Green Councillor Celebrates 1st Year in OIC

By theorkneynews on May 7, 2018 • ( Leave a comment )

Steve Sankey

Green councillor Steve Sankey who represents East Mainland, Burray and South Ronaldsay is celebrating the first anniversary of his election to Orkney Islands Council. It was a ground breaking election of a representative of a national political party to a council traditionally made up of independents.

Steve said:

“My election to Orkney Islands Council (OIC) was a proud moment for me and my family.

“I said prior to my election that my Parliamentary contacts and network of six Green MSPs could prove extremely useful for Orkney, and that certainly came to pass with the additional £6.6 million won for Orkney over the Green budget negotiations regarding fair-ferry funding and the general budget settlement for OIC.”

Steve Sankey has also been pushing on the issues of:

the Churchill barriers
20 mph speed limits in urban areas in Orkney
wind turbine developments
arms divestment
sustainable tourism
transparent decision-making by OIC

Steve Sankey on the night he was elected May 2017

Steve added:

“It’s been a difficult year for balancing budgets, but a very busy and enjoyable year, as believe it or not I sit on about 20 Committees, and I’ve also dealt with over 80 pieces of local casework. This has taken me right into the heart of my local community, and I’m pleased to have been able to resolve some issues. The year ahead will feature various wind turbine applications; educational issues; and a focus on the barriers. Somehow I don’t think the workload is going to reduce!”

Chris Giles, Co-convenor of the Orkney Greens said:

“Steve and I feel very strongly about the open-ness and transparency in the decision-making processes of our local authority – it’s an important part of our community, and we need to ensure that its decision-making processes are understood and accessible.

“Sometimes it doesn’t go quite according to plan, as the recent Support for Learning Assistants debacle has shown, and Steve’s experience really has helped his three local schools co-ordinate action to prevent further cuts and ensure adequate monitoring of the new policy.

“We’re also delighted with the adoption of the UN Principles of Responsible Investment by the OIC Pension Fund, and so Steve’s first year really has been busy and productive.”