Fishponds Voice April 2023

Talented boxer was future world title prospect

Shock at sudden death of Jude, 19

FAMILY and friends have been left devastated by the sudden death of a talented young boxer from Fishponds, at the age of 19.

Jude Moore grew up in Hillfields and won national titles representing Downend Boxing Club, based at the Harry Crook Centre in Moorlands Road.

Downend coach Craig Turner said everyone

who knew Jude was "devastated" by his death in Hertfordshire, where he was training with a view to turning professional.

Tributes to the teenager, who was tipped to be a future world champion, have been flooding in from those who knew him, both in the sport and at local schools.

Turn to Page 3

Merchants Arms plan thrown out

Campaigners are celebrating a planning inspector's decision to reject plans to convert the former Merchants Arms pub in Stapleton into housing.

PAGE 8

Man, 28, killed in motorway crash

A 28-year-old Fishponds man was one of two people killed in a crash on the M25. Their car is thought to have hit a lamppost. Two others were injured.

PAGE 2

Packaging firm set to move out

Graphic Packaging International has confirmed it will leave its site in Filwood Road, Fishponds, after more than a century.

PAGES 4 & 5

We are currently looking to expand our team of skilled mechanics. Please get in touch if you are interested in the job vacancy and would like to be part of the HRM family.

Jude Moore in the ring at Downend Boxing Club

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Fishponds man killed in M25 crash

A FISHPONDS man was among two people from Bristol killed in a crash on the M25, police have confirmed.

Adeel Qureshi, who was 28, died when the car he was a passenger in crashed near the M23 junction at Bletchingley in Surrey at around 3am on February 23.

Another Bristol man, 31-year-old Jamie Baines, was also killed in the accident, which police said did not involve any other vehicles.

Surrey Police said both men died at the scene of the accident, while the driver of the car, also 31, and another passenger in his 20s were taken to hospital by ambulance, with serious injuries.

The car is understood to have hit a lamppost in the central reservation.

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LOCAL INFORMATION

Bristol City Council http://www.bristol.gov.uk

0117 922 2000

Police www.avonandsomersetpolice.uk

general enquiries: 101

Emergency: 999

Fire www.avonfire.gov.uk

General enquiries: 0117 926 2061

Emergency: 999

COMPLAINTS

NHS 111

Safer Stronger team sscg@southglos.gov.uk

01454 868009

Anti social behaviour team asbreporting@southglos.gov.uk

01454 868582 Streetcare/litter/vandalism etc streetcare@southglos.gov.uk

Environment/trading standards

01454 868001

Well Aware Health and social care information www.wellaware.org.uk

Tel: (freephone) 0808 808 5252

Despite our best efforts, we sometimes get things wrong. We always try to resolve issues informally at first but we also have a formal complaints procedure. If you have a complaint about anything in the Kingswood Voice, contact the publisher using the details below. We aspire to follow the Code of Conduct of the NUJ (National Union of Journalists), which holds journalists to a high standard of behaviour. Further details of the complaints process can be obtained by contacting the Publisher.

It has been reported that the four friends were on their way to catch a ferry for a weekend visit to Amsterdam.

In a tribute posted online, Adeel's brother Akeel wrote that he would "always be alive in our hearts".

A friend of Jamie told a national newspaper that he was a "bubbly, outgoing guy" who loved bikes.

Surrey Police are appealing for witnesses to the crash to contact them, quoting incident PR/P23038218.

Pensioner robbed in car park

A WOMAN in her 70s was mugged by a man with a dog as she visited a Fishponds park.

Police are appealing for anyone who saw the incident at Vassalls Park, has video footage or recognises the attacker's description to come forward.

An Avon and Somerset police spokesperson said the woman was pushed over and robbed in Oldbury Court car park, off Oldbury Court Road, at around 9.50am on March 1.

The attacker stole her Sony Xperia mobile phone and made off in a black car along Oldbury Court Road.

The police spokesperson said: "Thankfully, the victim did not require hospital treatment but is understandably shaken by the events."

She described her attacker as black, with a round face and short, tight curly hair. He was wearing black clothing.

The dog he had with him is described as a Rottweiler-cross.

Police have called on anyone who thinks they saw what happened or thinks they may have relevant dashcam or CCTV footage, to call them on 101 and quote the crime reference number 5223 049 047.

Neighbourhood officers are carrying out extra patrols of the area.

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'Once you met him, you would never forget him'

From Page 1

Hertfordshire Police say Jude's death followed a "medical episode" in Hoddesdon, where he was training. Officers are preparing a report for the coroner.

He leaves behind parents Mark and Carla, and brothers Beau and Ethan - also a talented boxer.

Jude was a National Champion at Schools level in 2017, aged 14, and Juniors in 2019.

He had represented England in European championships, boxed internationally, won a GB Three Nations championship and was Western Counties champion five times.

Craig said: "Jude was by far the best boxer to come out of Bristol for many, many years.

"He would have been a world championno two ways about it.

"Jude lived for his boxing. He lived and breathed it. I have never seen anyone with such an analytical mind and he could reel off the statistics of all the champions, at all the weights.

"He was outstanding at everything he did and we are devastated.

"He didn’t burn for long, but he burned very brightly for the time he did.

"He was an absolute star, irreplaceable. Once you met him, you would never forget him."

Former world super middleweight champion Glenn Catley worked with Jude at Downend.

Glenn said: "Jude was one of the most naturally-gifted boxers ever to come out of Bristol. What he had, you can't teach.

"But natural talent only takes you so far. He was dedicated to the sport.

"If you told him something he would absorb it like a sponge, go away and work on it.

"He was easy to train and brilliant in the ring - he had the full package.

"Without a shadow of a doubt he had everything in his tool kit to go on and be a future world champion.

"He was also humble, a good lad and one of life's great characters - you couldn't help but like Jude, there was no edge to him."

Jude attended Christ Church infant and junior schools in Downend and Mangotsfield School, all of whose leaders said their thoughts were with his family and friends.

Christ Church Infants head Anna Martin said: "Many of the staff remember Jude very well, despite it being so many years since he left our school, as he had a big personality and was so much fun.

"He was a loveable little lad and was known by everyone due to his love of being in the mix when there was some fun to be had - sometimes trying his luck a little too much at times!

"It was no surprise to us to hear that he had found success as a boxer and we felt so proud hearing about his success, gained through his determination and hard work."

Christ Church Juniors head Pippa

Osborne said: "Jude is remembered for being such a caring, popular and friendly person, and we are all immensely proud of all his successes, and the dedication and determination he showed within his boxing."

Jude's former head of house at Mangotsfield, James Gilpin, said: "Jude was talented and charismatic and he shone throughout his time at Mangotsfield School.

"He was a prefect and, as a role model, he always looked for the positive in everything he did.

"He was a student with big dreams and a big heart, and we are devastated to hear of his loss."

Head teacher Hetty Blackmore said: "His hard work and inner strength, both in sports and in drama, meant that he inspired others wherever he went."

After leaving school Jude attended the Army Foundation College in Harrogate but an injury meant he was unable to graduate. When he recovered he began training with Hoddesdon Boxing Academy, with a view to eventually turning professional.

Hoddesdon head coach Sab Leo said Jude had "an infectious personality", adding: "He was loved by all he came into contact with and we as a club were excited by what was to come."

The sport's organising body England Boxing also paid tribute to Jude, saying: "He was a popular and well-liked member of the boxing community, who often coached and gave advice to younger boxers."

Jude's funeral is due to take place at Bristol Cathedral on April 12, at 11am.

Craig has launched an online appeal to help Jude's family raise money to pay for the funeral, which had raised more than £9,000 as the Voice went to print.

It can be found on the Gofundme website at bit.ly/3ZlyKxP.

A tournament which Downend Boxing Club is hosting on April 2 has now been moved to Mangotsfield School to allow more people to attend.

Jude Moore after winning a national championship, aged 15 Picture: Craig Turner

Big changes ahead as packaging firm

THE first of three big redevelopment schemes for Fishponds has been unveiled.

Fishponds-based Graphic Packaging International has confirmed it is leaving its Filwood Road factory and wants to build 260 new homes on the site - ending a presence in the area dating back more than 100 years.

The US-owned company says 174 of the homes would be two, three and four-bedroom houses, and the other 86 would be flats.

