North East News

DELIVERED FREE TO 30,000 HOMES ‘KEEP TUITION FREE’ SEE PAGE 2

BULLY TRUMP GIVES UP IN COMPULSORY PURCHASE BATTLE - SEE PAGE 3

ELECTION ROUND-UP SEE PAGE 4

BOOST FOR RAIL CAMPAIGNS SEE PAGE 2

NORTH EAST NEWS

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Martin Ford for MSP Tipped to win - Green Party MSP candidate Martin Ford.

Martin Ford will be elected to the Scottish Parliament on 5 May if enough voters give their second vote to the Scottish Green Party.

Aberdeenshire councillor Martin Ford is being widely tipped to win in the Scottish Parliament election on 5 May. Mr Ford is standing as the Scottish Green Party’s top candidate to become a regional MSP for the North-east.

CAMPAIGNER Martin Ford has been a councillor since 1999. He is well known for www.scottishgreens.org.uk

battling against Donald Trump’s plan to use compulsory purchase orders to force local residents from their homes on the Menie estate.

Martin Ford is also a long-standing campaigner on environmental issues.

Mr Ford was chairman of Aberdeenshire Council’s audit committee for five years and more recently chaired the North East Scotland Climate Change Partnership.

Martin Ford said, “I am delighted

to have been chosen as the Scottish Green Party’s top candidate for Northeast Scotland.

“The Scottish Green Party is committed to using the powers of the Scottish Parliament to stop cuts to essential public services like health and education.”

SECOND VOTE GREEN Under the proportional system used in Scottish Parliament elections, each

voter has two votes. One vote is for electing the local MSP. The second vote, on a separate ballot paper, is a vote for a party.

It is the votes cast for the parties on the second ballot paper that are used to elect the regional MSPs. The proportional voting system means that Mr Ford will be elected if more than six out of every hundred voters give their second vote to the Scottish Green Party.

North East News Spring 2011

Boost for rail campaigns The campaigns for improved local train services on the lines into Aberdeen and Dundee have been backed by the Scottish Green Party.

Scottish Green Party MSP candidate Cllr Martin Ford is a long-standing campaigner for improved rail services.

He has been pressing the Scottish Government to give the go-ahead for a station at Kintore ever since he was elected as one of the town’s councillors.

And Rhonda Reekie, who is the Greens’ second-placed MSP candidate after Martin Ford, is supporting moves towards a station in Bucksburn.

Martin Ford said, “A proposal for an intensive rail service between Stonehaven and Inverurie with new intermediate stations was first put forward by Grampian Regional Council

NEWS IN BRIEF ‘HELP ALL DUNDONIANS RECYCLE’ PLEA Local campaigner Pauline Hinchion is accusing Dundee City Council of leaving some residents unable to recycle their household waste.

Pauline Hinchion said, “Dundee City Council gives elderly or infirm residents help to put out their rubbish bins, but not to put out their recycling bins.

“Recycling of waste is essential to preserve our natural resources and all efforts should be made to allow every resident in Dundee to take part in recycling.”

ALLOTMENTS AT LAST! After many years of work by the Stonehaven Allotment Association, Stonehaven is rejoining the list of North-east towns with allotments.

A site at the bottom of Baird Park is being leased by the Stonehaven Allotment Association for 25 years and will provide 35 allotments.Said Allotment Association member Rachel Shanks, “I can’t wait to get to work on my plot and start planting this season’s crop.”

Green Party candidates Martin Ford and Rhonda Reekie at Dyce station. “Rail services must be improved,” said Martin.

in about 1991. In the intervening twenty years, that original scheme has been tested, scrutinised and modified during innumerable technical and feasibility studies, at considerable cost.

“Train services between Aberdeen and Inverurie have been improved to close to hourly, but no new stations have opened and nor has the track and signalling been upgraded to enable the running of a more intensive train service.

“It is absurd that it is this difficult, and takes this long, to open a new rail halt.

“We need better public transport to cut road congestion and to help us meet climate change targets.

The Scottish Green Party believes improving rail services is essential.”

‘Keep tuition free’ – Ford year will deter some students from going to university at all, and leave others with worrying levels of debt.

A Green Scottish Parliament candidate has spoken up for students concerned about tuition fees.

Said Martin Ford, the Greens’ top MSP candidate for the Northeast Scotland region, “Places in our colleges and universities must be open to all with the academic ability, not just the ability to pay.”

BENEFIT

WESTMINSTER DECISION Mr Ford was speaking following the Westminster government’s decision to cut funding and approve huge increases in tuition fees at English universities – a decision with knockon effects for university funding in Scotland.

Mr Ford continued, “Putting up tuition fees to as much as £9,000 a

Tuition fees concern: Students at Aberdeen University talk with Green MSP candidate Martin Ford (centre, with bicycle).

Support for Union Terrace Gardens

BID FOR CYCLE LANES The need for more cycle lanes in Dundee has been highlighted by the local branch of the Scottish Green Party, which is asking Dundee City Council to provide more dedicated cycle lanes to improve safety for cyclists.

