cabot news - spring 2011
TRANSCRIPT
8/7/2019 Cabot News - Spring 2011
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SPRING 2011Over thirty five years of service!
Edited by Alex Woodman & Mark Wright
Cabot NewsServing Kingsdown, Cotham, Brandon Hill, Redcliffe, Spike Island and the City Centre
Cabot Lib Dems - Working Hard for Local ResidentsPublished by Cabot Liberal Democrats and printed by KingPrint, both at Unit 7, Fenton Court, Fenton Road, Bishopston, Bristol, BS7 8ND.
Lib Dems Freeze Council Tax and
Protect Front-line Services
Upcoming NeighbourhoodPartnership Meeting
The next Cabot Neighbourhood Partnershipmeeting is on Tuesday 29th March 2011 - 6.30pm(refreshments) - 7.00pm start - at The Pavillion,Jack's Brasserie, 1 Hanover Quay.
The Neighbourhood Partnership is a committee of local councillors, residents and representatives of community groups which has been given decision-making powers over some local issues. The ideabehind the Partnership is to give more of a say tolocal communities, rather than decisions which
affect our area being taken behind closed doors.Anybody is welcome to attend the meeting - if you want more information, please contact Nick Christo, Area Co-ordinator, on 0117 922 4684.
Bristol City Council has been told by the government that it has to find £28 million in savings next year alone inorder to play its part in getting Britain's out-of-control deficit under control. This is by far the biggest amountof savings that the Council has ever tried to make, although thanks to heavy lobbying by Bristol's Lib Demleaders this total is significantly less than many other big cities are being hit with.
The Lib Dem administration has worked hard over the last 18 months to ensure that almost all of the budgetcuts will be absorbed by “back-office” and administration services instead of front-line services. Importantservices to the vulnerable and needy have been protected and indeed even enhanced in some areas.
Cabot councillor Mark Wright, who is in charge of “Value for Money” at the Council took action to end fat-catredundancy pay-offs and “golden goodbyes” for senior managers at the Council, in a move that will savemillions at the same time as protecting lower paid workers.
Cllr Alex Woodman commented, “There were always going to be difficult decisions to be made about theCouncil’s budget. But whereas in other parts of the country there has been outrage as some local authoritiesslash vital services, in Bristol the Lib Dems have found savings without hurting front-line services. Labour'sagenda of trying to ignore the deficit would have led to disaster here, just like it has in places like Manchesterand Liverpool.”
The Lib Dem budget includes a Council Tax freeze for the next twelve months. Although Labour tried to‘tinker at the edges’ of the budget, the changes they proposed included a massive hike in Park and Ride busfares, leading to even worse congestion in the city, and compulsory redundancies for a number of Council staff.
MP Welcomes Funding for Youth ProjectBristol West MP Stephen Williams has welcomed theannouncement of funding from the coalitiongovernment for ‘The Station’, a new facility for youngpeople based in the Old Fire Station in the city centre.
Stephen says, “Until recently, the project had lookedto be in limbo after the last government failed toassure it of funding. I lobbied the Minster byimpressing on him how important the project wouldbe to young people in Bristol and I was delighted whenit was announced that government will provide £5
million to get The Station up and running. This is goingto make a real difference to the lives of young people from across Bristol andI’m pleased I was able to help.”
Say t o f air er v ot es
w w w .y est of air er v ot es.or g
5th May 2011 w ill be your chance to change the voting system f or Gener al Elections.
Lib Dems, Labour and the Gr een Party ar e backing f air er votes that mean MPs w ill have to w or k har der to get elected,
spelling an end to saf e seats for lif e. W hy not!?
• Children’s Minister Tim Loughton MP visits ‘The Station’with Bristol West MP Stephen Williams and Cllr Gary Hopkins
Cabot councillors Alex Woodman and Mark Wright arefighting for improvements to the children’s playground onDove Street, between Armada House and Fremantle House.
The Council has received funding from the developer of King Square House for improvements to parks and greenspaces in the area, and Alex and Mark and pushing for someof this to be used for the Dove Street playground. Alexpresented a petition signed by local residents to the Councilin January.
Alex says, “There are many children in the local area, and atthe moment the playground really isn’t fit forpurpose. With a modest amount of investment, itcould be given a lick of paint and some new playequipment, really bringing it up to standard.”
BUDGET HEADLINES
Council Tax has been frozen
Library services protected -
Bristol is actually opening
new libraries
Additional funding for
Neighbourhood Partnerships -
giving more of a say to local
communities on the decisions
which affect them
Protecting the environment -
ongoing investment in measures
to help combat climate change
Less money spent on Council
marketing and publications -
fewer glossy leaflets
Reduction in number of
consultants and managers - to
protect front-line staff
Dove Street Playground Improvements
• Cabot councillor Alex Woodman is calling on theCouncil to provide funding for playground improvements
LIBERAL
DEMOCRATS
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Liberal Democrats - Working for Bristol
Contacting your local Cabot Lib Dem Team...
