Kingsdown Conservation Group

Thanks to Ruth Rimmer for the following information:

Wednesday 24th June 2009. Grounds of St Matthew’s Church
Gates open at 6.30pm. Music from 7.30pm. Auction at 8.15

The charity ‘For-ethopia’ invites you to join us for a summer evening of fun for all the family. Great art, music and food! There will be local artists selling art, an art auction, music by The Ambling Band, BBQ and bar and an Ethiopian craft stall.

Tickets: Adults £5/ Children £2.50 (includes burger and soft drink)

Call 0117 973 3812 or email: event@for-ethopia.com

Westmoreland House The Planning Committee has dismissed the owner’s recent application for planning permission.  KCG objected to the application because more than 160 small homes overdeveloped the site.  We wanted to see the height of the tower reduced and there were aspects of the design that were not good enough.  There is more bad news.  The City’s plans to compulsorily purchase the site have fallen through.  The recession has caused the preferred developer to lose interest.  The site will continue to remain derelict as it has for the last 30 years!

Residents’ Parking Zone Kingsdown residents met Highways Department’s representatives about the RPS’s progress.  The public’s poor response to the most recent consultation has disappointed the City.  Although there are statutory signage requirements, Highways are sensitive to the need to consider the scheme’s visual impact.  The next stage involves Highways producing a street plan of their proposals to talk to us about.

Lamp-posts - KCG has paid for a new box lantern on Spring Hill,and we are trying to get the City to change its mind and install a conservation design at the bottom of Alfred Hill.

Satellite dishes – KCG objects to Planning Enforcement whenever a dish is mounted on the front of a listed building.  They can usually be sited on the roof.  The City’s own Housing Department is the most recent offender.

Marlborough Hill – KCG have said that the pavement build out to reinforce the one way system is not good enough.  However, we have now decided that there is no more that we can do for the time being.

UHB - When the work to create the hammerhead at the bottom of Alfred Hill is complete the Hospital will reopen the car park off Marlborough Hill and the woodland walk way.  The bottom of Bedford Place steps has been installed.  KCG has made clear to UHB that it expects Bedford Place to be restored in due course.  It will object if the Hospital applies to stop Bedford Place permanently.

Montague Green – KCG wants to see the concrete litter bins replaced by a better design.

The next committee meeting will be on Tuesday the 7th July 2009.  If you wish to meet the committee or bring any matters to their attention please contact the secretary@Kingsdown.org.uk.

Beverley Ward of the Friends of Brandon Hill writes:

We are carrying out a survey to get views on possible development of the old bowling green site in the park and attached is a questionnaire

You can e-mail your completed questionnaire to: bristolparks@bristol.gov.uk or send it to the following FREEPOST (no stamp required) address:

Brandon Hill – Former Bowling Green Survey (VA/Col33)
FREEPOST BS4341
P O Box 595
Bristol
BS99 2BR

The closing date for the return of the questionnaire is Sun 19th June 2009.

Deborah Evans, a local resident, writes:

I am afraid I cannot choose any one of them over the others.

What seems crucial to me is that each of the three proposals excludes the other groups of people who are using it now.

Surely we want our park to include as many people and as many imaginative uses as possible, and a space that remains as flexible (and therefore inclusive) as the slightly substandard space we have today.

You can read the full text of Deborah’s letter here.

50 Kingsdowners created quite a buzz at St Matthew’s Church last Saturday when they went along to hear Bristol bee expert David Maslen talk about the Secret Life of the Honeybee. We looked at real live bees (safely behind glass), learned dozens of fascinating facts, and licked our lips at the delicious honey on sale before digging in to the home-made cakes and other honey specialities.

Did you know that the Queen only has three weeks to mate, but then she produces more than her own weight of eggs every day? Or that a hive can have up to 40,000 bees all working together to find pollen, produce honey and look after the bee babies?

Several local residents say they have been inspired to plant ‘bee-friendly’ varieties in their garden, and one or two hope to start their own hives. Next year maybe we’ll be buying Pure Kingsdown Honey?

Thanks to Helen and colleagues in Kingsdown Homegrown for organising, to David for his excellent talk, and to all those who made the fabulous cakes, which included: elderflower, rose and lavender cupcakes; fruit loaf; apple, poppy seed and honey cakes. Well done Kingsdown cake makers. Thank you also to Vicky at St Matthews Church and Chris Townsend for all their help.

This was not held as a profit making event but £50 was made to be added to the Kingsdown Fund and September’s Homegrown Day.
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St Matthew’s church are holding a Party in the Garden on Saturday 13th from 1230 to 530. Games, music, stalls and competitions are promised, along with a barbecue, afternoon teas and ‘lots more’. More info from the church on 9441598

Recent publicity about the plight of our honey bees has inspired us in Kingsdown to hold a day of Celebration of Bees. We are lucky to have David Marslen of Bristol Bee Keepers come to give a presentation about the difficulties that bees are having these days, together with a demonstration hive. So you can come to see what is really happening inside a hive here, in and around St Matthews Church. We will also have other hives and bee keeping equipment on show to give you a full picture of the bee keeping world.

To make the day a fun event, there will be craft events such as paper flower making by the Art Club and Bee Hotel Making inspired by Avon Wildlife and Blue Peter. There will be a Plant Stall selling Bee Loving Plants for your garden and hopefully, lots of delicious flower and honey inspired tea and cakes.

If there is anyone who would like to help in any way please contact Helen on 9422922

Beck Marsh writes to say that the refurbishment of the ground floor of Colston Fort is nearing completion and the service will move into light, welcoming and well-equipped premises on June 25th. The phone number will be  0117 9192345

If you want to look round the new premises, there’s an informal ‘open house’  on Wednesday 22nd July from 6 to 8pm, with staff and service users available to show people round and answer questions about the service. If you want to attend, please contact Beck: Beck.Marsh@awp.nhs.uk

The familiar Kingsdown Jester, now renamed ‘Jester of the West’,  has been standing around outside Tate Modern to greet everyone at the ‘House of Fairy Tales’ event on May 22nd-May 25th. His creator, local artist Rebecca Johnson-Marshall, will also be among 70 exhibitors at a large London exhibition, “V22″. in the Old Biscuit Factory in Bermondsey up till 31st May, from Weds to Sun 12-6.. See http://www.v22collection.com/v22presents/almond/almond.html for more details, or contact Rebecca at rj-m@talktalk.net