What could George have been doing in Easton to have fled minus his trousers? Answers in the comments below.
Of course, as a politician George sometimes risks more than the loss of his trousers; he’s wagering the shirt off his back on 2 potentially huge white elephant projects in Bristol both being funded by municipal borrowing – the Bristol Arena and Metrobus/BRT, whose costs keep escalating out of control.
These awards are presented every year to people who make a difference in the part of East Bristol where I live. Nominations all come from the local community, i.e. friends and neighbours.
This year the awards were presented by local MP Stephen Williams, whilst the event was compèred by local broadcasting husband and wife team Pat Hart and Sherie Eugene Hart. Those honoured ranged in age from people still at school to pensioners.
The biggest cheer of the night was for Lil Stiddard, who received a standing ovation. Lili’s citation read:
It was 32 years ago that Lil and her husband became involved in setting up a club for older people in the community. Before Easton Community Centre was built, they met at the Chelsea Road Old Co-op. The floor collapsed with all the dancing the first time they used a temporary venue. At the age of 97, Lil is still active in the club, setting out the tables and chairs, bringing the tea and assisting the treasurer. “We are all human beings,” she says, “and need to learn to pull together.”
All the winners were photographed together at the end of the presentation.
Here’s a short film of vox pops shot at the awards.
A couple of years ago, after a less than ideal consultation by Bristol City Council (my own street was omitted from the process! Ed.), communal bins – called skip bins by some – were imposed on residents.
They are not popular with locals since they attract abuse – fly-tipping by traders, dumping of recyclable materials by the uncaring and so on – and are unappealing to have outside one’s front door. They may be a good idea for block of flats if adequately screened, used properly and regularly emptied, but not for residential areas or shopping streets. Even in my own road where the communal bins never suffer the levels of abuse or levels of filling that they do in on busier streets, they are not popular with residents.
A local Stapleton Road resident has now produced a short video to draw attention to the problems they engender and her evident frustration with the council’s attitude to Easton.
As regards abuse of the communal bins, recent analysis of 2 bins on Stapleton Road by the city council revealed that their contents were roughly:
one-third waste for landfill;
one-third recyclable materials; and
one-third illegally dumped trade waste.
That analysis shows there is clearly a lot that needs to be done both as regards educating residents on what materials can be recycled, as well as enforcement, cracking down on traders who are not complying with their obligations in respect of proper disposal of the waste from their businesses.
When it comes to trade waste, the council has 2 options when it comes to enforcement action. It can impose a fixed penalty of £300 or taking offenders to court, where a maximum fine of £50,000 and/or up to five years imprisonment.
As regards the siting of communal bins, the idiocy evident in the video is not an isolated instance. Walton Street in Easton, which is some 300 metres in length, has one communal bin, whilst adjoining Northcote Street – a third of the length of Walton Street – has three!
If having to put out the rubbish on a cold, rainy night, I’d prefer to live in Northcote Street. Wouldn’t you?
Furthermore, it’s not just the major thoroughfares that have problems with fly-tipping, trade waste and the like, as this blog has previously highlighted with Jane Street (posts passim) on the borders of Redfield and Lawrence Hill districts.
Next month a residents’ rubbish summit will be held at Felix Road Adventure Playground as part of the #tidyBS5 initiative. Details will be posted here when they are finalised.
I’ve been using Easton Community Centre almost as long as it’s been open. I’ve also watched the changes to the building and its users over the years with great interest.
Reaching its quarter century is a great achievement for any community project and the Centre will be celebrating its 25th Anniversary later this month with a tea party on Friday, 24th October from 3.30-6.30pm.
There will be free tea and cake, as well as a children’s disco with a £1 entry fee.
THE news of 15-year-old girl Yusra Hussien leaving Bristol to become a supporter of IS, allegedly, is a worrying outcome and I echo what Stephen Williams said, that such an objective is not only foolish but profoundly unwise.
In some ways, what Al Qaeda started in 2001 has produced many problems of his kind.
Yes, you did read that correctly: “problems of his kind“, i.e. problems like him, if you prefer to paraphrase.
The Post has exclusively revealed that Bristol West MP Stephen Williams is a problem that has been caused by Al Qaeda, an organisation never before known for its links to the UK’s Liberal Democratic Party, let alone elected members thereof.
Perhaps Mr Williams would care to comment on his links to Al Qaeda below; or alternatively perhaps the Post could employ a little more care when publishing reader’s letters where a lost or missing consonant can give a phrase a whole new meaning.
The protesters were supported by local councillors Marg Hickman (Lawrence Hill ward) and Afzal Shah (Easton ward), whilst a photographer from the Bristol Post also arrived to take pictures.
