being part of something big, working together with friends from all over the country, as we prepare the ground for future success. The other, a more instant form of gratification - a series of little but lovely thrills as you snag yet another fairy-cake eater or sell the final sunflower!

All in all, a good weekend, and an experience I would certainly care to repeat.

Scottish Green Party

Scottish Greens' Blogs

Another day at the office - another knife in the back

Aberdeenshire Council will have to do much better

My Big Green Weekend

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