Ravensbury Liberal Democrats
Chris Bird, David Miller-Holland and Edward Marsh are working hard all year round for the residents of Ravensbury ward in Merton.
About us
Chris Bird
Chris hails from the Midlands, and might still greet you with a cheery "ay'up". Since then he's lived in Cambridge and first moved to Merton in 2007 after graduating with an engineering and design degree from London Southbank. He worked first as an artist on, and then supporting the technology behind Hollywood feature films, TV and digital advertising. He now works at Imperial College in their Digital Media Lab.
Back in 2007 He heard all about the big plans Labour had to regenerate the High Street and Morden area in general, and waited... In 2020 he moved back to Merton, and we're all still waiting - while Merton seems to have been taken for granted and left forgotten about. Now he wants to stop Merton becoming a forgotten borough, and decided to step out the front door and make a change instead of just asking for it.
He lives with his wife Amanda and Parson's Russell terrier; Barkley, who leads them on a merry chase across Merton's green spaces, which they have come to love, helping out with the Friends of Morton Green, and supporting ideas like the Merton Garden Streets.
As a first time Candidate who lives on your streets look out for him (and Barkley) coming round to say hi and give you a voice in Merton.
Edward Marsh
Edward formally served in the British military before going on to become a defence analyst and now runs the Government, Defence & National Security division at S&P Global.
Ed has lived in Ravensbury for almost a decade and extended his interests across the community on several fronts. He is a School Governor at Malmsbury Primary where he is focussed on helping develop the IT department and giving children the exposure to wider opportunities.
For many years he was the Director of Rugby at Mitcham & Carshalton RFC where he spearheaded the development of the club from near closure to becoming recognised by the RFU. Having redeveloped the men’s side of the club he also started a flourishing women’s team. In 2019 he created and hosted the first ever London Pride 7’s tournament here in Merton.
His interests are varied holding serval Non-Exec Director positions and is currently setting up the Big Paint Charity which he chairs along with continuing his education most recently having completed an Executive Business Strategy course at Cambridge University.
He very much feels Ravensbury is the forgotten ward, and that no area or person should ever feel left behind, we must always strive for better and expect more from those we elect to govern us. After 30 years of Labour, it is time for change.
David Miller-Holland
My name is David, I’m passionate about making real, community-based changes. On Wednesday evenings, I volunteer at the Merton Community Kitchen to help cut down food waste and support our community. In addition, I am a passionate voice for improved mental health provision for children and young adults and for the rights and inclusion of neurodiverse individuals in education and the workplace. I would be honored to have the chance to become a local councillor so that I can hear the views of the people of Ravensbury and work with our dedicated Lib Dem team to provide more supportive services.
Our priorities for Ravensbury ward
1) Tackling fly-tipping and litter across local streets and improving our local street scene
We want Ravensbury to look its best, and frankly at the moment it feels pretty neglected. We'll tackle fly-tipping hotspots, report broken signs and graffiti. We will continue to get Royal Mail to paint all our local post boxes and demand BT and Virgin Media fix their communication boxes when they are broken.
2) Calling for real community policing including a new base for local police in Morden
Currently our safer neighbourhoods team has to travel miles to get to our area. We want the Council to host a police base in central Morden to be used by officers in Ravensbury and other nearby wards to ensure officers spend more time here in our area.
3) Protecting our local green spaces and calling for better play equipment in our parks
Much of the play equipment in our local parks is very old and in desperate need of replacing. We've been campaigning for years to get the council to prioritise our area and get the new play equipment local children deserve.
We back the Merton Lib Dems' ‘parks promise’ - a comprehensive plan to protect our green spaces.
4) Fighting for better local high streets and the regeneration of Morden
Morden regeneration has been promised for decades. Merton Labour have presided over 32 of the last 36 of those years and have promised much and delivered nothing. Liberal Democrats will roll our sleeves up and get on with making Morden a town centre we can be proud of. Read here for more information on what the Lib Dems have been doing to kick start the project,
5) Demanding proper funding to fix the repair backlog at St Helier hospital after years of neglect
St Helier has a repair backlog of £150m+. It's a staggering figure which dwarfs the £12m the Labour government gave the hospital trust last year for fixes to the buildings. Local residents are rightly angered by both failed Conservative promises and now inaction from Labour. We will work with Liberal Democrats across Merton, Sutton and beyond to ensure St Helier maintains services and gets the investment in services and buildings it desperately needs.
6) Protecting our local bus routes from potential changes as they go through the re-tendering process
TfL are currently re-tendering several bus routes in our area that provide a vital link for shoppers, workers and school children. We've seen in the past these processes resulting in reductions to service frequency levels to save money. We'll fight to keep our existing bus services at least at the levels they are today.
7) Fixing our local pavements and roads
Some of our local roads are in desperate need of resurfacing and recent works by utility companies have made the situation even worse. We also recognise that many pavements are dangerous, especially to our less mobile residents. We will push for faster improvements to our local pavements and roads.
Contact the team
Email Chris, Ed and David at: ravensbury@mertonlibdems.org.uk
Latest communications from Ravensbury Lib Dems
Help get the Liberal Democrat message out to local residents
As Liberal Democrats are always looking at ways of engaging with residents, listening and feeding back. That's why we like to deliver regular literature through your letter boxes.
Can you help the local team deliver literature in a road near where you live?