In addition to holding  Lancaster Central division, which it has held since 2001 and which current county councillor Gina Dowding has represented for the last 12 years, it is targeting its resources in at least 5 other seats.

Lancashire Green Parties are being supported by the national party with visits by Zack Polanksi, deputy leader of the Green Party of England and Wales last weekend.

Zack Polanski (centre) at a recent action day, with canvassers and (front) some of Lancaster‘s Green Party candidates for the County elections on May 1st.
From left to right: Hamish Mills – Lancaster South East, Paul Stubbins-  Lancaster East, Zack Polanski, Gina Dowding – Lancaster Central, Andrew Otway – Skerton.

Zack was really impressed with the work we are doing in Lancaster to get more council houses built, increase the energy efficiency of both private and social housing, and to get more renewable energy generation built in this district. These things not only help the council save money, but help residents with cost of living.

Cllr Gina Dowding said:

“North Lancashire Green Party has grown from strength to strength over the last two decades, and it is clear that people like both our policies, and the way we as Greens approach our responsibilities as elected members. We listen to our residents, we take action, and we push council to introduce common sense initiatives to improve people’s quality of life.

“There are already some measures underway to retrofit older houses but this is an area that must be scaled up at pace, in order to tackle the climate crisis and make our homes fit for the future.

“As more people realise the Greens are a positive and credible alternative to the two establishment parties, I’m really looking forward to working with a bigger team of Green Party councillors on the County Council after May 1st.”

Find out about your candidate in Lancaster or Wyre Districts here

The post County Council elections: Zack Polanski Visits Lancashire as Green Party stands full slate of 84 candidates appeared first on North Lancashire Green Party.

Andrew Brennand, Chair of Trustees, Fairfield Association with County Councillor Gina Dowding

Residents in one part of Lancaster are pioneering a new space-saving cycle storage system, which is the first of its kind in Lancashire.

The Fairfield Association, a local charity set up to protect green spaces, created the Fairfield Cycle Hub following suggestions from local residents.

People living within the scheme’s area are able to apply for a space in a high-security steel bike hangar.

The scheme is currently oversubscribed but the Fairfield Association now have plans to expand the initiative with an additional bike hangar and a free-to-use public repair station.

The organisation’s chair of trustees, Andrew Brennand, said: “One of our residents saw these communal cycle hangars in London and realised they could benefit residents locally who want to cycle regularly but have very limited storage space at home.

“After speaking to our local councillor, Gina Dowding, funding from Lancashire County Council’s Active Travel Scheme was secured and Cllr Dowding was also able to contribute some of her Local Members Grant to help get the project over the line.”

The hangar holds six bikes and takes up around half a car parking space. It is located on land owned by the Fairfield Association, next to Fairfield Playground. The annual cost is £25 per space – the same as a parking permit.

Cllr Gina Dowding said: “This is the first public access cycle storage scheme in the whole of Lancashire. I’m delighted that the Fairfield Association embraced this idea and ran with it. I think for people living in terraced housing or flats with limited outside space this is a perfect solution to ensure easy access to their bikes.”

The post Fairfield Cycle Hub: Lancaster pioneers new public access cycle storage scheme appeared first on North Lancashire Green Party.

It was announced in December, that land at Bailrigg East close to Lancaster University is being earmarked for the new hospital to replace the crumbling Royal Lancaster Infirmary as part of the New Hospital Programme.

The government has now announced the timescales, saying that the previous Tory government’s commitment to deliver 40 new hospitals around the country by 2030 was “behind schedule, unfunded and therefore undeliverable”. For the planned new hospital to replace the RLI, they have and setting a new “realistic timetable” for construction to start between 2035 and 2038 at a cost of £1bn to £1.5bn.

City Councillor for Scotforth West Ward, Tim Hamilton-Cox said:

“It is a shame that Labour locally has allowed residents to think that a new hospital was to be delivered in south Lancaster when government had set aside no funding to make it happen. This is exactly what the Tories did between the first announcement of the Royal Lancaster Infirmary’s inclusion in the New Hospitals Programme in 2019 and the general election in 2024.

