The Green Party has published its local election manifesto which outlines actions such as compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) for vacant properties and more water inspectors.
The Green Party is running 125 candidates across the country’s 31 local authorities.
The party laid out a detailed blueprint for new measures at local level to improve towns and villages and help restore nature in rural and urban areas.
The party’s basic message is that Ireland needs to ‘Keep Going Green’.
They want all local authorities to publish annual audits of their carbon footprint and report on progress towards shrinking it.
Green Party manifesto
Some of the key points in the Green Party manifesto include fewer vacant and derelict properties by deploying more CPOs and more water inspectors with at least one per local authority.
The party would aim to transfer the responsibility for the collection of the Derelict Sites Levy from the local authority to Revenue “to ensure better enforcement”.
The manifesto also outlines the party’s proposal to develop a compulsory public register of all publicly and privately-owned land.
The Green Party would also aim to plant one million trees over the next five years and develop more ‘pocket parks’.
The Greens have said that they will take the lead “in retention and conservation of hedgerows with appropriate species and sustainable management”.
The party added that its members would strive to “protect and restore threatened and diminished biodiversity”.
The government party said that it would commit to restoring native habitats, native forests, bogs and wetlands and would designate areas for rewilding.
Another point in manifesto is that the party proposes to develop a Sustainable Food Strategy foe every council appropriate for the local context, including a composting strategy.
They would also ban the use of glyphosate by local authorities in public areas, except for appropriate professional use to control invasive species such as Japanese knotweed.
In terms of transport, the Green Party said it would support a “proactive approach to licencing rural bus services”,
Another point in the manifesto would be to reduce speed limits in towns to 30km/h and develop more greenways, walking trails and the cycling network.
Supporting farmers
Leader of the Green Party, Minister Eamon Ryan said: “The Green Party stands for warm homes, safe streets and clean communities.
“We will restore nature everywhere, ensuring that our farmers, who are often at the forefront of this, are adequately paid.
“We will create parks, community gardens and nature trails. We will clean up our rivers, lakes and the sea.
“We will make sure people can move freely on our streets. We will expand pavements and cycle lanes, create new bus routes and slow traffic to make our roads safer,” he added.
Deputy Leader of the Green Party, Minister Catherine Martin said: “This manifesto is a plan to help empower local communities in Ireland.
“The Dáil may decide our laws and budgets but it is local councils that put many of them into effect.
“It will be our communities that lead the transition to a sustainable, fairer, healthier way of life. This decade is our opportunity to transform our society to benefit everyone. We cannot afford to waste it.”