Loughborough Garendon ward

This ward is represented by Cllr Eric Flavell and Max Hunt on the Borough Council and their dedication to the area shows. On one side of the ward there are bungalows for elderly people and two sheltered homes which I was pleased to visit with Cllr Max Hunt last year.

There is a large park -Jubilee Park in the centre of the main estate and Charnwood is about to consult residents about improvements to this. Routes to the schools on Thorpe Hill are generally very safe, though councillors are pressing the County Council to introduce speed restrictions on the main estate through roads.

There is a small shopping centre which has been repaved and improved by Charnwood which has a range of useful shops. Morrisons and the Gorse Covert Community Centre is also nearby. The local church on Thorpe Acre Road also plays an important part in the community.

Police can be contacted easily.

The ward extends almost to the motorway with a large pleasant residential estate off Old Ashby Road.

Here and elsewhere in the ward councillors and I are particularly concerned to preserve the Garendon Park. The Park is the 'Jewel in the crown' of this side of Loughborough, having open landscapers and wonderful foll]follies, including a Triumphal Arch, a Temple of Venus, an Obelisk, and a Bavarian gate.

A footpath opens up across the estate from Coe Avenue linking via the Thorpe Acre Trail another part of this varied ward, Stonebow Washlands - an ecological and green little gem.

Promoted by Andy Reed - Unity House, Fennel Street, Loughborough, LE11 1UQ on behalf of Andy Reed, Unity House, 21 Fennel Street, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 1UQ and House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.