Sheffield MP launches climate change assemblies - with transforming public transport first on the agenda

Olivia Blake MP has created a Hallam Citizens’ Climate Manifesto and over the next nine months she will hold a series of events on a range of topics including nature and biodiversity, international justice and a green industrial strategy.

The assemblies will culminate in a manifesto which will be taken to the UK government ahead of the UN Climate Summit COP26 in November and will form the basis of campaigns and actions to tackle the climate emergency in Hallam.

Ms Blake said: “The pandemic, and its huge physical and mental repercussion on our lives, has been at the front of all of our minds but the climate and ecological emergency isn’t going away.

“Its effects are increasingly being felt throughout the world including at home here in South Yorkshire. Action is urgently needed if we are going to curb the worst effects of this crisis and we need to start now.

“I want to bring these issues to the people of Sheffield so we can build a vision of what a green recovery looks like here in Hallam.”

The first assembly takes place on Thursday, February 4 at 5.30pm, to discuss how public transport should be transformed in Hallam and beyond.

Ms Blake will update constituents on the campaign she is running in partnership with Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh to bid for government funds to restore rail services to the Sheaf Valley, reopen stations at Millhouses, Heeley, and Beauchief and expand and improve Dore and Totley station.

She added: “We believe, to help rebuild Sheffield’s economy after the pandemic, the Government must invest in Sheffield’s railways, particularly along the Sheaf Valley.

“I hope this would help boost rail use post-pandemic, open up new job opportunities in other cities, and make travel to and from work quicker, more efficient, and greener.”

More information about the assemblies is available here and you can register for the first event here

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