It is one of three development sites revealed in February, as part of a master plan for the area, which has been named Atlas Place.

The tallest buildings on the site would be four-storey apartment blocks next to Goodneston Road, which is currently overlooked by tall factory buildings.

Two-storey housing would be built facing the existing terraced homes on the opposite side of Enfield Road.

The rest of the site would be a mix of two and three-storey housing.

A road would run through the middle of the development, with one junction on each of Goodneston Road and Enfield Road. Access to Lodge Causeway and Filwood Road would be pedestrian-only.

A green, public open space is proposed for the centre of the site, with cycling routes connecting to the Bristol & Bath Railway Path.

There would be at least one parking space per home, with one extra space for every four two-bed houses and one extra space for every two three- or four-bed homes.

Graphic Packaging International is planning to move to a new factory in Yate, which will give it extra space to create 134 new jobs "in the medium term" on top of the 230 jobs moving from Fishponds.

It would bring to an end a 102-year association with the

site for the company, which has undergone several changes of ownership in that time.

Predecessor ES&A Robinson’s bought it in 1921, and the current building dates from the 1930s.

At its peak the factory employed more than 2,200 people.

Graphic Packaging

International general manager Martin Sheppard said the current building was "simply no longer fit-for-purpose".

He said: We’ve planned this move for a long time and –finally – have secured a bespoke building on a long-term lease that will allow us to invest in significant growth that will create 100 new jobs in the medium term.

“Our Filwood Road site sits in the middle of a mainly residential area, with a primary school among our nearest neighbours.

"Running a large industrial

business – with lots of HGVs coming in and out throughout the day – is not ideal. This location is far better suited to new homes.

“Securing planning permission for 260 new homes will allow us to invest in growth and job creation. It will also free up a large, urban, brownfield site for much-needed new homes to help address the ongoing housing crisis Bristol faces.”

Graphic Packaging International previously won planning permission to redevelop the site 11 years ago, but said it did not move then because no suitable relocation site could be found at the time.

It says the proposed development would be "more harmonious" with the predominantly residential surrounding area.

The plans, drawn up by Bristol architects Pad, were exhibited at a one-day event at

The current Graphic Packaging International factory was built in the 1930s

to leave Fishponds after 100 years

A map from the consultation shows the new road through the site, with exits on Goodneston Road (left) and Enfield Road (right), in brown and pedestrian routes in blue, including exits onto Lodge Causeway (bottom) and Filwood Road (top).

Graphic Packaging International in Filwood Road on March 27.

People are also being invited to make comments by calling 0800 193 9403, to ask for a paper feedback form. The consultation is open until April 7. An outline planning

application on the main principles of the development, including the number of homes, green spaces and access points, is expected to be submitted in the next few weeks, after the public comments have been reviewed.

If planning permission is

granted, Graphic Packaging International will then sell the site to a developer, who would draw up detailed plans.

Plans for the two neighbouring sites, on the opposite sides of Filwood Road and Goodneston Road, are expected to be unveiled later in the spring.

In an area earmarked for

1,500 homes by the city council in its 2019 local plan review, the Atlas Place master plan includes a "parkland edge" next to the railway path, a "green corridor" on Goodneston Road and possibly student or care homes. For more details of the master plan visit atlasplacefishpondsfuture.com.

Industrial history: Page 19

Apartment blocks up to four storeys high would replace the factory buildings, right, overlooking Goodneston Road

n TURNERS VISION

How to choose sunglasses to protect your eyes

Sunglasses are often seen as more of a fashion piece than eye protectors. Luxury brands advertise them as accessories to complete your outfit, but mention little about the benefits for your eyes.

Sunglasses vary greatly. Some provide excellent protection against harmful UV rays, whereas others are just slightly tinted lenses that look great but offer little benefit. With such a vast array to choose from, it can be overwhelming trying to find a pair that fit your style and provide the necessary protection.

So here’s my list of the 5 features to look out for when choosing sunglasses.

1.Look for UV protection

Personally, I think that this is the most important factor. UV rays are extremely harmful to eyes, damaging your corneas and causing cataracts and macular degeneration. When looking for sunglasses, aim for lenses with 100% protection against both UVA & UVB rays, to maximise effectiveness. Look out for the Zeal Optics range in our stores – (part of the Hawaiian brand Maui Jim, designed by folk who know more than most about designing sun protection!).

2.Check the lens colour

The colour of your lenses can affect how much visible light enters your eyes. Lenses that are too dark can increase your eyes' sensitivity to light if worn a lot. Lens colour has little effect on protection from UV rays, however, it can impact your vision in certain environments, for example, grey lenses are great for bright sunlight.

3. Consider the shape and size

Not something you would usually consider affecting your eye health, but the shape of your glasses can add extra protection. Ideally, sunglasses that fit close to your face and cover much of your eyes are the best, as those that don’t cover enough of the eye can allow for UV exposure at certain angles.

4. Pick a pair suited to your lifestyle

When are you going to be wearing your sunglasses most? Just out for a walk? Then stylish Ray Bans will do the job. But if you’re into outdoor sports a pair with impact resistance, like the Oakley range, are recommended. If you spend time near water and snow, Polarised lenses can reduce glare. We stock all these brands in both our Henleaze and Fishponds branches. If you wear prescription glasses, don’t forget to get prescription sunglasses to avoid discomfort.

5. Don’t forget about the quality

Finally, choose sunglasses made from high-quality materials. Cheap materials won’t provide the same UV protection and likely won’t last as long.

What do I wear?

I get asked this a lot! I love my chrome Rockstar glasses by Tom Davies –the creator of bespoke eyewear for the stars. Want to channel your inner rock star? We have a stock of these in our stores to try out. To book an appointment or view our sunglasses range, call our Henleaze team on 0117 962 2474 or Fishponds team on 0117 965 4434

Peter Turner is an Independent Prescribing Optometrist at Turners Opticians in Bristol, with a specialist interest in visual development and visual performance, who also works as a Senior Optometrist at Bristol Eye Hospital

AS we head into spring we’ll be reaching for our shades on the way out the door.

Playhouse helps children to love learning

AN Eastville preschool and nursery where children "develop a love of learning, both indoors and outdoors" has been praised by an inspector.

Ofsted visited Bristol Children's Playhouse, in Berkeley Green Road, in February and inspector Rebecca Martin's report, published in March, rated the setting 'good' in all areas - quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, leadership and management, and personal development.

The inspector said children felt "secure and happy" at the nursery, and were confident and consistently well-behaved.

She said staff worked to develop "positive, secure relationships" with children and worked closely with parents to share information, make precise assessments and ensure care and attention was appropriate, providing "a nurturing environment for each child".

The inspector said: "The management team and staff implement an ambitious curriculum with a clear and consistent approach.

"Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive strong support."

The inspector said manager Sarah Ellis "strives for the best possible outcomes for children", adding: "She spends funding for

children from disadvantaged backgrounds on introducing new opportunities and widening their knowledge of the world around them."

The report highlighted the use of Makaton signing and visual cards to help children with speech and language delay, and use of key words in other languages for children whose first language was not English.

As a result, children "show good levels of

communication and language skills".

The inspector said: "The manager has a continual drive for improvement and strives for all children to develop a love of learning, both indoors and outdoors.

"Children show high levels of independence and curiosity in their play."

The preschool, which opened in 2005, has 48 children aged two to four on its roll and 13 members of staff working with children.

The inspection was its first since 2017, and was its fourth consecutive 'good' rating from the regulator.

Bristol Children's Playhouse business manager Kirsty Clark said staff were "delighted" with the inspector's verdict.

She said: "We are lucky to have such an experienced, highly qualified, dedicated and loyal team which helps us create a stable environment for our children, families and staff.

"We are proud to serve a diverse community, and for the inspector to witness first-hand the embodying of our core values of making children and families feel safe and welcomed.

"Sarah, the team and I feel that our report is a very true reflection of the Playhouse and showcases all elements of our inclusive and supportive practice."

Business manager Kirsty Clark, early years practitioners Khadiga Mohammed and Helen Gwatkin, and nursery manager Sarah Ellis with children from Bristol Children's Playhouse.

Merchants Arms plans thrown out by inspector

A PLANNING inspector has rejected plans to convert a former Stapleton pub into housing.

Campaigners fighting to save the Merchants Arms say they are "absolutely delighted" the inspector threw out owner Red Rock Developments' plans, after Bristol City Council failed to make a decision - or contest the appeal.

