southbristolvoice
10
March 2017
n NEWS ‘Nothing to hide’ in Green Capital THE REPORT into Bristol Green Capital Year 2015, ordered by mayor Marvin Rees, has decided that suspicions about its finances were “totally unfounded”. Ex-Bristol West MP Stephen Williams had wanted more detail of how the arms-length company set up by the council, Bristol 2015 Ltd, had spent £12.5 million. But a report by former Audit Commission boss Steve Bundred said the company had nothing to hide, and the Green Capital year was a great success. The company was run by Nicola Yates, the council’s chief executive. She received a separate salary for her Green Capital role, and would not answer questions at a council audit committee last March. She left the council last year. Former mayor George Ferguson praised the report, saying he had given Mr Bundred a long and detailed interview about Green Capital.
Mansion owner wants new 4-bed house in the grounds THE OWNER of the Gothic Mansion, the Grade II listed Victorian house in Redcatch Road, Knowle, wants to build a four-bedroom house in its grounds. Misha Simmonite has told Bristol city council that she has rheumatoid arthritis and other health conditions which mean she can’t continue to live on the fourth floor of the building. With her manager, Andrew Forsey, she lets out the 13-bedroom building for family groups and celebrations, accommodating up to 50 people at a time, from £1,000 a night. She says she needs a home which is easier for her to access, and accommodation for her live-in carer. Plans for the new house show a large, four bedroom home with
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The new house from Redcatch Road, with the Gothic Mansion behind a therapy pool on the ground floor, near the corner of Redcatch Road and St Agnes Avenue. In 2013, planning permission was granted for a smaller four-bed home, also on the same corner of the site, but within a walled-off area used as a car park. Ms Simmonite did not then own the car park plot – though she has since bought it. She at first asked for her new house to be allowed under the 2013 permission. But that permission has now expired. The new plan is for a house of 351 sq m in floor area, more than three times the size of the 2013 house, which was 113 sq m. The Gothic Mansion was previously known as St Elizabeth’s. It was built in 1888 as the
vicarage to Holy Nativity church on Wells Road and was later part of St Peter’s Hospice until 1985. Ms Simmonite later bought it and in 2014 she was refused planning permission to use the house as an upmarket holiday home after complaints of noise from neighbours. But this was overturned on appeal. The Gothic Mansion now has planning permission for holiday use and an agreement with the council on managing noise. It’s understood there have been no complaints from neighbours since 2014. There have been no objections to the latest application. One neighbour from Tennis Road wrote a letter of support, calling the design “visually appealing”.
Voice joins news debate THE Voice series of magazines – currently 13 across the Bristol area – will be part of a debate about the challenges facing the city’s media in an age of declining revenues and “fake news” . Representatives from the city’s media, including the Bristol Post, the BBC, ITV, Bristol 24/7 and the Bristol Cable will be present. Called Local News Matters, it’s on March 7 at the Watershed and is organised by the Bristol branch of the National Union of Journalists. The debate will ask how well the city is being served by its
news organisations, and look at the many challenges they face. The number of journalists serving the city has plummeted in the last decade. There have been cutbacks at the BBC, ITV, and the city’s newspapers, which have seen their advertising income shrink in the face of competition from the internet. Many people now expect their news to be provided for free – leaving news organisations the problem of how to pay for it. For tickets (£6, or £4 for concessions and NUJ members) go to watershed.co.uk
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