Feedback from our last issue

The Newsletter group is pleased to have the opportunity to share the making of this issue with a group of Henbury School students. It was a valuable experience to both sides and we would like to thank the School for giving us such an opportunity.

There are many Spring events happening in our area and hopefully with your support and involvement we will be able to get the Bristol in Bloom Award.

Some of you received the previous issue very late and after some of the Christmas events. We would like to apologize for that. It was a race for all of us to get it ready on time but our deadline wasn’t suitable for these events.

Thanks to Hugh Evans and his wife for contacting the newsletter and asking for information about their research on Woodstock School building. We appreciate this kind of effort and we hope our information was helpful.

Thanks very much also to Ruth Adams for her good words.

We received an anonymous comment saying that it is never too late to save our parks. Thanks for that and we certainly agree.

Do keep in touch with us by email: henburyandbrentrynewsletter@gmail.com or on mariannapaf@hotmail.com or by phone to Marianna on 0117 9507032 or 07913037199.

Next deadlines for your articles, adverts or inputs:

1st July 2012, 1st November 2012, 1st March 2013

Advert Cost: £75 for 1/3 page and £150 for a whole page.

Feedback from Our Last Issue

In our last edition we made an error in the feedback page, we would like to apologize Chris Evans as we got his name wrong. We are very happy to find out that the newsletter helped Nicola to fill the volunteer space that was advertised in the previous issue. She wrote to us: ―Thanks to your newsletter I am going to be a volunteer attainment adviser at Henbury school. It is a fabulous publication. Thank you.”

We would like also to thank you, for your positive feedback and your kind words for the newsletter.

Finally, we would like to thank the organisations supporting us with their adverts and contributions. Do get in touch with us, send us your article or your input by emailing us at : henburyandbrentrynewsletter@gmail.com or on mariannapaf@hotmail.com or by phoning Marianna on 0117 950 7032 or 0791337199.

Deadlines for submissions to forthcoming issues are: 27th June, 27th November and 27th March 2012.

Submissions that weren't published in the hardcopy newsletter:

Feedback from our last issue

By the time you get this newsletter, the public the Green space consultation meetings will have finished. Thank you for your letters, unfortunately due to the lack of space we can only publish one in this newsletter. The rest have been published on our website. We ask for your understanding.

“Further to Richard Pyle's missive (Issue 11), I disagree totally with the theorisations made.

1) it is stated that "there is a proven need for additional housing in Henbury and Brentry with 389 people on the Council Waiting list". So, where is the proof? I have not the slightest doubt that every area has a waiting list - most greater than this one. Moreover, there are many areas of the city that are derelict or semi-derelict (Stokes Croft, around Temple Meads and areas around the canal basin) that are crying out for redevelopment from their current appalling states. Why not use these areas for housing? 2) it is stated (without any proof being offered) that Henbury has "one of the largest elderly populations in the city". Yet, flats in Henbury specified for the over fifties cannot find tenants within this age group according to the Council. There appears to be a conflict of evidence here? 3) the previous housing development on Crow Lane Open Space was turned down by the Council on the grounds that the positioning was "isolated". Has the area suddenly become less isolated? 4) there is already a clinic and health centre which serves Henbury very well. Why spend yet more money reinventing the wheel?
5) is this the same Richard Pyle who supported the Wheels Park on Crow Lane Open Space? When this support was challenged, was it the same Richard Pyle who wrote that any noise from the Wheels Park was of no consequence as the adjacent flats were double glazed? If so, is it the case that people are not allowed to open their windows? 6)and lastly, the reality is that there will soon be no Open Space in Crow Lane with the planned supermarket destined to be there. This is undoubtedly going to cause severe traffic congestion - despite unsubstantiated claims to the contrary” Chris Cross, resident

“Chris is cross and wrong too. 1) Bristol City Council provides the official housing need figures not me , 2) Population age groups can be obtained from the last census 3) The housing application on the old swimming pool site was rejected as over intensive 4) Local health providers have been seeking a new site for a modern clinic, 5) At no stage did I say the Wheels Park was of no consequence to flat dwellers, 6) I believe that Crow Lane open space will stay an Open space” Richard Pyle answered.

We would like to thank Jenny for the support she has given to the newsletter group. We will miss you! Good luck , Jenny.