Red Rock applied in 2021 for permission to change the pub's use, "regularise" a six-bedroom house in multiple occupation (HMO) already being rented out, and extend a residential flat in the building on the corner of Stapleton Road and Averay Road.

The plans included a "function hall" the owners said would be available for community use.

By law councils have eight weeks – 13 for larger schemesto decide planning applications.

Red Rock appealed last May because the council had not made a decision after 15 months.

But to win permission it had to prove either that the pub, which closed in December 2016, was "no longer economically viable", or that a diverse range of other pubs existed locally.

Inspector Lewis Condé said Red Rock had not "satisfactorily demonstrated" that the pub was unviable, having supplied "no detailed information as to the pub’s financial performance prior to its closure", no assessment of its trade potential or any "robust" information on how much it would cost to reopen it.

He said that while the pub might no longer be of interest to a national chain there were "several examples" of similar Bristol pubs trading successfully under independent ownership.

The inspector said a sale price of £975,000 quoted to potential buyers - £500,000 more than

Red Rock paid in 2016 - was above its "true value" and had likely put off potential buyers.

He also found there were no other pubs within a 10-minute or 800m "reasonable walking distance".

An application for costs by Red Rock was also refused.

The appeal was contested by the Colston Estate Community Association, residents who said they were "forced to fight this alone" when the council withdrew during the appeal process.

CECA led a campaign in 2018 to have the pub listed as an Asset of Community Value and formed a community interest company to buy it in 2021.

The inspector said CECA had "provided an extensive range of evidence to suggest that the Merchant Arms remains viable", commissioning an expert report indicating that it could make a profit of £70,000 a year and

had been "trading well" before it closed.

CECA said it had been "totally vindicated" by the inspector, who had "understood and accepted" its arguments.

The group said: "We remain firmly of the opinion that the Merchants Arms could have a viable future as a community hub, catering for a range of community needs and uses, with a pub at its core. The use to which the building is currently being put is unlawful."

The group said it felt "badly let down" by the council’s planning department, who had "severely undermined" any community buy-out by letting the case 'drag on' for years.

A Red Rock spokesman said: “We are assessing the comments made by the appeal inspector before considering the next steps toward bringing the building back into a use which benefits the community.”

Academy rocks out

A TALENTED cast and crew from Bristol Brunel Academy brought a smash-hit musical to life after months of rehearsals.

More than 30 pupils from Years 7 to 11 took part in the school's production of West End musical and Jack Black movie School of Rock, performing three sell-out shows to family and friends.

The show followed seven months of rehearsals in students' own time, every Monday from the start of the school year, and included a four-piece live band.

The musical tells the story of a guitarist who gets thrown out of his band and poses as a supply teacher at an elite private school when he is desperate for work, introduces his pupils to hard rock and forms a group to take part in a battle of the bands contest.

The show was directed and produced by the school's

Caitlin Godwin and music

curriculum leader Drew Salida, who said: "We rehearsed a musical version of A Christmas Carol, which was going to be performed in Christmas 2021,

but unfortunately that had to be pulled literally days before the opening night due to Covid measures, so we're so pleased our students finally have the opportunity to be back on stage for the first time since 2020.

"They have worked amazingly

hard both front and backstage and we are immensely proud of what they have achieved.

"The band performed admirably in the bigger chorus numbers in the show, and sounded amazing."

drama curriculum leader Laura Harry, drama and music teacher

The cast and crew of Bristol Brunel Academy's production of School of Rock

THE charity that owns the Vassall Centre in Oldbury Court has made changes to its redevelopment plans.

Bristol Charities says it has changed the proposed use of a building originally earmarked for a nursery and also made changes to walls, footpaths and entrances, "following dialogue with local planning officers and consultation with local residents and current tenants of the Vassall Centre".

But more than 50 objections to the plans have been added since the revisions were announced.

Building space allocated to a nursery could also now be used as a "non-residential training, employability and education centre".

Bristol Charities says the change follows concerns about how a new nursery could affect those already operating in the area, and enables more flexible use of the space without any "detrimental impact on local nursery provision".

Other changes to the plans include widening the existing

Changes to Vassall Centre plans as hub is announced

pavement along Vassall Road, adding an arch and signs to the site's main pedestrian entrance, adjusting the boundary wall to increase space around the bus stop by the project's 'gateway building' on Gill Avenue, moving the main entrance door for community space in the building closer to accessible parking bays, adding an extra accessible toilet and providing a 'raised table’ junction at the Gill Avenue entrance, to slow vehicles and give pedestrians priority.

A total of 54 objections to the plans have been added to the planning section of the council's website since the changes were announced at the end of February.

Most are on the same grounds raised against the initial plans, including overdevelopment, the height of proposed buildings,

overshadowing and overlooking neighbouring homes, increased traffic, pressures on parking, increased noise and pollution.

Many of those commenting said the changes had not addressed their original objections, with one saying Bristol Charities had "not listened meaningfully to the concerns of the local residents and the current users of the Vassall Centre".

The updated plans can be seen by searching for application 22/03476/F.

Bristol Charities has also announced plans to launch a new community hub at the existing centre.

Head of community Charity Wallis said: "From our initial consultations with local residents, we took on board feedback about how the area was

lacking a community space.

"We have been hard at work behind the scenes doing community development work and building an exciting future for the current building and the future narrative of the site.

“We will soon be launching a dedicated Community Hub space and are currently building a menu of activities which will be open to local residents, with classes like Tai Chi and yoga already up and running.

"We would love residents in the area to get in touch with us directly about any community classes, events and activities they would like to see, run or be involved with."

Suggestions for events and classes to be held at the Vassall Centre can be made by emailing office@vassallcentre.org.uk.

Teenager to tackle London Marathon

A FISHPONDS teenager will be one of the youngest competitors in this year's London Marathon when he runs just days after his 18th birthday.

Jude Brown is teaming up with his stepdad Nick Tuftnell, who is registered as severely visually impaired, to raise money for charity Fight for Sight.

Jude took up running as part of a fitness drive, which comes from losing his dad when he was eight.

Nigel Brown, who worked as an early years practitioner at Filton Avenue Nursery and Children's Centre, was 43 when he died of a heart attack.

Jude runs with Bristol & West Athletics Club, which is based in Whitehall, and plays Sunday league football for Ashley Down in the Bristol Combination league.

He is also studying a Level 3 BTEC extended diploma in sport, fitness and personal training at SGS College and hopes to continue studying sport at

university.

The former Ashley Down Primary School and Fairfield High School pupil is considering a career as an occupational therapist.

Jude won a place in the public ballot for places at the marathon,

Loft Boarding & Insulation

which has a minimum age limit of 18.

He has never run a full marathon before and admits to being "very nervous" about taking on the 26 mile and 385 yard course, alongside around 50,000 runners.

Nick works as a counsellor at the Southmead Project for his own business, Tangata counselling.

The pair have been training around the area ahead of the race, including indoors during the winter, when dark evenings and mornings meant Nick needed to adapt because of his visual impairment, caused by choroideremia, a rare degenerative genetic condition.

Jude and Nick will run together in the marathon itself, on April 23.

Jude said: "He is very fast, and has done a marathon and half marathon before.

"His volume and intensity of training definitely drives me.

"He is very self sufficient, but having extra eyes whilst running will always help."

Nick and Jude have an online fundraising page for sponsorship, which can be found at 2023tcslondonmarathon. enthuse.com/pf/nick-tuftnell.

Jude Brown and stepdad Nick Tuftnell out training on the Bristol & Bath Railway Path near Morrisons

Tip hours and street cleaning cut

BRISTOL'S three rubbish tips in Bristol will close two days a week and the city’s street-cleaning rounds will be halved amid a funding crisis.

Bristol Waste needs to plug a £4 million funding gap and is taking drastic action to cut costs, including reducing the work of fly-tip and graffiti removal teams, according to its annual business plan.

The document says the city council, which owns the company, has told the firm it must “live within its means”, which will result in some services becoming less frequent.

The council's budget already includes higher charges for garden waste collections and new fees for DIY waste, replacement black bins and recycling boxes.

Leaders accused over buses

TRANSPORT protesters wore masks of napping politicians to accuse them of being "asleep at the wheel".

