Goodnight Irene! Stadium Victory!

Celebration - but we couldn't be sure for another 13 days...

After a hearty celebration two weeks ago, when it was announced that the Judicial Review brought by TrasHorfield had been dismissed, we found it wasn't the end of the story.

Our petition, www.bristolsnottrash.bristolpetitions.com attracted over 13,000 signatures of support for the Memorial Ground being sold for a Sainsburys, housing, community facility, parking and memorial park, in order to enable to building of a new Stadium for Rovers in South Gloucestershire.

The reasons why the petition was so popular were clear: This was not just about Bristol Rovers fans, in fact, I received some very kind words and support from arch-rivals, Bristol City - they know what it's like to have a major and exciting infrastructure project that will benefit the whole city stopped by a minority group, skating on the edge of legislation to impose their view.

It was also supported by people who wanted to see Bristol give out a loud signal that this is a city open for business, a place worth investing in, and not a backward backwater where any good and exciting idea or investment is met with a muttered 'not in our backyard'.

It was supported by people who want to see major music acts come to our city, who want to see major sporting events - like our own Lee Haskins defend his title to a huge home crowd...

...and it was supported by many who want a transport revolution in our gridlocked city of fumes, knowing that the Rovers Stadium would play a huge part in boosting the business case we need to win, to get a full Henbury Loop Line. 

Contrary to what you might think, many traders on Gloucester Road also supported it - they are not competitors of a supermarket, and the extra footfall and parking space was something they saw as a positive.

After the decision was announced, Trash then appealed, the appeal was dismissed by the judge, and thankfully, Trash did not take this decision further to the High Court. That is a relief. To do so would have been painful and very costly for all involved - and those who are always winners in these situations, and who tend to defend and like judicial reviews - the lawyers - would have been the only ones certain to gain.

No, we had already spent enough public money on this, and so it was with joy and relief that decency and common sense - having been approved by the democratic planning process, then by the judicial process, finally prevailed.

It's impossible to name everyone who was so brilliant in getting Rovers the home they have wanted for over 30 years - but David Thomas is a hero, Angela Betts, Nigel Currie, our Councillor Claire Hiscott, George Maggs, Nick Higgs who was superb and unwavering,  the 13,000 who supported our petition... 

And personally, a very warm thank you to all those who posted such lovely, and supportive messages for the campaign, both on the Rovers fan-page and on twitter. It really made the world of difference and really helped keep morale up. Thank you.

So, A huge thank you and well done to all those who campaigned so hard, and to those thousands who signed the petition. This is your victory  #UTG 

 

Lamplighters Victory at last!

Celebrating Lamplighters with Champers!

Oh, there were doubters. "It won't happen" people said as we persistently, and possibly rather obsessively campaigned to get the wonderful "Lamplighters Pub" re-opened once again.

It's been a saga.

Back in 2009, it was shut under Enterprise Inns ( one of the big pub companies who are notoriously bad landlords, tie their tenants to buying their beer at hugely inflated prices, charge above market rent and generally seem to see their role as a property manager to pay off their debts, rather than a pub company.)

Hearts sank. It is seldom a pub that shuts ever has a pint poured again.I set up a petition - www.savethelamplighterspub.bristolpetitions.com to try to show a potential buyer that this place was a little gold-mine. ( After a bit of investment)

Then hope arose as Churchill Properties bought the pub and claimed they were adamant it should stay as a pub. But residents had heard that kind of stuff before and took some convincing. However, as a beacon of light ( no pun intended) Churchill Properties were every bit as good as their word - and set about looking for someone to run it as a pub.

Meanwhile, our dear old Lamplighters was being decimated by weather and vandals, and was becoming a far cry from the beautiful historical building we all knew, and turning into a sad disheveled relic. It was soon apparent that the only way it would be a viable venture was if some of its extensive pub garden was granted planning permission for some houses to fund its significant renovation.

That was the next battle. I remember at the 11th hour, just a day or so before the deadline, working with Planning at the Council to try to get it all sorted. And at the 11th hour it was.

But still no buyers...  and now it was 2013.  Four long years had passed.

So if Mohamed couldn't go to the mountain, as the saying goes, the mountain would come to Mohamed. ( In a sort of way) and we decided to see if we could run the pub as a community. I put together a survey for residents to try and find supporters, skills and everything we might need to set about turning it into a community pub. The prospect was somewhat daunting, but it felt like we had no choice, if we weren't to give up.

Then came the shining knights on their metaphorical stallions: Dominic Gundry-White and his wife Kathie. Dominic is business partner with the amazing Norman Routledge, who is currently transforming our beautiful Kings Weston House. They stepped in to buy the pub to turn it into their home, and a successful food-serving family pub.

The only thing to do was to open a bottle of bubbly to celebrate! But there's still a lot of work. If you want to get involved, get in touch with me, and I'll pass your name on to the owners. They will need all the help they can get.

A bottle of bubbly outside a new venture is one thing, we'll all really be celebrating when its a pint from behind the bar of our newly resurrected, much loved Lamplighters Pub. Beacon pub of Bristol. Cheers!

Help Rebuild Lawrence Weston Football Club's Clubhouse!

Only red-tape is  stopping this lot rebuilding their club-house...

"They get burnt down, but they get up again..."  But they are getting very fed up with it. And with good cause. Their club's been burnt down twice in nine years.

