Westbury & Henleaze Conservatives

15/05/2026

DODGY CLAIMS FROM OUR COUNCILLORS

Residents are receiving a "two year report" from our Lib Dem Councillors in Westbury and Henleaze, some extracts are attached here. It's a masterclass in claiming credit for other peoples' work.

❌ On zebra crossings, they might have "campaigned" (i.e. posed for some photos) for a crossing on Canford Lane, but they did nothing about it last time they were in power. It was Conservative councillors in 2019 who pushed the proposal through the Area Committee and secured the funding, then spent five years fighting Council dither and delay to get it built. By the time the Lib Dems were elected in May 2024, it was all signed off and was installed a couple of months later. Of course they're claiming it was all down to them.

❌ On sewage, the leaflet is very carefully worded to say that Cllr Nick Coombes "proposed a policy" (a motion in a meeting with no power), and then says that Wessex Water is now working on a project to stop overflows. It implies that those two things are connected. They are not, but that doesn't stop them claiming credit for it.

❌ On van dwelling, it's one thing to try and steal credit from other politicians, quite another to take it from an independent community group. It's clear to anyone paying attention that recent progress on the Downs is down to the hard work and legal action from the independent Protect the Downs campaign group. Without their pressure, the Council would still be pretending that there's no problem. In fact despite chairing the committee responsible for the issue, Cllr Ctephen Williams has spent the last two years doing his best to hide from it and dump the whole thing onto Green Cllr Barry Parsons who chairs a completely different committee. Of course, that won't stop him from claiming credit now, will it?

Our Lib Dem Councillors - all mouth and no trousers.

23/04/2026

29/03/2026

Wishng you all a blessed Palm Sunday. May this day bring peace, hope and new beginnings.

20/03/2026

20MPH SPEED LIMIT PLANS

The Green Party who lead the Council are planning to put 20mph speed limits on nearly 100 roads across Bristol. In Westbury and Henleaze, that would include Falcondale Rd, Westbury Rd, Canford Lane, Canford Rd and the parts of Henleaze Rd that are currently 30mph - see the map below.

We want to hear your views on this, please let us know what you think at https://www.bsgconservatives.com/bristol-city-council-considering-lowering-speed-limits-20mph-nearly-100-roads

05/02/2026

PARK STREET TRAFFIC CLOSURE PLANS DEFEATED

We are delighted to say that the plans to close Park Street to cars has been defeated at today's meeting of the Transport & Connectivity Policy Committee.

The closure plan (originally a Labour Party idea but now being pushed by the Greens) was the most controversial parts of the major infrastructure upgrade to the No.2 Bus Route (A4018/A37) Park St/Triangle scheme. It is our belief that if this had been successful then it would have:

❌ Caused economic harm to the City
❌ Displaced traffic on to the wider road network (such as outside the BRI)
❌ Hastened the decline of the shopping precinct
❌ Completely ignored the views and concerns of local businesses and traders.

We will continue to oppose these kind of planned restrictions on vehicles using Park Street.

We have consistently campaigned against this idea from the very beginning of the public consultation launched in the autumn of 2021.

This is a traffic management innovation that rightly needs to be scrapped in its entirety and not saved or salvaged through underhand compromises.

We are delighted that is has now been thrown out. It was always a highly irresponsible, hugely wasteful, and hyper-ideologically driven measure.

17/12/2025

A4018 (PASSAGE ROAD) - ROAD SURFACE REPAIRS

As people will know the road surface on the A4018 Passage Road heading up the hill is not good.

Cllr Mark Weston of Henbury & Brentry ward has been told because of the terrible and deteriorating state of the road, repairs are being rushed through on Friday (19th). We are not yet sure what the exact arrangements will be in terms of signage and diversion routes, but the resurfacing will be done this Friday with Passage Road closed southbound from 10am to 2pm.

There is no good time to do these works in the run up before Christmas, however, the road is in such a poor state that waiting until the New Year also isn't an option.

Please plan accordingly. If there are any updates we will let people know.

04/12/2025

Please see our latest newsletter which is currently being delivered. We know things can change quickly, but this was our news at the time of writing our leaflet. Steve & Sharon.

25/11/2025

WESTBURY VILLAGE CAR PARK CHARGES - PLEASE RESPOND NOW

The Council is consulting NOW on its plan to start charging for use of the Westbury Village car park. This is a proposal that's been rumbling on for years. We've campaigned against it all that time and managed to get it removed from one budget, but we were outvoted when it came back to the Council's Transport committee.

They are now at the stage of the statutory consultation on the legal order ("Traffic Regulation Order") that they have to make to start charging. The Council will have to read and respond in a report to every single response that they get, so you really can help by responding before Friday 12th December. You need to email your response to [email protected] quoting reference CAE/RGW/P-1337.

There are lots of reasons why this proposal is a bad idea and harmful to the Village, but at this statutory stage the only points that the Council has to take into account are ones that directly relate to their "Statement of Reasons", i.e. showing that the scheme won't deliver the benefits that they think it will. You can read the statement of reasons at https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/10306-statement-of-reasons-p-1337 and we've listed some of their reasons below, with suggested objections against them.

Reason - there will be better turnover of spaces
Objection - this scheme actually extends the amount of time that people can park. The car park currently has a three hours limit, this scheme would increase that to four hours.

Reason - the scheme will prevent commuter parking, making more spaces available for shoppers
Objection - the scheme allows businesses and the medical centre (who haven't asked for it) to apply for permanent parking permits, removing parking that would otherwise be available for shoppers. Currently the main times when there are no spaces available for shoppers are at rare peak shopping times, not during the working day when commuters would be using the car park.

Reason - the scheme will support local businesses.
Objection - since the closure of the privately-run Carlton Court car park earlier this year, businesses in the Village have reported a 30% reduction in footfall. This is clear evidence that restricting parking will actively harm local businesses, not support them.