Laundry Field Update

A meeting was held last week with The Homes and Communities Association (HCA) in regards to the recent developments at Laundry Field.
John Cottrell the Area Team Leader from the HCA gave those that attended a run down of the HCA's involvement and possible intentions with the site and a synopsis of this meeting is below:

The HCA bought the Blackberry Hill Hospital Site (not including the secure unit) and Laundry Field in March/April 2009.
Land Agents gave a Red Book Appraisal (valuation) of the hospital site only (not including Laundry Field) based on the potential for housing using recommended government housing density per hectare figures. This was calculated to be 350 homes. This figure was then used to confirm the purchase price of the land.

No plans for the site have been drawn up and the site will not come into full ownership until July 2010 when the NHS has to either vacate or buy back the land.

Currently the HCA has no monies allocated for the site and as such cannot progress with any consultation or draw up plans.

The HCA currently has 4 options

1. Consult over proposals when funding available
2. Bring a partner on board to fund consultation and subsequent development (e.g. Barrat/Bovis etc...)
3. Do nothing
4. Sell the Land to the highest bidder.

By the end of our discussions all felt that options 1 and 3 would be the best outcome for everyone.

Then the subject of Laundry Field came up and the signs.
The signs have been put up by the HCA to protect themselves as landowners and limit their public liability. This means that if they put a sign up saying private land do not enter and a member of the public goes onto that land and hurts themselves then they can be shown as advising the public to not go on the land and thus cannot be held accountable.
The signs are legal and the HCA has no intention of taking them down. However we shall be writing to the HCA to see if they will change their appearance as a minimum.

As no plans have been drawn up for the site ideas were bounced around as to what the potential for the site development would be and whether or not Laundry Field would be developed. The HCA felt that there would be some development of Laundry Field possibly around the outside, but this would form part of the consultation process.

The group understood that this was a possibility and stated that it would rather see no development on the field, but also appreciated that any developer would like to develop the field to some degree and thanked John Cottrell for his honesty on the subject.

The meeting ended on good terms and all those that attended felt that the HCA was an organisation that would pay a high regard to to views of the local residents and was glad to hear that pre consultation would be started at an early stage depending on what option over the land was decided.

Please watch this space for any further news and please add comments as the feeback can be used in future meetings.

Open meeting

Thanks to the nearly 50 people, who attended tonight's meeting about Snuff Mills, including John Mair, Lord Jafari's agent. We will update this blog with further details of everything that was discussed in due course.

It was useful to have a lively discussion with a representative of the landowner and it was certainly a really useful step in trying to build a relationship between the community and the landowner, but this is just the first step in trying to resolve all the issues that surround Grove Wood. It was in no way a consultation about the future management of the woodland and we have informed the Forestry Commission to this effect.

Eels in the river

Eels have declined by 95% across Europe in the last 25 years and no one knows why. But, they seem to be at home in the River Frome judging by this clip sent to us from a family that went fishing for tiddlers. It's a great sign that the river is healthy and not polluted and of course eels a food for herons, one of the birds we regularly see by the river

Owl prowl - 17th September

If you live close to Snuff Mills you've probably heard the tawny owls hooting and screeching during the night. We've organised a special event to find out more about these elusive birds with leading owl expert Chris Sperring. He'll lead us on a twilight walk to look and listen for them. He may even be able to confirm that they are really singing 'save Grove Wood' when they are hooting.

The event takes place on Thursday 17th September from 7.30pm and costs a very modest £2. Numbers are limited as we do not want to disturb the wildlife, so get your tickets in advance by emailing chrisvinecottage@yahoo.com

Deer in the valley

A few people have been reporting seeing deer in the valley recently. We think there are at least two types in the area. The native roe deer has been seen around Snuff Mills in the fields and woods above the car park and the muntjac (pictured) has been seen close to the river. Muntjac have been introduced from Japan, but have spread throughout England. They are really small and you'd be very lucky to see them as they are very timid. Roe deer are a little braver, but also flee at the sight or smell of humans.

