Bridport Town Council Elections (West Dorset Liberal Democrats)

Bridport Town Council Elections

7th April 2007 - Gill Fifield

Here are just a few of the things that Lib Dems have achieved on Bridport Town Council over the past few years:

Listening to You

Liberal Democrats have opened up all Bridport Town Council meetings to the public. You can now have your say at the beginning of the meeting, so that we know what you think BEFORE we make decisions.

We hold regular Councillors’ Surgeries where you can come and talk to us.

We deliver regular FOCUS Newsletters, which have a tear-off slip for your suggestions, ideas and comments.

And now we have the new 24-hour “FOCUS GrumblePhone” (422507) where you can leave a message at any time.

Keeping the Council Tax Down

Nobody wants to pay high council taxes. We have kept Town Council tax rises down to less than 1% for the past 2 years, while at the same time improving services. How do we do this? By building on Lib Dem best practice across the country - we are the party of local government – and introducing a three-year rolling plan to help budgeting.

Affordable Homes

Lib Dems on the Town Council want more affordable homes for local families. We are pressing for new housing developments to have 40% affordable homes.

Young People

Lib-dems on the Council have improved play areas in Bridport, introducing new play equipment (chosen by local residents) at:

Court Orchard Oval
Queens Road
St Mary’s Playing Field
New football posts at Court Orchard and St Mary’s
Funding towards new changing rooms at St Mary’s Playing Fields

Plans in the pipeline include:

a new West Bay play area (including activities for teenagers)
a site for a new playground for the St Andrews Road area
a basketball practice net

We have given grants for youth-related projects including

Youth assembly
“The Humph” studio
Zest music project
“the mill cafe”

Training: we are supporting moves to get a local training centre in Bridport so that our young people do not have to travel miles away to Weymouth or Yeovil to improve their prospects.

Environment: The Green Agenda

Lib-dem Councillors voted to carry out a “green audit” of energy use at our Town Council buildings, starting with Mountfield, with a view to reducing our carbon footprint.

GM-free Bridport: In 2003 Bridport Town Council voted to become a GM-free zone, outlawing the growing of GM crops on all the areas owned by the Town Council.

We have added 8 allotments and plan to create more to keep up with rising demand. We introduced woodland burials in our cemetery.

Combating traffic pollution and congestion: last year we started up a successful Park and Ride scheme from West Bay to Bridport. This brought holidaymakers into Bridport without their cars, freeing up more spaces in Bridport’s car parks for local people. We increased the use of the Football Club car-park by a third by designing a poster showing where it is (and only 50p a day). We are (still) pressing the District Council for proper signs showing where our car-parks are and how many spaces are left in each one. We were promised these over two years ago, but are still waiting…

Reducing Crime

Lib Dems support CCTV cameras, which have helped combat crime. We are in close contact with local police on matters of local safety and security.

A Thriving market town

We successfully manage Bridport’s 750-year old street market and recently added the new Gustomarket in Barrack Street. We take great pride in the traditions of Bridport – the Mayor’s parade and Remembrance Sunday in particular. We also support the annual Charter Fair and the rapidly-expanding Food Festival. We kept open the Town Hall toilets after two Bridport Conservative District Councillors voted to shut them down in 2005.

Support your Lib Dem Focus Team

These are just a few of the things that your Lib Dem councillors have achieved on the Town Council over the past few years. We hope that you will vote for our new team to carry on with the good work over the next four years.

Candidates for Bridport North

Candidates for Bridport South

Also see our policies for the District Council.