Councillor Neil Harrison's Cotham Blog

A new school for Cotham!

2012-01-21T14:05:00.004Z

The third and final of the big issues that have been occupying my time of late has been the exciting and very welcome plan to create a new primary school on the site of Redland Police Station in Cotham.

This has been in the air as a possibility for some time. It's been known that the Police had come to consider the station as too large and out-of-date for their purposes. At the same time, the Council was looking for potential sites for new primary provision in the Redland/Cotham area to meet growing demand from families - to avoid a recurrence of the mess left by Labour in 2009 when 300 families were left without places for their children.

Just before Christmas, the Cabinet approved a proposal from St John's Primary School to run an extension on the Police Station site from September 2012, provided that the land deal progresses. It looks like it is doing so and I understand that it is expected that the Police will move out at the end of February. They will be temporarily based at Southmead, but the neighbourhood team will be returning to the area as soon as a suitable site can be found for them.

Given that it is intended for the new school to open in September 2012, things are now moving on very quickly. As the Council's contracted school builder, Skanska are leading the project and are currently consulting with local residents about how the school might look and work. The first consultation session was last week, but there is another being held this coming Thursday (26th January) at the Friends Meeting House on Hampton Road between 2.30pm and 3.30pm and from 6.30pm to 7.30pm. As I understand it, this is an 'open door' event, so please come along if you want to find out more.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I am no great fan of Skanska due to their actions during the Cotham School building works. They repeatedly acted in some very questionable ways, especially in terms of working within planning law and responding to the local community, most notably through the felling of four large and beautiful trees on Cotham Road. As far as I am concerned, they have a lot of ground to make up with this new project and I will be watching them like a hawk. I'm obviously delighted to see new primary provision locally, but not at any cost and not half-cocked.

A particular challenge for the new school will be the traffic management and associated road safety issues. Lower Redland Road is narrow and heavily parked. It is not an ideal location for parents to be dropping off their children by car and significant effort is going to be needed by all concerned to promote walking and cycling as the primary means of getting there. As I reported some months ago, there are already plans to improve safety at the junction of Lower Redland Road and Elgin Park and the school needs will now also have to be worked into this.

Teething problems with new waste collectors

2012-01-21T13:20:00.004Z

As most people will have noticed, there has been a change in the company that the Council uses to collect waste and recycling (and related tasks like road sweeping). This has been SITA for the last few years, but they were replaced in November by May Gurney, who also do Bath, I believe.

As always the case when there is a major change like this, there are teething problems. For reasons that aren't yet completely clear, Cotham seems to have borne the brunt of these and I've had more complaints about waste collection over the last two months than over the last four years. These have fallen into four main types:

'Special arrangements' being forgotten, where residents put their bins somewhere that's convenient for them, but which isn't directly outside their house. This often happens with back lanes and the like, with the agreement of their own crew of collectors. There has been an issue with this local intelligence being transferred to May Gurney.
A super-strict interpretation of the rules, so that May Gurney have been refusing to collect waste that's not put out correctly - e.g. overflowing bins or rubbish in recycling boxes. This is particularly a problem in some multiple occupancy houses and SITA used to be pragmatic if waste wasn't sorted out after a few weeks.
Residents not reading/understanding (or not getting) the information that was sent out in October explaining that some of the collection days have changed, especially over the Christmas period.
A communication problem somewhere between the Council's Customer Services Centre and May Gurney, so that missed collections were being sorted out once, but that the overarching problem wasn't being resolved.

I met with the operations manager at May Gurney two Saturdays ago and we did a tour of problem spots throughout Cotham, so that he could see what was going wrong. It was a very useful meeting and slowly, but surely, all the problems have been resolved - my inbox has gone from being full of angry residents to now being mainly happy ones! There are still a few issues, but there has been a massive improvement.

As I say, I'm not sure why Cotham has been a particular problem, but the rest of the city doesn't seem to have had the same issues. I suspect that it is probably a feature of our demographic mix and particularly the high proportion of subdivided and multiple occupancy houses. These mean that waste collection is much more complex than the suburban areas where every house has one drive and a bin at the end of it.

On the positive side of things, May Gurney are already having a positive impact on recycling rates. The November figure jumped to 48% and I hear that December was 52%! If so, this is a milestone for the city - we're recycling more of our waste than we're bunging in the ground for the first time. This is an important step towards becoming landfill-free.

If you are still having difficulties with your waste collections, please drop me a line by e-mail (neil.harrison@bristol.gov.uk) and I'll do what I can to get it sorted out.

Cotham Residents Parking

2012-01-21T12:43:00.003Z

It's been a very busy winter for Anthony and I, and I regret that blogging has slipped a bit - well, a lot! We've had three very major issues to deal with (alongside the usual host of smaller ones), so it's zapped the spare time that I usually use to keep people in touch. Anyway, I'll be putting up a series of blog posts over the coming week. First up is residents parking...

As covered previously, there was a consultation on the possibility of installing a residents parking scheme in the southern part of Cotham that ran from October to early December last year. Just before Christmas, Anthony (in pic showing nice clear streets within the Kingsdown zone) and I had a chance to look at the over 600 responses that came back into the Council.

The main thing that we drew from that consultation was that a significant majority of local people supported the plans, either as they stood or with relatively minor amendments. My own position over the last four years that this has been on the political agenda has been that I am broadly positive about the concept of residents parking, but only where it has support from the community. It was pretty clear that this is now indeed the case in the area of Cotham south of the railway line, with this consultation being performed in a much more professional way than the one in Kingsdown a couple of years ago.

As a result, the decision has been taken to proceed with the next stage of the process. This will see revised plans worked up as a result of the comments from local people and these should be available shortly - probably early February. These involve changing the allocation of different types of parking bays, moving some of the lines around and altering the boundary slightly to include the section of Hampton Park south of the railway line. We have also asked the officers to look again at the area around Redland Station to see whether this could be improved - they are also looking more generally at how commuter parking in this area might be managed.

There will then be a second consultation period, which is the one required in law. This will probably occur in March/April and will focus on the mechanics of the how the scheme works, especially with respect to the location of parking bays and so on. There will then be a final decision to implement the scheme taken around June. If this is a green light, the scheme will start to appear on the ground over the summer months, with the restrictions coming into force in October 2012. It is not yet a 'done deal' and there will still be several opportunities for residents (and councillors!) to have an input.

The Council also surveyed an area just north of the proposed zone. This was hampered by a cock-up by the printers, so the leaflets were late going out. Nevertheless, over 100 comments did come back. These did not express a single clear view about the proposed residents parking scheme, although most people were concerned about the possible knock-on effects of displaced commuter parking on their own streets.

Drawing on the comments, Anthony and I have worked to get two specific concessions from the Council officers. The first is that these areas will get their own dedicated traffic wardens to help to stop illegal and unsafe parking. One of the early effects of the Kingsdown zone was that some commuters took to parking in ridiculous places until there was a clampdown. This time, we start with off clamping down on this from the outset.

The second is that we will have an assurance in place that the surrounding areas will be consulted about whether they would like to be in a residents parking scheme within one year of the start of the south Cotham scheme. This means that if these areas do suffer badly from displacement, as many residents fear, they will have the chance to see a solution in place in a reasonable timescale.

So that's where we're at - revised road plans should be out shortly and I'll post them up here as soon as I have them.

P.S. Some eagle-eyed residents have spotted notification signs on lampposts throughout Cotham. These are written in an (sadly necessary) incomprehensible legal language, so it's not immediately clear what they are about. They lay out the final legal consultation for the Cotham Parking Review - the separate exercise to the residents parking scheme which is mainly about protecting junctions with yellow lines. These plans have been around for a while now, but it's finally our turn in the queue. If all goes to plan, the lines should start to appear in March/April.

Out on the street

2011-12-07T09:10:00.003Z

I've been out and about quite a bit recently delivering our latest newsletter across the ward and I've been doing my usual chore of photographing and reporting in little problems with what the Council officers called 'streetscene' - how things look on our streets, in layperson's terms.

Aside from a busted street light or two and the worst of the grafitti I've come across, I've also asked for replacements for a couple of road signs - see pics from Nugent Hill and Clare Road. While a little thing in the big scheme of the world, getting these done this is important, partly as it makes the place look nicer (and therefore reduces fear of crime) and partly because there is always a small danger that an emergency vehicle won't find their way - even in the days of sat navs!

If you're aware of something like this that needs sorting out, you can usually just telephone the Council's main number (9222000) and they will redirect you to the right person. Alternatively, you can use the Fix My Street website, which sends on an e-mail - I've tried it and it does work, though it seems a little slower than calling the Council directly.

Complaining about First Great Western

2011-11-27T13:02:00.002Z

I've just posted in a complaint to First Great Western about their revenue collection efforts. I generally don't talk down public transport as it is so important that people do have confidence in using it. However, this particular issue is so bizarre, I felt it warranted a short blog post.

In essence, First Great Western seem to want to make it ever more difficult to actually buy a ticket for their trains. My story goes like this...

I decided on Wednesday evening that I was going to go to Bath (to watch Bath City leave the FA Cup, as it happens). I went to catch the 5.31pm train from Clifton Down to Temple Meads, to go on to Bath Spa.

The first thing was that the ticket machine was out of order. I heard from a resident that it was giving out the wrong tickets for the wrong money last week, so someone had thoughtfully covered it in hazard tape in the meantime.

Remembering how things worked before the machine was installed, I went to the back of the train to find the guard. The guard, however, seemed determined not to sell any tickets, ducking back into his cabin immediately after every station. It was busy on the train, but not so busy that he couldn't get down the aisle to check and sell.

So, I arrived at Temple Meads and did what any respectable passenger should: I went in search of the unpaid fares desk by the exit barriers. And, guess what... no-one there! So, I'd tried to buy a ticket three times between Clifton Down and Temple Meads without success. Finally, I did manage to get a ticket on the way out at Bath Spa, but it makes you wonder how many people would have bothered.

Come on FGW - please make it easier for passengers and let them buy tickets when they want to! It makes me very nervous getting on a train without a ticket, even when I know it's not my fault and this is neither fair nor good business.

Cotham Forum reminder

2011-11-27T12:56:00.003Z

I've been a very naughty blogger again - sorry for a lengthy period of silence, but I've been really busy with 'real life' recently.

A quick reminder that the next meeting of the Cotham Forum is this coming Thursday (1st December) from 7pm to 9pm at Tyndale Baptist Church Hall on Whiteladies Road. The Church is vaguely opposite Clifton Down railway station and the hall is to the right of the church itself, alongside Imperial Road. Details are on the poster to the left.

The Forum is open to all Cotham residents and it's an informal chance to raise local issues of concern with councillors, council officers and the Police. They are generally very informal affairs and I enjoy them! The theme for this meeting is improving parks, but there will be plenty of chance to raise other matters too. I hope to see you there.

Historic home eco-refurbishment

2011-10-28T17:00:00.002+01:00

Another quick plug, this time for a series of events being held in November about eco-refurbishment of historic houses, like most of those in Cotham :

1. Refurbishing your Victorian or Georgian Home: Eco-advice day
Saturday 5th November, 11am to 3.30pm (free drop in) at the CREATE Centre, Smeaton Road, Cumberland Basin, Bristol BS1 6XN.

An excellent opportunity to meet experts including conservation officers, energy advisors and eco-refurbishment specialists who can help you find out about:
- planning permission and listed building consent,
- grants and funding
- materials and suppliers
- renewable technologies including solar.
Get practical advice and see real-life case studies in a programme of short, free talks.

2. "WARM: creating energy efficient homes" Exhibition
At the Architecture Centre (on the harbourside, next to the Arnolfini) from 16th November to 18th December, in conjunction with the Council, Green Capital and the Green Register. Drop and have a look at the latest thinking - I believe that there will also be a programme of talks too.

There is also a conference for architects coming up at the Watershed organised by RIBA, but I can't seem to find any details about this at the moment.

It's also worth remembering that the Council produces a leaflet on eco-refurbishment of historic buildings and I have pushing officers for a review and updating in the light of the coming Green Deal - something I'll be blogging on in due course.

Do you know a lonely older person?

2011-10-27T17:00:00.000+01:00

A quick plug for a new charitable service operating in the Cotham area: Contact The Elderly. They aim to stop older people from feeling isolated by getting volunteers to organise tea parties. Perhaps unusally, they aren't short of volunteers offering their time and their homes, but they do need to recruit some older people (or 'guests' as they call them) to take part.

While the demographics of this part of the city are quite young on average, there are plenty of older people here too and I am very willing to bet that there are dozens who don't have loving families who could tap into this as a way of making new friends and staying in touch with society. So, please do have a think about people who you think might benefit and put them in touch with Contact The Elderly. I've cut-and-pasted their press release below as it has all the contact details and more information about how the charity operates.

CHARITY INVITES OLDER PEOPLE IN WEST BRISTOL TO JOIN THEM FOR A CUPPA, CAKE and GOOD COMPANY!

Contact the Elderly, the charity solely dedicated to tackling loneliness and isolation among older people, is inviting local residents to join up to new local friendship groups in the West Bristol area and enjoy free, regular, monthly Sunday afternoon tea parties.

The charity, with the support of a volunteer network, aims to relieve the acute loneliness and isolation of people over the age of 75 who live alone, without the help of nearby family, by organising monthly Sunday tea parties for small groups of older people within their local community.

Each older person is collected from their home by a volunteer driver and taken to a volunteer host’s home for the afternoon. The group is warmly welcomed by a different host each month, but the drivers remain the same which means that over the months and years, acquaintances turn into friends and loneliness is replaced by companionship.

We are launching 3 new groups in the areas of Clifton, Redland and Neighbours, and Outer NW Bristol so we have capacity for a number of new guests to join and the charity is keen to raise awareness of these openings among the local community.

Contact the Elderly’s Bristol Development Officer, Helen Ker, said: “The charity is committed to offering a lifeline of friendship to the oldest and loneliest people in Bristol, but by their very nature, it’s often a challenge to get the word out to those who would benefit most from joining. We therefore wanted to make people aware that these groups are looking for new members and to encourage anyone interested in coming along, or those who know of people to whom it might appeal, to get in touch with us.

“Our friendship group represents a great opportunity to make new friends within the community, to get out of the house, and to generally have a good time! Perfect for those looking for ways to brighten up a weekend.”

West Bristol residents over the age of 75 who live alone, without the support of family and friends, and who are interested in joining a Contact the Elderly group can contact Helen Ker on 0117 960 9606. PO Box 281, Bristol BS15 0BT or email helen.ker@contact-the-elderly.org.uk

Cotham residents parking plans published

2011-10-26T23:37:00.003+01:00

Letters should have started plopping onto doormats across the southern part of Cotham Ward (i.e. between Cotham Road and the railway line) to consult people about a possible residents parking scheme. This is something that Anthony and I have been working on for a few months now - getting together a 'starting point' draft to show people how it might work, but to seek comments and ideas to refine it further.

My position on residents parking has changed somewhat since I've seen how well the Kingsdown zone has worked for the people living in it. Some of the Kingsdown residents have been interviewed for a little video which is pretty compelling - especially the trader who talks about getting it wrong!

I am now positive about moving forwards with this, though I will honour my old promise to only proceed if the majority of people living in the area (or a sensible subset it) back it.

As far as the Cotham plans go, there is a page explaining it all on the Council website, including a pretty neat zoomable online map. The consultation period is running until the 2nd December and a decision about whether to proceed will be taken after that.

There are two drop-in sessions being held at Cheltenham Road Library where residents can go along and ask questions about how the scheme might work and to pass on their comments to the traffic officers.

Wednesday 2nd November : 3-8pm
Friday 18th November : 3-8pm

I will try to pop along for some of the time at the latter one, I think, so that people can bend my ear too. In any case, I'm happy to get questions and comments through the blog or by e-mail (neil.harrison@bristol.gov.uk).

Also, Sustainable Redland have produced a very interesting and engaging document about why they are supporting residents parking from a climate change, safety and sustainability perspective. It's well worth a read to remind yourself about the 'big picture' reasons why controlling car use is a good idea.

Here today and gone tomorrow (or the day after)

2011-10-13T19:56:00.003+01:00

We're having a little mini-wave of flytipping in Cotham at the moment - I called in a couple of piles earlier in the week (including the one on Ashgrove Road in the pic left) and I am aware of a couple of other instances that have been reported.

Hopefully needless to say, flytipping is illegal. The Council now routinely looks through what's been dumped to try to trace the culprit and they do often get caught and fined. CCTV cameras are also used. Let's just say that flytippers aren't always the brightest of bulbs...

Anyway, the Council have a policy of removing flytipping within 48 hours of it being reported. You can phone in to report it (9222100) or e-mail customer.services@bristol.gov.uk - experience tells me that phone is a more reliable way of getting action, for some reason.

Investing in sustainable travel

2011-10-13T19:30:00.002+01:00

A few years back, I was asked to chair the Select Committee on sustainable travel. Select committees are council groups that come into being for a short period (six to eighteen months) to look in detail at a specific issue with a view to getting an agreed way long-term forwards between political parties. It was quite a difficult committee to chair, partly for a few party political reasons that I won’t go into here, but also because sustainable travel is such a vast area that there was no way to do justice to everything in the time that we had available. Nevertheless, we did hear evidence from a wide variety of people and captured all the best bits in a lengthy report that covered things as diverse as personal travel planning, 20mph zones, the need for a strategy for improving pedestrian facilities, alternative fuels and future public transport modes.

