State Of The Ward 2025

As I am about a year into my term of office as a councillor, I thought it was worth writing a summary of the work I have been doing in the role.

For the electoral context, my allowances and roles and an explanation of how Bristol City Council’s committee system works, please see here.

Resident engagement

There are four main ways that ward residents engage with me:

  • emails sent to my councillor email account
  • regular advice surgeries
  • active Facebook page
  • community and Area Committee meetings

Emails
I do receive some phone calls but this is increasingly uncommon as more and more people use email for complex issues where a council resolution is required. Email is the best way to ensure you have your issue dealt with in an effective way. I receive around 50 emails per day on average, so please bear with me if it takes some time to reply, but do chase me after a week or so if you have no response and I will prioritise your email.

Regular advice surgeries
I hold a regular advice surgery on the first Tuesday of every month in the reception of the Beehive Centre on Stretford Road, from 11am to 1pm. This is a chance for ward residents to talk with me about any problems and to ask for my support and advice on any local or personal issue. These sessions are advertised in public community noticeboards and by St George Community Association. The remaining 2025 sessions are: 1st July, 5th August, 2nd September, 7th October, 4th November and 2nd December. If you’d like a specific timed 15-minute slot, please email ahead of time (cllr.rob.bryher@bristol.gov.uk) but you’re also very welcome to just turn up and wait until I am available (the wait may be 0 seconds, but I obviously can’t guarantee this).

For those who cannot make this time in the day, please contact me to arrange for us to meet at a mutually convenient time: cllr.rob.bryher@bristol.gov.uk

Active Facebook page
My Facebook page is here and is where I put up news about the local community as soon as I have it. It’s worth clicking the follow button (as well as the like button) if you want this to appear in your feed.

Community and Area Committee meetings
The Community Connector organisation for the three St George wards (West, Central and Troopers Hill) is St George Community Association (details here). On Sunday 11th May 2025, a community meeting was held for St George residents to share their priorities for the local area. I am working through the priorities given to try and action some of these ideas and it is envisaged that these community meetings will be every six months, with the next one in September. Follow St George Community Association on Facebook to stay updated.

The meeting was held just before our Area Committee 6 meeting (see here for information on Area Committees) on Thursday 22nd May 2025. This is a meeting where the four councillors for St George West, St George Central and St George Troopers Hill decide how to spend our limited Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy funding. We were the only one of the Area Committees to meet in a neighbourhood rather than City Hall – we were in Air Balloon Primary School and members of the public attended. You can view the agenda here, the minutes here [at time of writing TBC] and the headline outcomes here.

Here is the list of proposals that were put forward in St George West after my initial call for ideas (posted here). We agreed to ask for three proposals to progress to Stage 2 of the CIL process in light of the Stage 1 “expression of interest” forms submitted.

These were:

  • Swing set in John Deasy Play Area, St George Park (funded from the main Community Infrastructure Levy pot)
  • Signage at the point where Crews Hole Road meets the footpath through Troopers Hill wood (funded from S106 funding that had not been drawn down in relation to 208-210 Whitehall Road flats)
  • Tarmacked frontage of Beehive Centre to aid with wheelchair access (potentially funded through the citywide Equity Fund)

We were also asked to submit roads that could be made 20mph in our wards and I submitted Whitehall Road and Netham Road/Fireclay Road (read more here).

The next Area Committee 6 (St George) meeting will be in late 2025 (date to be confirmed).

I have also recently set up a quarterly coffee morning with residents of Padmore Court, with the police community support officer, the housing officer and the warden attending.

Future engagement

  • I hope to be able to set up regular engagement sessions for more blocks of flats in the future. If you would like to see this in your block, please send me an email to arrange it: cllr.rob.bryher@bristol.gov.uk .
  • I am hoping to start sending out monthly e-bulletin newsletters by email, but this has not so far been possible while keeping on top of casework and serving residents as my first priority.
  • The council will be engaging with residents at the end of the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood trial scheme in late 2025.

