EP. Environment and Planning
EP1. Planning policies should aim to promote thriving local communities, in which people can live, work, shop and enjoy themselves, whilst at the same time conserving the beauty of our countryside, villages, towns and cities. Sustainability is the key priority.
EP2. Local communities should be the main decision makers in planning matters that affect them. Local people should be empowered via the use of the 'planning for real' approach, which allows them to produce development plans for their areas, rather than distant planning authorities imposing decisions from above.
EP3. Planning policy will seek to avoid the concentration of industry, commerce or leisure in particular areas, as this increases traffic and threatens local communities. All planning decisions should take into account the need for sustainable development at local level. Preferential planning treatment should be given to local businesses. In particular, small shops in towns and villages will be protected, particularly against large new shopping developments.
EP4. Greens in the Assembly will:
· oppose any development schemes that we believe are not sustainable.
· introduce strict limits on the siting of large outdoor poster hoardings.
· protect the view of the night sky and reduce the excessive use of energy by carefully monitoring the use of lights and reduce light pollution.
EP5. A commitment to sustainable development requires the elimination of waste.
EP6. Incineration is not an acceptable technology for waste management. Incineration destroys resources and destroys recycling. The rates of recycling and composting forecast for incineration schemes in Wales are superficially impressive against the current levels of recycling achieved. However, in five to ten years time, the existence of incinerators in communities across Wales will present a major block to further development of recycling and could lead local authorities into waste maximisation in order to meet legally binding commitments to incinerator operators. Incineration wastes resources and is prohibitive to waste minimisation and recycling. It leads to pollution problems from wastes released to air and land and creates anxiety in communities adjacent to incinerators.
EP7. Greens want to see a move from waste management to waste elimination. The National Assembly for Wales should adopt the Zero Waste approach. Zero Waste seeks to redesign the way that resources and materials flow through society taking a 'whole system' approach. It aims to maximise recycling and waste minimisation and promote design that ensures that products are made to be reused, repaired or recycled back into nature or the marketplace. The goal is to emulate nature and reduce waste to zero.
EP8. Greens in the National Assembly will call for:
· Wales to become a zero waste country by 2020
· greatly increased targets for recycling and composting of household waste. 60% recycling and composting is a reasonable goal for 2010 as opposed to the Assembly's currently stated aim of 40%
· use of National Assembly planning powers to resist the building of incinerators in Wales and the operation of those already built.