When setting out the phasing of the hospitals programme, Wes Streeting, the Health secretary, said on Monday that it will be some time between 2035 and 2039 before construction of a new hospital even starts: the RLI is now relegated to the ‘3rd wave’ of hospital renewals. Given this ‘start’ date is after at least  two more general elections, there can be no certainty it will happen even then.

A new hospital is the best solution but in the absence of the resources to deliver it we now need the Integrated Care Board and hospital trust to look at how to make healthcare delivery better for staff and patients in the places that we have got.”

Andrew Otway, City Cllr for Scotforth East added:

“The Labour government seems hell-bent on a new programme of austerity, instead of considering raising more revenue, especially through taxes on the very wealthy. A wealth tax would give more headroom for investment in health treatment and prevention. This is investment that is greatly needed.”

Members of the public were to be invited to have their say on the new hospital and its proposed site through a survey and a series of public engagement events. However, in light of the delay to the programme, the local NHS has decided to suspend public engagement on the proposed sites. The planned programme of public events and independent market research will be cancelled until further notice. https://newhospitals.info/

The post Work on building new hospital for Lancaster put off until 2035 – 2038 and Consultation events cancelled appeared first on North Lancashire Green Party.

Lancaster City Council notes:

1. The Government’s White Paper published on 16 December sets out its intention to
   abolish county and district councils, including Lancaster City Council, and create
   unitary councils with populations of around half a million people.
2. The proposal drawn up by one of Lancashire’s MPs which was supported by a
   number of Lancashire MPs, is to create 3 or 4 unitary councils in Lancashire. In this
   proposal Lancaster City Council area would be merged with the existing Blackpool
   unitary and Wyre district councils, (and possibly with Fylde district council). A
   conflicting proposal, from the Labour leader of Preston council, would merge
   Lancaster district and Ribble Valley within a 3-council unitary.
3. That with regard to the above different proposals circulated by Labour MPs and
   councillors from elsewhere in Lancashire, Lancaster City Council leadership has not
   been involved in discussions or asked for its views before publication.
4. That the UK already stands out in Europe as having a very high local authority
   population size.
5. Lancaster City Council previously supported the creation of a Bay Unitary Authority,
   backed by councillors from all 5 political groups on Lancaster City Council, which
   would have served a smaller population of 300,000 that better reflected community
   identity. This was rejected by Government in July 2021.
6. That previously in November 2023, the Government announced it had negotiated a
   Level 2 devolution deal with Lancashire County, Blackpool, and Blackburn with
   Darwen Councils. This deal is set to transfer new powers and funding to the
   Lancashire Combined County Authority (CCA), in a deal that includes £20 million of
   COUNCIL 22ND JANUARY 2025
   capital funding to invest in local priorities and the devolution of the Adult Education
   Budget.
7. That this Level 2 Devolution deal is currently being progressed through Parliament.
   Lancaster City Council believes:
8. That devolution of powers and resources from Whitehall to Lancashire is welcome in
   principle, but accountability to residents, working arrangements with existing councils
   and the protection and enhancement of existing local services and decision making
   all require consideration and agreement involving elected representatives in the
   county at all levels;
9. The new White Paper’s insistence of another level of re-organising local councils will
   not give time for the agreed proposals for a CCA across Lancashire to bed in;
10. That whilst the Labour manifesto pledged to create Strategic Authorities, the plans to
    reorganise district and borough level councils into large unitaries was not an election
    pledge. There is little evidence that such reorganisation will deliver better services or
    enhance local decision making.
11. That reorganisation ensuing from the December 2024 White Paper will have
    significant short- and medium-term financial costs, not savings, contrary to what
    government claims; and that it will be highly disruptive for the staff who deliver
    services;
12. That local services and facilities are best provided by truly local councils sensitive to
    the needs of local residents. The proposals will create a massive democratic deficit,
    with power being centralised further away from residents and do not reflect the
    identity and interests of local communities and would bring less responsiveness and
    less accountability;
13. That attention which would otherwise be focused on solving problems affecting our
    local residents will be diverted into Local Government Reorganisation discussions.

Council resolves:

(1) To oppose the current basis of local government reorganisation in Lancashire, and 
its insistence on creating unitary councils required to service huge populations of 
around 500,000 people.

