Posts in Brislington Neighbourhood Forum

Build up to the launch From: Carol Hayward Date: May 16 10:01 UTC Short link

Hi all,

I wanted to explain why some of you have been having slight difficulties in
posting messages to the forum and to ask for your help in recruiting members
before we are ready to launch.

The idea is that our discussions don't start until we have recruited at least
50 people (and preferably more) to the forum. That's why your messages aren't
coming through easily. Issues around the community plan for example, are really
important issues and we want to make sure that we can get a good level of
interaction and feedback so will start the discussion afresh once we're there.

So, can I please ask you to bear with us until we've hit our recruitment target
- we will start off the discussions at that stage and hopefully by then we will
have attracted some new members.

In the meantime, can you please help us to recruit more members by emailing  or
talking to your friends, family, neighbours or colleagues and encouraging them
to register or by sending me their name and email addresses once they've agreed
to take part.

The message you send them could be along the following lines:

We are just starting up a new online neighbourhood issues forum for Brislington
and I thought you might be interested in getting involved. The idea is that the
forum will discuss a wide range of issues that are relevant to people like us
who live and work in the area and it's hoped that once we have recruited enough
people, we will launch in the summer.

The Brislington Neighbourhood Partnership will be involved as well so any
issues that come up can be considered and dealt with wherever possible.

You can find out more or register at
http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/bristol-bris/ or let us know if you're
happy to be involved and we can register you on your behalf. Obviously you can
unsubscribe at any time.
    

No Subject From: jayacg Chakrabarti Date: May 13 23:03 UTC Short link

hi there,

I think I tried posting here before but as I can't see my message I'll try
again!

I was invited onto the forum by Carol Hayward, and Stephen Hilton also
mentioned it which is why I'm here. My husband and I have lived in Brislington
for over ten years now and my involvement has been limited to that of running a
flailing neighbourhood watch for my part of Bath Road whilst all the houses are
slowly being turned into flats and temporary accommodation (which makes forming
a community a little bit more of a challenge!). We also run our own business in
the centre of Bristol and walk/bus in regularly to work in the mornings, which
means that transport and access is very high up on my list of things that we
need to support.

I'm with Stephen on the point that we need to be somewhat more ambitious for
our part of the city. I don't know if you know already but both Stephen and
Carol have been instrumental in broadening the vision for the city as a whole
through Connecting Bristol, an organisation that I'm an avid supporter of,
because it seeks to improve the quality of life of our citizens through use of
technology. I'd really be interested in how the lessons learned from projects
currently raging away within CB could be applied to Brislington, with all its
characteristics and uniqueness. I'd also be very up for a discussion on how our
most vulnerable neighbours can be taken care of better. Whilst I can't make the
2nd June meeting, I'd love it if you could post the CAP when it's ready.

I know we've got some real visionaries in the group already - I hope the
partnership is able to make use of all that talent!

Best wishes,
    

Jaya

No Subject From: Angela Piccini Date: May 13 14:48 UTC Short link

Dear Stephen
The vision for Brislington was developed at the inception of the Partnership
back in 1999. I suppose it is 'bland', but was meant to be in keeping with
conventions of corporate visions, I suppose. Where we do get much more specific
and local is in our Community Action Plan. A copy of this will be posted on to
this forum once the final draft is completed.

You are very welcome to come along to our Partnership meetings and contribute
your voice there, too. The next one is on 2 June @ 7pm. We're particularly
looking for residents to join working groups to actually carry out specific,
local actions.

All best
Angela
    

Welcome and Introductions From: Angela Piccini Date: May 12 10:33 UTC Short link

Welcome! I'm Angela Piccini, forum manager and current Chair of Brislington
Community Partnership. I took over from the Partnership's founding Chair, David
Waters, in November 2007.

Brislington Community Partnership (BCP) was founded in 1999 and is made up of
residents, business representatives, interested individuals, members of
community groups and representatives from schools, churches and statutory
agencies. Our vision for Brislington is:
•	To be prosperous, harmonious and safe;
•	To support a vibrant and growing local economy that is balanced with the
protection of our local environment;
•	That people in the area will have equal access to opportunities, including
employment, training and education;
•	That people in the area have opportunities to participate in local decision
making;
•	To be a sustainable community.

In its history, the Partnership has achieved notable successes in the East and
West Wards, including the establishment of working groups such as Respect
(youth issues) and Friends of Nightingale Valley to deal with specific issues
in our community. The Partnership also set up a stand-alone website
(www.brislington.org) and has drawn up a community directory of businesses and
groups that serve the area. For the past 2 years the Partnership has been
working with the City Council's Environment and Sustainability Unit to produce
a Community Action Plan, which is to be launched in July 2008. More recently,
the Partnership has become a formal Neighbourhood Partnership, working closely
with Community Development and PACT (Police and Communities Together). The
Partnership is also an active member of the Bristol Neighbourhood Planning
Network.

Although I am Chair of the Partnership, it is important that you see this
e-forum as a space in which to raise and discuss issues that may not have been
given attention by either the Partnership or any of the formal entities with
which it works. We can help to bring your questions, concerns and issues to the
table and address these through meaningful action.

I look forward to meeting all of you and hearing your views!