Sue Farrant congratulating Cllr Karl Wallace on his election

Karl Wallace has been elected to serve Bridport as a County Councillor. Already a District, Town and Parish Councillor, Karl lives with his family in Bothenhampton and works as an Accident and Emergency nurse at Bridport Community Hospital.

Congratulating Karl, Sue Farrant, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for West Dorset, said, “The people of Bridport have shown that they value the work done locally by the Liberal Democrat team. By electing Karl as a County Councillor they have ensured that Bridport now has a very active champion at County Hall.”

Local Liberal Democrats are supporting a campaign by a group of Sherborne for a bus service for the Coldharbour area of town.

Sue Farrant, West Dorset’s Parliamentary Candidate, joined local resident Jan Ross in leading this campaign, arguing that many people here are not able to walk the mile in to town and cannot afford the prices of the taxis they are forced to rely on.

At present there is a bus that operates in this area but bypasses the A30, before stopping at Greenhill in the centre of town, however officials at the First Group company have stated that they have no plans to change the route.

Sue believes that something has to change: “It looks like the bus services were designed before there were so many people living in this part of town and it is time that the bus routes and stops were reviewed. We must make it as easy as possible for people to use public transport for environmental reasons and because we definitely don’t want our older residents to be prevented from leading active lives.”

A group of pensioners and families in Granville Way, Lambsfield, Castle Road and Chandlers came together this week to launch their campaign for the bus route to be changed to incorporate a stop at the Coldharbour roundabout on the A30. This would enable them to use the bus routes that link up with the town centre allowing many residents to reach destinations such as hospitals, colleges and shops.

Sue Farrant is calling for all those in the area to support the campaign by adding their name to the petition and which can be found at www.ourcampaign.org.uk/sherbornebuses.

We are conducting a survey of local residents. If you haven’t already filled it in you can download a copy from this web site.

Cllr Richard Biggs

Cllr Trevor Jones

Cllr Karl Wallace

West Dorset’s Liberal Democrats are celebrating after the County Council election results. In many other places, including neighbouring Devon, Cornwall and Hampshire, the Conservatives have gained from the volatile national situation and the collapse of the Labour party. Here West Dorset we have won three County Council seats and made the Conservatives fight hard for every vote in the other divisions.

We have strengthened our position and are ready for the general election campaign that must come within the next eleven months.

Congratulations to:

• Councillor Richard Biggs and Councillor Trevor Jones who beat off stiff opposition to retain their Dorchester seats
• Councillor Karl Wallace who won Bridport from the Conservatives in a tremendous victory.

The full results are available at the Dorset County Council web site.

Pady Ashdown at the Lib Dem office in Sherborne

Lord Paddy Ashdown came to Sherborne on Saturday 25th April to open the Liberal Democrats’ new constituency office in The Old Glove Factory, Bristol Road.

The office will be the base of Dr Sue Farrant, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for West Dorset and newly appointed Constituency Organiser, Amy Tatum. Lord Ashdown, former MP for Yeovil and previous Leader of the Liberal Democrats, cut a yellow ribbon to declare the Liberal Democrats’ new HQ open.

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Harry Britton

Bridport Liberal Democrats have chosen local campaigner Focus Team member Harry Britton to fight the Town Council by election on 2nd April.

Harry lives in Bridport with his wife Jill. An active member of the Bridport Environment Group, Harry is campaigning to preserve the New Zealand Site (behind South Street carpark) as a “green lung” for Bridport.

Harry, who has a degree in Zoology and Aquatic Biology from London university, says “I am pleased that the Bridport Environment Group won a Lottery Grant to save this important riverside area for both the wildlife and local residents to share. I was very concerned when bats, badgers and otters were disturbed when part of the land was cleared last year for housing development. I will be monitoring the site for signs of their return”.

Sticking Up For Bridport

Harry says “I want decisions about Bridport to be made by people who live here. Not by people in remote offices in Dorchester. We know what is best for Bridport. Lib Dems have been fighting for Bridport for decades. I am proud to join such a campaigning team”.

