People living across a large swathe of South Bristol are being invited to have their say on what should happen to the roads and pavements around where they live, as a ‘wide ranging’ consultation gets under way over a new ‘Liveable Neighbourhood’ for the area.
Bristol City Council announced the city’s second Liveable Neighbourhood scheme for South Bristol earlier this week, following the decision to start a trial period of six months for the first one, in the Redfield area of East Bristol later this year.
Now, community group Action Greater Bedminster has announced it has been appointed as the community partner between local residents and the council, to organise the consultation to find out what locals what to see happen with the Liveable Neighbourhood.
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The South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood will cover a wide area from Windmill Hill and Totterdown in the east, across Bedminster and Southville to Ashton, Ashton Gate and Ashton Vale in the west. It was met with a mixed reception by local residents after BS3’s Liveable Neighbourhood was announced, but with no firm plans yet what the scheme will actually mean on the ground, Action Greater Bedminster said what happens will be in the hands of local residents themselves.
“The project aims to create a better balance between how streets are used for vehicles and people, making them safer, more pleasant and healthier places to live,” said a council spokesperson.
An online consultation has already begun, and will run until mid October, and Action Greater Bedminster said it will be organising a series of public consultation meetings to discuss what could changed, or left alone, in the early autumn.
Action Greater Bedminster are a community group which most recently held a series of public meetings bringing leaders from the NHS, universities and the council to BS3 to talk with local residents over the challenges of the rapidly expanding population in Bedminster, with thousands of new homes being built.
“Liveable neighbourhoods are designed in partnership with local communities to make it easier to catch a bus, walk or cycle. They can include a variety of improvements, such as measures to reduce traffic taking short cuts through residential streets and near schools, improved crossings to help connect neighbourhoods, planting more trees, providing more benches and community activity spaces, and improving lighting,” said a spokesperson.