By Cllr Rob White
As we sweltered in record temperatures last week, many of us will have looked at our homes and wondered how we’re going to cope with more frequent heatwaves in the summer and rapidly increasing fuel costs in the winter. Our recent heatwave has shown us that climate change is no longer ‘on the horizon’ – it’s here today, it’s changing the way we live and we have to adapt quickly.
Big changes begin at home
We have a serious housing affordability crisis in the UK. It used to be difficult to simply afford to buy a house, now it’s difficult to afford to rent one. In a few month’s time it’s also going to be very difficult to afford to heat one. This is unfair.
We believe everyone should have a safe, affordable and warm place to call home. That’s why we have made our Green New Deal for Housing central to our policy manifesto.
It’s why we are lobbying the council to provide support for low-income households to insulate and improve their homes.
It’s why we support a national policy of energy use reduction and a planning system that prioritises renovation. It’s why we’d implement more stringent efficiency standards for newly built houses and prioritise the building of social housing.
The changes outlined in our Green New Deal would have a real and significant impact as we face the dual challenges of climate extremes and escalating fuel costs.
These are significant changes we can enact locally
We don’t need a Green government to start to make these changes.
Housing policy is one area where we can make a significant difference at a local level to the quality of peoples’ lives. That’s why we’re actively campaigning to allocate budget to the urgent insulation of Reading’s ageing housing stock and tackle fuel poverty – we have a very short window if we’re going to protect people from the worst of this winter’s fuel costs.
Labour returns £500,000 rather than investing it in tackling fuel poverty
Your Green councillors have repeatedly called on the Labour-run council to recruit expert staff to take advantage of Government grants to insulate the homes of some of the most vulnerable people in Reading.
They have dragged their feet, had to hand back £500,000 of insulation money and are now scrambling to catch up, because Labour councillors think they know best.
I guess we’ll find out if the Labour-run council has done enough in a few months when the temperatures fall and the bills start to arrive…
Greens will keep working for a fairer, greener and cleaner town
With so many global challenges facing us today, it’s useful for us to focus on the smaller changes that we can make as a community. Housing policy is one of the areas where local councils (and the people who vote them in) have the ability to make real and significant changes so let’s insist on more.
Get in contact if you have time to get involved: rob@readinggreenparty.org.uk, 07985 923 938, http://reading.greenparty.org.uk/
Cllr Rob White is the leader of the main opposition party on Reading Council, and Green Party councillor for Park Ward
