Matty Edwards

I'm a freelance journalist based in Bristol. 

For seven years, I was a reporter and editor at local media coop the Bristol Cable. I write features and investigations about politics, housing, transport, health and the environment.

My Work

I've written about all kinds of topics, including politics, housing, transport, health and social care and the environment. 

The Bristol Cable •

East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood opposition mounts

“The first week, it took me 17 minutes for someone to let me out of my road. There was a queue of nine cars trying to get onto Church Road.”


St George resident Kay Jones is one of 30 or so locals at a meeting at Cafe Conscious, in Barton Hill – part of a campaign to stop the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood, a trial scheme restricting through-traffic. 

“My family feels further away,” says Kay, who juggles multiple jobs along with looking after kids, and has to commute as far as Filton an...
The Bristol Cable •

The Debrief – did Bristol City Council really boot out bailiffs?

For a full transcript of this week’s episode on the council’s use of bailiffs, click here.


Way back in 2018, the Cable launched a campaign calling for Bristol City Council to stop using bailiffs to collect council tax.


Reporting by Adam Cantrell-Corn, one of this organisation’s founders, had revealed how this practice was – because the use of debt collection agencies incurs extra costs – pushing people further into debt.


That’s before we even stop to consider the intimidating experience...
The Bristol Cable •

Council still sending in bailiffs despite ‘ethical approach’ promise

Jack Scott moved to Bishopsworth in 2019 before leaving Bristol in 2021. But years later, he would have to deal with intimidating phone calls from bailiffs for council tax he thought he’d paid, as he spiralled further into debt. 


Jack is one of thousands who have had council tax arrears sent to bailiffs by Bristol City Council in the last two years.


That’s despite a 2018 pledge by the local authority to stop using bailiffs to collect unpaid council tax, after a Cable campaign exposed how...
The Bristol Cable •

Leaseholders want the system to be abolished, so what will Labour change?

“This was supposed to be my first safe, comfortable home. Growing up, I lived in extreme poverty in homes that had collapsing roofs, floors and ceilings… I have fought tooth and nail to be able to afford my own home, I’m now reliving my childhood nightmare once again.”


This was an email I received from a Bristol leaseholder after I’d written an article about residents of Orchard House in Brislington who were ‘abandoned’ by the owner of their building.


Sarah*, who wanted to remain anonymous...
The Bristol Cable •

Historic Bristol general election result: First Green MP, Tory wipeout

Bristol has elected its first ever Green MP amid a Tory wipeout on the city’s fringes as part of an historic Labour landslide in Thursday’s general election. 


Carla Denyer, the Green Party’s co-leader, achieved a huge swing from Labour in Bristol Central, which was more than enough to unseat sitting MP Thangam Debbonaire. In the culmination of a hard-fought race between Labour and the Greens that attracted national headlines during the campaign, Denyer declared in her victory speech: “Bristol...
The Bristol Cable •

Bristol general election results: the Debrief

Just like across the rest of the UK, 4 July produced a historic night (or perhaps more correctly, historic ungodly hours of the morning) when it came to Bristol general election results.

In the race the national media were all over, Carla Denyer became the city’s first Green MP, taking the seat from nine-year incumbent Thangam Debbonaire in a huge swing from Labour.


But elsewhere, the red tide that washed over the UK overwhelmed the outer reaches of the wider Bristol area, sweeping away Tor...
The Bristol Cable •

Building owner ‘abandons’ leaseholders in unsafe block of flats

“The mental stress of it is crazy because of money, and you feel trapped and in an unsafe building, it’s a horrible feeling,” says Steph Culpin, a leaseholder at Brislington’s Orchard House. “And to know that they are fully aware that it’s unsafe but have done nothing to rectify it.”


Steph has lived in the five-storey block of 54 flats on Stockwood Road since 2018. It is three years since serious fire safety defects were identified at the building, a former office block. 


Yet despite refor...
The Bristol Cable •

Greens surge secures historic victory at Bristol council elections - The Bristol Cable

The Green Party have secured a historic victory in Bristol’s local elections, falling just short of taking overall control of the council. 


After eight years of Labour being in power under mayor Marvin Rees, the Greens will be the largest party under the new committee system where councillors pick a leader and make decisions on committees. 


The big political shake-up saw the Greens take 34 seats across Bristol – 10 more than at the last election in 2021 – while Labour ended up on 21. On a...
The Bristol Cable •

Explained: WTF are Bristol's local elections all about?

On 2 May, Bristol goes to the polls. But what are we actually voting for – and why should you even care?


Later this year, it’s the big one – a general election will likely bring a change of government. But before that, we’ve got local elections in Bristol, where we’ll be voting for 70 councillors to represent us and run the city. 


Unlike last time in 2021, we won’t be electing a mayor to run the show, because we – or at least the 28% of citizens who felt strongly enough to turn out – voted...
The Bristol Cable •

Rogue trader slapped with criminal order by Bristol court

In the summer of 2022, a group of customers who’d banded together after being scammed by a mysterious Bristol carpentry business delivered a detailed dossier of evidence to the police. 


They were pleased with what they’d uncovered. They’d linked it all back to one man, Lewis Thomas. But only now, after more than 18 months – and many more cases – the rogue trader has finally faced real consequences.


Thomas would offer jobs such as installing loft ladders and insulation, communicate with cus...
The Bristol Cable •

Bristol’s Clean Air Zone isn't popular, but data says it’s working

“It’s all a load of absolute bollocks in my view and a blatant tax on the poor, many of us who can’t afford to buy an electric or newer vehicle to drive through the centre.”


