Befallen the people of the Bournville

WHILE I applaud councillor Ian Parker's suggestion to rename the Bournville Estate, 'The Bournville Village', I feel this is in all senses an ironic proposal. The Bournville is accessed by three minor roads from the north and east, whilst access to the west and south is by footbridge only.This isolated estate has sunk to a level of deprivation that has seen itself listed in the bottom 10 per cent of accepted wealth and health indicators; the word ghetto comes to mind. This social deprivation was recognised by the delivery of a paltry £2.7 million grant to revitalise the South ward, the Bournville in particular. Villages usually have a sense of community, a church, a local pub and a feeling of identity. The Bournville displays or demonstrates none of these, there is no pub, no church and the 'community centre' ie Healthy Living Centre was begrudgingly financed by the agencies of North Somerset Council to camouflage a level of social deprivation it had overseen for over 20 years. Ian Parker has sat as a representative of South Ward for years and the best he has come up with is to turn a ghetto into a village. So this is a real 'New Labour' moment: ignore the real problems of unemployment, serious ill health, poor infrastructure and despondency that has befallen the good people of the Bournville and turn them into a 'village' and they'll all feel all the better for it. If the people of the Bournville choose to call their estate a village will that change the social and economic difficulties they find themselves in? I think not. I suggest Ian Parker should try thinking like a socialist and not the excuse for a Labour representative he has become. Funny that this suggestion to call the Bournville a 'village' should come from a shopkeeper and not a resident of the Bournville. Obviously Mr Parker has more in common with the petty bourgeoisie than the people that voted for him!J BARTLETT - St Ives Road, Bournville