Grove Wood Town Green Hearing

A hearing will be held in April to help decide whether Grove Wood should become a Town Green. If this was to happen, the rights of local people to enjoy Grove Wood would be protected. An Inspector has been appointed and he will hear evidence from those in favour of this (Snuff Mills Action Group and the people who use Grove Wood) and those against the idea (that's the landowner and his related companies). The Inspector will then decide whether to recommend that Grove Wood should become a Town Green and write a report for the Council.

Please contact us if you can provide photos showing people using Grove Wood or would be prepared to write a statement or take part in the hearing itself. Email snuffmills@hotmail.co.uk We can then explain how you can help in more detail.

The Big Save Our Parks Petition

The Big Save Our Parks Petition
Lead Petitioner : Mark Weston
http://epetitions.bristol.gov.uk/epetition_core/community/petition/1403

Petition
“We, the undersigned, call on Bristol City Council to reconsider the proposed land sales as part of the Parks & Area Green Spaces Strategy. We consider the consultation process undertaken by the Cabinet to be flawed and by signing this petition, we want the Cabinet Councillors and officers to hear our concerns. Neighbourhood Partnerships should decide on any green space disposals in their area - making sure local people are involved in the decision making, unlike the decisions taken so far by Cabinet. We support continued investment in green spaces but not at the price of selling off the green lungs of our City.

We understand that, under new rules, petitions with 3,500 or more signatures will be debated at Full Council. The 20-year green space strategy is so important to Bristol and will affect communities for many years to come, so we believe it is right for all Councillors and the public to have their say at a meeting of the Council."


Background Information
Under recently adopted rules governing petitions, the Authority is obliged to bring a matter to Full Council where an issue attracts 3,500 signatures from people who live, work or study in the city.

Once this trigger point is reached, petition organisers can advise Council Officers that they wish to take up this opportunity for debate at the next available meeting.

We hope that by getting enough signatures from across the city that we can call for a debate at the March Council meeting and SAVE OUR PARKS.

The Making of "The Story of Snuff Mills"

Wickham Glen - work about to start

Work to create the new cycle ramp in Wickham Glen is about to start. Over the next few days contractors will begin to remove a number of trees along the route of the new ramp and then construction will commence. The contractors will bring materials through Wickham Glen itself and so the area is likely to be very muddy for a while. Once the ramp is built the Council will resurface the footpath with a no more than 2.2m wide 'dust and stone' path. This should improve access for everyone, but keep the natural feel of the area in tact.

Cold winters

Apparently December 2010 was the coldest one on record, but these photos show it could have been a lot worse. The top picture shows that the River Frome was so frozen over in 1963 that people could skate on it. The lower picture shows massive icicles hanging off the old quarry faces in 1947 - another exceptionally cold winter.

Photos courtesy of Sheila Hill. If you have old photos of the area, we'd love to see them - send them to snuffmills@hotmail.co.uk