Cllr Alex WoodmanCabot Ward Councillor
The Council House, College Green,
Bristol, BS1 5TR
0117 353 3381
Cllr Dr Mark WrightCabot Ward Councillor
The Council House, College Green,
Bristol, BS1 5TR
0117 914 2559
Stephen Williams MPBristol West MP
PO Box 2500, Bristol, BS6 9AH
0117 942 3494 / 0207 219 8416
Solution to Redcliffe Parking Problems Moves Step Closer On 22nd January, Cabot councillor Alex Woodman presented a petition in the Council chamber callingfor ‘a solution to the chronic parking problems faced by the residents of Redcliffe’. The petition wassigned by almost 50% of local residents, who are unhappy with the fact that their local area is often usedas a big, free car park by commuters. The Council received £20,000 as a result of the Holland HouseHotel development to look at solutions to this problem, but to date no action has been taken.
Alex said, “This is a problem which I have raised time and time again after talking to local residents, butdisappointingly the Council has not done anything to tackle it. This is particularly irritating given the fact thatthere is money available to do so!”
The Council has now replied to the petition, saying that one solution would be a residents’ parking scheme,which would cost approximately £40,000. The reply also says that, after next month, decisions such as this willshortly be made by Neighbourhood Partnerships - hopefully the involvement of more local residents in thedecision-making process might lead to this problem finally being treated as a priority!
Keeping in TouchYour local Lib Dem team is here to work for you. All year round,we spend our time working together to sort out problems with the
Council, and trying to improve our local area, whether it’s the ‘big things’,like improving Bristol’s public transport system, or the ‘little things’ likegetting bins collected or potholes fixed.
We try to keep people up-to-date on local issues and things going on inBristol. Cabot News is sent out roughly every three months - printed anddelivered by local volunteers - and, if we have your e-mail address, youprobably receive the monthly Cabot eNews, which includes details of upcoming events and other information about our local area.
Alex also writes a blog, see www.alexwoodman.blogspot.com, and youcan find him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CllrAlexWoodman. You canvisit our website at www.cabot-liberals.org
If you don’t receive Cabot eNews, and you would like to, or youwould be able to give us a hand by delivering Cabot News to yourneighbours’ letterboxes, please let us know!
Kingsdown Conservation
Group (KCG) AGM
KCG will be holding their Annual General
Meeting on Thursday 31st March at 7:30pmat The Ark in Cotham Road South.
Local councillor Alex Woodman will be atthe meeting, discussing waste issues inKingsdown, and possible ways of stoppingpavements in the area from being litteredwith wheelie bins.
Non-members are welcome to attend forjust £2, which will be deducted from the £5membership fee for anybody who choosesto join at the meeting.
More information at www.kingsdown.org.uk
Progress on the ‘Bear Pit’
Progress is being made on plans toimprove the 'Bear Pit' at St JamesBarton roundabout. There have beenlots creative and unorthodox supportfrom the Council, residents and other"interested parties". You can findmore information at
http://www.the-bear-pit.org.uk/
Mark Wright says, “We're trying adifferent approach this time with theBear-pit, as all previous attempts to fixit up have failed. This time we're justfinding out what little things can bedone to make it better and buildingfrom there step by step.”
Harbourside Planning
Application RefusedThe latest planning application byHarbourside developer Crest Nicholsonwas refused last month by the Council’splanning committee, which is chaired byCabot councillor Alex Woodman. Theapplication was opposed by Bristol CivicSociety and many local residents.
The proposed building would have beenbigger than envisaged in the originalHarbourside masterplan, and includes a veryhigh proportion of one-bedroom or studioflats, potentially dissuading families fromliving in the area. These issues, along withthe timber-clad design of the building, led tothe committee refusing the application aftera lengthy discussion.
Westmoreland House has been a bloton the landscape for far too long. The LibDem Cabinet made real progress on sorting itout between 2005 and 2007, working with theSouth West Regional Development Agency(RDA) and local MP Stephen Williams.
Unfortunately, progress stalled in 2007 whenLabour regained control of the Council, withTory and Green Party support.
But, the Lib Dems are now back in control andhave secured £900,000 from the Homes andCommunities Agency to help progress plansfor the site.
A well attended public meeting on 18thFebruary involving many people from the localcommunity heard about some exciting ideasfor how Westmoreland House and theadjacent listed Carriageworks building couldbe redeveloped.
Cabot councillor Alex Woodman said, “For
too long the site’s owner has left this buildingto rot - a monstrous eyesore which is a realblight for Stokes Croft. Real progress willonly happen when the Council is able to forcethe sale of the site through a ‘CompulsoryPurchase Order’ (CPO). This funding is animportant step towards achieving that -without that, the Council wouldn’t be able todraw up redevelopment plans which will beneeded is a CPO is to be successful. ”
• Inset: Alex presents a petition at the CouncilHouse about parking problems in Redcliffe
Mark Sleeps Rough for
Homeless CharityMark Wright spent the night of the 4thMarch sleeping rough in the city centre toraise money for the Julian Trust, a homelessshelter in St Pauls. The event was organisedby the Bristol Christian Action Network (BCAN) Homelessness Forum, and it is thesecond time that Mark has taken part. Thisyear he raised nearly £1000.
• Cabot councillors Alex Woodman and Mark Wright have long pushed for the Council to dealwith Westmoreland House in Stokes Croft
Let’s g et it
Let’s g et it
Let’s g et it
Let’s g et it
sorted!!!
sorted!!!
sorted!!!
sorted!!!