Anonymous submissions to the City Council electoral review

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Hartcliffe Ward should include the houses that are in the Teyfant Area-up to Longway Avenue, in this draft proposal this area is in and . This area covers the postcodes BS13 that is known as and it includes the school that is recognised locally as Hartcliffe School. Whilst I recognise the changes to the Hartcliffe Ward mean that the similar Hartcliffe and Withywood communities are together this also raises a concern that a 'super- deprived' ward is created and this could have a negative impact on the area.

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https://consultation.lgbce.org.uk/node/print/informed-representation/4462 22/01/2015

Review Officer (Bristol) Local Government Boundary Commission for England Layden House 76-86 Turnmill Street London EC1M 5LG

28 January 2015

Dear Sirs

Proposed boundary change for Westbury- on-Trym, Bristol BS9

I have lived in this historic village for years and need not point out how devastating it is for those residents of us who live near the to hear that the Boundary Commission propose to split Westbury-on-Trym in half. This would mean in effect that the old part of the village, with its ancient historical value dating back to the 8th century, will be taken away from us and the village will lose its identity.

Whilst I appreciate a decision HAS to be made to bring the wards into line with the ever changing population I ask if the Boundary Commission would consider combining the two present wards into one and sharing 3 Councillors between us? If the Boundary Commission agreed to reconsider their proposal perhaps they would also agree to the combination name change “Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze”?

I hope that the Boundary Commission will treat this request favourably.

Yours faithfully

Pascoe, Mark

From: Fuller, Heather Sent: 10 February 2015 09:00 To: Pascoe, Mark Subject: FW: Proposed ward boundary - object

‐‐‐‐‐Original Message‐‐‐‐‐ From: Sent: 08 February 2015 17:56 To: Reviews@ Subject: Proposed ward boundary ‐ object

Hello further to your flyer ‐ we would like to voice our objection to an expanding ward. It's disappointing they are considering changing the Henleaze Lake area to Southmead. We live on and our road was caught up in boundary changes years ago, which brought down our house price. it's also a pity Henleaze swimming lake could possibly be surrounding by a Southmead boundary. If there is a petition against changes we would sign etc. especially as BCC haven't really kept locals informed.

1 Pascoe, Mark

From: Fuller, Heather Sent: 10 February 2015 08:51 To: Pascoe, Mark Subject: FW: New Council Ward Boundaries - Bristol

‐‐‐‐‐Original Message‐‐‐‐‐ From: Sent: 10 February 2015 08:16 To: Reviews@; Subject: New Council Ward Boundaries ‐ Bristol

Dear Sirs,

Yesterday we were notified (via a flyer through our letter box which could easily have been mistaken for junk mail) about your proposal to place our property in the expanded Southmead ward. We are currently located within the Westbury‐on‐Trym area.

We have some very serious objections to your proposal.

1) Your plans will have an adverse effect on the desirability, and therefore, the value of our property. Potential buyers will exclude properties located in Southmead from their shortlist because it has a reputation for being a rough and crime‐ridden area. We would certainly have excluded our property from our search area had it been part of Southmead at that time.

2) Given the above, surely we, along with all other affected residents, should be given the opportunity to vote instead of being advised at the very last minute before the deadline. This is supposed to be a democratic republic after all. Instead, it appears that you have made the decision already without any consideration to those it will affect. The leaflet we received mentions that a consultation took place between July and September last year. Who exactly has been consulted? We certainly haven't been invited to comment thus far and we are among those who stand to lose the most from your proposals.

3) Your perceived benefits of this action appear to be far outweighed by the negative impact it will have on some residents and we resent that our own tax payments are being used by your office to our detriment.

If there really is a desperate need to change the boundaries, May we suggest that rather than extend the Southmead area, you invent a new area such as "Eastfield" for example so that we are not tarnished with Southmead's bad reputation? The new area could then be represented by the same councillor.

Alternatively, if we cannot remain within the WOT ward, why can't we be part of the proposed expanded Henleaze ward? Living where we are we automatically feel part of the Henleaze community rather than the Southmead community. We use all the local parks, toddler groups, churches and shops within Henleaze as they are all within walking distance, whereas it is a lot further to Southmead's equivalent amenities.

We believe the boundary for Southmead should start at the corner where Southmead Road joins Doncaster Road and around Bowness Gardens joining up with Badock's Wood.

1 We really hope that you will give our comments fair and proper consideration.

Yours faithfully

‐

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14th February 2015

Dear Sir or Madam

I must strongly protest against the new boundaries for South Bristol. Yet again our area of privately built residences has been changed from to Hartcliffe. If we had wanted to buy a property in the now underprivileged, poverty area of Hartcliffe, we would have bought one years ago at an extremely cheaper price. At today’s prices a similar 3 bed semi on the council estate (HARTCLIFFE) would be in the region of Our privately built, privately owned house, is valued at . My parents, several doors away whose house was built in is valued at . They have lived there almost years, they, too, are extremely upset and annoyed at your latest boundary lines, along with many other elderly residents. I believe we pay more council rates than the residents of Hartcliffe. I assume we can expect a reduced rate backdated ! We were devastated when friends, who live in London, visited us recently and used their satellite navigation, upon inputting our address, found we lived in Hartcliffe. This is also the case regarding our address on all media sights, our address automatically becomes Hartcliffe. How dare you do this, affecting our property value, and local environment, without notice to all residents. Imagine you have bought a dream home, in your chosen desirable location, only to be told many years later that boundary’s have been moved and you now live in an area well known as rough undersible and deprived, and the persons responsible, have no knowledge of the areas.

