Dear resident,
When you cast your vote in the council elections on 2nd May, please ask yourself, who will stand up for our community?

Since being elected 8 years ago I have been active and got things done by working with residents, local groups and our councils, including:
● getting local control of the Old Showfield and Packsaddle park for Frome Town Council to improve and manage them how local people want
● fighting Tory county council cuts to Getset family support services at the Key Centre, helping win a reprieve and to protect Citizens Advice funding
● leading a successful campaign for Changing Places for severely disabled people and raising the need to improve access to GP appointments
● demanding action on climate change and flytipping, opposing fracking and other harmful developments.

Drew Gardner has been instrumental in the Key Centre and GP campaigns, using his campaigning and journalism skills to help make things happen. We need more Lib Dem councillors, and more people like Drew, to make Mendip work better, be more accountable, improve local services and
protect our environment. We’ll also keep you informed and involved – see below and the rest of http://www.adamboyden.mycouncillor.org.uk for evidence!

Only by voting for BOTH Drew and me will you get a strong councillor team who will listen and take positive action on issues you care about.
So please lend both of us your support on May 2nd – you have two votes for Mendip, and two heads are better than one!

Thank you,
Adam Boyden 07809 284817 aomboyden@gmail.com, www.adamboyden.mycouncillor.org.uk

Drew Gardner 07860 288624 drewgardner@mac.com, www.drewgardner.mycouncillor.org.uk

Here’s the long list record of action:

A record of action – 21 reasons to vote: Over the last 8 years I have:

1. Successfully campaigned over several years for local control of the old Showfield (the largest open space in northern Frome), and helped Frome Town Council purchase and lease the site, overcoming a legal impasse, unlocking £40,000 of improvements and improving management and residents’ involvement. This is now a park to be proud of.

2. Led a successful cross party campaign to persuade Mendip District Council to facilitate Changing Places facilities throughout the district, so that severely disabled people and their carers have accessible toilets in each of the 5 main settlements. Changing Places are now found in Frome and Wells, the Bath & West Showground, and Tesco in Shepton Mallet.

3. Fought Tory county council cuts to Getset family support services at the Key Centre, helping win a reprieve for a year.

4. Campaigned to mitigate Somerset Tories’ cuts to Citizens Advice funding, helping persuade Mendip to increase support.

5. Campaigned about need to make improvements to the GP appointments system in Somerset’s largest GP surgery, to help busy working people, by doing a survey of patients experiences and reporting back to the surgery. This highlighted the strain the NHS is under with budget and GP shortages.

6. Helped people in financial distress by tackling Mendip’s use of Council Tax bailiffs, getting Mendip to improve its service agreement with bailiff companies and sign up to a good practice protocol with Mendip Citizens Advice.

7. While welcoming Mendip’s purchase of the derelict Saxonvale site, I joined with other councillors to call for local people to be fully consulted by Mendip before a planning application to regenerate the site is submitted.

8. Opposed Mendip’s increase in car park charges, helping to win concessions to help the Frome Independent and Shepton Mallet monthly markets.

9. Fracking: protected the local environment and Bath’s hot springs with a strong Lib Dem and cross-party MDC motion on fracking.

10. Persuaded Mendip to sign up to fight climate change by joining the Local Government Association’s Climate Local initiative in 2016, and supported the recent declaration of a climate and ecological emergency to require a plan of action.

11. Helped the campaign to save the Frome to Bath weekday evening bus service.

12. Helped secure the future of Frome Leisure Centre and £2m investment through my involvement on MDC’s Steering Group.

13. Helped steer early stages of what became the amazing ‘Frome Independent’ market.

14. Worked to protect the Packsaddle play areas from development and transfer them to Frome Town Council, so they can be improved in line with local community wishes.

15. Campaigned for a new pedestrian crossing at the old Mendip Lodge Hotel site, for new residents and existing residents to be able to cross Bath Road more safely.

16. Responded to and influenced major planning applications: Fromefield Co-op, and theStonebridge shops.

17. Successfully opposed the over development of the field at the end of Packsaddle Way.

18.  Organised a public meeting, and kept the pressure on MDC to tackle the massive flytipping problem at Gypsy Lane, as well as flygrazing.

19. Litter: Pushed for better street cleaning by MDC. Supported and helped organise community litter picks in 2015, 2016, 2017,2018 and 2019.

20. Successfully campaigned for 7 day opening at Frome recycling centre, and to get Tetrapak recycling in Frome.

21. Finally – kept in touch with residents in person, via leaflets, email, and frequent email newsletters, been positive and proactive, and formed good working relationships with everyone I can, to help get things done.

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