Leigh Woods Society

Leigh Woods Society

Chairman’s report 2015

Welcome to you all, especially any new residents. Here I reflect on the last year in Leigh Woods.

CliftonSuspension Bridge

From 24 April 2014 the Bridge raised the cash toll to £1, probably adding to the commuter parking on our side.The construction of the new offices and Visitor Centre inevitably broughtsome noise and inconvenience over the summer, now thankfully behind us. The finished buildings look smart, except from the North Road view. In December 2014,a fantastic firework display was followedthe next daywith a procession as had been done 150 years previously to mark the opening of the bridge. As a final celebration the bridge turned green and purple just for the turn of the year.

The legacy for Leigh Woods is a new Visitor Centrewith a dedicated coach drop off point in Clifton, new pedestrian crossing and decent road surface.A compound on Clifton Downs has appeared for the scaffolding and re-pointing of the Clifton tower to be followed by the Leigh Woods tower in 2016. Visitor access to the interior of the Leigh Woods Abutment vaults is in train. Permitted work in the patch of land between the yard and North Road will include cutting down 2 dying ash trees and replacing with 2 oaks and a hawthorn.

National Trust, Leigh Woods

From May to October 2015 there will be 5 old fishing boats marooned in the woods towards the Forestry Commission car park.The publicity and associated events attached to them willincrease usage of the Woods.The National Trust hopes to stop the parking by anybody in Valley Roadand redo the whole area outside the Rangers' Office to make it more 'welcoming'.This could include rubbish bins, toilet provision, a catering van, an awning, picnic benches and tables and marked parking bays for staff, volunteers and residents of the National Trust houses.This will put even more pressure on the North Road entrance.Last June we ensured a small area here was tarmac-ed due to section 106 money from Devonshire Homes. We tried to find other sources of money to extend the work, to no avail, but it now seems the National Trust are talking to North Somerset Council about resurfacing this area. For safety reasons the pavement should be reinstated to make access on foot safe once again, currently you have to walk in the road to get to the entrance gate. Also some protection measures for the rest of the surrounding roads, particularly the grass verges, should be put in place for the inevitable frequent overflow parking spilling out further into the Leigh Woods residential area.To this end the National Trustheld aCommunity Consultation session in the Church Vestry onFriday 27 February. I hope you wentand made your comments heard! They have promised to keep us informed of their plans as they develop. They are also applying for a permanent green shelter to be built as a rainy weather meeting point along the main track towards Stokeleigh Camp.

Planning matters

Burwalls

Kersfield Development are turning the main house into 5 apartments and reinstating the stables as 2 houses, and putting 4 new build houses around the stables having demolished the university added buildings. They are in the process of selling the gatehouse as a separate project.Sadly, on the evening of 1 January, a fire started in the old stable block, fortunately it is hoped the damage to the roof can all be rectified during the conversion. The contact I have for any comments is . or the site manager Kalvin Smith of Bray and Slaughter is on 07768846402.

Bracken Hill

Devonshire Homeshave sold all of their properties on this site.Wills House Restoration Ltd who now own Bracken Hill House and surrounding garden have modified the drive layout and have split the house into two large semidetached houses.

Kingston Lodge Garages

This site surrounded with Herras fencing between Bridge Road and Burwalls Road, was subject to a Planning Appeal, so in August 2014 myself, Chris Buss, Martyn Harries and Carl Francis-Pester all spent the day at Weston. We made our points and so did the Council. The Inspector’s decision was to refuse the Appeal, so no building can currently go ahead here. We are now pressing North Somerset Council to take action on this site.

Local issues

Electoral Review of North Somerset

After a lot of redrawing boundaries Leigh Woods is to be part of Long Ashton Ward at District Councillor level as well as at Parish Council level. This is despite our best efforts to remain part of the A369 corridor,it seems other political considerations weighed more heavily than our wishes. Consequently we will be losing Carl as our District Councillor after many years effective service. Thank you Carl.

Parking

Yellow Lineswere painted in early March 2014, The North Road bend wasn’t included as more neighbours objected than supported it, despite several submissions saying we had held a vote in favour at our AGM in 2012.

We had avery well attended parking meeting of about 60 people in October 2014. Rob Thomson from North Somerset Council made it clear that NSC do not operate theirown parking enforcement team so a Residents Parking Scheme is not possible. Yellow lines and some time restricted parking could be possible, but these of course will involve road markings and signage. We were pleased to find that the majority of points raised had already been identified by the current working group of The Leigh Woods Society. They have already spent much time looking at possible strategies to deal with the present and projected increase in parking. This exploration has included meetings with North Somerset Council, talking to the CSBT and visiting other residential schemes. You will have received a proposal with your AGM papers for you to comment on, please send your comments through to the sub committee.

