RESIDENTS in Shirley Warren have received a letter signed by the three Labour Councillors for the Shirley Ward – Councillors Mark Chaloner, Satvir Kaur and Hannah Coombes.

The letter is headed ‘Update on St Jude’s Church, Shirley Warren’.

They claim to have submitted a petition they have worked on with local residents.

Also, that they will continue to work with the local community to support their (the Councillors) campaign.

The St Jude’s Church Action Group (SJCAG) is not aware of a parallel campaign being run by the three Shirley Ward Councillors.

Our petition – now standing at over 1,000 signatures – is ongoing and hasn’t been submitted to anyone.

If the Shirley Ward Councillors would like an update on how the SJCAG’s campaign is going, they are welcome to contact the Independent candidate, David Fletcher, who is standing for the Shirley Ward at the forthcoming local election.

He has been an active member of the SJCAG since the outset. He is the person who completed, submitted and monitored the progress of the Community Asset Application.

It should be noted that Councillor Don Thomas (Coxford) is the only Southampton City Councillor who has continually supported the SJCAG from the outset.

He has done so because a large area of the Coxford Ward is also in the Parish of St Jude’s.

Residents who have been shown photographs of Councillors Satvir Kaur and Hannah Coombes stated that they had not seen and didn’t know who they were.

There was disbelief when those residents were told they were their Ward Councillors.

Furthermore, they didn’t remember signing any petition other than the one organised by the SJCAG.

Finally, ours – the SJCAG’s campaign – has been a community campaign.

Thanks to the tremendous support we have received from both the Shirley Warren and Coxford Communities we are optimistic regarding the future of the St Jude’s site

Dave Griffiths

Chair SJCAG

Southampton