Welcome!

Swale Green Party is your local Green Party for the Faversham, Sittingbourne and Sheppey areas.

Members of Swale Green Party believe in a positive vision for Swale, rejecting austerity and working instead for the common good: high-quality housing we can all afford, a living wage, affordable and reliable public transport, our railways in public hands, an end to the scandal of families being driven to food banks and real action on the environmental crisis. 

We are continuing to welcome new members - if you would like to join the party, click on the box at the top of this page. We would love to welcome you at one of our regular local meetings.

Sign for regular updates from our local councillors HERE

General Election 2024

Hannah Temple will be standing as our Prospective Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Faversham & Mid Kent in the general election 2024. 

Hannah is a sustainability and human rights specialist who runs her own business supporting organisations to implement more responsible and ethical practices. She has worked for many years both in the UK and abroad to help protect the environment and support workers and communities to access their rights. She hosts A Thriving Future podcast where listeners hear from the bold organizations and communities going beyond sustainability and leading the way towards a better future.

Outside of her work, Hannah is a regular volunteer and has given her time and energy to initiatives and causes including tree-planting, reducing single-use plastics, helping at the local foodbank, mentoring victims of abuse and monitoring water quality. She has even taken part in a citizen science project with ZSL monitoring eels in Faversham creek! Hannah is also an activist who works to pressure those in power to take positive action for people and planet through protests, events and by hosting people's assemblies. Last year Hannah stepped down as a Trustee at Abbey Physic Community Garden after six years in the post where she played a key role in fundraising and monitoring and evaluation work. She is a hiker, swimmer, bird-watcher, vegan cook and yogi. Hannah lives in Faversham with her husband and their badly-behaved dog Whisky.

In 2023 we stood more candidates for Swale Borough Council than ever before, and won our best ever result, but we now have a general election to win - we hope to get our first Kent Green MP elected.

We need help with all aspects of the campaign, delivering leaflets to your street or village, knocking on doors and sharing our message with our electorate and help sharing our posts on social media. We rely solely on volunteers and need your help! We also rely solely on individual donations.

Every actions helps, so please get in touch with coordinator@swale.greenparty.org.uk if you can help in any way.

Kent County Council

RICH LEHMANN is our councillor for SWALE EAST, a constituency that runs in a ring around Faversham and includes many of the Swale Villages. Rich is one of five Green councillors on KCC and is Leader of the Green and Independent Group. 

Rich has been working hard to improve life for his constituents and for young people throughout Kent. He has been pushing the council to protect wildlife and the environment, and has been campaigning to stop KCC's Conservatives from cutting vital bus services to rural communities.

You can find his full profile on the Kent County Council website

Contact: rich.lehmann@kent.gov.uk 

 

 

Making a difference in Swale

    

THREE Green Councillors were elected in the Swale Borough Council elections in May 2023, ALASTAIR GOULD & RICH LEHMANN were elected in Boughton & Courtenay and TERRY THOMPSON is our councillor in East Downs.

Green councillors were first elected onto Swale Borough council in May 2019 and in the June 2019 Swale Borough Council meeting, Green councillor Tim Valentine proposed a motion to Declare a Climate & Ecological Emergency, the motion was passed and council staff have been working towards making the council's operations carbon neutral by 2025. Sittingbourne, Sheppey and Faversham intend to be Carbon Neutral by 2030.

The Council have developed a Climate Action Plan and have set some of the most ambitious targets not only in Kent, but in the UK! The council have prioritized the improvement of energy efficiency and making space for nature, they are pursuing the Swale Strategic Air Quality Action Plan and have called on the Borough's MPs to support the motion.

