Hotwells and Cliftonwood Community Association – Newsletter August 2021 Dear Neighbour Welcome to the Bulletin for August 2021. Even though Covid-19 restrictions have now been lifted, it has been encouraging to see most people continuing to wear masks and follow social-distancing norms. Daily case numbers are currently in decline, but the pandemic isn't behind us. After what has been a bleak year, no one should be holding back on summer activities. At the same time, we need to ensure that we are protecting those who are most vulnerable. HCCA Newsletter – August 2021 Page 1 of 14 Should you wish to raise any local issues/matters of interest, we can always be contacted at the following: [email protected] or leave a message on 01179 291 833. If there is anything you have written and would like to add to the next Bulletin – please send it to this email [email protected] HCCA Newsletter – August 2021 Page 2 of 14 In this issue: 1. New Chair of the HCCA. ........................................................................................ 4 2. Downs for People ................................................................................................... 4 3. Cumberland Basin/Western Harbour ...................................................................... 4 4. Graffiti Cleaning...................................................................................................... 5 5. The Piazza ............................................................................................................. 6 6. Swimming in Bristol Harbour ................................................................................ 10 7. New Transport Cabinet Member in Bristol ............................................................ 10 8. Parklet Plotter ....................................................................................................... 10 9. High Street Explorations: Historic England ........................................................... 11 10. Clifton Hill Wild Meadow ..................................................................................... 12 11. Goldney Garden Open Day ................................................................................ 12 12. Holy Trinity Church ............................................................................................. 13 13. Voter Registration Forms ................................................................................... 13 14. Bristol City Council’s COVID-19 Update ............................................................. 13 HCCA Newsletter – August 2021 Page 3 of 14 1. New Chair of the HCCA. Dennis is retiring from HCCA after 18+ years and now nearly 15 of those as Chairman. Your Committee has not yet found someone to take this position and is therefore asking you to consider whether this is a role that you could undertake or, if not, whether you know anyone who might be encouraged to take on this role. Many of you will know that the HCCA is here to ‘promote the benefit of all people who live and work in the area of Hotwells and Cliftonwood and its neighbourhood.’ These are exciting times to be living here, with new opportunities arising from the Western Harbour Scheme which will have a large impact on the local community. There are also so many brilliant things happening now in this wonderful community that we want to sustain and support - the Piazza, extending our volunteer activities, supporting local initiatives and communities. So, we are looking for an enthusiast who can help develop a friendly and supportive committee concerned for the welfare of their neighbourhood. Further details can be found on our website here. If you should be interested, please send an ‘Expression of Interest’ to [email protected]. This should contain your basic information and a brief statement relating to your interest. 2. Downs for People Some of you will have been following this story which, as we reported in June, had resulted in an out of court settlement. Knowing that this will cost the City a considerable sum of money we are pleased to hear via our Councillor, Paula O’Rourke, who is a member of the Downs Committee, that the Terms of Reference of the Committee are under review. More information can be found here under the link to the Terms of Reference. 3. Cumberland Basin/Western Harbour Just after our last bulletin we learned that the Engagement Consultants are ‘Turner Works’. More information can be found here. The Engagement team are busily getting briefed and recruiting some local expertise to assist with their work. The desire is to create a vision for the area which can inform any master-planning which would follow. To do this we understand that their starting point will be to look back, gather history, use memories etc., before understanding the present and how it impacts on people, the culture, the economy and so forth, and then using all this to try and build a vision for the future. HCCA Newsletter – August 2021 Page 4 of 14 Image Source: Bristol City Council This will be a huge task and we are committed to trying to assist in that to try and maximise benefit and advantage for the future and minimise mistakes and regrets. We will be encouraging everyone to help in this process as much as they can. We hope we might have our first meeting around end of August/early September. 4. Graffiti Cleaning HCCA has helped a group of local volunteers to set up a street cleaning team to remove and paint over graffiti on street furniture. They have received good training from a Project Development Officer in the Council’s Neighbourhood Services team on how to safely use the cleaning equipment and the idea is to help support Bristol City Council in addressing graffiti in our local community. Their work is currently concentrating on street signs, parking meters, utility boxes and lamp posts etc. but as they get more experienced it will hopefully extend to painting over tagging which can't easily be removed by chemicals. You might see them hanging around street corners wearing high vis HCCA vests so please say hello. If you would like to find out more or wish to join the group in cleaning up our streets then please contact [email protected]. HCCA Newsletter – August 2021 Page 5 of 14 A new "3D" mural on North Street Image Source: Upfest.co.uk 5. The Piazza Summer Activities for Families Mhairi Stuart is running workshops again this year for the well-being of local families. She will be making clay pendants with all comers on 7th & 8th August 2-4pm. The activities are FREE and there's no need to book. On day-one we will cut clay and let it dry overnight. On day-two people can paint and hang their ornaments adding positive messages if they like. We will have some pre-made in case people can't make both sessions. HCCA Newsletter – August 2021 Page 6 of 14 On 18th & 19th August, Anna will be joining Mhairi and we'll add gardening activities in the mix. Weather permitting (if it's not too hot and dry) we will be planting a mattress to make a 'flower bed'. If this experiment is successful, we'll try and grow food next year as they are using mattresses in arid countries for this purpose. We'll also be inviting more 'colouring in' of our protesters that we pasted up during the festival. Hotwells Community Well-Being Festival ‘Come Rain Come Shine’ took place in a blistering 30-degree heat, but the flyover provided shade and the gentle breeze kept everyone cool enough to enjoy a lovely, relaxed day. It really inspired us to see what is possible for future events and many people would like to see an annual community festival. We'd like to thank all the amazing locals who made it happen including Johnny from PYTCH who generously provided an amazing solar powered sound system and skilled technicians, Chris of ‘Move More Fitness’, Faruk & Shilpi of ‘Chai Shai Kitchen’, Alison from ‘A & Ks Playground’, Kat and Leo of ‘Gokin Bakes’, Bob Walton who got us all writing poetry, Joanna with her clay workshops, ‘Recession Gill’ and her marvellous models, our wonderful band ‘Blind Justice Page’, The Clean Air Alliance’, Dan from ‘The Brick Project’ with his mobile mandala and all the other artist facilitators and volunteers who made the event possible - Anna, Amy, Mhairi, Tim, Lauren, Gayle, Carol, Caroline, Chis, Damian and Paul. We estimate that nearly 500 people joined us through the day. HCCA Newsletter – August 2021 Page 7 of 14 Hotwells Community Well-Being Festival HCCA Newsletter – August 2021 Page 8 of 14 Sights from the Festival Picture Credits: Anna Haydock-Wilson Skate Ramps Our new skate ramps have been installed. These represent £800 of donations from local people and a further £2k of time and skills from Anna, Badger (the designer) and ‘Madam 2 Saws’, who built them. They seem to be getting a lot of use, but we would like to make sure that locals are not disturbed by increased noise so we're asking for donations of foam so we can properly sound proof the ramps. If you have old, unused foam in your loft, shed or garage, please get in touch at [email protected]. We are still receiving donations and are hoping to build more ramps once the price of birch ply falls. HCCA Newsletter – August 2021 Page 9 of 14 Tagging We've had some more tagging recently and will restore artworks to their former glory over the summer. We're considering crowd funding to pay artists for their tireless work in keeping the piazza free of unimaginative tagging. Is this a good idea? Please be aware that the Council