1. The climate emergency should be an explicit and integral consideration in all local authority decision making.
Fry, James – Labour
Strongly agree
You can see evidence of climate change all around us. Greater incidence of flooding locally is an example
Pope, David – Conservative
Agree
It is an issue which resonates strongly with the vast majority of people I hope to represent
Upton, Louise – Labour
Strongly agree
We have to start changing behaviour now – it is easier to do it now than try to retrofit solutions later.
2. I support the Climate and Ecological Emergency (CEE) Bill
Fry, James – Labour
Strongly agree
The government should take account of the scientific evidence and not be allowed to get away with vague promises without supporting action
Pope, David – Conservative
Agree
I am proud of the way UK scientists, academics et alii have already taken the global lead on COVID vaccinations and would hope we can do the same for the global Climate Emergency.
Upton, Louise – Labour
Strongly agree
The science is clear, we must act now to reduce carbon emissions for everyone’s benefit. To make this happen, the rich will need to subsidise the poor.
3. Motorised traffic in and through Oxford should be reduced 50% below present levels by 2030, to limit air pollution and increase space for cyclists and pedestrians.
Fry, James – Labour
Strongly agree
We want safer and healthier streets for the benefit of everyoner
Pope, David – Conservative
Neither agree or disagree
I would prefer all motorised traffic going through Oxford to be electric-powered, rather than reducing or banning the number of vehicles.
Upton, Louise – Labour
Strongly agree
I’m not sure what exact percentage cut in cars we need, but we we have to make a shift to active travel (cycling and walking) for many reasons, not least of which is that the chronic levels of physical inactivity are leading to falling life expectancy.
4. Development decisions (planning and housing) should design out car-dependency and facilitate the creation of 15 minute neighbourhoods, where residents can access all daily goods and services within a 15 minute walk.
Fry, James – Labour
Strongly agree
I fully support this aim, which is in line with the COHSAT survey I also completed
Pope, David – Conservative
Agree
I believe this would promote better connection and cohesion between people.
Upton, Louise – Labour
Strongly agree
This concept is already embedded in Oxford City Council’s Local Plan! This was done under the Labour leadership of the council. Being able to walk or cycle to the places you need to go brings all sorts of benefits – from chatting to your neighbours, to avoiding the pollution of car use, to getting some exercise.
5. All new homes built in Oxfordshire should be built to zero carbon standards.
Fry, James – Labour
Agree
True zero carbon, including embodied carbon, may be difficult to achieve in all sites, e.g., where renewable energy generation is not at all easy. therefore you may need to allow for some forms of offsetting in practice to get to this objective
Pope, David – Conservative
Agree
This measure would “future -proof” our environment as well as speeding up the elimination of excess carbon dioxide from leaky domestic gas boilers.
Upton, Louise – Labour
Strongly agree
There are many innovative ways now to build carbon neutral homes: modular buildings, carbon sequestered in the building fabric, triple glazing… I visited an eco-homes site 2 years ago to see some of these techniques in action. It’s also great for reducing fuel poverty because the costs for heating these homes is so low.
6. Local authorities should introduce policies and measures to enable all homes in Oxford and Oxfordshire to achieve an EPC rating of C or higher by 2035.
Fry, James – Labour
Agree
Local authorities MUST be given resources to make this possible on the stock of existing houses. The City has a very large housing stock and policies to raise the EPC levels for all the housing will need Central government support
Pope, David – Conservative
Agree
As above
Upton, Louise – Labour
Strongly agree
These measures are not cheap to retrofit, but your time frame of 2035 seems do-able. It is in everyone’s interests that we get all houses to be as energy efficient as possible.
7. Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council should introduce policies that support the installation of renewable energy sources.
Fry, James – Labour
Strongly agree
Given the size of the city, we may need to invest in renewable energy schemes outside the city to achieve our objectives.
Pope, David – Conservative
Agree
As with a foreign language, “if you don’t use it , you lose it”
Upton, Louise – Labour
Strongly agree
Labour-run Oxford City Council is leading the country in this. We have installed the largest solar carport in the country, we helped set up and fund Low Carbon Oxford which exists to roll out projects like the hydro-electirc generator in the city and the solar panels on several of the city’s schools.
8. Local authorities should use every available mechanism (including the planning system, grants and others), and support and enable innovation, to phase out fossil fuel use across Oxford, including domestic, business and industrial use as well as use in their own buildings and operations.
Fry, James – Labour
Strongly agree
We are certainly already doing our best to achieve this, with the installation of electric charging points, the new SuperHub electricity storage scheme at Redbridge
Pope, David – Conservative
Agree
I am very proud of the innovation produced by Oxford industries and academics, and would rather stimulate its development than spend the equivalent money on extracting fossil fuels from the ground, where they should rest in peace.
