Shirley Williams joins Sue Farrant to visit local shops in Sherborne

Dr Sue Farrant, parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrats in West Dorset, was joined by Shirley Williams, revered politician and founder of the SDP, on the election campaign trail in Sherborne yesterday.

Meeting at ‘The Conduit’ in Cheap Street, and joined by a throng of Liberal Democrat activists, they embarked on a ‘meet and greet’ through the town centre, stopping to speak to local residents and dropping in to shops to chat with owners and customers.

Party workers were then invited back to Sue Farrant’s house for tea and Baroness Williams gave a speech on Liberal Democrat values and her views on this intriguing election campaign.

By way of an introduction, Sue Farrant said: “It is a great honour for me to have Shirley Williams here to lend her support to my campaign. She is one of my heroines and a wonderful role model. It gives us great encouragement in the last stage of the campaign.”

Shirley Williams said: “This election is tremendously exciting. It is much bigger for us now than at any other time. I’ve seen the mould cracking. The people of Great Britain are fed up with the voting system. I was on Channel Four last night and when the audience was asked if they wanted real change at this election, nine tenths were in favour. The debates have presented the Liberal Democrats to the British people as a party of real change.”

(more…)

Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby and former Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, will be visiting Sherborne tomorrow to support Dr Sue Farrant in her election campaign.

They will be walking up Cheap Street between 3.30-4.30pm starting at the Conduit.  All are welcome.

After the welcomed response by local residents to the change to the 58 service, which now stops at Coldharbour roundabout, Dr Sue Farrant has concerns about the impact this has now had on people in the Newland/Oborne Road area.

Dr Farrant has contacted First buses with a proposal to re-route the 57 bus service to run eastwards down Newland, stopping outside the Newland flats and turning right into Long Street.

In February, she sent out a survey to the local residents and several replied that they had been significantly affected by the change.

In proposing the re-routing plan, Dr Farrant said: “This would at least help people to get into Sherborne from where they could connect with the 58 service if they wanted to go to Yeovil or Wincanton.”

Dr Farrant has also raised the matter of ticket prices between Sherborne and Yeovil. Currently, a single ticket is priced at £3.55 and a return at £6.40 (peak) or £5.70 (off peak).  She has asked First to explain how they arrived at these fares and how they compare to journeys of a similar length.

She has also asked them to consider reducing the ticket price for a pilot period to see if it encourages people to travel.

Sue Farrant and parents at Albany Unit

Residents of the Albany Unit, Castletown Way, Sherborne will be given the option of staying in there after all. Many months of pressure from a group of parents led by Mrs Rona Sturmey and with the help of Dr Sue Farrant, Parliamentary Candidate for West Dorset Liberal Democrats, has finally resulted in a U-turn by Dorset County Council and the Primary Care Trust.

At the end of last week, Dr Farrant was told that DCC and the PCT have finally accepted that the residents who wish to carry on living in the houses at the Unit will  be allowed to do so if their parents or other advocates believe it to be in their best interests.

For well over a year the Albany Unit has been threatened with complete closure and already  many of the residents have been found alternative accommodation elsewhere. Mrs Sturmey’s son Spencer has lived there happily for many years and Mrs Sturmey was dreading him being moved to live a long way away where it would be hard for her to visit him. (more…)

Coldharbour Residents Welcome Hourly Bus Service

After a long campaign, Coldharbour residents have now been given a timetable for a new hourly bus service in the New Year.

First buses have confirmed that the 58 Yeovil-Shaftsbury service will stop at Coldharbour from 4th January 2010.

Local Campaigner Jan Ross, with the help of Dr Sue Farrant, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate, has been leading the fight for a bus service in Coldharbour and after a successful summer surveying residents they were able to show Fist that a new bus stop would be worth their while.

Jan Ross, “It is great to finally have a timetable and a start date for our bus service. I’d like to thank all the local residents for their support during this campaign; I’d also like to thank Sue Farrant for taking up our fight and seeing that we were successful. Without her commitment and hard work it wouldn’t have happened” (more…)

Sue Farrant and local residents celebrate Coldharbour bus victory

After a long campaign for a bus service to and from Coldharbour, at the eastern side of Sherborne, local residents are finally celebrating. First Somerset has said that the number 58 service will change its route from January 2010.

The residents had been asking for years for a bus to stop at the Coldharbour roundabout to save them from a half mile walk to Greenhill when they wanted to travel into town or go to Yeovil or Shaftesbury. After getting nowhere with writing letters, Granville Way resident Jan Ross asked local Liberal Democrat Sue Farrant for help. With the help of a group of residents, including Jan’s Mum Mrs June Morgan who lives in Chandlers, Sue organised a door to door survey in June to find out just who would use a bus and when and then she and Jan Ross met First managers at Coldharbour.

(more…)

The old Council depot in Longburton has been an eyesore in a prime site since 2004. Now the District Council is planning to sell it off for industrial use.

It’s not often that a parcel of publicly-owned land in the centre of a lovely village like Longburton becomes available. Is the Council making the right decision?

What do you think should happen to the old depot site? Should it be used to build affordable homes for local people on low incomes? Should it be used for community facilities, such as a new village hall and a play area? Should it be used for light industry of some kind? Or do you have another idea?

Tell us what you think and we will pass a summary of public opinion on to West Dorset District Council.

Send an email to Amy Tatum or write to us on our Freepost address.

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.

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.

(more…)

Karl Wallace with petitions against closure of West Bay Post Office

Over 1000 signatures were collected by Karl Wallace and the Lib Dem team for the petition against the proposed Post Office closure at West Bay. We are now awaiting the official decision regarding the future of this essential local service. Karl says ‘We have campaigned hard right from the beginning to try and prevent the loss of this vital resource.’