Each time they've had to rebuild it, but this time, it turns out the Council under-insured the property and they can't get the club-house they need rebuilt.

Another sting in the tail is that because they used their initiative and put up a temporary club, (portacabins) which has now been there for several years, the Council is under less pressure to cut through the red tape to rebuild their club for them. 

And if that wasn't enough, the final sting is that there is more than enough expertise, willingness and resource for the club members to rebuild their club themselves, at a fraction of the cost it would take through all the council-methods.  It's red-tape madness at its worst. True, some council officers have been doing their best to help - but that's been some years now and to be honest, it's just madness that they haven't been able to build their club house. 

This is a superb club, which is about so much more than just football - it is a hub of the community, full of great people, bringing everyone together.  Please sign our petition  to , er, focus minds, in the Council for sorting this disgrace out.  This year, it's the club's 20th Anniversary. Read more about it in The Post  What better way to celebrate 20 years than have the Council cut through it's lunatic red-tape, and help this club get their club-house rebuilt.

Never let it be said that the club is not hugely hospitable! Even to MPs.

The Avon Gorge Ascent - a change from climbing the greasy pole...

Doesn't look too bad! All going to be fine!

Things not feeling so fine now...

This was the easy start-bit. Things got worse!

 It all seemed so far away as to be unreal, when I accepted Climb Bristol's kind invitation to see the glory of the Avon Gorge climbs for myself, by climbing up it.

When it came to it, I wasn't so sure it was such a great plan. Climb Bristol were keen to show me first hand the unique nature of the Avon Gorge cliffs, with its plant life unique to Bristol and its very special climbing features.

As someone not tremendously keen on heights, I had never dreamed of being one of those people you see scaling the Avon Gorge cliffs as you drive past, but I was keen to see what Climb Bristol was talking about.

The day dawned sunny and bright, and I hoped for rain and that it might be delayed for another day. No rain arrived. But everyone from Climb Bristol were incredibly professional, and tolerant of my nerves. They tried telling me about the access issues to the rock face, and the challenges of maintaining the climbing routes, free from shrubs that drown out the rare and unique plants around them, but I was somewhat preoccupied by the thought of what I was about to do, so we cracked on with the climb.

The route I was given was apparently 'severe' (which didn't make me feel much better.) I felt slightly better as they told me how many other grades of slope were above 'severe' - right up to 'extremely severe' which itself has several grades of difficulty. Once I'd started climbing I was surprised how well the climbing shoes gripped, alarmed by how polished some of the rock had become with the frequency of climbers and intrigued by the 'physical chess' nature of the climbing - an almost sudoko-like challenge of where to place hands and feet on limited little cracks and chinks. But once I'd got into my stride a bit more about 3/4 of the way up, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of it, and understood why people get addicted to climbing.

Climb Bristol highlighted how special this climbing area is;  how much work they have done on a voluntary basis to clear it of over-grown shrubbery; the possibilities the area presents if the decent car-parking spaces are returned, and how Bristol should celebrate this superb venue for climbers far more than it does.

When the climb was one, pumped full of adrenalin and endorphines, we walked back down to the car. As I stepped out onto the Portway bus-lane, it struck me that for all the thrill of clinging to a rock-face a long way up, the most dangerous part of the whole episode was probably about to begin- walking the short distance along a brutal road to get to the lay-by where we parked.   There was plenty of room for the shrubs to be cut back and a footpath laid.  That's the kind of danger and risk that should be actively removed, so people can enjoy the beauty, exhilaration and calculated risk of climbing in far more safety. 

Thanks to Climb Bristol for such a great experience

 Thank you Climb Bristol! I hope I can do it again sometime...

Tea(Street)Dance with mum

At the beginning of the year, I brought a Street-Dance team to Henbury's Emmanuel Chapel to start trial street-dance classes for local young people.

The classes were a huge success, and 9 weeks later, a significant group of young people had put together an excellent street-dance routine which they performed in front of the community (including their parents.) And the young people loved it so much that one of them anonymously, and unbeknownst to us, applied for Aspiring Communities funding themselves to continue it.

And my mum ( Who has always had a bit of a thing for street-dance) took it upon herself to fundraise to get enough money to secure the street-dance classes for the future. A few years ago she took up cycling, and recently won the European Triathlon Championships in her age-group - so she decided to do a big sponsored Bike Ride around the Bristol area to raise money for the street dance group.

This is just one of the fundraising events organised around her Big Bike Ride - A beautiful tea put on by Cynthia Reynolds and Carole Lye ( both pictured behind the tea table!) .

If you are interested in sponsoring my mum's bike ride for Henbury Street Dance, email my mum at janeleslie@hotmail.com for more details.

A lick of paint for Sea Mills Community Centre

When the rain finally stopped, our staunch team got to painting up the Sea Mills Community Centre. It's a great facility, and a real asset to the area - but all the better for removing several dodgey looking old sofas, a prehistoric printer, some ancient art-work and an array of odd plastic items that no one could quite identify.

The team, lead by Siobhan Kennedy-Hall, managed to construct the scaffolding in the picture, paint several inside walls and most of the back wall in one afternoon. And polish off some sausage rolls and tarte tartin. ( Only the best.) Brilliant work, everyone. I've not had so much fun in ages. I still can't get the paint from under my nails...

ps. a date for the diary - the Sea Mills Community Centre barn dance, on September 19th. If the catering for the hard workers here is anything to go by, it's not to be missed...