Green Party Councillors Report

This month has brought a real blow to communities like ours – the government has announced it’s withdrawing funding for Neighbourhood Plans. These plans are essential tools that give towns and villages a proper say over new developments. Syston was about to begin the process of developing its own Neighbourhood Plan, and is now left in limbo. The decision feels completely unjustified and leaves local voices side-lined.
We continue to stand with the residents of St Peter’s Court, where there is still huge uncertainty about the future of their homes. At the latest Charnwood full council meeting, we questioned why residents are being encouraged to apply for alternative housing before any consultation has taken place – especially when we’re told no final decision has been made. People feel let down, and we’ll keep pressing for answers and proper transparency.
Another local issue we’ve been pushing on is the unmanaged land and damaged pavement next to the brook. Years ago there were plans to resurface the path and tidy up the area, but progress stalled when ownership of the land couldn’t be confirmed. We think this has gone on long enough and that someone needs to take responsibility. We’re pushing Charnwood to step up so that the long-overdue improvements can finally be made. We’re hoping for a decision in the next couple of months.
We also recently joined the brilliant team of local flood volunteers working to clear parts of the brook. It was hard, muddy work – but the difference is already visible! We’ll be out helping them again in July clearing more sections, and we’re really grateful to the volunteers for their work and to the town council for dealing with the huge amount of waste that was cleared.
Finally, there’s been fresh controversy at County Hall over the position of the new administration on Leicester’s expansion plans. A recent motion to clearly oppose expansion into the county was not supported by the Reform or Conservative group, which we believe sent a signal to the City Mayor that this remains on the table. Following our challenge on this, both parties now claim how they voted did no such thing. If that is the case, we would question why the Conservative group felt the need to then hold a special meeting to clarify their position – a strong line could have been taken to begin with. We took the opportunity to state our clear opposition the first time around – it’s disappointing to see others being less consistent.
As always, we are happy to hear from residents about any local issues or concerns – please do get in touch via Mob: 0780 739 9879.
Your local Green Councillors & campaigners: Laurie Needham, Chris O’Neill, Sandra Woodward, Andy Haynes, Rebbkka Yates and David Infield.