Benefit cap: Green MSP urges use of new powers
Alison Johnstone MSP, Social Security spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, today (1 Nov) urged the Scottish Government to use new devolved powers to stop an estimated 20,000 Scottish children being punished by the Westminster Government’s lower benefits cap. The Chartered Institute of Housing says that households will lose up to £115 per week, affecting 7,000…
Green councillor astonished at latest delay in landmark high school in Edinburgh
Local Green councillor Melanie Main has said she is astonished at the latest delay in the opening of the new Boroughmuir High School at Fountainbridge in Edinburgh. One of the most popular schools in Edinburgh and Scotland, as a whole, the new school was originally scheduled to be opened in August 2016. But, as delays…
Edinburgh Greens launch listening exercise on vision for council elections 2017
Greens in Edinburgh have asked people in the capital for their views about what matters in the 2017 council elections. The Green launch comes in the wake of last week’s council-led project which asked people what kind of Edinburgh they wanted to see by 2050. In a wide-ranging document, the Greens set out their stall…
Farm eviction campaign: Green MSPs join Pentland protest
Scottish Green MSPs today joined campaigners who handed in a petition to the Scottish Parliament in protest at the potential eviction of a farmer from his family’s home of 100 years. 82-year-old tenant farmer Jim Telfer faces from eviction from Old Pentland Farm near Straiton in Midlothian as the landowners want to sell to developers…
Housing debate: Wightman urges action on cost of land
Andy Wightman MSP, Housing spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, used today’s Holyrood debate on housing to urge Scottish Ministers to stop developers inflating the cost of land. The Green amendment for today’s debate – not selected by the Presiding Officer – highlighted the fact that land values rise when infrastructure is built or planning permission…
Greens press council leader to come clean on bins problems
Green councillors are pressing council leader, Andrew Burns, to make available a confidential memo on problems with the city refuse collection, after it was leaked to the press at the weekend. Green convenor Cllr Steve Burgess, who last month obtained information that revealed that missed bin collections were up by a third in the capital,…
Housing crisis: Wightman backs Shelter campaign
Andy Wightman MSP, Housing spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, today backed the call from Shelter to tackle levels of homelessness the charity describes as a “national badge of shame”. A poll commissioned by the charity found 54 per cent of Scots believe government could do more to address the problem. Andy Wightman MSP said: “Scottish…
Greens slam Local Development Plan sham
Green councillors have slammed Edinburgh’s Local Development Plan, saying that it fails the city on affordable housing, traffic problems and loss of Greenbelt land. Today’s Planning Committee of the City Council debated the plan, which sets out the detail of potential land uses for the entire city and therefore is a benchmark for future planning…
Greens first to the starting blocks as party unveils top candidates for council elections
Edinburgh Greens have announced the 11 candidates in Edinburgh who they believe are most likely to take council seats in the elections next May. The party claims that any of Edinburgh’s 17 council wards could return a Green councillor in 2017, and it will be contesting all 17 with a view to securing the biggest-ever…
Council candidate selection September 2016
Members of Edinburgh Green Party have been balloted over the summer to select Green candidates for 11 of the 17 wards in the City of Edinburgh Council area. The list of the 11 successful candidates (5 women and 6 men) selected is below. The final 6 candidates, to make up 17 wards in total, will be…
City cycling fudge missed opportunity, say Greens
Green councillors in Edinburgh have lamented a decision to delay a landmark cycle route as both a transport failure and a political failure. At today’s Transport and Environment Committee the council was due to give the go ahead to a new direct cycle route across the city centre which has been hailed as potentially transforming…
Missed bin complaints up by a third in Edinburgh
Complaints about missed bin collections in Edinburgh have soared by 33% over the last year according to new figures obtained by the city’s Green councillors. Between July 2015 and July 2016, there were 53,862 complaints about missed or overflowing bin collections in the capital, up from 40,309 in the same period a year earlier. Green…
2017 local election: selection hustings
At Edinburgh Greens we’re well into the selection process for the 2017 local elections. This process will decide who our councillors are until 2022! Every member gets a vote, and to help you decide who you’d like to see standing under the Green banner next May we’ve arranged a series of hustings where you can…
Greens call on Edinburgh residents to take part in development survey
Lothian Green MSP Alison Johnstone is calling on constituents to make their feelings known on the future of Edinburgh’s Old and New Towns before a council survey closes on 25 July. Council chiefs are seeking people’s views to help create policies to preserve and enhance the World Heritage Site and Johnstone wants guarantees that the…
Greens to speak up for EU citizens with rally and debate
The Scottish Greens will today (Tuesday) speak up for EU citizens living in Scotland and urge the Scottish Government to keep all options open in an effort to keep Scotland in Europe. A petition launched by the Scottish Greens on Friday morning in light of the EU referendum vote has so far gathered almost 40,000…