Ward casework

To get a flavour of the ward issues residents raise, below is a long list of casework issues I have taken action or provided a response on. I’ve removed some references to specific locations and names so issues can’t be traced back to specific residents:

  • Liaising with council officers about overrunning roadworks on Church Road
  • Liasing with police about anti-social behaviour from specific individuals
  • Responding to complaints about noise and waste from neighbours
  • Working to remove erroneous flytipping penalty notice for a resident
  • Liaising with council officers to remove flytipping
  • Adding more flytipping signs and improved monitoring of locations when requested by residents
  • Providing advice to a resident on trans healthcare
  • Contacting council officers to ensure residents get council tax refunds they are entitled to
  • Actioned removal of long-term abandoned vehicles on two different streets
  • Working with Bristol Waste to ensure a particular road does not have bins blocking access to its entrance, and ensuring a different road has its bins stored off street
  • Replacement of a dead tree
  • Liaising with council officers about roadworks hindering access for residents
  • Liaising with council officers about a cycle hangar being repaired
  • Liaising with Bristol Ferry to ask for them to make the Netham Lock passenger port more accessible for disabled people and wheelchair users
  • Liaising with resident, school, police and council officers about ongoing dangerous parking near schools
  • Representing residents and giving advice on rent and conditions issues in the private rental sector
  • Liaising with nursery, council officers and housing provider over anti-social behaviour
  • Liaising with council officers about a new access being created without a dropped kerb or safety measures
  • Liaising with council officers and developers over two uncompleted housing sites in the ward
  • Liaising with council officers to visit a business regularly parking vehicles on the pavement
  • Liaising with council officers over overgrown gardens
  • Liasing with council officers over clearing blocked up drains
  • Liasing with council officers over concerns raised about the Help When You Need It adult social care service
  • Liaising with council officers to provide air quality data near schools
  • Liaising with council officers over early years provision
  • Liaising with short term lets provider over their suggested parking provision
  • Liasing with council officers over inadequate clearing of leaves in autumn
  • Liaising with council officers and Bristol Waste over missed recycling collections
  • Liaising with council officers about pavement parking solutions
  • Supporting a resident to apply for a disabled parking bay
  • Supporting a resident with pension credit
  • Liaising with council officers over better access to GP appointments
  • Liaising with council officers around gritting of roads
  • Liasing with council officers over planning enforcement issues
  • Liaising with residents, police and council officers about car theft and burglaries
  • Working with a housing provider on a resident engagement event
  • Liaising with council officers over encouraging diverse businesses on Church Road
  • Liaising with police, council officers and a local business over parking capacity concerns and enforcement
  • Liaising with council officers over UK Government’s inflexibility of Clean Air Zone payment methods
  • Liaising with council officers about extending cross-hatching on Whitehall Road junction used by kids going to school to decrease road danger and speeding
  • Alerting council officers to dangerous wall collapse on main road
  • Liaising with council officers about prevention of bike theft
  • Finding out land ownership from council officers to provide advice about untidy or flytipped land
  • Liaising with council officers about object left on kerbside
  • Liaising with council officers about voter ID concerns
  • Liaising with council officers about concerns about resurfacing roads
  • Liaising with private landlord about providing adequate recycling services

Lobbying emails
As well as emails seeking a resolution to a problem, I also get emails on a range of issues to do with Bristol City Council’s and the UK Government’s policies and pushing for changes at both of these levels. I also receive a few queries about Green Party policy. So far these have included:

  • Ending use of bailiffs
  • Concern about cuts to Bristol’s Cultural Investment Programme
  • Opposing the UK Labour Government’s proposed disability and welfare cuts
  • Asking for the Green Party policy on electric vehicles
  • Support for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
  • Support for Gaza/Palestine (I have had over 50 individual emails about this, the largest single issue)
  • Desire to opt out of glyphosate spraying
  • Reforming BCC’s Advertising and Sponsorship Policy to ban high-carbon products
  • Calling for a Plant-Based Treaty
  • Concerns about Predictive Policing
  • Calling for Bristol’s public toilets to be reopened
  • Calling for trans rights to be upheld and supported
  • Calling for West Papua to be recognised through a flag-raising event

East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood trial scheme
So much has been said about this traffic scheme. From my inbox and online comments, I know there are some people in favour and some people against. The basic information is that we have entered the six-month trial scheme period (starting from June 2025) and we expect data and evidence to be assessed towards the end of 2025, with a decision taken about what (if anything) to include in any permanent scheme in 2026. As you might imagine, I have a large number of suggestions in my email inbox, but the feed-in that is most helpful is telling me/the council which specific measures you would like to be kept, added or removed – with practical suggestions about how this would make things better and your rationale for proposing a change. Please send these to cllr.rob.bryher@bristol.gov.uk to ensure they are considered.

