Sean Woodward

Statement on Warsash Planning Decision

January 25, 2018

The decision made yesterday to allow hundreds of homes to be built in Warsash can only be condemned in the strongest possible terms. While I am unsure of the background forces that encouraged senior Conservative councillors to vote in favour, one thing we can be certain of – it stinks. One thing we can take from this as a positive, is the inspiration from those who fought so hard against this shambolic decision – we must show them our thanks.

So where do we go from here?

Well first of all we must look within ourselves. We must realise that politics was the reason why this monstrosity and others (such as Welborne) went ahead. Democracy is only as strong as the means to facilitate it – if we shy away from discussion, decisions like this are made on our behalf by people who do not represent us. Politics caused this problem, but politics can also fix it – everything is political whether we like it or not. Secondly, groups that have fought this decision must unite with other groups across the borough. The will and determination of groups across the borough can only be effective if we all work together and unite to defend our communities, our quality of life and our environment.

If nothing else, the decision made last night is a wake up call to residents across Fareham – Get informed, get organised and vote against career politics.

 

You’re gonna get fracked hard by the Conservatives.

May 22, 2017 — Leave a comment

Fracking, it seems to have fallen out of the public eye – for whatever reason. But the fact remains that this is not the answer to our energy needs. I mean, I’m not keen on being able to set fire to my tap water. That’s just the bare minimum of what is wrong with the process. Near Blackpool, fracking was deemed to be the cause of earthquakes that occurred. MEDACT even released a report on it stating that the chemicals involved in the fracking process have the potential to cause cancer, lung diseases and birth defects on newborn children.

Here’s what a senior Conservative politician had to say:

 

Screen Shot 2017-05-22 at 17.02.48

Yes, the leader of Fareham Borough Council really said that. Here’s a link to his tweet.

Suella Fernandes (The Conservative’s candidate for Fareham) had this to say about fracking on her website:

“I therefore believe that these regulations will provide suitable protection against any health risks, so I support them.”

Across the world we’ve put our faith into the regulations set onto the fossil fuel industry, yet they don’t always work… I’ll just leave this here.

Caroline Lucas said that the Conservative’s manifesto was “a car crash for the environment” – I’d personally go one step further and say this is a multiple pile-up on a dual carriageway for the environment.

When it comes to our environment and who best to protect it, when it comes to protecting our green spaces, when it comes to protecting animals from the pollution as a result of fracking – it is always the Green Party that has done so.

The Green Party will make sure that our air is breathable and our water is drinkable. Fracking is too big a risk to take for yours and your family’s health.

The Green Party today also released our Green Guarantee which you can view here.

An open letter to Sean Woodward

February 16, 2015 — Leave a comment

The #MoreBuses petition has received 200 signatures on change.org, here is the email I sent to Cllr Seàn Woodward:

“Dear Cllr Woodward,

I am writing to let you know that the petition started last year to petition you to work with First in order to secure a better bus service for the Western Wards of Fareham has now exceeded it’s 200 signature goal on Change.org – we have received much more in the way of paper petitions.  I’m requesting a meeting with you and representatives of Bus companies operating in Hampshire within the next fortnight to discuss with First Bus how we can have the following routes:
  • One that goes to The Fareham Community Hospital, a minimum of two per hour.
  • A reinstatement of the 28 service to Warsash, again a minimum of two per hour.
  • A route to and from Gosport from Whiteley.
  • A route to and from Fareham from Whiteley.
  • A reinstatement of the X4/4 service that went through Titchfield & Titchfield Common.
It abhorrent that these socially necessary routes are not running and were among the first to go when it came to the cuts that were implemented early last month. Fareham is THE MOST CAR DEPENDENT TOWN IN THE UK. That is not a medal or an honour, it is something to avoid. The fact that MY TOWN has that title, is something that I am deeply ashamed of. As part of our duty as a species to ensure our survival on this planet (there is no Planet B, Cllr Woodward) the people that we have put our faith in should be doing more to reduce our carbon emissions, at whatever level.
Many of the managers at Whiteley have said that they are on the verge of shutting their doors because their staff are unable to get to work on time, because of traffic delays. Many of those who work at Whiteley are young people, many of whom are spending the vast amount of their wages on Taxis or a car. By slashing these services, these young people feel increasingly victimised by these transport cuts that are damaging the local economy. If Welborne goes through, I can assure you – this will only get worse.
In my home village of Warsash, it deeply saddened me to hear that people who used to live down my road are finding it ever more difficult to see their family. These are people who have worked all their lives building up their pensions only to spend most of it on Taxis, adding to the congestion on our roads. Their families don’t have time to constantly drive down to see them, or get the train down from wherever they live and WALK all the way from Swanwick Train Station.
I won’t spend much more time going on, but I will say this. If you, and indeed the privatised bus companies that you hand subsidies to, have any sense of compassion or humanity for the people that you serve then you will do everything and more in your POWER to give the people the bus services that are needed desperately.
Regards
Miles”