Climate Action Plan

Swale Borough Council has already made significant achievements in their Climate Action Plan, including:

  • Removing single used plastics from Swale House;
  • Launching their Fuel and Water Home Advice Service;
  • Requesting that more renewable energy and energy-efficiency measures are included in new developments;
  • Planting 1,600 trees in our country parks and identifying more potential sites for planting;
  • Reducing the use of pesticides, herbicides and fertiliser;
  • Working with 'Solar Together', a programme which saw over 450 referrals for solar installations;
  • Installing recycling bins for plastics on Sheppey's beaches, to reduce plastic litter that makes its way into the sea;
  • Working with KCC to maintain and improve the low levels of waste that goes to landfill;
  • Launching the Faversham town-wide 20mph speed limit to help improve air quality, reduce carbon emissions, improve road safety and encourage more journeys to be made by walking and cycling;
  • Refitting and upgrading Swale House and Masters House so that they use less energy;
  • Launching a car share scheme in Faversham & Sittingbourne;
  • Including 9 electric vans in the council fleet, (20 tonnes of C02 per year saved);
  • Installing Electric Vehicle chargers in car parks across the borough.

The council have also fined residents and business owners thousands of pounds for fly-tipping and littering. They have been cracking down on illegal littering in the sea and encourage local residents to contact them to report anyone who is illegally dumping waste. You can report an incident of littering or fly-tipping here or call 01795 417850.

Our councillors in Boughton & Courtenay have also succeeded with their campaign to improve the cycle lanes between Boughton-under-Blean and Faversham and are working towards making cycling safer and easier throughout the borough.

Towards Zero Carbon

Since being elected, Swale Borough Council have made significant moves towards making the council's operations carbon neutral by 2025. 

Zero-emission electric vehicles 

The fleet of council vehicles has been replaced with nine new Nissan Env200 electric vans, saving 20 tonnes of carbon every year and making long-term cost savings.

The previous fleet of diesel vans was due to be replaced at the end of 2020 and the new zero-emission vehicles will help to improve the air quality in Swale. The fleet regularly travel through the borough's air quality management areas (AQMAs) where vehicle pollution contributes to poor air quality.

Electric vehicle charging bays installed

New charge points have been installed in central car parks across the borough to encourage as many people as possible to switch to zero-emissions electric vehicles, to improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions. There is currently no charge for the electricity used, and the parking tariff for the electric vehicle charging bays will remain the same as the rest of the car park. Vehicles can be charged by downloading the free Pod Point app.

Affordable Housing

Our Green councillors have called for more affordable homes in towns, close to transport links, where people could meet their daily needs without having to use a car every time they left home.

This vision has taken a great leap forward; the Rainbow Coalition running Swale Borough Council is setting up a local housing company to meet the need for affordable housing that is not being provided by the market.

The housing company, Swale Rainbow Homes Ltd, will be wholly-owned by the council. It will not place any financial burden on the council or the taxpayer. Council-owned land at the old bus depot in East Street, Sittingbourne, and the car parks at Fountain Street and Cockleshell Walk, also in Sittingbourne, will be transferred in exchange for equity in the company. The sites will be used to provide around 139 new homes. The development will provide an income from assets that will appreciate over time.

Setting up a local housing company will enable the council to intervene directly in the local housing market to provide decent affordable housing. It will give the council control of the number, location and energy efficiency of affordable homes, meaning that the council will not be at the mercy of developers trying to maximise profit.

The number of local people in need of affordable housing is rising. The company will enable us to build affordable housing in addition to those provided through the planning system, enabling Swale Borough Council to begin to meet that need.

Our Green Councillors really have proved that they can make a difference and get things done. Working with other councillors, they have made impressive steps towards a zero-carbon future for Swale.

The Green Party do politics differently. We believe decisions should be taken as locally as possible. Politics is not restricted to the council chamber but happens through actions in the community. From picking up a piece of plastic waste to running a group like the Brownies, positive actions make our villages the great places they are to live. We want to support positive action by everybody. So get in touch. Let us know your priorities, and what we can do to help.

You can contact Alastair at AlastairGould@swale.gov.uk 

or Rich Lehmann at RichLehmann@swale.gov.uk or Rich.lehmann@kent.gov.uk 

 

The time to join the Green Party is NOW, for as little as £3.33 a month, join HERE

Sign up for regular updates from our local councillors HERE

Sign up for regular news and campaign updates from the Green Party HERE

 

 

 

Promoted by T. Valentine on behalf of Swale Green Party, PO Box 78066, London, SE16 9GQ