(2) To push for and plan for a ‘referendum’ or meaningful far-reaching consultation on 
the matter to ascertain the views of local people before any specific realignment of 
district councils takes place which affect Lancaster City Council’s residents. The 
wording and details of any such referendum or consultation shall be agreed by this 
council at a later date.

(3) To mandate the Leader of the Council and the executive to build on existing 
arrangements with Lancashire authorities where shared services deliver better value 
for money, and to develop a shared vision for the future.

(4) To send a letter requesting that our two MPs work alongside the City Council to 
achieve the best possible outcome for local people with respect to the future 
structure of local governance

Cllr Gina Dowding says: “The details of Governments proposals remain as clear as mud. I have seen the whole process described thus – which sums it up well: Either this is an iterative process or, they are just making it up as they go along.” 

There appears so far to be no press coverage on this by the Local Government Reporter who was there for the very lengthy debate, but draft minutes are available here.

Please sign and share the petition! 

The post Lancaster City Council Motion on Local Government Reorganisation appeared first on North Lancashire Green Party.

If you agree that meaningful consultation of local residents, such as an informal local ‘referendum’, must happen before any proposal to abolish Lancaster City Council is taken further; and that there should be no final decision until local residents have been fully informed and their views have been taken into account.

… please sign to show your support at Stop The Rush Petition

The petition text includes details of:

The post Petition: Stop the Government’s Rush to abolish Lancaster City Council appeared first on North Lancashire Green Party.

The 12 district councils within Lancashire (e.g. Lancaster, Wyre, Preston etc) will be allowed representation – but no vote – on the various committees that will take strategic decisions. 

The Lancashire Combined Authority does not have a mayor, but government minister Jim McMahon has mentioned in parliament that he expects Lancashire to move towards having a directly elected mayor – i.e. a very powerful decision-maker (this is different to civic/ceremonial type of mayor such as we have in the Lancaster district). The government has renamed this type of non-mayoral combined authority ‘Foundation Strategic Authorities’. 

However, it was confirmed in the White Paper published on 16 December 2024, that the Government intends to pursue an even bigger reorganisation of local government. It wants to remove the remaining county councils and district councils, and re-organise them into unitary councils within three years.

These unitary councils are each planned to have around 500,000 residents, which is considerably more than three times the size of the Lancaster district. Districts are expected to agree among themselves the ‘best’ way of carving up the counties. Labour and Conservatives will be thinking about this in political terms (i.e. how can they give themselves the best chance of controlling some of the new unitary councils), and in economic terms (i.e. how to secure the best assets).

The consequences in terms of democratic representation for us as Greens and for residents overall, the future of our public assets, and our civic pride and engagement, are huge.

The government seems utterly determined on the re-organisation. We are not content to accept the situation as it is, so watch out for the next Green View and future e-newsletters for ways to get involved and help to make it clear to government what the consequences of re-organisation will be.

Green Party members are invited to find out more and discuss these issues at a members’ meeting on Wednesday 5 February, 7.30-9.00 pm in the Meeting Room at Lancaster Friends Meeting House, next to the Railway Station.

Meanwhile, we are continuing to work towards winning several more seats at the Lancashire County Council elections on 1 May 2025. The election is still going ahead despite the uncertainty about how the County will be carved up over the next few years. It is more important than ever that we have a group of elected Greens who can try to influence what happens next.

The post Carving up Lancashire into Unitary Councils appeared first on North Lancashire Green Party.

A public meeting organised by North Lancashire Green Party Tuesday 26th November 2024 

The Lancaster district is experiencing a crisis of affordability of housing, driven by failures of public policy at national level, but influenced by distinctive local factors. 

The public meeting was promoted in our Big Green View leaflet (November-December 2024 edition), distributed to households across the district, as an opportunity to discuss the issues with Green councillors. 

The meeting opened with remarks from three Green councillors, Caroline Jackson, leader of Lancaster City Council and portfolio holder for housing; Tim Hamilton-Cox, portfolio holder for finance and property, and Andrew Otway, newly elected councillor for Scotforth East.

This was followed by a short break to collect audience questions, which were then grouped by theme.

The second part of the meeting provided for councillors Caroline and Tim to respond to questions, and for audience members to make their own points and share reflections and engage in further dialogue.