Recently this work has been put to good use. Bristol applied, with the neighbouring council areas, to the national Local Sustainable Transport Fund (established by Lib Dem Minister, Norman Baker) to fund major works in this sort of area. We’ve recently had two bits of good news:

Firstly, we have been awarded £5m to start work on projects this year, including improving Gloucester Road for pedestrians.
Secondly, we have been given permission to apply for up to £25m of funding starting from 2012 – we need to prepare our bid for this December and they will tell us in July whether or not we have the money. We're only one of eight areas to get such an invite, so the chances of success are strong.

I had a meeting earlier with the transport manager who is leading the ‘big bid’ and I'm looking forward to having an influence into what goes in over the next couple of months. I would love to include some projects around the early adoption of alternative fuels like biogas and hydrogen, following on from the decision (which I had some hand in) that any future rapid transit systems would not be based on the increasingly expensive and risky diesel and petrol. I'm not sure yet whether this is within the scope of the Fund.

I will also be looking for projects which build on the work that we’ve done on developing a Walking Strategy. All the research suggests that money spent on walking provides some of the best ‘bangs for your bucks’ of any traffic works, getting people out of cars and finding better and healthier ways of getting around.

As always, happy to hear about other ideas for local (rail sadly isn't included) sustainable transport options that I can feed into the bid-drafting process. As with all things, there is no guarantee of landing the money, but the theory is that you are only invited to bid if you’re in with a good chance of getting it. £25m is a lot of money and it could make a very positive impact on the back of the recent history of transport improvements.

Protecting our historic streets

2011-10-11T10:00:00.002+01:00

One of the most frequent pieces of casework that I've had over the last four or so years has been about stopping people (usually letting agencies, actually) from taking out the front walls to their properties and turning their front gardens into parking spaces. Local people really value the beauty and heritage that the original Victorian walls bring to the area and are very sad to see them go - see pic.

The additional issue for me is that it effectively 'privatises' the public highway by dropping the kerb and stopping people parking on the road outside. This does nothing to solve parking pressure in the area - it just makes things worse, which makes more people consider taking out their garden... a vicious circle.

Annoyingly, this sort of project doesn't usually require planning permission. My Cotham colleague Anthony has been working on a solution to this for some time, to give the community more control over what bureaucrats call the 'streetscene' - shorthand for "what our street looks like".

This takes another major step forwards on Wednesday this week. The Development Control (North) Committee is recommended to approve a report that starts the process of making what's called an 'Article 4 Direction'. This is a legal tool that allows the Council, in a defined geographical area, to require planning applications where they wouldn't otherwise be needed. Wednesday's report (which is supported by the Redland & Cotham Amenities Society) will kick off a consultation period. If this doesn't result in massive objection, a 12-month period will elapse and then the Article 4 Direction will come into force. It's not a complete ban - it just gives local residents and councillors the chance to object to what the house owner is proposing.

A long and tedious route, but "well done" to Anthony for starting it off now. It should help to guard against yet more lost walls, trees and gardens.

Walking Strategy published

2011-10-10T17:00:00.001+01:00

Last Friday finally saw the publication of the Council's new Walking Strategy - something I have been working on for the last 18 months.

It's one of those things that's been beset with unavoidable delays with people going off sick and the like. I've made a real pain of myself in pushing officers to get it finished, but I am grateful to them all and they've done a very good job in the end.

You might be thinking, "Why does Bristol need a Walking Strategy?" - after all, how difficult can it be! This document lays out in detail exactly why getting walking right is so important for the city - for health, climate change and economic reasons. It will help to ensure that walking is taken into account when making decisions and it will also act as a very useful document to attract funding, especially through the Local Sustainable Transport Fund and similar initiatives. It's also a useful sister document to the city's Cycling Strategy, demonstrating the importance that the Council places on sustainable forms of transport.

The publication of a strategy document is always the start of a process rather then end. The key thing will now be how it is used by officers, councillors, campaigners and residents to push improvements forwards. My own pet idea is that of 'showcase walking routes' - key routes around the city which are heavily used and where a little bit of love and investment could make them even more pleasant and popular. Routes like College Green to the top of Black Boy Hill, which is used by thousands of Bristolians and visitors every day.

Anyway, do have a look at the Walking Strategy - the action plan towards the end is probably the most interesting bit, but it's all meant to be relatively easy to engage with. As always, any comments gratefully received!

Trees go and come at Bannatyne's

2011-10-09T12:37:00.002+01:00

To misquote Duncan Bannatyne on Dragon's Den, "We're out"... or so say ten trees at his health club on Redland Road!

They've put in a planning application to remove ten trees in order to expand their car park. That's the bad news. The good news is that they are promising to plant 14 (or 15 or maybe 16 - it's not entirely clear) new trees once the works are complete. This is a massive improvement on their original request, which was to remove seven trees without replacement.

I've been discussing this with our local 'tree champion', Clive Stevens. Clive has done a collosal amount to promote trees in the Redland and Cotham community and I rely heavily on him to tell me what's good and what's not good. He's mapped all the street trees in the area and keeps a regular eye on them, while also arranging for new ones (like on the Redland Hill roundabout) to be planted whenever possible.

A year or so back, Clive and I worked closely on the Council's new policy for tree replacements through planning applications. The previous policy was a simple one-out-one-in, which meant that a 100 year old tree could be replaced at marginal cost by a sapling. The new policy means that the number of replacements is dictated by the age and size of those being removed.

This is why the Bannatyne's plan requires more replacements than removals, effectively increasing the number of trees in the city over time. Most of the ones that they are wanting to take out are small, but there is also a large ash which is nearing the end of its life anyway - this one's worth several new trees.

At the moment, on advice from Clive, I am minded not to object to the application as it's a good example of the new policy in action. It should also have the positive effect of taking some cars off Redland Road, which is particularly dangerous in that section. However, happy to hear other views before I take a final decision.

The application is still pending: its reference number 11/03858/F and you can e-mail comments to development.management@bristol.gov.uk. I suggest that you have a look at the plans before commenting and you can find them by following the link at the start of this paragraph.

Setting the standard

2011-10-09T12:10:00.003+01:00

I spent an hour on Friday morning having a tour of the new Environment Agency building - Horizon House. It's the one next to the Council House and vaguely opposite the Cathedral.

The building has achieved an Outstanding rating for sustainability from BREEAM and was winner of the Office Building of the Year award last year. It makes it the most energy efficient large building in Bristol and one of the best in the country. I am hoping that Bristol can use it as a sort of 'showhome' for doing energy efficiency properly in office buildings.

The building has some very impressive green kit: a massive ground source heat pump system, solar PV and hot water (see pic) arrays, rainwater capture and a passive cooling system. They are getting about 30% of their energy from renewables, putting them in advance of the 20% target recently adopted by the Council.

However, for me, the most interesting thing for me was the way in which they were spending almost as much effort on dealing with how humans engage with the building in order to cut energy usage. This ranged across issues like providing free milk instead of fridges, controlling the ambient temperature, switching to low energy hand dryers in the toilets and so on. Things that any office can do, but most don't.

This fits into a theme that I've been interested in for a while, which is how we make sure that green kit provides the energy savings that we expect of it. We are beginning to learn that people don't always act rationally when, for example, a house gets energy efficiency improvements. Instead of cutting their energy use, they often opt for warmer houses and/or more gadgets.

We therefore need to keep pushing culture change alongside technological solutions to climate change. A good example is the Make Your Home Eco course that's being hosted at the CREATE Centre starting next week - still time to book up!

Residents parking in Cotham?

2011-10-03T09:00:00.002+01:00

The results are in from the first pilot phase evaluation of the Kingsdown residents parking zone and they are quite startling. Support for the scheme among people living within the zone is now massively positive, with many people saying that they’ve actually changed their minds about it now that it’s in and working. A full report was presented to Cabinet in July.

There are a number of things that have emerged from the pilot that I have found interesting. For example, it has become clear exactly how many of the cars clogging up the streets are commuters. In the past, some residents have tended to blame students or shared houses for having too many cars, but the Kingsdown experience has shown that these account for relatively few cars compared to the weight of people coming into the area to park.

There will be a number of relatively minor changes to the scheme as a result of the evaluation – e.g. moving bays around and being less stringent about providing third permits to houses who have a good reason to need them.

In parallel with the evaluation within the zone, Anthony and I demanded that a similar exercise was done in the surrounding areas – broadly speaking, the patch south of the railway line. As might be imagined, the response here was very different. The 130 or so people who replied to the request for feedback reported having extreme difficulties with parking, partly as a result of the Kingsdown zone, as well as problems with road safety due to dangerous parking and road rage. This didn’t surprise me at all as I see exactly this every day and I’ve been working since January to try to get better enforcement in those streets with a particular problem.

What did surprise me was how popular an extension to the Kingsdown zone appears anecdotally to be – probably as people have now seen it working and want have quieter, safer and cleaner streets themselves.

Anthony and I have therefore asked the traffic officers to draft up how residents parking scheme might work in Cotham, with a view to taking it out for formal consultation later this month. The plans will get their first public airing at the Cotham Forum tonight (Monday 3rd October - 7pm at Charnwood Post-16 Centre on Cotham Park) and I will post a copy up on this blog when there is an electronic version.

To be clear, we are sticking to our commitment that it would only be introduced if there was majority support from residents, but the results of the exercise earlier in the year strongly suggests that this is now the case. It has also come up at a number of residents association meetings and at the Cotham Forum – it feels like a groundswell, but the correct way to test this is to draft up an outline and then put it to people for them to decide.

This will happen alongside the Cotham Parking Review, which will be seeing new yellow lines painted on corners and junctions to improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. This is currently going through the long and tedious legal process that’s need to paint new lines – we are hopeful that the lines will go down in the winter, lawyers and weather permitting.

In love with Wessex Red

2011-10-02T20:31:00.004+01:00

A quick plug, really, for the Wessex Red bus service that's running in the city - it was formally uLink and it's run for/with UWE, where I work when I'm not a politician. The Wessex Red routes are prefixed with a 'U' and they are mainly (but confusingly, not all) bright red.

The routes are a little idiosyncratic as they are designed mainly for UWE and University of Bristol students and staff. However, anyone can use them and they do link very useful places around the city. For example, I think they offer the only service (U5) that links my part of Cotham with Horfield Leisure Centre - my nearest public swimming pool.

While they've been running for a while, I've only just started using them regularly. I used to think that I pretty much had to use my car to get out to Frenchay - buses used to take best part of an hour as I'd have to change in the centre.

The U5 service takes me door-to-door in 26 minutes (off peak - around 35 mins peak time) which isn't bad for a six mile journey and only mariginally slower than the 15 minutes I can manage in a car with a fair wind. The best thing is that it's only £3 for a dayrider ticket and you can get it even cheaper (£2.50) if you use a prepaid smart card!

It's a nice relief to leave my car at home even more - no stress and I can even get a bit of reading done on the way, which is generally frowned upon when driving. And only £2.50 for a twelve mile round trip, using a hassle-free smart card! It's a really good reminder about what value some buses in the city are and how good the rest could be.

Come on First - time to up your game, methinks!

Powering Bristol in 2030

2011-09-29T00:09:00.002+01:00

Last Thursday evening, I did a presentation as part of a Green Capital event called "Post Peak Oil - Powering Bristol in 2030". It was very well attended, with around fifty people in the auditorium at the CREATE Centre. Anyway, copies of all the presentations are now available online by following the link above.

School energy and community challenge

2011-09-28T23:42:00.002+01:00

I spent most of this morning on one of my favourite duties, which is sitting on the funding panel for the Green Community Challenge Fund. This is a scheme that I helped to establish, allocating £75,000 a year to community groups and similar organisations in slabs of up to £10,000 to set up environmental projects and particularly those with a carbon-reduction theme. This is the second year of the Fund and it's great to hear about projects that we funded a year ago coming to fruition.

I don't want to break the results of the current round before the decisions are official and the organisations have been notified, but suffice it to say that we agreed to support half a dozen schemes mainly focused this time around community agriculture and local food production and use.

One which was funded in the last round is just getting going and I went to a project meeting yesterday. It's a collaborative project between Resource Futures and Sustainable Redland (with extra support from the Council) which aims to cut energy use in schools by training the pupils up to be auditors - turning off lights, monitoring temperature levels, switching off computers and the like. It will be operating in 13 schools in the coming weeks and the aim is to cut energy use by 10% and demonstrate how easy it is, while the children learn about sustainability and do some maths along the way.

Schools are about the only part of the Council's activities where energy use (and so carbon emissions) is still rising. This is partly due to longer school days and partly due to the increase in IT equipment, among other factors. With energy prices set to keep on rising (unless you're with a renewable supplier like me!), this is going to become an ever-growing pressure on school budgets and it's vital that they act sooner rather than later. A 10% cut in energy bills in any school pays for lots of new library books - or even extra staff in a large school.

The idea is for the project to come up with a scheme that can be rolled out to all schools in the city, saving them money on energy bills and the Council (and therefore, taxpayers) money in carbon tax. It feels like a really strong project team and I'm quite excited to see what comes back.

End of summer catch-up

2011-09-27T21:50:00.002+01:00

Oh dear. It's been nearly a month since my last blog post... and after I promised to try to be more regular! September has been very busy for me personally and blogging always seems to be the thing that gets forced out. October looks much quieter, so fingers-crossed.

A few snippets then to catch-up on various bits of local news:

Very pleased to report that my motion to Full Council on supermarkets was passed unanimously. I agreed a minor rewording with the Conservatives in advance and this meant that everyone felt able to vote for it. This is useful unity across all the parties on the Council and it means that Bristol can speak to the national government with one voice.
Clifton Mini Mart have been refused permission to sell alcohol until midnight after what was apparently one of the shortest licensing hearings in history! They had applied in March and been given permission until 10pm, so they thought they'd apply again and hope for a different answer.
I was happy to help a local family with saving their treehouse from over-zealous planning enforcement officers. The treehouse has been there for decades in various forms, but a complaint (no-one's quite sure who from!) triggered an investigation and the threat of removal as it didn't have planning permission. I was able to persuade planners that they had better things to worry about, especially as lots of people had written in supporting it and no-one could be found who wanted it to go. I hope they're getting good use out of it for what's left of the summer!
Domino's Pizza have applied for an increase in the number of delivery drivers that they are allowed to use after 2am in the morning - it's currently two and they want five. People living nearby have objected as it means more cars whizzing around in the early hours, with all the shouting and slamming of doors that seems to go with it.
I went along for a Q&A session with the fledgling traders' association on Cotham Hill a few weeks back. They are looking at new ways of raising the profile of the area to bring new customers in and I am playing with a few ideas that might help - very happy to hear any additional ones.

The big issue that's going to be coming along in the near future is residents parking and I'll be posting something about this in the next few days - time permitting!

Controlling supermarkets to preserve diversity

2011-09-01T13:40:00.003+01:00

It’s now been three months since the bombshell was dropped that Sainsburys were opening a new store on Black Boy Hill, on the site of the old Woolworths. It’ll be opening up in the very near future, with only the blink of an eye between announcement and trading. It has also emerged that Tesco have acquired the old petrol station by the BBC, recently renewing the planning permission there for a block of flats with a shop below. Rumours abound that other supermarkets are also looking for a piece of the action locally too.

The evils or merits of supermarkets is not something that I am intending to play out here. I know that some communities are desperate to see supermarkets move into their area to allow them to buy economical produce without having to travel miles to get it. On the other hand, other communities (like Cotham) are very wary of their market dominance, supplier exploitation and unsustainable practices. The Who Feeds Bristol report, commissioned by the NHS Bristol, provides some salutary reminders about what it means to supply a city with food. What I want to develop here is a line about retail diversity and why supermarkets are a threat.

One of the points that I’ve had to make to people over and again is about how powerless the planning system is to manage our shopping centres for mutual benefit. Because the Black Boy Hill Sainsburys was a simple exchange of one shop for another, no planning permission was needed – in the eyes of the planning system, a shop is a shop is a shop, whether it’s a multinational chain or a lone trader and whether it’s a gun shop, a supermarket, an organic health food shop or a coffee shop. People expect the Council to be able to control what shops go where, but the reality is that this is generally far from the truth. I have argued previously that the Stokes Croft incidents were as much about a sense of community powerlessness as about Tesco itself – a shared outpouring of anger about disempowerment and disenfranchisement from the processes that shape a community.

At the June meeting of Full Council, I proposed a motion calling for a new ‘use class’ for supermarkets. ‘Use classes’ are the definitions of different types of operations that the planning system uses; e.g. A1 is retail, A2 is office, B1 is light industrial and so on. The way it works, in layperson’s terms, is that changes of operator within a ‘use class’ doesn’t need permission, but changes of ‘use class’ do.

By creating a new one, it would mean that supermarkets wouldn’t be considered in the same bucket as all other shops and their unique impact would be a factor in planning decisions. It wouldn’t be a ban on new supermarkets, but it would mean that there had to be a formal application for a change and a discussion where different views could be expressed.

Specifically, I want to see councils have the power to protect diversity on our high streets. Retail areas need a number of factors to ensure that they remain vibrant. They need to have mix of shops that serve the community directly on a daily basis and those ‘destination’ shops that pull people into the street for a specific purpose. They also need to have a number of different ‘offers’ to ensure that they appeal to a wide cross-section of society – not a monoculture based too heavily around a single sector in direct competition. And this is where my greatest fears about supermarkets are to be found. If you end up with one of each brand of convenience store on the same road, you firstly limit the number of shop units that are available for ‘destination’ shops and secondly run a risk of the area simply becoming a parade of identikit supermarkets vying for the same localised trade.

I have been working for a couple of years now to get protection in Bristol’s planning policy for preserving A1 use in shopping areas, especially against the encroachment of food and drink outlets which are rarely daytime ‘destinations’ and which lessen the ‘offer’. I was heartened recently to discover that I seem to have won the argument with officers and that a strong assumption for the retention of shops in shopping areas will be in the next generation of planning policy – watch this space! Sadly, however, because supermarkets are included in A1 use, this won’t have any impact on their spread within A1 shop units. The tool that the Council really needs in the toolbox is for supermarkets to be treated differently.

