As national reports show Northampton's air quality deteriorating to dangerous levels, Steve Miller of Northampton Green Party talks to Helen Blaby on BBC Northampton on how little Northampton Borough Council are doing to improve matters, in fact they are making them worse!

4 Mar 2016, 16 12 36 Steve Miller Northampton Green Party, Air Quality

Tony Clarke from Northampton Green Party speaks out against odious tax dodging politicians and outlines the social contract we all sign up to pay tax and receive services that must remain solid and argues if those on the minimum wage can pay their way then so can the rich

Tony Clarke - Green Party- On Tax avoidance and the Social Contract

As the UK heads for the EU exit door following the "Leave" result in the EU ReferendumTony Clarke from the Green Party talks to Martin Kelly from Inspiration FM on what happened, why, what will happen next and a whole lot more. The result won't change, but can our politics change as a consequence?

Northampton Green Party: Post EU Blues (and Reds) with Martin Kelly from Inspiration FM

BBC Northampton's Stuart Linnell interviews Tony Clarke Green Party on the day the Sir John Chilcot Inquiry into Iraq is to be published. Tony Clarke at the time of the Iraq war was the Labour MP for Northampton South and voted against Military action. In this clip he talks about his views on TonyBlair and George Bush the events that led unto the vote to go to war and the weakness of Parliament to stand up to those with power. Also in the clip is Pat Lyman the mother of an airman who served in Iraq

BBCNptonTonyClarke#Chilcot6June2016

Steve Miller from Northampton green Party talks to BBC Radio Northampton about Northampton's worsening air quality.

If you want to help us tackle air pollution in Northampton visit our crowdfunder here: 

http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/northamptonshire-green-party-air-quality-testing/? 

And help us to promote Cleaner Air

Northampton has an Air Quality problem. 

There are 7 Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) in the town, where the levels of Nitrogen Dioxide is above the legal level. The Borough Council, in conjunction with partner organisations across the County has published a Draft Low Emission Strategy, detailing how they are going to try and reduce the levels of pollution. 

This strategy is going out to a public consultation, which will run from 8-12 weeks across the Summer. 

The Northamptonshire Green Party, over the last couple of months, has been starting to run a targeted campaign to look at the air quality ourselves - both inside and outside of the AQMAs, so that we can get a better idea as to how this is affecting health across the town. 



We want to step this up during the period of the public consultation - let's take this opportunity to start a debate about the air quality in the town, and to back it up with solid data that is open to everybody as soon as the lab returns the results.

We place a small measuring device called a diffusion tube on a lamppost next to the road. Over a period of 4 weeks, this measures the amount of Nitrogen Dioxide in the air. The tube is then sent off to a lab for testing and the figures are sent back to us around ten days later. 

The more tubes we can place, the more complete our data will be. And that's where you can help. 

Can you pledge enough money to our campaign to help us place more tubes?

Every donation will help us to measure in more locations and we have set reward levels where we will place the tube in an area of your choice. 

You can see our figures so far at our interactive google map

This really is a big deal. Mortality rates due to respiratory illness in Northampton are above the national average, and they are higher than anywhere else in the County. It's affecting the health of our citizens, and its affecting the life outcomes of our children. 

Let's start trying to fix this. 

**Please ensure you are on the electoral register - this is a requirement of donating to a political party. And you'll need to be on it to vote next year - register here if you're not.***If you pledge £500 or over, you must be willing to provide your contact details and address.*

BBC N'pton interview with Steve Miller, Northampton Green Party on Air Quality

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE GREEN PARTY 

PRESS RELEASE    ** EMBARGOED UNTIL 29th September 2016 **

Green Party figures show North Gate Pollution is 25% above the legal limits. Party challenges Northampton Borough Council to take swift action. 
The Green Party testing of Northampton air quality has revealed that the site of the North Gate New Bus Station in Northampton Town Centre is a town centre pollution hot spot with illegal levels of Nitrogen Dioxide. 

Steve Miller, the secretary of Northampton Green Party said “During the past six months, we have been conducting our own measurements of the air quality in Northampton, using the same methodology as the Council. Our aim is to demonstrate how easy it is to make information available to the public, and the response we have had would suggest that it’s a practice the Council would be wise to emulate.”

As part of this campaign, the Green Party placed a measurement tube next to the North Gate Bus Station. This is not in one of the current Air Quality Management Areas, but the Council had previously confirmed to the Party that they were monitoring the air quality and would take action if required. 

This tube has shown higher measurements for Nitrogen Dioxide than any other tube that the Green Party has placed in Northampton. It shows that the levels of pollution around North Gate are 25% higher than the legal levels, affecting everybody who comes into town on bus and visits the town centre. 

They have started a second measurement in this area to confirm the accuracy of these figures. 

Tony Clarke from the Northampton Green Party said “This is a problem wholly created and given life by the Council. Over the last few years they have taken decisions to build in the wrong areas, to open up pedestrian areas to cars and to deregulate taxi emissions standards. They are poisoning their own citizens whilst half-heartedly carrying out a public consultation over how they can reduce levels of pollution"


The NBC Public consultation regarding the Low Emissions Strategy has a month left to run but the Green Party have criticised the Councils lack of engagement. Steve Miller said "It is fair to say that we have been underwhelmed by the scope of the consultation. The Council appears to think that placing a few documents on the internet, and asking people to read them and complete a survey is a suitable way to deal with a public health emergency. We would beg to differ. 

There has been no public awareness campaign and no advertising of the consultation. It’s in the best interest of the town that the public consultation is wide ranging and gets as many responses as possible. This is unlikely to happen, given the current consultation model. 

Before the Public Consultation closes, we challenge the Borough Council to release the figures that they currently have for this area, and urge them to follow the Fast-Track process to establish North Gate as an Air Quality Management Area and take it under active control."

Contacts available for further comment : 
Steve Miller, steve.miller@northantsgreenparty.org.uk or 07598 735524
Tony Clarke, tony.clarke@email.com. 07971 040166

BBC Northampton interview on illegal pollution levels at N'pton Bus Station

Interesting interview this one on Fracking and the lack of Local Democracy left in the UK after the UK Government overturned the decision of elected Councillors in Lancashire who had voted against Fracking in the County. Carson Wishart from the BBC doesn't like the use of the word "Greedy" in this interview as a general term for companies who continue to plunder the earths resources and continue to dig up fossil fuels despite the UK Governments signing of the Paris Agreement which commits the Country to reduce their use of fossil fuels? Is "greedy" not a legitimate general term for green campaigners to describe those who we believe put profit before planet? Or are the BBC right to defend the companies rights to be seen as just any other business looking to trade?

BBC Northampton Interview with Tony Clarke Green Party on Fracking

BBC Interview with Tony Clarke, Northampton Green Party opposing the Governments announcement to build a 3rd runway at Heathrow Airport despite opposition from within and from environmental groups who point out that the decision contradicts its own commitments to the Paris Climate Change agreement and regional capacity.

nb Tony is introduced by the BBC as the Green Party's International Spokesperson, this is a post he held but vacated in December 2015