News and views from Fife Greens

Introducing Kerstin Romano - your Scottish Green Party candidate for Dunfermline Central

Kerstin Romano Fri 17 Mar, 2017

I have been living in West Fife for the last 16 years with my husband and daughter, having moved to Scotland from my native Germany in 1998. I work as a dispensing assistant at a pharmacy in Alloa and have been a member of the Scottish Greens for several years now. I am passionate about local politics and believe people should have the powers to improve their lives and their local communities.

Fife Greens oppose fracking

rcr14146 Fri 17 Mar, 2017

Fife Greens are committed to supporting renewables and opposing fracking and other methods of unconventional gas extraction, including underground coal gasification (UCG).

Fife has a beautiful coastline and countryside, which would be at huge risk from fracking. We believe that fracking and other unconventional fossil fuel methods have no place in Scotland – to make a fair contribution to international climate change efforts we will have to leave some fossil fuels in the ground and unburnt.

Better public transport for Fife

rcr14146 Fri 17 Mar, 2017

The Scottish Green Party believes that regulating buses and bringing rail travel back into public hands can create an affordable, reliable public transport system for Scotland.

We believe that bus companies should be there to provide the service that people need, not what the company wants to provide.  Too many people are under-served by local buses, as less profitable routes (e.g. to Kinghorn and Auchtertool) are reduced or withdrawn. Rural areas and deprived communities are particularly hard hit by service cuts and high fares.

Fife welcomes refugees

Lorna Ross Fri 17 Mar, 2017

Scotland is an open and welcoming country with a long history of giving refuge to those fleeing war and persecution. The Scottish Green Party believes that all those who have been displaced by violence should be offered a welcome in Scotland, regardless of their age.

One of our local election candidates, Lorna Ross, has spent over two months in Greece in 2016, supporting refugees in various camps. She actively supports Syrian refugee families now living in Fife, and works closely with Green MSPs Ross Greer and Mark Ruskell to raise awareness of the crisis in parliament.

Benefit sanctions win

Cairinne MacDonald Fri 17 Mar, 2017

The current government benefits system and use of sanctioning penalises the vulnerable and entrenches poverty.

Supporting local businesses in Fife

rcr14146 Fri 17 Mar, 2017

Our town-centres have seen a lot of change recently, including the closure of BHS and Tesco in Kirkcaldy. However, it has also seen a number of new businesses moving in.

The transformation of the old McDonald’s, for example, has enriched the choice of products and services on the High Street, with the addition of a coffee shop, an independent farm shop, and an ice cream parlour.

We support an economy with local businesses and social enterprises at the centre. These strengthen the community, putting local jobs, social and environmental benefits at the core.

A Citizens’ Income for all is progressive way forward for Fife

Kerstin Romano Fri 17 Mar, 2017

One of the main recommendations that came out of 2015’s Fairer Fife Commission was to hold a Citizens’ Income pilot in a Fife town.

The Scottish Greens are delighted to see Fife Council taking forward this proposal as it has been part of our policy for over 30 years.

It’s time to reclaim our town centre

Kerstin Romano Fri 17 Mar, 2017

Something is far wrong when beautiful buildings like this lie empty in the heart of the town centre.

Room for improvement on school consultations

Kerstin Romano Fri 17 Mar, 2017

In light of recent planning permissions for further housing in and around Dunfermline, the Council has been holding provisional consultations with parents and carers of local children to discuss the potential impact of the increase in school age children.

While I welcome these steps, we need to ensure that these consultations go further and that the Council continues to keep parents and carers updated on the proposed changes to catchment areas and the building of new primary schools.

Time to clean up our act on air quality and congestion

Kerstin Romano Fri 17 Mar, 2017

Dunfermline’s Appin Crescent is the most polluted street in Fife, according to a report recently published by Friends of the Earth Scotland. Fife Council published an Air Quality Action Plan for the street back in 2015, but progress has been slow, and Mid Scotland and Fife’s Green MSP Mark Ruskell has raised the issue in Holyrood, calling it a ‘public health crisis’.