Active Travel and Public Transport Options in St George West

  • Walking gets your steps in! Walking to Bristol city centre takes between 36 and 55 minutes from different points in St George West.
  • Cycling is a low-cost option for commuting! St George West has a bike shop (Bike Bristol, 359 Church Road) to get a bike and kit, and the main routes are the Bristol to Bath Railway Path, Wesley Way and the River Avon Trail (see map here). It takes about 15 minutes to get to the city centre, depending on route/proximity.
  • E-scooters and e-bikes can be hired using the Dott scheme through their app. An unlock is £1 and it’s £0.22 per minute. You can pay £5.99 to get unlimited unlocks a month (good value if you plan to use it more than 5 times in a month).
  • Taking the bus is a great option! Be sure to use tap on/tap off for the best deal, and if you live in the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood trial scheme area, you should receive 15 free day tickets through the post (see here). All buses in St George West go to the city centre, as well as to outlying points (see network map here):
    • Buses 6 and 7 serve Whitehall Road and Speedwell Road and go to Kingswood (6) and Staple Hill (7)
    • Buses 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45 serve Church Road and go to Kingswood and beyond.
    • The new number 16 service serves Church Road and Avonvale Road, and gets you to Avonmeads, Temple Meads, Kingswood and Fishponds. You can read more about this service here and here.
    • Bus 5 serves Netham Road and Avonvale Road and gets you to St Anne’s.
  • Bristol Ferry run a commuter ferry to the city centre (via Temple Meads, Castle Park and Welsh Back – more details here). It’s £3.50 in the week each way, and departures are at 8am and 6.15pm, with weekend departures at 10am and 6.15pm.
  • The nearest train station is Lawrence Hill station, which is a 10 to 25 minute walk or a 4 to 7 minute cycle or scoot from St George West. Local trains go north to Easton, Montpelier, Redland, Clifton and north-west Bristol, and to Ashley Down and Filton, and south to Temple Meads, Bedminster, and North Somerset locations. Taking a bike on a train is easier than you might think and can make longer bike journeys a lot more manageable.

Around the ward

The ward is split up into four areas of about equal size on Bristol City Council’s ward map (see here) and this is a useful way to explain the issues I’ve been focusing on across the ward.

