Carols on the Common was a roaring success!Thank you to everyone who came along & made this such a wonderful evening - look forward to seeing you all again next year!
| Oh dear......well this wasn't quite the result we were hoping for!
As anyone who attended the Grand Opening on the 10th December will know, this wasn't quite the celebration that we had hoped for; however the facilities have been refurbished & are ready for use, so we very much hope that these will be available for use by all in the New Year.
We are currently seeking support from both the local Neighbourhood Partnership and Bristol Parks Forum to resolve any issues & hope that this will be the case soon. ....and the cake was still excellent! |
      | The OPEN EVENT & 'SPRUCE-UP' WEEKEND 29-30 October 2011 at the Ardagh was wonderful! Thank you to all who came along to dig, weed, plant, clear leaves, drink tea & eat biscuits and let us know their views!
An update to the priorities list that we will be taking to the next meeting of Bishopston, Cotham & Redland's parks and green spaces group is now available for comments - please have a look at these & let us know what you think?
|
Monday 5th September 2011 - Ardagh Toddler Group Launched!
The Ardagh Toddler Group, for ages 0-3 launched on Monday 5th September from 10.00 - 11.30.
It is now be open for fun and play every Monday morning.
If you'd like to book in - please contact us through the website and we'll forward on your details or call Kay Thomson on 01179 426580
Cost: £2.50 for the first child (£0.50 for additional siblings) to include light refreshments.
The Ardagh Toddler Group has been supported through a grant from the Bishopston Neighbourhood Partnership and in kind by the Ardagh Bowling and Sports Club.
It is now be open for fun and play every Monday morning.
If you'd like to book in - please contact us through the website and we'll forward on your details or call Kay Thomson on 01179 426580
Cost: £2.50 for the first child (£0.50 for additional siblings) to include light refreshments.
The Ardagh Toddler Group has been supported through a grant from the Bishopston Neighbourhood Partnership and in kind by the Ardagh Bowling and Sports Club.
Hooray! Work to make good the temporary road and remove the fenced off areas of Wellington Hill Playing Field has started!
This morning (1st August 2011) there is finally activity in Wellington Hill Playing Field as the contractors return to make good the damage caused to the field by the temporary road and fencing that were laid across it to enable access for the redevelopment of the Concorde Lodge site!
Horfield Councillor Cheryl Ann sent out an e-mail on Saturday to advise that this work would be going ahead, along with a series of other updates about the parks and green spaces in the area.
To read a copy of this e-mail in full - please click here.
The e-mail states that: 'The field will be worked on as from next week....... It will of course be a while until the new grass is strong enough for football playing but the process is most certainly starting.'
This is fantastic news for everyone who uses Wellington Hill Playing Field!
Horfield Councillor Cheryl Ann sent out an e-mail on Saturday to advise that this work would be going ahead, along with a series of other updates about the parks and green spaces in the area.
To read a copy of this e-mail in full - please click here.
The e-mail states that: 'The field will be worked on as from next week....... It will of course be a while until the new grass is strong enough for football playing but the process is most certainly starting.'
This is fantastic news for everyone who uses Wellington Hill Playing Field!
The Ardagh Gardening Day
Saturday - 25 June 2011, 10.00 -12.00pm
We had a lovely day planting up the beds at the Ardagh, weeding in the grounds and doing general light maintenance to keep the gardens looking beautiful through the Summer.
There was plenty to do throughout the site, and with a couple of local residents who are professional gardeners we were in good hands in terms of advice and guidance for the day!
We'll let you know when the next one is - look forward to seeing you there!
There was plenty to do throughout the site, and with a couple of local residents who are professional gardeners we were in good hands in terms of advice and guidance for the day!
We'll let you know when the next one is - look forward to seeing you there!
Ardagh Bowling and Sports Club (ABSC) - Bowling Taster Days 2011!
The Bowling Taster Days at the Ardagh in May have been highly successful and ABSC are keen to run more to encourage new members and give everyone who would like to the chance to try out the sport.
More dates here soon - come and have a go!
