Kingsdown Conservation Group

As you may already be aware, the KCG Committee decided not to oppose the helicopter pad application, mainly because we felt it was likely to be granted whatever we said and because there was clear support at the open meeting for the view that we should just live with it and it wouldn’t be as bad as some people were claiming.

However, the Council clearly feel that the application is not a simple straightforward one that can be decided by a planning officer, so it will be considered by the Development Control (Central) Committee at its meeting on Wednesday 5 November 2008.

The Council’s notification says: “The meeting will take place in a Committee Room in the Council House, starting at 2pm, although it is not possible to say when the case will be considered. From the Wednesday before the Committee date, a copy of the officer’s report and recommendation can be seen at:

•    Planning Reception, Brunel House, St George’s Road
•    Reception Area, The Council House, College Green
•    The Council’s website www.bristol.gov.uk/planning. Please select PublicAccess for Planning.

Copies can be obtained subject to the usual photocopying charges. From 48 hours before the start of the meeting, you will also be able to view the officer’s report and any appendices, from the Council’s website www.bristol.gov.uk/meetings.

You will also be able to view this committee live via a web cast transmission over the Internet. Please visit www.bristol.gov.uk/webcast

We will not write to you again, however if you wish to find out what happened at the Committee meeting, you could telephone the above named Officer from mid-day on the day following the meeting.”

Anyone who wishes to attend and speak at such meetings is able to do so, but there are rules governing the procedure which can be found on the Council website or by telephoning the Planning Department.

Well done, and thanks, to all who supported our objections to the hospital trust’s plans for a block of flats in the garden of 42 Alfred Hill, a historic listed building. Back in June we urged the Council to keep to its own new policy guidelines for our area: “Stick to the policy – keep the gardens …. After two recent unsuitable applications – both withdrawn after widespread criticism - the UBHT hospital authorities have now put in a third one, this time to build four flats in the garden of  the listed building at 42 Alfred Hill.”

We’re delighted that the Council has agreed with us and refused the application, citing several strong grounds for doing so. You can see the detailed reasons by looking at the Planning Applications section of the Council website and entering the reference 08/02222/F.

No doubt the hospital will be back with more plans, though maybe not until the property market improves. Let’s hope they take more notice next time of local views and Council policies for the conservation area.

(Ref: 08/02222/F)

Here are some of the main points of our meeting (very condensed, from two and a half hours of discussion). My apologies for late posting - I thought I had put these on the website but clearly I was wrong. Tony Kerr

We reviewed last week’s well-attended open meeting about the helicopter landing pad, and decided not to oppose the UHB Trust’s application. We will, however, ask for more work to be done on the appearance of the landing pad, and a planning condition to ensure that if the Trust do ever want night flights, then a new application would be needed.

Several enforcement matters are still dragging on, despite continued pressure on the City Council to stick to their own (new) procedures and implement their own policies on unauthorised conversions, parking in gardens, satellite aerials, advertising, etc.

There was good news on several fronts – the very successful second Homegrown Festival, an improved application for the historic St James Priory, chance of replacing ugly lampposts, a new Catalpa tree for the triangle by Clevedon Terrace.

As ever, there are several problems with developments just outside Kingsdown that will have a significant effect on us – 4-10 Stokes’ Croft and Hamilton House nearby, a huge development of student accommodation in King’s Square  and continued discussion of the University’s building plans.

IDEAS PLEASE! As well as all the above, and the usual crop of new applications we’re going to talk about ways of improving Montague Green (more trees? fewer trees? another seat or two?) and how things are going with the AGM’s request from a couple of years ago to try to improve the road junction of St Matthew’s Rd and Clevedon Terrace.

If you want to know more, you can email us or find Committee members’ contact details on the website.

Next meeting is on Thursday 13th November. Any member is welcome to attend for all or part – so get in touch if you’d like to come along.

We don’t normally recommend websites - though we do have a lot of local links over in the right column - but Bristolstreets.co.uk is so good we just had to say something. It’s much easier to explore it than to explain exactly what it does, but suffice to say that it’s a really clever way of communicating information about streets, buses, cycle-routes etc. and it’s a purely private initiative - no Government grants, consultants, or committees are involved.

Click on a street and the local bus numbers appear. Click on them and the whole bus route is marked, with stops. Same for trains - with the next departure times - and City Car Club locations. Property for sale or rent and - most impressive of all, I think, a Cycling section which is so good the City Council are using it for their £22m Cycling City programme. As well as official cycle routes, it shows those recommended by other cyclists and comments on hazards and suggestions for improvement - all marked on the map.

Do have a look at Bristolstreets.co.uk and if you like it, tell your friends so it gets used enough to keep developing.

Here are the notes of the meeting last Tuesday at the Ark, kindly produced by John Frenkel and checked by the UHB Trust. Sorry they’re too long to reproduce in full, but you can download a copy in Word format: 08-10-07-helipad-meeting.

You can also download the PowerPoint slides used by the Trust officers: uhb-helicopter-presentation. NB it’s a large file (2.8Mb)

The KCG Committee meets this evening (Tuesday 14th October), so we will decide what formal response to make to the City Council about the planning application for a helipad.

This year’s community fair, Kingsdown Homegrown, held on Saturday 20th September was another great success. Held in and around St Matthew’s Church, the wet weather pattern had broken and the day was sunny and warm. There were various kinds of music, sideshows, competitions, foods and stalls and plenty of opportunities to mix and meet with one’s neighbours. There followed an equally enjoyable Evening Party with food and dancing.

As well as all this fun, the day was very profitable, with a total of £1285 being raised. Of this £1000 will be given to Annie Syrett’s charity ‘Friends of Alalay (Santa Cruz)’ to help in the care of the street children of Bolivia. Most of the remaining money will be donated to St Matthews’ Church for extra kitchen needs; with a small amount helping in the replanting of a tree on St Matthew’s Road.

A big thank you to St Matthews’ Church for their hospitality in opening their church, hall and grounds to the whole community and their help on the day. A thank you too to the Ark for it’s support and indeed everyone who came out and joined in and made the day such a success.

Next year’s event will be held on September 26th 2009. Notices will be sent out in April next year with details of the day and contact details for those who might like to offer help or support before or during the day.

Otherwise contact can be made through this web site or sending an email to :-
Insideout73@blueyonder.co.uk

In Celebration of The Great British Pudding

St Matthew’s Church Hall

Enjoy the delights of five traditional British puddings
Vote for your favourite to be crowned King of Puddings

7.30pm Light Evening meal
8.00pm The Pudding Extravaganza
10.00pm Voting

£15 per person
Includes all food. Drinks can be purchased from the Bar.
Tickets must be purchased in advance. Available from St Matthew’s Office
Telephone: 0117 944 1598 Email: office@stmatthews-bristol.org.uk