Members of Reclaim

Our Buses, which is calling on the region’s leaders to bring buses back under public control using a system called franchising, gathered outside a West of England Combined Authority meeting in Filton in March wearing masks of Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees, Metro Mayor Dan Norris and council leaders Toby Savage and Kevin Guy.

Franchising is being explored in other Labour-led combined authorities, and Matthew Topham, from Reclaim Our Buses, accused Mr Norris of "dodging his duty to investigate what could be an essential change for the region". He called on the Metro Mayor to start the legal process of assessing commercial data from operators to see if franchising would be a net cost or benefit.

Mr Norris has blamed South Gloucestershire Council for holding up bus franchising, but South Glos leader Mr Savage said he supported an investigation of the idea and accused Mr Norris of "politicking".

Meanwhile Mr Norris has said there will not be any money to provide a replacement for the axed 47 service to Oldbury Court unless Bristol and the other councils in WECA agree to increase transport levy subsidies. He said: "Less cash cannot equal more buses."

Cheerleading champs!

BRISTOL Metropolitan Academy’s Hurricanes cheerleading team have been crowned national champions in their division.

The school sent two teams to the Legacy Cheer & Dance championships at Birmingham's Resorts World Arena in March.

The school's Tornadoes team were runners-up in their division, missing out on the top spot by three points.

Both teams will now compete in the European championships in the summer.

Around 30 students from Years 7-10 have been training twice a week in their own time after school since October, with some competing in both teams in the contest.

PE teacher and Tornadoes Coach Emily Pine-Smith said: “This is the first time I have coached a team, so to win the title at the first time of asking is amazing.

"As a cheerleader myself, starting at university, I wanted to give them the opportunity I never had in school.

"When the girls compete in their teams it really gives them a sense of belonging and it is great for the age ranges to mix and learn new skills.”

More pupils miss out

ONE in every 12 children applying for secondary school in Bristol missed out on a place at all three of their preferred schools this year. The number of children offered a school they didn't choose rose from 328 (6.6%) in 2022 to 395 (8%), despite the overall number of applications falling slightly, from 5,008 to 4,945.

Bristol City Council said the difference was due to some schools that offered extra places last year being unable to this time around, and offers from two new schools being made through a separate process.

Pupils heading to the free schools opening on temporary sites in September - Daventry Road and Temple Quarter - have been made offers directly by operator Oasis Academy Learning, which means some will receive two offers, one from the council and one from the trust.

Some families also missed out after applying for schools which allocate places by random selection, are outside Bristol or are faith schools.

The council said 92% of families had been offered one of their top three preferences, down from 93% last year.

Just under 76% of families were offered their top choice, down from 77% last year, with 11.6% offered their second choice (down from 11.8%) and 4.6 % offered their third choice, the same as in 2022.

The council says the fall in this year's figure for the total number of applications received is down to a "natural variation in the Year 7 'bulge' of students", which is expected to peak next year.

Deputy Mayor Asher Craig said: “We knew that the high numbers of applications for a Year 7 place, with some schools unable to continue offering additional places, and the new schools falling outside of the co-ordinated admissions process, made this a challenging year for our school place planning."

Leak is left running on to pavement for weeks

WATER companies and the city council have been criticised after a leak pouring onto a pavement in Eastville took six weeks to fix, and a resident was wrongly landed with a £2,000 bill.

Water was first spotted leaking through the old Eastville Workhouse wall onto a pavement on Fishponds Road in early February, creating a muddy stream near the bus stop opposite Boswell Street.

Nearby shop owners reported the leak and contacted Eastville ward city councillor Lorraine Francis when nothing happened.

Cllr Francis said the leak came from Juniper Court, a council-owned complex on the other side of the wall, off East Park.

She said she was concerned people could slip on the muddy water, and the water would undermine and cause damage to the wall, which is a listed structure.

Cllr Francis said she had to chase council officers at least six times to do something and also contacted Wessex Water, which is in charge of the waste water network, before the leak was finally repaired in mid-March.

She said: "I cannot believe the level of response to this matter. What a waste of both the water and the time I have invested in trying to resolve the matter. This is a

shameful indictment of cuts and apathy."

Meanwhile a resident who lives near Juniper Court was contacted back in December by Bristol Wessex Billing Services, which represents Wessex Water and supply network operator Bristol Water, and told she had a leak on her property.

Gloria Davey was told she owed £2,400 for the leak and asked to turn off her supply to see if the meter dials stopped "spinning".

She told them her meter wasn't spinning and Bristol Water said it would send someone out within a week to check where the leak was - but no-one came.

Gloria said: "If the leak was on my premises, by now I'd be living in a house boat, not a house."

The company contacted Gloria in March to apologise, and confirm there was no leak on her property.

A Bristol Water spokesperson said after an investigation it had carried out maintenance on its equipment to ensure Gloria's situation would not happen again.

The spokesperson said: “We are aware of an ongoing leak close to this property, although this is in no way affecting the customer’s bill.

"This is a leak on privately-owned

pipework, which was spotted by our leakage team carrying out their regular surveys a few weeks ago."

A city council spokesperson said: “Contractors completed a repair to a burst water main at Juniper Court on Friday March 17.

"This repair has resolved the leak affecting the Old Workhouse Wall on Fishponds Road."

Water flooding from the wall

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Michelle Baden-Daintree

Dressing up for World Book Day

CHILDREN and teachers raided dressing up boxes and imaginations as World Book Day brought an array of costumed characters to the area's schools.

Dinosaurs, deep sea creatures and butterflies rubbed shoulders with superheroes, fairytale and fantasy characters at primary school in March.

At Cabot Learning Federation schools such as Frome Vale Academy and Minerva Primary Academy there was a programme of activities including trips to libraries, bedtime story sessions and talks from visiting authors, organised with the aim of promoting a love of literacy and encouraging pupils to read more.

Avanti Gardens School celebrated a donation of new books for its library from the Morrisons

Dement ia Day Centre Memor y Lane

Communit the in Caring

Foundation, the supermarket chain's charitable arm, and the National Literacy Trust, which aims to make reading accessible to children from all backgrounds.

The books were chosen to cover topics relevant to the development of children’s mental health, emotional well-being and social inclusion. Morrisons Fishponds community champion Julie Drummond, who delivered the books, said: "It’s great to be able to help encourage children to read with their friends, families and teachers and I hope that they enjoy reading the books for many years to come."

Memory Lane is a new Dementia Service based at Caring Comes First in Kingswood. Our aim is to improve and maintain the wellbeing of those living with Dementia, through person centred activities and social opportunities. Our goal is to offer enrichment to the lives of people living with Dementia, which has a positive effect and therefore increasing their wellbeing by engaging in stimulation and activity outside their normal routine.

We offer a fully engaging, interactive experience for all our clients, with activities including; Live Music & Singalongs | Music Therapy | Crafts | Flower Arranging | Gardening | Aromatherapy | Animal Therapy | Reminiscing Sessions | Tabletop Games | Armchair Yoga Sessions are available Monday-Friday 9am - 12.30pm | 1pm - 4.30pm (Drinks & snacks included)

We are now taking referrals for private and funded clients, to find out more about our ser vices please call

A Frome Vale Academy pupil transformed into an angler fish

Little Caterpillar transformed into a butterfly at Minerva Primary Academy in Hillfields

Alice meets a superhero at Frome Vale Academy

Park operator fined

THE owner of a mobile home park next to the River Frome has been ordered to pay more than £33,000 in fines and costs for operating the site without the proper licence.

Wyldecrest Parks (Management) Limited took over Riverside Drive Park in 2021 and applied for a licence for 35 caravans.

Bristol City Council, which is the local authority for the site between Downend, Frenchay and Oldbury Court, asked for evidence of planning permission for the site to operate as a caravan park to support the licence application.

But the council said no evidence was supplied over the next year, leaving the authority "with no option but to pursue prosecution".

Wyldecrest was brought before Bristol Magistrates Court earlier this year and fined £8,000, plus £25,000 costs and a £181 victim surcharge, for operating the site without a proper licence. After the council's summons was issued, Wyldecrest applied for a certificate of lawful existing use for the site, which was granted late last year, with a caravan site licence granted shortly afterwards.

Deputy District Judge Clare Boichot, said she was satisfied the council had "acted fairly and properly" and had allowed Wyldecrest seven months to make a valid application, plus a further five months before issuing a summons for it to resolve outstanding queries raised by the council.

