Lowestoft, an MP, The Lords and Climate Change

Local community group #We Are Here Lowestoft (#WAHL) has had a significant influence on our MP, Peter Aldous, and on this government's response to the Climate Change Emergency.

The Government has been forcing through parliament its Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill. Some intense lobbying of politicians over several years resulted in several important amendments being inserted. In a classic to-and-fro between the House of Commons and the House of Lords the amendments were removed in the Commons and re-instated in the Lords. 

In the end one Amendment was left.  

It would have made Law that the Secretary of State MUST take into account Climate Change in national policies. It also, and importantly, included clauses requiring all planning authorities to always look at Climate Change when scrutinising land and building schemes.

Aldous defies three line whip

There was a three-line whip from the government (ie Conservative MPs were instructed to vote against the amendment – possibly by closing the many Commons bars to make sure they turned up).

Peter Aldous MP made a speech supporting the amendment, and voted against his Government, and to my mind, for Lowestoft, and the planet.  

You can read his speech here.

The amendment was lost. BUT...

Result

The Government was forced to replace it. It was watered down. But not drowned. It swims towards survival of the planet.

 So, via an art project, a consultation, a community reaction, and a loose group of citizens in a seaside town, an important and significant piece of law was made. A big Plus for Lowestoft and, yeah, why not, the world...

What was #We are Here Lowestoft's role in all this?

First, there were two house-sized murals. One shows a happy, green and low-carbon Lowestoft. The other, an anguished cry from a drowning individual – 'Use Your Voice'. That's on the corner of Wollaston Road (see picture, and map below).

Out of the 'Mural Group' came a motley group of concerned Lowestoft citizens. Inspired by a group in Skegness, they created a Postcard from Lowestoft – messages to the government, to Lowestoft - about Climate Change. The postcards were designed to show the fragility of our existence when threatened by the global onslaught of huge carbon emissions changing our world climate. Lowestoft's place in the frontline is obvious. Floodmaps show this. The new sea-defence work makes the threat concrete.

And as we've discovered in the last few days, the danger is not just from the sea. Rain. Under some measurements, East Anglia is classified a desert, because of its low rainfall. Low it may be, but when it arrives all in one go – the game changes.

Collaboration and Co-operation

One of the members of #We Are Here, Lowestoft – full disclaimer, he lives in Norwich – is connected to “...a collaboration of campaigners, lawyers, planners, facilitators, writers and scientists” called Rights Community Action (RCA) who are working with other groups to get Climate Change embedded, in particular, in all planning decisions. 

Postcard on the Beach

For Postcard Day the group had invited Peter Aldous MP down to see what we were doing. He agreed to do an audio interview.

He made some interesting points about his government. 

“...Lowestoft is very much in the forefront of what is the enormous challenge that climate change presents, not just us locally but the UK and nationally and internationally...and it is very important we get on [with it]... We've got our 2050 net-zero target which is a good thing and we want to have a nationally planned strategy in place to deliver that and that means getting on with that work immediately, not putting it off for a few years and saying 'Don't worry, we've got 28 or 27 years to go'...we can't just sit back and do nothing.

JE So we must 'Use Our Voice'?

PA I think that is vitally important. It's important that campaigns like this keep politicians like me, keep the councils, keep the government, up to the mark.”

#WAHL has been doing its best to keep Peter Aldous “up to the mark”.

Tory Party Conference – another step in making our voice heard

At the Tory Party Conference the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) had organised a fringe meeting: - Every Decision Matters: Planning for Climate Change. The Lowestoft group suggested Peter Aldous chair this meeting, to which he readily agreed. Four members made the arduous trip to Manchester and arguably the even greater sacrifice of attending a Tory Party Annual Conference.

The meeting included a discussion about the Levelling -up and Regeneration Bill. The Government had set about ripping out various clauses and amendments which directly connected to Climate Change. The Lords had been busy putting them back. 

Aldous was not happy about what his Government was doing. At the fringe meeting Lowestoft's #WAHL reinforced his doubts and offered their cogent thoughts.

The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill

Because the Bill is partly an economics and planning document, it was vital that Climate Change was embedded as a factor that MUST be taken into account in all national and local policies. You can see the full amendment, which was stripped out by Sunak's government, reinstated by the Lords, twice, and almost thrice, on the right (or below).

And the net result was that our MP voted against his government in the House of Commons, and the strength of feeling forced the government to substitute a further amendment, which while a sadly weak version, does make Primary Law at least the notion that planning decisions must take Climate Change into account.

Why does this matter?

It matters because it's now the Law. If anyone – me, you, a councillor – believes the government is not taking Climate Change onto account in any policy decision – we can demand that the government explains itself - Has the government obeyed this law? – and they have to answer.

What #WHAL is doing

#WAHL is working on getting some kind of online presence, and more importantly working on making a Climate Change video centred on Lowestoft, and trying to get speakers in front of local councils, from Lowestoft Town Council to Suffolk County Council.

John Ellerby (Community Democracy Reporter for Lowestoft Old & Now website) (and part of the 'motley crew')