Brighton & Hove Friends of the Earth

We’ve asked all* prospective parliamentary candidates in the three Brighton & Hove constituencies what they would do to improve the environment and quality of life, nationally and here in our city. We posed the questions shown below and a summary of the answers can be found here in All constituencies – summary and in detail the collated responses for Brighton Kemptown PPC results , Brighton Pavilion PPC results and Hove and Portslade PPC results

Not every candidate has replied to our survey but we are still happy to receive responses from those that haven’t and offer an invitation to do so. Please get in touch with callie.lister@foe.co.uk

Our thanks to those who have taken the trouble to respond.

(* the only candidate who has not yet been asked to take the survey is Jenny Barnard-Langston in Hove and Portslade as she was not listed as a candidate at the time when we compiled and sent out our survey).

We are encouraged by the fact that our policies have a good spread of support across the majority of the different parties represented, and look forward to working with those elected to progress the sustainability agenda.

BHFOE Brighton & Hove PPC Survey Questions 2015

If elected:

1. Will you oppose new fossil fuels by immediately seeking to introduce a moratorium on fracking and phasing out coal by 2023?
2. Will you support a target for almost entirely carbon free electricity generation by 2030, delivered by at least 75% renewables?
3. Do you back every school in the UK to be able to run on solar power within the next 3 years, by freeing them to invest in solar and by removing barriers to the installation process?
4. Would you tackle cold homes by pressing for the insulation, on average, of 1 million homes per year up to 2020 of which half are low-income homes?
5. Would you promote a Nature Act to set out a 25 year national plan for nature’s recovery and commit to strengthening the National Pollinator Strategy and extending the ban on neonicotinoid pesticides?
6. Will you protect the freedom to campaign by immediately pushing for the repeal of the 2014 Lobbying Act “Gagging Law”?
7. Will you lobby Government to prioritise investment in walking, cycling and public transport rather than road building?
8. Will you campaign for the re-opening of the Uckfield – Lewes railway (this will provide an alternative link to London and allow for more people to travel into Brighton by train)?
9. Will you campaign for a change in railway maintenance schedules so that Brighton & Hove has a 7-day railway service? (As a major tourist destination the city has many thousands of people visiting at the weekends and bank holidays, yet often at these times trains don’t run due to track closures)
10. Will you lobby for reform of the planning system by giving local planning authorities greater powers to ensure that new housing is focussed primarily on brownfield sites and that when greenfield land is released developers cannot just build whatever they want? (The current planning system does not allow for proper strategic planning and has resulted in too many sprawling low density out of town developments)
11. Would you reverse the cuts to National Park funding, which is jeopardising their future, recognising the tremendous value of National Parks? (National Park expenditure in England equates to less than £1 per year per head of population)
12. Do you support the equalisation of VAT rates for new build and renovation? (Currently, new build is zero rated for VAT, while renovation has VAT charged at 20%. This is encouraging developers to create more waste by demolishing old buildings rather than renovating them as well as being unfair for people making their homes more energy efficient.)
13. Will you recognise that public power and decision making should not be handed over to undemocratic and unrepresentative private business interests, and therefore seek the abolishment of Local Enterprise Partnerships?
14. Open Ended Question. What is the most significant change you would like to see in Brighton & Hove to create a truly sustainable city and how would you help achieve this?