Councillors report

With the news that 90% of people in the top 4 priority groups have now been vaccinated, a lot of people are naturally starting to look forward in hope to a time when Coronavirus is a manageable illness circulating at low levels within the community, and things can start to get back to something like normal. In my capacity as Deputy Cabinet Member for Transport, I have been involved in a number of conversations over the last few weeks about what the Labour administration wants to (and has the power to) deliver over the next few years if we remain in control of the Council after May’s elections. Bus and rail both feature heavily, as you would expect, although the reality of the current situation is that these are both areas over which the Council has limited influence. I have, however, already been involved in projects to try to bring forward much-needed The Strategic Outline Business Case for St Annes Station is due to be completed by June, and I hope to re-commence negotiations with WECA about the 513/4 bus services as soon as control is returned from the government. There are many unknowns of course. Will people return to work in the city centre, or will many continue to work from home?

What impact will this have on transport and life in general, not just in terms of the City Centre businesses that rely on those workers, but also on local neighbourhoods with more people working from home and accessing local services.

As well as transport, the recovery will also need to address issues such as the renovation of local high streets, and the provision of more shared working spaces for the self employed and people who need access to office infrastructure but only on an occasional basis. With this in mind I have continued to have conversations within the Council regarding areas such as The Concourse and the attached Brislington Hill shopping precinct, where I feel there is a lot of room for improvement and development.

New working spaces would bring additional footfall, for instance, and could help to revitalise the area. There is Covid-19 related funding coming soon to help with High Streets and I am hoping that we may be included in any such regeneration efforts. Brislington certainly deserves it after having been largely ignored for many years. Last week I also had meetings about the renovation work at Bristol Beacon, and the latest Covid-19 Surge Testing in Bristol, as well as managing to finally meet with a local resident to discuss the safety issues on Allison Road, where the current cameras are at the end of their life and due to be replaced by other measures in the near future.

I will ensure that the local community are fully consulted on any future plans, as I know there have been a number of small schemes delivered by the Council recently which have taken local residents completely by surprise. This is something that I don’t think should ever happen!

Tim Rippington Labour Councillor for Brislington East