The fight-back starts here 2 May 2025 / 2 May 2025 by colinjones “The fight-back starts here”: Torridge Greens reflect on election campaign The Green Party had a disappointing result in Torridge as Reform UK took the Bideford East seat on Devon County Council. However, wins elsewhere in Devon mean the Greens have gone from two county councillors to now having six – and could hold the balance […] Read more »
Keith Funnell for Appledore 26 March 2025 / 26 March 2025 by colinjones Keith Funnell has lived in Torridge since 1997. His career as a landscape architect has covered the public, private, voluntary and education sectors. Much of this work has involved restoring landscapes damaged by human activity and designing outdoor spaces on school sites. Keith supports local groups with landscape advice and practical conservation work and is […] Read more »
Local government reorganisation in Devon 7 March 2025 / 7 March 2025 by colinjones Green councillors from across Devon have written an open letter to our council leaders and MPs calling for them to pull together or see the county divided up by Whitehall: OPEN LETTER Government has made it very clear that the local government reorganisation in Devon is inevitable, and we intend to engage with this in […] Read more »
The new politics: a Green response to the rise of the far right 18 February 2025 / 18 February 2025 by colinjones Published in January and based on interviews with more than 2,000 voters, a poll from Whitestone Insight shows current UK voting intention as follows: Labour 25%, Reform UK 24%, Conservatives 20%, Greens 13% and Liberal Democrats 12%. As Labour falters in government, support for the Greens is rising close to an all-time high, driven by […] Read more »
Green Party Cllr Huw Thomas (East-the-Water) on the housing crisis in Torridge 22 January 2025 / 22 January 2025 by colinjones Like it or not, thousands more houses will probably get built in Torridge and North Devon over the next few years.This is not a choice being made by our current district councils, who have to deal with any planning applications. It’s down to targets set by national government. Quite rightly, this has got large numbers […] Read more »
English devolution and Labour’s planned reform of local government 16 January 2025 / 16 January 2025 by colinjones The current three-tier system of local government in Devon is not perfect. There is some overlap of responsibilities, and the division of duties between councils can lead to confusion over accountability and low public engagement. Abolishing one tier of local government, as Westminster is seeking to do, may present opportunities to simplify and to improve […] Read more »