New ‘use classes’ are created every now and again, especially where a particular type of operation starts to cause societal problems; the most recent was the creation last year of the C4 ‘use class’ for multiple-occupancy housing.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get time to discuss my motion in June, so it has gone forwards for next week's Full Council when it should get time. The Council doesn’t have the power to create new ‘use classes’ itself. It needs the national government to do this and it only generally happens after a lengthy consultation period. But you can’t ever finish a long journey unless you start it! What I am hoping is that we can get cross-party support for the idea within Bristol, which I can then use to apply pressure on ministers.

New Council website launched

2011-08-19T14:06:00.002+01:00

And on a lighter note...

The Council has today launched its new look website. I'm sure that there will be a few teething problems, but my initial reaction is that it both looks much nicer and that it's easier to navigate. I've used it a couple of times today already and found what I needed pretty quickly.

I don't know what they're doing for legacy links, but I've often linked from this blog to the Council website, so there is a chance that old links might not work now. If there is something that doesn't work, drop me a line and let me know.

On the stupidity of the death penalty

2011-08-19T12:32:00.003+01:00

There's been quite a bit of press coverage recently about a national petition to restore the death penalty. Reassuringly, a counter petition to maintain the current situation has also been launched and it has garnered significantly more signatures so far.

The death penalty is one of the fundamentally most stupid ideas that this world continues to entertain. It's something I've felt very strongly about since childhood, so I'm going to throw my tuppence in... and without even resorting to any liberal pleading or apologias!

It is not a deterrent. There is absolutely no reliable evidence that the death penalty, where it exists, acts as any form of deterrent to stop people committing crime. In fact, those states in the US where it is used tend to have higher rates of murder than others that don't have the death penalty. Maybe these states just have a higher rate of criminality. An alternative analysis would suggest that state-sponsored killing is more likely to breed murder as the lines between right and wrong are blurred for the people living there - how wrong is it to kill if a judge can order my death?

It is not cheap. One of the most ludicrous arguments for the death penalty is that it is cheaper than keeping someone locked up in prison, as if frugality is a sensible basis for a legal system. In any case, it is not cheaper, which is one of the reasons why many US states are thinking about giving it up. Once you factor in the costs of the procedure itself and the various legal fees spent by the state fighting appeals, it is almost always cheaper to imprison someone for life instead. And it gets even more expensive once you start executing innocent people by accident.

It gets things wrong. Legal history is littered with miscarriages of justice. Sometimes the jury makes a mistake, sometimes the police have lied, sometimes the expert witnesses turned out not to be experts and sometimes the scientific evidence was later disproved. Take DNA evidence for example. It is now widely recognised that the estimates of odds given in court cases in the early days of DNA evidence were wildly off beam - e.g. a one in a million chance was more like one in thousand. Every generation of science has an arrogance of certainty which the following generation often unpicks. But this isn't just something that happened in the past. It is still happening now, as the case of Cameron Todd Willingham attests, executed on the evidence of a fraudulent expert in 2004.

To give a UK example, consider the case of Sally Clark. Child murder is usually at the top of the list of crimes deserving of the death penalty according to those that advocate it. Sally Clark was convicted of murdering her two sons in 1996 and 1998. She almost certainly would have been lined up for execution for the 'crime'. The problem was, she didn't do it. Spurious statistics were wheeled out by 'experts' (later dismissed) to prove that she must have done it, but she didn't. She was finally released in 2003, having spent four years in prison for double child murder. (Despite her exoneration, she sadly drank herself to death in 2007 - either accidentally or deliberately.) You only need one mistake with the death penalty and the government and the legal system lose all moral authority.

Crime is a grey area. When pushed, most people can come up with a criminal who 'deserved' the death penalty, black and white cases where there is no doubt about guilt and long-term danger to society. The problem is that few criminal cases are like that. Most fall into a grey area - was the person sane at the time, were they provoked, was the eye-witness right, did they mean to kill, what about the years of domestic abuse and so on. And this is where few people can agree - where in the grey/black continuum does the death penalty line belong? The UK lacks distinctions within the crime of murder that the US has, for example.

This is even more marked if you place the issue in an historic setting. There are hundreds of crimes that used to carry the death penalty that no rational person would dream of applying it to now. Are we so sure that our legal system is right that we want to kill people based on it? Homosexuality carried the death penalty in the UK until 1861, for example. Was it morally right to kill gay people before then? No, of course not.

See... I managed it! Almost no appeals to heart-bleeding wishy-washy liberal values! The death penalty makes absolutely no sense whatever your political affliation and I encourage everyone reading this to sign the national petition to keep it out of our society.

New waste contract – plastic and Tetrapak collections

2011-08-16T20:54:00.002+01:00

One of the slight frustrations with Council services is that they are usually subcontracted and that the contracts are for years at a time, making it difficult to make rapid changes. However, when the time does come, it gives the opportunity to make some drastic changes and I’m happy to report that this is exactly what’s happened with the waste collection services.

The Council has switched suppliers away from SITA to May Gurney as from November of this year. May Gurney have offered a much better deal, which is saving Bristol taxpayers around £2.5m a year. More importantly (from my perspective, at least) is that the contract also includes kerbside collection of plastic and Tetrapaks (fruit juice cartons and the like). This is something that I’ve been agitating for over the years and I’m delighted to see it arrive. The city already has one of the strongest records for plastic recycling in the country and this will push us even further up the league table. The new system will be phased in around the city – I’m not yet sure where Cotham is in the phasing.

This follows on the back of the previous good news about the opening of the mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) plant that has halved landfill this year and the start of the projecvt to build a pyrolysis plant to open in a couple of years time – these will collectively mean an end to untreated landfill and give us one of the most waste efficient cities in the world.

The other good news about the May Gurney contract is that it will be performance-related, such that they will be paid extra if their staff do a good job of keeping the streets clean when they collect the waste. At the moment I get a steady stream of complaints about messiness left by the binfolk – in the future, the company will get paid more the fewer complaints that come in. The net result should be cleaner streets, especially as the road sweeping teams are now timed to come after the bin collections wherever possible.

Strip stripped... RIP?

2011-08-15T09:23:00.004+01:00

For all the time that I’ve lived in Bristol (eleven years now) and some time before, the area of Whiteladies Road from Cotham Hill towards the BBC has been known as ‘The Strip’ because of the long line of bars that inhabit the area… or that have done until now.

I got back from my holiday in June to find that two of the bars had closed down and were boarded up. The Ranch and Dragon’s Kiss have gone, joining BSB which went under about six months or so ago. ‘The Strip’ has gone very quiet. There are still plenty of eateries and drinkeries in that area, but the three that have gone were easily the largest in terms of floorplan. All three have seemed to me to be in decline for some time – they were all scrabbling for the same set of clientele and one which will have seen a drop in income due to the recession.

I don’t rejoice to see any business go bust, but ‘The Strip’ is a major local source of nuisance and anti-social behaviour for local residents. At least one of the closures had an element of Police involvement due to what was going on inside and all three fuelled high levels of alcohol consumption in a ‘vertical environment’ (people drink more standing up!) that had a knock on for vandalism, violence and noise.

‘The Strip’ was partly a product of the lax licensing laws that were introduced in 2005 and which handed power to alcohol sellers and removed much of their responsibility, while making it harder for local residents and councillors to say “wait - this is the wrong place!” And ‘The Strip’ is the wrong place for a late night drinking quarter, with people living just yards away and cheek by jowl with busy clubs and bars. The government is currently in the process of unpicking much of the 2003 Licensing Act and handing back powers to communities that the last government took away. So, these departures may have a silver lining in that as and when new operators come along, there will be an opportunity to restrict their operations to limit their negative impact on the local community.

In other Whiteladies Road news:

Derbyshires newsagent, which has been there for forty years or so, has closed down with the owners retiring. It is being replaced by a franchise of Costa Coffee and the conversion work is going on at the moment. It’s no secret that I am unhappy to see a shop lost to another coffee shop (with which the area is well endowed!), but there is no means by which the Council can prevent this under planning law – I have fought to ensure that the ‘A1’ use will be maintained so that it can revert back to a shop in the future. I’ve met the franchisee, who lives locally and runs the Costa in Henleaze, and we’ve had a positive conversation about working together towards a vibrant shopping area.
Planning permission for the old ABC cinema to be converted into flats was refused for the second time. The building has been empty for about ten years after it was closed with a covenant on it to prevent it reopening as a cinema. Various uses have been proposed over the years, including as a gym and a nightclub, but they’ve not got off the ground – thankfully in some cases. It even has permission to be a church! I am supporting plans to see it converted to a multi-use arts centre, which would be great; I had a fascinating guided tour of the building from the person leading this new initiative last week. One way to achieve this might be to have a small number of flats as part of the scheme to raise the capital for the rest.
The Clifton Mini Mart on Cotham Hill has applied a second time for a late night alcohol sales licence. This was refused about six months back, with them being granted a 10pm licence to fit in with Corks and Sainsburys – the other two local off licences. I am working with local residents to see this application rejected again.
I'm meeting with the fledgling traders association on Cotham Hill at the end of the month to talk about ways in which we can work together to protect and promote the area as an independent-led shopping street, serving the local community. I'll report back in due course.

Cabot Tower set to reopen

2011-08-12T14:19:00.003+01:00

The first view when I get up in the mornings from my bedroom window is the Cabot Tower - see pic. It's a nice daily reminder that I'm still in Bristol!

The good news is that it is finally reopening next Tuesday (16th August) after being closed for three years for repairs. It's taken a long time to get it sorted due to the scale of the problem and the precautions needed when dealing with historic buildings.

The Tower will be open to the public again from 1pm and I think I might pop down in my lunch break to get in the queue! I've really missed the lovely view of the city it gives and I am delighted not to have to look out at scaffolding any more...

Police issue photos of looters

2011-08-10T16:18:00.003+01:00

The Police have started to publish pictures and videos of people involved in the disorder and looting on Monday night. The first batch show a group breaking into a jeweller's store in Cabot Circus. Obviously the Police are keen to hear confidentially from anyone with information.

As more photos are released, I will publish them up here.

Whiteladies Road got a small dose of things last night when two sets of windows were smashed in just before 1am. I heard it happening from my flat and dashed down to see whether I could spot any culprits. I was impressed to see the police arrive in two riot vans within about ten minutes - it certainly reassured me about their ability to react to the situation locally.

UPDATE (15/8/11): there are now new photos and videos on the site - follow the same link above.

Cleaning up the Arches

2011-08-07T12:17:00.003+01:00

For the last few months, our local Neighbourhood Partnership has been funding work to clean up Gloucester Road, led by a furiously efficient local resident who has made it her life’s work to get the place looking nice by cutting flyposting, getting rid of graffiti and so on. Only a tiny part of Gloucester Road is in Cotham Ward (the north side between the Arches and Zetland Road – plus Cheltenham Road between the Arches and Arley Hill), but I’ve been lending her a hand where I can.

The local resident who is leading the project is looking for keen volunteers to help generally with the work that she’s doing. She tends to go out and blitz the street every week or so, removing flyposting and washing off graffiti, so she’s always grateful for an extra pair of hands from other people who care about the area and want to see it looking good. If you might have the occasional hour or two to spare, drop me a line (neil.harrison@bristol.gov.uk) and I’ll put you in touch.

We’ve also started looking at cleaning up the Arches railway bridge itself. It’s a beautiful structure and it should be a key landmark for the local area. Unfortunately, it’s covered in ugly tagging and it’s become a bit of an eyesore. The first steps have been taken to start a conversation with Network Rail and to get a quote for cleaning it and spraying it with anti-graffiti paint. Now we need to start finding the money from various sources to make it happen.

Work starts on bus improvements

2011-08-07T11:51:00.002+01:00

Let me start with my standard apology for letting blogging slip for a couple of months. I was away for most of June, then I’ve had back problems which have made typing for any length of time tricky. There’s lots of news to cover at the moment – much of it very good – so hopefully I’ll discipline myself to blog regularly for the rest of the summer.

First up is to report that work has begun on upgrading the bus route that runs along Whiteladies Road, as part of a major project variously known as GBBN or ‘showcase routes’. The whole package, which is mainly being funded by national government and First Bus, includes improving bus stops with disabled access and real-time information boards, installing peak time bus lanes, narrowing pedestrian crossings, introducing short-term shopper parking, putting in new cycle lanes and even some tree planting. I’ve been a big fan of this project and I’m really excited at seeing it getting easier-to-use buses on Whiteladies Road, as I often do. The results of the consultation that was undertaken earlier in the year have just been published.

The first bit of work has started opposite the BBC, where the pavement is being resculpted to make a more substantial bus stop with straight-on access for wheelchair users and other people with mobility problems. Ironically, it’s building work like this that can start most easily – painting new lines takes far longer due to the tedious legal process that has to be gone through. It seems bizarre to me that the Council can build on the road where it likes, but that a stretch of yellow paint needs to be advertised in the London Gazette!

There are two outstanding issues that I am still working on. First is the reworking of the junction with Cotham Hill. A significant new section of pavement is being built to make the junction safer (by forcing cars to slow before turning) and improve flow (by letting pedestrians cross quicker and so reducing waiting time). This will be outside Chandos Deli and what is set to be Costa Coffee. Discussions with residents and traders is on-going as to what might be put on the new pavement – current thinking is temporary seating, a community noticeboard, signs to the shops on Cotham Hill and a tree or two.

Secondly, I am still in discussion with various people about the plans to make some of the side roads off Whiteladies Road into one-way or ‘no entry’. This is intended to improve traffic flow by reducing the number of places where cars sit and turn off. It also means that new pedestrian islands can be put in to make the road more ‘permeable’ – i.e. easier to cross. However, one way systems need plenty of thought as the law of unintended consequences often gets in the way!

The whole raft of improvements is going to take something like a year to complete. This is going cause a little upheaval for a while, so please bear with it and remember that the ends justifies the means...

Ashton Vale Town Green

2011-06-17T16:37:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I had the dubious pleasure of sitting on the Public Rights of Way and Greens Committee that determined the Ashton Vale town green application. I was one of two councillors (along with Alex Woodman) to vote against the agreed proposal to register the bottom 'half' of the site and not the top 'half' (I know they're not equal sizes).

I was somewhat caught on-the-hop by the swiftness with which the Chair moved to a vote - there is usually a period after questions to officers where councillors make statements about their views which can be batted back and forth before the vote is taken. This didn't happen yesterday (it's common practice, but not procedure), so I lost my chance to explain my thinking.

The first thing to make clear is that Town Green decisions are based on a pretty fixed set of legal criteria that have nothing to do with future uses, how much the land is valued by local people or the strength of feeling on either side. The key criteria in layperson's terms in this case is whether the applicants (i.e. the people who wanted the Town Green) could prove on balance of probability that the site had been used significantly for recreation throughout the 20 years prior to the application - i.e. from late 1989 onwards.

The recommendation made by officers was that new evidence had been submitted which showed that the top half couldn't have been significantly used for recreation until mid/late 1990 as it was still being converted from a landfill site to a grass field. We were asked to agree with this recommendation on the basis of the officers' judgement and the committee was provided with a short precis of the new evidence.

I went and spent two hours yesterday pouring over the full versions of the new evidence and the Inspector report. My view was that it was important and certainly undermined, to a degree, the applicants' case for 20 years of significant use. However, I did not consider that it was an irrefutable 'killer blow' and I was mindful of the applicants' contention that it was not substantively different from what was provided to the Inspector.

As a quick detour, let me explain my attitude to independent inspectors: they are not infallible. I see lots of inspector's reports on town green applications and planning applications and so on. I have seen plenty that I believe make the wrong call on the basis of the evidence and, more tellingly, I have seen a good handful of important factual and interpretive errors. Remember too, it was an independent inspector that wanted to force Bristol to take a deeply-damaging tropical biofuel plant - we fought that one all the way!

As a result, I will never be persuaded by an argument that says "you must approve X because the Inspector says so". Interestingly, I also sat on the Committee for the unsuccessful application for Castle Park to be designated as a town green. At that meeting, the applicants shouted that the inspector's report (which recommended rejection) must be ignored because it was flawed and biased and that councillors should show some spine and think for themselves. Maybe there were even some people at both meetings!

I do try to think for myself and I am not convinced that the applicants did demonstrate significant use across all 20 years, on the balance of probabilities, for the top half of the site. 18 years or so is beyond doubt as you can clearly see footpaths that have emerged by the early 1990s in the contemporary photographs. But the evidence for significant use in 1989 and 1990 is flimsy. That's my call at the moment and I know that the applicants won't like it! However, I do believe that it would have been proper to have referred this back to the Inspector for them to comment on the new evidence. I wouldn't have necessarily taken their amended view as sacrosanct, but I think it was proper to draw on their expertise again.

My preferred option, yesterday, would therefore have been to register the bottom half of the site as a town green and to refer the top half back.

I anticipate that this posting is going to attract comments and possibly some heated ones. Please remember the house rules: I won't allow anything to remain published here which may constitute libel or, frankly, which is pointlessly unpleasant. I maintain an open commenting blog, so please respect it and don't force me to start moderating.

Making green connections

2011-06-06T10:25:00.001+01:00

I'm currently sat on a bus crossing the slightly rainy Basque region and wending my way towards the regional capital of Vitoria-Gasteiz. I'm taking a couple of hours out of my holiday to meet politicians and environmental experts in the city, which has recently been awarded the status of European Green Capital for 2013.