St George Park, Whitehall and Whitehall Road area

  • St George Park issues
    • As mentioned above, the Area Committee has agreed to fund a swing set in the play park. I am working with council officers and the Play in St George Park group on increasing the push for funding sources to complete Phase 2 of the new equipment. You can read more from the group here (funding update) and here (what we still have to find funds for). After a frustrating delay due to issues with the landscaping works, the full area was opened (except the grass that needs to be left a bit longer), See here (October), here (April) and here (May) for more on this). If you have fundraising experience and can volunteer your time, please email playinsgp@gmail.com. 
    • The public toilets have sadly been vandalised (both the external doors and inside the toilets) or left in a terrible state by some overnight users. I asked council officers to move to a deadlock regime rather than using the automatic locking mechanism as often those vandalising it at night would just break through the locking mechanism. I will continue to monitor how this system is working over the summer months, but I hope you agree it has improved in the last few weeks. I am working with a small group of local residents who are quite rightly pushing me and the council to improve the toilets. My latest update is here.
    • The wheel park is functional but we’d all probably agree a bit outdated. I am exploring ways we might be able to fund improvements through a larger bid to national grant-giving bodies.
    • In early 2025, I helped to form a steering group of local residents, community groups and interested parties to look at how we can use the bowling green since the bowls club left it a couple of summers ago. This was due to Bristol City Council increasing the rent and the group being unable to meet the costs. The steering group is united in wanting to maintain one of the two bowling greens for bowls, while using the other green for a paid activity (e.g. a community sauna, or hire space for local groups) while also providing space for community growing and a more enclosed space free from dogs. The pavilion buildings also need attention and a new use. Fortunately, a group of local people who are successful in small business and events-organising are keen to coordinate use of the space and take on the running of it. In practice, this will involve some pop-up events and meanwhile use in 2025 to test the waters, with a view to more consistent activity in 2026. The group is currently negotiating with Bristol City Council on all of this and I’ll keep people updated through my Facebook page and e-bulletin newsletter.
    • Sadly we have had some trees need to be pruned as a result of ash dieback – but at least they have not had to be felled. You can read more here.
    • Unfortunately, some trees do have to be felled and we’ve had a few in the last year. You can read more here and here.
    • We also had a false alarm over a tree infestation. I’m thankful to those more ecologically knowledgeable amongst us that we took no action! You can read more here.
    • The tennis courts and table tennis tables are enjoyed by many! That’s it 🙂
    • Sadly, in summer 2024 we had a dog fatality as a result of a bike going too fast through the park (see here). Bikes are allowed in parks under Bristol’s bylaws, but as a result you may have spotted some subtle signage (painted in white on the ground) asking cyclists to be considerate and cycle slowly through this shared space.
    • We have also sadly had people bitten by dogs in the park. There is a careful balance to be struck for all park users. Small children, dog walkers, cyclists and council maintenance vehicles all use the central area of the park and this can be challenging. There is dog-free space in the play park area and cyclists should keep to the paths and be considerate of pedestrians.
    • I was pleased that after a bit of prodding from me, a collapsible bollard was re-installed at the Lyndale Road/Lakeview Road entrance to the park (read more about the bollard going missing here). Sadly, we have had instances where people are unlawfully driving private cars into the park which, as well as being a safety issue, is not in keeping with the widespread desire to keep the park car-free. For the specifics of the bylaw that prohibits this, see here.
    • As a result of feedback from a community meeting, I am looking at how we can get another wheelchair-accessible picnic table installed in the park.
    • We have had some CCTV cameras in the park (on the kiosk) vandalised in the last year but the main CCTV camera for the park is operational. I often get asked about lighting in the park, but I understand there are biodiversity/wildlife issues if we flood the park with light. Residents and visitors should generally use the street network (which is better lit) if feeling unsafe at night. (I speak as someone who was beaten up at night in a (non-Bristol) park, so I would always advise caution and using well-lit areas.)
    • The Friends of St George Park group (and its Facebook forum) continue to promote and enact positive changes for the park. You can see their aims here. I am particularly pleased to see the new trees planted in 2025 near the tennis courts and near to the eastern boundary of the park (read more here, here and here), as well as the recent lake planting (read more here).
    • We have had a number of instances of people pitching tents in the park. Please do report this (here), not to make anyone’s life more difficult, but so that Bristol City Council can conduct welfare checks and ensure that everyone experiencing homelessness has the support they need.
    • The lake has had some instances of anti-social behaviour in the last year, but mostly these were one-off. To reassure people, the low water level in the lake is a concern and we do have council officers monitoring this. A reminder to not interrupt nature’s course, even if the behaviour of animals towards other animals on the lake appears problematic. (Human beings are another matter entirely.)
    • We haven’t yet been able to secure funding for the excellent idea of a set of outdoor gym equipment in the park, but I’m working with the proposers of this idea to see how we can make this happen.
    • Rumours persist that we might one day have Park Run in St George Park. There are currently no plans and when I enquired with Park Run, they said they had no record of people enquiring about it!
    • Sadly, Redfest will not happen in the park in 2025 but is planned for 2026. You can read more here.
  • Park Crescent and Lake View Road issues
    • In the late summer of 2024, there were vans and caravans at this corner of the park and now there largely aren’t any. For a fuller explanation, see here.
    • As a result of the change, we got a number of new pedestrian tactile crossings installed into the park.
    • Sadly, the Beehive Centre has been broken into a few times in the past year, but the good news is that the offender has been convicted and sentenced. You can read more here.
  • Whitehall Road issues
    • Our Area Committee was asked which roads should be made 20mph and there is a section of Whitehall Road that I recommended to move from 30mph to 20mph (you can read more here). There are ongoing speeding and lining issues at the Whitehall Road/Stretford Avenue/King’s Head pub crossing which make it less safe for children and adults to cross safely on their way to school. I’ll continue to work on these and hope we can tackle them through CIL funding in 2026.
  • Planning applications
    • I have been supporting the Beehive Centre in securing permission for a heat pump system for their buildings. Thankfully, this has now been granted – great news for cutting carbon emissions and modernising the building! You can read more here.
    • The PJ Autos vehicle breaker’s users yard at 2 Chalks Road has recently been granted planning permission to erect a new dwellinghouse – it’s a self-build proposal, which is relatively rare. You can read more here.


Whitehall Road/Speedwell Road, Whitehall Avenue and Plummers Hill area

  • Local issues
    • I have been working with both the infants school and the academy to make the case for a new School Street with council officers. Plummers Hill is heavily trafficked around school pick-off and drop-off time with the knock-on impacts on road safety, air pollution and health. There are a number of other routes between Whitehall Road/Speedwell Road and Clouds Hill Road for commuters to use and so I think it makes sense to actively discourage traffic from using Plummers Hill at these times.
    • The Clouds Hill Road/Plummers Hill puffin crossing will be changed to a Pre-Timed Max (PTM) setting in the near future after a decision I voted for in the transport and connectivity policy committee. This will mean pedestrians wait far less time to cross. You can read more here.
    • I met with the Principal of Summerhill Academy, Chris Barratt, to discuss how the UK Government’s expanded breakfast club provision is going. You can read more here.
    • I also met with the Headteacher of Summerhill Infants School, Ira De N’Yeurt, to discuss school meals.
    • Clouds Hill Avenue residents made the decision to opt out of glyphosate spraying and weed their own street. It requires around half of the residents in a street to agree to it. You can understand this issue more here.
    • The Hudds Vale Open Space had a number of new trees planted in March. You can read more here, here and here.
    • In November, there was sadly a fire at the New Roots Community Garden on Speedwell Allotments (see here). Fortunately, a crowdfunder was set up which raised £3,596 to rebuild the structure affected. And now the structure has been built and installed! You can read more here.
    • I visited the Plummers Hill Allotments in April 2025 and talk to the site rep and BCC’s allotments and smallholdings manager. I’m keen to visit the other three allotment sites in St George West (St George A, Speedwell A and Netham Allotments) in the coming year to get a sense of how these are being managed and for allotment holders and/or site reps to feed back any issues.
    • As mentioned earlier, I have had a number of casework enquiries about waste and flytipping in the grass verges on Plummers Hill and other locations in this area of the ward. When you see it, you can report litter here and flytipping here.

Lower Church Road, Lower Beaufort Road, Blackswarth Road and Netham Road area

  • Local issues
    • The slight hill coming down Beaufort Road created a number of issues for people using bikes and scooters during the winter months when the road is icy. I am hoping to use learning from this period to do more to prevent injuries in the coming winter.
    • The Blackswarth Road/Pilemarsh puffin crossing will be changed to a Pre-Timed Max (PTM) setting in the near future after a decision I voted for in the transport and connectivity policy committee. This will mean pedestrians wait far less time to cross. You can read more here.
    • In April, Cossham Road, Blackswarth Road and Fireclay Road were resurfaced. You can read more here.
    • The council’s traffic signals team repaired the Blackswarth Road/Church Road/Chalks Road junction recently. You can read more here.
    • In February, St George Commnity Centre installed solar panels on their roof. You can read more here.
    • Also in February, new cycle hangars were installed on Beaufort Road and Cossham Road. You can read more here.
  • Planning applications
    • The most significant development over the last year has been the approval of the Concrete Fabrications Ltd site on the part of Blackswarth Road that becomes Crews Hole Road. This involves the demolition of existing buildings and erection of 85 homes. The developer contributions from this will provide a new safer crossing point at the junction of Blackswarth Road and Fireclay Road. Further information is available here (January 2025 planning committee statement), here (February 2025 post-decision) and here (June 2025 developer update).
    • I was pleased to attend the opening of a landmark development on Beaufort Close which uses modular building materials and employed former prisons as part of a return to work programme. You can read more here.
    • A controversial local planning application was the Rubino Lounge at 251-155 Church Road (the old CM3/Buyology shop). Many people expressed frustration at another food and drink business on Church Road and the loss of a useful shop, while others were pleased to see a new business coming to the area. We certainly all need to support local, independent businesses wherever possible if we want them to survive and thrive. My updates are here (February premises license) and here (May signage planning permission). 
    • The old Hirestation site at 222-232 Church Road continues to be an eyesore, but at least it is included within Bristol’s soon-to-be-adopted new Local Plan Site Allocations document. The council is not aware of any development interest in the site at present but, to quote the new Local Plan text, “should the site become available or no longer be required in its current layout or use, redevelopment for residential-led mixed use, with active ground floor uses would represent a more efficient use of land in a Town Centre.” The site was identified not by the owner, but through “an assessment of urban potential”. Unfortunately, there are currently few avenues to progress this to enable site redevelopment.
    • There was some good news that the planning inspectorate refused an application for an 8-bed HMO at 265-267 Church Road (between O My Cod! and Church Road Dental Practice) recently. More info here (application) and here (decision).

Upper Church Road/Summerhill Road and Upper Beaufort Road area

Local issues

  • The library is a very useful resource for local residents, particularly those who need access to a computer or a printer. If you are interested in being part of setting up a Friends of St George Library group, please let me know and, if there is enough interest, we can explore this possibility: cllr.rob.bryher@bristol.gov.uk
  • I’ve been working with local residents and the police to take action on pavement parking on Beaufort Road. You can read more here.
  • The Church Road/Northcote Road puffin crossing and the Clouds Hill Road/Plummers Hill puffin crossing will be changed to a Pre-Timed Max (PTM) setting in the near future after a decision I voted for in the transport and connectivity policy committee. This will mean pedestrians wait far less time to cross. You can read more here.

Planning applications

  • The Pickled Parrot Micropub has been open at 280 Church Road for six months and recently announced they are opening on Tuesdays from 4pm (from 8th July 2025). You can read more here and here.
  • Within the last month, a new board game shop and cafe – Play More Games – has opened at 282 Church Road (next door to the Pickled Parrot). You can read more here.

Other Ward News

Defibrillators
I’ve been in dialogue with Great Western Air Ambulance Charity about installing more defibrillators in St George West. The first potential site is the Bake Box kiosk in St George Park (see here), but we are also looking at St George Library, Avonview Cemetery, and I have contacted some other businesses to put their defibrillators in locations that are accessible 24/7 rather than just during working hours. I’m really pleased that the Sangat Singh Sabha Sikh Temple at 11 Summerhill Road installed a defibrillator in April in conjunction with Defibs 4 Bristol. You can read more here.

Church Road Lantern Parade
Lamplighter Arts CIC, who organise the Church Road Lantern Parade, received news in November that they had been funded £19.985 for a biodiversity and wildlife project. They are also crowdfunding to enable future Lantern Parades. You can read more here.

Rave On For The Avon
There’s a documentary film called Rave On For The Avon that I recommend to everyone who is interested in protecting the precious river on the southern boundary of St George West. You can read more here.

Section 60 order in light of the riots
In August, people may not have been aware that in part of St George West ward, a Section 60 order was in force that restricted people from wearing face coverings on the street for a short time. For more on this and to understand your rights, see here.

Landlord licensing scheme
In September, the council released data on the outcomes of its previous landlord licensing scheme, including the one for Eastville and St George. You can read more here.

Former St George West Councillor, Irving Rogers
In February, I was sad to learn that former Labour councillor Irving Rogers had died, on Saturday 1 February 2025.  He was first elected for St George West in 1973, re-elected in 1976 and 1979 and was a serving councillor until May 1983.  Throughout his time on the council he sat on the Public Protection Committee. Irving was the son of the former Labour councillor Herbert Rogers who was election agent for both Stafford Cripps and Tony Benn. The flag at City Hall was lowered to half-mast as a mark of respect.

Cross-Boundary Issues

Lyppiatt Road
Lyppiatt Road is the boundary between St George West and Easton wards, but has a number of ongoing issues.

  • Difficulties due to it being only suitable for one side of the road to be used for on-street parking and the limited length of driveways on the eastern side.
  • A development site at 20-34 Lyppiatt Road where the developer has not got liquidity to complete the development. This is wholly unacceptable and I will keep pushing them to take action. It also has knock on effects on site security and people breaking into sleep/live in the shell of the uncompleted flats. This is an ongoing concern for near neighbours.
  • Waste and flytipping issues near the junction with Church Road, as well as the effect of large Tesco vehicles in this area.
  • More positively, we have a long-mooted scheme to improve pedestrian infrastructure at the Church Road end due to be completed in 2025.

Pedestrian Safety on Netham Road
Netham Road is another boundary between St George West and Easton wards, and the main concerns are around the speed of traffic, pedestrian crossings and parking capacity.

  • I have asked for Blackswarth Road and Fireclay Road to be made 20mph in the Area Committee review. You can read more here.
  • I am working with council officers and the developer to ensure the best possible crossing across Blackswarth Road/Fireclay Road junction, as developer contributions can be used for this. Further information on the development and what it enables is available here (January 2025 planning committee statement), here (February 2025 post-decision) and here (June 2025 developer update).
  • There is also a proposal to make the pedestrian crossing at Netham Lock (between the shared foot/cycle path at the south of Netham Park and the Avon towpath) safer which I will scrutinise in order to ensure pedestrian and cyclist safety is prioritised here.