I’m sure this will be revisited as the parking situation gets worse with Bristol City Council’s introduction of Residents Parking in Cliftonin spring this year.

Upkeep

Thanks to section 106 money from the Bracken Hilldevelopmentthe path through Burwalls wood has received some repairs and improvements, with more work yet to come.Italso paid for installation of bike racks in the church.

Social activities

BrackenHillOpenGardens

In Aprilat least 60 folks turned out, and while sun didn’t shine the rain did not dampen our enjoyment. Thanks to Shane Clark, of Wills House Restoration, who welcomed us and gave an informative short history of Bracken Hill. We enjoyed our walk around the listed gardens, appreciating the spring flowers.In October about 45 people walked around the lovely gardens, if you missed it or want to come again the next chance will be Saturday 11 April 2015 as the 4th will be Easter Saturday.

Litter Pick

On Saturday 12 April 2014, 18 people turned up at the Vestry for coffee then armed with litter pickers volunteered to clear particular roads. This year we collected9 bags in total. Many thanks are due to those who turned out including some very young members of the community, and to Gregg Brake our North Somerset Area Officer who provided bags and litter pickers.

Summer Party

For our summer party Mike and Lynne Bothamley kindly invited us to ‘The Old Vicarage’ this year and as the weather was fabulous everyone was happy to be outside in the lovely gardens, where there were plenty of areas to sit and relax. The marquee thoughtfully put up in case of rain was only used to house the Bar, which did a good trade as usual. Lots of canapés were distributed ably and consumed readily. A record number attended and our hosts made everyone most welcome. There was a presentation to Audrey Moser, who has recently celebrated her 90th Birthday and served as our Parish Councillor for many years. Her service to our small Community has been considerable and this was an opportunity for us all to thank her.

Bush Craft

In September we organised a Bush Craft day in Leigh Woods.The sun shone and 12 intrepid local young people assembled by the Ranger’s office for a day learning how to light fires, cook fruit buns over one and build shelters. Our friendly instructor Steve involved everyone and girls and boys aged 6 to 14 really enjoyed the day. See the website for photos.This was all made possible due to Section 106 money from the development of Bracken Hill which is allocated to local youth.

Winter party

Our winter party venue was once again Belvedere where we were made very welcome by the Boss Family. The children had been hard at work making mince pies and acted as waiting staff during the evening. The Tree looked wonderful and the glitter ball giving twinkling lights ensured a festive atmosphere. The new kitchen was much admired and the food prepared there was eaten with relish. The Bar was busy as usual. We welcomed many new faces and again had a high attendance. Thanks go to our hosts and all those who helped to make the evening a success.

Future Events

Double Bill on Saturday 11 April 2015

Spring Litter Pickwill be 10-12am on. Turn up at the Vestry round the back of St Mary’s Church for coffee before pairing up and taking on the rubbish along one of our roads. All ages welcome, litter pickers, bags and some gloves provided but it is helpful if you bring your own gloves. It is a sociable occasion and gives a warm glow to participants, chocolate bars and more coffee available at the end. Then the Open Garden at Bracken Hill will be 2-4pm, when residents and Friends of the Botanic Garden and their guests can walk around these lovely grade 2 listed gardens. Enter by the gates on North Road.

Summer party, this year on a Thursday, 2 July 2015 at the Old Vicarage again with thanks to the Bothamleys.

The Balloon Fiesta is 6th– 9thAugust 2015, Bristol International Kite Festival isnow on Bristol’s Durdham Downson Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd August 2015. No dates yet for Brisfest this year.

Communication

We are in the process of assembling our next newsletter which is one way we keep in touch with each other, another is our section in the monthly Link, the parish magazine that I hope everyone subscribes to, where you will find details of our events.We also use group emails,if you didn’t receive an email reminding you of this AGM and you wish you had then please ensure your email address is given to our treasurer and membership secretary, Bob Whiffen. We now have our very own website, set up and maintained by Ian McKay, Of course we distribute paper invitations to our parties and the AGM as we know some members are not on email and we want to reach the whole community.

From all that I have said you will see that a lot of work goes on behind the scenes and I would like to thank all the officers and committee and helpers for their sterling efforts. At this point I must especially thank Sally Sparks who is standing down as a founding committee member after 21 years. Sally has been invaluable, coordinating party invitations,writing our section of the Long Ashton and Leigh Woods magazine and taking a keen interest in the neighbourhood.Thank you Sally.

I intend to step down as of 2016’s AGM after what will be 5 years chairmanship, and Bob Whiffenour Treasurer has indicated his wish to do so too. We like new people to come onto the committee, so if any one else would like to join us please don’t be shy in stepping forward!

Thank you

Kate Buss

Chairman

15 March 2015