GREEN PARTY
JON BARRY
website 145 Willow Lane, Lancaster LA1 5PU tel: 01524 844113
email:

Introduction:

I am 41 and I’ve lived in Lancaster for 18 years. I currently live on Willow Lane on the Marsh. I work part-time for a Government Fisheries Agency in Burnham-on-Crouch in Essex – I go down on the train every 4th week and work from home the rest of the time. I have a partner Gill and we have two dogs (welsh terrier and a border collie). I have an allotment in Bowerham and one at Fairfield. In the summer I play cricket (a boring opening bat) for Torrisholme.

I was elected in 1999 for Castle Ward as one of 5 Green City Councillors in the District. We currently have 8 councillors including one County Councillor.

What's the best thing about the area?

The canal and the sunsets.

And the worst?

The nuclear power stations.

What local issues do you consider the most pressing at this time?

For those people living near, it is probably the Northern Bypass. And at £85 million there will be no money to do anything useful to reduce traffic. But I also think we need properly funded and well-organised youth provision. We haven’t at the moment and it is going to get worse when SRB funding ends next year.

Do you support plans for the Northern Bypass?

No.

What are your feelings about the plans for a gas storage facility being built in the Wyre?

Don’t like them at all. This is yet another unpleasant symptom of our society’s reliance on burning fossil fuel.

What one policy change do you think government should make that would most benefit local residents?

Abandon ID cards and with the billions saved, spend it on proper community policing.

Our council seems to be making a lot of cuts in services but council tax still rises. Do you think council tax is a fair way to generate local tax revenues and if not, what should take its place?

However, you fund it, you won’t be able to magic money from out of the air. The problem with the City Council’s spending is (only 12% of Council tax) is that we are being given more things to do such as recycling, employing people to sort out the new licensing act but yet we aren’t given the necessary funding. The other problem is that there are clearly massive pressures to spend more in areas like street cleansing and it is very difficult to find areas to cut to pay for it.
I’d be interested in looking at a local income tax as part of revenue although I’d still like to see some tax on property as some sort of break on house-building.

What other ways could government better aid local services?

Allowing Councils to force land owners to clear up dumping would be a good start.

There is talk of cuts to free bus school services. What is your position on public transport?

Generally I think it is a good idea. But what I really want is local communities to have the things they need (dentists, post offices, schools, play areas, green space, wild space) so that people need to travel less.

Has privatisation of buses and trains worked?

No. Although public provision wasn’t great either due to lack of resources and investment.

What do you feel are the major issues affecting the region as a whole?

The ‘Northern Way’ frightens me. It is John Prescott’s plans to concrete and tarmac over the North.

What is your position on the war in Iraq?

I was and am opposed to it. I would have been opposed to it whatever the United Nations’ second resolution came up with (from what I remember, the Lib Dems’ sole reason for opposing the war). I believe the war has heightened risk for British Citizens, killed far too many innocent Iraqis and greatly increased the numbers of terrorists in the Middle East.

The Lancaster and Morecambe area has a large number of students. Given the decline in the number of people voting at elections, how would you try to get them involved in the democratic process?

A good start would be getting them on the electoral register. Most aren’t. To make students involved, we need to talk about things that affect them such as fees. Actually, this is talked about quite a lot and both the Lib Dem’s and the Green Party oppose them.

How do you respond to the challenge of far right parties such as the new England First Party and the BNP in the area?

Be as competent as possible and provide as good facilities as possible so that there is no fertile ground for these parties to flourish, When people are disillusioned with the current system, they often turn to somebody else. I work hard to not let that happen in my ward.

Mental illness is on the rise but Mental Health services have been drastically cut in this area - acute admission wards at the Ridge Hospital were closed without consultation, resulting in already disoriented patients now being routinely shipped off as far as Barrow for lengthy in-patient stays. A garden centre scheme providing employment for learning-disabled people is also under threat of closure for the same reason - the land is being sold off for redevelopment. How do you view the future of health resources in this area, and what action, if any, would you take to improve them.

I understand that new posts in community mental health are being created. But in our increasingly fraught and stressful society, mental health is an area that must be funded properly. I’d want the Government to work harder on health promotion to prevent illness in the first place – we shouldn’t leave it to a TV chef to ensure that kids get half-decent meals.

Hilton Dawson has been very accessible to constituents, helping many individuals obtain crucial services and opportunities. His predecessor Elaine Kellet-Bowman was rarely to be seen. If elected, how accessible do you plan to be to your constituents?

I’ve been accessible for 6 years as a councillor in a large city centre ward. I ride my bike and walk everywhere. I currently frequently get stopped by people raising issues. If I were to be elected as MP I’d allow another half hour to get anywhere!

According to the government's scientific advisor, global warming is more of a threat to the country than terrorism - how do you expect it to change our lives and how do you plan to help us minimise the damage and prepare best for these changes?

I expect there to be a massive problem with refugees fleeing drought and famine in many parts of the world, I expect many species to die out in the wild (such as polar bears), I also expect far more areas of this country to be susceptible to flooding as sea levels rise. This will cause house prices to plummet and whole swathes of the country to become ghost towns
The only answer (and it is already too late to stop many of these things happening) is to reduce energy use. Doing this by 80 or 90% by 2050 is the sort of thing needed. As well as producing more renewable energy, we need to have less gadgets, travel less and have local communities that we want to be in and which provide decent services. I’d also like to see a serious look at ‘carbon quotas’ for individuals that would gradually be reduced as we adapt to new energy-less lifestyles.

Fox-hunting and hare coursing - for or against?

Against.

What one thing do you personally hope to achieve should you get elected as MP?

I’d like a tram system linking Heysham, Morecambe, Lancaster and Galgate - but that might not be too easy.

What one thing irritates you most as a person...

People who don’t care.

- And what one thing makes you the happiest?

Seeing birds nest in our bird boxes.