The Hillfields ward has seen very little changed in the thirteen years I have lived here in fact it has it has gone the other way many facilities have gone and not to be replaced, many residents have commented that there has been a serious lack of investment in all areas of the ward. Other areas have seen lots of community investment but Hillfields has had little by comparison. We have lost our swimming pool, no community centre anymore, even our Estates Management team has gone to Southmead making it harder for residents to get access to housing officers or other council information they need. The population of Hillfields is made up of about 60% of residents over the age of sixty and some find it very daunting having to phone to a call centre and trying to explain their problems to someone on the other end instead of face to face.
Crime has always been a concern with residents in Hillfields with groups of young people roaming about the area with very little else to do at night, I understand that the youth club on the Hillfields estate is only open two nights a week (lack of funding) one night for the younger ones and one for older teenagers. The only ray of light we have is here in Mayfield Park where we have a Youth activity centre (charitable status) that works with youths of all ages to get them off the street and gives them something to do with a number of different activities, but this centre is finding it hard to carry on through lack of funding from the Council.
While some play areas have had brand new play equipment, others have been neglected with no investment and now the Lib Dem run council want to sell off our green spaces for housing development. Yes, we need more affordable housing but there are a good number of derelict industrial sites in Hillfields which could be cleared for housing.
So if I get elected to the council in May I’ll be opposing the sale of green spaces, pushing for more affordable housing on cleared industrial estates and demanding they replaces the Speedwell swimming pool.