Bedford Elections: 'We're hard working community people' says Green party candidate standing for re-election

Lucy Bywater said when she was elected in 2019 as a Green Party councillor for the Castle Ward she soon found out that there wasn’t always a simple and quick fix to the borough’s problems.

“And Covid arriving a few months after being elected made everything more complex,” she said.

“Whether it’s poverty, homelessness, environmental issues, fly tipping or air quality, there are no easy solutions.

“Especially when continuing austerity and budget cuts greatly reduces what local government can and must do.

“We’re almost just trying to hold back a wall of problems, often created by the national government, it’s a huge amount of work,” she said.

Lucy said the work she has put in for the community has not gone unnoticed.

“People often say to me ‘you go above and beyond’ and they now see Greens in a different way,” she said.

“They see that we’re genuine community people, we’re not only interested in climate change or planting trees. We’re hard-working community people, that’s the number one success.

“In terms of policy, I’m proud of getting the fair tax motions through because that’s about justice and transparency and about tax receipts that we need for public services.

“I’m also really proud that the food strategy is ongoing, as this addresses food inequalities,” she said.

If re-elected Lucy wants to push forward on active travel. The council was recently given the second lowest score for its active travel plans.

“I’m really shocked that the sustainable transport team has basically been made redundant,” she said.

“Active Travel England is demanding real bold action from councils and saying ‘no excuses, we want to see game changing projects’.

“This means not just tinkering around the edges, not just painting white lines, but real game changing infrastructure and work on behaviour change.

“Also [I’ll be working on] climate change – to show people that climate change relates to everything.

“It’s not just about some distant future nightmare -which it is – but it’s about saying that’s happening now and how it relates to all issues.

“It relates to health and wellbeing, it relates to poverty and inequality because the poorest are most affected by things like fuel poverty and damp, cold homes.

“And try to get other councillors to be more vocal as well, so it’s not just the Greens in the corner,” she said.

Lucy is running with Paul Edmonds in the new Castle Newnham Ward. Residents wanting to know more about Lucy’s campaign can follow her on Facebook call her on 07914 606816, or email [email protected].