More About Cathy Bakewell - County Councillor for Coker Division

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Cathy signs the petition to save Yeovil Junction's ticket office opening hours, otherwise passengers can only get full price tickets from a machine!

A tour around Coker Division reveals one of Somerset's great treasures, the most beautiful chocolate-box villages framed by undulating fields and hedgerows. It includes Cathy's home village of Hardington Mandeville, Barwick & Stoford, Chiselborough, East Chinnock, East Coker, Haselbury Plucknett, North Perrott, Odcombe, West Chinnock and West Coker.

Cathy's involvement in these communities and in her council work is summed up in the well known saying; 'If you want a job done, give it to a busy person' as she rarely says 'no' to anything! This is why the community have repaid her dedication by electing her as their county council representative at each election since 1993.

Cathy has been able to use her Community Budget (£5,000 per year) to good effect across her parishes. For example;

• Barwick & Stoford Primary School received £1,000 to plan an exploratory 'twinning' visit with Spain, so their Year 6 pupils could experience overseas travel and a different culture from their own.

• She was also pleased to help Barwick Village Hall with some storage cabinets for their pre-school and East Coker's Village Hall with a burglar alarm, which was a condition of their insurance.

• East Coker's local gardening club also benefited with a projector, another asset for future use.

• Boiling a kettle and using the toaster at the same time proved too much for the electrics in East Chinnock's village hall and so Cathy put some of her budget towards the much needed re-wiring!

Cathy (at the West Chinnock Community Playground) wishing balancing the council's budget had been as easy!

However, everything isn't perfect in an area where house prices have risen exponentially and wages are low. Fewer young families are moving into the villages and more needs to be done to encourage them, for example with pre-school provision in West Coker, where this facility has temporarily folded. A very successful youth project in West Coker (attracting 40-50 young people) is in the same position and volunteer helpers are always needed to see projects such as these maintain their success.

Cathy was extremely sorry when the Barwick Post Office was included in the government's latest 'hit-list' and sad to see it disappear so quickly from community life. She was equally upset to witness the closure of the post offices in Haselbury and East Coker, although the valuable facility of a shop continues in East Coker - but is lost in the other two villages.

A few of the things Cathy's especially proud to have been involved in are; the new school at Norton-sub-Hamdon (no longer in her division due to boundary changes), the traffic calming in West Coker and the Lengthsman scheme, which is slowly but surely being rolled out to other villages. This is a scheme whereby adjoining parishes can share a 'handyman' to do the many jobs that need doing around the area. This keeps on top of general maintenance and instills a greater sense of well-being in local residents.

Cathy's glad her efforts have made sure the school children at Haselbury Plucknett have a safe place to walk along the road

In Cathy's role as Leader of the Council (2001 - 2006) she had plenty of opportunity to exercise her passion for improving the lives of young people in the county. In her own division, she has used her Community Budget to provide a large 'kissing gate' (with room to take a pushchair through) for the Play Area at East Chinnock and supported the opening of the Community Playground (behind West Chinnock Primary School) in out-of-school hours. Adjoining this is a delightful environmental area, also greatly appreciated by youngsters at the school.

Cathy tries out the youth shelter (and keeps out of the rain)

The parish of North Perrott received £10,000 from the Area Working Panel, set up under Cathy's Leadership of the county council and she has regular contact with the Chair of the Parish council, whose office is situated in the thriving Christian Bible Centre, also home to a local pre-school and a popular coffee shop.

There is never enough space for car parking in villages and East Coker is no exception! Cathy would like to see a pathway through from the village hall to the school, which would give parents and children much safer 'off-road' parking. She'd also like to see the area in front of the Youth Shelter at West Chinnock developed (preferably by the young people themselves) with a pathway through to the covered area during wet weather. In the coming year, a £15,000 Local Initiative Budget will be available in addition to the Community Budget, to take her ideas a stage further.