The residents of Lady Bay voted in the Mallenders with a very healthy two thirds of the vote, with Labour coming in a distant second. Labour chose to stand candidates in Lady Bay despite not being able to find enough candidates for areas where they have more recently had more success, leaving the Tories unopposed by Labour in several wards.

The re-election comes after a tough time for us all as COVID provided a challenge for our communities. Whist being at the forefront of the community efforts in Lady Bay, Sue Mallender was also Mayor of Rushcliffe for a record two terms. Sue was the first (of many we hope) Green Party Mayors of Rushcliffe.

Richard and Sue are once again our only Green councillors across Rushcliffe, Gedling, and the city of Nottingham. Former Borough Councillor Ben Gray, who crossed the floor earlier this year (and is currently writing in the third person), was unsuccessful in his attempt to be re-elected as a Green councillor. He was able to increase the Green vote from 5% to 30% in an intensive short campaign, and is hoping to gain the 100 votes needed to win next time.

As a party we also saw strong results across Rushcliffe, Gedling, and the City of Nottingham, putting us in a strong position for future campaigns. This is with huge thanks to all of our candidates, volunteers, supporters, and voters!

The post Richard & Sue Mallender Re-elected in Lady Bay appeared first on Nottingham Green Party.

Sue with the Book of Declaration
of Acceptance of Office.

Sue said: “I feel very honoured to be given the opportunity to continue as Mayor, last year was very difficult and it is wonderful to have the opportunity to have another year to raise money for my chosen charities and meet many people in the Borough.”

In her previous year as mayor Sue has been able to take part in some physically distanced activities. She has presented awards for Plastic Free Cotgrave (Sue is committed to being as zero waste and carbon neutral as possible), planted many a tree including an oak in Bridgford Park for Remembrance Day, and unveiled a plaque for the planting of a Miyawaki Forest at Farmeco in Screveton by the Nottingham Soroptimists.

Sue’s three chosen charities are:

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust (https://www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org)

Trent District Community First Responders (https://trentcfr.co.uk)

Musicworks (https://musicworksnet.co.uk)

To donate please email mayor@rushcliffe.gov.uk.

In her acceptance speech, Sue talked about the wonderful work these three charities are doing.

She continued, “For these charities, I am still walking around the Borough of Rushcliffe. So far, I have now gone from Zouch to Hickling, and Ratcliffe-on-Soar to Shelton, so I think that’s about two-thirds. On public footpaths, it’s about 100 miles I think. I’m learning a lot about rural bus services. I also did manage a few events last year – I did manage a one hundredth birthday, and then there were some events for VJ day, which were actually in person, and some Remembrance events. I’m once again extremely honoured and very happy that you have let me carry on for another year, to really experience what it’s like to be the First Citizen of Rushcliffe, and I hope that I will represent you all very well”.

The unanimous vote by all councillors
present.

For questions or comments about this article please email press@nottingham.greenparty.org.uk or contact@nottingham.greenparty.org.uk.

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Sue will also be raising money for three local charities during her term of office:

• Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, inspiring younger generations to love and care for the natural world on their doorstep;
• Community First Responders, attending ‘999’ medical emergencies in the local community giving life-saving treatment; and
• Musicworks, who use music in a variety of care settings to improve the quality of life for those with dementia or undergoing end of life care.

Sue Mallender has been councillor for Lady Bay ward since 2003, is an active and founder member of many local community groups and a longstanding member of Nottingham Green Party.

For more information about Cllrs Sue and Richard Mallender and to find out how to contact them, visit the Rushcliffe page.

The post Councillor Sue Mallender elected Mayor of Rushcliffe appeared first on Nottingham Green Party.

Sue and Richard Mallender were both re-elected on May 2nd as representatives for Lady Bay on Rushcliffe Borough Council, with 35% and 33% of the vote respectively. This is up from 25% each in the last local election in 2015. It’s clear that the hard work of Green councillors like Sue and Richard really does pay off at the ballot box and that constituents support the work they have put in for the ward and in pushing the entire council forwards, particularly in terms of environmental issues.

Months of campaigning work in Mapperley ward in Nottingham City pulled our candidates into a strong second place. Catherine Wakeman took 10% of votes, Neil Barrett got 8% and Jonathan Walker received 7%, putting us firmly ahead of the Conservatives and miles in front of the Liberal Democrats despite their national resurgence. Having only stood a single candidate in Mapperley in 2015 it is a huge achievement to have moved so far in a single election cycle.

In Ruddington ward of Rushcliffe Borough Council, Chandler Wilson, Matthew Sisson and Ian Wilson upped the Green Party’s share of the vote in an area that hasn’t traditionally been Green leaning. Taking 28% of votes between them, in Ruddington we were only around 200 votes behind the winning Labour councillors in what was an incredibly tight race.

Nationally, the Green Party saw its best ever local election results, and this put us in a great position for the European elections on May 23^rd. With our strong pro-Europe position and our radical stance on climate action – and without the obstacle of the first-past-the-post voting system – we came the closest we had ever come to electing a Green MEP in the East Midlands, with 10.53% of the vote, and electing 7 MEPS across the other regions of England.

We will continue to build on this success in the years to come. To be part of it, join the Green Party today.

The post Nottingham Greens celebrate local and European election success appeared first on Nottingham Green Party.

In the UK, 44% of the 35 million plastic bottles bought every day are not recycled, leaving 16 million plastic bottles every day ending up in the environment.

However, it has been shown that where the government takes action, plastic use can be reduced. After the introduction of the 5p plastic bag charge in England in 2015, their use dropped by 85%, a reduction of 6 billion bags.

A Conservative amendment to the motion, adding action on Chinese lanterns (also known as sky lanterns) and helium balloons, was accepted.

Sky lanterns are propelled upwards by hot air generated by an open flame, and are released into the air during celebrations and events, but inevitably return to the ground, sometimes miles away, causing fire hazards and harm to animals who can be frightened by them, attempt to consume them, or hurt themselves on the wire construction. Similarly, released helium balloons are another source of single-use plastic that can litter the countryside.

Cllr Sue Mallender said, “We’re very pleased that all parties came together to unanimously support the Green Party motion on ending the use of single-use plastics. We were happy to accept the Conservative amendment to include a ban on Chinese lanterns and helium balloons.

“We all need to help prevent plastic waste from killing animals and polluting the world we share with them, and are pleased that Rushcliffe Borough Council will be playing a leading role in this locally.”

The text of the motion, as amended, passed by the full council meeting of 7th December 2017:

Rushcliffe Borough Council resolves that in response to environmental concerns about single use plastics, and harm to farmer’s livestock, wildlife and the local environment by Chinese lanterns and helium balloons, an item be placed on the Community Development Group scrutiny work programme for 2018 to consider and advise on the following objectives:

• Assess the current use and feasibility of reducing single use plastic in relation to Council activities
• Consider the mechanism to ban the use of Chinese lanterns and helium balloons on Rushcliffe Borough Council land and open spaces
• Consider the provision of Council advice and information on single use plastic, Chinese lanterns and helium balloons for local residents, Parish / Town Councils and businesses
• Make any recommendations for consideration by Cabinet

For any comments or questions on this article, please contact us.

In the news:

[1] ‘Council aiming to lead by example on reducing single use plastic’ http://westbridgfordwire.com/council-aiming-lead-example-reducing-single-use-plastic/
[2] ‘Chinese lanterns and helium balloons to be banned from parks in Rushcliffe’ http://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/chinese-lanterns-helium-balloons-could-908837

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