OUT AND ABOUT IN BRISLINGTON WEST WITH JOS AND ANDREW

CONSULTATION EXTENDED:

Due to an unfortunate mix-up, local residents received the wrong letter regarding the consultation on Langton Court Road safety improvements! We contacted the transport department, who have now sent out the correct letter. We also asked that the consultation be extended by one week to allow sufficient time for residents to leave their comments. The aims of the proposals are to make it easier for pedestrians to cross the roads in the local area by St Anne’s School, keep as much on-street parking as possible, make sure buses, emergency vehicles, refuse vehicles and delivery vans can still get through and keep vehicles at an appropriate speed around the school. The proposals include:

• At the north end either side of the bridge, provide footway build outs with dropped kerbs to improve visibility for pedestrians

• Widen the footways to provide more space for pedestrians and reduce the width of the road they need to cross. This will extend along Langton Court Road towards the school entrance.

• Outside the school entrance the road would narrow and there would be a speed table, which would help slow vehicles by the school and provide a level surface for people to cross the road.

• Provide a new zebra crossing on Langton Court Road, near the junction. The zig-zags on the approach to the zebra crossing prohibit parking, so some on-street parking will be lost (equivalent to about four cars). This is important to make sure that people using the crossing can be seen by drivers.

• The footways would also be widened and dropped kerbs with tactile paving installed at the junction of Salisbury Road and Bloomfield Road to help pedestrians cross these roads.

Some people have suggested a modal filter, which would close the bridge to motorised vehicles, but this was rejected by a majority of residents in an earlier consultation.

If you have any comments or queries about the present proposals, please get in touch with us, or contact the city transport team by Sunday 12 March 2023.

• Email: transport.engagement@bristol. gov.uk

• Phone: 0117 9036449 and leave a message on the answerphone

• Write to: Langton Court Road, Transport Engagement Team, PO BOX 3399, 100 Temple Street, Bristol, BS1 9NE

OUR LATEST NEWSLETTER:

We believe in keeping local residents informed all year round, not just at election time! We are the only team who regularly deliver newsletters throughout the year and our latest one is hitting the doorsteps right now. We want to thank the many local residents who volunteer to deliver the newsletter to every household across the ward. If you would like to help out for an hour or so every few months to deliver the local news, please get in touch.

COUNCIL BUDGET MEETING:

This Tuesday, Bristol councillors voted on the budget for the next financial year. By law, the council has to pass a balanced budget. In order to achieve that, the Labour administration proposed cuts and new charges for many vital services and also proposed increasing the council tax

SEND (Reduce the amount of money allocated to fund legal defences of SEND cases and instead fund a caseworker to improve assessment times and conduct a review of disputed cases and provide resolutions in order to reduce the number of cases that require legal defence)

Waste and Recycling (Use budget reserves to reverse the proposed charges for new recycling containers, Christmas tree collections and DIY disposal at recycling centres)

Supported Bus Services (Use reserves to increase the Supported Bus Services Grant to ensure services are maintained in communities left with no service) Our amendment on special educational needs won unanimous support across the chamber. Unfortunately, our amendments on reversing new waste and recycling charges and additional funds to help supported bus services were voted down by Labour and Green councillors.

LITTER PICK NEW DATE:

We’ll be holding our first litter pick of the season very soon. The date is now Saturday 11 March starting at 11am. We plan to meet at the Stockwood Road entrance to the Brislington Park and Ride and then head down Hungerford Road towards Hungerford Open Space. We will provide litter pickers, hi-vis, and bags. Hope to see you there.

NOROVIRUS UPDATE:

Many children went back to school this week following half term. There has been an increase in norovirus cases (vomiting bug). If you or your child is unwell with norovirus, here are some simple steps to help minimise the spread of infection:

• stay at home until 48 hours after symptoms have cleared

• stay hydrated

• protect others by not going to school, work or visiting care homes or hospitals

• wash your hands regularly with warm water and soap, especially after going to the toilet and before preparing food. Most hand gels do not kill norovirus

For more information, go to the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ norovirus/

By Jos Clark, Liberal Democrat Coun -

cillor (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