The Green Capital is a bit like the European City of Culture award, whereby one city each year is held up as an example for others. It helps to draw attention to the good work already being done, as well as acting as a focus for future developments. Bristol is still the only UK city to be a finalist so far, though we sadly didn't win. From memory, it's Malmo this year and Nantes next.

I'm going to be finding out about some of the detailed work that Vitoria-Gasteiz is doing, especially on energy production and localised supply. Aside from learning from leading lights, it is very helpful to make a personal contact with another top city who are possible partners in future EU funding bids... in fact, we're already working something up on electric vehicles and IT systems. To get EU money, you usually have to work with at least two other countries, so international friends are very useful as well as welcome!

Sainsburys licence application

2011-05-30T12:20:00.004+01:00

Congratulations are due to the folks at Sustainable Redland for organising a very successful meeting about the growth of high street supermarkets last Thursday, particularly focusing on the plans for a new Sainsburys in the old Woolworths store on Blackboy Hill. There were over 50 people present and a lively discussion ensued.

I was relieved to escape intact after bearing the bad news that the planning system offers very scant protection against this trend, especially when the building already has permission for retail use, as in this case. I was asked to check whether there were any historic conditions on the site. Unfortunately, it appears not - it's been a shop for so long that it drifts back into the mists of time before proper planning restrictions existed. The bottom line is that Sainsburys have all the permissions they need to open their store, though they may well need additional permissions for signage, air conditioning or changes to the rear area.

They do, however, have to get permission to sell alcohol. An application is now in and it doesn't make for great reading. They are wanting permission for 7am to 11pm, seven days a week. The application reference is 11/01124/PREM and the deadline for making objections is 17th June. I was asked at the meeting about how people can object to a licence application, so I will explain in a little detail here to save me having to rewrite it in lots of e-mails.

Anyone who is affected by a licence application can object to it. There are no hard-and-fast rules about this, but it broadly means that you have to live nearby, so perhaps within 500m or so of the premises in question. Most importantly, the objection must refer to one or more of the four so-called 'licensing objectives'. These are:

the prevention of crime and disorder
public safety
the prevention of public nuisance
the protection of children from harm

The objection doesn't need to address all four and most relevant ones in this instance would probably be the first and third ones in the list above. It has to explain why the application would cause additional problems in these areas - the more specific, the better... one good argument is better than four bad ones.

One facet that might be worth considering is that there is a Cumulative Impact Zone around the lower end of Whiteladies Road. Under the new policy, premises outside the Zone can be included if you can demonstrate that the negative impact is felt within the Zone. In other words, if a decent case can be made that there will be more public nuisance around the Clifton Down area as a result of Sainsburys on Blackboy Hill, that would strengthen any objection considerably. I'm thinking this one through at the moment.

Your objection needs to be sent to the Council's Licensing Department, quoting the reference number above and most easily by e-mail: licensing@bristol.gov.uk. They will decide whether your objection is valid or not - i.e. whether you are affected and whether your objection addresses the licensing objectives. If there is at least one valid objection (as I am sure there will be), the application will be decided through a hearing at the Licensing Committee of councillors, probably in August or September. Anyone who submitted an objection is entitled to attend the hearing and to speak at it, though if there are a lot of objectors attending, a combined statement might be requested.

An interesting parallel to the Sainsburys application is that the Tesco on Stokes Croft was refused an alcohol licence by the Licensing Committee, largely due to the existing street drinking problem there. This is good evidence that the process is not just a formality, though the decision is taken on the law and evidence presented, rather than on the number of objectors. It's also worth noting that Tesco carried on with the store even without an alcohol licence, so it's not necessarily a way of blocking the store.

For me, probably the most worrying part of the Sainsburys licence application is perhaps that it quotes the store opening hours as being 24 hours, seven days a week. This isn't germain to the off licence application (which is for 7am to 11pm), but it would set a very worrying precedent for Whiteladies Road. At the moment, I can't see a particular means of preventing this, but I am also thinking this one through too.

Burglary alert in Cotham

2011-05-27T20:01:00.002+01:00

The local Police beat team have today issued a warning that there has been a recent spate of burglaries in the Arley Hill area of Cotham, which I thought it was be useful to pass on. Unfortunately, Cotham has historically been a burglary hotspot, largely due to the concentration of multiple occupancy housing which offers rich pickings. However, this has been improving rapidly due to awareness work, 'target hardening' (i.e. making houses more secure) and good old fashioned catching-the-criminals!

Anyone can sign up to the Police's e-mail alert service, which lets you know what the local Police team is up to, as well as providing information about particular crimes, appeals for witnesses and crime prevention advice. They send out a handful a week and it's generally very useful stuff.

Residents Parking - pilot period approaching

2011-05-22T10:54:00.003+01:00

The Kingsdown Residents Parking Zone (RPZ) became operational on the 4th January, so we are now approaching the end of the six month pilot period.

As part of the six month review, the Council is writing to both (a) people living within the RPZ - this letter was sent last week, and (b) people living nearby, broadly including the area in Cotham south of the railway line - this letter is being sent next week. Both letters invite feedback about how parking and other road issues have developed since the RPZ was installed, with a view to informing the review as to whether there are things that can be done to improve how the RPZ works.

Anthony and I have been collecting feedback from Cotham residents throughout the last five months and the general pattern (with exceptions) is that those living inside the RPZ are very happy with it, with parking easier and the streets being safer and more pleasant. There also appears to be growing enthusiasm for the RPZ for those living outside it, where residents have been able to see the difference that it has made to their neighbours on the other side of Cotham Road/Brow.

However, we are also aware that the RPZ has, as we predicted, had a negative knock-on effect on the surrounding areas. We know that parking there has become more difficult and that there are problems both with illegal parking and 'circling', where drivers meander around looking for spaces. The problems have been particularly bad for people who are at home during the daytime, including young parents and older people. We also know that a proportion of people living inside the RPZ have been parking outside of it either because they can't get a permit or to avoid the cost.

Anecdotally, things seem to have improved somewhat in recent weeks. This could be the onset of summer, commuters finally getting around to finding alternative routes into work or people being deterred by better enforcement from the Police and the Council wardens. The Council will be better able to assess this when the feedback from residents comes in.

Based on the informal feedback that we've had so far and on our own assessment, Anthony and I are going to be pushing for a number of changes:

An increase in the number of permits that each house can get, to cut the phenomenon of people parking outside the RPZ and/or driving to work where they didn't previously.
Add a scheme whereby commuting key workers (e.g. nurses) are able to get permits if they are working shifts that overlap with the RPZ hours and into the night.
Reduce the operational hours, to allow more of the day to be free for incoming visitors - or, at least, to resist any extension in the hours, which some residents are asking for.
To make more visitor permits available to each household, especially for those people who organise community activities (e.g. mothers groups, book clubs) in their own homes.
For the Council to have another round of discussions with the major employers around Kingsdown (e.g. the BRI, the BBC and the University) to see what can be done to encourage their employees not to drive and not to park in residential streets.
To identify a number of unnecessary yellow lines that could be removed in order to create more parking space.

Any other ideas are most welcome and we'll happily put them into the mix. Alternatively, you can e-mail the Council directly on respark@bristol.gov.uk.

Cotham Forum and Sainsburys meeting

2011-05-21T18:51:00.003+01:00

It's a double bill of public meetings this coming Thursday 26th May!

The Cotham Forum is at 7pm at the Tyndale Baptist Church Hall on Whiteladies Road (around the Imperial Road side). Anthony will be chairing this one and the 'theme' for the meeting will be parking and parking enforcement. For more information about the Forum, see the Bishopston, Cotham and Redland Neighbourhood Partnership website. It's an open meeting and all are welcome to come along.
Sustainable Redland have organised a meeting to discuss the plans for a new Sainsburys supermarket to open in the old Woolworths on Blackboy Hill. The meeting is at 7.30pm at the Redland Park URC Church (junction of Redland Park and Whiteladies Road). I'll be going along to this one to talk about planning law and what can and can't be done to stop the spread of supermarkets along our high streets. Again, it's an open meeting.

On the latter topic, Sainsburys are apparently going to be writing to local people to outline their plans. As the building is already designated for retail use, they do not need planning permission, though they may need permission for signage or any other external changes that they might want to make. I also understand that they have also applied for an off licence, but I haven't seen the details yet - they should be available next week.

New arts venue for Whiteladies Road?

2011-05-15T13:03:00.003+01:00

Back and blogging after my usual election hiatus!

I met this week with the person who is currently campaigning to bring the old ABC cinema on Whiteladies Road (pictured here with Clifton East councillors Simon Cook and Christian Martin outside as I don't have a picture of me!) back into use.

The idea is to turn it into a multi-arts centre, based around a medium-sized theatre, with the opportunity to accommodate cinema, dance, comedy, music and visual arts. It all sounds great to me and they are aware of the issues with operating in a residential area, which is a good starting point.

The campaign has assembled an impressive collection of trustees and they are just in the process of setting up as a charity and getting together building plans to go with the outline business plan that they've put together. I have told them that I am supportive and that I'll help where I can, but that they have a mountain to climb to get together the money to resurrect the Grade II listed building!

They have a Facebook campaign group and if you want to get in touch to offer support or advice, their e-mail is mail@whiteladies-picturehouse.com.

New crossing fully functioning!

2011-04-01T20:00:00.002+01:00

Delighted to report that the new pedestrian crossing on Cotham Road is now operational.

Councillor Alex Woodman and I went along for a brief opening ceremony with students from Cotham School, their Headteacher and the chair of the Neighbourhood Partnership. Ribbons were cut - but, sadly, no-one from the Evening Post came along to record the moment or the work that the students and others had put into getting the crossing installed.

Anyway, it was great to see the crossing being used by 'real people' - a dozen or so in the 20 minutes that we were there - proving that it is indeed in a useful place for students at the school and local residents alike. Alex and I are both really pleased to see the Neighbourhood Partnership idea working in practice and pleased to have helped by securing the necessary funds.

New road safety schemes secured

2011-03-26T16:03:00.004Z

I'm pleased to report that the Neighbourhood Partnership meeting on Thursday night yielded agreement that two new road safety schemes in Cotham that Anthony and I have been pushing can go ahead - one at a slightly different speed from the other. They result in part from the Cotham Parking Review, in that they are junctions which need work beyond simply putting down yellow lines to stop parking.

Junction of Elgin Park and Lower Redland Road. £10,000 has been allocated for changes. The current plan is to change the priority of the junction to make a right turn at the end of Elgin Park and up towards Chapel Green Lane the through route. This would enable Lower Redland Road to be narrowed to the left of Elgin Park to give a new pedestrian crossing point. This would help to address the problem of cars coming out of Elgin Park without looking to the left and the problem of pedestrians trying to cross a wide and relatively fast road.

Junction of Cotham Grove, Archfield Road and Cotham Brow. This is a similar problem, but an even more knotty one. The three roads pretty much converge on a single point. The through route is Archfield Road, yet the majority of traffic (including the bus route) runs along Cotham Grove instead. This causes confusion for all road users and pedestrians. The issue is heightened by the presence of a nursery on the junction, with parents dropping off and picking up children and often not particularly safely. There are a number of different possible improvements, so £3,000 has been allocated to do a feasibility study in conjunction with local residents. If there is a way forwards that suits most people, it should be implemented in 2012/13. My preference at the moment is to change the priority to put a Give Way across Archfield Road where pedestrians can cross more easily, but there are other ideas around too.

Two other schemes were deferred for possible funding in 2012/13. The first was to come up with a one-way system on the network of roads between Waverley Road and Ravenswood Road. There was disgreement at the meeting between residents on the desirability of this and we agreed to review once the yellow lines have gone in from the Parking Review. One way systems can have the impact of increasing speeds and decreasing safety, so they are not a commitment to enter into lightly. The second was to add a new pedestrian crossing on Redland Grove, either near the station (now that it's being used much more) or closer to the junction with Redland Road.

One big frustration that I have with the delegation of the traffic budgets from the Council to Neighbourhood Partnerships is that we aren't allowed to move money between the various budget headings. This was brought home to me as we have been allocated £25,000 for road schemes (including improving pedestrian safety), but £66,000 for resurfacing pavements (this is above and beyond another fund for fixing trip hazards).

I think there is something wrong with a system where you have nearly three times as much money for retarmacking pavements, whether they need it or not, than you do for saving lives! Councillor Bev Knott, who is responsible for the whole Neighbourhood Partnership policy, agreed to look into this for future years. In any case, Chandos Road will soon be getting a nice new pavement!

Supporting the Tyndale Circle

2011-03-25T14:32:00.003Z

I had one of the rare completely pleasant experiences of being a councillor yesterday when I visited the Tyndale Circle Day Centre to give them a grant cheque.

The Tyndale Circle is a volunteer-run organisation for people suffering from memory loss. They run a weekly day of fun and mentally stimulating activities for around 15 people. They are based at the Tyndale Baptist Church on Whiteladies Road.

The grant for just under £3,000 was from the Redland, Cotham & Bishopston Neighbourhood Partnership and it was to cover four new chairs to keep the members safe and comfy, as well as a travel grant to help those who are less well off to get taxis to and from the Day Centre. I helped them to get the money in a small way by remembering to let them know when the grant scheme was announced.

I was made to feel very welcome indeed, though I am still sore at losing at armchair basketball to a couple of ladies in their 70s and 80s!

March's licensing update

2011-03-17T17:17:00.002Z

Long day, today, but before I slink off for a snooze and an evening of work, a quick note on the outcome of the two licensing hearings for premises in Cotham:

Fishminster (fish and chip shop on Whiteladies Road opposite Sainsbury's) had been asking to open until 3am every night. They have been allowed to open as a take away until 12 midnight and to serve alcohol to people eating within the restaurant only.

Clifton Mini Mart (convenience store on Cotham Hill) had been asking for an alcohol off-licence for varying times, but until 4am at the weekends. They came back with a revised offer of 12.30pm at the weekends and midnight in the rest of the week, but they've been granted 10pm.

I think I've got the details right - I wasn't in the room to hear either discussion as I've been dotting between meetings all day. Local residents seem generally pleased with the outcomes and feel that they are reasonable compromises that won't worsen noise and other problems too much.

Green Investment Bank to come to Bristol?

2011-03-16T10:01:00.003Z

I have been doing quite a bit of lobbying behind the scenes for the proposed new £1bn Green Investment Bank to be located in Bristol. The Council has written formally to Secretary of State Chris Huhne, as have other key players in the city like the Green Capital Momentum Group and Low Carbon South West. I raised it with him when he visited Bristol a couple of weeks back.

We had some good news last week, with Chris coming back to us with some encouraging words:

"Many details of the design and scope of the Green Investment Bank remain to be worked out, and we are some way from taking any decisions on its location. Clearly, it needs to be based somewhere with good connections with the financial services industry and a strong reputation for environmental innovation and the development of low-carbon technologies. Bristol would obviously be a strong contender."

We know that there other cities like Edinburgh and Leeds in the running, but I'll be continuing to keep the pressure on in the coming months.

The Green Investment Bank will be a new financial powerhouse for investing in large-scale renewable energy projects throughout the UK. It's a great step forwards wherever it is sited, but the host city will get a boost with new jobs and it would be likely to attract other organisations in to be nearby. It would be great if it could be Bristol!

Cotham Road crossing - work starts

2011-03-15T09:00:00.003Z

Very pleased to report that work started yesterday on the new zebra crossing on Cotham Road, next to the new entrance to Cotham School.

This is something that I've been working on for about a year: establishing the need, working with campaigners (including the school students) and then getting together the money. It was delayed for a couple of months by the snow, so delighted that there are now holes in the ground and diggers being used when I popped by this morning.

I'm not sure how long it is going to take to get it finished - the signs warn about disruption for two weeks from 14th March, but I guess they are being overly cautious. But maybe it does take two weeks - certainly zebra crossing are more expensive beasts than I thought they were!

UPDATE: Fully operational as from 24th March!

Cotham Hill redesign - outline plan available

2011-03-11T15:44:00.002Z

Following the meeting about changes to the layout of Cotham Hill, the traffic engineers have now released an indicative plan for people to look at and comment upon.

If you click on the small image to the left, you should get a larger version that will be easier to read and understand. If this isn't good enough quality or if you want something that you can send on to other people, drop me a e-mail (neil.harrison@bristol.gov.uk) and I'll send you a PDF copy.

There is a still a chance to comment on these plans, but work will be starting in the not-too-distant future - around May or June, I believe. One thing that I am still pushing for is a marked right-turn lane into Cotham Hill from Whiteladies Road; the engineers say that the road is slightly too narrow to do this within the guidelines, but I have pointed out that guidelines are meant to be broken!

There is still lots of opportunity for input into the use of the new pavement area outside Chandos Deli and Dominos. The general view from the meeting was that it should be kept as a public area without too much clutter, but protected by bollards with a tree or too. Sounds good to me, but if you have other thoughts, then let me know.

An energetic morning

2011-03-10T18:06:00.004Z

It was an 'energetic' morning for me today. First up, a live interview on Ujima FM (the community-based radio station in St Pauls) talking about sustainable energy and specifically the Council's new Energy Catalyst Fund, along with Bridget from the Centre for Sustainable Energy. We were made to feel very welcome by Julius the DJ, who does a regular Thursday slot on environmental matters. I'm looking forwards to taking advantage of his offer to go back again at some point to talk about other things.

Second up, I was over in St George for the 'opening' of the new solar PV array on Summerhill Infant School. This is the first part of the Council's new £1 million programme to equip 80 of the city's schools with solar panels to save them money and to cut their carbon footprint. All schools in the city will shortly be getting a letter with details of the scheme asking for more volunteers - Summerhill have been banging on the door for quite a while now, so hopefully there will be lots of others interested. As you can see from the rather windblown picture above, it wasn't the best day to be talking about solar power! Not the most flattering picture anyway, thanks to Councillor Tony Potter and his struggles with the camera on my phone!

