Green Party's Steve Dawe has More Answers to Election Questions from Tonbridge People

Many thanks to Green Party candidate Steve Dawe for answering more pre-election questions.

Here are his additional responses:

Children's services are limited by the division of the tax take: central government has too much and local government has been subjected to cuts, 'efficiency savings' and under-funding since the 1970s. So the main step must be, to increase the local government share from total taxation and then target the funds towards local needs. In respect of children's services, this must mean each district council area having a variety of services - including family therapy/support for you families/better access to counselling etc - at a far superiod level to that available now. Talking about families is easy - hard cash is needed to support better services.

A21: Kent Green Party opposes all new trunk road building and additions to highway capacity. We have already opposed A21 widening, and with support from the Woodland Trust, making it clear that ancient woodland must be preserved. The problem is that new raod capacity creates induced traffic - longer car journeys and more of them. So you cannot reduce traffic congestion by building more road capacity - it did not happen with the M25, or the Dartford Tunnel, or the Dartford Crossing or the Newbury by-pass. And even the HIghways Agency expects a significant rise in road traffic in the A21 and surrounding areas in the immediate future. So we should spend the £125 million allocated to the A21 dualling on: bus service improvements, better travel plans to cut car use to schools, better walking and cycling routes, promotion of teleworking to cut car journeys and support the home life of citizens, etc. Green Party policy proposes allocating the £30 billion intended for new road building in the UK over the next 10 years to other transport priorities, as suggested by the list above.

Economy and trade: I have personally surveyed Tonbridge High Street for two successive years and will do so again this July. I am campaigning for empty properties to be put into use, following the No Use Empty campaign approach of providing short leases to voluntary bodies rather than leaving properties and sites to rot. I am also urging through the media that commercial rents be cut, as the high rents demanded help to keep properties empty. In line with the Green Party's economic approach, I will continue to strongly advocate that consumers support sole trader and small enterprises on the High Street whenever possible, as these are the most efficient in the use of capital to create and maintain employment. They are also critical to maintain diversity. However, the biggest change I will be campaignging for is the pedestrianisation of the HIgh Street. Having seen the transformation of Canterbury from the mid-1970s onwards through pedestrianisation, I am quite sure that progressive pedestrianisation of Tonbridge High Street will boost businesses and make the town centre far more attractive than it is now. Today, the High Street is a 'canyon' full of traffic and car fumes. The area near the Roundabout is highly polluted and we need to take action to reduce traffic levels and pollution in this area, I hope by fundamentally altering the area around the rail station - which, as the busiest in Kent, is struggling to cope with the pressure of numbers of people and associated vehicles.

Why is it worth voting for me? Because my commitment to a more equal and more sustainable society is exactly what our area needs for the future. 

Three big promises: Elaborating on the three key concerns on my main leaflet: I want to see the local demand for housing met from empty homes and properties, and long-derelict industrial sites. I want to see our Councils introducing 20 mph speed limits for residential roads to improve public safety and cut noise and air pollution. And I want to see a pedestrianised High Street, with an increasing area of pedestrianisation over time. Clearly, keeping promises of this type involves securing the support of various bodies - I will campaign to achieve this, as I have been already.

Availability: I live in Tonbridge and will be campaigning to make it a more equitable and sustainable town in the future, regardless of the outcome of the election.

Steve Dawe - greenparty@gn.apc.org - 01732 355185