The co-leader of the Green Party has announced his plans to stand at the next election in the new constituency in Waveney.

Adrian Ramsay, a former Norwich city councillor, said that issues in the area have largely been caused by the "complacent" Conservative government.

The Green Party has said Waveney Valley will be one of their top priority seats nationally in the next election.

Covering Diss, Bungay, Harleston, Halesworth and Eye, it will comprise parts of Richard Bacon’s South Norfolk seat, Peter Aldous’ Waveney seat, Therese Coffey's Suffolk Coastal seat and Dr Dan Poulter’s Central Suffolk and North Ipswich seat.

The party also called itself a "main challenger" to the Conservatives in the area in terms of council seats and already being the opposition on Mid Suffolk District Council.

Mr Ramsay was a Norwich city councillor from 2003 to 2011 and has been widely credited with making the party a powerful force on the city council. He was elected as the Green co-leader alongside Carla Denyer in October 2021.

He said: “The villages of South Norfolk share almost all of the same issues as the villages in North Suffolk, and they are nearly all caused by a complacency on the part of the Conservative government – a failure to allow local people to make their own decisions and a failure to ensure local services like buses and GP surgeries are supported while allowing developers to build houses local people often can’t afford. 

“The area has had MPs from just one party for far too long. With this new constituency, there’s an opportunity to elect someone who can bring some fresh thinking and stand up for local people.” 

Mr Ramsay visited Parish Fields in Diss on Tuesday (December 13) to launch his campaign.

He spoke of how the open-space in the town centre is being threatened by development.

"Though privately owned, this space is a unique historic landscape and should be protected...We have to draw the line somewhere." he said.

"And while the government has given carte blanche to corporate housebuilders, it has done nothing to build local services and protect areas from pollution and congestion. 

“For example, it voted against forcing water companies to stop pouring sewage into rivers. Last year in Diss, storm overflows pumped raw sewage into the River Waveney 209 times for a total of 861 hours.”