Other local residents also showed their support for the protesters by thumbs up signals, waves and the like, although we did get bemused looks from passengers on passing buses.
We want to get the message out there that people are sick of this mess and there should be more respect for keeping the streets clean and tidy.
“We realise that May Gurney and the city council are doing their best – this is more about urging residents to make sure they get rid of their rubbish properly.
Picking up on Stacey’s point about disposing of rubbish properly, the city council website has full details of what can be recycled. Recyclable materials happen to include lots of what is fly-tipped, such as cardboard from traders, or dropped as litter, such as aluminium drinks cans.
When it comes to bulky items like furniture, these can be taken to the tip in Folly Lane, off Days Road, St Philips, Bristol, BS2 0QS or the other one in Kings Weston Lane, Avonmouth, Bristol, BS11 0YS. Opening times are on the council website. Alternatively, these can be collected by the council, which will collect up to three bulky items for £15. All additional items are charged at the same rate. If you receive certain benefits, you are entitled to one free bulky waste collection of up to three items every six months. Full details on the council website.
It feels as if something is finally starting to happen along the Stapleton Road corridor on the fly-tipping and litter front (as well as on other problems. Ed.). Bristol City Council has helped draw up an action plan which will see greater enforcement and education on these two matters.
However, such encouraging developments should not detract from tackling the filth of illegal dumping and litter elsewhere in the BS5 area and Bristol’s inner city in general, which are equally deserving of attention.
A community market event took place earlier today on the section of Stapleton Road between Easton Way and Lower Ashley Road.
Image courtesy of Bristol News
Although interspersed with showers, the event was well attended and had such attractions as food, music, bouncy castles, face painting and – at one point – a samba band adding yet more sound and vibrancy to our main local street in this part of town.
The event was organised by the local community for the local community and has evidently gone down well with the people at Bristol News, who commented:
The amazing people on Stapleton Road are having fantastic fun today and doing it for far less money than Make Sunday Special has ever done. And more importantly the community is doing it for itself. This is the “real spirit of Bristol” not the water slides, skiing clowns and ambling bands.
It also shows a different side of a place that’s frequently just regarded, particularly by the rest of Bristol, as a source of inner city problems.
I do worry when schools display lack of proficiency in the English language. After all, they are establishments whose tasks include imparting formal training in the vernacular.
The latest example from the nursery slopes of Mount Academia was found almost on my doorstep at St. Nicholas of Tolentine RC Primary School in Pennywell Road, Bristol, which seems to think that childrens is the plural of child.
Should anyone from the school happen to be reading this, the correct punctuation is children’s. In the words of several of my old teachers: you could do better; see me after class. 🙂
Thursday’s Bristol Post saw the welcome return to journalism of a local greengrocer, with a report featuring a superfluous apostrophe in the headline.
The writer from the fruit and vegetable trade has been rather quiet on Temple Way recently. This blog has not featured his or her work for nearly a year now (posts passim).
One question that should be asked of Localworld, owners of the Bristol Post, is whether it was it such a great idea to get rid of sub-editors?
The struggle to clear the inner city of fly-tipping and litter continues (posts passim).
Earlier this week it was revealed that ward councillor Marg Hickman had taken Assistant Mayor Mark Bradshaw on a walk along Stapleton Road. Cllr. Bradshaw professed himself to be shocked and angered by what he saw. Let’s hope his involvement manages to stir council officers to take the area’s problems rather more seriously than they have to date.
Jane Street – a regular fly-tipping hotspot in BS5. Picture courtesy of @HelmoreAndHunt
My latest 2 FoI requests have now been submitted. Both seek to see how the BS5 area compares with the rest of the city as regards enforcement action as there is a distinct impression locally that the area is regarded as less worth bothering about than the city’s more affluent parts. The first concerns fly-tipping in the BS5 area and is reproduced below.
Dear Bristol City Council,
This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act.
1. As regards Stapleton Road (the section between its junctions with Trinity Road and Fishponds Road) in particular:
a) How many fixed penalty notices have been issued for fly-tipping on this road in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?
b) How many people have been prosecuted for fly-tipping on this road in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?
2. As regards the BS5 area in general:
a) How many fixed penalty notices have been issued for fly-tipping in this area in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?
b) How many people have been prosecuted for fly-tipping in this area in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?
Yours, etc.
The second concerns the associated problem litter.
Dear Bristol City Council,
This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information
Act.
1. As regards Bristol in general:
a) How many fixed penalty notices have been issued for dropping litter throughout the city in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?
b) How many people have been prosecuted for dropping litter throughout the city in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?
2. As regards the BS5 area in general:
a) How many fixed penalty notices have been issued for dropping litter in this area in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?
b) How many people have been prosecuted for dropping litter in this area in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?
The Post has exclusively revealed that 
