While this is disappointing, we fully acknowledge and understand the reasons behind this.

As a party we have not turned our backs on the LGBTIQA+ community.

The recent Supreme Court ruling has caused fear within the LGBTIQA+ community in Cambridge and around the country.

The ruling does not change our stance on LGBTIQA+ rights; we will always stand with marginalised communities, especially while they are under attack.

In light of this decision, we will attend Cambridge Pride as individuals, not as a party. We would not want our presence at Pride to be a barrier to members of the community attending.

Pride has been and will continue to be a safe space – by LGBTIQA+ people, for LGBTIQA+ people.

Despite our absence at Pride, we will continue to push for equity and inclusion for all LGBTIQA+ people in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire.

We wish everyone a safe and happy Pride.

In solidarity,

Cambridge & South Cambridgeshire Green Party

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Fisher said: 

“Our aim is to win at least four Green councillors and we are within touching distance of doing just that. We have brought real hope to this campaign, the hope that a group of Green councillors can push an incoming Lib Dem administration to be bolder and braver in delivering the real change our county needs. 

Chair of Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire Greens and Mayoral candidate Bob Ensch said: 

“Our teams have been working incredibly hard for communities and getting things done. We want all four of our target candidates elected on Friday.”  

END

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Greens are targeting: 

Elliot Tong – Abbey

Kathryn Fisher – Histon and Impington

Darren Green – Romsey

Peter Rees – Newnham

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Like you, I really thought things might start to improve last summer when we finally got rid of the incompetent and corrupt Conservative government, but since then pensioners’ winter fuel payments have gone, the two-child benefit cap hasn’t been scrapped, and now the Labour government is targeting the disabled, by reducing PIP benefits.

The cost-of-living crisis deepens for working people, as energy bills soar, and meanwhile the wealthy get richer and richer. The Green Party is now the only progressive party left in British politics; that’s why I’m standing for mayor.

Having lived in South Cambridgeshire for 45 years and directed the Cambridge office of a national construction company for 15 years, I understand business, I’m passionate about sustainability, and the importance of developing the skills of local people.

Watching how our politicians are failing residents has made me determined to drive meaningful change. Since retiring from paid work, I co-founded the FutureIN programme, which supports young people at risk of homelessness by helping them find work in construction. I’m also a trustee of It Takes a City CLT, developing small housing sites for the homeless in Greater Cambridge. As chair of the local Green Party and with my experience of managing teams, I bring strong leadership skills, underpinned by unwavering ethical values.

The rapid growth of our region driven by the life sciences and IT sectors has brought prosperity for some but also a housing crisis, failing infrastructure and deepening inequality, while public investment is missing the mark. Working people have been left to bear the brunt of rising costs, hitting low-income households most. Meanwhile, our vulnerability to climate change – through water shortages, flooding and biodiversity loss – demands urgent action.

I will ensure development is carefully managed, prioritising the needs of the many over the few. I’ll deliver an integrated transport system, with more buses on more routes with simple and affordable fares. I’ll invest to end homelessness, fight for tenants’ rights and campaign for rent controls. I’ll build more social housing because affordable housing simply isn’t. I’ll ensure that housing developments include community facilities, and that homes are properly insulated.

We cannot ignore the looming water crisis any longer – I’ll take action to get it sorted, and I want to see more space for nature across the region.

We need to increase support for small businesses, and we need to grow the green economy too.

Last month YouGov reported that 78 per cent of us would like to see extreme wealth taxed rather than have any more cuts to public services. But the other parties aren’t listening – we are, that’s our policy. The BBC recently reported that 80 per cent of us want more government action on climate change. But the two major parties are rowing back on the country’s net zero commitment. We’re not.

The Green Party is the only party listening to you on these issues. If you want real hope and real change that will deliver a better world for you and your children, vote Green.

Bob Ensch

Green Party candidate for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mayor

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Mr Ramsay, co-leader of the Green Party and MP for Waveney Valley, spent his time speaking to residents in key Cambridge wards and in Histon & Impington, where Greens are hoping to gain their first South Cambridgeshire representative.

Mr Ramsay said: “We need Green voices on the Council to push for policies that benefit the many, not just the wealthy few. I am hugely impressed by the energy and dedication of the candidates I have met today and I know they would be strong advocates for their communities.”

The Green Party, which currently has five councillors on Cambridge City Council, is standing candidates in every seat in the Cambridgeshire County Council election, as well as in the Mayoral election for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. They are hoping to gain seats across the county on 1st May.

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Bob currently is the programme lead for FutureIN, an initiative dedicated to inspiring and upskilling young people in the construction industry. As a former director at Morgan Sindall Construction based in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, he was at the forefront of delivering innovative projects that prioritised sustainability and positive impacts on local communities.

Bob was as a Non-Executive Director for the Employment and Skills Board for two years on Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, where he championed employment opportunities for disadvantaged young people in the region.

Bob’s commitment to environmental stewardship and social equity makes him an ideal candidate. His vision for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough includes investing in green infrastructure, and fostering a vibrant, inclusive economy.

Bob said: “I am thrilled to represent the Green Party in this mayoral election. Together, we can build a region that not only thrives economically but also leads the way in environmental innovation and social progress.”

The Green Party urges residents across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to support Bob Ensch’s campaign and join the movement for a greener and brighter future.

