Who cares about the environment? Find out your candidates views

Below you will find information about the stances of the parliamentary candidates for York Central and Outer constituencies on various environmental issues.

York Central Candidates

1) Hugh Bayley - Labour

Hugh Bayley has been the MP for York since 1992. He was previously a lecturer in social policy and health economics and has also made films about environmental and international development issues. He is a member of the International Development Select Committee, which oversees and scrutinises the work of the Department for International Development. Hugh also Chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Africa.

Voting record and support for environmental issues:

• Supported several pieces of environmental legislation including The Countryside and Rights of Way Bill, The Climate Change Bill, the Marine and Coastal Access Bill and the Sustainable Livestock Bill
• Supports better protection for rainforests
• Believes that it would be possible to supply Britain's energy needs without building new nuclear power stations
• Does support the growing of GM crops
• Has signed up personally to the 10:10 campaign
• Has spoken at a number of meetings arranged by Friends of the Earth and has backed most of our campaigns

On the issue of Climate Change, in response to questions by the Rough Guide, Hugh Bayley has said:
1: Climate Change is an issue of enormous importance. The UK was right to make it one of the key issues at last year's G8.
2: We must meet our Kyoto commitment and our own national emissions targets. We can't expect others to change if we fail to reduce our emissions.
3: As an individual I cycle in London and York. I helped draft the International Development Committee's report on Climate Change which went to the Rio +1: 0 summit in Johannesburg and prompted changes in UK government policy

2) Andy Chase - Green

Andy currently works as an administrator for a national charity and lives just outside the city walls. In his spare time, he is a member of several voluntary groups in York, as well as playing the piano.

Views and support for enviromental issues:

• Was involved in the successful campaign to prevent automatic ticket barriers being installed at York station
• Spoke at the public inquiry against the "Coppergate II" scheme against building a shopping mall around Clifford's Tower and was a member of the local campaign group
• Opposed the closure of post offices in the city and collected petition signatures door-to-door. Micklegate Post Office was eventually saved - one of only two offices reprieved from closure in North Yorkshire
• Has campaigned and organized meetings on sustainable transport, and wants to see the city transformed into a space where people can walk and cycle in safety, with clean, efficient public transport and the city's heritage enhanced
• Actively opposes the dualling of York's northern Outer Ring Road'
• Actively supports Friends of the Earth current transport campaign - "Yorks' Jammed"
• Spoke against the original plans for the Terry's site, rejected by the city's planning committee in 2007, because of concerns about over-development and traffic

3) Christian Vassie - Liberal Democrats

Christian Vassie is a composer of music for film and television, an author and a public speaker. He has also worked as a film director, script writer, art director and designer, and freelance photographer. Since 1993 Christian has been a city councillor in York.

Views and support for enviromental issues:

• Initiated the York Eco-Depot project to bring the local authority its first environmentally sustainable building
• Is particular concerned about climate change and worked to develop City of York council's response to climate change
• Since 2006 has been Energy Champion for the city
• Initiated a variety of scrutiny topics on environmental issues, including: energy use in council buildings, sustainable street lighting, supplementary planning guidance on sustainable development
• Believes that we must protect the biodiversity of our planet
• Has a particular interest in transport issues wanting to transform public transport and cycle network but believes that imposing a congestion charge before an alernative is offered is pointless. Wants to work with the council to develop a dedicated cycle track network in York.

Christians' views on climate change. "We have to tackle climate change. This is not a burden but an opportunity to reinvent ourselves and to ensure a secure future for our nation and our planet. In tackling climate change we have an opportunity and a duty to help the developing world leapfrog the polluting technologies of the 20th Century and go straight to using greener and cleaner infrastructure and energy sources".


4) Susan Wade Weeks - Conservative

Susan moved to York two years ago. She used to teach history but now runs her own business. She only got seriously involved in politics recently being particularly concerned about the erosion of civil liberties. She was formerly involved in the Green Party but stopped supporting them due to their policies on taxation.

Views and support for enviromental issues:

• Supports the construction of new nuclear power stations but also support onshore and offshore wind farms and underwater wave power
• Supports conservative plans to give lend each household in the UK £6500 to properly insulate homes. She would like all households to have smart meters to help reduce energy consumption.
• Believes that people are causing climate change
• Isn't sure about cutting traffic growth as a policy for York, but does support measures to improve traffic flow. She would like to see many traffic lights removed and replaced by roundabouts. She would like to see smaller lower buses and street clutter removed to make streets look better.
• Supports a zero waste policy
• Is against the expansion of Heathrow airport and would like to see short-haul flights replaced by train journeys
• Supports the aims of the Sustainable Livestock Bill and would like to see more local abattoirs to improve animal welfare and meat quality
• Supports better protection for the world's wild areas and more green areas in cities. Susan would like the citizens of York to plant 70,000 trees around the towns
• She is concerned about the number of people in the UK and would like to see the UK population stabilize. (This was in response to a question about how she would square the issue of economic growth with resource consumption)
  

York Outer Candidates

1) James Alexander - Labour

James is a graduate of the University of York is particularly interested in international affairs, especially the situation in Ireland which he often visits.