Council cabinet member for homes Tom Renhard said: “This is a case where a large company, one of the UK’s largest operators of residential parks and holiday homes, refused to work with officers to ensure their operations were legal and above board."

Wyldecrest has appealed to the Crown Court against the conviction.

A missed opportunity to tackle the rent crisis

MANY of my constituents have been in touch about the state of Bristol’s private rented sector, and the fact that private rented accommodation has become increasingly unaffordable in our city.

Given the basic human right to shelter, this is an area where the government has an obvious duty to help people keep a roof over their heads.

That’s what the Local Housing Allowance is for, to ensure that those on the lowest incomes can afford market rents. It is meant to be set at a rate which means people on housing benefit, both in work and not, can afford to rent the cheapest 30% of properties.

But LHA has been frozen since 2020, a time during which the average rent in Bristol has risen by over £300 a month.

As the Bristol Cable and the Bureau for Investigative Journalism recently revealed, Bristol now has one of the highest disparities between LHA and market rents in the country.

Far from a third of privatelyrented properties being affordable to people on housing benefit, there are virtually none. In fact, a lot of people who aren’t eligible for housing benefit can’t afford these rents either.

The Chancellor had an opportunity to address this in March's Budget. He could have raised LHA rates in each part of the country to cover at least the cheapest 30 percent of rents; instead, he chose to spend £835 million scrapping the pension lifetime allowance limit for the richest one per cent.

His failure to support renters

will inevitably mean a rise in homelessness. Even looking beyond the humanitarian cost of forcing people out onto the streets, it makes no economic sense not to increase the LHA.

Precarious housing will make it more difficult for people to hold down employment, at a time of acute labour shortages.

And if people are spending every penny they earn on trying to make that month’s rent, they won’t be spending money in our local shops or on local services.

We’ve heard from the Office of Budget Responsibility this month that living standards –disposable household incomes when adjusted for inflation – are expected to drop by 2.2% this year, which would be the largest fall in a financial year since records began in 1956.

The Chancellor could have begun to address this long-term issue in the Budget; in the longrun, we will all regret that he failed to do so.

As always, if you want to get in touch, please email me at Kerry. mccarthy.mp@parliament.uk.

Kerry McCarthy MP for Bristol East writes for Fishponds Voice

n LOCAL HISTORY

Uncertain future looms for Fishponds chimneys

MIKE JEMPSON recalls some industrial history

THE speculative 'Atlas Place' plans to transform Fishponds raise the real possibility that two of the area's most iconic landmarks could be lost, and with them a link to its industrial history.

The towering brick chimneys beside the cycle track behind Filwood Road and Forest Road are remnants of a family firm that became a global brand.

Elisha Robinson, an entrepreneur from the Cotswolds, set up a packaging and printing company in Redcliffe in 1844, initially to serve the grocery trade.

His younger brother joined him in 1848 but Alfred's main contribution was as a travelling salesman, extolling the virtues of the brown paper bag.

The business really took off, moving to several extensive printworks in Bedminster, the first of which would later house Cameron Balloons and luxury apartments.

The company started printing adverts on its paper bags and packaging, as well as producing calendars.

Alfred, now a partner in the flourishing firm, moved into Upper Fishponds House, on the edge of the larger of the Newe Pooles which had given Fishponds its name.

The rather grand house came with a 16-acre site on the eastern side of what is now Beechwood Road, roughly opposite the present day car park.

It incorporated the Upper Fish Pond, which originally stretched from below what is now the health centre down to the Turnpike (now Fishponds) Road.

The upper and lower ponds had been formed by quarrying.

The dip behind Fishponds Conservative Club is all that remains of Lower Fish Pond. In 1801 the Duchess of Beaufort had it filled in after a young girl fell from a weir and was drowned there.

The larger pond was gradually filled during the 19th century, making way for a withy bed and an orchard. The magnificent willow in Beechwood Road may well date from those days.

Originally owned by lawyer James Bridges, Upper Fishponds House was leased to variety of tenants after his death in 1783, including Sheriff Robert Castle, the shortest-lived Mayor of the City in 1802, who died before his year was out.

From 1816 to 1837 the house was a wellregarded Quaker school for boys, run by Cornish mining engineer Joel Lean.

In 1838 it was leased to Dr George Gwinnett Bompas, then in charge of the private lunatic asylum at nearby Fishponds House. His son Dr George Joseph Bompas moved in with his new bride Marianne Beddome, and for a time ran it as an adjunct to the main asylum, caring for convalescing women patients.

The young Dr Bompas quickly tired of the task and re-opened its doors as a school, in January 1844, the same year Elisha Robinson started his firm.

He announced in the Bristol Journal: "The

health, happiness, intellectual development, and moral and religious improvement of his scholars are objects of his sedulous attention, as well as their instruction in all those branches of knowledge which are necessary or important to a liberal education."

It did not last long. After relocating to Clifton, then Redland, by 1858 the school had bankrupted Bompas, who emigrated to Canada with his family.

William Henry Paglar (1815-1879) ran Upper Fishponds House as a school until 1861. It was then purchased by Alfred Robinson, who renamed it Beechwood House, perhaps to rid it of past associations.

Alfred died in 1901 but his wife lived on at Beechwood House until she passed away, aged 100, in 1934.

The house fetched £11,400 at auction in Bristol’s Grand Hotel and was swiftly demolished to make way for family homes in Beechwood and Radley Roads.

By now Robinson's enormous Filwood Road printworks were in full swing, as the company expanded its range. Behind them the chimneys provided an exhaust for the production of waxed paper.

Young women who wanted to work for the firm had to provide commendations from their Sunday school teachers.

They even had their own song: "We are the Robinsons girls, we are the Robinsons girls, we

pay our tanners, and we know our manners, we are respected wherever we go…”

By the 1960s the Robinson Group was an international concern, becoming the DRG Group in the 1980s and owning such household brands as Basildon Bond and Sellotape.

A series of takeovers saw the business become part of US packaging giant the Ball Corporation in 2016.

The two chimneys, long since defunct, have been colonised by peregrine falcons.

Local residents monitor the exploits of 'Peri', immortalised by a local artist, and wonder how long their sky-scraping perches will survive.

Extended versions of these columns can be found at www.mikejempson.eu

Beechwood House at the time of sale

The Fishponds chimneys, seen from the corner of Forest Road and Briar Way

Peri, the peregrine falcon keeping watch from on high

Guides celebrate 30 years with Sue's award

A FISHPONDS Guide group celebrated its 30th anniversary with its co-founder receiving a long service award.

The 176th Fromeside unit was founded in 1993 by Sue Bartlett and Donna Comley.

Sue is still going strong and her daughter Katherine Liddington, who joined as a 12-year-old guide when her mum set up the unit, is now in charge, having been a leader since 2005.

Originally meeting at Fishponds Methodist Church in Guinea Lane, the group needed to find a new home when the church closed during the lockdown.

After meeting at St Mary’s church for a while they now meet at Oldbury Court Children’s Centre.

The group's other leaders, Georgia Stowell, Daisy Hargett and Ellie NewtonCoelho, all started as Rainbows and Brownies with the group.

An event was held at the end of February to celebrate the milestones for Sue and the group.

Current members and parents were joined by former guides and leaders, Bristol North East division commissioners Annie Kantor York and Amy Jacobs, who presented Sue's award, and county commissioner Deb Wilkey.

Katherine said the event was held just over 30 years to the day that the unit started on February 24, 1993. She said: "It was a great night!"

For more information about joining Rainbows, Brownies or Guides, visit the Girlguiding Website at www.girlguiding. org.uk.

Guides and leaders of the 176th Fromeside celebrate the unit's 30th birthday

n THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

New life brings hope

A STORY goes that a man took a holiday to Israel with his wife and mother-in-law.

During their time in the Holy Land, his mother-in-law unexpectedly passed away.

The following day, the husband met with the local undertaker to discuss funeral plans.

“In cases like these, there are a couple of options to choose from,” the undertaker explained. “You can ship the body home for £5,000, or you can bury her in the Holy Land for just £150.”

The man took a minute to think about it and then announced his decision to ship her home.

The undertaker, intrigued by his decision, said: “That’s an interesting choice.

"Can I ask why you would pay £5,000 to ship your mother-in-law home, when you can easily bury her here for £150?”

The man promptly replied:

“About 2,000 years ago, a man died and was buried here. Three days later he rose from the dead, and I can’t take that chance!”

There’s a beauty about this time of the year that seems to draw us in, invigorate our souls and remind us of new life, whether it is the change in temperature, the longer days, the new colours of flowers or the reality that we’ve made it through winter and spring is here.

This is also the time of year when Christians celebrate Easter and reflect on Jesus and his death on the cross.

However, it’s not Jesus’s death that makes this a special moment - if he had died and stayed dead it would be little more than an ancient anecdote resigned to the pages of history.

For Christians, this is a moment to celebrate precisely because we believe Jesus did not stay dead, but came back to life. The reason why we celebrate

Easter is not to remember a death but to enjoy the new life that we can now find.

This gives us incredible hope. Not only did this event cause the birth of the Christian faith as we know it today, but it also reminds us that God is in the business of bringing forth life.

And He’s especially able to do it from places that seem quite dead.

It may be that life is difficult for you at the moment - perhaps devoid of life and hope. Jesus’s death and resurrection remind us that God can bring new life and hope, even in the darkest circumstances. In fact, He not only can but wants to do so for all of us.

The son-in-law in the opening story is quite right that 2,000 years ago a man died, was buried, and then rose again.

Yet Christians believe this was not an accident or a freak eventand it certainly wasn’t to do with

the geography of the burial!

Jesus’ death and life are why we have hope and experience God’s new life even today.

At our church (Life Church), this is something we love to talk about and we meet each Sunday on Forest Rd at 10.30am.

We’d love to introduce you to Jesus this Easter!

Are you a passionate, empathetic, hardworking person, who likes to make a difference in children’s lives, if so, we have exciting opportunities to work at our rapidly expanding Special School in a variety of roles.

Briarwood is a Bristol Special School, based in Fishponds and Barton Hill, committed to providing a high quality of education, care and life skills for children and young people with severe learning difficulties and complex needs including autism and sensory impairment from 3-19 years.

Are you looking for a way to get involved with your local community? Have you considered being a School Governor? If you are interested please contact Deborah Smith for more information, chairbriarwoodsp@bristol-schools.uk

Please visit our careers page on www.eteach.com/schools/briarwood-school-25106 or contact us via emal on HR.briarwoodsp@bristol-schools.uk

Briarwood School, Briar Way, Fishponds, Bristol BS16 4EA www.briarwood.bristol.sch.uk

Gareth and Marianne Matthews, Life Church Bristol

Children set off on the Eastville junior parkrun sixth birthday run.

Picture: Molly Crow

Parkrun's birthday fun

EASTVILLE junior parkrun celebrated its sixth birthday in March with fancy dress, balloons and cake.

The free weekly 2km event for children aged four to 14 takes place every Sunday at 9am in Eastville Park and attracts around 35 young runners, going at their own pace. Those who register get a barcode to record their time.

Paula Brown, one of seven run directors for the group, said: "There is a fun warm up first and the atmosphere is fun and friendly - you don’t have to be a champion athlete.

"Children run, skip or walk and, like adult runners, some are pushing themselves for better times while others are there to enjoy running with others, to soak up the joys of being outdoors and knowing they are part of the worldwide parkrun community."

The group is run by volunteers - email eastvillejuniors@parkrun. com to get involved.

For more information visit parkrun.org.uk/eastville-juniors.

Road race returns

PEOPLE are being encouraged to take part in this year's Frenchay 10k charity road race - or cheer runners on as they pass their homes.

This year will be the 41st time the race has been held, with runners of all abilities racing through some of the area's most scenic places.

The race will start at 11am on Sunday April 16 at UWE's Blackberry Hill campus, on a circular route through Snuff Mills and Vassalls Park, before heading through the Oldbury Court estate along Vassall Road and Gill Avenue, then down to the River Frome at Frenchay Bridge and up Frenchay Hill.

Runners then head through Frenchay to Park Road and back towards the race headquarters, running down Broom Hill before a final stretch up Blackberry Hill.

Race director David Guyatt said: "The race was conceived with the aim of raising money for local charities and this year's race is no exception.

"We are delighted to be supporting Children’s Hospice Southwest and Freewheelers blood bikes. "Both charities provide incredibly important services and support for local communities, and all proceeds from the race are distributed to both charities, providing welcome funds at a time of continued financial challenges.

"Volunteers from both charities will be present at race headquarters at UWE Blackberry Hill on the day of the race."

The Frenchay 10k was first held in 1980 and it is one of the country's oldest 10k events, returning last year after a two-year break because of the pandemic.

Entries are still open for the event - they can be made online at the website frenchay10k.co.uk, where there is more information, or on the day.

There will be marshals on duty around the course and organisers are encouraging residents to line the route to show their support.

n GARDENING Your lawn is a wildlife haven

WE mark the start of spring in our house with the ceremonial rolling out of the garden table, when the legs are attached and all the broken parts from the previous year replaced or mended.

We've already had our first cup of tea of the year sitting around it.

The table is the focal point of our garden if it’s not raining, from April to September, when we spend the majority of our time outside.

Our pond has now been decorated with the annual frog spawn. It feels a little late this year, but better late than never. We were serenaded by the frogs themselves, even if they were doing unmentionable things at the time!

Our garden is mostly laid to plant beds, with a patio and ever-shrinking lawn.

We laid a lawn as turf when we first moved in, after diligently preparing the ground.

But I found myself obsessing over it and wishing it was flatter, greener, had less weeds and so forth. During a course I attended with the Royal Horticultural Society we were

told there is no perfect lawn that doesn’t use chemicals in the form of mass-control pesticides and herbicides. As over the years my lawn has been taken over by moss, I’m in agreement.

The English obsession with the perfect lawn can be attributed to many things, from the first lawn mower in 1830 to the post-war increase in leisure time.

The truth is that your grass lawn is a haven to wildlife and a variety of plant species that go towards keeping a healthy and vibrant garden.

We all know the devastation that has occurred to our insect population and, with around 4,330 sq km of gardens in the UK, we are custodians of much of their habitat.

The latest scourge in the quest for the immaculate garden is the sterile and lifeless plastic lawn. There can be nothing worse for wildlife than to lay a plastic carpet on your soil, inhibiting anything from coming to the surface and preventing solitary bees, for example, setting up home there.

Artificial turf is made with toxic PFAS compounds; some is still produced with ground-up tyres that can contain heavy metals, benzene, volatile organic compounds and other carcinogens.

I’m not sure I’d be wanting to sip a gin and tonic on a sunny afternoon with that under my feet.

Some jobs for April:

• Sow wild flower seed and hardy annuals

City Gardener with Tim Barton

• Keep an eye on fruit blossom in case there is a cold snap

• Sow grass seed to repair a patchy lawn

• Cut lawn edges and create a gutter to prevent the lawn from creeping

• Lightly cut back lavender to prevent it getting too leggy - be careful, as it won’t grow back from old wood

• Check hardwood cuttings taken last year, as they may need potting on

• Keep an eye on insects starting to emerge, to prevent the need for insecticides later on (if you use them)

• Clean up pond plants before they grow too much.

• Scrub decking before algae starts to grow and treat wooden structures to stave off decay

Bike Repairs

Bike Servicing

n FRIENDS OF EASTVILLE PARK

ON lunchtime strolls through Eastville Park it’s a joy to see the return of light and life.

Buds have appeared on all the trees and early flowers bloom everywhere.

Change is in the air - and not just with the new spring season!

I am overjoyed to announce the contract for the park's play area upgrade has been awarded to Sutcliffe Play Southwest, to install new pieces of equipment for children aged eight to 14 years.

The Friends of Eastville Park have committed £39,000 in total, through a combination of festival donations (Tokyo World and Love Saves the Day) and local fundraising, which has increased the original funding to ensure the play equipment meets requirements for adventurous and inclusive play.

It includes a 6m twin tower rope climber, 25m zip line, trim trail, wheelchair-accessible picnic benches, seven new swings for both young and older children, renovations to the wooden sleepers around the sand pit and improved play spaces between the equipment.

Installation works are due to start in June, with completion before the end of the summer term.

This is the final stage of a project close to my heart that began back in 2018, with a bid for community funds.

Everyone on the Friends' committee would like to thank the children who took the time to respond to the play consultation. We hope you will join us soon in celebrating the opening of the renovated park and love the new equipment!