This is the view of Riona, who lives in Easton and has to cross the city in her diesel van for her landscaping business. Because of Bristol’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ), which was introduced in November 2022, she now spends more time on the road, wiggling through residential areas to avoid the zone. 


Her impassioned view is...
The Bristol Cable •

Bailiffs chasing Bristol council tax debts despite city's pledge

Bristol City Council referred more than 2,000 outstanding council tax debts to enforcement agencies in the last six months, the Cable can reveal, despite a promised new ‘ethical’ approach to debt collection.


In 2018, the local authority committed to ending the use of bailiffs to collect unpaid council tax, after a Cable campaign that exposed how the cruel practice pushed vulnerable people further into debt. 


The council was lauded for its commitment to a new ‘ethical’ approach, which made...
The Bristol Cable •

Listen: Bristol prepares for its first liveable neighbourhood

The Cable has been speaking to residents of east Bristol on the eve of the city’s first so-called ‘liveable neighbourhood’ coming into effect. The trial scheme will stop cars driving through the area along certain roads in an attempt to reduce air pollution, and make the area of narrow residential streets safer for walking and cycling. 


Similar schemes have been brought in up and down the country, but they have also sparked a backlash as part of a so-called ‘war on motorists’, a narrative now...
The Bristol Cable •

Bristol City Council and the local government financial crisis

“We cannot come through 13 years of austerity without it having an impact on people’s lives.”


This is what Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees said this week as the council discussed its bleak financial forecast for the next five years. 


Amid dwindling funding from the government and spiralling costs and pressures, Bristol City Council is facing a budget hole of £17m next year, and this will rise to £32m in years to come. 


This has been a national crisis that has been bubbling away since the fund...
The Bristol Cable •

Is Bristol's 'ethical' council tax debt collection policy working?

A student being hounded for council tax debt he did not owe. A bailiff demanding £1,000 in cash at the door of a mother in poor mental health. Thousands of other Bristolians unable to pay council tax facing intimidation and spiralling debts. 


These were the shocking stories the Cable told in 2018 when we called for Bristol City Council to stop using bailiffs to collect unpaid council tax. The council duly promised to pilot a new ‘ethical’ approach, where enforcement is only used when people c...
The Bristol Cable •

Is Bristol's 'ethical' council tax debt collection policy working?

A student being hounded for council tax debt he did not owe. A bailiff demanding £1,000 in cash at the door of a mother in poor mental health. Thousands of other Bristolians unable to pay council tax facing intimidation and spiralling debts. 


These were the shocking stories the Cable told in 2018 when we called for Bristol City Council to stop using bailiffs to collect unpaid council tax. The council duly promised to pilot a new ‘ethical’ approach, where enforcement is only used when people c...
Bristol Ideas •

Bristol Needs to Drive Less to Save the Planet. But This Only Works if We’ve Got a Viable Alternative - Bristol Ideas

But in 2023, with seven years to go, transport has been identified by the Bristol Advisory Committee on Climate Change (BACCC) as one of the areas where we’re making the least progress as a city.It was almost five years ago that Bristol rightly won plaudits for becoming the first council in the UK to declare a climate emergency and set the hugely ambitious target of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2030.Not only is transport the biggest contributor in the region to emissions but, over the p...
The Bristol Cable •

No fault evictions rising in Bristol amid calls for stronger renting reforms

“No fault evictions should be renamed ‘no fault evictions and the potential destruction of your entire life’.”


61-year-old company director Mark* thought he’d avoided being evicted from his home in central Bristol in April when he agreed to a 30% hike to his rent. But just two months later, his landlord slapped him with another section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction notice – a practice soon to be outlawed by government reforms.


“After we came up with this agreement for the rent to go up in January...
The Bristol Cable •

Rent hike at iconic Clifton flats despite poor living conditions

For much of the 20th century, Queens Court in Clifton was as desirable an address as any to live. The V-shaped 1930s art deco block, surrounded by Georgian townhouses and grand university buildings, fits well with the picturesque ideal of the area. 


But today, tenants are living in flats riddled with damp and mould. And to add insult to injury, they have been slapped with a steep rent increase by their millionaire London landlords. 


In May, as the building’s management company City Estates...
The Bristol Cable •

Judge orders Bristol City Council to release report after FOI battle

A judge has this week ordered Bristol City Council to release a secret feasibility report after a near two-year freedom of information (FOI) battle by an opposition councillor, who accused the authority of lacking transparency and a “fear of scrutiny”.

The report is into the feasibility of a workplace parking levy (WPL) – a charge on businesses for private parking in order to fund public transport that could generate an estimated £12 million a year.


In 2021, Bristol City Council commission...
The Bristol Cable •

Council to consult more on liveable neighbourhood amid backlash

Bristol City Council will run extra consultation this autumn on the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood trial scheme, which has sparked controversy among local residents.


The scheme – Bristol’s first – will stop vehicles driving through a large area of Barton Hill, Redfield and St George. Residents and businesses will keep access but may face a less convenient route. The aims are to tackle air pollution, and encourage people to drive less.

The trial was due to launch this autumn. But the co...
The Bristol Cable •

Private takeover of Bristol GP surgery ‘abandoned’ at last minute

The takeover of a Bristol GP service by a private company has been abandoned at the last minute, the Cable can reveal. 


Charlotte Keel Medical Practice, a GP surgery in Easton, is currently run by social enterprise BrisDoc.

The practice was due to be handed over by private provider One Medicare on 1 July after a lengthy tendering process. 


But just a week before One Medicare was due to take over the service under an eight-year contract worth £23m, NHS bosses announced they were pulling...
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