Upton, Louise – Labour
Strongly agree
The Labour-run city council has set itself the ambitious target of getting its own operations carbon neutral by 2030, and to help the rest of the city do so by 2040. We are trialling 4 different electric car charging technologies for residents around the city and will install 100 more points soon. One recently built block of city council flats was car-free with just a space for an electric car club for which all tenants were automatically members.
9. The creation, protection and restoration of biodiversity and green spaces for all should be a priority for local authorities including the development of a Nature Recovery Network.
Fry, James – Labour
Strongly agree
We do our best to support this aim, including the encouragement of micro-forests and the wilding of areas under our control
Pope, David – Conservative
Agree
The establishment of a Nature Recovery Network would be very beneficial for human mental health, as well as animal, bird, fish and insect biodiversity.
Upton, Louise – Labour
Strongly agree
The city council’s planning policy documents state that new developments must result in a net increase in biodiversity. The importance of green space for people’s physical and mental health is huge. We have undertaken a biodiversity review to ensure we explore all opportunities. https://www.oxford.gov.uk/downloads/file/7273/oxford_green_spaces_biodiversity_review_2020
10. As Oxfordshire County Council candidate, I support the doubling of tree cover in Oxfordshire by 2045; AND/OR: As Oxford City Council candidate, I support Oxford making a significant contribution to doubling tree cover in Oxfordshire by 2045.
Fry, James – Labour
Strongly agree
The city will do its best to contribute to this commendable goal, but may not be able to get to double the current cover because of the protection of the flood plain, parks and sports grounds
Pope, David – Conservative
Agree
Trees deliver their benefits for much longer than a human lifespan. Let’s plant many more.
Upton, Louise – Labour
Neither agree or disagree
Trees are not the only way that nature can store carbon – grassland left to its own devices can store as much. Planting more trees will of course be a part of improving the environment but they should not be focussed on to the exclusion of other types of habitat.
11. Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council should introduce policies that support the development of a food system which promotes local production and use of agro-ecological methods (ie sustainable farming methods that work with nature).
Fry, James – Labour
Strongly agree
As an example, I have persuaded a local Vertical Farming company to attend the North parade market to promote its products
Pope, David – Conservative
Neither agree or disagree
I am still not convinced that pesticides and other man-made stimuli for plant growth do not already “work with nature” to enhance its food yield. I would need to do more research before coming off the fence on this question.
Upton, Louise – Labour
Strongly agree
The powers of Oxford City Council are very limited in this area (though I would be delighted to hear ideas of what we could do!). I have actively supported initiatives like Tiddly Pommes, a small local enterprise that collects, presses and bottles local apple juice – I regularly get a case from them, delivered by bicycle!.
12. Finally, in 100 words or less, please describe what you plan to contribute to ensuring a green and just recovery in Oxford/ Oxfordshire.
Fry, James – Labour
As a councillor, I contributed to the commitment to achieve massive carbon reductions on all new building by the council, including embodied carbon. To help in this, we reduced the required target return on our investments in new housing, despite being highly constrained by the costs of external borrowings to fund these investments. I strongly favour all efforts to remove internal combustion traffic from the city. I support Work Place Parking Levies across the city and the use of the funds generated from WPLs to subsidise electric city-wide public transport as an alternative for drivers. I want the pedestrianisation of North Parade, which I sponsored, to be a model for elsewhere.
Pope, David – Conservative
I am very keen to see a growth in the uptake of electric vehicles across Oxfordshire. I believe we need many more charging points wherever they may be sustainably and discreetly introduced, and subsidies or grants should be made available from local and central government budgets to enable residents of Oxfordshire to avail themselves of electrically-propelled transport for domestic and business use.
Upton, Louise – Labour
Ensuring that our large stock of council housing – around 7000 homes – is properly insulated and has solar panels where possible is probably the most important thing we can do to ensure that the whole city can go green regardless of wealth. I particularly want get more on-street cycle racks, taking the place of car-parking spaces, and more electric car clubs round the city so that green transport options are the easiest and cheapest choice for everyone. I am on the steering committee that is looking at how to bring in the Zero Emission Zone in Oxford city centre this August 2021 – the Labour-run city council has collaborated with the County to get it introduced. A further collaboration with the County Council around the Connecting Oxford proposals will be a battle as it will restrict a lot of car-driving around the city. I know these proposals will have a lot of resistance, but I will be an advocate of the positive reasons for shifting movements from cars to buses, bikes and feet!
