The Association invited candidates from the main local parties to a “hustings” ahead of the local elections on Thursday 6th May. Conservative, Green, Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates all accepted.
The candidates were given the opportunity to introduce themselves: who they are, where they live and what they do. They were then given between 3 and 5 minutes each to tell us what their vision is for Colliers Wood. There was then an opportunity for local residents to ask the candidates any questions that they choose to about any local issue. The candidates were to be given the opportunity at the end of the meeting to tell us why we should vote for them.
The “hustings” were held on Tuesday 20th April at St Joseph's Hall in Park Road.
Doors opened at 7.30 for refreshments. The meeting started at 8 p.m., to finish at 9.30 p.m.
The CWRA is a non-political organisation representing the interests of all local residents and we anticipated that about 80 local people of all ages from all political backgrounds would attend. We encouraged the meeting to be cordial and informative and invited the local press.
About 50 local residents attended. There were five Colliers Wood Ward candidates on the panel:
There were also the following representatives:
Questions were asked about school places, the Tower, play and youth provision, regeneration of the High Street, a local dispersal zone and the Council's budget and there were some lively and passionate discussions! Concerns were expressed about the state of the roads, litter and the impact of the Tandem Centre and Sainsbury's on the shops in the High Street.
Ideas were raised about setting up a food co-op, enabling schools to generate their own energy, removing the electricity pylons, dismantling Sainsbury's and re-routing Merantun Way and the River Wandle. There were also suggestions that more money was invested in local services by cancelling the National I.D. Card Scheme and the replacement for Trident, and bringing troops home from Afghanistan. One resident felt that the larger parties had failed to address the challenges of climate change and peak oil.
At the beginning of the meeting about half of those present were undecided about who to vote for. At the end of the meeting they were asked again and had nearly all made a decision. It was, therefore, an interesting and useful meeting, and I think that we will continue to discuss these issues and ideas at our next meeting on Tuesday 4th May. I've also invited the 5 candidates who were unable to join us last night, because we would like to meet them before we decide who to vote for on the 6th May.
Keith A. Spears - Chair of the Colliers Wood Residents' Association.
Here are the election results, in decreasing order of votes: