Three best playgrounds in Bristol

3 Best playgrounds in Bristol

Playgrounds are worth their weight in gold when it comes to entertaining children for free in the city. Did you know Bristol has over 400 parks and gardens, including some excellent play areas for kids all over the city. So whether you’re looking for a bit of respite on a jam-packed sightseeing trip, or somewhere new for the kids to burn off some of that energy, here’s a list of the 3 best adventure playgrounds in Bristol.

St Andrews Park, Bristol

Landscaped Victorian St Andrews Park, fringed by pretty houses, is the place to go on a hot, sunny summer’s day in Bristol, thanks largely to its huge paddling pool. This fenced-in mini-lido heaves with splashing children as soon as school is out if there’s a hot fiery object in the English sky. There’s a lovely play area with a large sand pit (bring a bucket and spade!) and all the usual favourites. Refreshment-wise, a little kiosk sits at the centre of the park selling great coffee and ice creams with a few tables and chairs dotted around, although sadly it’s future is currently in the balance.

Address: BS6 5AX

Where to park: free on-street parking on roads around the park.

Page Park, Downend, Bristol

This large Victorian park, in the Staple Hill area (about 5 miles north east of Bristol city centre), has two kids’ play areas (one natural wood, the other containing your classic kids’ playground equipment), a sensory garden, cricket pitch, tennis courts, bandstand and an aviary. At it’s heart, an impressive clock tower dating back to 1910 – whose beams provide an extra place for hide and seek – chimes every quarter of an hour. It’s a pretty park, with scooter/buggy-friendly pathways, the Bean Tree Cafe for a caffeine and cake fix and just 400 metres from the Bristol to Bath cycle path (which exits onto Signal Road).

Address: The park is enclosed by Broad Street, Hill House Road, Park Road and South View.

Parking: find free parking on a nearby road

Arnos Court Park, Brislington, Bristol

This park sits just down the road from Arnos Vale Cemetery and you can either stroll along the pavement between the two, or climb the hill to a gate which connects the park with the the cemetery’s woods (a much nicer route in my opinion with views to boot). At the bottom of the hill, close to Bath Road, is where you’ll find the kids’ playground with its zip line, slide, swings, dish spinner and play sand.

Address: Hampstead Rd, BS4 3HJ Parking: If you’re exploring Arnos Vale cemetery as well, there are about 30 car park spaces there, otherwise you should find a space on nearby side streets.

West of England Combined Authority has failed

Our greenbelt at risk:

Once again, the West of England Combined Authority has failed to produce a Spatial Development Strategy, a document that is supposed to agree future housing targets in our region. Without such a strategy in place, the presumption is in favour of development, which means developers have even more of an upper hand to force through unsuitable or undesirable developments. Local residents may have seen the proposals by Bellway Homes for up to 555 new housing units on Brislington greenbelt, a development we do not support but which is now more difficult to stop.

The land in question was originally earmarked for future development in the previous Spatial Development Strategy, but that was chucked out by central government inspectors as ‘not fit for purpose’. Since then, we have had the declaration of a climate emergency and an ecological emergency, an opposition motion at City Hall has granted additional protection to greenbelt land and the West of England Mayor, Dan Norris, has stated his commitment to protecting our greenbelt. However, without an SDS, this may have little impact on developers. We recognize the need to provide more homes, but there are plenty of brown field sites in the city which should be prioritised. Indeed, in Brislington West we are fully supportive of developments at Flowers Hill, Paintworks, John Peer and City Motors, which will deliver hundreds of new homes in the next few years, all on brownfield sites. Community Infrastructure Levy projects: Residents may be interested in proposals for spending CIL funding in Brislington West. There are several projects this year, including: • Sandy Park Road. A new sign to promote our local shopping area, replacing the tatty, out-of-date sign on the

Tram Depot.

• West Town Lane. The zebra crossing has a visibility issue and a local resident was recently knocked down.

Better lighting and signage should help. • Spark Evans Bridge. In January, the

Council included this bridge in a list for repair and refurbishment. By April, it had inexplicably been removed from the list! The project aims to restore the bridge to its former glory. • Eton Road, a School Street to improve child safety and promote active travel to and from school.

• Hungerford Road. A new skatepark on Hungerford Open Space. • Arnos Court Park. A bog garden in the derelict ornamental pond. • Arnos Court Park. An Outdoor gym. • Arnos Court Park. Painted children’s games such as hopscotch on the redundant tarmac next to the children’s play area. • Arnos Court Park. Further landscape and biodiversity enhancements including the provision of benches to enhance the recreational value of the park. • Wick Road/Newbridge Road. A joint bid with Brislington East for safety improvement along this stretch of road. Greater Brislington Together will be organising a community meeting soon, where the various bids can be discussed in more detail and community priorities selected. Unfortunately, there won’t be funding for everything.

Fallen tree removal:

We are pleased that a large tree, which fell during the winter storms and was partially blocking a key active travel corridor from Brislington into the city centre, has finally been cleared away. The council were initially reluctant to do the work on the riverside path near Totterdown Bridge, but after a bit of persistence on our part, we persuaded them to prioritise its removal. If you are in the area, please take care as there is still a remaining stump and mound in the path, which will need to be rectified in due course. In the meantime, the mound has been sprayed with fluorescent paint to ensure its visibility.

Hundreds of Brislington West residents have signed up to receive our monthly newsletter via email. You can register using this link: http://www.bristollibdems.org/efocus. By Jos Clark, Liberal Democrat Councillor (Brislington West) Email: cllr.jos.clark@ bristol.gov.uk Mobile: 07584 370429 & Andrew Varney, Liberal Democrat Councillor (Brislington West) Email: cllr. andrew.varney@bristol.gov.uk Mobile: 07584 183381