The Cumberland Piazza Community Gardening Group

This is the largest open public space in Hotwells and since 2009 Hotwells & Cliftonwood Community Association, led by the late Ray Smith and Anna Haydock-Wilson have been engaging the local community with the aim of changing it from an underused grey thoroughfare into a place where humans and others can linger. Dame Sylvia Crowe designed this space as part of the road network in the 1960s with childrens’ play as a priority. It had a play park and a fountain, but also about a quarter of the traffic we see today. Neglected since it was built, locals wanted to create green areas and play facilities.

With only small amounts of (hard fought for) funding here and there and 100s of amazing local volunteers, we have managed incremental improvements- the acer trees, the planters in 2014, followed by the skatespot and pillar painting 2015 and the Pocket Park and sedum beds 2015-2017. Throughout we have encouraged and/or commissioned artworks.

We are seeking regular volunteers to help with gardening, keeping the place tidy, growing our biodiversity corridor and increasing activities, arts and play opportunities, especially for young people. Our next community gardening session is on 7^th January 2024 2-4pm & 1^st Sunday of every month thereafter

4th Feb 2.30-4.30pm

3rd March 2.30-4.30pm

7th April is cancelled due to storm Kathleen

28th April 3-5pm

5th May is cancelled 

2nd June 3-6pm

7th July 3-5pm

1st September 3-5pm

6th October 3-5pm

3rd November 2.30-4.30pm

1st December 1-3pm

To get involved email [email protected] or join our WhatsApp group by texting Anna 07957 252239.

FFI https://artundertheflyover.com & https://www.hotwellscliftonwood.org.uk/fohp

What has been happening at the Cumberland Piazza this year so far? Well, we've largely been letting the plants do their thing, and thanks to all the summer rain, we're delighted to say that they're flourishing! With the blooms come the bees and butterflies, and the spread of pollen across this urban nature corridor. It's now time for a bit of a tidy up at the piazza and members of the H&CCA management committee will be on site for community gardening, chats and cake on Wednesday 23rd August 3-6pm- we'd love you to join us!

Signs of Summer

From the H&CCA community survey of 2020, and from conversations with people passing through, I’ve devised a set of answers that might help explain how the space is currently managed & funded. There are also some suggestions of how we might achieve some of the ideas and activities that people have told us they want, and reasons why some ideas can’t be realised.

Q: Who is responsible for the upkeep?

The piazza is officially managed by BCC Highways, as it is not a registered park space. They commission contractors to manage the green spaces and H&CCA has a ‘Certificate of Lawful Development’ which allows the community to paint and plant in certain areas as long as we are responsible for the maintenance of those areas. In affect that means we manage all the planters and the waste created by activities. Over the years we have established a good relationship with Bristol Waste and their Street Cleansing Team who manage the litter and empty the bins. They also have community litter pickers.

Q: What are the restrictions to activities and changes?

We are not allowed to permanently fix anything to the pillars or to the ground. If we want to create new planted areas we submit our ideas to the council with risk assessments and designs so that they can check we are sticking to the rules. We gained permissions to paint the pillars and tarmac the skate spot area and are allowed to paint when areas have been tagged.

Q: How does H&CCA decide its priorities?

We carried out several community consultation events over the years including surveys in 2014 and 2020. We analyse the surveys and come up with ideas that are achievable with the resources we have and share ideas back to the community. Taking on board people’s responses, we develop designs for projects in consultation with relevant experts such as architects, landscape designers and end users. We share these with relevant stakeholders in the council and progress the projects accordingly.

H&CCA has to also comply with our own vision and mission which is to work with local people and progress values of environmental sustainability and community cohesion.

Q: Who pays for the work that H&CCA does?

Over the years the Management Committee and other community volunteers have completed many funding applications for the changes we have delivered, such as the planters, the skate spot, the sedum beds and murals. The funding sources have included BCC City Arts, BCC Neighbourhood Partnerships, Department for Communities & Local Government and section 106/CIL (Monies paid by developers for community or infrastructure improvements). Our funding currently comes from legacy money from former chairman and long term H&CCA MC member, Ray Smith. We take spending of public money and donated money very seriously all our spending is fully accountable and transparent.

Q: What do local people prioritise for the Piazza?

In both the surveys mentioned above, people were most keen to have more green areas and more facilities for young people. Other aspirations are seating, signage, artworks and community events and activities.

Q: What about the air quality and pollution?

There are concerns about the levels of pollution for people here. This is part of the reason we are always planting more carbon absorbers, but it would be really useful to do a study and find out whether there are dangerous levels of emissions, and what the solutions might be.

Q: Why waste public money on improvements if it’s all going to be knocked down?

There’s nothing yet that says it’s all going to be knocked down. In the meantime, the improvements we make are very ‘light touch’ and not so expensive. You can find more information here https://www.hotwellscliftonwood.org.uk/cumberland_basin_western_harbour_plans_history_and_timeline or https://www.bristol.gov.uk/planning-and-building-regulations/western-harbour

Q: Can we have a market or a community event?

In order to have commercial activity we would need to apply for licenses. Vehicle access to the site is limited, so solutions for transporting goods need to be explored. For community events we need licenses for non acoustic music. There is currently no power supply. But we can explore all possibilities.

Q: What ideas do you have to fulfil local aspirations?

At the moment, everything is dependent on things we can do that are Covid safe, so ideas will be considered on what value they bring to minimise feelings of isolation, while making sure we aren’t taking any risks with infection. We’re thinking about:

• Workshop sessions with skaters to build new structures from wood we have in storage
• Festivals or events that can be delivered when restrictions are lifted- hopefully in the summer.
• Increasing tree, shrub and pollinator planting
• Measuring air pollution
• Talking with city wide networks, such as Liveable Neighbourhoods, Bristol Civic Society, Brunel’s Other Bridge, BCC City Arts Team, BCC Growth and Regeneration Team, BCC Tree Planting team, Neighbourhood Forums and other community groups

Q: Can we turn it into a car park or a coach park? (not frequently asked these days, but it has been raised over the years)

No we definitely cannot. This would be a major traffic management challenge and does not fit with majority desires to increase green space or activities for young people. It would and could only come from the City Council and then would be subject to consultation.

Anna Haydock-Wilson Piazza Project Manager for H&CCA 5th January 2021

As the school summer holidays draw to a close and the rainfall & XR focus our attention on climate change, let's celebrate our local young people. This summer, led by local artist and teaching assistant, Mhairi Stuart, nearly 30 kids have adorned the piazza with their pavement art.

We would love some help on the Piazza with weeding and watering, particularly through the summer months

On our notice board opposite the Rose of Denmark pub we have put up guidelines on how you can help. Here they are in this blog post

There are a few weeds that are particularly invasive and you can pull these up wherever you see them. Other self-seeding or wild-flower plants are great to leave as they attract bees and butterflies. If in doubt it's best to leave them.

MAY 31, 2020

The Piazza is a big space and, although the planters are largely self maintaining, there is a bit of weeding, digging and watering that we’d love your help with. Throughout most of the year we have no need to water the plants, and when we do the rain butt is usually full. However, occasionally weeks can go by with no significant rain- like July 2018 and May 2020!

Remember just before COVID-19 struck our shores? The climate crisis was finally beginning to ride a media wave and Greta came to Bristol. Now we can be grateful to have seen traffic drop to 1950s levels and images of clear skies in Delhi and Bejing, but cars will return and the skies will thicken again as people want to return to 'normal' life.