HCCA Annual General Meeting 2021

Our 2021 AGM will be held on Monday 8^th November and, all being well, we look forward to welcoming you in person at Holy Trinity Church. Doors will open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start. We will be advertising the event across our community notice boards, on the website and Facebook. Further details are available here.

Cumberland Basin/Western Harbour

Bristol City Council has launched the 'Harbour Hopes' consultation website regarding the potential redevelopment of the Cumberland Basin area and Plimsoll Bridge.

The Council are marketing this potential redevelopment as the 'Western Harbour' and the 'Western Harbour Regeneration Project' even though the area has never been referred to as Western Harbour and urban regeneration is a term normally used for areas deemed to be in decline.

Details are available on the following websites:

www.harbourhopes.co.uk 

www.bristol.gov.uk/planning-and-building-regulations/western-harbour

November 2021 Newsletter

For community news from Hotwells, Cliftonwood, Spike Island and wider Bristol view our latest newsletter here.

We are always looking for contributions to the Newsletter and would love to see more input from the community, such as local stories or matters of interest. If you would like to contribute pictures, comments, stories please email [email protected] 

Hotwells Festival 2021

This festival was a celebration of words in all their forms, along with comedy, music, song and dance, and took place in and around Hotwells historic dockside over the weekend of Fri 15^th, Sat 16^th & Sun 17^th Oct. A festival marquee was set up on the quayside outside the iconic Nova Scotia pub overlooking the historic dockside. Events took place in iconic pubs including The Nova Scotia, Merchants Arms, Underfall Café (formerly Pickle Café), and ‘up the hill’ at Eldon House in Clifton.

The festival was organised on a shoestring by a team of local friends and volunteers and was a way of bringing new audiences, live performance and much-needed trade back into local pubs. Some events were pass-the-hat-round and some ticketed – please see individual events for details. 

Details about the events during the festival can be found on their website: https://hotwellsfestival.com/.

Consultations

• Western Harbour
• Baltic Wharf/Caravan Site Planning Application (reference 21/01331/F)
• Sex-Establishment Policy Consultation
• Future of Bristol’s Leisure Facilities

New Chair required for the Community Association Management Committee

Dennis Gornall has been our Chair for nearly 15 years and has decided to step down at this year’s AGM in November.

We are therefore looking for someone to take the role as Chair and lead the HCCA Committee in its work in and for the Community.

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.

If you are interested in taking on this position, please contact us through [email protected] or phone 0117 9291883 and leave a message.

To apply you will need to send us some details about yourself and a brief statement explaining your interest, by email or to 16 Granby Hill, Bristol, BS8 4LT

The core job role and profile for the position can be found here.

The Town Green, Clifton Wood

The Town Green, Clifton Wood, otherwise known as Ambra Vale East Community Garden is a small area of land which was first claimed for the community in 1980 and registered as a Town Green in 2004. Now restrictions are easing, we have been able to resume work on the garden. More information is available here.

Come Rain, Come Shine: 18th July 2021, 1-8pm

On the 18th July we held a community event to celebrate local people and offer a chance to get together after distanced times. 

We created murals, sculpture, planters and painted skate ramps, and met up with friends and neighbours for curry, cakes and chats. At the event we held exercise classes, offered massage, made some kefir, participated in gardening, pottery, poetry workshops, skate demos and music into the evening organised with local young people.

For more information and details of the event see Art Under the Flyover

Liveable Neighbourhoods

Hotwells & Cliftonwood Community Association hosted the inaugural meetings of the Hotwells & Harbourside Liveable Neighbourhoods Group to discuss how we could update our community traffic strategy, introduce low traffic streets and generally campaign for a more 'liveable neighbourhood'. The meeting was held online on 24th March and 30th March.

For more information on our Liveable Neighbourhoods page please click here

There are Liveable Neighbourhood groups springing up all over Bristol and some wonderful examples nationally that you can see here https://liveablebristol.org.uk/

For further information about past community ideas and aspirations, please see

https://www.hotwellscliftonwood.org.uk/hotwells_cliftonwood_community_traffic_strategy

Community Survey

Thank you to all of you who completed the survey. There is plenty for the Management Committee to think about in the responses. First we thought it appropriate for you to be able to see a summary of those responses and you can find those here. In the New Year the committee will look in more detail to decide what we can do, what we might do and what we can't do and we aim then to produce a plan of action which we will share with you.

Coronavirus and our community

We are very aware that lives for everyone in our Community has been severely affected in one way or another by the Covid-19 pandemic. We want to wish everyone in our community the very best of health in these difficult times. We would be pleased to help anyone in our community if we can. So if you, or someone you know, needs help in any way please feel free to contact us and we will do our best to assist.

You can contact us by phoning 0117 929 1883 or send an email to [email protected]

We are deliberately not providing advice on Coronavirus as this changes almost daily, and advice can be found at www.bristol.gov.uk/ or www.gov.uk/ or www.bbc.co.uk/news/coronavirus

Neighbourhood help groups have been established to assist those most in need, and just to support each other. It is our belief that help is most easily provided by those closest to each other, whether that is geographical, or as members of related families. We hope there is a help group within your reach.

You might also find one of these Facebook pages useful.

• BS1 group: www.facebook.com/groups/223634625694691
• BS8 group: www.facebook.com/groups/549575592341916

To sign up for our e-bulletin/newsletter (if you are not already receiving these) please click here.

If you are part of a neighbour help group, and would like the HCCA to assist in advertising your group, then please get in touch and we can place information in our bulletin and/or on relevant noticeboards. Also if you think of things the HCCA could do to help people or groups in our community please do get in touch.

Stay Safe. Keep Healthy.

Church Lane/Mardyke steps

Many of you will know that these steps have been closed for over a year now, due to a partial collapse of some of the wall on the upper South side of the steps. Unfortunately during the period of closure, the damage has got worse, perhaps influenced by the quantity of water which comes down Church Lane.

The difficulty in securing a quick solution relates to ownership, and at present the Council’s determination to try and identify ownership and obtain an agreement re-costs of repair, which (not unnaturally) the Council does not wish to bear alone. Also, it has to be understood that in order to make this path as safe as reasonably possible it will be necessary to access the owner's land to build it back up again. The expense will be considerable and will be beyond any funds available in the community pot through the Area 1 Committee.

We are in contact with Councillor Paula O’Rourke who is leading on trying to get this up the agenda and get the Council to consider repairing first and claiming after. Those of you who have lived in this area for some time will know how problematic the issue of walls and ownership is.

We will keep pressing to try and secure an early solution.

The Mardyke Steps can be seen on Google here.

Here is a copy of the Western Harbour Feedback sent to Bristol City Council from the Hotwells and Cliftonwood Community Association and the Cumberland Basin Stakeholder Group on possible road network changes

Here is a copy of the Western Harbour Feedback sent to Bristol City Council from the Hotwells and Cliftonwood Community Association and the Cumberland Basin Stakeholder Group on possible road network changes

We are setting up a 'Friends' group to meet for gardening days, plan local events and share ideas and aspirations for this community space. The Friends group might also like to join in conversations about longer term developments that the council are consulting on. Follow this link to receive regular news and invitations.

We're welcoming any locals but if you have friends or family you think might be interested they are welcome. Our first event is Sunday 19th May 12-4pm opposite the Rose of Denmark pub. We'll be filling our new planters and doing some general gardening and chatting. Cake provided!

Please bring something to drink as we have no water onsite

Contact [email protected] if you have any questions

Friends of Hotwells Piazza social media pages are being created, but in the meantime you can like Art under the Flyover on Facebook or visit http://artundertheflyover.com