Opening Remarks

Caroline Jackson

Leader of Lancaster City Council

portfolio holder for housing

‘Affordable rent’ charges are defined as up to 80% of private market rents in the local area, whilst Council Housing rents are lower. There has been very little building of new properties for either, and right-to-buy, with increasingly high discounts to property values, has reduced the council’s housing stock for rent at affordable prices.

Two significant local factors in threatening homelessness are: section 21 evictions by private landlords and lack of availability of larger properties for families.

There are positive housing developments in the district. Lune Valley Community Land Trust in partnership with South Lakes Housing, ‘using government funding in an innovative way’, have completed twenty affordable homes to Passivhaus standards at Halton. The city council are leading on re-development of the Skerton school site, with funding from Homes England and the Public Works Loan Board, to replace sub-standard properties on Mainway on the neighbouring site.

Mainway itself has ‘huge potential’ as location for over two hundred new properties, but securing the best outcome in terms of affordability, under the present public policy regime, will require collaboration with private developers. The local authority lacks the funds and access to constructions skills to pursue fully independent development.
The city council ‘needs to learn to work with others’ to deliver new affordable homes. 

Tim Hamilton-Cox

portfolio holder for finance and property 

The requirements for debt repayment for affordable housing schemes over fifty year periods preclude 100% social housing: rent income from the city council’s housing is too low to generate the necessary sums, and it is not permitted to subsidise the housing revenue account from other sources. In this context, the city council needs to be pragmatic, being ‘as ambitious as possible’ but acknowledging ‘an element of compromise’. 

There are currently 237 Council Housing homes at Mainway and the aim is to ensure at least that number is maintained in the council’s own stock as redevelopment takes place, including on the Canal Quarter site. And where an affordable rent home is created, we need to think more about the total cost of occupation, not simply the headline level of rent.

Whilst new private housing developments typically ‘require’ 20-40% affordable units, delivery of these numbers in practice is more the exception than the rule, since developers can argue that development viability does not make the target figure achievable. 

There is concern about housebuilding standards in the face of a climate emergency and high energy prices though there are examples of local good practice (e.g. Northstone’s Scotforth development which will see air-source heat pumps installed on all 70 homes, including the affordable units). 

The new Local Plan for the district will not itself enable an increase in the number of affordable homes. National policy changes are needed. The government could introduce measures to help to increase the percentage of council properties built. Angela Rayner has spoken about introducing controls to require ‘fair, not excessive’ development land values, but this is likely to face strong opposition from vested interests. It was revealed on 21st November, that this has been dropped from Labour’s initial consultation in the release of the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

Andrew Otway

Councillor for Scotforth East, newly elected

The July 2024 general election manifesto of the Green Party of England & Wales gave housing high priority. One indicator of the urgent need for more affordable, decent housing is that around 130,000 children are living in temporary accommodation.

For forty years, the housing policies of successive governments have embraced a dominant perspective of residential property as a personal ‘asset’, rather than as a reasonable personal expectation.

We need to construct genuinely affordable homes in sufficient numbers but also endi the right-to-buy and put in place rent controls.

One approach to providing social housing can be to give local authorities the first option to buy some properties coming onto the market.  And we advocate small-scale new developments accessible to existing local services. 

Questions, responses, and discussion 

1) What is the relationship between the city council and the universities in managing student housing demand? Can accommodation be freed up for families by building specifically for students? Is there evidence of demand for all the new student housing? 

Councillors believe that there is insufficient communication between the city council and the city’s universities, and feel that the latter fail to share information on their future student numbers to enable any sort of joint planning. 

Since 2021, there has been a general presumption in Lancaster against student conversions of existing houses to create HMOs (house in multiple occupation), but a recent appeal test case has been lost and this exposes South Lancaster particularly to risk of loss of more family houses for conversion. Green councillors favour construction of dedicated student accommodation, and acknowledge the decent quality of conversion of some former commercial properties (e.g St.Leonard’s House, the former Waring and Gillow building). 