And finally, today saw the announcement of the Renewable Heat Incentive which will provide householders with a subsidy for using renewable sources of energy for heating - similar to the Feed-In Tariffs for electricity production. This will cover things like thermal solar panels and woodchip boilers.

Landfill-free Bristol by 2014

2011-03-07T19:19:00.004Z

My Lib Dem colleague Councillor Gary Hopkins announced today Bristol will stop sending domestic rubbish to landfill sites within the next three years. This is obviously fantastic news and the love will be spread to the neighbouring council areas too.

From June, about half of Bristol's waste will go to a mechanical biological treatment plant that has just been built in Avonmouth. This effectively sorts the waste that's in black bins using clever things like magnets and airblowers to get more recyclables out. It is then pushed through a composter, producing a renewable fuel source and compost as the two outputs.

The other half is going to landfilled for two years while a second plant is built - this time just a materials recovery facility, which is effectively the same as the first stage described above. Once this is online, anything that can't be recovered will be turned into renewable fuel for the pyrolysis plant that recently got planning permission. I think I heard that they will even dig up the two years' worth of landfill and process that retrospectively!

I hope you followed all that! I should have prefaced the explanation with a big "As I understand it...". Waste isn't my area of responsibility and the new green tech that's being used is a lot more scientifically complex than the old options of burn it or stick it in the ground. So, apologies if I've got any of the details mangled, but the basic story is sound: landfill-free by 2014.

Waste is rarely sexy, but this is great news and Gary deserves a lot of credit for pushing this through against all the 'easy' options and for bringing our neighbours with us. Bristol will be one of the first, if not the first, major UK city to be free from landfill and incineration, with the additional outputs of more recycling, free compost and renewable energy production - and with less cost to the taxpayer and less pollution. It puts Bristol firmly at the green cutting edge.

(An irony is that this will have no impact on our official carbon footprint as waste disposal is not included in the calculation. It might not help us to meet the 40% carbon cut target that we've adopted, but in the real world, this will save vast amounts of carbon and methane.)

Two years ago, Labour were thrown out of running the city after the Tories finally switched sides and voted them down due to their bullish plans to build a dirty and expensive PFI incinerator. I remember the shroud waving so well... apparently we had to build an incinerator and burn all the city's waste on a big bonfire or Bristol would be in awful trouble and go bust through landfill taxes and various other vague threats. Today has finally proved them wrong.

Giving us back the banks

2011-03-07T18:55:00.003Z

A short posting to draw attention to the proposal from Bristol West MP Stephen Williams to give the government's shareholding in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds to every adult in the UK. This was published today and has had a lot of press coverage - e.g. the Guardian and the BBC.

The idea is to avoid the shares being sold on the open market and just snapped up by big investors. Instead, everyone would get a share whcih they could either keep or sell on, but with their proportion of the £66bn bail-out cost going back to the government. It seems like a pretty radical idea to me and certainly worthy of some more thought.

New tickets, new ticket machines

2011-03-03T17:21:00.006Z

A couple of bits of public transport good news to report:

FirstBus (of whom regular readers will know I am not the biggest fan) have changed their pricing structure for short trips, much to the advantage of people in Cotham. They have changed their old Two-Stop Hops to Three-Stop Hops. On the the routes down Whiteladies Road, this means that for £1 you can get on at Burlington Road (my stop) and go to Clifton Triangle or get on at Clifton Down and go to College Green. And obviously vice versa too, dropping the price of an off-peak return from £2.70 to £2. It's still too pricey for a one mile journey, but it's a good step in the right direction.
The Council have paid for ticket machines to be installed at Clifton Down and Redland train stations (see photo of me and Anthony cuddling one!). They aren't completely ideal as you can only use cash and they only sell tickets for the Severn Beach Line, not onward journeys. I'm chuffed about this as I am sick of not being able to get a ticket on the train (as the guard is too busy or can't be bothered) and having to queue for ages at the excess fares desk at Temple Meads. At least now I can get to Temple Meads legally and then go out to the ticket machines there to do the second part of the trip. As I say, not ideal, but ten times better! Now First Great Western need to get their fingers out and start checking tickets and collecting money from people who want to travel.

All change at the Police!

2011-03-03T16:59:00.004Z

The news was released recently that the enquiries office at Redland Police Station will be closing from April 2011.

This is clearly bad news, although the reality is that the reason for the Police taking this step is that it is not well used. The number of visitors averages three or four a day and these are nearly all for lost property. The growth of e-mail and the web means that very few people want to visit a police station.

Anthony and I have met with the local inspector and sergeant to ensure firstly that there won't be any loss of actual services, and secondly that this isn't the thin end of the wedge towards loss of the station itself. We're happy to say that our minds were largely put to rest on both points.

Residents will still be able to visit Redland Police Station, either by appointment or by using the telephone next to the front door (you can see in the photo right) and asking someone to come out and see them. Alternatively, the local beat team will be happy to visit people at home or at work. This all sounds pretty good, but Anthony and I have written formally to Superintendent Julian Moss to get confirmation and to ensure that local residents are made fully aware of how to access the Police if they need to. To stress, we are assured that there are no plans to close the station - just the enquiries office.

Meanwhile, our local Cotham police team is changing again. PC Dave Gill is off to a new role in Southmead, while PCSO Nadine Horton is off to Redland. Replacing them are PC Ben Vokins and PCSO Becky Richards. So, goodbye and good luck to Dave and Nadine and welcome to Ben and Becky!

Draft advertising board policy launched

2011-03-03T16:46:00.004Z

The Council has today launched a consultation on its new draft policy for advertising boards (or A-boards) on the pavement. This is something that I've been pushing for over the last year or so as a result of campaigning with local disabled people to help them to get around more easily. It's also the first practical outcome from the work that I've been doing to develop a walking strategy for the city.

The rules are pretty straightforwards: all businesses will be allowed one A-board of a maximum of 80cm in height and 50cm in width, provided this still allows at least 1.8m (about 6 feet in old money) of pavement for pedestrians - enough for a motorised wheelchair or a double buggy. If they use more or ones that are too large, they risk having them removed by the Council or a Police Community Support Officer.

I think this is a pretty good compromise between the needs of business (especially small businesses) to promote themselves and the rights of people to use the pavement safely and easily - especially disabled people or those with children in tow.

The draft policy is now out for consultation and you can see the full document on the Council's website.

UPDATE : Thanks to Alison and Roger at RCAS who pointed out that 1.8m is six foot and not five foot as I'd originally said!

Community energy co-ops fund launched

2011-02-24T15:18:00.003Z

In a bit of hurry this afternoon, so you'll have to put up with a cut-and-pasted press release about the new fund (Energy Catalyst Fund) that the Council has launched to help community groups to set up cooperatives to generate renewable energy. This is something that I proposed and helped to come to fruition, so very happy to report it here:

Council’s £50,000 fund to help communities generate their own energy

Bristol City Council is launching a new £50,000 fund to help communities get their renewable energy projects off the ground.

The Bristol Community Energy Catalyst Fund will provide up to £15,000 per project to enable community projects to go from just a great idea to a successful working enterprise.

Assistant cabinet member for sustainability, Councillor Neil Harrison, said: “We are committed to improving the carbon efficiency of the city, and have set ambitious targets to cut emissions by 40% by 2020. We are investing in renewable energy as a key part of this.

“We know that communities across the city want to reduce their energy costs and develop their own renewable energy, but they need help to get their projects off the ground. Whether it’s solar panels, biomass boilers or an energy saving programme, the Catalyst Fund can help them get through the key business development hurdles such as feasibility and legal documentation. The Council hopes that with small amounts of early funding it can enable communities to secure the capital investment they need to realise their projects.”

Projects supported by the Catalyst Fund will be treated as ‘open source’, meaning that any developed ‘products’ – such as market research or feasibility studies – will be made available to help other community organisations. The funding awards will be treated as an investment in the project which they should aim to repay over the course of their project, allowing the fund to be steadily replenished to help fund more community projects in the future.

The Catalyst Fund is just one of the ways in which the Council can help community energy projects. The Council wants to hear from community groups about what they are doing and ways in which the council can help them.

Two workshops to find more about the fund are being held on Wednesday 2nd March, 8.30-9.30pm, at Hamilton House, Stokes Croft and Thursday 10th March, 6-8pm at the Create Centre.

Bristol-based charity, the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) will be administering the fund and running the workshops.

The Catalyst Fund will be open to applications from mid-February, with the selection process and awards of funding being decided mid-March – so groups won’t have to wait long to find out if their application has been successful. Interested applicants can register their interest now by emailing bridget.newbery@cse.org.uk.

To find out more about the Catalyst Fund or book a place on the workshops, go to www.cse.org.uk/bristolcommunityenergy.

Public meeting - changes to Cotham Hill

2011-02-16T13:11:00.003Z

A quick note to announce that there will be public meeting on Thursday 24th February at 7pm in Tyndale Baptist Church Hall (to the right of the church, abutting Imperial Road) to discuss possible radical changes to the Cotham Hill junction.

The plans are part of the scheme to improve the bus route along Whiteladies Road, as well as making improvements, where possible, for pedestrians and cyclists - and maybe even for drivers too!

The consultation that took place late last year threw up lost of objection to the proposals that were originally made, so the traffic engineers have been beavering away to come up with a different approach. I think, at first look, that the new ideas work much better, but the purpose of the public meeting is to give residents a chance to have another look and see what they think. I don't have a map yet, but I'll post it here when I do.

All residents are welcome. The only caveat is that we will be restricting discussions to the Cotham Hill remodelling only - there are likely to be separate meetings about other parts of the Whiteladies GBBN scheme.

Pyhrric victory for biofuel plant?

2011-02-12T13:05:00.006Z

Yesterday started off with what seemed to be very bad news. Tory Secretary of State for Communities, Eric Pickles MP, had accepted the appeal from W4B to allow them to build a 50MW power plant at Avonmouth, fuelled by tropical biofuels like palm oil. However, as the day wore on, I came to realise that the full detail of the decision letter wasn't all bad news - and, in fact, there is some quite good news in there for Bristol and also the rest of the UK.

The headline bad news first: W4B were given permission to build their plant, which, it is estimated, will need a plantation about six times the size of Bristol to feed, probably on former rainforest in Indonesia. This will produce renewable energy and therefore attract very lucrative government subsidies in the form of Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs). I and other campaigners have argued that while undoubtedly renewable, it is not sustainable or ethical.

The good news part one: Pickles ruled that the sustainability of tropical biofuels is a 'material consideration' in planning decisions - in other words, it can be taken into account. This was the argument that I proposed at the planning meeting that rejected the application, and which the committee (and especially Councillors Woodman and Breckels) agreed with. In making this ruling, he overruled his own Inspector who backed W4B's argument that the term 'natural environment' only applied to Bristol. This ruling will make it easier for campaigners to fight tropical biofuel plants elsewhere in the UK.

The good news part two: Pickles only gave planning permission subject to W4B being bound to use only fuel sources that meet the sustainability criteria in the 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED). This is a far-from-perfect document in many ways (limited in scope, questionnable calculations, based on self-declaration and so on), but it does prevent the operators from using the worst sorts of cheap and nasty fuel from the metaphorical 'back of a lorry' (e.g. illegally deforested areas).

The good news part three: By doing one and two above, Pickles has effectively bound the use of tropical biofuels in the UK to the ROC system. The RED forbids national governments from setting tougher sustainability standards for fuels than contained in the RED itself, so Pickles couldn't have simply banned them on his own sustainability grounds - the Germans tried this and got stopped. However, ROCs are a UK government subsidy for stimulating the renewables market and they can set their own rules for eligibility for ROCs, including potentially withdrawing them completely for tropical biofuels, like the Dutch have. Maybe, just maybe, Pickles decision is a prelude to an announcement from Lib Dem Chris Huhne MP - Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the department that runs ROCs.

The good news part four: Pickles overruled his Inspector again (a bad day for him, for sure!) and ruled that the Council acted 'reasonably' in refusing the application. The word 'reasonably' has an important meaning in planning law and it effectively means that, "you got the answer wrong, but you weren't ignoring the rules or being arbitrary." Not only is this vindication for the Council's decision to defend the appeal, but it means that the Council won't be saddled with W4B's legal costs, bless them!

The decision, while certainly disappointing and a setback, makes the future campaign much clearer: I and the other campaigners will be putting pressure on Chris Huhne to axe ROCs for tropical biofuels, which would almost certainly make these plants go away, especially if they are banned from using dodgy fuel sources. The ROCs for biofuels were intended to be for waste chipfat, not for importing millions of gallons of palm oil from East Asia. I hope that Chris will see sense!

I have an increasing sense that this decision is a Pyhrric victory for W4B. Will they really want to pour millions into a project were there is still so much uncertainty, with a fairly good chance that the ROC rules will change - or maybe even the RED will? They will need to operate the plant for maybe 20 years to recoup their investment, so can they be sure that the ground won't fall apart beneath them? I should imagine that they're having a long, hard think just now...

Decision expected on biofuel plant

2011-02-10T13:26:00.003Z

Today is the today planned for the decision by the Secretary of State on planning permission for the massive proposed tropical biofuel plant at Avonmouth. This was rejected by Bristol's planning committee a year ago (with Lib Dems and one Labour councillor voting against), but the wannabe operators, W4B, have taken it through a massively expensive public appeal. At very least, I am proud of having helped to delay this dreadful project for a year. Hopefully Eric Pickles will have the good sense to kill it dead and to change the rules to stop these sorts of plants emerging - they use massive subsidies intended for reusing chip fat that were misguidedly implemented by the last government. If you're unsure about why this approach is such a bad idea, there is a useful piece to put this in context on George Monbiot's Guardian blog.

Speed sign on Hampton Road

2011-02-09T13:40:00.002Z

Anthony and I met this morning with the traffic engineers about our campaign to get a 'new' vehicle activated speed sign on Hampton Road near to the junction with Abbotsford Road.

I say 'new', as the agreement that we've brokered is to move the one that's currently on Cotham Road and which needs to be removed as the zebra crossing is built (see below). This would seem to be a really good solution and we're told that it will move across in the next few weeks.

The stretch of Hampton Road that it will serve will be the one heading north from the mini-roundabout as you approach the zebra crossing near Warwick Road. This is an area where speeding is common and where Anthony collected a petition of many dozens of signatures in favour of measures to slow things down.

P.S. The other good news from this morning is that work is planned to start on installing the Cotham Road zebra crossing in two weeks time.

Shattered dreams!

2011-02-09T13:24:00.002Z

Alas and alack... I didn't get the award for Sustainability Champion of the Year! Very nice to be shortlisted nonetheless. It's also been pointed out to me that the other four people were all full cabinet members and so have much more power than a lowly assistant like me. Hopefully 2011 will be another great year for sustainability in Bristol and we can have another bash next year.

Two new licensing applications

2011-02-08T09:55:00.002Z

In the relentless march of new licensing applications, two more have hoved into view in the last few weeks:

Clifton Mini Mart (formerly Benny's Chicken) at 12 Cotham Hill have applied for an off-licence until 2am on Sundays, 4am on Fridays and Saturdays and 3am the rest of the week. It's case number 10/06287/PREM and you can object to (or support) the application until 21st February.
Fishminster (formerly Flipper) at 133 Whiteladies Road (opposite Clifton Down station) have applied for a late night food licence until 3.30am on Fridays and Saturday, 1am on Mondays and 3am the rest of the week, as well as alcohol sales until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and 11pm the rest of the week. It's case number 10/06240/PREM and you can object to (or support) the application until 17th February.

In both instances, you can register your views by e-mail licensing@bristol.gov.uk. If you are objecting, remember to refer to one or more of the four 'licensing objectives'.

Spot the difference!

2011-02-07T19:34:00.002Z

People sometimes say that there is no real difference between the political parties, but today threw up one of the little examples that shows where those differences exist.

It was a meeting of the Corporate Parenting Panel, discussing how the Council looks after young people in the care system. The matter at hand was the Council piloting a new approach to delivering support and services, by allowing groups of social workers to set up outside the framework of the council - a bit like a GP surgery. The theory is that without the constraints of being inside the Council, the social workers can offer objectively better services for less money. It's part of a national scheme and four other councils are already trying it out.

The Corporate Parenting Panel is a 'voluntary' committee which has no political power or kudos, so all the people there are there because they genuinely care about the 650 or so young people who the Council has responsibility for. It is important to say this for context: anything that was said, was said in the context of trying to do the best thing for the young people.

Labour councillor Derek Pickup waded into a long and passionate exposition of why the pilot scheme was completely wrong. He believed that the Council knows best and that it needs to keep complete control over services and support for children in care. He believed that an independent organisation, even a voluntary one linked closely to the Council, couldn't be trusted to get things right.

With respect (and I'm not having a go at Derek), I think he's wrong. I think business-is-usual is just as risky as looking at alternatives. Events like the Baby P case have demonstrated that councils can't always be trusted to get things right, whatever the intentions of the people involved. If Bristol can offer a better deal to young people, then I think that we have a duty to look into it, with all the checks and balances that are possible put in place. And I guess that's a real political difference.

(Interestingly, one of the non-councillor members of the Panel argued that the pilot was the wrong thing to do because it would offer better services and support to those covered by the pilot compared to the majority of young people in care. I think he was wrong too - sometimes you have to have short-term unfairness to create long-term improvements and fairness.)

A new carbon tax - who nicked our recycled money?