We’re not done yet though; we are also looking to improve the equipment for young children in the sand pit space, which hasn’t

Revamped play area on its way

managed for nature, adding in habitats and 'rewilded' zones to support insects, birds, small mammals and native wildflowers to add to biodiversity.

It’s clear from the responses on our social media page that many of you love the wildlife around Eastville Park but have concerns around scruffy looking zones that attract dog mess, littering and fly-tipping.

We will continue to work with the council as best we can to help manage the complex needs of a city park blessed with wildlife, and welcome your suggestions.

Finally, we can share that the Future Parks expression of interest process from 2020-2021 has given provisional go-ahead to eight projects in Eastville Park, before reaching the end of funding and disbanding without fully reaching the project goals.

been upgraded for decades. We welcome suggestions from parents and children in the community on what you’d love to see.

You may have seen some yellow fish appear on the drains around upper Eastville Park.

They were sprayed (in nontoxic spray chalk) by children and parents at a Bristol Avon Rivers Trust event to highlight the drains and their connection to the River Frome and Severn Estuary.

'Only Rain Down The Drain' posters are up, complete with pictures drawn by local schools to help spread awareness.

Our lovely Eastville Film Club community cinema is fully back in action in the hub, with monthly film showings. Membership is £10 for the year for a ticket to every

film, with seats reserved through Eventbrite.

Renovation work is coming along nicely in the Old Swimming Pool Garden, with new planters installed by Parkwork and volunteers who do repair work every Wednesday.

This area was badly damaged during the pandemic, with graffiti and illegal gatherings where people partied and urinated in the nature pond, harming the wildlife.

FOEP obtained £5,000 from Ikea to renovate it, with the aim of reopening as a peaceful well-being garden, with a plaque to remember the four local teens killed when the pool was bombed during WWII.

Bristol City Council recently sought our opinions on spaces in Eastville Park that could be

Senior parks staff have reviewed the projects and submitted a report of recommendations for follow-up with each group.

Three of the projects proposed in the park required cafes to fund them, which means additional negotiations with the groups.

It’s unclear how many of these projects will reach fruition, what each project would mean for Eastville Park and if it will become a destination park for the whole city.

We have expressed concerns about the effect of increased visitor numbers and traffic on the park, car park and nearby roads, especially Oakdene Road and Park Avenue.

If you would like your say about how this would impact you, please write to your Eastville councillors.

Sarah West

Children at the 'yellow fish' event in Eastville Park

n PLANNING MATTERS WITH CHRIS GOSLING Planning for health

THE relationship between planning and health has been talked about for a long time now.

Towards the end of last year, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said in a speech words to the effect that planners had possibly done more than any other profession to promote good health.

The cynic in me wrote this off immediately, as a rare event of somebody being complimentary about town planners in an address delivered to an audience of planners.

What stayed with me was not so much the unusual compliment to the profession, but a doubt over whether his claim was true or not.

Let’s start with some history. The Beveridge Report, produced during WWII, was commissioned to find ways of improving life after the war ended, to help give some clear purpose to the suffering and sacrifice.

The report was the genesis of the welfare state as we know it, and the National Health Service came out of it.

Planning came about at around the same time, via the same route.

Both were intended to be in the public interest, and maintain that ethos today. So there is a historical link, but it is not the whole story.

With the health service the demands are simple - spending National Insurance contributions on providing ‘free’ treatment for all - even if provision is complicated.

Demands on planning are more complicated, as regular readers of my attempts to simplify matters will know, and that is also the case where the two areas intersect.

Although few local plans across the country contain planning policies that directly reference public health, there are direct and indirect health benefits from all kinds of planning decisions.

Everyone benefited to some extent from creating a healthier post-industrial living environment. More specifically, linking the need for doctors’ surgeries to the increase in population through housing development helped to ensure local healthcare provision.

190 Glenfrome Road, Eastville, Bristol BS5 6XE www.magic-scissors.co.uk

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This sort of thing doesn’t just come about by accident. Contributions have to be negotiated in the same way for new schools.

Another example is access to parks, open and public spaces for new housing. This can result in health benefits, not just in physical terms but mentally.

Air pollution information can feed into planning decisions. Permitting home offices can make a difference here, reducing the amount of rush hour traffic.

Then there are policies to ensure hot food takeaways are not located close to schools.

Improving mental health was the driver behind the government coming up with internal space standards for houses and flats nearly a decade ago.

It is often the case that planners do not realise how beneficial their work can be, becoming bogged down with factors such as timescales, deadlines and housing numbers.

One threat to public health

which planning can help to address is demographic change.

An ageing population coupled with concentrations of older people forming in some places can mean schools facing dwindling numbers of children while hospitals become overcrowded with mainly older people

Dealing with this threat by creating ‘mixed and balanced communities’ has been one of the planning aims of this century.

The public health benefits of this are clear but there is still much work to be done.

Chrisgoslingplanning@gmail.com

n WHAT’S ON IN OUR AREA

Starting April

n PILATES - NEW CLASSES

@ Bristol Dance Studio, Fishponds.

Tuesdays 9.30am General Pilates

10.45am Beginners Pilates

12pm - Power Flow Pilates

@The Unitarian Chapel, Frenchay

Thursdays 9.30am General Pilates

11am Gentle Pilates

Small, friendly & warm venues. Beginners, refreshers, a little rusty, Full on enthusiasts or just intrigued. Everyone welcome. Debbie 07771 544549 bristol@mm-pilates.co.uk

Mindful Movements Pilates @mmpilatesbristol

April 1

n FRIENDS OF THE PARK (Oldbury Court Estate/Vassalls Park) official launch meeting. Vassall Centre, Gill Avenue, 2pm. All welcome.

April 1

n OPENING WEEKEND & SPRING MARKET Grow Wilder, 181 Frenchay Park Road BS16 1EL

Saturday 1st April 10am – 4pm

Showcasing a range of local artists and makers, with café, wildflower nursery and 6 acres of beautiful habitat to explore and enjoy!

April 7

n EASTVILLE PARK LAWN

BOWLS CLUB practice 'roll up'come and try out the game, 5pm until dusk every Friday in April. All welcome, with expert and friendly assistance from current members. For more information email secretary.eastvilleparkbowls@gmail. com.

April 18

n MINI EXPLORERS at Hillfields

Community Garden, 10-11am, preschool nature group for children aged 2-4, parents/carers and siblings. Gardening, songs, crafts and activities, with teas, coffees, squash and biscuits. Free - all welcome and no booking needed.

April 19

n GARDENING FOR WELLBEING group at Hillfields Community Garden, 10am-noon. Referral group for gardening and nature activities to support mental health. Email hillfieldsgardenforwellbeing@gmail. com for more information.

April 19

n WILD WOMEN at Hillfields Community Garden, 7-9pm. Supportive monthly group exploring nature connection and well-being, seasonal food and drink. For more information email hillfieldswildwomen@gmail.com or turn up on the day.

REGULAR EVENTS

Monday

n BARTON HILL RFC CHARITY CAFE, Duncombe Lane, Speedwell, from noon until 3pm. Food and drink, bargain donated goods, friendly and welcoming place to meet, staffed entirely by volunteers raising money for charity.

n WELCOME SPACE at Hillfields Library, Summerleaze, Hillfields 12.15-6pm. Open to all, with free hot drinks, food, newspapers and magazines, games, information on support services and after-school homework club. On April 17 and 24 (final session).

Tuesday

n PHOENIX ART CLUB meets on Tuesdays at Stapleton Church Hall, Park Road, from 10am to midday.

n GARDENING IN RETIREMENT CLUB, Every third Tuesday of every month at 10.15am at the Assembly Hall, Salisbury Road, Downend.

Non-members welcome - £3 including tea or coffee.

Wednesday

n BARTON HILL RFC CHARITY CAFE, Duncombe Lane, Speedwell, from noon until 3pm. Food and drink, bargain donated goods, friendly and welcoming place to meet, staffed entirely by volunteers raising money for charity.

n DOWNEND FLOWER

ARRANGING CLUB meets at 7.30pm on the first and third Wednesday of each month from September to June, at Lincombe Barn, Overndale Road, Downend. Call Genise on 0777 245 1217.

