Green leader Zack Polanski visits Oxfordshire wildfire site

The politician visited the site at Goring Heath where a wildfire blazed for hours near the Oxfordshire border, calling for greater protections for the environment.

The fire broke out on Monday, July 27, destroying a field and spreading to a nearby forest area, and destroying a barn and vehicle belonging to a business owner who operated from the site.

Polanski chose the South Oxfordshire site as the setting for a video he released to depict what he described as ‘climate failure’.

Smoke seen rising from the blaze at Goring Heath from Cholsey Hill on Monday, July 27 (Image: Contributed)

Speaking to the camera, the London Assembly Member said: “I’m standing at the edge of a wood, somewhere where people normally walk their dogs, breathe in fresh air, and take in nature.

“But today, there is a deep stench of ash, and I’m looking at a pretty dystopian future, as habitats, and a local business, have been decimated.”

He described the wave of ‘infernos’ which swept the UK this summer and left a ‘trail of destruction’ behind them.

In Oxfordshire alone, firefighters were left ‘exhausted’ amid ‘relentless’ fires which blazed on green and brownfield sites from school fields to farmers’ crops, landfill sites, parks and forests.

Lee Newport, acting chair of the Oxfordshire Fire Brigade Union based at Didcot Fire Station, earlier told this newspaper: “We are at crisis point now in this country.”

Echoing the message, Polanski described the situation as an ’emergency’ and said the fossil fuel industry were directly to blame, making wildfires more frequent and intense and opening the country up to an increased flood risk this winter because of the dry, baked earth.

Smoke billows from open fire in Goring Heath (Image: Claire Willatt)

He said: “I know that people across the whole of the UK are scared right now.

“This was a forklift and a barn – someone’s livelihood just completely destroyed.

“But the scariest part is this is just the beginning. The weather we’re experiencing right now will be the least extreme in our entire lifetime.”

He called for emergency meetings and plans against the climate emergency to be set out by the Government, and said if they don’t deliver, his party would bring deliver them.

Polanski set out policies like taxing fossil fuel companies and reinvesting the money into wildfire prevention, bringing water companies back into public ownership to secure supply, and providing cool spaces in every community to protect people from the risks of extreme heat.

On August 14, Andy Burnham’s Labour government sent out a national emergency alert to tell people not to start fires and not to use disposable barbecues in public spaces, due to the risk of wildfires.

It came after the then-new Prime Minister had drawn criticism from environmental campaigners and other parties for failing to set out a clear stance on climate change, while controversy continues over plans for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, requiring government sign-off.