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.
Hi Stephen The time scale for developing the Community Action Plan with the Environmental and Sustainability Unit from 2006-date means that the responses from this forum will feed into the annual updates, rather than in the immanent launch of the document. There were three stages in the development of the Community Action Plan. In 2006, questionnaires and drop-off boxes were circulated throughout the East and West Wards. After initial analysis, a Fun Day was organised at Wicklea Youth and Community Centre in Summer 2006 to gather more community views. It combined memory mapping, interviews and displays. These activities formed the basis for an interim report, which was sent to key City Council offices (about 120). An ?executive summary? was printed as a leaflet and circulated to all Brislington postal addresses with information about a second-stage involvement exercise, which took place in Spring 2007. These focus group workshops saw 130 people involved in a prioritising exercise that demonstrated that leisure, transportation and the environment were the top three key issues for residents. The top ten specific issues were public transport, perceived policing levels, transportation routes, parks, local shopping and banking, sports facilities, dog fouling, recycling, youth groups and the swimming pool. The rich information produced out of these workshops was used to formulate the actions in the draft action plan, which was used as the core document in an involvement exercise with Council officers. That meeting, in January 2008, was organised through a collaboration between the Environmental and Sustainability Unit and Neighbourhood Partnerships and was facilitated by an independent facilitator. Lorna Heaysman sent out invitations to a large number of officers. This meeting aimed to identify longer term strategic plans within Council offices that linked with issues and actions specific to Brislington. Those attending were enthusiastic about this inclusive process and welcomed Brislington?s involvement in developing such a plan. Now that this e-forum is up-and-running, we have an effective mechanism for inviting comment on the Action Plan to feed into its annual reviews. Ideally, the forum will prompt people to get involved to form working groups to address the actions in the plan and to develop their own actions through longer-term planning. Once I receive the outstanding information for the plan and additional logos, I'll upload the pdf. A A Piccini Chair, BCP RCUK Fellow in Performativity, Place, Space Drama: Theatre, Film, Television School of Arts University of Bristol Cantocks Close, Woodland Road Bristol BS8 1UP T: +44 0117 954 5449 E: <email obscured> Skype: aapiccini W: www.bris.ac.uk/drama/staff_research/angela_piccini/
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,
Angela, will a copy of the Community Action plan be posted in draft so that members of this forum can contribute? Best Wishes Stephen Stephen Hilton Connecting Bristol - Bristol City Council www.connectingbristol.org More about me www.linkedin.com/in/stephenhilton More about working with my eyesight http://tinyurl.com/22dv4r M 07795446286 T 01179065638 <email obscured> Bristol City Council c/o e-Office, 1st Floor Prudential Buildings, 11-19 Wine Street, Bristol, BS1 2PH Bristol is a founder member of DC10plus www.dc10plus.net
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
Hello Angela, thanks for the introduction. My name is Stephen. I have lived in Bristol for nearly ten years and for all of that time I have lived in Brislington. I am aware of the Partnership but have not had any direct involvement with it. Can you say more about what the Partnership hopes to achieve. I am afraid I do find the Partnership's vision for Brislington depressingly bland. It seems to me that it could equally apply to any area of Bristol. What scope is there for coming up with something more interesting and characteristic of the local area? Best Wishes Stephen Stephen Hilton Connecting Bristol - Bristol City Council www.connectingbristol.org For advice on working with me and my sight http://tinyurl.com/22dv4r About me; http://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenhilton M. 0779 544 6286 T. 08708983349 e. <email obscured> skype. stephen.hilton1 1st Floor Prudential Buildings, 11 - 19 Wine Street, Bristol BS1 2PJ Bristol is a founder member of the DC10plus Digital Inclusion Network http://www.dc10plus.net
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!
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