In the meantime, there is always the chance to come along on another day - if you'd like to get in touch via FOHC - they will be very happy to accomodate one-off sessions when they can!
Ardagh Bowling and Sports Club welcomes new members who would like to play competitively or who would just like to play socially - come along and try out Bowling at the Ardagh.
More dates here soon - come and have a go!
In the meantime, there is always the chance to come along on another day - if you'd like to get in touch via FOHC - they will be very happy to accomodate one-off sessions when they can!
Ardagh Bowling and Sports Club welcomes new members who would like to play competitively or who would just like to play socially - come along and try out Bowling at the Ardagh.
Village Green Application Support - Thank you Bishopston Matters!
A MASSIVE thank you to our friends at Bishopston Matters for sponsoring the fantastic banners which are making the campaign for Village Green Status for Wellington Hill Playing Field highly visible to all!
See www.bishopstonmatters.co.uk for more info about the brand new website that there is to accompany the print version of the community magazine.
See www.bishopstonmatters.co.uk for more info about the brand new website that there is to accompany the print version of the community magazine.
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
The application to register Wellington Hill Playing Field as a Village Green is currently being considered.
The deadline for responding to the application has now passed.
But you can still add your voice to the campaign - e-mail your local Councillor and ask them to support this application, & display a poster in your window!
But you can still add your voice to the campaign - e-mail your local Councillor and ask them to support this application, & display a poster in your window!
Well done all on the Ardagh "Autumn tidy up 2010!"
The Ardagh is beginning to look loved & looked after again which is fantastic to see - on Sunday morning volunteers came along & tennis nets were repaired, tennis courts & the grounds cleared of leaves (which have started to make a fabulous size compost heap!) and the planting that has been overgrown outside of the site for some time now was tidied up and pruned back.
Thank you again to everyone who came along to both the Sunday "Spruce-Ups!"- it's been wonderful to see so many people pitching in & it's making such a visible difference to the site that it's incredibly rewarding to see what people getting together for a few hours can achieve so quickly. It's also been really enjoyable to get out in the fresh air for a few hours & to get the chance to meet some old friends & make some new ones! We'll organise some further dates to for another go in the new year!
Thank you again to everyone who came along to both the Sunday "Spruce-Ups!"- it's been wonderful to see so many people pitching in & it's making such a visible difference to the site that it's incredibly rewarding to see what people getting together for a few hours can achieve so quickly. It's also been really enjoyable to get out in the fresh air for a few hours & to get the chance to meet some old friends & make some new ones! We'll organise some further dates to for another go in the new year!
FOHC Knees-Up 2010 - THANK YOU to local businesses for supporting us!
We had amazing support from local businesses for our Knees-Up event at the Ardagh in December - thank you all for your generosity, it is very much appreciated!
A raffle on the night raised funds for FOHC's work in 2011. Thank you very much to our generous sponsors:
Nail Perfection donated 2 manicures worth £20.00
The Anchor donated a meal for 4 plus a bottle of house wine
Grape & Grind donated a Magnum of Château de Ricaud
Fruits & Roots donated an organic veg box
The Royal Oak donated a voucher for food and/or drinks worth £20.00
Holders donated a toaster
Nailsea Electrical donated a Coffee Maker
Di Meo Italian Restaurant donated a voucher for food worth £20.00
Fig donated a voucher for a named jeweller's work worth £10.00
Dil Se donated a voucher for takeaway food worth £10.00
Risk Gym donated a 1 month membership
All are local businesses based on the Gloucester Road in Horfield and Bishopston. FOHC will continue to support them in 2011 - thank you!
Nail Perfection donated 2 manicures worth £20.00
The Anchor donated a meal for 4 plus a bottle of house wine
Grape & Grind donated a Magnum of Château de Ricaud
Fruits & Roots donated an organic veg box
The Royal Oak donated a voucher for food and/or drinks worth £20.00
Holders donated a toaster
Nailsea Electrical donated a Coffee Maker
Di Meo Italian Restaurant donated a voucher for food worth £20.00
Fig donated a voucher for a named jeweller's work worth £10.00
Dil Se donated a voucher for takeaway food worth £10.00
Risk Gym donated a 1 month membership
All are local businesses based on the Gloucester Road in Horfield and Bishopston. FOHC will continue to support them in 2011 - thank you!
