Sheffield Green leader says key changes have improved city council democracy

Coun Douglas Johnson heads a 14-strong Green Party group on Sheffield City Council. It is the third biggest group on the council, which is currently under no overall control – Labour have the most members and the LibDems are in second place.

Coun Johnson is firmly in favour of how the council has changed the way it runs following a 2021 referendum that got rid of a centralised leadership model. It was replaced by a more inclusive, committee-run system, aimed at giving more councillors a say in policy.

He said: “We’re part of an administration and part of the centre of everything, therefore being able to push climate change and social justice at every turn. That’s the thing about influencing services right across the council rather than having problems that we say are just ours.”

Coun Johnson said the party can now work within the new system to influence policies, rather than being restricted to campaigning on smaller issues. He said that the situation is unrecognisable now, compared to when he joined the council in 2016.

He pointed to solar panels as an example. “We’ve got a lot of the groundwork going on there. Officers are actually talking about options for how they might apply to different houses across the city and where we might be raising the money from.”

Dramatic

Coun Johnson said that the Greens have been pushing for the council to introduce a local climate bond, which he describes as “almost like a community share offer”. That would allow people to invest in bonds and the council to use the money raised for climate change projects, including fitting solar panels to buildings.

Coun Johnson said that the idea is going to the strategy and resources committee, which brings together all policy committee chairs. “It is a proper people policy, not just something we talk about as a good idea.”

He added: “It’s a dramatic change-around from only a little while ago when something like this wouldn’t be considered – it didn’t tend to be explicitly blocked, there was only a lack of take-up.”

Coun Johnson said that the new Dutch-style roundabout at West Bar in the city centre, which has a separate outer cycle lane and pedestrian crossing, is a good example of a Green-backed project that took more than three years to get off the ground.

“In May 2021 the Greens first came into the administration. I was cabinet member for transport. That whole scheme was something we really had to labour to get through as part of the Connecting Sheffield scheme, linked with iconic plans for Pinstone Street.”

The Greens pushed for the street which runs past Sheffield Town Hall to be closed off to road traffic as part of Connecting Sheffield, which is a city centre transport plan.

Barriers

Douglas said former Labour leader Terry Fox said at the time that he couldn’t wait to get his Stihl saw out to dismantle the barriers blocking the road off. “At the time there was a lot of pressure from Labour and the LibDems to get traffic running down Pinstone Street again.

“As cabinet member it was my job to stand fast and say we’ve got a better future than that. Now we’ve got the Christmas market and other things that spill on to the street that we couldn’t have done with the idea of keeping traffic flowing.”

Get the latest headlines, straight to your inbox, with The Star’s free emails

Coun Johnson, who represents the central City ward, said that he is pleased to see more people able to walk and cycle through the city centre all the way through to West Bar, connecting with Neepsend, where the council is working with government agency Homes England on a major new housing development.

His message to people who oppose the idea is “go and have a look at it. What’s interesting is that a lot of the criticism about the city centre is from people that don’t go to the city centre.

“People are missing out not seeing it, it’s changed a lot. I’ve just looked at footfall and the city centre is getting busier, with more shops open and more people living in the city centre – long-term residents, not just students and short-term residents.

“A lot of people enjoy living in the city centre and choose to live there.”

Thoughtful

Coun Johnson said that the Greens really value the growing cross-party cooperation that he said is leading to really thoughtful ways of improving the city. He chairs the council’s housing policy committee and party colleague Coun Angela Argenzio is chair of the adult health and social care policy committee, dealing with tough issues around funding care services.

“There is a whole council approach to decision making which worked out even better than I thought,” said Coun Johnson. “I am strongly in favour of the committee system, including all councillors in decision making somewhere.”

He said that doesn’t mean the Greens won’t continue to push for more election victories, though. One key reason for that is the Green concerns about climate change and the council’s move towards delivering a zero-carbon Sheffield by 2030.

Coun Johnson said that it doesn’t matter so much whether the target is reached, rather that the ambition to reach it pushes forward policies and actions that help to tackle climate change and global warming.

In 2025, he wants policies that could help city owner-occupiers retrofit their homes in order to run them in a more environmentally-friendly way. There is also action under way to retrofit council housing.

He pointed out that actions to introduce more renewable energy in city homes aren’t just about saving the planet. It can also create jobs, especially for young people, in a new industrial sector.

Inequality

Coun Johnson said it is also about addressing social inequality – cutting energy costs for people who are struggling to make ends meet, tackling energy poverty and making houses better to live in.

“It needs a big change in attitudes,” he said. “We want everyone to be adopting a green attitude now – just the basics of being aware of climate change, social injustice and the needs of communities.”

Despite challenges that the council faces in dealing with increased demand for services while its spending powers have been cut by successive governments, Coun Johnson remains positive.

“I’m optimistic and the Greens are optimistic because otherwise we probably wouldn’t want to be councillors!

“That’s why I actually love working with our group – people are full of ideas and full of optimism that we can change the world. We want to change the world.”