BATS, BIKES AND BETRAYALS – THE FIGHT TO STOP THE WENSUM LINK

Posted on June 20, 2022 by Norwich Radical in Community and tagged Barbastelle bats, conservation, conservatives, david richardson, environment, featured, Green Party, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Norfolk County Council, norwich, Norwich City Council, Norwich Cycling Project, Norwich Western Link, roads, UEA, Wensum Link.

By Sophie Ciurlik-Rittenbaum

The Norwich Western Link, also known as the Wensum Link, is a proposed road that cuts through the Wensum River Valley. It would cut through a Site of Special Scientific Interest destroying critical habitat, most notably inhabited by one of the only colonies of endangered Barbastelle bats. The project is already over budget, and according to Stop The Wensum Link, may cost up to £300 million. The Conservative-controlled Norfolk County Council is responsible for the Link and is pushing for its construction, whereas the Labour-controlled Norwich City Council has announced its opposition to the link.

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NORSE WORKERS POISED TO STRIKE

Posted on April 28, 2021 by Norwich Radical in Community and tagged Alan Waters, Connaught, environmental service workers, featured, Jonathan Dunning, key workers, Kill the Bill, NCC, NCSL, Norfolk Conservative Party, Norfolk County Council, Norse, Norwich and District Trades Council, Norwich City Council, Norwich City Hall, Norwich Greens, Norwich Labour Party, PCSC Bill, strike, trade unions, Unison, Unite.

By Sean Meleady

Around 400 workers, previously employed by (Conservative-run) Norfolk County Council-owned company Norse, are threatening strike action due to a dispute about pay and conditions. Environmental service workers, responsible for street-cleaning and park maintenance, are due to transfer from Norse to an arms-lengths company run by Labour-controlled Norwich City Council.

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NORFOLK EDUCATION WORKERS FIGHT TO KEEP THEIR COMMUNITIES SAFE

Posted on January 15, 2021 by Norwich Radical in Community and tagged #makeschoolssafe, #protectcommunities, Boris Johnson, Burston School Strike, clive lewis, coronavirus, covid, Covid-19, digital divide, education, employment rights, Employment Rights Act 1996, Gavin Williamson, Gawain Little, health and safety, internet access, jeremy corbyn, Jeremy Hunt, keir starmer, mass testing, National Education Union, NEU, Norfolk County Council, Norfolk Labour, Norfolk NEU, Norwich City Council, Norwich Labour Party, SAGE, schools, supply teachers, teachers, trade unions, workplace conditions, workplace safety.

by Sean Meleady

Norfolk-based education workers belonging to the National Education Union (NEU) have won a hard-won victory, after working with other trade unionists across England to force the government to close schools to the majority of students. This follows a sharp rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, particularly amongst school-aged children.

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TAKING WHAT’S OURS: ACORN NORWICH’S FIGHT FOR TENANTS’ RIGHTS

Posted on December 31, 2020 by Norwich Radical in Community and tagged abbotFox, acorn, Acorn Norwich, ACORN renters' union, ACORN Tenants' Union, community union, direct action, estate agents, housing, illegal evictions, landlords, letting agents, Northwood, Norwich City Council, pandemic, rent, rent strike, trade union.

By Sean Meleady

ACORN Norwich, a community union which focuses particularly on tenants’ rights, has been dealing with member defence cases against two Norwich estate agents: abbotFox and Northwood.

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‘BUILD BACK BETTER’: GREEN NEW DEAL NORWICH’S PROJECT TO TRANSFORM THE CITY

Posted on December 9, 2020 by Norwich Radical in Community and tagged build back better, Chris Saltmarsh, climate, climate breakdown, climate change, climate crisis, climate emergency, decarbonise, environment, environmental sustainability, environmentalism, Extinction Rebellion, featured, Green, green jobs, green new deal, Green New Deal Norwich, Green New Deal UK, Green Party, jobs for all, Leon Sealey-Huggins, Livvy Hanks, Norfolk County Council, norfolk network, norwich & district trades council, Norwich City Council, norwich green party, Norwich Greens, Norwich Labour Party, Sabine Virani, sustainability, UEA Labour, XR.

By Sean Meleady

Environmentalists and green activists in Norwich have been coming together to discuss ways in which the city could address climate breakdown, and how, in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city could ‘build back better’. Green New Deal UK’s Norwich hub is part of a nationwide network of groups hoping to combat climate breakdown. Describing a Green New Deal (GND) as ‘our map for a future worth fighting for’, they have five key goals they hope to achieve within the next decade, which they describe as ‘a fork in the road for humanity’.