Volunteer work for the community

Harry is a helper at the WRVS “Meals on Wheels” service and is an escort on the coach for the Thursday Luncheon Club at the United Church. Harry says “I am keen to preserve Bridport’s strong community spirit, which contributes so much to the town’s vibrancy and resilience in these difficult times.”

Worried about debt, concerned about the environment and committed to international co-operation – those are the headline findings from a survey of young people in West Dorset.

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I aim to be West Dorset’s next MP and I want to be able to speak for all age groups in Parliament. Late in 2008, I asked a selection of young people to help me design a questionnaire which would cover the things that most 18 year olds were likely to be concerned about. I sent the Young People Matter survey form to everybody in West Dorset who had had their 18th birthday since May 2005 and also put it on-line for any other young person to complete.

Here is a summary of the results:

Money matters

One of the things I am interested in is how to make sure all young people are able to go on into higher education or training after school, even if their families don’t have much money. In answer to the survey questions on this subject:

• Nearly three quarters (71%) think that all 16-18 year olds in education or training should get Educational Maintenance Allowance, regardless of their family income
• A clear majority (57%) say that the fear of getting into debt would put them off continuing with education or training
• Nearly four out of every five (79%) think that university tuition fees should be abolished

With other Liberal Democrats, I have always strongly opposed university tuition fees because I think that fear of debt will discourage people from lower income families from going to university. However, although I think that EMA should be simplified I would have said that it should be targeted on the people who need it most rather than given to everyone. I’m clearly out of step with local young people and I’d like to hear more about their take on this.

Crime matters

I was relieved to know that most young people in West Dorset (86%) feel safe in their neighbourhood at night. Although 82% have not been victims of crime, that still left 18% of respondents who said they had been victims; at nearly one in every five, that figure is disturbingly high. The survey did not ask for more information so I can’t comment any further but I’d be interested to hear any views on the types of crime suffered and where young people feel they are most at risk.

Opinion is fairly evenly divided on whether violent computer games encourage violent street crime, 46% think they do, 53% think they don’t. There is a bigger split of views on penalties for carrying knives; 61% think that there should be an automatic prison sentence and 36% disagree.

Personally, I disagree with automatic sentences for anything. I think we have highly trained magistrates and judges who should be trusted to hear all the evidence in a case, consider all the circumstances and then decide the best punishment for the individual in front of them. In my opinion politicians should make the law but keep out of enforcing those laws. Politicians do tend to have knee-jerk reactions to the latest tabloid headlines and that’s no way to ensure justice is done.

Nearly three quarters (71%) of respondents think that social networking sites should do more to protect young people. I had expected that most young people would think they could manage the risk and I’d be interested to know more about what kind of controls they would like to see.

Voting matters

I was pleased that more than two thirds of people (68%) say they will vote at the next general election. I feel very strongly that we are very fortunate to live in a democracy but with that privilege comes the responsibility to use our vote.

I don’t, though, think that voting should be made compulsory and I was interested to see that as many as 75% of survey respondents agree with me.

Age matters

The answers to the questions about age thresholds suggest that most young people in West Dorset are content with the status quo:

• Nearly three quarters (71%) think that the driving age should stay at 17 years and not be raised to 18 years
• Nearly four out of five people (79%) think that the age for buying alcohol should stay at 18 years and not be lowered to 17 years
• Only 25% think that 16 year olds should be allowed to vote

I had expected many more people to want the voting age lowered to 16, which is something Liberal Democrats have been demanding. Should we think again?

Drugs matter

There doesn’t seem to be any demand for major changes to the drugs laws. Only 11% of people think it would be better to legalise all drugs and although slightly more (29%) think that cannabis should be legalised, some of these think that it should be restricted to medical use only.

Work matters

Of the people who completed the survey, 10% are working full time and another 11% describe themselves as unemployed. Most, 61%, are at school or university and another 4% are on a gap year. More than a quarter of people have part time jobs, often combining work with study.