You are most likely to see them at dawn or dusk when the valley is quiet, so if you have dogs that like to chase animals, beware. Unlike squirrels, that dash up trees, or rabbits, that go down holes, when a deer is being chased it will run for miles. You could be waiting for a long time for your dog to return.

Has anyone else seen deer recently?

Don't get off Laundry Field

Can you believe it? Within weeks of buying Blackberry Hill Hospital, including Laundry Field, the government's Homes and Communities Agency has been surveying Laundry Field and have now put up signs seeking to prevent any public access beyond the existing public footpaths that cross the field and go around the edge of it.

This is despite the HCA's original statement that they had "identified the site as suitable for mixed-use development which when brought forward, may include shops, commercial space, community facilities and open space, as well as up to 350 new homes"

And a promise that: "the development will include extensive consultation with local community and stakeholder groups, and will meet the HCA’s quality design and environmental standards." Well if putting up bullying signs is their idea of extensive consultation with the local community, we're not very impressed.

We've been checking on the status of Laundry Field and it is marked on the Council's own planning documents as open space. The action of the HCA are clearly intended to prevent the designation of a Town or Village Green for the site, but we have already been sent enough evidence to show that it has been used for legal sports and pastimes for more than twenty years. So they'll have a real fight on their hands, especially if they continue to behave in such a heavy handed manner. Snuff Mills Action Group are meeting later this week to discuss how we should respond to yet another threat to the greenspaces that make this area so special. In the meantime we urge you to keep enjoying Laundry Field.

You can also let the Regional Director of the HCA know your feelings about their actions by emailing him at colin.molton@hca.gsx.gov.uk

Treeworks start

As promised, the Council pruned the trees along Blackberry Hill on Wednesday 22nd July. This much needed work means that cyclists and pedestrians can use the pavement next to Grove Wood safely and that any demands by the landownner to fell them should be turned down because they do not pose any sort of health and safety risk.





The top picture is after the trees were pruned and the the bottom one is how they looked last year. This shows that the work seems to have been done with as much sensitivity to the amenity value of these trees as possible. A far cry to what could have happened if the original decision to fell them had not been challenged by local people and a real indication of just how much Bristol City Council's attitude to Grove Wood and its trees has improved.

Curious Court Case

A court case took place in Cardiff in early July which was relevant to Grove Wood. Following a few calls to Cardiff by members of Snuff Mills Action Group, we have been given to understand it was some sort of an objection to the Tree Preservation Order on Grove Wood. These case details were posted on the Court's website:

Court 16
Before The Honourable Mr Justice Wyn Williams KT
Friday 3rd July 2009
10.30am For Hearing: Co/3998/2009 Bown v Bristol 10.30am For Hearing: Co/3998/2009 Bown v Bristol City Council"

The outcome of the case has now been published and here is what a news agency has sent out on the wires: BRISTOL City Council has fought off a unique High Court challenge by one of its own forestry officers who attempted to stop part of a Stapleton wood from being protected by a tree preservation order.

Arboricultural officer Jonathan Bown was sent by the council to investigate reports of tree felling at Grove Wood, Blackberry Hill, Stapleton, in January last year.

He inspected the trees allegedly felled and, after deciding that "no illegal activity had taken place", Mr Bown decided in July last year that no tree preservation order should be issued to protect 27 trees along the wood's boundary and the adjoining road.

Top judge, Mr Justice Wyn Williams, said today that the woodland issue generated "substantial local interest" and, in September last year, Mr Bown's immediate line manager, Richard Ennion, took over from him as council officer in charge of the case.

Eventually, Mr Bown was overruled by the council's planning committee which confirmed a Woodland Tree Preservation Order over Grove Wood in April this year.

Mr Justice Wyn Williams said Mr Bown did not, as a private individual, register a formal objection to the order, although he "feels passionately that a Woodland Tree Preservation Order over the whole of the wood was completely unjustified".

The judge added: "As I understand it, he has made that view known with vigour to his employers, Bristol City Council".

At the High Court, Mr Bown put forward "at least seven or eight" reasons why the order should be overturned, but the judge said that, on the face of it, many of his complaints were "not strictly legal points".