2011-02-02T16:55:00.003Z

One of the facets of the Energy Bill that is wending its way through Parliament at the moment is that the "Carbon Reduction Commitment" (CRC) is going to be simplified from that introduced by the previous government last year.

Trying to explain the old CRC to the 'person on the street' is not the easiest task and I have seen many eyes glazing over. Crudely, it is a legal requirement on big organisations (including councils) to buy credits for the carbon that they emit, starting in July 2011. The amount by which emissions were reduced each year would then be used to construct a league table and the money paid for the credits would then be recycled back to the organisations according to their position on the league table. So, the good boys and girls would not only get their own money back, but they would also get some of the bad boys and girls' money too. Sort of - and I'm never sure I get it completely.

What the Energy Bill does is to ditch the recycling, effectively turning the CRC into a simple Carbon Tax in which everyone loses. This sounds like bad news, but the more I reflect on it, the more I think it's actually good.

The headline bad news is that Bristol City Council will probably have to pay something like £750,000 in the first year, based on £12/ton of carbon. In the old scheme, we would have got some or all or more of this back depending on where we came in the league table. Now we'll get nothing. The money will be going into national carbon reduction work - probably carbon capture and storage projects.

And this is the first 'good' news. The league table was unlikely to do Bristol City Council many favours. Firstly, it was based largely on annual carbon reduction and this favours the laggards who've done little or nothing in the past. Given our long-standing commitment in this area, we've already (to use a much hated phrase) picked the low-hanging fruit - we've done the simple stuff that cuts lots of carbon for little money. Basically, the more you cut, the harder the next cut is, so the system would have favoured 'dirty' councils and companies.

Secondly, it takes councils a long time to do things - even good councils. We have to consult and do legal checks and go through procurement procedures. In contrast, companies can act much quicker as they don't need to go through the same red tape. The net result is that I would have expected to find most councils in the bottom half of the table and this would have meant that our taxpayers' money could have been recycled to fleet-of-foot and deep-pocketed multinationals like Tesco.

So, my best guess is that we wouldn't have done particularly well out of the recycling system - we'd have got some cash back, but the most would have gone to reward people cutting carbon for the first time or those able to throw quick money at it. I don't think we'd have been winners, though I think we'd have done ok compared to other councils.

The big 'good news', however, is the certainty of a tax. It means you can plan. It was very difficult to get people's head around the old system - "we have to give them money and then they might give some of it back and maybe more" isn't a good basis for building financial models and doesn't make sense to accountants. Now we know pretty much exactly what CRC will cost the Council and we can factor it into things.

This is a good thing because it, for the first time, means that we can 'cost' a carbon reduction. For example, if there is a possible project that will cut 800 tons of carbon next year, it makes complete financial sense to spend anything up to £10,000 on doing it, because we'd save that in tax at £12/ton. At the moment, we have to mess around with projections of energy savings and this is messy because energy prices are unpredictable.

Where this will be particularly useful is in schools. Around £350,000 of the Council's bill will be derived from schools who contribute 40% (and rising) of the total carbon. Because schools are largely independent entities these days, there is no means of passing the tax onto the schools, even if someone wanted to - it's the Council's problem. What the new CRC system does is give the Council a financially compelling reason to proactively do things to school buildings to save carbon. Previously, the lack of clarity made this very difficult to justify as the cost saving was practically impossible to calculate with any certainty.

I hope this made some sense - I can almost hear people glazing over even through the internet!

Bridge Valley Road to reopen

2011-01-28T10:07:00.003Z

Not in Cotham, but an issue that I've had a few enquiries about from local people. Bridge Valley Road (which connects from the Downs down to the Portway) will reopen in June after the emergency works to make it safe have been concluded. This BBC report has more details.

Sustainability Champion of the Year?

2011-01-26T16:16:00.002Z

I found out a couple of weeks ago that I've been shortlisted for an award as "Sustainability Champion of the Year". The awards are run by the Local Government Information Unit, which is a national organisation that promotes local government and supports councillors. I am very touched to have been nominated by my colleagues and a bit chuffed to have got onto a national shortlist of five people.

I see this is a symbol of the progress that Bristol is making as a city on sustainability issues and it's as much a reflection of the work of council officers as my own. We are now seen as one of the top handful of cities in the country and we're pushing our way onto the European scene too. That doesn't mean that there is not still a massive amount left to do.

I'll find out whether I've won on 8th February - keep your fingers crossed for me!

National quiz comes to Cotham (almost)

2011-01-26T15:57:00.004Z

One of my big hobbies is doing quizzes. Aside from my regular Monday night fixture at the Kingsdown Vaults, I also participate in a rolling national tournament operated by the British Quiz Association which visits a different location around the UK each month.

I am pleased to say that I have arranged for the February event to be held at Cotham Parish Church Hall (which, for pedants like Councillors Wright and Woodman, is just over the road in Cabot Ward). It is on Saturday 5th February. It is an open event and all quiz enthusiasts are most welcome - the cost for newcomers is £10, which covers an individual quiz in the morning, a randomly allocated team event in the afternoon and some informal quizzes in the evening, plus some lunch. The standard is pretty high and you'll be pitting your wits against people like Kevin Ashman and Pat Gibson from TV's Eggheads - needless to say, I don't come close to winning!

If you fancy coming along, you'll need to book in advance as numbers are limited to around 60. Drop the organisers a line at quizzes@quizzing.co.uk or via their Facebook page.

Parking issues around Archfield Road

2011-01-26T15:44:00.002Z

With the Kingsdown residents parking zone now in and operational, some of the teething problems are coming to light for me and my colleagues to try to resolve. There has been some over-zealous yellow lining which will be coming out in due course and still some work to reduce unnecessary signage. Most of this is in Cabot Ward, but there is a tiny sliver in my patch too.

More pressing from my perspective is that some of the commuter parking that used to focus on Kingsdown has now been displaced into the area north of Cotham Road. This was inevitable to some extent; sadly when you solve a problem for one group of people, it often means making things worse for others, at least in the short-term. The particular problem is that frustrated motorists are leaving their cars parked dangerously or inconsiderately, especially around Archfield Road.

Part of 'the deal' that I brokered with regard to the Kingsdown scheme was that this area would get additional attention from the civil enforcement officers (aka traffic wardens). This is indeed happening, and twenty or so cars have been ticketed in the last three weeks for parking offences. I spoke with one of the parking team managers earlier and he is going to increase the number of patrols for the next while. I have also contacted the Police about reports of people blocking the pavement completely and hopefully they will look into this. If anyone sees this happen, please do contact the Police directly as cars causing an obstruction can be removed.

My feeling is that things will settle down quite quickly as commuters come to learn where they can and cannot park. Hopefully they will also have a think about whether they really need to drive to work or whether there are other options that might work for them. The Cotham Parking Review will also help by providing visual clues in the form of yellow lines on corners and junctions.

Hydrogen ferry sets sail

2011-01-22T11:57:00.003Z

Nearly a year ago, I posted an article about plans to develop and build a hydrogen powered passenger ferry for Bristol harbour. Yesterday the announcement was made that the project is going ahead and work is now starting.

The ferry will be built and operated by a consortium of Bristol companies (Auriga Energy, No 7 Boats and Bristol Packet) and a hydrogen gas supplier (Air Products). They have been funded by the Council to build the ferry and operate it for an initial period of six months - though the intention is very much that it will continue on after this period. The ferry, which is being built locally, should be in the water around June or July. It will be the first hydrogen passenger ferry in the UK, though there are a few in other cities - the pic is of the one in Hamburg.

Hydrogen has the advantage that its only by-product is water. This means that it has the potential to offer an alternative to fossil fuels in a range of transport applications. The big challenge is producing hydrogen cheaply and renewably, as well as overcoming some residual public fears around safety. The 'big picture' aim of the hydrogen ferry is to act as a catalyst for a hydrogen economy in Bristol, encouraging innovation and looking at new possible ways of using it. Also, given new EU emissions regulations and the number of different ferries in the UK, there is a strong potential for opening up a new ecotech sector in Bristol, providing new jobs and sustainable growth.

Other cities are also doing their own thing with hydrogen. Leicester has hired a fleet of hydrogen cars, while London is planning to use hydrogen buses as part of their Olympics transport plan. There is even a hydrogen tractor being developed in Essex, I read a while back! The great thing about the ferry is that it plays to Bristol's long tradition of maritime innovation - the spirit of Brunel and all that...

This is a project that I've spent a long time promoting and working on, back from a few years ago when I chaired the Sustainable Travel Select Committee. I am delighted that we've got to the point of signing off and I'll be posting more updates about progress on this blog over the coming months.

A memorial for Noor Inayat Khan

2011-01-22T11:46:00.002Z

A bit of an unusual post as it's not about Cotham or even Bristol, but it's a story that I think bears repetition and what point is there having a blog if you don't use it to repeat things!

Noor Inayat Khan was a World War II secret agent working for the British with the French Resistance in Paris. She was ultimately captured by the Nazis and shot at Dachau, but not before her bravery and resolve had made a massive contribution to the war effort in the run up to the D-Day landings. Noor has memorials in Paris and at Dachau, but no memorial in the UK. Most of the agents doing similar work have them - Noor does not.

You can read more about Noor's story on the website of the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust, which has been set up to secure funding for a permanent memorial in London near her former home. The Trust states, and I have trouble believing it, that this would be the first memorial to an Asian woman in the UK. If this is indeed true, what a mind-boggling fact!

I made a small Paypal donation to the Trust this morning. Please take a little time to look at the website and think about chucking in a few quid of your own.

Alderman David Kitson

2011-01-11T18:12:00.004Z

I was very sad to learn this afternoon of the death of David Kitson, who was until recently the Lib Dem councillor for nearby Bishopston ward. David was a councillor for 12 years (1998 to 2010), but he had been a local campaigner and a political activist for many years before that.

I've known David since 2001, when I first joined the Lib Dems while living in Bishopston. Aside from being very committed to his local area, he was always a very jovial soul with many a witty story and plenty of incredible or obscure anecdotes. The one that sticks in my mind most is that his father singlehandedly mapped most of modern day Ghana while working there as a mining surveyor in the late 1800s. True...? No idea!

David was a lifelong liberal. His political beliefs were strong and he began as an activist way back in the 1950s. Somewhat more recently, David and I campaigned together on issues like the Memorial Ground (see pic from 2005). You couldn't help but be impressed by his encyclopedic knowledge of the local area and, for example, the planning history of a particular site going back years or even decades. A stalwart of distinctly unsexy but completely essential council committees, his perspective, good humour, generousity of time and commitment was a great asset to the Council and the city.

David's health had been poor for the last few years, leading to his retirement last year - after which he was deservedly given the title of 'Alderman'. He will be very sorely missed by me and my Lib Dem colleagues in Bristol.

Redland House update

2011-01-11T18:00:00.003Z

Tomorrow is the planning committee meeting that will approve (or otherwise) the application for the redevelopment of Redland House - the old Nat West office building facing the Downs. This has worked its way through the planning system with frightening speed, which I suspect is a signal that the clients are very keen to get on with it while building costs are low.

I'm pleased to report that there has been positive motion on many of the points that I raised in my initial objection and, most notably, about onsite renewable energy production. The site is a large one and the new building will be a six storey office block and health shop. This is exactly the scale of development that should be taking a lead on renewable energy and there is emerging consensus that if permission is given, then it will be conditional on a renewable installation - to be agreed in detail at a later date. On this basis, I have withdrawn my objection.

There is also a payment from the developers for the replacement of trees that will be lost on the site. The replacements will planted elsewhere in the area and there will be more replanted than lost, following the new policy that I guided through last year - only marginal so in this case, as the lost trees are small.

One thing that I am hopping mad about is that the transport officers have made a play to grab the £25,000 that I negotiated for mitigation of parking impacts under the previous plans. I'm mad because this only emerged in the committee report that was published last week and no-one took the time to contact me about it! As a result, I have been caught on the hop a little, but I am asking the committee to leave this door open for future discussion. The new plans have less on-site parking (38 spaces, not 48) than the 2008 plans, as well as the shop that will attract customers on top of the staff. My view remains that the result of this will be additional parking pressure in the surrounding residential streets, which are already over-packed with commuter cars.

I can't make the committee meeting tomorrow, so I'll have to see how it all pans out...

Lantern launch - Migrant Right Centre

2010-12-23T19:53:00.002Z

Another plug for the new Migrant Rights Centre that just opened out of the Pierian Centre in St Pauls.

The volunteers and supporters associated with the Centre held a lantern launch on 18th December (which is International Migrants Day) on the Downs. I wandered up to lend my undoubted firelighting skills. It was a lovely event, with the Deputy Lieutenant of Bristol there to start the whole thing off and around 50 people armed with eco-friendly chinese lanterns - despite the crashing cold! The lanterns symbolised those who travel... like part of my own family, who came to the UK about a century ago as economic migrants from what is now the Czech Republic.

The volunteers behind the Centre have done a great job of getting everything together and launching with a bang. I hope that they are able to keep their efforts going, attracting new volunteers and supporters along the way. The Centre operates a drop-in advice and information session for all types of migrants on Friday mornings between 10am and 12 noon.

(Many thanks to Jon Massey for the use of his action-packed picture.)

Wasting my time

2010-12-23T09:48:00.002Z

A couple of updates on waste-based work that I'm involved with at the moment.

First up, I've been working with residents in Arley Hill towards getting a communal bins scheme installed. The initial consultation came out pretty much mixed 50:50, so there are now discussions about how the options might be refined to give something that is more suitable and which commands majority support one way or the other.

Communal bins replace individual household wheelie bins and recycling boxes with sets of bins that are used by all the residents of a street. The purpose is to declutter the pavements, especially where they are narrow. Arley Hill, being a hill, has steep gardens and some residents tend to leave their bins on the pavement all the time, rather than taking them in every week. A useful by-product is that recycling rates tend to rise too. There are communal schemes going in at various points in the city at the moment - the pic above is one of the new sets in St Pauls. Arley Hill would be the first in Cotham and we are also seeking ways of hiding the bin store so that it isn't an eyesore. Anyway, discussions continue and I'll post up here when/if it goes forward.

Secondly, I've had the final report back from the second 'waste doctors' project funded by the Neighbourhood Partnership. This targeted 2,000 student houses and others in multiple occupancy with a friendly visit from a canvasser to talk them through the waste disposal system in the city. The aim was to reduce inappropriate waste on the streets, cut flytipping and litter, increase recycling and, again, to declutter pavements.

The report is longer than I expected, so I haven't had a chance yet to read it all through, but the results seem pretty good. It highlights the problem that these types of households tend to have: they are usually keen in principle about waste minimisation and recycling, but they are fuzzy about the system - i.e. when bin days are, what goes in what boxes and so on. The project will have helped, by giving out information, talking people through it, ordering new recycling boxes and so on. The contractors have also done an assessment of the cleanliness of the streets before and after the visits. This is clearly rather subjective, but they report an overall improvement.

Thirdly, I note that streetside recycling bins have been going in on Park Street and other city centre locations. This was something I campaigned for a couple of years ago, so it's nice to see this finally happening. It doesn't make a massive dent in the city's landfill, but it's a useful constant reminder about the value and importance of recycling.

Snow update

2010-12-20T15:26:00.003Z

In the style of a public service announcement (imagine a rather starched 1950s male voice), I beg to inform you that the Council has set up a webpage with information about the current state of services in light of the snow: www.bristol.gov.uk/snow.

In particular, three points of note:

All 600 grit bins (including the new ones put in this year) in the city are currently full and there is a good map on the website - it's still a little out-of-date, but it's pretty reliable.
The Council is tonight doing grit dumps on the pavement in strategic spots. There are, I think, 17 in Cotham and they are focused on hills and other hotspots. This is free to use, but for highways only please... not private paths as it'll run out.
Despite what some tabloids would have you believe with their "PC gone mad" horror stories, there is no danger of being sued if you clear or grit your street or pavement. Please do help! In particular, please do help older people, disabled people and others who might have difficulty in this weather.

At the moment, Bristol has good stocks of grit and there is more on order at the moment.

A nice little prize

2010-12-20T15:04:00.003Z

When I went to open my council mail last week, I found a bulgey package waiting for me with no clue as to where it came from or what it contained apart from FRAGILE in large letters. In these febrile times, I was slightly worried about opening it...!

Obviously, it was all ok and it turned out to be a small green glass vase - see pic. It was a prize from RegenSW - the renewable energy agency. We'd come runners-up in their Most Proactive Local Authority annual award, but I didn't realise that there was an actual 'thing' to be had. They had very thoughtfully bunged it in the post.

Bristol's actually won the main award a couple of times before, but this year it went to Gloucester who've kicked off some new schemes using feed-in tariffs. Because our scheme is much bigger, it takes longer to get going and so we were marked down for not having anything to see on the ground (or, more, correctly, on a roof). When our turbines go in, I think we'll have comfortably overtaken Gloucester!

Other recent good green news is that the Council has been awarded £260,000 by the Department of Energy and Climate Change to help it move forwards with some groundbreaking work that will benefit Bristol, but also be shared with other councils too, including:

Development of solar energy in Bristol through detailed research and mapping of solar potential in the city
Improvements in energy efficiency and renewable energy at Avonmouth through an energy study linked to economic development plans
Further work looking at the potential of how we can meet carbon reduction targets through technologies such as smart metering, a smart grid and low energy buildings
Supporting community action on climate change and planning how the council can best support people to take action

Bristol is one of a small number of councils that are now seen as in the vanguard of the renewable energy revolution and we are seeing the benefits of this through additional funding like this. There should be some even more significant news in the next few weeks, but it's all under wraps at the moment.