We would also like to thank all the people who are helping to deliver the newsletter. It’s a fantastic team!

Lastly, we would like to thank all the organizations who trust our newsletter with their adverts for their support.

We are very proud to welcome 2 more students to the group , Ryan and Tallen. They are willing to help with our website on the internet.

Do get in touch with us by emailing us at henburyandbrentrynewsletter@gmail.com or on mariannapaf@hotmail.com or by phoning to Marianna on 0117957032 or 0791337199.

If you would like to give us an article or your input for the next issue please send your email to

mariannapaf@hotmail.com or contact us on 07913037199 or 0117 9507032 before the

28^th of February 2011.

Feedback from our last issue

Since our last issue and the voice for help we had lots of feedback emails. We would like to thank you all for the kind words and positive feedback. We found out how important tool we are for this area and you gave us a big push to keep on doing what we’ve been doing. A very special thank you to the people who offered to help us. We are still in need of people in key positions to help us bring in news of what is going in our Community.

With the last issue it was the second time that we came very close to stop the newsletter and again like the previous time we came out of the crisis stronger. There we are, with four more pages. Our newsletter became slowly a strong way of communication in our area. Thanks to all of you who give us the power to keep on working for a better Community.

This month we have to face a very big issue for our area with the Proposal for the green spaces from the Council. Almost 1/3 of the newsletter is giving details and information about this. Do send us your opinions about the proposal. We need to know what people of the affected areas think about it. We have already published two letters about that.

You may also notice that our Youth pages have more and more to say about the Inspiring Community Project. We all hope that our youth will get the best from the project. We deserve and need this kind of work in our area.

Don’t forget in August our biggest event of the year. The Fun Day at the 21st of August. We all have to be there. We will be there too. Please do send us feedback about the day and if there is anything you want to change or any ideas for next year.

Finally, we would like to thank the Funeral shop at Crow Lane for the donation to our newsletter. And also to welcome any other donations or adverts from any of the organizations in our area.

Do get in touch with us by emailing us at henburyandbrentrynewsletter@gmail.com or on mariannapaf@hotmail.com or by phone to Marianna on 0117 9507032 or 0791 3037199.

If you would like to give us an article or your input for the next issue please send your email to mariannapaf@hotmail.com or contact us before the 2^nd of October ‘10.

Henbury & Brentry Newsletter Group

Editors:

Marianna Pafiti-Georgiou, local mum, and Olivia Lacy local mum,

The other members of the group are:

Jenny Benson from Bristol City Council,

Anne Stephen resident,

Sue Parfitt resident,

Richard Pyle from Henbury Community Council,

Chris Pratt from the Event Group,

Yasmin Rahim student,

Derek Head resident,

Leanne Sowersby resident,

Adam Stretton resident,

Bob Porter resident,

Eddie Ernest Harding resident.

Feedback from our last issue

We have had lots of feedback to both our stall at the Fun Day and our last issue and your comments on the issues raised and ideas for the newsletter are always welcome.

‘Thank you again for the newsletter. However several people are extremely unhappy about the amount of space given to the parks and open space plan. As a stakeholder this is not all true. I am not toowith Sarah Fosters piece however I am not sure it should have had front page I have spoken to her today and told her how i felt and did remind her that she is a private consultant and as such should make a donation to the news letter whilst I appreciate it is in the best interest of all residents to be properly consulted its her job to do this.
‘I am sure like many residents agree we need to keep hold of our open spaces and not make it a concrete jungle any way I will assume the residents will get as much coverage in the next newsletter.’
Sue Potter by email

Mrs Potter, Thank you for your response to the articles regarding the parks and green spaces plan. We are, whether we like it or not, going to see some of our green spaces sold off and housing put in its place, it is going to affect every one of us. The consultation process is our only opportunity to stop the potential ‘concrete jungle’ and so encouraging people to engage with the debate is paramount. It is therefore such an important issue, that we felt that it should take centre stage in the newsletter reaching as many people as possible.
In future, we will have to start charging certain enterprises for their articles in the newsletter, but on this occasion, we felt the issue was the most important one and so happily printed it on the cover free of charge.