The AGSP and SADMOD consultations have now closed
If you haven't already done so - time is running out to take part in the consultations about the proposed sale of Wellington Hill Playing Field and closure of the tennis courts and bowling green at the Ardagh - but you can still make your voice heard if you act now! To register your views you must e-mail or write in before 5pm on Friday.
In brief - you need to e-mail 2 separate consultation addresses with slightly different information:
1. E-mail: Park.Strategy@bristol.gov.ukand let them know that you don't want Wellington Hill to be sold because it is well-used and highly valued by local people, and that investing in and improving the facilities at the Ardagh, including the Children's Play Area and sports facilities is a priority.
2. E-mail: bdf@bristol.gov.uk and let them know that you object to the sale of Wellington Hill Playing Field and that it should remain as an open space for use by all.
BOTH CONSULTATIONS CLOSE ON FRIDAY AT 5.00pm
In brief - you need to e-mail 2 separate consultation addresses with slightly different information:
1. E-mail: Park.Strategy@bristol.gov.ukand let them know that you don't want Wellington Hill to be sold because it is well-used and highly valued by local people, and that investing in and improving the facilities at the Ardagh, including the Children's Play Area and sports facilities is a priority.
2. E-mail: bdf@bristol.gov.uk and let them know that you object to the sale of Wellington Hill Playing Field and that it should remain as an open space for use by all.
BOTH CONSULTATIONS CLOSE ON FRIDAY AT 5.00pm
Friends of Horfield Common's Application for Village Green Status for Wellington Hill Playing Field - Update 02/10/2010
Friends of Horfield Common's application to register Wellington Hill Playing Field as a Village Green has now been submitted. More than 250 local residents who live in the local area completed evidence forms which testify to the accessibility and use of the field as a space for recreational activities since before World War II.
Following the beginning of our campaign to register Wellington Hill Playing Field as a Village Green in July, Village Green applications have become a hot topic of conversation and debate in Bristol so many people know much more about what achieving this status would mean for Wellington Hill Playing Field, but for those who don't - registering Wellington Hill Playing Field as a Village Green would preserve it as an open, green space for use by local people into the future.
Village Green Status means that any future development would be forbidden, and in view of the significant development that has taken place in the area over the last 20 years (including the large supermarket development at Golden Hill, the extensive housing estate behind it, the school sports fields that have been turned into all-weather surface courts at Golden Hill, the large scale housing development on the old BT site opposite Horfield Sports Centre, the massive housing development on the old City of Bristol College site at Ashley Down Road etc) - this would mean that environmental concerns, as well as health, well-being and community concerns about access to recreational facilities, adequate provision of primary school places and over development in the area could be addressed.
The significant loss of green space in this area since 1993 has had a massive impact environmentally as well as socially. The loss of green space at Golden Hill for the development of the Supermarket and the extensive housing estate that is now behind it, along with the conversion from grass pitches to all weather pitches in the privately owned facility next means that more green space has been lost in the last 20 years here than remains. That is previously green spaces larger than Horfield Common and Wellington Hill Playing Field together have been developed in this time.
The environmental impact that this development has had is real. The loss of the drainage function previously provided by these grassed areas, means that Horfield Common now struggles to cope with heavy rainfall. Streams that have been submerged underneath the Common for decades re-emerge as surface water in heavy rainfall and the lower end of the Common is increasingly like a bog when rainfall lasts more than a couple of hours. The loss of any further green spaces in this area has the potential to make this problem increasingly urgent for local people and the Council.