Redland House - environmentally weak

2010-12-17T11:06:00.004Z

Having now had a chance to look properly through the planning application for Redland House (the old Nat West building facing the Downs), I have submitted an objection.

While I think the design is fine and probably better than the plans approved in 2008, the sustainability components appear to me to be really rather weak. The building will achieve a BREAAM 'Excellent' rating, which is positive, prima facie, but it has done so by mainly collecting the 'points' for measures which are not about energy - e.g. for materials or management. As the plans currently stand, there is little or no intent to install renewables (despite a large flat roof), no rainwater harvesting and no consideration given to limiting electricity consumption. There are also continuing issues about parking and tree loss which I have highlighted.

For an iconic building, it could and should do much better. The 2008 plans were a strip-down and reface, but the new plans are for a full demolition to ground level. To my mind, this means that they need to go a lot further to reduce the carbon footprint of the development as they will be using more materials to build it in the first place. From a sustainability perspective, it reads to me like an opening negotiating position: we know it's poor at the moment, but we don't want to be pushed upwards too far. I know that the Redland & Cotham Amenities Society have also objected, so we'll see what happens next.

UPDATE (22/12/10) : Had a lengthy chat with the planning consultant yesterday and they are committed to addressing some of my concerns and are actively looking into the others. Very positive conversation and now hopeful of getting something more appropriate.

Revised parking proposals available

2010-12-17T10:56:00.002Z

A quick posting to say that the revised plans under the Cotham Parking Review are now available online at www.bristol.gov.uk/cothamparking. These now address the 100 or so consultation responses that we received. There is still time to revise the plans further before the final legal consultation, so let me know if there is something that we've got wrong or something else that needs to change.

Changes to voting arrangements

2010-12-09T14:43:00.004Z

There is currently a review of the voting arrangements for several wards in the city, including Cotham. This follows on the back of stories from the General Election where there were long queues to vote and some people were excluded (or gave up).

The plan, which is effectively my idea, is to create a new polling station at the Friends Meeting House on Hampton Road. This would serve the area east of Hampton Road and north of the railway line - mainly the Chandos Road complex.

The other change would be that the Cotham Hill area would switch to using the polling station at the Tyndale Baptist Church on Whiteladies Road. At the moment, these people are expected to travel all the way to the Elmgrove Centre, which is really quite a long haul, especially on foot.

The net result is that lots of people will now be closer to a polling station in the past, making it easier for them to vote. The other half of the ward is unchanged - no-one is disadvantaged as a result. Click on the map to see the proposals visually.

The consultation period runs until the 31st December and everyone is welcome to have a say, especially if they have a better idea still! (The constraint is finding suitable locations for polling stations). Comments need to go to electoral.services@bristol.gov.uk.

Parking review - consultation results

2010-12-09T10:27:00.002Z

The Cotham Parking Review ended on 29th October, with 120 local people and organisations responding. Anthony (my co-councillor) and I have looked at the results with the traffic engineers and they will soon be publishing a revised plan taking into account the consultation response.

The main story is overwhelming support for the broad approach that we are taking in terms of improving road safety. Fewer than 10 responses opposed the plans and some of these had got the wrong end of the stick anyway. I am heartened that local residents actively support having safer and more pedestrian friendly streets.

Lots of the responses were about specific proposals for yellow lines - either for or against. We have been able to accommodate most of these. A few could not be done, either becuase there were submissions both for and against or because there are good reasons for why the original plans were set up in the way they were. We have continued to apply the test of trying not to constrain parking provision more than necessary and so some of the consultation ideas were more strict than we think wise at present. We have, in fact, found a couple of streets were additional parking can be added due to the removal of obsolete yellow lines.

I will post up the revised plans here once they are publicly available. There is still time to shout if you think we've got something badly wrong. There are a couple of instances where we think the problems are so intractable that they are going to need a separate project to sort them out - e.g. around junction of Cotham Grove and Archfield Road. These have therefore been excluded for the time being.

The next stage for the Review is the move to the formal consultation for the Traffic Regulation Orders that are required to paint yellow lines. This will take some work from the Council's legal boffins that is likely to occupy them for much of the Spring. The consultation is therefore planned for around March/April time. Depending on the outcome of this, we should hopefully start to see lines being installed in the Autumn.

Licensing and planning snippets

2010-12-08T15:19:00.002Z

A few bits of planning and licensing news to pass on:

Falafel King (Cotham Hill) have been awarded a licence for on-site alcohol sales, but only with food and for people seated. Along with local residents, I opposed this on the basis that the premises is within the Cumulative Impact Zone and it would create a new location for alcohol sales - I don't believe that Falafel King itself will be problematic, but our loony licensing system means that the permission sticks with the premises and not the operator. Sadly the committee didn't see it our way in a rather stunning piece of arbitrarily ignoring Council policy!
The people behind Burritos (Cotham Hill - formerly the greengrocers and currently empty) have put in an appeal against the planning committee's decision not to permit a change of use from a shop to a restaurant and take away. Planning appeals are always risky affairs as the Inspector doesn't have the democratic oversight that planning committee do and their decisions are often, in my opinion, arbitrary or even ill-informed. Closing date for appeal representations is 21st December.
The application for Derbyshires newsagents (Whiteladies Road, opposite Sainsbury's) to become a coffee shop has been withdrawn - I don't know why. I was opposing this as it would be the loss of another local shop and would undermine the retail 'offer' of the area.

Cotham School planning and trees

2010-12-08T14:59:00.004Z

The planning application for the next stage of the expansion and improvement works at Cotham School were discussed at committee last Wednesday. There were two major parts: (a) the building of a multi-use games area (MUGA) and, (b) a retrospective application for new lampposts at the Cotham Road entrance that were put in without permission.

I submitted a written statement to the committee as I wasn't able to attend. This was broadly in favour of the concept of having a MUGA onsite as this will save the school having to ferry their pupils around to other sites for games. However, there were four things I objected to:

The colour of the tarmac. It was shown as black, but the committee agreed with me and others that green is much softer and more in keeping with a Conservation Area.
The usage hours. I and the Redland & Cotham Amenities Society were worried about the MUGA being used outside of school hours. I asked for a limit at 6pm, but the committee decided on 9pm and 6pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
The fencing. Following feedback from local residents, I suggested that low-noise fencing should be used in order to minimise the nuisance of balls and humans striking it at high speed. This was accepted and the planning officers are to work with the contractors to see what options are available.
The lampposts. I objected to these on the basis that they are complete overkill for lighting a disabled access ramp. The contractors will be required to remove these and replace them with low level lighting that won't cause light pollution for the surrounding area. Also, the replacement trees (see below) that have gone in are nowhere near large enough to hide the lampposts behind them.

So, all in all a fairly good outcome. I don't like causing difficulties for our local school, but it is also important to get the developments right so that they don't impact too negatively on those living in close proximity.

And back to the trees! Long-term readers of this blog will remember the fiasco that led to four mature trees being felled at the Cotham Road entrance to the school. I am delighted to report that replacement trees have finally gone in. I'm not sure I can really claim this as a victory as it has taken 18 months to see this resolved and you simply can't replace decades of growth overnight. The replacements are semi-mature (I'd guess at 10-15 years old), but I am slightly disappointed that they didn't source larger ones. If they had, they would have helped to cover up the ugly lampposts they now have to be removed!

Launch of Migrant Rights Centre

2010-12-08T14:46:00.003Z

A quick plug for a new service that's being launched in Bristol this week. The Migrant Rights Centre will be based at the Pieran Centre in St Pauls and will offer a drop-in information and signposting service to migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. It is being run by students and staff volunteers from the University of the West of England, including my friend Dani.

The launch event is this Friday (10th December) at the Pieran Centre between 3pm and 5pm. If you would like to go along, drop the folks a line (contact detail via the link above) as numbers are limited. They are also doing a chinese lantern launch on The Downs on 18th December at 6pm - again let them know if you're going to go along. There are more details to be found on Facebook if you're a user.

Back in the saddle

2010-12-08T14:41:00.003Z

I've been away from blogging for the last month, but now bouncing back! I've had quite a few trips away, a bout or two of illness, a raft of consultations and real-life to get on with too - sadly it was keeping the blog going that slipped. So, my apologies to regular readers and hopefully you haven't given up on me entirely...

Cotham Forum - 25th November

2010-11-11T19:22:00.003Z

The next meeting of the Cotham Forum will be held on Thursday 25th November at the hall at the Tyndale Baptist Church on Whiteladies Road from 6.30pm to 8pm. The hall is just around to the right of the church, on the Imperial Road side.

The Forum is an informal and friendly (hopefully!) chance for councillors to discuss local issues with local residents and for residents to raise their own issues. The last meeting was very successful, with 20 or 25 people along and a lively discussion about a range of local problems, with some definite action points for me and other people to follow up. It's 'open house' and all Cotham residents are most welcome.

Issues on the agenda so far for discussion this time include:

A 'you said, we did' report back
Whiteladies bus route improvements
Parks maintenance
Recyling banks and 'clean and green' projects

Hope to see you there!

Redland House plans lodged

2010-11-10T09:30:00.003Z

Just a quick note to inform people that the new plans for Redland House (the old Nat West building at the top of Blackboy Hill, facing the Downs) have been lodged and are open for consultation. You can see all the documents on the UK Planning website - the application number is 10/04509/F in case the link doesn't work.

I was broadly happy with what was being proposed at the preapplication stage, but I will obviously have another detailed look through now. I'll be thinking about the same stuff that was problematic with the previous application back in 2008 - impact on parking, loss of pavement and environmental impact.

Quality streets for all!

2010-11-05T12:57:00.003Z

I am getting quite a few e-mails from residents backing a new campaign out of Sustrans called "Quality Streets". The thrust of the campaign is to back 20mph speed limits, but it is also more generally about making our streets safer and more pleasant for ordinary people.

This is an area that is quite close to my own heart and I am happy to back the campaign - although signing the petition would generate an automated e-mail to myself, so I've not done that yet! I am replying to all the e-mails that I do get with a message outlining what is happening in Bristol and specifically in Cotham on this issue, much of which has featured on this blog before in one form or another. Here it is, so that people more generally can see what I am saying - the links take you to previous blog posts:

20mph zones. Two pilot zones have recently been launched in Bedminster/Southville and St Pauls/Easton. These are being used to evaluate how to most successfully roll these out and it is intended that the rest of the city will follow shortly. Certainly, I am strong advocate that Cotham should be included as soon as possible.

Walking Strategy. In my role as Assistant Executive Member for Sustainability, I am currently working to publish a walking strategy for the Council that will act as a focus for making walking in the city easier, safer and more pleasant. We have had a series of stakeholder meetings in order to gather ideas and I hope that a consultation version of the strategy will be published before the end of this year.

Whiteladies bus route. A consultation is on-going about upgrading the bus route on Whiteladies Road as part of the Greater Bristol Bus Network project. While this main focus will be about public transport, these opportunities are also used to improve the infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists. I have a few misgivings about the initial plans, but I am confident that once these are worked through the project will result in a more foot and cycle-friendly environment on Whiteladies Road.

Cotham Parking Review. The initial consultation closed on Friday for a safety review of parking in Cotham which I initiated. The aim was to tackle problematic parking on corners and junctions to improve safety, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists, through an increase in double yellow lines. Once the consultation results have been examined in detail, we are hopeful that the measures will be in place next year. In the meantime, two small schemes (Hampton Road and Cotham Park North) are progressing.

Clear pavements. I have been working with a couple of local disabled people to ensure that pavements on main routes are kept clear and in good repair. This is always a moving target, but we've been getting bushes cut, advertising boards moved and potholes repaired. The Council started enforcing parking across dropped kerbs in March to ensure that these are clear for disabled and older people, parents with buggies and other pedestrians; several hundred people have been fined on Whiteladies Road since.

Minor victories

2010-11-02T12:05:00.003Z

One of the day-to-day acts as a councillor is spotting simple things that need fixing in the local area - things like potholes or overgrown hedges or dumped waste. One of the frustrations is that you don't always get told by Council officers when they've been done.

While I was out and about yesterday evening delivering Focus newsletters, I noticed that the road sign at the end of Trelawney Road has been replaced.

I reported the sign missing quite some months ago and never heard back - to be honest, I'd forgotten about it. It's great that it's been replaced, but I have no idea when it was done and I wish that someone would tell me!

Fame at last!

2010-11-01T11:17:00.003Z

As a politician, you sometimes find yourself being quoted in some unusual places - publications for topics that you didn't think publications would exist for.

My latest outing is in the Municipal Journal, which is the magazine for local authority managers. I'm talking about climate change and the new flexibility for councils to produce and sell renewable electricity. You can click on the picture to the left to read it.

It's always funny when a 20 minute interview ends up getting boiled down to a few sentences, but I guess this is the basis of journalism. The typo, incidentally, is not mine!

I am hoping that there will be a big positive announcement about Phase 2 of our energy plans at some point in the next two months and fingers remain crossed...

Using the nuclear option

2010-10-27T16:03:00.003+01:00

I bumped into former Green Party councillor Charlie Bolton the other night and he ticked me off for not having enough controversial stuff on my blog. So this is my attempt to spice things up a little - I hope you appreciate it, Charlie!

The last two weeks have been a bit of a rollercoaster for lots of things, but one interesting component has been the shifts in thinking about nuclear power and nuclear weapons - some have made me happy, while others less so.

I was very happy to see the Coalition delay the renewal of Trident. My position, which I have voted for at every Lib Dem conference where it's come up, is that I want to see the system scrapped entirely. It is an anachronistic waste of money that does little, if anything, to make the UK safer in the current geopolitical environment. We are much more likely to come under attack as a national through terrorism than nuclear assault and it is difficult to envisage a proximal situation where the UK would be under attack if the US and/or France weren't. I am not implacably against the concept of a proportionate nuclear deterrent because the far future might be a very different world. However, Trident is not proportionate and it is not even independent - it's just a glue-on to the US system.

Of course, delaying is not the same as cancelling. But the announcement provides the time for the anti-Trident campaign to gather momentum and for more positive steps to be taken - hopefully towards realising that like-for-like replacement is just pointless. The other part of the announcement was that the number of warheads is to be cut by 25%, which is clearly good news too. Lib Dem policy favours a rapid reduction in the number of Trident submarines too, which would save money and reduce the nuclear threat further still. Remember that 'pure' Labour or Conservative governments would not have taken this step - it was Lib Dem bargaining that made this happen, albeit through a compromise.

However, I was less happy to see nuclear power given the green light. My position on this issue is slightly fluid. As a scientist of sorts, I believe strongly on evidence-based policy and it is stupid to rule out technologies on dogmatic grounds. However, I still have very strong concerns about nuclear, even with the promises made about the safety and economics of next-generation reactors. One thing that would make me much happier would be if the industry was in public hands and not with a private company. But it's not, so we ordinary folk are being asked to trust someone who is not democratically accountable with a technology that could kill millions.

On the positive side, the principle that the nuclear industry should not be subsidised has been reiterated. I remain angered that so much public money has been showered on nuclear power over the last 15 years at the expense of renewable energy technology - and there still a £4bn clean-up bill on the way. We would have been in a much better position as a country if the no-subsidy principle had been established earlier - and if the strategic decisions about next-generation nuclear hadn't been taken behind closed doors by the last government. Incidentally, Bristol City Council has objected to both the Hinkley Point and Oldbury plans on the basis of safety - something that I had some hand in.

I can just about stomach the coalition's position on nuclear power if it doesn't cost the taxpayer dearly and because it sat alongside significant new investment in renewables, including the £1bn going into a Green Investment Bank and more money for offshore wind. New nuclear is better than patched-up old nuclear or fossil fuels, but renewables is by far the best option. I hope that a revised Severn tidal project will emerge quickly too.

So, there we are. I guess this is what coalition politics is all about. Both policies are compromise mixes of Tory and Lib Dem - neither are perfect, but both are better than what the previous government was doing or planning to do.

UPDATE: thanks to Alex Woodman for pointing out an embarrassing typo in the first line of this post and apologies to Charlie for accidentally bringing his good name into disrepute. It's now fixed...

Licensing and planning update

2010-10-27T15:53:00.003+01:00

Apologies for a blogbreak of a couple of weeks - I've been very busy with my 'real job' and it's been difficult to find time. A handful of planning and licensing snippets to kick the ball rolling:

Falafel King on Cotham Road have submitted an application to sell alcohol and for live music and dancing. They have also asked for permission for 'performance of dance' that worries me slightly and I am trying to find out more. I hve objected on the basis that this is in the Cumulative Impact Area and it doesn't need any more licensed premises.
The newsagent on the junction of Cotham Hill and Whiteladies Road has applied for permission to become a coffee shop (A1/A3 use). I've objected to this one too following the decision by the planning committee a few weeks back that the area needs to maintain its proper retail outlets. Incidentally, I'm very happy to see a new sports shop going in on Cotham Hill!
There is an application in for nine flats in the ABC Cinema building on Whiteladies Road. I am reserving judgement on this one at the moment as I do want to see the building brought back into use. I also note with enthusiams the plans for a new theatre on the site that were in the press this morning.
Roo Bar (by Clifton Down station) have been served with a noise abatement order after months of noise complaints from the local residents and quite a bit of chasing from me. Hopefully they will now mend their ways, but we'll have to see.

Pyrolysis plant gets green light

2010-10-14T15:55:00.003+01:00

And another piece of Bristol's green jigsaw goes into place!

Yesterday's planning committee also signed off the building of a gasification/pyrolysis plant at Avonmouth. This is a waste disposal facility that, in simple terms, superheats organic material in the absence of oxygen and then uses the gases to create electricity - follow the links above if you want the science. The plant will handle 100,000 tonnes a year, create 7MW of power... and the only residue is a non-toxic ash.