He said he had reached "the strong provisional view" that Mr Bown's arguments were "certainly not points upon which it would be proper to quash the tree preservation order" over the wood, which is part of the Stapleton and Frome Valley Conservation Area.

The judge in the end dismissed Mr Bown's case on grounds that - as he is neither the owner of Grove Wood, nor does he live nearby - he is not a "person aggrieved" who would have a legal right to challenge the council's decision in court.

To allow Mr Bown to pursue his case, said the judge, "would be to widen the category of persons permitted to make such challenges far beyond that which was intended by the legislature, as interpreted by the Higher Courts".

He added: "I am satisfied that Mr Bown has no such interest in this case. Accordingly, I conclude that he is not a person who is entitled to bring a claim...so as to seek to quash the Woodland Tree Preservation Order made in respect of Grove Wood".
(The mushroom pictured is called a lawyers wig by the way).
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You can read the judgment here in full. The Evening Post article about the case is here.

Council will carry out tree work in Grove Wood & Blackberry Hill

Snuff Mills Action Group has received the following communication regarding the tree works to be carried out in Grove Wood and on Blackberry Hill. SMAG fully supports the council in this matter and we applaud them for taking control of the situation.
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"On the 15th May 2009 a Highway Enforcement Notice under section 154 of the Highways Act was served on the owners of Grove Wood. The notice required the removal of the overhanging tree obstruction on the Broom Hill / Blackberry Hill highway and also the removal of fallen trees from the Public Right of Way No 153 running through Grove Wood.

To date, no works have been carried out by the owner.

As a result council arboricultural contractors have been instructed to carry out the works commencing on Wednesday 22nd July. An ecological survey will be carried out prior to the works, and an ecologist will also be in attendance during the treeworks to oversee the species protection issues.

An application to complete the works has been made to the Council's Planning department, Application No 09/01588/VD."
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The work began on 22/7/09 and is now complete.

More gardening!

We have yet more plants to put in to the borders in the garden and we will be working hard during June and July to contiinue to brighten up the garden with different sorts of plants. The next few dates are:
Sunday 12th July 10-12noon, Sunday 26th July 10-12noon

We have now planted the top border with new plants and we will introduce more plants in the coming weeks. We'll also be weeding and caring for the areas we have already renovated. All this work is thanks to funding from the Co-op, John Lewis and Bristol City Council and the dedication of people who care about the valley.

Please come and help and bring basic gardening tools and gloves if you can.

Community picnic - Tuesday 14th July

Come to our second annual Snuff Mills picnic on Tuesday 14th July in Quarry Field (above Snuff Mills car park) from 6.30pm.

It's a great chance to enjoy the evening sunshine (last year's was held on about the only decent day we had last summer)and chill out in an area that is one of Snuff Mills best kept secrets.

Just bring some food and as it is Bastille Day, there is a slight French theme in honour of the fact that Blackberry Hill Hospital was used to house French prisoners of war a very ling time ago, so baguettes, onions, stripey tops and berets are all very welcome.

Blackberry Hill trees pruned at last!

The overhanging trees, the same ones that would have been felled without the Tree Preservation Order now protecting them, have been pruned for the benefit of pedestrians and cyclists using the pavement. This has been a long time coming, but worth the wait, as it's a really subtle job, which hasn't spoilt the visual impact of the trees at all.

Blackberry Hill Hospital sold

It would appear that the Blackberry Hill Hospital site, adjacent to Grove Wood and overlooking a large part of the Frome valley has been sold off by the NHS. See the article below taken from a property related website:

The Homes and Communities Agency(HCA) and the North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) today announced that Blackberry Hill Hospital has been sold to the HCA, the government’s housing and regeneration agency.
Commenting on the purchase Colin Molton, Regional Director of the HCA in the South West said: “The Blackberry Hill hospital site provides an excellent opportunity to create a vibrant and sustainable new community in the heart of Bristol. We will ensure that the scheme delivers significant benefits not only to those who will come to live there but to the wider local community in terms of employment, community facilities and ripple effect it will have on other potential development sites in the area.”
The hospital, located in the Fishponds area of Bristol, has seen many changes over the last few years. With the majority of the hospital’s clinical services transferred to Frenchay and Southmead hospitals in 2005, and alternative community-based rehabilitation services provided by local PCTs, much of the 21 acre site was unused.
A proportion has now been released from NHS use. However the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust will continue to offer a range of health care services from its facility adjacent to the Blackberry site.
The HCA has identified the site as suitable for mixed-use development which when brought forward, may include shops, commercial space, community facilities and open space, as well as up to 350 new homes.
The HCA believes the development could bring significant benefits to the local community. The Fishponds area of Bristol has a need for more affordable housing and nearby Eastville has been identified as a Neighbourhood Renewal Area by Bristol City Council. It is anticipated that the Blackberry Hill development will act as a catalyst for further regeneration projects in and around the area.
As with all HCA projects, the development will include extensive consultation with local community and stakeholder groups, and will meet the HCA’s quality design and environmental standards.
In order to facilitate the smooth transfer of the remaining healthcare services on the site, the North Bristol NHS Trust will lease the site until the end of November 2009 when the Education and Training Department will transfer over to the new Learning & Research buildings at Southmead. The Trust will also continue to lease the premises for BRACE Charity for Alzheimer's research and the Regional Quality Control Laboratories until July 2010.
Sonia Mills, Chief Executive of North Bristol NHS Trust, said: “The sale of North Bristol NHS Trust’s land at the Blackberry Hill site is a significant step. The money raised from the sale will be used to help repay the historic debt and forms part of our agreed debt repayment plan.”

I would have to dispute the need for affordable housing in Fishponds as the area will be left with a glut of empty rented property when the hospital/faculty for social care closes. Fishponds doesn't suffer with a lack of such housing at the moment, with prices generally below other areas in the city. Also, surely the roads locally will be unable to handle a development of this size.
Will we find open spaces which are within the hospital boundary are also swallowed by the developers? What price the Laundry Field?

Making hay in Quarry Field

Quarry Field is through the trees above Snuff Mills car park. Each year the Council allows much of the grass to grow long for the summer. This is because it attracts many insects that are food for birds and rare bats.

The grass gets cut in summer and tractors come and make hay from it. Some people have complained about the long grass, but Snuff Mills Action Group has arranged for a central area to always be kept short so people can play football in the field.

Wickham Glen

Snuff Mills Action Group also has an interest in Wickham Glen. Nestling to the southwest of Blackberry Hill it links the Snuff Mills area to Eastville Park and is another one of Bristol's historic gems. A plaque half way down at Wickham Court commemorates the holding of a council of war between Oliver Cromwell and General Fairfax in 1645 before their attack on Bristol. Further down is a medieval pack horse bridge, reputedly Bristol's oldest. Does anyone have any information on this area?

WILDLIFE SUCCESS
Good news! The Kingfishers that live along Grove Woods have successfully reared chicks this year. Young ones have been seen in the area (see photo) and have now been chased off by their parents to find their own territories. This is thanks to everyone's efforts to keep the area free of disturbance (unlike last year), well done!

Council to clear footpath in Grove Woods and prune trees on Blackberry Hill

It's come to our attention that Bristol City Council are now going to carry out the footpath clearance and tree pruning work in Grove Woods after the owner showed no inclination to obey the notice they served upon him to do so. We understand the work will commence in the near future.

Bristol Metropolitan School works in Snuff Mills

A small group of pupils from the Bristol Met School spent the day in Snuff Mills on Wednesday 17th June clearing a viewpoint from the upper footpath across to Grove Wood. This is part of our plans with the Council to slightly open up some of the views across the river and to gradually remove some of the invading ash saplings that like to grow everywhere in the valley.

As part of their day the pupils also learnt more about woodlands and it was great to see some of them really get stuck in to the task too. Thanks to the school for spending some time working in the valley and to the Field Studies Council and Avon Wildlife Trust for funding and organising the day.

Grove Wood campaign nominated for an award

The campaign to save Grove Wood has been nominated for the VOSCUR Community Campaign for 2009. Five diverse and excellent campaigns from across the city have been nominated, so just being nominated is a real bonus for us.