The large amount of housing development on previously Brownfield sites in the surrounding area (including the extensive housing estate on the ex-BT depot on Filton Road opposite Horfield Sports Centre, ambitious scale residential housing development on the Ashley Down Road site previously occupied by City of Bristol College (367 Units in total), the much needed and welcomed redevelopment of the Radnor Road Centre (50 Units - 19 Apartments, 31 Houses) in addition to the proposed development of the Gloucester County Cricket Ground and the proposed development of the Memorial Stadium Site to include new housing, and additional individual and small-scale developments in the area) have put local services under strain with many parents of young children concerned that there aren't adequate places in local schools to cope with the current population - let alone a further increased one. The local Church's most recent newsletter describes the Horfield Common area as already intensively populated, and without additional amenities it appears that the social impact of any further development would also be significant.
This isn't NIMBY-ism (as we've been accused of by one local resident in a forum on the Evening Post's This is Bristol.co.uk website in response to an article about the recent Area Green Space Plan Consultation). To read the full story see:
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Disgraceful-document-sale-city-green-spaces/article-2713699-detail/article.html
This is "YIMBY-ISM" - "Yes! In My Back Yard" - access to green and open spaces which can be enjoyed by all members of the local and wider community.
We'll keep you updated on any progress in the application.
Following the beginning of our campaign to register Wellington Hill Playing Field as a Village Green in July, Village Green applications have become a hot topic of conversation and debate in Bristol so many people know much more about what achieving this status would mean for Wellington Hill Playing Field, but for those who don't - registering Wellington Hill Playing Field as a Village Green would preserve it as an open, green space for use by local people into the future.
Village Green Status means that any future development would be forbidden, and in view of the significant development that has taken place in the area over the last 20 years (including the large supermarket development at Golden Hill, the extensive housing estate behind it, the school sports fields that have been turned into all-weather surface courts at Golden Hill, the large scale housing development on the old BT site opposite Horfield Sports Centre, the massive housing development on the old City of Bristol College site at Ashley Down Road etc) - this would mean that environmental concerns, as well as health, well-being and community concerns about access to recreational facilities, adequate provision of primary school places and over development in the area could be addressed.
The significant loss of green space in this area since 1993 has had a massive impact environmentally as well as socially. The loss of green space at Golden Hill for the development of the Supermarket and the extensive housing estate that is now behind it, along with the conversion from grass pitches to all weather pitches in the privately owned facility next means that more green space has been lost in the last 20 years here than remains. That is previously green spaces larger than Horfield Common and Wellington Hill Playing Field together have been developed in this time.
The environmental impact that this development has had is real. The loss of the drainage function previously provided by these grassed areas, means that Horfield Common now struggles to cope with heavy rainfall. Streams that have been submerged underneath the Common for decades re-emerge as surface water in heavy rainfall and the lower end of the Common is increasingly like a bog when rainfall lasts more than a couple of hours. The loss of any further green spaces in this area has the potential to make this problem increasingly urgent for local people and the Council.
The large amount of housing development on previously Brownfield sites in the surrounding area (including the extensive housing estate on the ex-BT depot on Filton Road opposite Horfield Sports Centre, ambitious scale residential housing development on the Ashley Down Road site previously occupied by City of Bristol College (367 Units in total), the much needed and welcomed redevelopment of the Radnor Road Centre (50 Units - 19 Apartments, 31 Houses) in addition to the proposed development of the Gloucester County Cricket Ground and the proposed development of the Memorial Stadium Site to include new housing, and additional individual and small-scale developments in the area) have put local services under strain with many parents of young children concerned that there aren't adequate places in local schools to cope with the current population - let alone a further increased one. The local Church's most recent newsletter describes the Horfield Common area as already intensively populated, and without additional amenities it appears that the social impact of any further development would also be significant.
This isn't NIMBY-ism (as we've been accused of by one local resident in a forum on the Evening Post's This is Bristol.co.uk website in response to an article about the recent Area Green Space Plan Consultation). To read the full story see:
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Disgraceful-document-sale-city-green-spaces/article-2713699-detail/article.html
This is "YIMBY-ISM" - "Yes! In My Back Yard" - access to green and open spaces which can be enjoyed by all members of the local and wider community.
We'll keep you updated on any progress in the application.