This is the second phase of the plant, with the big composter already being built and taking Bristol's waste from April 2011. The pros of this approach to waste management are obvious - it avoids landfill and creates renewable energy. I understand that it might even be able to handle sewage in the future!

There is perhaps no better symbol for the difference between the Lib Dem and Labour approaches to running the city.

Labour (originally backed by the Tories) wanted to build a dirty mass-burn incinerator on a 25 year PFI deal - hungry for burnable stuff like plastic, little energy back, toxic ash and financial shackles for a generation.
The Lib Dems have supported new technology on a flexible contract which will give us green energy without undermining recycling and the ability to shift to new approaches in the future if and when they emerge.

The planning committee also agreed another three wind turbines at Avonmouth, on land owned by the Port Authority.

Planning decision protects shops

2010-10-14T13:38:00.003+01:00

I was very happy to hear yesterday that the planning committee turned down an application for the former fruit and veg shop on Cotham Hill to become a late-night takeaway. I have spent a lot of time demonstrating and arguing that planning officers were being far too laissez faire about applications of this type and I vigorously opposed this one. Forgive me a slightly boring background explanation...

Each building has a certain legal 'use' in planning law which are expressed as 'use classes' - codes that say what type of activity can go on in there. This is to enable planners (and through them, residents) to prevent inappropriate uses - like a sewage works next to houses. For example, shops have a use class of A1, light industry is B1, a private house is C3 and so on. If you want to change the use, you need planning permission. (If you are changing within use, you don't need permission, so a veg shop can become a supermarket or a clothes shop or a bike shop whenever someone wants.)

To change a veg shop into a takeaway, you need to swap use class A1 for A5. In fact, yesterday's decision was to block a switch from A1 to A3/A5 - you can have mixed uses and this represents a restaurant and take away on the same site.

This was an important decision for two reasons. Firstly, local people are fed up with the problems that come from takeaways, including late-night noise and litter. Secondly, it helps to prevent the slow (but accelerating) drip-drip-drip of shops switching to catering uses in Cotham. This is a serious risk to the viability of local shopping areas. Shops need to have a footfall of people passing them to make them thrive. To get this, you need to have destinations that people want to specifically go to. Takeaways (and other food uses) don't provide this. They are generally closed (or empty) during the daytime and are effectively dead space from a retail perspective and very few are destinations that draw people in - they are walk-by outlets. In short, too many takeaways in an area makes it more likely that shops will fail and you can see this in various shopping arcades around the city.

I am determined that Cotham Hill won't go this way too as I believe that the vast majority of people really value the eclectic range of small shops it hosts. I visit Cotham Hill two or three times a week myself and I've probably used all the shops at some point - especially the hardware shop, the newsagent and the barbers. I think (and yesterday's decision supports me) that Cotham Hill has just about got to the number of catering outlets that it can handle without spelling the death knell for actual shops.

The other outcome is that the reason that the application was refused was that the planners and the committee specifically agreed that it was harmful to retail viability and residents' quality of life. This will be very useful to me in my on-going work to require existing catering outlets to abide by the planning permission that they have. We have a problem locally with people having A1 permission, but doing A3 or A5 things while hoping no-one will notice. I can now push for a proper clamp down on this - yesterday's decision will give new strength to the enforcement officers.

P.S. I also understand that the application for a new off licence on the site of the small furniture shop next-door-but-one to the Penny Farthing pub has been withdrawn. I had opposed this as it is in the Cumulative Impact Area and there are already ample off licences nearby.

Better food in Cotham

2010-10-13T09:41:00.004+01:00

A quick plug for the new branch of the Better Food Company that opened at 94 Whiteladies Road (formerly Oddbins) on Monday. They specialise in high-quality and mainly locally sourced fresh food. I'm looking forward to my first shopping trip - my girlfriend has already been three times! They've had a store in St Werburghs for several years now and I wish them all the best for their new shop here on Cotham's doorstep.

Tesco application refused

2010-10-07T18:07:00.002+01:00

I've just heard that Tesco's application for an alcohol licence for their putative new store in Stoke Croft has been refused on the basis of the negative impact it would have on problematic street drinking in the area and an over-concentration of existing off licences.

I have to say that I am very pleasantly surprised by this decision by the Licensing Committee - it's very rare that a supermarket is denied permission for alcohol sales. I was one of the many objectors, but I didn't expect to get such a comprehensive result. I understand that the Police also objected strongly and this will have had a big impact.

I hear on the grapevine that the Localism Bill that is due to be published shortly is going to have some very useful content about supermarkets and planning applications, re-empowering local people to have a proper say about what goes where. Fingers crossed!

Whiteladies bus improvements

2010-10-04T17:14:00.002+01:00

It really is the season for consultations! Hot on the tail of the Cotham parking review and Cotham Gardens consultation (both still running), we now have a consultation about improvements to the bus route that runs up Whiteladies Road.

This is part of the Greater Bristol Bus Network (GBBN) scheme, part of which is to invest in the key 'corridors' to make them better for buses and for bus users. This can include features like new bus lanes, more and better bus stops, changed traffic priorities and so on. Improvements are also put in for cyclists and pedestrians too. The best example so far, in my opinion, has been the route out from Old Market through Lawrence Hill and out through Church Road in Easton and St George. The result has been more reliable buses, more passengers and less congestion. A knock-on effect has also been more customers for the local shops - another good win!

It is now the turn of Whiteladies Road and my initial position is to welcome the plans, although there are going to be items of detail to work through. I'm a bit miffed at not seeing what's being proposed in advanced (!), but maps have been delivered to several thousand houses over this week - I got mine at home on Saturday.

If you haven't had a paper copy through your door - or if someone in your family has helpfully recycled it already - there is a copy online that you can download. There is also going to be a project office open at 146 Whiteladies Road from Saturday just gone through to 12th November, where you can drop in and talk to officers about the plans on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

As with the other consultations mentioned at the top of this post, this is a genuine and open consultation and the Council wants to get people's thoughts on what is being proposed. It is a big step and there could well be things that have not occurred to the officers before this point - local knowledge is a very valuable thing.

Congestion down - public transport up

2010-10-02T16:28:00.004+01:00

I've been meaning to post this for ages, but keep forgetting! A while back, the latest progress report into the Joint Local Transport Plan was published. This is showing some really positive outcomes for transport in the city and hinterland. The main headlines:

Car use dropped for the first time last year
Key journey times are down by 13% since 2006
Bus usage is up since 2005 (though it dipped slightly last year) and bus punctuality is improved
Park-and-ride use is up since 2005, though it dipped slightly last year
Train use is up by a massive 56% since 2003
Bike use is up by nearly 60% since 2003, partly as a result of the Cycling City project - though most of this work won't yet have filtered into the statistics.
Driving to school has dropped for the second year running.
Serious road accidents have more than halved since 2004, with even better results for children - down by two-thirds

These are clearly very positive results for the city, though there is always more to do! What it does show is exactly how far Bristol has come in the last ten years. When I arrived here in 2000 it was a complete transport disaster zone, so I'm happy to see things on the right track.

The consultation is just closing on the next Joint Local Transport Plan, but there is still time to comment at this stage if you're quick. This lays out what is being prioritised for Bristol and the surrounding areas for the coming 15 years.

Applications needed - grant for older people

2010-10-01T10:40:00.002+01:00

We had our latest Neighbourhood Partnership meeting last night and one thing that stood out for me is that we are having difficulty in spending a small pot of money that we have been given to support older people in this area. We've given out one grant to a GP's surgery in Redland that is running a weekend support group for socially-isolated older people, but we haven't had any other applications.

There is about £4,000 in the pot and any community organisation (and commercial ones, I guess, if the outcomes are positive) can bid for some of it. It is intended to help improve the quality of life for older people, so the criterion is pretty broad. If you're involved in a charity or other organisation that works with older people in Bishopston, Redland or Cotham, then drop me a line (neil.harrison@bristol.gov.uk) and I'll let you know how to apply.

Bristol on green award shortlist

2010-09-29T03:42:00.003+01:00

As a nice quick snippet to follow up my previous post, Bristol City Council has been shortlisted by RegenSW for a 2010 Green Energy Award for Most Proactive Local Authority in the southwest. We'll hear in November whether we've got it or not, but it's nice to be on the list - along with Gloucester City Council on this occasion. There are a good smattering of Bristol companies and people up for other awards, so the city is well represented.

A big green step forwards for Bristol

2010-09-27T00:05:00.003+01:00

This month's meeting of the Bristol Cabinet is going to be a 'green cabinet' - it's the culmination of things that I've been working on for the last eighteen months since I've been the Assistant Exec Member for sustainability and I'm really excited about it!

The headline is straightforward: a £23m capital investment programme in renewable energy production and energy use reduction.

This breaks down into the following projects:

£4m for 10 new biomass boilers in schools and leisure centres
£1m for 80 solar photo-voltaic installations at schools
£4m to accelerate the replacement of 34,000 street lights with low energy units
£5m to fit 300 council homes with next-generation energy measures, including solar PV - this is reliant on a successful funding bid
£9m for two new wind turbines at Avonmouth (this has already been approved, but it's part of the same strategy)

This has partly come about through the £500,000 sustainability budget increase that we announced last year. This has enabled us to commit the staff and money to move these projects forwards and to increase our green ambitions. There is always more to do and it's important to point out that this is Phase One only.

However, this wins for the Council and for the people of Bristol on many levels. It is estimated to save the Council £26m over the next 20 years by cutting energy bills and taking advantage of the new government's decision to allow Councils to sell electricity. This is after the cost of the investment has been paid for, so it can be used to keep Council Tax bills low or fund the next generation of projects.

It will also save 14,000 tons of CO2 each year, amounting to around 20% of the Council's footprint (though it's not quite that straightforward as it depends what is done with the electricity generated and so on). When forced carbon trading comes in, this will increase the financial savings further - it starts in a limited form in April 2011.

On top of all this are the 'soft' benefits of showing people what is possible and how individuals and businesses can do their bit too. This is part of the project too - an active attempt to use the projects to engage with people about their lives and how they can become more sustainable.

Phase Two of our energy plans also appears on the agenda for Thursday's Cabinet meeting, but it is in closed business as it is commercially sensitive and we don't want to jeopardise our ability to make things happen for Bristol by making it public too soon.

The other green item on the agenda is a significant increase in the Council's commitment to car clubs in the city, using £450,000 of developers' S106 money. There are now two operators in Bristol: City Car Club and Streetcar. The new approach will see a radical increase in the number of spaces, especially in areas of high demand. Car clubs help to reduce car ownership by giving people the ability to rent vehicles in a low-cost and user-friendly way. One study has suggested that each car club car can actually cut private ownership in an area by 20 cars. I've been pushing for progress on this since chairing the Sustainable Travel Select Committee a couple of years back and I'm delighted to see this come to fruition too.

Back from Conference

2010-09-26T23:39:00.005+01:00

Apologies for a quiet week on the blogging front, but I've been away for Lib Dem Conference (and my mum's birthday).

I've come back very reassured about how things are progressing. Those who know me well, will know that I consider myself a liberal left politician (as much as right-left makes any sense these days) and the last few months haven't always been the most comfortable for me. However, what Conference made me realise was just how much rubbish is being written by the press about the Lib Dems and the coalition. Even during the Conference, the coverage was all about rebellions and splits, but there was no more of that than usual! In fact, the mood was positive and forward-thinking, despite irritating journalists constantly pestering delegates for off-message soundbites. Judging by the rabid look in their eyes, I think they were struggling...

Yes, there are cuts and tax rises - this is Labour's legacy of don't-tax-and-still-spend. But there are also spending increases and tax cuts. Like an extra 2.5% for the NHS every year for the next five years. Or the increase in the personal allowance for Income Tax that takes nearly 1m of the lowest paid people out of the tax completely. Couple this with some great green progress already and a raft of good liberal policies on equalities rights, child detention and electoral reform and I came back from Liverpool postive and re-enthused.

Yes, there are going to be things along the way with the coalition that I'm not happy with. Thankfuly, I'm not in the government myself and I'll have no problem saying so! But, as one speaker put it, at least we can be confident that this government isn't going to blow billions on invading another sovereign state. Hopefully it also won't bring the country to the verge of a financial crisis either.

One of the highlights was Vince's speech. Anyone who thinks that the Lib Dems have all become Thatcherite Tories should watch this and see if they still think the same at the end. It's in two segments for some reason.

(You can just catch a glimpse of me at the end of Vince's speech leading the standing ovation - 10m25s into the second clip... look for a dark brown T-shirt to the left of the screen!)

Cotham parking consultation out

2010-09-15T21:04:00.002+01:00

The draft plans for the Cotham parking review are out - you can find the maps and an accompanying leaflet on the Council's consultation website.

This is something that I've been campaigning for over the last couple of years to address some of the worst road safety issues in the area, so I'm glad to see the maps out there for people to look at. I stress that these are draft - they are an amalgam of ideas from Anthony and I, complaints that we've had over the last few years from residents, ideas from the traffic engineers and so on. It is very definitely not a final plan! My view is that it's much better to give people something to look at as a 'starter for ten' rather than starting from a blank sheet of paper. We want to hear ideas for improvement.

The vast majority of the proposals are about road safety and specifically protecting corners and junctions from parking. There is also an intent to make access for emergency vehicles better in narrow streets and a couple of proposed changes to help local shops and business by having controlled time parking (i.e. to stop people parking outside all day, blocking their customers).

Paper copies of the information leaflet will be going out shortly in the relevant areas, but the maps themselves are too large and expensive to send out to everyone. They are available on request (to traffic.management@bristol.gov.uk or 0117 903 6822) and there will be copies in Redland Library on Whiteladies Road too... not sure when, but in the next week or so. The consultation is open until 29th October.

Service disruptions on the 8/9 route

2010-09-10T15:55:00.002+01:00

I've just had notification that due to 'driver shortages', there will be a temporary disruption on the 8/9 bus route that runs through Cotham. It will be between 3rd October and 14th November and will effectively lead to a reduction in frequency from 12 minutes to 15 minutes.

The annoying news is that they won't be posting up temporary timetables, so the ones at the stops will be haywire. Timetables will, I presume, be available on the First website in due course and I'll post up a link when there is more information.

Cotham Forum success!

2010-09-10T11:44:00.003+01:00

Happy to report that last night's meeting of the Cotham Forum was, I think, a rousing success. Around 20 residents attended and we had lively and positive discussions for two hours; the neighbourhood Police (and colleagues from the Transport Police) and officers from the community safety and traffic management teams were also there.

The discussions were varied and wide-ranging, including graffiti, problem parking, student/community relations, issues with licensed premises, availability of public toilets, loss of shops, a new zebra crossing and waste management. Myself, the Council officers and the Police all went away with a list of things to work on.

My list of new issues (please correct me if I forgot anything!):

Advertising boards on Cotham Hill blocking vision for motorists
Trees from the railway line blocking the pavements on Meridian Road
Concerns about a planning application for a restaurant at St John's Court, Whiteladies Road - just off-patch, so I wasn't aware of it
'Half-hearted' dropped kerbs causing uncertainty about parking regulations, especially around Chandos Road
Dangerous parking on the junction of Oakfield Road and Whiteladies Road

I'm glad that we've got things off the ground successfully after the false start last time. The our Neighbourhood Partnership officers really pushed the meeting to residents on their mailing lists and I sent out 250 letters to people in the adjoining streets in order to invite them along - I was very heartened to see some people clutching their letters!

The next meeting of the Cotham Forum is 25th November at 6.30pm at Tyndalls Baptist Church Hall, Whiteladies Road.

There is also a meeting of the Neighbourhood Partnership (which covers Bishopston and Redland, as well as Cotham) on 30th September at 7pm at Redland Parish Church Hall, Redland Green Road. This is also open to the public and it's the meeting at which councillors take decisions about local spending on a range of issues.

Parking changes around Hampton Park

2010-09-08T16:23:00.002+01:00

Back in February, there was a consultation about putting new double yellow lines in and around the northern end of Hampton Park and sections of Hampton Road.

This is now going to the formal stage of consultation for a new Traffic Regulation Order which allows the Council to mark out the lines. The map to the left (click to expand) is slightly out of date now; as a result of the Febrary consultation, the lines on Ashgrove Road have been extended in both directions to provide more protection around the blind dog-leg, where lorries habitually get stuck. Otherwise, I think it's all the same - I just get sent a written description in very formal language that is quite difficult to follow.

I'm very happy to see this happen. I've been campaigning for improvements to the Chandos Road junction for a couple of years, where parked cars often obscure the sight lines, causing problems for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians alike. The same principle applies to the Melville Road junction too. The other feature is protection for the petrol station, where their entrances were being blocked, causing difficulty for the tankers.

The full plans with a new map are available to be viewed in Redland Library on Whiteladies Road - the code number is CAE/RGW/P-681. The deadline for comments is 1st October.

Welcome to PC Dave Gill

2010-09-06T19:42:00.003+01:00

I met this morning with the new Cotham Police Beat Manager, PC Dave Gill. Dave is covering Cotham for a while at least, while our normal Beat Manager Steve Harding is away recovering from some injuries sustained in the course of duty.

Among the things that we talked about were problem parking, licenced premises on Whiteladies Road and Cotham Hill, the long-standing burglary issues in the area and the start of the new university year with its inevitable pub crawls! Dave (along with our PCSO, Nadine Horton) are going to be clamping down on parking around Dominos and ensuring extra night-time patrols during the two university freshers' weeks in late September.

Dave has a long history within the Police, but this is his first experience of being on a neighbourhood policing team, so I am hoping that Cotham will prove to be a nice introduction for him!