COLUMN: Campaigns to make a difference

“They might also like to join a few campaigns which have the potential to improve the city, with or without elected Greens.

“Peterborough has famously made its Environment Capital aspiration very public: it is more or less written into its constitution. But there is an astonishingly wide gap between the aspiration and the reality we live in.

“The disjunction between the lovely green image projected by our well paid spinners and the less attractive environment most residents confront can be distressing to well intentioned residents who really do care and the result can be huge anger or cynism.

“The Green Party is holding a Green Peterborough Open Space on Saturday at 11am. It is essential to book so that we can cater for the right numbers. But this event is open to all and there are still places available to book on eventbrite. You can also find the event on facebook and on our website. peterborough.greenparty.org.uk You are invited to come and tell us how we can make Peterborough Green. We are hoping to address that other very famous difference: the one which lies between what people want, and what politics does.

“I am very sorry that over Christmas and the New Year there have been so many car and other vehicle crashes. I am beginning to think of our lovely Peterborough Telegraph as “The Daily Car Crash”.

“The paper reports these events: of course it does. But wouldn’t it be good to have fewer for it to report? A huge amount of work is done to teach and encourage safe use of our roads. But this year I would like to ask you to consider joining two campaigns, both of which focus on reducing the risks and the strains and stresses of road transport.

“One of them is 20’sPlenty. The Peterborough site is peterborough. 20splentyforus.org.uk and you can register as a supporter there. Eleven million people in the UK now live in residential areas with a speed limit of 20mph.

“I find it absolutely extraordinary that Peterborough has still not adopted a 20mph speed limit for the whole of the city inside the parkway.

“There is wide cross party support for this and most people I meet are in favour, even without researching the case for it!

“From the point of view of massively improving our quality of life and the environment we live in, this remains the most cost effective decision the council could make.

“The other campaign you might like to sign up to is bettertransport.org.uk This campaign argues against unnecessary road building and we need more people shouting about this in Peterborough.

“If you are not already convinced of this, just drive along the B1139 and look at the Whittlesey interchange and the four lane monster which the council drove through: right over an old toxic landfill, which somebody failed even to notice was there.”