We have outlined some plans of how this site might be developed, take a look under New Vision.
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A NEW VISION FOR THE OLD CITY OF BRISTOL COLLEGE
We have outlined some plans of how this site might be developed, take a look under New Vision.
follow: Please 'like' us on facebook RSS
Hi David
Just a few thoughts after Thursday’s meeting. This is a great project, but it lacks roots in those who will be affected by any change. It will be necessary to take on the HCA (? – too many intials at the meeting!) & I agree with the person who spoke as we were all leaving when he said it needed a group of committed individuals. But any application can be dismissed out of hand as representing no-one if there is no community will for it to happen.
For community support to develop, it needs to be seen as affecting the community & to be widely known about. Some thoughts on this:
1. The name. The community that this will be implanted within is south of St Johns Lane & west of Redcatch Rd – ie mainly Knowle West. I don’t know where exactly the boundary lies, but this is BS4. BS3 is Bedminster, which has its own campaigns, Windmill Hill, the first area in S Bristol to undergo regeneration & North St which is a possible model for this. What is threatened is the Northern Slopes – it’s used by Knowle Westers for recreation & shortcuts, the kids play there & their horses graze. The project needs a different name to reflect the area affected & what will be preserved if it is successful. Perhaps the Northern Slopes Project?
2. Local visibility. There are community groups in Knowle West, but there are also very effective lines of communication between people. How about printing a few hundred leaflets (perhaps everyone at Thursday’s meeting could have been asked for £2 or similar) & setting up stalls/people – in the waiting rooms at the 2 health centres & the drop-in centre, outside schools at picking-up time, in the social club. There’s the Knowle Media Centre – would they do a photographic exhibition about the Northern Slopes & it’s role in the lives of local people? Local schoolkids might do a project talking to & recording the memories of older people in their families or sheltered housing about how things have changed over the years. And The Park, another community resource/centre.
3. Wider publicity. Is it really as unwise as David seemed to feel to use the local media? If this is presented as a celebration of a local asset, people trying to take control of their immediate environment, it needn’t be seen as a battle. Spark is always looking for stories with a positive spin, the Bristol Observer too, in a different way. Even the Evening Post. Local TV might be interested in a programme about the wildlife on the Northern Slopes. Knowle Media Centre had an exhibition of local young people’s photos about their lives in the Arnolfini a couple of years back – perhaps they’d be interested in this too.
I am sure that there will be people with the knowledge & expertise to help fight the battles with the landowners, but this projects needs local people at every stage if it’s to mean anything!I am sure there were people from the local area at Thursday’s meeting, but we didn’t hear from them. It might also be useful to pay some attention to making the meetings more participatory.
1. Arrange chairs in a circle (or three-quarter circle may be less intimidating) so everyone can see & be seen.
2. At the beginning (or after a short intro to allow time for latecomers) go round the room asking everyone to say who they are & what their interest is. This not only means everyone is involved but also that their experience & expertise become available during the meeting.
3. Set an agenda with approx time limits. At this stage, the important thing is to secure the land, so making strategies for this both within the community & to take on the landowners/bureaucracy needs to be the main focus & have most of the time. David & Edward & others have done a wonderful job, but using a great deal of energy explaining their ideas & dreams at this stage misses this point. The detailed plans also engender the feeling that this is someone else’s dream, not a communal opportunity for change.
4. Make it a discussion meeting, not a talk. Encourage others to give their opinions. If we know who people at the meeting are, the opinions of those with appropriate knowledge, experience, expertise can be asked for.
5. Let’s hear from the women! Only 1 woman spoke on Thursday & after her 2 minutes the points she made were gone over again by a man. This is not only an issue of respecting women, it is also the case that most community initiatives have women at their heart. KWADS (Knowle West against Alcohol & Drugs, now part of Bristol Drugs Project) was set up & run by women & was phenomenally successful.
6. And let’s hear from local people!
I hope these are useful thoughts. I did not put myself forward for the small group as I really have no connections with the “catchment area” any longer – I live the other side of Redcatch, Merrywood Girls’ School is long gone & my daughter almost 30, I no longer work in the area. I do still feel passionately about the people & area after many years of involvement of various sorts & wish the project well. I don’t even know if I could find a genuine way to use the development should it become reality – I have more than adequate housing & don’t want to use up what is created – perhaps a workshop though?
Maureen (Wright)
Maureen
Thank you so much for this which has given me cause to think.
We should have made the meeting more participatory. Next time we will.
I believe the site is in BS3. I take the point on the name, and that those in BS4 particularly may feel excluded which we certainly don’t want to do. Whether we can change it at this stage I am not sure but I’m open to this.
Although there was an article in the Evening Post we have held off publicity because of not wanting to alienate the landowners but I agree we need to review this.
I have heard and understand the frustration of the local community’s battling against the system over 2 years or more. I know that the so called “consultation” with Bristol CC seems to have had little impact on the intended sale of this land at the cost to the community of losing open space. Maybe we can show there is an alternative. Help us do that.
So what I recognise is…
1. We can do better.
2. We want to work with the local community
3. We want this community to be more involved in putting forward ideas
4. We want to know what the community like and doesn’t like about this scheme and would like their feedback.
5. People may feel they haven’t got the time or skills. How we can help?
We have a plan, some good ideas, and knowledge of those who might help deliver an alternative. Our intention is to put this before the landowners before they go to tender and ask them to reconsider. We would like community feedback on this and their involvement in the submission….. but we don’t have long.
In light of your note I thought we might send out a questionnaire. If we held a workshop would you come and help run it Maureen?
David Parkes