‘Perhaps you could run a petition to stop the incessant noise and danger we have to tolerate in Henbury by the illegal circling of joy rider planes over us? The noise is unacceptable the danger obvious. These planes are breaking the aviation laws by flying over densely populated areas at low altitude. It would be interesting to see how many local residents are aggrieved by this by this constant intrusion of our right to peace and quiet .
‘On a separate issue why do we have to put up with the councils narrow minded attitude -station road is infested with speed humps of varying shapes. these humps do not slow down the boy racers they only affect law abiding drivers .our cars are damaged by these humps.’
John Martin by email.

Mr Martin, I’m afraid we can’t start a petition, as it assumes a political standpoint and we wish to remain neutral as a group, representative of all the interests of all the residents and businesses of our area. We passed your comment to Tim Parkinson of the Henbury & Brentry Community Council, who has been in touch with you directly.

‘Regarding the recent newsletter on ASB, would that include bullying from neighbours? We never see anything about the problems some cause, which I am sure does go on all over, or does this just concentrate on the youngsters?’
Jenny Belsten by email

Cheryl Coles, Community Safety Officer responds ‘Thank you for your comments regarding ASB and neighbours. Neighbour problems can be quite complex and are dealt with on an individual basis, there is no one way to deal with issues that may arise. If you have any particular issues regarding neighbours please report it to the Police on 0845 4567000 or contact the Neighbourhood Policing team for your area at your local station, which for Henbury & Brentry is Avonmouth station on 0117 9454390. If you are a local authority tenant you can also report issues to the local area housing office. The new BCC call centre number is 0117 9222100.’

‘I am a young person who lives in Henbury, my name is Declan Woodhouse-Arpino and I am 13yrs old. I as wondering who is organising the Henbury fun day at Barnard Park., so I can help out on that day?’ by email.
Marianna put Declan in touch with Chris Pratt.

In response to the report on improvements to the article ‘Action on Crow Lane Anti Social Behaviour’
‘It's such a shame that it took so long for all this to happen. However it's clear that all members of the community had to hit rock bottom before action was taken. I feel that the most important aspect of this is the involvement young people who, as stated in your article, have had enough of being labeled along with those causing the trouble. A major omission of the newsletter was a report on the Henbury School Fun day which was organised by a committee of students including Joel Bowd and other students from years 11 and 10 as a direct response to public feeling. Students from the school put on performances for the crowds with excellent singing and some hilarious drama performances. As a resident it was brilliant to hark back to when I was a boy and the school did a similar Summer fete each year. My 2 1/2 year old enjoyed it all and was quite upset when we had to leave. Perhaps you could interview these amazing students about their activities and views. The newsletter is an extremely valuable resource in communicating and with the level of suspicion regarding teenagers rising it would be a heartwarming and useful exercise to show that not all teens are the same.’
Phil Clark via the website

An omission indeed! We will be seeking input from these students in future issues.

We will be there too!!

Deadline for next issue

If you would like to give us an article or your input for the next issue please send your email to mariannapaf@hotmail.com or contact us before the
2nd of October ‘09.

Feedback from our last issue

Firstly, a new idea for the newsletter:
“Just wanted to say that I think your newsletter is very good and thank you to everyone who puts so much effort into it.
One idea, have you thought of doing polls and then publishing the response in the next issue? -Martin”
Thanks Martin, a really good idea, we’re all about giving people a voice. You can vote on the newsletter website: http://henburyandbrentrynewsletter.blogspot.com.

The question this quarter is:
How did you find the Fun Day? Do you have any suggestion for next year?

Secondly, a little note about how the newsletter comes in handy… Our editor, Marianna, was contacted recently by a lady whose mother had returned to the village from hospital. She was looking for information about care and social services in our area and Marianna was pleased to help find some local information about day centre services for the elderly and put the lady in touch with Bradgate Surgery who were further able to help.
Thank you to the person who contacted us about anti-social behaviour amongst neighbours, asking whether we have a problem in our area with this or if it was mainly young people and gangs in the public areas. We've passed your enquiry to PCSO that will contact you.
Lastly, we are still in need of help! As always, all offers of help with distributing the newsletter are gratefully received. Contrary to many expectations, we don’t load you up with hundreds (unless that’s what you want!), if you can do a little cul-de-sac, we are just as thankful. Another area in which we are struggling is finding funding to produce the newsletter. For the immediate future, we have secured some funds, however it is an ongoing issue. We do accept personal donations and you can advertise your business here for very reasonable rates. At present, you can reach 4000+ households for as little as £40. (depending on the size)
Do get in touch with us by emailing us at henburyandbrentrynewsletter@gmail.com or on mariannapaf@hotmail.com or by phone to Marianna on 0117 9507032 or 0791 3037199.

