South Glos By-Election - Shire Way, Rodford Way and Abbotswood areas

Louise Harris with Lib Dem Focus Team colleagues

If you live in the Shire Way, Rodford Way or Abbotswood areas, it won't have escaped your notice that there is a by-election for the South Glos Dodington Ward seat following the sad death of Cllr Gloria Stephen. The election will be held on Thursday 1st November, but postal vote forms have already been sent out.

The Lib Dem Focus Team candidate is Louise Harris, who grew up locally after being born in an RAF hospital where her father was serving. She shares our problems, like finding an affordable home, travelling to work and making sure our families get a fair deal.

Louise brings with her a wealth of experience. Professionally she is a front line worker in disability charities, and she is involved in lots of voluntary groups such as Fair Trade and Abbotswood Action Group. She is an unpaid councillor on Dodington Parish Council.

So what are the election issues? The main points seem to be:

• The BIG problems with the bus services, due to the new timetables and lack of drivers, compounded by the rail closures needing replacement buses
• Conservative cuts - both by South Glos and the Government - affecting local services such as police, schools, youth work and sports facilities
• The effect of Conservative austerity on our local community, for example the number of families who have to use the Food Bank and the growing potholes on our roads
• Speeding on many of our local roads
• Conservative-controlled South Glos Council refusing to let developers' money due to the Abbotswood area to be spent on what local residents really need

There are three candidates. Labour have never won a South Glos seat ANYWHERE near here. The realistic choice is between hard-working Lib Dem Louise Harris - backed up by the Focus Team, with a proven track record of getting things done for local people, and a Conservative that almost nobody locally has ever heard of, who would just vote the way he's told, rather than sticking up for what local people want and need.