Update on The White Hart in Brislington

White Hart update: We recently spoke to the owners of the dilapidated grade 2 listed former pub, The White Hart, in Brislington Village. The sale has almost gone through to a local developer, who told us he is considering a care home or possibly a hotel for the site, whilst obviously preserving the listed building, which is our top priority. We hope to arrange a meeting with the developer to discuss his plans in more detail and we will of course keep you updated.

John Peer factory update: We recently wrote to Sovereign Housing to find out their plans for the derelict John Peer factory site opposite Arnos Court Park. Residents may recall their proposals were refused by the planning committee in March. Sovereign have decided to appeal the decision, with this being submitted to The Planning Inspectorate on 16th September. Sovereign told us they believe that the proposals are of a high quality which accord with planning policy and that the benefits of the proposals significantly outweigh any perceived shortcomings:

Delivery of a 100% affordable housing scheme of 146 homes on an allocated housing site at a time when Bristol City Council’s housing waiting list is almost 16,000 households and rising, the council has failed to meet its housing delivery test requirements, and the City is unable to demonstrate a 5 year housing land supply. The proposals are supported by the Council’s Housing Team. 24 The development is in a highly sustainable and accessible location that offers a genuine opportunity to encourage residents to live car free lives, utilising public transport, walking and cycling instead.

The high quality scheme would be delivered, owned and managed by Sovereign as a HomesWest Housing Partner of the Council, with the mix of dwellings specifically designed to meet the affordable housing needs of Brislington. A beautiful design that evolved to positively respond to feedback from local stakeholders, which would replace the existing eyesore of a building and positively enhance the local area.

A highly sustainable and energy efficient build that reduces residents’ need for energy and positively exceeds the Council’s carbon reduction target via inclusion of air source heat pumps and PV panels.

Economic benefits via creation of jobs during construction, but also increasing spending from new residents in the local area (Sandy Park Road etc).

As part of the appeal, a draft legal agreement (a Unilateral Undertaking) includes a commitment from Sovereign to install a ground source heat pump scheme to serve all units, if grant funding of £10,000 per unit is available from the Council as part of Affordable Housing Funding Pot “SGB”. A scheme of ground source heat pumps would be considered by officers to be compliant with Policy BCS14 and the heat hierarchy, and would thus positively address one of the reasons for refusal.

Garden waste update:

As you may have heard, garden waste collections will resume from next Monday 11 October. Garden sack collections will also resume on this date and are bookable via the Council website www.bristol.gov.uk

Collections will take place on the regularly scheduled dates. Anyone wishing to check their collection date can do so using the Collection day finder on the Bristol City Council website. Just click on the ‘Find your bin collection day’ button on the home page.

The interim drop-off points will close on Friday 15 October. Bristol City Council will automatically discount the renewal of your subscription to cover the missed collections. If you are not planning to renew the subscription, please email waste.services@bristol. gov.uk when you receive your next invoice to arrange a refund (for the period the service was paused). Please include your invoice number and the words ‘green waste’ in the subject line.

Please remember, bins must not be overfilled so remove some of the waste. This is for the safety of yourself and the crews. Over-filling could also cause your bin to break, or mean the truck is not able to lift it.

Community litter pick: Our next community litter pick will be 10am on Saturday, 9 October, meeting at the junction of Whitby Road and Bloomfield Road. This area of the ward is a real litter black spot so hopefully, a good turnout will ensure we make a difference.

Hundreds of Brislington West residents have signed up to receive our monthly newsletter via email. You can 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 (Brislington West) Email: cllr.andrew. varney@bristol.gov.uk Mobile: 07584 183381