What we have done so far
We created a facebook group on November 29th exposing the latest ring road and housing proposals which would have life changing effects on residents and cause irreversible damage to the environment in both Bristol and BANES.
In just over 2 months we have attracted in excess of 2500 people to our Facebook group and you were part of that thank you.
We have raised awareness of the proposals and the plight of south Bristol which encouraged comments for the consultation that ended on 7th Jan 19 and for the subsequent full Bristol City Council meeting in Jan 2019.
We are continuing to run a poster campaign. This is to spread awareness amongst the communities affected and to let visitors to the area know that we are against the proposals.
We have successfully filmed and produced a 2 minute video highlighting and bringing to life the proposed route and its impact, which was unclear from the official documentation.
Following this, we encouraged the Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees during his facebook live event to visit us. On January 17th he joined over 300 local residents, councillors and press at a hastily arranged public meeting held at St Augustine’s Church which was organised with less than a weeks’ notice. For those unable to attend the meeting was filmed and shared in our group. Everything was done by volunteers on a zero budget. The Mayor then invited us to work with his transport team to offer alternative solutions. Local media coverage was extensive.
Meeting - The Film
The film below is the entire meeting held on 17th January at St Augustine's Church with Bristol Mayor Mr Marvin Rees.
The core team
After the success of this meeting a core group was formed with six local residents from Whitchurch village, Whitchurch and Stockwood. The core group is made up as below
What is happening next?
We have formed a transport planning team who will be coming up with proposals to put to a meeting with Bristol City Council transport team on February 12th.
This will enable us to establish the facts as they are at the moment. Most of us accept that more homes will be needed and that the transport systems must be reviewed and updated. When we know exactly where we are, we will work out the best way to move forward.
We will continue to work with other local groups, our local councillors and MP’s and where appropriate those who have already faced challenges such as this. We want to utilise their experiences and knowledge.
We have already started looking into a petition. It is so important to get the wording right and use the right vehicle.
Inevitably we will need funds to cover basics such as room hire, materials and potentially external expert advice. For the avoidance of any doubts the core group continues to be run by volunteers and will remain transparent in their costs.
We will consider putting on peaceful events to bring our plight to the attention of those who need to know.
We are working on the current JTP consultation encouraging responses and we will prepare suggested templates to assist residents in registering their comments and contact details etc.
