Not much has changed, since the General Election, for Sandys North voters.

A random sampling of opinion last week turned up more Opposition supporters than ruling party diehards, but they all spoke of the same parochial issues that have been dogging them for years.

Young men hanging around outside doing nothing, roads in need of repair, cleanliness of hedgerows and hedges and perennial flooding on Cambridge Road, are still of concern to residents of the westernmost district of the Island.

The district of just over 1,000 voters had the lowest turnout during the election with about 300 people not bothering to turn up at the polling station.

Kit Astwood, a United Bermuda Party MP for the area until he was replaced in 1980 by the PLP, says he expects a strong turnout this time. He also expects a good showing, if not a victory, for the UBP.

?Quite frankly there?s a good chance of the seat being a swing seat,? he said. This despite the ruling party?s strong recovery from internal divisions that threatened to tear it apart just six months ago, and despite Premier Alex Scott?s articulation of a ?very good agenda? in a speech to Rotary last week.

Mr. Astwood believes that the ?considerable disenchantment over the arrogance and style of leadership? of the first PLP administration will spill into the present. The ruling party still has to deal with potentially explosive revelations.

?There?s still a backlog of unhappy events to be investigated and there is a dark cloud over the current government until they are resolved,? he said.

He said that housing for the elderly was one of the ?hot? issues in the district.

?They let the West Side rest home disintegrate ? it?s collapsing. There?s no explanation for that sort of thing. People have been asking the Parish Council, which of course is controlled by the Progressive Labour Party, and getting nothing. That?s a serious issue and they?ve let it go.?

Residents are also more than a bit peeved off at Cablevision cables which are still lying on the ground since Hurricane Fabian, said Mr. Astwood.

Even though CableVision is a private concern, ?people are going to blame the Government.?

Both parties have the challenge of finding a candidate strong enough to replace Mr. Cox, whose national and neighbourhood appeal was practically irresistible.

?Bermuda needs people who are prepared to go forward without the baggage of the past and he has not got the baggage of the past,? Mr. Astwood said when asked whether his party?s candidate Corin Smith fits the bill.

?He?s quite willing to bring about the changes that we need and move forward with the community.?

One PLP supporter who did not want to be named said that he was still waiting for something to be done about the problem of unmotivated youth and will be demanding a stepped up Police presence in the area when he meets the ruling party candidate who has yet to be chosen from about a dozen.

?It?s gotten worse,? he said. But he was in a forgiving mood because Mr. Cox was ill. As for candidates he?d be willing to support, he had some good words to say about David Burch who had made an impression as Housing Minister, and Michael Scott, currently a Senator.

?He (Scott) stays right in the area, so he knows what?s happening here. It is a parish which needs to be cleaned up and we?ve got to find something for the youngsters to keep them motivated.?

A backbencher would be ideal, considering the amount of work that needs to be done for that parish, he said. A busy Cabinet Minister might get distracted and never get around to making good on promises to the constituents.

?The Government seems a lot more peaceful, and Scott seems like he?s got support behind him ? there?s no internal row brewing now,? was his final vote of confidence in the PLP.

But for Tonya Estelle MacPhee, 31, a 12-year resident of the area, the PLP Government was being ?extremely lax and bringing in foreign workers? especially in the construction and hospitality fields.

?If you go out to dinner you hardly see any Bermudians anymore working in the hospitality industry. If you do, they are busboys or working in the kitchen. It wasn?t as prevalent under the UBP,? she said.

?Those issues definitely need to be addressed, especially with a failing tourism industry. Construction is one of the few industries that is employing Bermudians. If you are bring in foreigners to do that, where do Bermudians go??

She shared concerns held by other residents of the ?youth problem? and wanted government to hurry up and finish the Fabian clean up.

?Since the hurricane we lost an awful lot of trees and the beaches are atrocious,? Mrs. MacPhee said.

?They say they are cleaning up but if you take a look at Horseshoe it?s pathetic. No tourist is going to want to look at that.?