2011 local elections in Bedminster: focus on Windmill Hill ward

Of all the wards in Bedminster, the Windmill Hill ward seems

likely to be the most closely fought in Bristol’s local council elections on Thursday 5

May 2011.

Last year, with the Lib Dems surging in the national polls, Alf

Havvock (Lib Dem) was re-elected in Windmill Hill, increasing his share of the vote there to

51.8 per cent.

Fast forward a year and the picture looks markedly

different. His colleague Cllr Mark Bailey’s Windmill

Hill seat is up for re-election this year against a background of plummeting

national support for the Lib Dems.

Cllr Bailey was quick to go on the record with his

opposition to the coalition his party formed with the Conservatives – and was

quoted in national papers shortly after the coalition agreement – and he

remains totally opposed to it to this day.

The unpopularity of the Lib Dems nationally is something

that the Labour party candidate for the ward is hoping to capitalise on.

Narraser Gorden, who lives in Easton, has said that “there will never be a

better opportunity ... to let Nick Clegg and David Cameron know what you think

of their government”.

Cllr Bailey, who lives in Bedminster and has been the Lib

Dem councillor for Windmill Hill for eight years now, is urging local residents

to judge him on the work he does locally, and not hold him responsible for

actions and decisions he doesn’t support or condone.

Cllr Bailey has been very active in his work in the ward and

is proud of his record of local service.

Supportive of community groups and campaigns, he is

particularly proud to have helped bring about improvements in Victoria Park, introducing

traffic calming in Marksbury Road and persuading the council to extend the 20

mph zone to Windmill Hill.

He also points to his work in trying to save St Peter’s

Hospice and saving Marksbury Road Library from closure, stopping plans for a ‘bendy

bus’ route along Cotswold Road Green and joining the fight to save local green

spaces under threat in last year’s council sell-off.

He said: “I believe that you bring about change by being a hands-on

councillor, by making yourself available seven days a week and by leading by

example, getting stuck in and working alongside residents.”

He will be hoping that his record stands him in good stead

when the residents of Windmill Hill go to the polls tomorrow.