The South Devon People’s Alliance

SATURDAY 4 JUNE – St.Petrock’s Day, the patron saint of Devon– saw the launch of the South Devon People’s Alliance (SDPA). 

The SDPA is a local campaign group which seeks “to campaign outside the murky waters of mainstream politics for the people and the environment of South Devon.” 

The SDPA feel that there’s a real need for a local movement to represent the ordinary people of South Devonand to protect the local environment for future generations.  The SDPA feel that “mainstream politics has distanced itself from the people, and now simply represents a stable for self interest and political aspirations as opposed to representing local people.”

The group is Chaired by Glen Nicklasson, a well-known local trade unionist.  The General Secretary is Rick Heyse, a keen environmentalist.  The SDPA aims to campaign in four main areas – community values, localism, environmental protection and democracy. 

According to the South Devon People’s Alliance:

“Our direction can be described as localist (as we believe in supporting local businesses and decentralisation, eco-conscious (as we believe in protecting the environment and support animal welfare), patriotic (as we believe in defending the nation state and our national culture) and liberal (as we believe in defending the civil liberties of the individual).”

To back this up the SDPA have produced an extensive list of policies looking at areas like housing, crime, local services, the local economy and public transport.

Their first campaign will be on June 15 (Magna Carta Day). Here they hope to plant a ‘Liberty’ tree.

The Third Way Think Tank welcomes the news that the SDPA does not discriminate on membership on any grounds, and its membership is open to people from across the political spectrum.

We’re also interested in its idea of working – and forming alliances – with “other organisations and individuals.”

Its strategy is also flexible in that it may contest future elections or offer its “support to a candidate that we believe will fight for what we believe in, or political parties that support our localist, eco-conscious agenda.”

To find out more about the South Devon People’s Alliancecheck out their web-site:

www.southdevonpeoplesalliance.com and their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_118327944917524