Bishopsworth, originally dates back to Saxon times, but became a parish in its own right in 1853. The Manor house built in 1720, St.Peters Church built in 1841 - 1843. We live within from The Manor House, and . We are extremely proud of our Bishopsworth heritage and history. Then to discover, we no longer live within those boundaries, and are considered to live in Hartcliffe, a much poorer council estate. We have not worked all our lives, struggling at times to pay for a property and an area that we have chosen, only to have the area of our choice changed, by powers unbeknown to us. There is a very strong feeling regarding this situation, as most residents, finding themselves having to travel to vote in Hartcliffe, most do not do so including my husband and I, my 80+ year old parents, my daughter and her husband. We all no longer vote at all. I have asked several of my neighbours who are also annoyed and upset by this unwanted change, but state there is nothing we can do about it.

I believe there is if we all put ‘pen to paper’ There are 7 others that I have managed to actually speak to who now refuse to vote, and have not done so for many years.

Several years ago, I expressed my concern regarding the boundaries, to Mr Richard Eddy, local Bishopsworth councillor, who I discovered was not my local MP, although I live in Bishopsworth, and wanted to vote for him. We had a conversation regarding the possible changes of boundaries in the future. I now understand these are the changes. We want to vote for Bishopsworth councillors, after all that’s where we live. If you are unaware, which clearly you appear to be, I would like to inform you, Hartcliffe was built as a council estate in the early 1960’s.

We are disgusted and extremely upset, over your decision, and hope we can resolve this by your returning the original Bishopsworth boundary’s. After all its where we live.

Your faithfully

Pascoe, Mark

From: Fuller, Heather Sent: 16 February 2015 10:35 To: Pascoe, Mark Subject: FW: Westbury - on- Trym / Henleaze Boundaries

‐‐‐‐‐Original Message‐‐‐‐‐ From: Sent: 15 February 2015 07:02 To: Reviews@ Subject: Westbury ‐ on‐ Trym / Henleaze Boundaries

Greetings,

The historic village of Westbury must not be split for administrative convenience…

The need to reduce the numbers of councillors in Bristol’s suburb communities to accommodate more densely populated areas is understood, and the Westbury/Henleaze number of councillors can be achieved by joining the two distinct areas together, as the good neighbours that they are.

The number of population per square mile all over Bristol should be made public (if not already done so) so that residents can be assured that their area is being reasonably targeted.

Regards,

1 Pascoe, Mark

From: Fuller, Heather Sent: 16 February 2015 16:07 To: Pascoe, Mark Subject: FW: New Council Ward Boundaries - Bristol City Council

From: Sent: 16 February 2015 15:57 To: Reviews@ Subject: New Council Ward Boundaries - Bristol City Council

Dear Review Officer (Bristol)

I am writing to you in connection with the new council ward boundaries proposed in Bristol City for Henleaze/Southmead area.

I am a resident living in , Henleaze and have received a letter stating you are proposing to change this to Southmead.

I would like to raise my concerns which I have listed below:

 Lake Road is part of the HENLEAZE Lake Swimming Community. HENLEAZE Lake is ! We all back onto the Lake. This is not Southmead Lake, it is Henleaze. This should not be part of Southmead Boundary.  We moved to as it was part of Henleaze Community. If it was Southmead, we would not have moved. This was how it was sold to us and this is how it is on our street. We are not part of Southmead Community, do not have common interests and are closer to Henleaze than we are Southmead.  This will affect the house prices in our street. You will knock tens of thousands off of the current values by branding us as Southmead, potentially leaving us in negative equity. This is a huge risk for us.  We have a young child who will be starting school next year. We do not intend to put them into Southmead schools, we intend to apply for closers schools such as Westbury on Trym/Horfield/Henleaze. Where would we stand if our address is Southmead?!  Although our post code is BS10, we are very much part of the active BS9 community and you will be destroying that close community spirit that has taken many years to build up but is invaluable to us residents.

I hope the above concerens are stressed to the appropriate people.

Please feel free to email me back.

Kind Regards

1 Pascoe, Mark

From: Fuller, Heather Sent: 16 February 2015 10:31 To: Pascoe, Mark Subject: FW: Bristol

From: Sent: 15 February 2015 22:07 To: Reviews@ Subject: Bristol https://www.lgbce.org.uk/current-reviews/south-west/bristol

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Dear Sirs

As a resident of I am writing to you concerning the proposed changes to the new Council Ward Boundaries.

While I have an understanding of the need that each councillor should present roughly the same number of voters as elected members elsewhere in the Authority. There are a couple of points I would like to raise.

I am a keen member of the , of which, at present, there are 200 members, I am also a member of the which plays a prominent part in promoting the interests of Henleaze residents as well as looking after the floral displays in the High Street, monthly newsletters providing information on local interest, local history etc. I do feel a strong affinity towards Henleaze, to the identity, amenities and interests that are available. I do my local shopping in Henleaze and find, when needed that the local transport into Bristol is easy to use.

I am in favour that electoral arrangements should promote effective local government, and that boundary lines need to drawn somewhere, along a main road, a river or woodland - close by are Baddocks woods.

Yours sincerely

1 Pascoe, Mark

From: Fuller, Heather Sent: 16 February 2015 10:36 To: Pascoe, Mark Subject: FW: Henleaze

‐‐‐‐‐Original Message‐‐‐‐‐ From: Sent: 14 February 2015 14:45 To: Reviews@ Subject: Henleaze

I think that Henleaze should not expand it's boundary. Henleaze is a village and needs to keep its own identity. To become a larger place would be very disappointing and would lose its community!

Sent from my iPad

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