Bohemian Rhapsody

An outdoor cinema experience is coming to South Glocestershire at the end of May following the restrictions for outdoor events from Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Part of the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown means that outdoor cinemas can re-open from 17th May, and Adventure Cinema will be bringing two of the biggest blockbusters of the last five years to an outdoor big screen at Yate Town Football club.

Adventure Cinema was created in 2019 by two brothers Ben Lovell and Mark Thompson and has gone on to become one of the biggest outdoor cinema companies in the UK with over 120 large scale events in 2019, a mammoth drive-in cinema tour in 2020, and a planned 250+ events in 2021, at over 100 venues across the country.

Yate’s South West Interiors Stadium, the home of the Bluebells will welcome the team at Adventure Cinema and open the pitch for everyone to enjoy the covid-safe open air event. Bohemian Rhapsody, the story of Queen’s rise to superstardom will be shown on 29th May with all time family favourite, The Greatest Showman set to to be screened on the following day.

Ben Lovell, co-director, Adventure Cinema, said: “Indulge those naughty pitch invasion dreams by setting up right in the middle of the field for an unforgettable cinema experience!

Families and friend can pack their favourite picnics, pick their blankets, and watch great films under the sun and the stars, all in a socially spacious and safe environment. 34 “We are pleased to be able to bring this back this year.

“Just like with the drive-in shows, we’ve worked very hard to ensure that these events are safe and lots of fun for all the family. we’re excited to offer guests two things they may have desperately missed in recent months: the cinema and the great outdoors.”

Hot food and snacks will be available during the showings and the bar will be open. All screenings will take place on the pitch and patrons can use the free onsite car park.

To book go to adventurecinema.co.uk

According to the government’s ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown, we should be able to return to volunteering in groups of six from Monday, 29 March so we’d like to relaunch our regular community litter picks in April.

Arnos Court Park: Saturday, 10 April, meet at the King’s Road entrance at 10am.

Sandy Park Road: Saturday, 17 April, meet on the small green next to Wick Road Library at 10am.

We will provide litter picking sticks and bags, please bring your own gloves and hand sanitizer. Please message us if you would like to come as we need to be very careful with numbers.

Low-Mow Proposals for Arnos Court Park

The Friends of Arnos Court Park are proposing to establish two, small, low-mow zones in the park to help promote biodiversity. These zones would receive just one cut a year in September and some sections would be left with long grass over winter. These areas may look a bit ‘untidier’ than the areas that are regularly cut but this is a relatively easy and affordable way to benefit wildlife in the park. If you would like to get involved in the work of the friends group, please join here: https://www.facebook.com/ groups/718708475350789/?ref=share

Grace Park Open Space

Last year we were contacted by local residents who were concerned about the small green area at the end of Grace Park Road, which was completely overgrown and unusable as a community space.

We contacted the council and we are pleased to say the work has finally been done. Access to green spaces has become even more important since the pandemic as we are all spending so much more time at home. We are very keen that our green spaces are maintained to a high standard so that more people can enjoy them.

Litter Black Spot on Callington Road

Anyone who walks along the footpath from Callington Road Nature Reserve, past the hospital towards Tesco will have noticed the appalling amount of litter trapped in the undergrowth behind the green, metal fence. Unfortunately, because of the fencing it’s impossible to get to the litter to clear it up. In our view, the fencing here is unnecessary as there is already fencing in place at the top of the slope. If this fencing were removed, it would not only create the feeling of a lovely woodland walk, but we’d be able to pick up the litter. We have contacted the council about this issue. We have also spoken to council tree officers about extending tree planting down Callington Road from the Tesco roundabout towards the nature reserve. This would help screen the nature reserve from the busy Callington Road.

John Peer Factory Update

We updated local residents last September about Sovereign Housing’s plans to develop the former John Peer Factory site opposite Arnos Court Park with around 150 affordable homes. Unfortunately, planning officers were unhappy with several aspects of the proposed development, including the heating system, the design of some of the blocks and the outdoor communal areas, and recommended refusal. The Planning Committee decided to defer the decision and ask the applicant to amend the plan before coming back for a decision at a later date. Sovereign have now submitted revised plans, which include changes to the project's energy strategy together with changes to the design. However, despite these changes, council planning officers have once again recommended refusal. We’ll let you know what the decision is as soon as we get it.

Damaged Telecom Cabinet

The green telecom cabinet on Sand Hill has been lying on the ground with exposed cabling for quite some time. Apparently, it’s not owned by BT Openreach so we have been in touch with Bristol City Council to find out who is responsible for it. Hopefully, this unsightly issue can be sorted soon.

Clean Air Zone for Bristol Get a Postal Vote

We support the concept of a Clean Air Zone (CAZ). However, after years of dither and delay, and the threat of legal action, the Mayor’s current proposals are regressive, impractical, and ultimately unsustainable. The narrow focus on a small central area of the city threatens to spread air particle pollution to other parts of the city, including Brislington, as drivers attempt to avoid the central charging zone. Furthermore, the proposed £9 daily charge is unsustainable for many Bristolians. We need CAZ proposals that are smarter and more flexible, for example a sliding scale of charges based on vehicle type and engine size, a rethink of the current zoning, and more help for people on lower incomes to adapt to the system.

Budget amendment to help Bristol children defeated

Last week we told you about the Liberal Democrat budget amendment to redirect funding into our schools, parks and play areas. Unfortunately, the Mayor has lost nearly £60m on his doomed Bristol Energy company so services are now being deprived of much needed investment. Maintenance of parks and play areas is falling behind and hundreds of children with special educational needs have no suitable school place. Despite this financial disaster, Liberal Democrats managed to pull together a £19m emergency aid package for Bristol.

The money would have funded over 200 additional special school places, 30 new play areas plus investment in parks and safer cycleways. Despite receiving unanimous cross-party support from all the opposition parties, it was rejected by Labour councillors, who currently have a slender majority on the council. They seem happy to waste tens of millions of taxpayers money on the Mayor's futile, vanity projects, but refuse to back an emergency investment plan that would put our children first. The delayed local elections from last year have now been confirmed for 6 May, 2021. While special measures will be put in place to ensure everyone’s safety at polling stations, by far the easiest and safest way to vote is by post. You can use our handy tool to get your postal vote set up today. If you don’t have a printer, let us know and we will get an application form to you. https://www.libdems. org.uk/postal-vote

Keeping in touch

We believe in keeping residents up to date on important local issues and publish a quarterly newsletters, ‘Focus on Brislington West’ but unfortunately, we are currently unable to deliver a paper version due to new government guidelines during the pandemic. However, we have a digital version of our newsletter and if you would like to receive it, please register using this link: http://www.bristollibdems.org/efocus.

By Jos Clark, Liberal Democrat Councillor (Brislington West) Email: cllr.jos.clark@bristol.gov.uk Mobile: 07584 370429

& Andrew Varney, Liberal Democrat Councillor Candidate (Brislington West) Email: andyvarney@hotmail.com Mobile: 07544 667968