| Cambridge City Council | |
|---|---|
| Polling Date: | 2nd May 2018 |
| Ward: | Arbury |
| Candidates (by surname): | Harry CLYNCH (Conservative Party) Stephen LAWRENCE (Green Party) Carina O'REILLY (Labour Party) Tim WARD (Liberal Democrats) |
Question 1
Do you agree that elected officials should now be responding to climate change as an emergency? Please answer yes or no. If ‘yes’, what do you mean by this? If ‘no’, why not?
| Harry CLYNCH (Conservative Party) | This candidate did not respond to the questionnaire |
| Stephen LAWRENCE (Green Party) | This candidate did not respond to the questionnaire |
| Carina O'REILLY (Labour Party) | This candidate did not respond to the questionnaire |
| Tim WARD (Liberal Democrats) | Yes, according to the IPCC we only have 12 years to act on climate change to keep temperature rises within 1.5 degrees Celsius. This is a serious threat, in particular to low lying parts of the world (and Cambridge is at just 53' above sea level) and we have finite time to act, no matter how difficult it will be to respond in time. We need to act now. Current demonstrations by young people, who will be the most affected, show how worried they are about the effects of climate change. We cannot sit back at a local level and wait for national or international governments to act, it is necessary to take action at all levels of government. |
Question 2
Do you support the setting of a net zero carbon target for the city of Cambridge? If ‘Yes’ when do you think we should be aiming for Cambridge to be net zero carbon? If ‘no’, why not?
| Harry CLYNCH (Conservative Party) | This candidate did not respond to the questionnaire |
| Stephen LAWRENCE (Green Party) | This candidate did not respond to the questionnaire |
| Carina O'REILLY (Labour Party) | This candidate did not respond to the questionnaire |
| Tim WARD (Liberal Democrats) | Yes, and because it’s an emergency we should aim for 2030. We need the target to commit to the end point, without knowing how we will achieve all aspects of it in advance, to force us to find solutions. Liberal Democrats on the city council tried to pass a motion at council to this effect but it was amended from 2030 to 2050 by Labour. Our manifesto pledges to demand better and set this target to 2030 if we won control of the council. Other councils such as Stroud have already become Carbon neutral and ambitious targets aiming for 2030 have recently been adopted by the city councils of Bristol, Brighton and York amongst others. We think it’s so important that we’ve made it one of our top three priorities aiming for a cleaner, greener, fairer Cambridge. |
Question 3
Cambridge City Council is a central organisation in Cambridge. What do you think its role is in local leadership in relation to climate action? What specific additional actions in relation to climate change do you support the City Council doing in the coming 12 months?
Harry CLYNCH (Conservative Party) This candidate did not respond to the questionnaire
Stephen LAWRENCE (Green Party) This candidate did not respond to the questionnaire
Carina O'REILLY (Labour Party) This candidate did not respond to the questionnaire
Tim WARD (Liberal Democrats) The council should be leading the response to the climate emergency and getting everybody in this city to share ownership of it. The City Council has an important, influential role in Cambridge and it should be ambitious in order to inspire similar action from the universities, business and residents.
Our manifesto includes the following
• Review the council’s Climate Change Strategy 2016-2021
• Introduce an energy investment scheme for the shops, offices and industrial units in the council property portfolio
• Challenge the UK Government to provide more powers and resources to the council
• Ambitious program to increase tree planting (see Question 4)
• Improved provision for charging electric vehicles to reduce carbon footprint/air pollution
• Increase recycling to reduce consumption of natural resources by
• Explore the introduction of weekly food waste collection
• Renewed focus on public education on the need for recycling
• Introduce water fountains to reduce purchase of drinks in single use plastic bottles
Question 4
Green spaces and trees remove carbon dioxide and other pollutants from the atmosphere, provide shade, help reduce flooding and often contribute to a feeling of well being. Would you support a more ambitious tree planting programme in Cambridge city? Also, suggestions have been made recently to create new areas of woodland around Cambridge. Would you support ambitious tree planting programmes around Cambridge city?
| Harry CLYNCH (Conservative Party) | This candidate did not respond to the questionnaire |
| Stephen LAWRENCE (Green Party) | This candidate did not respond to the questionnaire |
| Carina O'REILLY (Labour Party) | This candidate did not respond to the questionnaire |
| Tim WARD (Liberal Democrats) | Yes, we need trees to mitigate climate change, cool the planet and increase bio-diversity. When you stand at a high point overlooking Cambridge, such as Castle Hill or the roof of Addenbrooke’s, what do you see? Trees, with some buildings showing through, and it was one of my key objectives as executive councillor for planning to keep it that way, as far as possible, as new development took place in and around Cambridge. Lib Dems have insisted on country parks for both the Clay Farm and Trumpington Meadows developments and would do so at Marshalls airfield which would provide an excellent opportunity for increased tree planting alongside more housing. This shows our support for a Cambridge that is green in the long term. |
Question 5
Finally, do you know the size of your own Carbon Footprint? Can you identify one thing you’d like to change but haven’t yet managed to move your own carbon footprint towards zero carbon?
| Harry CLYNCH (Conservative Party) | This candidate did not respond to the questionnaire |
| Stephen LAWRENCE (Green Party) | This candidate did not respond to the questionnaire |
| Carina O'REILLY (Labour Party) | This candidate did not respond to the questionnaire |
| Tim WARD (Liberal Democrats) | I have used various web sites over the years to estimate my carbon footprint. I was able to reduce mine a couple of years ago by moving jobs – I now commute by bicycle almost every day, and I undertake most long distance domestic travel by train these days rather than car. A recent check on the WWF site suggests that my carbon footprint is below the UK average, but still above their interpretation of the 2020 target. |