Contributors from the audience expressed some anger at ‘false claims’ made by Lancaster University in previous years that there was no intention to expand student numbers. In fact, over the past ten years, numbers have increased from around 12,500 to 16,500, currently with around 5,500 international students. The Lancashire County Council submission to government in support of the bid in to the Housing Infrastructure Fund in 2019 – £140m was awarded in 2020 and the scheme was branded ‘South Lancaster Growth Catalyst’ – included a commitment to deliver 2000 new rooms on the Lancaster University campus.

Question was raised about liability for council tax in shared students houses. For clarification, students are not liable for council tax, but non-student residents in shared house are. 

2) What can be done about empty properties? Is there risk of localised housing market collapse in parts of the district, leading to houses falling into disrepair and disuse? 

There are around 1,000 empty properties in the district. There are many reasons why properties may be empty for the short term, but of the total there are about 300 which remain stubbornly unoccupied. Owners are paying high council tax on empty properties, but vacancies still persist. The city council’s powers to intervene are limited to cases where adverse impacts of the vacancy for neighbouring properties can be proven. 

On the housing market, Tim noted that there was ‘an all-time high number of houses for sale in Morecambe’, but not selling. From the audience, it was suggested that over-building of new greenfield developments can have the effect of undermining the market for older properties in some locations. One action could be for the city council to buy larger homes on the private market to house larger families but, without additional resources, the council has very little capital for this pupose. 

3) Why are city council rents relatively low? Can people afford to pay private rents? And, what is the impact of the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) in the district? 

Council rents are set on a formula which looks at other property rental costs in physical proximity. The comparator properties are often small terrace houses with low rent values. But, overall, private rents locally have ‘taken off ’ in the past three years. 

The increase in LHA rates (the level up to which housing benefit is payable) introduced by the previous government results in city council rents falling below the maximum, whilst average local private sector rents are above the LHA rate, resulting in hardship where rent exceeds the LHA. 

4) How can we create more affordable homes from existing properties or by developing brownfield sites? Can we build new house from kits to speed construction? 

The city council appears to be taking a more lenient approach to conversion of vacant commercial properties to residential use: Queen Street, Morecambe, for example, where demand for retail premises has fallen away. Cumulatively, this sort of change of use may have considerable impact. 

There are few remaining brownfield sites available in the district, though the new affordable housing in the Canal Quarter will be a significant gain. 

Some new student developments, such as the student flats at Green Ayre, have been designed to be converted from student to other residential use, by removal of internal walls to meet the allowable minimum floorspace requirement for a private 1-bed flat if the student accommodation market were to soften. 

The city council has already developed a small, innovative housing scheme at Alder Grove, using a panellised building system made in the North West of England. This offers fast and cheap construction of very well insulated homes, with a long life span projected, and which can point a way ahead for bigger schemes. In terms of eco-friendly practice, the city council will explore recovery and re-use of building materials from demolition at Mainway for the neighbouring development on the Skerton school site. 

5) What do we make of the new government’s pressure for building on greenfield sites and expanding housing numbers? 

Greenfield sites will be taken for new developments, and the district faces ‘disastrous housing targets’. Excluding student developments, 157 housing units were built in the district in 2023-24, but the new target figure proposed by the government in the recent consultation exercise is 698. [ This has been confirmed since the meeting as 619 homes per year.] 

Green councillors believe that housing targets should reflect local housing need, and that securing more properties at affordable rents is the key priority. Government has insisted that a council’s housing target is based on a percentage of existing housing stock – not on evidence of local need.

More council house building is required. But a first measure can be to stop right-to-buy of new build social housing. At the Local Government Association, Greens are pressing for this, and also supporting a Liberal Democrat call for individual councils to have the option to stop right-to-buy in the areas.

The post The Challenge of Providing Affordable Homes for Everyone  appeared first on North Lancashire Green Party.

On Monday 25^th November, Green Cllr Caroline Jackson was elected as leader of Lancaster City Council. The extraordinary general meeting was called following the resignation of Labour Councillor Phil Black as leader on 13th November.

Lancaster is now one of 12 councils across England with a Green leader! 

Cllr Jackson immediately announced that at least four members of the previous Cabinet will continue on Cabinet with similar responsibilities: Cllr Caroline Jackson will continue to lead on Housing;  Cllr Peter Jackson, leader of the Lib Dems, will become Deputy Leader of the Council while continuing with his portfolio of Communities and Well-being; and  Green councillors Tim Hamilton-Cox and  Nick Wilkinson will retain their Cabinet portfolios for Finance and Property, and Regeneration respectively.