Join the Green Party today: https://join.greenparty.org.uk/

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Green County council candidate, Kathryn Fisher explained:

“The Chancellor is desperately scrabbling around for a plausible magic growth bullet in order to prop up Labour’s ludicrous fiscal rules that don’t allow them to tax the super rich.”

She continued: “She sees Cambridge as this magic bullet, but the city doesn’t need growth, it needs investment in social housing and infrastructure. We should be investing in the old industrial heartlands in the north by redeveloping post-industrial sites, not pumping even more money into one of the most unequal, nature deprived and water-depleted cities in the country, by building million pound apartments all over the green belt.”

“People who don’t know the Cambridge area and its problems well might be fooled, but there is no way that the government’s plan can work even purely in economic terms.” she added.  “However, we have gone beyond problems that can be solved by magic money trees. Every suggested solution raises a whole host of new problems . Magical thinking puts the economy at risk as well as the environment.”

For months, the Green Party has been calling for higher wages for lower-paid workers and an end to austerity measures that have crippled public services. In her speech, Reeves stated the government would be looking at “the rising cost of health and disability benefits”. A compassionate and competent government would work harder to stop people becoming too ill to work in the first place. It should not put up with companies that make large profits by paying workers so little that they must claim in-work benefits to survive. 

Green County council candidate, Darren Green said: “It is time to increase taxes on the accumulated wealth of big businesses and billionaires to redistribute resources and rebuild our broken public services. We must prioritise the needs of the people and the planet over the interests of the wealthy few. The climate crisis cannot be ignored.”

The Green Party welcomes well-paying, unionised jobs, but if Labour doesn’t take urgent action on the climate crisis, there will be no jobs on a dead planet. We say no to austerity, no to the destruction of our environment, and yes to a fairer, greener future for all.

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Cambridge Water Failures Pose Threat To Environment And Water Supply

The annual reviews by Ofwat, the Environment Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) of the performance of England’s water companies were published on 21 October ¹. Jean Glasberg, Green Party City Councillor, says: “These letters make shocking reading. They provide the detail behind the recent national publicity on the scandalous failure of the water industry.”

The letter to Cambridge Water ², the supplier of the city’s water, states clearly that “Your current performance is a risk to the environment and security of supply…” and points out that there is an on-going deficit in the ‘supply-demand’ balance. Despite the alarms that have been raised, the company is still not addressing the challenge of supplying the rising need for water, much of it due to new development, nor has it reduced the impact of its abstractions on the environment, including harm to chalk streams. Perhaps not surprisingly, Cambridge Water’s 2025 draft Water Resources Management Plan has still not been approved by Defra.

The letter explains how, in 2019, Cambridge Water forecast the improvements it would have made by 2024, and shows that these have not been achieved. Key failures are: interruptions in supply (72% above the forecast and due mainly to system breakdowns or pollution); delay in installing water meters; and leakage from pipes. The significant increase in demand from the non-household sector, including new science parks, is not adequately addressed and there are questions over data accuracy. The company has until 29th November to explain the action it will take on the problems identified ³.

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Kathryn Fisher has been selected as Green Party candidate for the Histon and Impington by-election of 24 October 2024. More information here.

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Urgent action needed to tackle pollution, flooding and water shortages

Cambridgeshire residents are facing rising water bills with proposed price hikes of 13-14%¹. But we are confronted with polluted rivers and failing sewage treatment plants, dried up chalk streams, and both flooding and drought which are damaging agriculture, roads and other infrastructure and affecting our health. The water companies themselves predict an insufficient supply of water by 2030².

The Greens are therefore calling on the Council to declare full recognition of the water emergency, the impact that this is already having on communities, businesses and the environment in Cambridge, and the potentially disastrous consequences it is leading to.

Jean Glasberg says “The City Council declared biodiversity³ and climate⁴ emergencies in 2019, which have helped to raise awareness of, and accelerate action on these critical issues, including influencing planning and other decisions. We need a water emergency declaration for the same reasons. Global heating is causing extreme weather events which are having a serious impact on our water resources. Under the Climate Change Act 2008, water companies are legally obliged to take action to adapt to the future impacts of climate breakdown⁵. We need clear evidence that they are doing this.”

Urgent action is needed to address the current crisis, including full scrutiny of planning applications for large-scale developments. Full weight must be given to the evidence of the Environment Agency (a statutory consultee) in relation to water. The highest water efficiency standards should be required for any new developments, including mandatory greywater collection and recycling, a policy that the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service claims to promote but which is not being fully implemented.

Greens are also requesting the Council to write to the Rt Hon Angela Rayner to demand that planning matters in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire remain under the control of the local authorities and asking for the Written Ministerial Statement on the Cambridge Delivery Group⁶, of May 2024, to be replaced with a new statement that requires greater priority to be given to water issues in local planning applications.

Cambridge has the potential to become a model ‘sponge’ city⁷, a concept being pursued in other cities, where the creation of places with multiple areas of greenery, trees, ponds, soakaways, pocket parks, rain gardens and permeable paving is actively encouraged. The Council needs to engage with the water companies, but also put pressure on them to cap abstraction from the Chalk aquifer at today’s levels, rapidly increase efforts to repair leaks, and manage demand more effectively. While the Council itself must do all it can to encourage residents to use less water, we also need accelerated introduction of universal metering and the prompt declaration of hosepipe bans when needed.

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