Harrogate to host Green Party annual conference next weekend

The three-day event will be held at Harrogate Convention Centre from Friday, September 30 to Sunday, October 2 with speeches being led by the party’s co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay.

Topics will include the cost of living and energy crises which Ms Denyer pledged to tackle “head on”.

She said: “Our reliance on fossil fuels is damaging the climate and pushing up everyday prices for people in Harrogate and across the country.

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“Our conference will be setting out practical policies based on the fact that the most effective and sustainable way to bring down the cost of living is to invest in insulating houses and massively ramping up renewable energy.”

Harrogate has been chosen as the location for the conference after success for the Greens in this year’s local elections.

The party had five members elected to North Yorkshire County Council in May, including Arnold Warneken who made a return to local politics after previously becoming the first ever Green councillor in the north of England in 1991.

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The theme of next weekend’s conference is “the pathway to a fairer, greener country” and speakers will also include the Green Party’s deputy leader Zack Polanski.

He will speak at 10.30am on Saturday, 1 October after the party’s co-leaders address the conference at 2pm on Friday 30 September.

A proposed £49 million redevelopment of the convention centre recently moved to the next design stage – although a decision on the major plans is just under a year away.