Views and support for enviromental issues:

• Transport is his local big issue. He is concerned about high bus fares and low quality services. He would like to see a review of bus services in rural areas and an end to cuts in bus services. He supports bus quality contracts in York (a legal mechanism for councils to take more control over local bus services).
• Supports more investment in public transport and would like to see Yozone cards (for young people) be valid until age 19
• Is concerned about traffic arising from the school run. He would like school travel plans developed for all schools in York.
• Isn't in favour of congestion charging until the alternatives to car use improve.
• Accepts that people are causing climate change
• Would like to see carbon footprints used more in planning procedures.
• Would like to see a new international agreement to tackle climate change. He believes that developing countries should receive assistance to develop low carbon economies eg give them support for environmentally friendly types of energy.
• Would like to have seen more environmental policies in the Labour party manifesto. He does support the proposals in the manifesto.
• Is against the development of an airfield at Elvington but does support the expansion of Heathrow airport.
• Supports improvements to the rail network.
• Would support a new international agreement to protect the world's forests.
• Supports green jobs, energy conservation and green energy sources.
• Supports wind farms and other renewable forms of energy
• Would support the construction of new nuclear power stations
• Would support the installation of recharging points in York for electric cars

2) Madeleine Kirk - Liberal Democrat

Madeleine Kirk has lived in York for thirty years. She has been a local councillor in York since 1991. Madeleine's top priority is York's local NHS services. She is an active member of York Hospital's Board of Governors.

Views and support for enviromental issues:

• Supports better funding for public transport in the region stating "If the Government funded our region properly we could have an affordable and reliable public transport network that would encourage more people to leave their cars at home. This would help ease traffic congestion and be good for the environment"
• Believes that investing in public transport is vital in the fight against climate change and would create thousands of green jobs
• Supports a five-year programme to insulate every school and hospital, with 20% completed in the first year
• Supports funding insulation and energy efficiency for a million homes, with a £1,000 subsidy for a million more
• Supports building 40,000 extra zero-carbon social houses
• Supports buying 700 new train carriages
• Supports installing energy and money saving smart meters in every home within five years
• Supports a major programme to build up Britain's own energy supplies through wind, tidal, wave and biomass technologies.
  

3) Julian Sturdy - Conservative

Julian Sturdy is a working farmer from the York village of Tockwith. Julian has campaigned on numerous issues affecting the area including post office closure, road safety initiatives and fighting to protect York's Green Belt.

Views and support for enviromental issues:

• Believes that travel from villages in the Outer York area is problematic on grounds of frequency, reliability & cost. Would like to see the extension of grants where local residents commit to partonise the service for it to continue so that local communities take ownership of the service. Would also like to see the extension of community transport such as dial a ride.
• Would like to see local shops supported by a reduction in business rates and supports the introduction of a Supermarket Ombudsman. Is concerned about how supermarkets tend to squeeze the price they pay to producers in order to maximise profits.
• Believes strongly in the importance of the green belt and preventing urban sprawl. Would support that abolishment of the Regional Spatial Strategy allowing local authorities to establish their own housing targets to meet local needs.
• Views climate change as the most important issue facing us and is convinced that sudden climate change is taking place
• Believes Copenhagen was very disappointing and as a matter of urgency that we need international targets for emissions reductions that bring in the USA, China and India as well as Europe.
• Believes that we need to greatly increase investment in technology, including developing renewables.
• Would like to see more honest food labelling - all food should have an honest country of origin label.
• Is personally concerned about food miles but feels that the customer should decide. The issue can be addressed by improved labelling requirements, allowing consumers to make an informed decision.
• Opposes the expansion of biofuels and thinks that the EU targets are "dangerous" .
• Has reservations about ceasing the use of soya in animal feed in order to prevent rainforest destruction in South America. He believes the answer lies in more sustainable soya sources. He doesn't believe domestic fodder production is the way forward as UK agriculture wouldn't be able to compete.
• Is concerned at the amount of plastic going to landfill. Believes that recycling targets are currently too crude based only on total volume and that more incentives are needed for Local Authorities to increase recycling of plastic. If elected, this could be an issue that he would be prepared to push through as a Private Members Bill
• Is concerned about overpackaging and agrees that consumers should be able to leave packaging they don't want to take away with the retailer but is not in favour of taxing packaging as he sees this as disadvantaging business
• Has opposed the building of an incinerator at Tockwith and does not see the need for incineration