Kent on Sunday

Two pieces in the Kent on Sunday today. Firstly a news item on an emergency motion passed by the Green Party conference last week for an investigation into the policing at Kingsnorth. Hazel Dawe gets the credit for organising the motion. Secondly a letter from me on the Maidstone Goes Green:

Dear Editor,

Putting the blame and guilt on individuals for using their cars is what I expect from the Tories and LibDems mentioned in your article on Maidstone Goes Green Week (KOS 7th Sept).

Encouraging people to travel to work without using their car is a worthy goal but KCC have repeated failed to invest in alternatives to car based travel. The implementation of the traffic management system in Maidstone has coincided with a doubling of road fatalities, the bus services in Maidstone are infrequent enough to be non-existent and the tiny number of cycle lanes simply don't work.

How can people be expected to do 'do the right thing' during Maidstone Goes Green week, when Kent County Council refuses to invest in the changes needed to support people?

Individual changes are vitally important to tackling climate change and the rising cost of living but local and national government must ensure policies and infrastructure are in place to make these changes possible.

Stuart Jeffery
Green Party Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Maidstone and the Weald