Youth problems, housing and seniors are on the minds of voters in District 11, a chunk of land on the border of Devonshire and Smith's Parish which encloses densely populated and diverse neighbourhoods.

Devonshire East will be the battleground of two rising stars in politics. Progressive Labour Party (PLP) chairman and football enthusiast Neville Tyrrell will go head to head with former Shadow Home Affairs Minister Michael Dunkley in an area that captures the uncertainties raised by recent electoral changes, criss-crossing boundaries of three old constituencies and drawing in voters from various backgrounds.

The contest is difficult to call because it includes portions of the old Devonshire North, generally considered to have been one of the safest PLP seats in the country, with Devonshire South and Smith's South, understood to have been UBP strongholds.

Its majority black population ranges from lower middle class in the areas of Sousa Estate and Green Acres to the more well off neighbourhood around Devonshire Bay.

It is a narrow segment of land which runs from Devon Point on the South Shore and ploughs inland up Poinciana Road to Watlington Road East, Chaingate Hill and finally Middle Road at the northern extremity. The eastern boundary is formed by Collector's Hill, Verdmont and Hermitage Roads, while the Poinciana Estate rounds it off in the west.

Former Bermuda Football Association president Mr. Tyrrell, who also managed the 1998 successful campaign for the PLP's Warwick East candidates in 1998, saidhe knows the area and its residents well.

"What I see there is a true reflection of Bermuda itself. There is a cross section of people of different ethnic backgrounds in a lot of community based neighbourhoods. I'm being received very well and I'm excited and I'm upbeat. This is a challenge but I believe I can win."

He said a prominent issue he had come across was the attitude of the youth and especially the fact that young people tend to congregate in such places such as the corner of Devon Springs and Hermitage Road and the junction at Collector's Hill.

"It looks quite innocent to me. I know young people are going to congregate and, while some of them will be up to some badness, most of them are law-abiding people who are just collecting together. It's just that it can sometimes be intimidating to people in the neighbourhoods."

Mr. Tyrrell said he would like to see a youth centre established in the area.

He added: "Crime doesn't appear to be a major concern in the area and it sounds as if it is a fairly safe neighbourhood. Housing is an issue and I mean affordable housing for our people. That is something that our party has been looking at and we will be addressing it in our next term."

Mr. Dunkley - who was named of Pitbull Politician of the Year by the Best of Bermuda Gold Awards in 2000 - won his Devonshire South seat by a large margin in 1998, with 1,021 votes against his closest opponent Quinton Butterfield, who gained 659.

He said he thought it was impossible to get to know an area such as this within a few weeks.

"That's why I wanted to be there on the ground with them knowing as much as possible about me. I am just a spokesman for them after all.

"I'm getting a pretty good response. The UBP has developed into a new embryo from its defeat in 1998. A lot of new people have been brought in and we have diverse group now."

He agreed that housing was a major concern but said that Bermudians expected Government to do more about it.

"People are totally disappointed in the response from Government. They seem to have lost hope that they will be able to call a piece of the rock their own. In addition, there is a ton of people who are finding the rental problem tough because rents are so high. It's difficult to make ends meet, even though people are working multiple jobs."

The state of the Devon Springs Recycling Plant, which suffers from a rat problem due to backlogs of material that are left out in the courtyard, also figured prominently.

Mr. Dunkley said: "The PLP have promised to do something about it but I haven't seen any money being put aside to do that."

Mr. Tyrrell responded: "I understand that it is something we are going to look at and it will come in the order of things. I don't decide the order of things though."

Another area touched on by both candidates was the traffic situation at the Collector's Hill junction and they were in agreement that something needed to be done in order to allow a clear flow of traffic, both pedestrian and motorised.