Upminster By-Election Special: Melanie Collins -Upminster Green Party Candidate.

The Upminster by-election is to be held next week. The Havering Daily has reached out to all the candidates standing, to share with our readers who they are and what plans they may have for the local ward.

In an ‘Election Special’, The Havering Daily brings you an inside look into the manifestos and personalities of the candidates, providing a glimpse of what they will bring for a better Upminster.

Today, we hear about the Upminster Green Party candidate, Melanie Collins.

Melanie Collins is a community campaigner based in Upminster.  She has a background working in the NHS, community services and nature conservation.  She volunteers for a health charity and her local nature reserve, supports local businesses, locally-sourced and Fairtrade produce and advocates for environmental and animal welfare organisations.  

Melanie entered Green politics in 2001.  She was the Green Party’s parliamentary candidate for Hornchurch & Upminster in 2005, 2010 and 2015 and the Party’s constituency candidate for Havering & Redbridge in 2021.  

A lifelong Upminster resident, Mel is keen to listen to, and act on, the concerns of local people. With local Greens, she maintains a year-round community presence, helping residents with health, education, transport, waste and planning issues.  She has led a variety of successful campaigns and citizen science projects.  

Affordable housing, green jobs and cuts to carbon emissions are high on Melanie’s agenda. She believes comprehensive insulation, solar panels and ground-source heat pumps should be part and parcel of new construction, with all new builds on reclaimed development, not Green Belt land. Of particular concern is protection of our Green Belt agriculture, horticulture and allotments, parks, playing fields and nature reserves.  She has serious concerns about the controversial Lower Thames Crossing route and its traffic implications for Upminster.  

Mel has clear plans to keep traffic moving and a fresh approach to reduce housing costs and protect our Green Belt.  She wants to reduce the impact of inadequate resources on children’s education, the creeping privatisation of the NHS and the underfunding of local health care and support services. Greens believe community policing works.  Mel also wants action on the social causes of crime; loss of youth services and opportunities to learn a trade.   With climate chaos looming, Havering’s Climate Action Plan includes aspirations and monitoring but lacks plans for action.

 “How could I look my grandchildren in the eye and say I knew what was happening to the world and did nothing”  David Attenborough

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