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RIGHT TO THE CITY: AN ANGLIA SQUARE FOR PEOPLE, NOT PROFIT

Posted on November 29, 2020 by Norwich Radical in Community, Perspectives and tagged Anglia Square, Angrier Square, capitalist class, cities, class politics, Columbia Threadneedle, David Harvey, featured, gentrification, Grenfell tower, Henri Lefebvre, heritage, housing, local campaign, norwich, Norwich City Council, redevelopment, right to the city, Robert Jenrick, urban, urban regeneration, Weston Homes, working class.

by Yali Banton-Heath

For the past 8 years the future of Anglia Square – a 1960’s-built shopping complex in Norwich’s north city – has been a contentious local concern. In 2018 Norwich City Council approved a £250 million development planning application submitted by asset management group Columbia Threadneedle, who bought the site in 2012, and property developers Weston Homes. The proposal included plans for a new shopping centre, hotel, cinema, and 20-storey apartment block. After receiving over 700 objections, which collectively led to a government inquiry, earlier this month Secretary of State Robert Jenrick officially rejected the plans, on the basis that they “did not protect and enhance the heritage assets of the city”.

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FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE HOME FRONT – THE CAMPAIGNS TO PROTECT NORFOLK’S ENVIRONMENT

Posted on September 16, 2020 by Norwich Radical in Community and tagged biodiversity, Broadland District Council, climate activism, climate change, climate emergency, conservation, council cuts, direct action, Easton, environment, Extinction Rebellion, featured, Honigham, Jerome Mayhew MP, norfolk, Norfolk County Council, Norfolk Wildife Trust, North Tuddenham, northern distributor road, norwich, Norwich City Council, Norwich Western Link road, river wensum, Stop the Wensum Link, Taverham, Thorpe St Andrew, Thorpe Woodland, Tories, Woodland Trust, XR.

By Sean Meleady

Norfolk people are rightly proud of the beautiful countryside and unique habitats which attract many tourists to the county. However, Norfolk’s environment and ecological sustainability are threatened by two planned developments located just outside Norwich: the Norwich Western Link road and a proposed new housing development near Thorpe St Andrew which threatens three local woodlands.

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WHY NORWICH NEEDS A GREEN NEW DEAL

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Norwich Radical in Community and tagged accountability, air pollution, Alexandria Ocasio Coretz, austerity, build back better, carbon emissions, climate change, common ownership, coronavirus, covid, cycling, democracy, economics, featured, gloal justice, government, green economics, green new deal, Green New Deal UK, Green Party, growth, habitats, infrastructure, jobs, Labour, lewes, Liberal Democrats, london, norfolk, Norfolk County Council, norwich, Norwich City Council, pandemic, privatisation, recession, roads, schools, Sheffield, sustainability, uk, USA, wealth inequality.

By Olivia Hanks

Between 2013 and 2019, an era of ‘austerity’, most of us noticed a marked deterioration in the quality of our public spaces and infrastructure – existing roads and pavements not maintained, school buildings getting shabbier, public facilities closing. During that period, Norfolk County Council oversaw at least £725m of funded infrastructure projects. Incredibly, more than £650m of this was for building or widening roads.

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NORWICH CITY COUNCIL CALLS FOR UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME TRIAL

Posted on August 13, 2020 by Norwich Radical in Community and tagged arts, basic income, Bolsa Familia, Brazil, Brexit, canada, Catherine Rowett, child benefit, child poverty, clive lewis, Community, Covid-19, economics, featured, Finland, food banks, gender equality, Green Party of England and Wales, India, Jamie Osborn, Labour, mental health, Namibia, netherlands, norwich, Norwich City Council, norwich green party, Norwich Labour Party, organise, Permanent Fund of Alaska, Sierra Leone, spain, Switzerland, taxes, trade unions, training, UBI, UBI Lab Network, UBI Lab Norfolk, Uganda, uk, unemployment, Universal Basic Income, Universal Credit, welfare system, work.

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By Sean Meleady

Norwich City Council has backed calls for the government to support a pilot for Universal Basic Income (UBI), which would trial providing a monthly income to all residents of the city, following a recent debate at City Hall. City councillors argued that all residents should receive this fixed monthly amount regardless of employment status, wealth and marital status.

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MUTUAL AID IN ACTION: NORWICH’S COMMUNITY RESPONSE TO COVID

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Norwich Radical in Community and tagged charities, Community, community organising, coronavirus, Covid-19, digital divide, featured, Gateway Vineyard Church, grassroots, Hellesdon, Hellesdon Helping Hands, isolation, Lionwood Schools, lockdown, mutual aid, norwich, Norwich City Council, Norwich Soup Movement, pandemic, Pilling Park Community Centre, school holidays, schools, The Pantry, thorpe hamlet, Thorpe Helping Hands, Thorpe St Andrew, Trowse, volunteering.

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By Sean Meleady

In Norwich, as in many other parts of the country, mutual aid groups set up in local communities through Facebook and Whatsapp have been helping people through the Covid-19 crisis in Norwich. These groups have been particularly important for the elderly, vulnerable, single parents and those asked to shield themselves by staying at home.

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