Cllr Jackson, a Bulk ward councillor in Lancaster for 11 years, and who previously led the council for a two-year period (in 2021-2023), said after the vote:

” I am grateful and honoured to be elected as leader of the Council. I hope to announce the full Cabinet positions by the end of the week, with details about who will lead on the other portfolios.

“I am confident of assembling a good team of new and established members to carry forward the priorities already established in the Council Plan.

“I agree with the sentiments that Cllr Black expressed at the time of his resignation that much has been achieved by the cross-party administration since May 2023. I asked Labour members to reconsider their position but they declined. 

There is no doubt that there will be difficult budget decisions to be made by February. Despite a new Labour Government, local authorities like ours who provide essential and highly valued services for our residents and businesses are still finding it necessary to make savings in order to balance the budget. “

(See addendum below for the full Cabinet Positions)

 Deputy leader of the Green Group, Gina Dowding said:

“Residents in the district expect us to represent them and as far as possible, their political choices. We know that always means a cross party administration. For most of the last twenty years Greens and Labour have shared in the administration of the city council. 

“It is unfortunate that Cllr Black misrepresented the perfectly civil negotiations between the Labour and Green leaders and deputy leaders to revise the leadership roles in recent weeks and it is disappointing that Labour decided to withdraw from working with the Greens and the Lib Dems.”

Cllr Jackson received 30 votes, backed by the Greens, the Lib Dems and an Independent Councillor. Voting against were 19 from Labour and 1 Independent Councillor. The Conservatives and Morecambe Bay Independents abstained from voting. Some Councillors were absent.

Addendum:

On Thursday 29th November, the full cabinet appointments were announced. Caroline will lead a slightly smaller cabinet of 9 members (6 Green, 2 Lib Dem & 1 Morecambe Bay Independent). They are:

• Cllr Caroline Jackson (Green) – Leader of the Council, portfolio for Housing and Homelessness
• Cllr Peter Jackson (Lib Dem) – Deputy Leader of the Council, portfolio for Communities, Well-Being and Partnerships
• Cllr Tim Hamilton-Cox (Green) – portfolio for Finance and Property
• Cllr Nick Wilkinson (Green) – portfolio for Regeneration & Local Economy (Lancaster)
• Cllr Gina Dowding (Green ) – portfolio for Climate Action
• Cllr Sue Tyldesley (Green) – portfolio for Planning
• Cllr Sally Maddocks (Green) – portfolio for Corporate Services
• Cllr Paul Hart (Lib Dem) – portfolio for Environmental Services
• Cllr Martin Bottoms (Morecambe Bay Independent) – portfolio for Regeneration & Local Economy (Morecambe)

Welcoming the new cabinet,Councillor Jackson said:

“I am delighted to have been elected leader, having previously served in the position from 2021-23. The new cabinet is an excellent mix of experience from those who have served previously, along with four new members who bring with them a new perspective and thinking to their areas of responsibility. In particular we welcome two new members, Paul Hart and Martin Bottoms, who are both Morecambe based.

“It’s important to remember that while the leadership of the council may have changed, our priorities have not. The Council Plan runs until 2027 and sets the strategic vision for our services, along with the city council’s commitment to making the most of the district’s many attributes as a great place to live, work and visit.”

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Children and families on the Marsh in Lancaster are celebrating the reopening of Sycamore Grove playpark which has been refurbished, thanks to fundraising by Friends of Marsh.

The playpark for children aged ten years and under, replaces the previous park which had to be closed in 2021 as it was deemed unsafe. Brand new play equipment including a wheelchair friendly roundabout, was chosen following consultations with children attending the Marsh Community Centre.  

The Friends group were successful in applying to Lancashire Environmental Fund(LEF) who awarded over £28 thousand pounds to cover the cost of most of the play equipment. Lancaster City Council contributed another £10 thousand pounds and installed the play park  without charge.