ROAD REPAIRS NEEDED Campaigner Suzanne Kelly has complained to Aberdeen City Council about the poor state of many of the city’s roads. “Some roads in Torry are in dire need of resurfacing,” said Suzanne Kelly.

North East News Spring 2011

“Education strengthens society and benefits everyone, not just the students themselves. The two universities in Dundee and the two in Aberdeen make an enormous contribution to the region’s economy and vitality,” said Mr Ford.

“The Scottish Green Party is strongly opposed to passing on Westminster’s cuts in university funding to Scottish universities and is committed to maintaining the principle of free education, with the cost being met from general taxation.”

Green Party candidate Martin Ford chats to campaigner Dorothy Bothwell in Union Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen’s only city centre park.

Scottish Green Party candidates Martin Ford and Rhonda Reekie are supporting the campaign to save Union Terrace Gardens.

The Gardens are widely regarded as an essential component of Aberdeen city centre, contributing to its unique character.

They have been under threat since Sir Ian Wood proposed a grandiose scheme to build over them and offered to pay some of the cost.

City councillors then decided to ignore the results of a public consultation and backed the plan.

Martin Ford said, “What is proposed is unnecessary, unaffordable and unpopular. Union Terrace Gardens are an important green space in the city centre.” www.scottishgreens.org.uk

Anger at school cuts Councils across the North-east are cutting funding for schools – and placing the blame firmly at the door of the SNP administration at Holyrood.

The SNP government has reduced the grant funding allocated to councils and prevented councils from increasing the Council Tax to offset the effects of inflation.

Outside Arduthie School in Stonehaven parent Rachel Shanks expresses her concern about schools cuts to Green MSP candidate Martin Ford.

Dundee City Council has cut spending on education by £4 million.

In Angus, £3.2 million has been axed from the council’s education budget.

In Aberdeen, the budget for pupil support assistants has been reduced by a third. Almost 200 posts are to be lost from the city’s schools.

Aberdeenshire Council is cutting primary school classroom assistants and visiting specialist teachers.

Green MSP candidate Martin Ford is a member of Aberdeenshire Council’s education committee. He said: “Money spent on education is an investment in the future of our young people.

“Surely, instead of cutting schools, it would be better to put up the Council Tax by one or two pence in the pound – which would amount to less than fifty pence per week for most people.

“The SNP government has shown contempt for local decision making and is forcing councils to cut essential public services.”

‘No’ to Dundee energy plant While burning locally grown wood fuel can be an excellent – and renewable – low-carbon source of heat, there is nothing environmentally friendly about the huge biomass plant proposed by Forth Energy for the Dundee port area. That is the view of the Scottish Green Party who are opposed to Forth Energy’s plan.

Scottish Green Party MSP candidate Martin Ford said, “The capacity of the proposed plant is so large that local supplies of fuel will not meet demand and fuel imported from Canada and Russia is planned. The developers say that sustainably sourced wood will be preferred but they have also indicated they would source fuel from Russia’s old growth forests which does not guarantee sustainable forest

management practices. The carbon cost of transporting virgin fuel from such far distant places makes nonsense of any claim to be an environmentally friendly scheme.”

Local campaigner Pauline Hinchion said, “Heat from the proposed plant could be used for heating local homes and businesses but so far the intention is to pipe hot water into the Tay, which could have unacceptable consequences for the marine environment. Where is the sense in that?

“We need good sources of renewable energy to take over from diminishing supplies of fossil fuels.

The Scottish Green Party is in favour of smaller combined-heat-and-power biomass plants using locally sourced wood.”

Green Party leader Patrick Harvie (right) and the Green Party’s top candidate for the North-east region, Martin Ford (left), on a visit to Claverhouse Group in Dundee. With them is Alastair Cameron, chief executive of Claverhouse Group.

Claverhouse Group is a notfor-profit, charitable organisation that provides employment, training and a range of services to the Tayside community in partnership with organisations such as Dundee Football Club, Angus Council, the Scottish Wildlife Trust and Barnardo’s.

Alastair Cameron said: “We were pleased to show Patrick and Martin

the multiple social, economic and environmental benefits that social enterprises such as Claverhouse can deliver to local communities with some wise investment of resources. I was also able to discuss with them potential opportunities in the micro-generation of renewable energies, as well as the energy saving and energy advice agendas, and we also talked about ways of firming up community benefit clauses.”

“There is a phenomenal amount of good work going on across Scotland through social enterprise, and the activities of Claverhouse Group are an exceptional example,” said Martin Ford.

Compulsory purchase threat lifted Relieved and delighted – that is how Aberdeenshire councillor Martin Ford described his feelings when the threat of being forced from their homes by compulsory purchase orders was finally lifted from residents living next to Donald Trump’s Menie estate.

After more than two years of bullying by the billionaire businessman, Mr Trump has finally accepted he will not be getting his neighbours’ land to add to his private housing and leisure development.

Cllr Martin Ford said: “For the families concerned in particular, this must be a great relief. I am delighted for them. They have shown great courage and strength.

