Kingsdown Conservation Group

Present: Andy King (chairman), Mary Wright, Jeremy Newick (minutes),

Bridget Parker, Malcolm Parker, Nick Kidwell, Chris Jones, Tony Kerr Apology: John Frenkel

We discussed plans for a membership drive and a survey to gauge residents’ views and priorities in the late summer.

Launderette. The proposed change of use to two flats had been refused by the Planning Committee, though the owner might appeal. It would be very useful if a potential shop-operator could be found. Future protection for the shops would be stronger if they were specified in the Local Plan as a ‘Local Centre’ so we will pursue this with the Council.

Application 06/00457/F/C, 25 Kingsdown Parade: KCG had written to object, as had individual members.

Kingsdown Wine Vaults: Noise problems are still being experienced, and should be reported to Mark Curtis, Senior Environmental Health Officer, Pollution Control, Brunel House, BS1 5UY, 922 3256 or e-mail: pollution_control@bristol-city-gov.uk

Proposed closure to through traffic of Alfred Hill: Local residents are undertaking a questionnaire survey of views on possible solutions to their access problems.

Prior’s Hill Fort Flats: Two hawthorns and a whitebeam had been planted.

Replacement lavender bushes on Montague Green: It was thought that the Secretary might be able to pursue the matter.

Unsightly City Council houses and forecourts on the Parade. No reply had yet been received, so this would be followed up.

Mobile Phone Mast - Application 06/01096/F/N, Junction of Cotham Road and Cotham Road South: installation of a 15m pole and 2 equipment cabinets. A letter of objection would be sent.

Application 06/01336/F/X, 146 St Michael’s Hill: demolition of extension and its replacement, alterations to shopfront: JN to peruse and act accordingly.

Conservation Area Character Appraisal: TK, NK & JN would read EH papers and discuss.

“Welcome pack” MW showed the committee an excellent leaflet she had produced on the history of Montpelier. Should such a leaflet be prepared for Kingsdown and, if so, should it be part of a newsletter and put on the KCG website?

Residents’ Parking: It was reported that the city was to employ an outside consultant to consider the prospect of Controlled Parking Zones across the city.

Next meeting: Tuesday June 6th 2006. Agenda items to Helen Phillips at 73 K Parade.

The City Counil have refused permission for a 49ft mobile phone mast to be erected at the junction of Cotham Rd and Cotham Rd South. The reasons were that it would damage a sycamore tree and would be an ‘incongruous, alien and visually intrusive’ feature of the streetscene and would spoil the setting of neighbouring listed buildings.

The applicant does have the right of appeal (which, of course, communities don’t but this time we don’t need to).

Good news indeed and well done the City Council.

It’s really easy to get our occasional news by email. We won’t contact you very often, as we don’t have the time and you don’t want your inbox clogged up, but we usually send a short update if there’s anything of general interest after the monthly committee meetings. You can also read it on the noticeboard near the City end of Kingsdown Parade.

We use the Yahoo! groups free service, which is nice and simple. All you need to do is to send an email to

KingsdownConservationGroup-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

(You can probably just click on that link to start your email program, and you don’t even need to bother about which letters are in capitals - it doesn’t make any difference. What could be simpler?). You then receive an email offering to join you up to a group or just to the mailing list (which you’ll find is much simpler - you only need to reply, sending the email straight back).
And if you ever want to unsubscribe, it’s just as easy.

On Tuesday last, the Council’s Central Area Development Control committee overruled their officers’ recommendation and instead supported the arguments put forward by KCG. We said that if they allowed the launderette to be converted into yet more flats, it would remove a valuable local facility and lead to a domino effect on the other shops (which would obviously be worth more as flats). We also said that it was wrong for the Council simply to accept an owner’s assurances that a business wasn’t viable, when the Council’s own policies on shops (which we feel should be applied to the launderette) say “Where it can be demonstrated that there is no demand for the site or building, taking into account how it has been marketed, for how long, and on what terms, other financial and professional or service uses will be sought.”

However, this isn’t the end of the story. We have talked to the owner, who assures us that the business really is losing money consistently and he will be forced to close it in the next few weeks anyway. He thinks it will be hard for any other business on the site to make money, though of course we think the Council’s policy on shops should still apply and efforts should be made to find a replacement.

The owner may well, of course, appeal against the Council’s decision, but whether he does or not we would be very pleased to hear from anyone who has ideas or proposals or how a successful business could be run on the site. Please let us know through our secretary, Helen Phillips at 73 Kingsdown Parade 942 2922