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* * * News for 5th May 2007 * * *

Rochester South & Horsted: 5th May 2007

Election Rochester South & Horsted welcomes Sylvia

Sylvia Griffin re-joins Medway Council with words and flowers.

Residents within ochester South & Horsted ward and other well-wishers have greeted the return of Sylvia Griffin to the Council with messages and gifts. We knew our new lady colleague had been popular during her previous time here as a councillor for the former Warren Wood ward, but the extent of this far exceeded our expectations.

Swing Our ward is very lucky to have Sylvia on our team, and don't we know it!

These pictures show her out and about in the ward during the past few months—just a couple of examples of what has been a very busy time for her, and indeed for all of us in the run-up to the election.

We have needed a female member of the ward team, especially for those who prefer to discuss personal issues with a woman. This has become a more evident need since the ward boundary changes four years ago, as we have had areas with single parents and suchlike added to our "patch".

It is possible that those from the new areas with problems of a more personal nature have thus been reluctant to approach us in the past, but this can now change! Inspecting Roadworks We have a very big and involved ward to represent—most within the five Medway Towns (Strood to Rainham) are noticeably smaller, and have two or three communities each. We have ten!

Some of these overlap other wards, but they are certainly separate and distinct from each other:

Some are large, some small; but each has its own needs and an individual character. Much of what was added to our workload in 2003 were places that had been neglected by their previous councillors, mainly in the former Labour-held locales and at Hook Meadow.

The last four years have therefore been very busy for us, and we had found ourselves stretched very thinly. Sylvia is retired so is available more of the time than some of our members have been in the past. The next term should now be able to be even better than what we have achieved in some of these areas so far, which has been very good all round. As the newcomers come to trust us, and to ask for whatever they need, so more can be done. Meanwhile we have endeavoured not to neglect our traditional Horsted parts of the ward.

Lastly, all three of us are grateful for the strong support we have from our residents in what is the most complex ward in the five Medway Towns, and are pleased to have been re-elected so convincingly yet again—our hat-trick in the ward.