“The families have been living with the threat of eviction for over two years. While feelings of relief and joy will be dominant now, we must not www.scottishgreens.org.uk

forget that the residents should never have been threatened with compulsory purchase of their homes in the first place. What Mr Trump has done is withdraw a threat he should never have made.

“Aberdeenshire Council could and should have made it clear long ago that compulsory purchase was not an option it would support. To that extent, the Council is as guilty as Mr Trump of causing the affected residents unnecessary worry and stress over an extended period. The Council’s shameful failure to stand up to Mr Trump’s bullying has caused lasting damage to its reputation.”

In October 2009, Cllr Martin Ford formally asked Aberdeenshire Council to rule out using its compulsory purchase powers to help Mr Trump evict his neighbours. But Liberal

Democrat, Conservative and SNP councillors voted together to block any decision being made, so the affected families were left not knowing whether they would be forced to leave.

Martin Ford visiting Mr Michael Forbes at Menie. “It would be wrong to use compulsory purchase to help a private developer build a leisure resort,” said Martin.

North East News Spring 2011

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT ELECTION ROUND-UP

‘Invest in public services’ call Top Green Party regional MSP candidate Martin Ford says it is time to make a stand against unnecessary cuts to vital public services.

Mr Ford believes public services such as education and health must be protected.

Mr Ford said: Inverurie Health Centre is a prime example of the need for investment in public services according to “No-one is disputing Scottish Green Party MSP candidate Martin Ford. that the UK budget deficit is a problem.

It is obviously not possible to just go The Scottish Green Party is on spending more than the amount taking a strong stand against the coming in. cuts-based approach of other “But there is more than one way parties. of tackling the deficit. There is an The Green Party wants to alternative to the cuts to essential replace the Council Tax with a tax public services that the Westminster on land values that would reduce and Scottish governments have the bill paid by most householders, chosen. but raise an extra £1 billion a year “Instead of simply cutting the for public services through tax paid services that people rely on, both on large land holdings. the Scottish and Westminster Martin Ford said: “In this election, governments could be raising more only the Scottish Green Party is revenue from large businesses and setting out a plan for investment wealthy individuals who can afford in essential public services and an to contribute more.” honest alternative to cuts.”

Two votes in Scottish Parliament election In the Scottish Parliament election on 5 May, each voter has two votes.

One vote – on a purple coloured ballot paper – is cast in the ballot to elect the local constituency MSP.

The second vote – for a party, on a peach coloured ballot paper – counts towards electing the seven regional MSPs using a proportional

representation system. This is the part of the election Martin Ford is standing in, as the Scottish Green Party’s top MSP candidate for the North-east region.

Mr Ford will be elected if at least one out of every seventeen voters votes for the Scottish Green Party on the peach coloured ballot paper..

FORMER MSP BACKS MARTIN FORD TO WIN

Shiona Baird

North East News Spring 2011

A former North-east MSP has backed Martin Ford to win in the Scottish Parliament election on 5 May. Angus resident Shiona Baird was a Scottish Green Party MSP from 2003 to 2007, representing the North-east Scotland region.

Shiona Baird said, “The Scottish Green Party has shown it can win in the North-east.

“At this election, the Party has an outstanding candidate in Martin Ford. He would make a great MSP. Martin has shown he is someone who means what he says.”

Martin Ford heads Green candidate list The Scottish Green Party’s list of MSP candidates for the North-east Scotland region is headed by highprofile Aberdeenshire councillor Martin Ford.

Martin Ford lives near Hatton of Fintray in Aberdeenshire with his wife Gina. Prior to becoming an Aberdeenshire councillor in 1999, Mr Ford worked as an environmental scientist at the Scottish Agricultural College in Aberdeen. He holds a Ph.D. in plant ecology and includes gardening amongst his hobbies.

Martin Ford has earned a reputation as a tireless campaigner for local people.

As the number one candidate on the Scottish Green Party’s list of MSP candidates for the North-east region, Martin Ford is his party’s first choice to become an MSP and so will be elected if the Scottish Green Party gets more than six per cent of the party vote on 5 May. Second on the Scottish Green Party’s list of MSP candidates for the

Green MSP candidates Martin Ford and Rhonda Reekie.

North-east region is Rhonda Reekie.

Rhonda Reekie has previously stood as a Green Party candidate in both Westminster and Scottish Parliament elections. She works in the freight industry and lives in Aberdeen.

Dundee-based Pauline Hinchion, who has worked in a range of environmental businesses, is the Scottish Greens’ third placed candidate on their North-east regional list.

Ruth Brenk, a lecturer at the University of Dundee, is the Greens’ fourth North-east list candidate.

Can you help Martin Ford and the Scottish Green Party?

Can you help the North-east Greens gain an MSP and more councillors to tackle the issues raised in this newspaper?

Your help can make the difference!

Yes, I will help by: Voting Green with my second vote to elect Martin Ford as the Green MSP for the North-east region Voting Green at future local elections Putting up an election poster on my window Delivering some leaflets in my area Making a donation Joining the Scottish Greens Name

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