Sadly, we only found out we had been nominated very recently, so we are not sure how many votes we will have picked up. Anyway, it doesn't matter as we aren't campaigning to win awards, all we care about is saving our lovely wood and getting it in to safe ownership.

Find out more about the awards here: http://www.voscur.org/brispartnership#voscurcampaigns

Grove Wood tree news

At last! Bristol City Council have issued a five day notice to enforce the clearance of the public footpath in Grove Wood and the pruning of the trees that overhang Blackberry Hill.

The five day notice can be viewed here:
http://e2eweb.bristol.gov.uk/PublicAccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=KJA04PDN00K00

Here's what it says: Blackberry Hill/Broom Hill: Tree pruning to provide adequate clearance for vehicles, pedestrians & cyclists using Blackberry Hill.
Grove Wood Public of Way 153: Clearance of fallen trees to free access of public right of way. Covered by Tree Preservation Order No. 1092. (5 Day Notice)

Snuff Mills Action Group has been consulted on the proposal and we agree with the amount of work proposed with a few refinements.

We would like the clearance of the footpath in Grove Wood done with extreme sensitivity to avoid any disturbance of protected kingfishers, otters and bats. We are asking for all logs to be stacked well away from the river and for an ecologist to be on site at all times to ensure the work is done properly.

We have also called for one lime tree on Blackberry Hill to be less severely pruned than proposed and for a couple of elms to also be pruned a little less harshly.

We are confident that with these adaptations the footpath can be cleared and the wonderful trees along Blackberry Hill pruned sensitively without damage to their great beauty.

The five day notice system means that the landowner will be required to undertake this work and if he does not do it within a reasonable time the Council will go and do it for him - and charge him for doing it. Snuff Mills Action Group would like to congratulate Bristol City Council on its much more enlightened attitude to the issues surrounding Grove Wood. Long may it continue.

Garden renovations begin

On Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th May over twenty people helped with the replanting of some of the top beds of the garden with new plants to try to brighten it up a bit.

We planted a huge range of summer flowering plants that we hope will really make the garden a cheerful place to visit and enjoy. It will take a while for the new plants to establish, so please help this happen by keeping dogs off the garden and encouraging other dog owners to be equally responsible.

The next stage will be to clear the long top bed and for the Council to help us by removing the invasive plants in the big bed with the cherry tree growing in it. Once all this is done, we will replant these areas in June.

The renovations have been made possible thanks to a grant from the Co-op and money from Bristol City Council and now an additional cheque from John Lewis that arrived this week too. Thank you.

HELP MAKE GROVE WOODS A TOWN GREEN
You can help us preserve future access to Grove Woods by filling out an evidence form to say that you have used the woods for any of a variety of pastimes. Please print the two pages below, fill them in and return them to the Snuff Mills Action Group. Grove Woods are shown in green on the map above.

A Rhino in the valley?

It was revealed at the recent Council meeting to confirm the Tree Preservation Order by John Mair, the land agent for Grove Wood, that the ownership of the wood had been transferred to Rhino Group Ltd. We've now received the publicly available documents on this company from Companies House.

Its most recent return shows that it is a company that works in 'general construction and civil engineering' as well as 'forestry and logging'. The company was originally establised in 2003 as the 'Industrial Cutting Group Ltd'.

The company is registered in Stoke Bishop and it has a single Director, Lord Houshang Jafari Najafabadi, who appears to be the only shareholder. The Company Secretary is Yaser Jafari Najafabadi. Both reside in the location where the company is registered, along with many companies.

We can find no trace of any website or other publicly available information about Rhino Group Ltd. However, we are alarmed that it no longer seems to be the intention of Mr Jafari to use Grove Wood as 'private woods and gardens' as he has claimed in correspondence with the Council. He must now clearly see his interest in Grove Wood as some sort of commercial venture. Why else would he transfer it from his own personal ownership to that of one of his companies that has interests in construction, engineering, forestry and logging?

Thanks to Jake for undertaking this research. All the information provided here is publicly available from Companies House and no privacy codes have been broken by publishing this information. To be courteous, we have not published the precise location of where Rhino Group Ltd is registered.