Dear Resident
Christmas is almost upon us, and your local LibDem team have had a busy December. Sarah and John are finishing off residents’ surveys which we started back in the summer, but which were interrupted by the recent by-election. We’ve also been busy participating in community church events. Sarah and John both read lessons at carol services at Woodgreen Church and St Nicholas Church. They are also members of the singing group at St Nicholas and enjoyed performing John Rutter’s Christmas Lullaby at Sunday’s Carols by Candlelight. St Nicholas features on our calendar which we are delivering to all houses in Warndon Parish North. We thought this was particularly relevant this year as, if the Boundary Commission proposals are
approved by Parliament, our ward will be changing its name to St Nicholas in 2024.
Sarah has been recovering from her second hip replacement of 2023 and so has not been out and about as much as she usually would. She is recovering well and is looking forward to campaigning for the May elections. On City Council matters Sarah has been in contact with officers about a range of issues on behalf of residents including trees, flooding between Tolladine Woods and Harlech Close, hedge trimming, raising a matter on behalf of community nurses, active travel and council tax banding.
Ash Dieback
In November, Sarah tabled a motion to Worcester City Council, requiring them to take positive action to protect our local woodland from Ash Dieback. The Green party put forward an amendment which watered down the motion and leaves the Council in the position that it was already in. There is currently no Ash Dieback plan and the Council is kicking the can down the road which potentially could cost taxpayers’ money to resolve. Both of your City Ward Councillors (Stephen Hodgson and Sarah Murray) voted against this amendment, but the Green Party and Labour Party Councillors all approved the amendment to delete the positive actions Sarah had proposed. We will continue to campaign to protect our precious woodland.
St Paul’s Hostel
John Rudge was invited by the Mayor of Worcester to spend an evening at St Paul’s hostel on 7 December, getting to know staff and residents by helping out in the kitchen and serving food. John was impressed by the quality and variety of food on offer and the chef’s commitment to catering for all dietary needs. John found St Paul’s to be professionally run, providing a welcoming and supportive environment to some of our most vulnerable Worcester residents. John is urging anyone who can, to volunteer to support the amazing work undertaken by St Paul’s.
Barbara Hopper
On Tuesday 19 December, Sarah and John attended the funeral of Barbara Hopper in St Nicholas Church. Barbara was a local historian who wrote about the history of the church and surrounding farm land. She also wrote poetry books and books outlining good local walks; she set up the walking group which leads walks from the Lyppard Hub. Barbara loved singing and was part of the church singing group with Sarah and John. She was also a keen gardener and was full of energy even to the last. She will be greatly missed by all who knew
her.
Climate Change
As keen environmentalists, Sarah, John and Paul attended an event put on by the ecology group from Worcester Cathedral at the Bishop’s Palace on 7 December, for prospective parliamentary candidates from the four main parties to attend a husting to state their party’s case on all matters ecological. John asked all candidates about their party’s policy on rewilding as a possible solution to so many of the issues being debated, including the issue of flooding in Worcester. None of the candidates seemed very sure whether their party had a policy on the subject. This was disappointing to us as rewilding has so many benefits from improving biodiversity to slowing the flow of water from hills and preventing flooding as a result. John is keen to campaign for politicians to catch up with the pioneering work done by conservationists, reverse the damage that has been done in recent decades and give nature a chance to recover so that we can all benefit from living in a vibrant and rich environment.
2023 Summary
We end 2023 with double the number of City Councillors that we had this time last year. We hope to end 2024 with even more. Your votes have helped to put a Liberal Democrat on every Committee at the City Council, providing scrutiny and challenge and bringing the most important issues to the top of the Council’s agenda.
As the year draws to a close, all that remains is for us to wish you a peaceful and blessed Christmas and New Year. We will be on hand if you have any issues you need our help with.
Join Us
You can help us to fight for a better future. Liberal Democrats work hard for communities. We hear your concerns and never take you for granted. That is why we can now boast a membership of more than 90,000 people and that number continues to grow. Liberal Democrat members devise, develop, debate and decide Liberal Democrat policy. Members can get involved through joining policy working groups, responding to consultations and attending conferences. If you would like to join our growing membership you can do so here. A portion of your membership fees will go directly to our local party and help us to gain even more seats in future elections. You would be joining a local team of motivated individuals who all want to campaign for a fairer deal for residents, their families and friends. We hope you will consider joining us.
Volunteer
If you can spare an hour or two each month and would like to help us win locally, perhaps you’d be happy to deliver for us in your street. The more deliverers we have, the more time we can spend talking to our neighbours and persuading them to vote for us next May. If you can’t deliver, perhaps you would enjoy getting involved in other administrative tasks. You might even want to join our canvassing team and come out knocking on doors with us. If you’d like to help, please let me know.
If you have any problems or queries, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Cllr Sarah Murray – sarahmurraylibdem@gmail.com
Cllr John Rudge – rudge.john@yahoo.com
Paul Jagger – pauljaggs@me.com
Kind regards
Sarah, John and Paul