Feedback from our last issue

“Further to the piece by Tim Parkinson on the proposed Aldi store in your last issue, I note that, on the one hand, it was said that "The proposed building would have a significant impact on the green area along Crow Lane. We need to ensure we enhance our green areas as they are a considerable value in our urban surroundings." and on the other hand, the Futures Group were then cited as resolving that "we should support the application but press for significant improvement in local transport in Brentry and Henbury funded by Aldi...." What has this to do with ensuring "we enhance our green areas?" Indeed, the intention to build on them is in direct opposition to such enhancement!
Further, whilst improvements in local transport would be welcomed, the advent of Aldi on this site would add to the already shambolic situation of traffic opposite the school (or anywhere else in Crow Lane) which is already destructive as many people park on the grass verges and create traffic difficulties. Similarly, ad hoc parking on yellow lines and, indeed, double parking is a regular feature of the Crow Lane area. Yet further influxes of traffic will only exacerbate the situation.
I am not averse to an Aldi store as such - but to locate it on a green site that, according to Tim Parkinson would "have a significant impact on the area" is nothing more than yet another act of corporate vandalism akin to the already problematical skateboard facility that is a scar on the otherwise lovely countryside.
When I have previously written to the Newsletter, I note that any line that does not agree with the factional interests expressed does not get printed. Why not? It would be far more productive to listen to local people rather than flout their views.” - Chris Evans

It was certainly my understanding, and I hope that Tim will agree, that there is a compromise to be made by ensuring our green spaces are preserved as far as possible whilst fostering the proposed supermarket, and the transport challenges it will present. Certainly, the addition of an ALDI store in our area will be a big change, but hopefully a positive and forward-thinking one.

As ALDI are keen to open a store in Henbury, and as you rightly point out, we already have some transport problems along Crow Lane and other areas, this would seem a good opportunity to seek the funding from ALDI to help address them and those we anticipate in the future.

Lastly, I'm sorry that you feel we've cut short your opinions in the past and edited your contributions into something more objective. However, we cannot and will not guarantee that entire emails will be published, because we have limited space and other contributions to print. As for removing particular lines, it is not our intention to present something bland, in fact we welcome discussion from the community. Please have your say by emailing us at
henburyandbrentrynewsletter@gmail.com or by phone to Marianna on 0117 9507032 or 07913037199.

Special thanks go to all the volunteers and the organizations that without their help and support this newsletter cannot be prepared, produced and delivered.

We would like to take this opportunity to request for volunteers to support the newsletter delivery. Unfortunately due to lack of volunteers in the Station Road area the previous issue never got delivered. We apologize for that, but we do need people to help in this area. Please contact us if you can support.

Competition

Send us pictures from our area.

The best one is going to be used as

a legend in the next issue!!

Submissions so far:
Charles Perry













Kelly Bullock

Feedback from our last issue

Since our last issue, a lot has happened in our area and we'd love to hear what you think. Please email us or call us. Feedback from our last issue was largely very positive again, but if you disagree - you know what to do!

"We like the newsletter very much! It is good to learn and read more about our area. We didn't know till we got the Newsletter how many churches and community activities are offered in our area. I am sure the newsletter will help to strengthen our community and that's very good!" - Anna Schubert

Anna has now moved to Devon and we wish her and her family well in their new community.

"Thanks for the latest newsletter. Not an easy task I'm sure, so well done! The local history pieces you include are fascinating - where do these come from? Is there a book?" - James Brereton

We're glad you like our history pieces, we're lucky in that they are submitted by residents with an interest in local history or written by members of the newsletter team. You might be interested in the DVD advertised on the last page or get in touch with the Conservation Society, Tim Parkinson, tel. 950 8033

"I live in Henbury and I am quite disappointed to find out there has been a meeting at Wesley college on the 28th June, as I didn't receive notice of this meeting until 29th June and I suspect a lot of people didn't get their Henbury and Brentry newsletter until then. What was the point of the meeting if we don't know about it? I feel our opinions were not wanted or we would have had proper notice of this meeting, but of course it’s now too late." - One very Annoyed Resident of Henbury.

