Focus on

Brislington Greenway update:

Local residents will be dismayed to see the recent news reports that the Callington Road Link is back on the agenda. Of course, the road plans never went away, despite denials just before the local elections and more recently in Full Council. The reality is, the Mayor was not telling the truth when he said there was no plan to build a road along the former Brislington Railway Line. Rest assured we will continue to vehemently oppose these plans as we have consistently done for the last five years.

Scrap the Mayor!

A quick reminder that we have secured a referendum on the future of the directly elected mayoral system in Bristol, keeping one of our key election promises. Both your Brislington West councillors spoke in support of the motion at Full Council, which went on to win by 41 votes to 24. Only Labour councillors voted against giving the people of Bristol a voice. As a result, we will be having a legally binding referendum on the future of governance in Bristol on Thursday 5 May, 2022, a date for your diaries! More details here: https://www.bristollibdems.org/referendum-motion-passes If you would like to get involved in the campaign to #ScrapTheMayor, please sign up here: https://www.bristollibdems.org/getinvolved

Budget update:

Two weeks ago the elected councillors of Bristol debated and voted on a series of amendments to this year’s budget. The arguments and the decisions were made in public for all to see, openly and accountably. It was democracy in action. There were 9 amendments in total, of which 5 were passed and four fell by the wayside, including the Liberal Democrat amendment.

Obviously, we were disappointed that every single Labour councillor and unfortunately some Green councillors chose to protect the bloated Mayor’s Office and PR machine rather than invest in vulnerable children and adults but that’s democracy and we accept the decision of the Council.

Unfortunately, we have a Mayor who seems to have difficulty with democracy. Rather than accept the democratically expressed wishes of councillors, he ended the meeting prematurely and denied us a vote on the bu dget as amended. Since then, he has been engaged in a series of behind-the-scenes horse-trading, trying to cobble together a dodgy deal that suits him and his minority administration. Amendments that were voted for have been dropped and amendments that fell have been resurrected. The Liberal Democrats believe in democracy and that’s why we won’t be supporting the Mayor’s Budget.

Jubilee Pool latest:

Good news for our local swimming pool. Despite the Mayor dismissing a budget amendment that would have provided a loan mechanism for the pool to pay for essential maintenance work, the Council has at last approved the Expression of Interest, which means the Friends group can prepare a Full Business Plan as part of the Community Asset Transfer process. There is still a long way to go but the incredible Friends group are doing a fantastic job.

Talbot Road closure:

A reminder that drivers are advised to avoid the area as the gas main is replaced on Talbot Road. This work is due to be completed by 24 June. We will keep you updated if details change.

More tree planting in Brislington:

Yet more trees have been planted in Brislington West. During a meeting with tree officers last summer, we discussed the wide grassy verge on Callington Road by the Nature Reserve. We said this would be the perfect place for more trees, the tree officers agreed and now we have a beautiful row of trees which will increase our tree canopy cover in the city and help to mitigate the damaging impact of traffic pollution. Hundreds of Brislington West residents have signed up to receive our monthly newsletter via email. You can register using this link: http://www.bristollibdems.org/efocus. By Jos Clark, Liberal Democrat Councillor (Brislington West) Email: cllr.jos.clark@bristol.gov.uk Mobile: 07584 370429 & Andrew Varney, Liberal Democrat Councillor (Brislington West) Email: cllr.andrew. varney@bristol.gov.uk Mobile: 07584 183381