Folkestone & Hythe District Council (FHDC) has become the first in Kent to be controlled by the Green Party. Shepway Green Party won eleven seats in the local elections on 4 May, Labour ten and the LibDems two. The Greens now take the lead in cooperation with Labour and the LibDems. Meanwhile, the Conservatives, who have run the council for 16 years, were reduced to five.
New Council Leader
Cllr Jim Martin, voted in as Leader of the council at the annual meeting of the council on 24 May, said:
“People across Folkestone & Hythe district will get the change they demanded from a new council ready to listen, involve and act in their best interests, with Greens, Labour and LibDems closely aligned on key issues, such as cancelling the unwanted Princes Parade development.”
To loud cheers from the public gallery, the meeting heard an announcement from Cllr Martin that Princes Parade is saved – answering years of calls from campaigners opposed to the seafront development at Hythe. Greens, Labour and LibDems had all promised to cancel the scheme.
“Those of you who remember the meeting of the council in June 2019 will recall that [LibDem]Councillor [Tim] Prater’s motion to withdraw the planning permission for Princes Parade was successful, but this decision was never included on the agenda for ratification by the cabinet. This flagrant breach of the democratic process has led to the waste of millions of pounds of local people’s money. The new council is determined to enhance and reinforce the democratic processes within the council and the organisations that it owns or funds.”
Cllr Martin at the annual meeting
Change of structure next year
Green Party councillors will occupy seven of the nine places on the council’s decision-making cabinet, with the other two going to the LibDems, but it was also announced that FHDC will replace the leader and cabinet system with a committee system as part of the new council’s emphasis on the democratic process.
The change, in a year’s time, will give councillors’ more say and more ability to influence council policy. Until then, Labour will chair the council and its four existing committees. Said Cllr Martin: “I am looking forward now to getting on with the work and starting to deliver the things we promised voters.”
Manifesto promises
The party’s manifesto set out priorities including doing as much as possible to provide green jobs and support for high streets and other local businesses, to work in partnership with community groups to support vulnerable people and those hit by the cost-of-living crisis and publishing an action plan to help homeless people all year round.
The manifesto also included doing everything possible to provide affordable homes that are cheaper to heat and to insulate all council housing to reduce energy bills and to secure more biodiversity on council land and net carbon zero council buildings. The party also said it wants to improve recycling rates, reduce waste and encourage reuse, as well as seeking active travel schemes that make walking, cycling and wheelchair or rollator use safer and more enjoyable.
Shepway Greens’ representation at record level
Shepway Green Party now has a record number of councillors: 12 at Hythe Town Council, eleven at Folkestone & Hythe District Council and, following its substantial victory in March’s Kent County Council by-election, one county councillor.
