Environment and Transport Promises

Here are the Brent Labour Party manifesto promises regarding Environment and Transport policies:

The Lib Dem / Tory charge for collecting dumped items (special collections) has never yielded the revenue hoped from it, and has led to more fly tipping and less recycling across the Borough. We will therefore abolish the Lib Dem /Tory £25 charge immediately.

We will also: -

· Increase kerbside recycling, originally introduced by Labour.
· Increase the ways in which the scope of recycling services can be extended in both materials and users.
· Introduce a voucher scheme to provide discounts at local shops for those who recycle a lot.
· Make Brent a Fairtrade Borough. We will maintain and extend the support we give to the Brent Fairtrade Network that we set up in 2001. This will include broadening the range of products that the Council buys, and being more pro-active in supporting other Fairtrade providers.
· Improve the Park Warden service that we re-introduced after the Tory cuts of the 1990s.
· Work with other local authorities and central government to change legislation to allow the Council to restrict the growth of betting shops in town centres and fast food outlets near schools.
· Conduct a systematic review of environmental issues relating to public transport areas, owned by Transport for London and railway companies and work with other stakeholders to secure improvements.
· Promote the use of re-useable bags, as a replacement for plastic ones. We will also look to take up other opportunities for waste minimisation as they arise.
· Convert the existing, and new, Controlled Parking Zones to a permit system based on the “polluter pays” principle. This means that vehicles that produce less greenhouse gases and other emissions pay less. The principle was introduced by Labour in its 1996-2006 administration but has since been neglected by the Lib Dem / Tory administration.
· Improve current parking arrangements in consultation with local residents.
· Institute a programme of pavements being reinforced to an adequate standard in order to minimise maintenance costs, where the Council allows vehicles to park on pavements. This will entail an audit of the relevant streets
· Review the Council’s own transport fleet of more than 100 vehicles, to see if they can be switched to alternative fuel use. Since much of the fleet needs to be replaced anyway, it should be possible to make such a transition relatively quickly.
· Provide new car clubs at Council sites, public sector partners and small businesses and use the Council’s publicity resources to promote them, including producing a Brent atlas showing car club sites.
· Use the planning system to encourage sustainable transport and traffic reduction.
· Seek to protect and enhance the Borough’s wildlife corridors and vacant land (such as trackside railway) for the benefit of greenery and wildlife.
· Work with neighbouring boroughs and Transport for London to provide new orbital transport links such as a tram link, light railway or extra bus links
· Address the public transport deficit in areas like Alperton, Stonebridge, Sudbury and Northwick Park.
· Work with water utilities and British Waterways to seek long term solutions to flooding and other water problems