We are sorry that the last newsletter was delayed by two weeks, and as we mentioned on the feedback page, it was due to technological issues beyond our control. We feel it important to clarify that this newsletter is run by volunteers and in no way represents either the Community Council or Bristol City Council, although members of both participate and help to fund its production. Also, as passionate members of the community, we more than most welcome your comments and opinion on developments in Henbury and Brentry. We recognise the importance of dialogue between individuals, public bodies and private enterprise and want the newsletter to act as a forum for it. LASTLY, THIS FURTHER HIGHLIGHTS OUR CONSTANT REQUIREMENT FOR MORE DELIVERY VOLUNTEERS! ALL WELCOME, NO MATTER HOW SMALL AN AREA YOU CAN COVER!

Contact the newsletter team by email to:
henburyandbrentrynewsletter@gmail.com
or call the editors: Marianna 0117 950 7032 and Olivia 0117 950 0936.

Feedback From Our Last Issue

After the last issue and with the launch of the website, we have again had a lot of positive comments about both formats. However, one comment was made on the website and although the newsletter team have responded, we’d love to know what you think too:

“We moved to Bristol just over a year ago from a northern big city. We have been dismayed at the level of crime. Never before have I been afraid to walk alone after dusk or feel afraid just walking to work (through Southmead). In just 15 months I have seen more broken- in and burnt-out cars than in my whole life and had to report more incidents to the police than ever before. I applaud efforts by the community to bring people closer together but doubt whether this will impact on the levels of crime.” – anonymous, via the website.

Although you are undoubtedly experiencing crime first-hand and this naturally affects the way you feel about our area, we would urge you to take a more positive approach towards creating a safer community. Building a sense of community spirit, pride and cohesion does positively impact on crime figures, so community events, the newsletter, after school clubs, etc are worthwhile. Also, the way people behave towards others in the street does affect how 'safe' the streets are: if we all timidly rushed from one doorway to the next, of course the streets would belong to those hanging about in gangs. Crimes such as vandalism and assault are much less likely to occur in a busy street than a quiet one. Lastly, reporting crime is a very important part of this process, so keep doing it. Without witness statements, convictions don't happen, and without a clear picture of criminal activity, the police and local authorities stand no chance of making an improvement. – Editor’s response.

A final word from us, we have experienced quite a few problems getting this issue of the newsletter together, largely due to IT issues. We’d like to thank Henbury Library, Learn Direct Centre (especially Janis and Eve) and Henbury Court Primary School for supporting Marianna in getting the paper version together. The newsletter is new for pages-longer (from 8 pages to12 pages) due to increase in articles and additional potential advertisements.

If you would like to give us an article or your input for the next issue please send your email to mariannapaf@hotmail.com or contact us before the 10th of October .

Calling all budding reporters!

The Henbury and Brentry Newsletter is seeking a broader age-range of contributors. We'd like young people from our area to get in touch if they think they have a story or issue they would like to help us cover or if they want to join our group on an ongoing basis. So, if you or someone you know would like to get involved, we'd love to hear from you and give you the opportunity to see your work 'in print' (and on the web, obviously!).

The Henbury and Brentry Newsletter goes online!

The editorial team are pleased to announce the launch of the online version of the newsletter. It was felt that if we could create and maintain a website, it would enable us to reach a wider and more diverse audience. When considering what we needed from the site, we thought about how it could support our efforts in getting your feedback and bringing you much more information in a rich format. We have therefore chosen a blog format. For those unfamiliar with this term, it comes from 'web log', which basically means a series of entries on a web page, much like a journal. In addition to the entries (so articles from the paper newsletter) there is the facility for site visitors to comment on each entry. We're hoping that everyone who wants to say something will come to the website and give us their views.
In addition to replicating the articles from the paper, we can also add more photos, helpful information and links to local services, an up-to-date 'dates for your diary', a cross-referenced archive of past stories and downloads of the paper newsletter in electronic format. In the future, we're also going to be offering a poll on local issues.