20 March 2019
Welcome to the e-newsletter for members, supporters and friends of Witham & Braintree Green Party
If there is an event or news you would like us to include, please get in touch
Local Elections Thursday May 2nd
We are now in the run-up period to the important local elections to be held on Thursday May 2nd.
Every district council and parish seat in Braintree District and Maldon District is up for election.
Nominations open on March 26th and close on April 3rd at 4pm.
A huge thank you to all who are standing as Green candidates – we are set to have a very impressive coverage of Braintree District giving the majority of voters a Green option on the ballot paper. We Adopted the bulk of our remaining candidates at a meeting held on February 14th in Witham.
For both Braintree District and Maldon District, if you would still like to stand as a non-target candidate, please get in touch asap.
Thank you to all who have made financial donations recently – we have a healthy bank balance but the more we can raise, the better quality election materials we will have. If you can help with a donation please get in touch.
Deliveries of our pre-election local newsletters to residents have gone very well with a good response. We have recently completed deliveries to Cressing, Rivenhall and Silver End.
Witham North deliveries will start in the next few daysh.
We will be holding 2 Action Saturdays to support the local election campaign. These will be on:
Saturday March 30th – meet at 11am at the Little Elms pub and shops off Dorothy Sayers Drive Witham CM8 2LX
- There will be a choice of leafleting or canvassing postal voters
- Please bring food/drink to share but we will also have snacks and drinks available
- Plenty of parking to the front and rear of the shops
- 10 min walk from Witham Railway station via Braintree Rd and Rickstones Rd
- 2 sessions will be from 11am until 1pm, then 1 hour break - and then again from 2pm to 4pm. At both the 11am start and the resumption at 2pm, meet at the same place (for those who just want to do 1 session).
Saturday April 27th – details in the next newsletter
The May local elections this year are our best opportunity in the 4 year election cycle to gets Greens elected on to local councils.
In Braintree District for the first time Braintree District Council will be requiring all voters to present ID at the polling station in order to vote. We are concerned this could adversely impact on some groups but are making sure that all our election material gives voters information about voter ID.
For all Green voters if you are unsure as to whether you are on the register, please contact your local district council.
Across Essex there are several places where we can realistically aim to win more seats. As well as the Witham area, Colchester Castle ward is one to watch – the Greens came within a handful of votes of winning in 2018.
Green Drinks
We next meet on Thursday March 21st at 7.30pm at Fowlers Farm (just off the A120 at Galley's Corner roundabout Cressing, near Braintree).
Please join us – we meet every 3rd Thursday of the month – the following month Green Drinks will be on Thursday April 18th.
Contact James for more information at
james.abbott@greenparty.org.uk
Note: We are looking for someone to take on the role of Contact for Green Drinks. Thank you to Karin who carried out this role previously.
Spring Litter Pick
There will be a litter pick in Rivenhall as part of the national Keep Britain Tidy annual spring campaign on Sunday, March 24th, starting at 2pm.
We meet where the John Ray Walk joins Rickstones Road, opposite Rectory Lane – there is parking there for a limited number of cars and it is easily reached along footways from Witham or Rivenhall. The meeting place is about a 15 min walk from Witham railway station.
The aim is to litter pick a section of the John Ray Walk and also in nearby Tarecroft Wood (an ancient woodland) if there are enough people attending.
Both areas are off-road, so no traffic issues. Purple litter sacks will be provided, please wear strong shoes or boots and bring gloves.
We will do some separation for the most easily recyclable items such as cans and bottles.
Fundraising
A big thank you again to members and supporters who have made donations or have renewed their subscriptions recently.
Witham & Braintree Green Party has been accepted as a Priority area as we are both defending seats at the local elections and aiming to make gains.
Another way in which we raise funds is by members and supporters setting up a monthly standing order to the Witham & Braintree GP account.
Any amount is helpful – some are as small as £2 per month, but cumulatively they add up and since we started doing this, we have doubled our income.
If you can help, please get in touch. We particularly need to build up funds ahead of the May local elections – we are now three quarters of the way to the sum we need to run a full campaign
NEXT NEWSLETTER: April 2019
Printed and published by Local Party Contact Cllr. James Abbott
1 Waterfall Cottages Rivenhall Witham Essex CM8 3PR
Tel 01376 584576 e-mail james.abbott@greenparty.org.uk
Local Party Agent Cllr. Phil Hughes Tel 01376 515518 e-mail cllrphughes@care4free.net
For national news and campaigns visit www.greenparty.org.uk
follow Essex Green Party on facebook for regular updates on meetings, campaigns, election results, reports from County Hall
and advance notice of Green councillors being on radio and TV:
https://www.facebook.com/Essex-Green-Party
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