Katie Schad, Chair of Friends of Marsh and Lancaster Priory Community Worker said:

“We are very grateful to L.E.F for their generous funding and Lancaster City Council for helping towards costs and carrying out the installation.  Local children are already really enjoying the new equipment and that would not be possible without the support we have received.”

Mandy Bannon, Councillor for Marsh ward, and member of Friends of Marsh said:

“It’s wonderful to see so many young children using the new play park. The new equipment is fantastic and it’s a great place for children and their families to meet up. It’s been a pleasure working as part of the Friends group and having the support of the Council and Lancashire Environmental Fund.  The completion of this playpark shows what local communities can achieve when we all work together.”

The Friends of Marsh is a subgroup of the Marsh Community Centre charity. The Friends are a group of locally based people who meet at the Community Centre once or twice a term, to think through ways to support the area. They welcome new members so if you would like to know more, please email: katie.schad@lancasterpriory.org 

The post Friends of Marsh celebrate new playground opening appeared first on North Lancashire Green Party.

To the surprise of Green Councillors, Labour Councillor Phil Black resigned his leadership of Lancaster City Council at the full council meeting on Wednesday 13 November 2024. He effectively ended the alliance agreement between Labour, Greens and Lib Dems who have jointly been running the Council since May 2023. 

Leader of the Green Group, Councillor Caroline Jackson said: 

“We were disappointed that Councillor Black and the Labour group should have chosen this abrupt and emotional way of ending the current administration, and announce that they have chosen to be in opposition. Cllr Black could and should have given advance notice so that a new leader could have been elected at the meeting. The effect of this action in the middle of the budget process is to halt essential work and ultimately delay decision-making. 

“Cllr Black misrepresented the perfectly civil negotiations between the Labour and Green leaders and deputy leaders in recent weeks.

“It is a fact that Labour has lost three seats and become the smaller political group. Back in May 2023, Cllr Black insisted that he should be leader of the Council because Labour had more councillors than Greens.

“Cllr Black has been unwilling or unable to negotiate with us to create a smooth transition to a Green leadership at this point, and he had not even committed to doing so in May when the current arrangement was due to end. For the record, our offer in the negotiations was to reduce Cabinet from 10 places to 9, with Greens and Labour having 4 places each but transferring the leadership to Greens, and the Lib Dems keeping one place. 

“I personally would like to commend all the members of the Liberal-Democrat, Green and Labour cross-party administration that has just been terminated. It has been hard working, co-operative, and broadly successful.”

Deputy leader of the Green Group, Gina Dowding added: 

“From the outset Labour did not follow through on the draft agreement that was created in May 2023 – in some haste – between the three political groups. One of that agreement’s underpinning principles was ‘Further details to be addressed via a working agreement.’

“Having secured the leadership, Cllr Black refused to have any further conversations to complete what was, and still is, a draft agreement. 

“We were also taken aback that nine months in he announced, without prior discussion and via email, a re-shuffle of the Cabinet places. This was despite the administration agreement establishing which portfolio areas each group would have.  Cllr Black expressly reminded us that the Council administration was a hierarchical organisation and ‘the Greens might not like that, but they better get used to it.’  He made policy announcements which did not meet our joint commitment to ‘no surprises’. 

“Despite all this, I do agree with the sentiments that Cllr Black expressed at Full Council that much has been achieved by the cross-party administration, which makes is all the more surprising that they would choose to withdraw from it. We would really like the Labour group to reconsider the position it took on Wednesday night and resume the cabinet posts it held, under Green leadership.”

Based on the respective numbers of councillors in each party, the administration had consisted of 5 Labour Cabinet members (including the leader), 4 Greens and 1 Lib Dem. Cllr Black’s announcement followed two negotiation meetings between the Greens and Labour about the way forward for the shared administration. In two recent by-elections caused by Labour City Councillors resigning from the council – in the University and Scotforth East wards – there had been significant increase in support for the Green Party, who won both seats. Labour had also lost a third councillor due to an internal group fall out.

Out of 61 Council seats, the Greens now have 23 (up from 21), Labour 21 (down from 24), while Lib Dems have 7, Conservatives 5, Morecambe Bay Independents 3, and two non-aligned Independents.

The post Greens respond to Council Leader’s sudden resignation appeared first on North Lancashire Green Party.