I would question the second half of that statement. Let's go through the record and compare it the manifesto's statements with the reality.
A lot of the manifesto is vague, uncosted and committed to "reviewing" things rather than actually doing stuff, but let us look at specifics.
Affordable Housing
The document complains in very vague terms about the term "affordable housing." It is nice to start on a note of some sort of agreement. Central government policies have over years minimised affordable housing as I have often pointed out. However, the Greens have not really engaged with the key mechanisms for this minimisation, the biggest of which is the "viability assessment" which looks like it is finally getting close to being changed. Other than a vague generalised complaint the Greens don't really seem to be pursuing the details of the trade offs necessary in making housing schemes happen, and their London spokeswoman appears to have embarked on a blanket blocking of new housing across London. The Greens also state that their approach to Planning will be more rigourous, but they don't give any details on how this would be done, and the previous absence of detailed critiques of either planning policy or of individual schemes does not give me confidence.Supporting Small Businesses and "Eco-business"
Again, we seem quite short on detail here. Anyone can claim to support small business but the Greens don't seem to give any themes. They express distaste for the area around Wembley Stadium, where I have expressed doubts of my own, but not made any positive suggestions in (say) how to regenerate high streets. The Kilburn Times report seems to quote a Green candidate claiming that Brent Council has "brought in" big chains to replace small shops, although I can't imagine how he thinks it has done this. Again, there does not appear to be much awareness of modern ideas of the importance of maintaining diversity in planning, or using transport policy productively. I take the "Tech Hub" rhetoric as really just being lip service given the previous opposition to innovations such as Brent Civic Centre or Willesden Library. Some of the things a Council might usefully do in this area I have suggested here.Waste and Street Cleaning
The pledge of value for money in waste and street cleaning I have to see as something of a joke. Brent went through a lengthy process to negotiate a value for money public realm contract, which delivered substantial changes in both lower costs and improved outcomes. Far from offering "real opposition", Brent Greens seem to have had nothing to say on this other than attempt to turn the whole thing into a Boycott movement against Israel. The Greens also make no comment on either the previous improvements to front end recycling or the significant shift away from landfill.Parks
The manifesto mentions two parks specifically (King Eddy's (Wembley, I think) and Gladstone Park without acknowledging any of the work of the past few years or again engaging in the details of parks policy. To give that some perspective Brent has a total of 85 parks and green spaces of varying sizes. The pledge on restarting a swimming pool in Gladstone Park appears to have no engagement with the climate change problems, planning issues, practical management issues or acknowledgement of the work completed or underway at Willesden Sports Centre, Vale Farm, Moberley Sports Centre or in the Wembley Master Plan.Air Quality
Here at last we find some detailed suggestions, although they seem rather deficient in awareness of previous policy. For instance, they don't seem pay attention to planning policy's current emphasis on discouraging car use, the switch to emissions based parking or alterations in street design to shift to more horizontal measures.
Schools and Youth Services
The Green manifesto is firmly against academisation, but provides little detail on how the Greens would support schools under current central government policies. Perhaps wisely, there is no mention of Brent Greens' previous fierce opposition to new school places. Again, there seems no awareness of the detailed policy context in which Roundwood Youth Centre got built in 2010/11 or why it is preserved.Public Libraries
There is lip service paid to Brent's public library service although no acknowledgement that Brent can probably claim to have one of the most successful library services in the UK. There seems to be reluctance to admit that Brent Greens have supported a privatisation model instead (although there is an uncosted pledge to introduce a privatised library in Neasden). There is no mention of their fierce opposition to the whole Brent Libraries Transformation or apparent awareness of way in which the continued pressure to support privatised libraries undermines public provision. There is also no mention of the arts or of the universal offer in libraries.Disability Access
Finally there is some detail given on disability access, although no acknowledgement of how previous Green opposition to new buildings has impeded disabled access to public services. The disability comments seem to mainly see disability access as a role for TfL, which is of course a quite separate body to Brent Council.Altogether, I would be sceptical of Brent Green's claims to believe in "effective opposition" since that requires scrutiny of the detailed policy whereas their record is one of broad brush campaigning, ignoring detail and seeming to want to score debating points rather than achieve substantive change.
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