Become an elected city, town or parish councillor
Canterbury (Kent), Ava Lily
To become a councillor is pretty simple. If you’re organised, passionate and have some time on your hands. You don’t receive a salary but can claim expenses (including for childcare and carers, if needed). And you don’t have to belong to a political party, you can be independent if preferred.
How local (confusing) councils work
Between them, councils run around 800 services across England. At time of writing, several local elections are being postponed, due to the councils being merged, to make things simpler. But it’s likely that parish councils will remain:
- County councils cover education, transport, planning, fire/safety, social care, libraries, refuse and trading standards.
- District/city councils cover rubbish/recycling, Council tax & planning
- Parish (village) councils cover allotments, public clocks, bus shelters, community centres, play areas, neighbour planning and grants for local charities). They can also fine people for litter, graffiti, fly-posting and not picking up dog poop.
What are councils responsible for?
Depending on the council size, your councils could be responsible for:
- Allotments
- Car parks
- Celebrations
- Community buses
- Community & leisure Centres
- Litter bins
- Public parks (choose pet-friendly plants)
- Public toilets
- Street lights (avoid light pollution)
- Suitable housing
- Solar panels
- Town planning
- Police & Health services
How to contact your local councillors
Write to Them is a free site where you can write or email your local councillors (and MPs). The site is open-source, so other countries can set up a similar website, using the software.
Round Our Way (stories on how climate affects communities)
Lincoln, Ava Lily
Round Our Way is an interesting and unique website, where people share stories on how climate change is affecting their communities. Some big political parties can deny the affects of climate change all they want. But when real stories from real people are out there, no-one can deny the truth.
Rather than having political ding-dongs about ‘net zero’, it’s far more effective to listen to stories from those whose lives are being directly affected. Climate change is not just causing ice caps in Greenland to melt, but also is causing:
- Floods and droughts
- Dangerous heatwaves
- Train delays
- Risks to pregnant women
- Failing crop harvests
Read of how dog guardians are concerned at rising temperatures (difficult to take dogs on walks and increased risk of heatstroke). Read more on keeping pets safe in warmer weather.
There is also post on the rising cost of sunscreen (never use human sunscreen on pets, and wash off skin before letting pets kiss you due to zinc oxide – same for deodorants, cosmetics and cocoa butter creams).