Friday

n EASTVILLE PARK FOODCLUB

OPEN FOR COLLECTIONS, every Friday 12-1.30pm. To enquire about membership, email eastvilleparkfoodclub@gmail.com or call 07591 748548.

n FRIENDS OF HILLFIELDS

LIBRARY Silver Explorers social group for retired people living in Hillfields. Weekly group running until April, 10am-noon. Activities include talks, music, crafts and history. Free tea and coffee. More information at friendsofhillfieldslibrary@gmail.com

or friends' Facebook page.

n IN-THE-PINK Sensible exercise to music for mature ladies every Friday, 9-10am, Hillfields Park Baptist Church, Thicket Avenue. Followed by chat & coffee, pay session-by-session. Get yourself fit & make new friends. More information from Julie on 07903 123793.

Saturday

n LU LIFE CHURCH 'SHARED SPACES', Fishponds Old Library, Fishponds Road. Every 3rd Saturday of the month, 2-3pm. Singing, dancing and drumming. All welcome. For more details email LULifeChurch@gmail.com or call Rev P on 0750 839 0298.

n VOLUNTEER GROUP at Hillfields Community Garden, every third Saturday of the month, 10am1pm. Meet your neighbours and have fun. Free lunch. More details from hillfieldscommunitygarden@ gmail.com.

Sunday

n FRIENDS OF THE PARK (Oldbury Court Estate/Vassalls Park) litter pick. Last Sunday of every month - meet at 1pm, at the kiosk by the play park.

n SPORT

Tournament will be tribute to Jude

DOWNEND Boxing Club's planned April tournament will now be a tribute to Jude Moore.

The club had intended to hold a smallscale event at its Harry Crook Centre in Moorlands Road on Sunday, April 2.

But Jude's sudden and unexpected death in March means the tournament will now be a chance for boxers, supporters and everyone who knew the 19-year-old former National and Western Counties champion to pay their respects.

The tournament will now take place at Mangotsfield School, Jude's old secondary school on Rodway Hill in Mangotsfield.

Doors open at noon and tickets are available on the door, priced £15.

In the ring March was a busy month for the club's young boxers.

Three of them headed to Timsbury on March 5, with 15-year-old Sam Pavey losing a narrow split decision to Norton Radstock’s Michael Gregory after a great bout.

Christopher Richardson, 19, faced Yeovil’s Liam Fouracres for his debut contest, which was full of class well beyond the experience level of both boxers.

International referee Mike Hemming offered his congratulations to both, the

decision going to Liam.

The final bout was an eagerly anticipated re-match between Riley Catley, 19, and Norton Radstock’s Jacob Moon, who had won a close decision in their first bout at Bristol Sporting Club.

The second, fast-paced contest didn’t disappoint, with Riley's clean boxing bringing him a unanimous points win.

Returning after over a year out of competition, Vinnie Bush, 16, made a great effort in the first round of the National Junior championships, but the strength and experience of Michael Varey, of Trowbridge, saw the contest stopped in the last round.

Meanwhile in Oxford, Jay Holloway, 19, and 17-year-old Arthur Tipping faced local opposition.

Arthur's opponent Jake Tillen used his height and reach advantage well to take a points decision against the aggressive Downend lad.

Jay's bout with Aaron Dungan ended with a confusing decision.

Both boxers gave their all in a clash of styles that saw cleaner shots, meeting all three of the scoring criteria, coming from the Bristolian. However the volunteer judges awarded the split decision to Aaron.

Downend coach Craig Turner said: "Sometimes it is essential in life to learn how to lose as well as win."

Rudi Watts, 11, and Caleb Rees, 15, both took part in skills contests.

Mya Das attended the first England Boxing Aspire camp at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield.

The Aspire programme provides emerging talent with the opportunity to train with other boxers from around the country, with top-class coaches and facilities.

A WARM WELCOME AWAITS AT QUARRY HOUSE NURSING HOME

Quarry House in Fishponds offers safe and nurturing care

We are now enabling close contact visits in the home, every resident is able to have an essential care giver, and there is no isolation required for new residents from the community. We still have a varied activity schedule which keeps life interesting and happy.

We also ensure:

• Strict Infection Control measures approved by Public Health England are fully implemented

• Care staff wear PPE at all times and we have ensured a high volume of supply

• Skilled nurses are on site 24/7 and respiratory equipment is at hand

• Safe face-to-face visits where possible

Jude Moore after winning his National Schools championship title in 2017.

Picture: Craig Turner

n ON THE TREATMENT TABLE

Knee replacement surgery

IN the past few months, I have seen a number of patients after having a knee replacement which hasn’t worked as well as hoped. I thought it would be nice to review this option a little and discuss how we would support a successful procedure and how we would help difficult cases where patients feel no better or even worse after an operation. With the NHS struggling to provide patients with timely access to treatment, more and more patients are realising that there is a cost-effective way to get care at a time and place that suits them, and with the experience we have in the clinic, we are so well placed to provide this!

Knee replacement surgery is really common and used to treat severe knee pain and disability caused by arthritis, injury, or other conditions. The chances of success depends on your overall health, age, the severity of the knee damage, and how well you follow your post-surgery rehabilitation plans… we’re all human after all! According to the NHS, 90%

of people who undergo knee replacement surgery feel better (15%) or much better (75%). These are good odds!

While the surgery can often be positive in the short term, a proper rehabilitation program (that means doing your exercises!) is essential to a great long-term outcome. Successful rehabilitation can be challenging, and I’m afraid it really does rely on you committing to your program for several months, but thankfully we can help you through this. Having regular check ins for some face to face, hands on treatment will help you stick to the plan, motive you when it’s getting tough, and improve how well the area is functioning.

Sometimes, even with the most dedicated patient, the knee replacement can really stiffen up and may lose some movement, making it hard to bend the knee and walking properly. In these cases, patients will likely be offered a ‘manipulation under anaesthetic’, which can help restore range of motion. But what happens when

this is unsuccessful, and the patient is left with a knee that struggles to bend and straighten well? This type of patient will typically come and see me 1-2 years later, feeling quite despondent as they think they have tried all available options.

The good news is that the main outcomes patients are looking for, are increased range of motion and decreased pain, and these are outcomes we can really help with. In all the cases that I have seen like this recently, all patients increased their knee range of motion and reduced pain significantly.

When a knee hasn't moved well for a while, a lot of the soft tissue structures surrounding it will have become very tight and tense. We start with gently working through these tissues (muscles, joints, and tendons), to make it easier for us to then apply gentle manipulations to the knee. As you know, we keep the clinic stocked with the very best in modern technology (powered by hugely experienced clinicians!) and have

developed our protocol to include using our shockwave machines to breakdown some of the adhesions that have built up around the knee capsule and the joint line. When the knee is in a painful state, we may also use laser therapy to reduce the pain and speed up the healing process.

If you think we can help you are a loved one with an issue like this then please call and book into the clinic and see if we can help you. And remember, you don't have to wait until you reach the point of knee replacement. If you're experiencing stiff, sore, or achy knees, our team will be able to assess and help you manage this before reaching the point of surgery.

with Tim Button, Doctor of Chiropractic at Cleve Chiropractic and Next Step in Mangotsfield

Roll up to try bowls

WITH summer around the corner, it's time to find an excuse to get out and meet people - and what better way than to get involved with our local lawn bowls club in Eastville Park?

Alongside the refurbished Nissen hut at the top of the park, the Bowling green has been replanted and maintained by a

group of volunteers over the past year, leaving us with a beautiful surface to play the relaxing and skilful game.

On Friday evenings throughout April everyone, young and old, is invited to have a practice 'roll up' on the green, with expert and friendly assistance from our current members.

Membership of the club gives you to six months' worth of excuses to get out and spend warm summer evenings playing friendly matches and entering competitions - some of which

could result in selection for the Commonwealth Games!

For more information email secretary.eastvilleparkbowls@ gmail.com or turn up on Friday evenings throughout April, from 5pm till dusk.

Justin Quinnell

Volunteers needed

CHARITY Home-Start Bristol is looking for new volunteers.

Home-Start supports hundreds of families with children aged under five who are going through tough times.

Volunteers are needed for home visits and at parent groups, for between two and three hours a week.

The next volunteer training course starts on April 27.

Anyone who would like to get involved should visit the website homestartbristol.org.uk, email admin@homestartbristol.org.uk or call 0117 950 1170 for more information.