Bristol Youth Council
The Youth Council wrote to me last year and I am hoping to have a conversation with them soon about lighting in parks and youth services, two issues they raised in their report.

West of England Combined Authority Mayor
I wrote to the previous metro mayor, Dan Norris, in May 2024, on the following issues:

  1. Calling for bus franchising to ensure public control of our buses.
  2. Which mass transit solution he was aiming to implement.

I wrote:
“My ward (St George West) contains a half-decent “showcase bus route” (Church Road, branching out as Clouds Hill Road and Summerhill Road at the Fountain at the eastern end of the ward), but the sheer volume of traffic entering and leaving Bristol at the South Gloucestershire border has a significant detrimental impact on local residents in terms of air pollution – including many properties which are covered in particulates/vehicle exhaust waste. This is not good enough!”

A mass transit solution would do much to push people away from their cars and give them the ability to commute into Bristol without using a car.

The Metro Mayor did respond to these questions (three months after I’d sent them), but suggested electric vehicles were the solution to congestion and gave no firm commitment on bus franchising or mass transit. Mr Norris has subsequently been arrested and bailed (see here).

In January, the decision was taken by WECA to extend Dott’s contract, despite significant problems with the service. I wrote more about this here and will continue to argue through council and WECA channels that we should remove the contact from Dott.

Thank you to everyone who voted in the recent Metro Mayor election. Signs so far are that the new Metro Mayor, Helen Godwin, will be taking a more collegiate, cross-party approach to regional governance and this is very welcome.

Police and Crime Commissioner
I wrote to the Police & Crime Commissioner, Clare Moody, in June 2024, giving the following as police and crime priorities in St George West ward (as communicated to me by residents):

  • Lighting being improved in St George Park so people (particularly women) feel they can walk through it safely at dusk and after dark
  • An end to speeding and rat-running vehicles both on Church Road (arterial road) and in minor roads.
  • Pavement parking causing obstructions and making the roads and pavements less safe.
  • A spate of car burglaries.
  • Anti-social behaviour of people in the park.

I asked for dangerous driving and road safety to be top priorities.

Clare Moody responded in September 2024 and told us of her plans to host a new Road Safety Forum (which as far as I know has only had one meeting, which I unfortunately couldn’t attend) and deploy new mobile safety vans to detect a multitude of driving offences. I will continue to press the PCC for better police and crime outcomes in our area.

Members of UK Parliament
I have met Kerry McCarthy once since being elected, to join a community conversation about vans near St George Park, but I am in regular contact with her and her efficient office team – they are good at getting back to me. I don’t always agree with the approach being taken, but that’s democracy for you!

One national level issue that we have worked a little bit on (with engagement with council officers) was the cladding issue at Clayewater Court on Blackswath Road. You can read more about this here and here.

I was pleased to be able to work with the Green MP for Bristol Central Carla Denyer on drafting an Early Day Motion (EDM) about pavement parking. You can read more about this here. If you agree this needs tackling, please write to your MP (whether Kerry or someone else) asking them to sign the EDM.

Other Stuff I’ve Been Up To

Wealth tax
I will continue to campaign for a wealth tax on the super-rich to fund public services and put communities before corporations. You can see my video on this here.

Living Streets “Walk-Shop”
In June, I participated in the Living Streets Walking Summit (see here) as a sort of tour guide of the low-car and car-free spaces in Bristol city centre (including Queen Square, Bristol Bridge and the Old City). For more information on the day, please see here.

St George’s Day
Being a councillor in St George makes me think about that neighbourhood name sometimes and how it links to community and national identity. On 23rd April (St George’s Day) I wrote a short piece about Englishness. It’s here.

Bristol Climate and Nature Partnership – Community Climate Action Plans
In March, I was privileged to be asked to give advice on transport matters to the six new organisations who have developed community climate action plans. You can read more here.

Adfree Cities speech
In January, I spoke at an Adfree Cities event at Sparks Bristol on campaigns against private corporate advertising and the negative effect on communities. You can read more here.

Kerbside and parking strategy task and finish group
I chair this group and in October, the Observer (quite pre-emptively given the strategy won’t be completed until 2026!) interviewed me about it. You can read more here.

St George treatment in Area Committee set-up
In August, I raised the discrepancy between St George’s Area Committee and the rest of the city. You can read more here.

Citywide and national issues I personally think are noteworthy at this point

Links