On the 4th May, many authorities across Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull are holding elections to choose which local councillors will represent them for the next several years. This is your chance to ask for a wilder Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull and to make sure your environmental concerns and wildlife worries are at the top of candidate’s lists.
Public concern for the environment is higher than ever and thousands of people have been calling on local governments to stand up for nature; to create more space for nature with more people on nature’s side.
These elections are a fantastic opportunity to build on the current momentum and to get action for nature to be a standard part of all local plans and policies.
When local candidates knock on your door, or talk to you in the street, tell them how important nature, wildlife and our environment are to you and why. Ask them if it is important for them and what are they going to do to help? Write to them, email them, tweet them – ask them to declare how they will help to bring about nature’s recovery. You could send them a link to this page so they can see for themselves why their role is so important in their local environment.
You can find out who is standing in your local area here.
Despite the importance of local elections and the huge difference they can make, many people still don’t vote. Make sure you have your say – it’s vital that candidates from all parties understand how important the environment and wildlife are to people in Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull.
Nature’s recovery is the only way to solve the climate and ecological emergency, which in turn will help to improve our health and well-being. So, we must no longer just think about slowing the loss and protecting what remains. We need to stop and reverse wildlife declines. This is your opportunity to ask your local candidates on how they are going to help us achieve this.
Here in Warwickshire, we have lost 11% of our ancient woodland in the past century. We have seen the extinction of one species of wildflower every three years. There have been no sightings of adders since 2004 and no breeding nightingales in the past seven years. This cannot continue.
Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull have seen some huge infrastructure development projects in the recent years. We need our local candidates to understand the devastating impact these projects can have on the environment and to tell us how they plan to do better. We need sustainable infrastructure, we need natural history and environmental education, we need people to champion our local green spaces and we need more councils to declare a climate crisis and to actively do something about it. We need to defend nature and need the election candidates to tell us how they will help lead the way.
We applaud councils like Rugby Borough, Warwick District, North Warwickshire Borough, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Solihull and Stratford who have all declared a climate emergency. It is also positive news that Warwick District Council have declared an ecological emergency – but as election dates come ever closer, this is the perfect opportunity to ask your current and future representatives, what do these declarations actually mean and what are they practically doing to reverse these crises and declines?
We need sustainable infrastructure, so ask, how are they going to make sure these projects are planned and completed properly – with nature at the forefront of their plans? If it’s in your area, ask them what they know about the South Warwickshire growth plans and how are they going to ensure that these plans see a 20% biodiversity net gain? If these plans are not in your area – it’s still relevant – what are your representatives going to do to ensure biodiversity net gain within major projects in your area?
Ask to see more details on how the councils' policies will resolve the climate change emergencies in practice.
We need to defend nature and many of us passionately took part in our #DefendNature campaign. Ask your representative – did they take part? Are they aware of the campaign and what does it mean to them and their constituents in reality?
So, before you cast your vote – take the opportunity to find out more. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, to make leaders think and take responsibility for the future of our environment. Our local leaders must do more to support nature’s recovery.
And don’t forget, you’ll need to present photo ID at your polling station in order to vote (in accordance with the Elections Act 2022). You can find a list of accepted voter ID here.