I asked if people thought that 16-17 year olds should get the same level of minimum wage as 18-21 years (it is currently £1.21 lower). Just over half (57%) think that it should be the same and 43% think the differential should stay.

Environment matters

Although only 57% say they worry about climate change, nearly everyone has a view on environmental issues. The key findings are:

• Most people (79%) don’t think air travel should be made more expensive
• Just over half (54%) like the idea of motorists having cheaper fuel but then paying for the miles they drive on main roads
• Nearly two thirds (61%) don’t think we should build more nuclear power stations
• Just over half (57%) are happy with genetically modified crops
• A massive 94% want more money invested in renewable energy

International matters

European Parliament elections are coming up on 4 June this year and just over half (57%) think that the UK should stay in the European Union. I strongly agree with that; the EU is far from perfect but I think we can only improve it from the inside.

In 2003 I participated in two demonstrations against the Iraq invasion, so I was also pleased that 71% of people agree that we should not have supported that war. A smaller percentage think we should be spending more money on helping people in developing countries (53%).

Any comments?

I’d love to hear from you if you have any comments or questions about this report. Do get in touch: sue.farrant@west-dorset-libdems.org.uk.

I am going to visit the Thomas Hardye School in March and am looking forward to having the chance to discuss the survey results with sixth formers there.

Finally, my thanks to all the people who took the trouble to complete the survey and return it, either by post or on-line. I’ve found the results very interesting and have taken note of all the comments you added in the ‘What else?’ section of the questionnaire.

I plan to repeat the survey later this year and will again put the results on our website.

Sue Farrant
Parliamentary Candidate
West Dorset Liberal Democrats
February 2009

Harry Britton and Cllr Karl Wallace collecting signatures with the “Keep Mountjoy in Bridport” petition.

Bridport Lib Dems are backing the Friends of Mountjoy’s campaign to build a new school in Bridport. At their last Council meeting, Bridport Lib Dem Town Councillors unanimously rejected the county’s plans to move the school to Beaminster and urged them to look again at sites in Bridport.

Lib Dems have been campaigning to restore the cats’ eyes and road markings which were - incredibly - removed during the resurfacing of the Coast Road. At last the County Council has seen sense and has agreed to do it. Highways Chair Sarah Williams has asked for Bridport to be represented on the Panel which makes these decisions. She said “If we had had a strong voice from Bridport, commonsense might have prevailed”.

Cllr Richard Biggs, Cllr Tim Harries, Cllr Trevor Jones, Graham Watson MEP and Sue Farrant at the Dorset Fire & Rescue Service HQ

Retained firefighters under threat

Fire stations in West Dorset are staffed entirely by retained firefighters. These dedicated people usually have jobs outside the fire service but spend well over 100 hours per week “on call” either in their own homes or at work. If there is a fire or accident emergency, they drop everything to respond.

The system works. Our highly trained retained firefighters do a fantastic job.

But it only works because the UK has kept the right for some workers to choose to opt out of the EU Working Time Directive. That limits working hours to 48 hours per week.

Now we fear that the government is about to give up the UK’s right to opt out.  That would be a disaster for our retained firefighters because their total working hours including  the time they spend on call could be well over the 48 hour limit. As a result many of of these dedicated men and women could be forced to give up their work with the fire service.

The consequences would be catastrophic to our fire service, including all seven West Dorset fire stations (Sherborne, Maiden Newton, Dorchester, Bridport, Charmouth, Lyme Regis and Beaminster).

Our campaign

Your local Liberal Democrats, led by parliamentary candidate Sue Farrant, are pressing the government to keep the UK’s voluntary opt-out so that our retained firefighters can continue their essential work.

We must make the government realise how important this is.

We need your help!

Please sign our petition at savedorsetfirefighters.org.uk to show the government how strongly we feel about this. They must keep the voluntary opt out from the working time directive so we can keep our firefighters!

Firefighters save lives. Help us save our firefighters!