People across Bristol are proud of what we’ve achieved and the help we’ve given to people living lives of poverty in developing countries: Kerry McCarthy MP

Kerry McCarthy MP is urging people to go online and back a new campaign to turn a promise to tackle global poverty into a law.

The www.globalpovertypromise.com website is part of a campaign to put the Government’s promise to raise international development aid to 0.7% of national income by 2013 into legislation.

Kerry said: “People across Bristol are proud of what we’ve achieved and the help we’ve given to people living lives of poverty in developing countries. We’ve campaigned to Make Poverty History and kept our promises through this global recession. I am urging people to go online and join me in backing ‘globalpovertypromise.com’.”

Douglas Alexander, Labour’s International Development Secretary, said: “Kerry has been a passionate campaigner on global poverty and a long standing advocate of action to help people in the developing world. She was my parliamentary aide for two years, and she brought me to Bristol to meet local faith groups, NGOs, fair trade campaigners, school pupils and diaspora communities. I know how committed she and many others in Bristol are to this cause.

“Aid increases and debt cancellation have helped to get 40 million more children into school, while the number of people with access to AIDS treatment has increased from just 100,000 to over 4 million. The proportion of the world’s population living in poverty has fallen from a third to a quarter thanks to a combination of both aid and trade.

“The Tories say they want a consensus on international development but when you scratch the surface, you find that they have changed their branding but not their beliefs. When they were last in Government, the Tories halved the British aid budget while Labour has trebled it. Now they refuse to back our plan to put our promise into law.”

Parents at Ashley Down Junior School are currently being consulted about this school running the new facility, which would become Ashley Down Primary School.

The site, adjacent to the City of Bristol College, would provide an additional 210 primary places, with the intention of expanding to 420 places, subject to further planning permission at a later date.

Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Councillor Clare Campion-Smith, said: “This is a very important step towards providing more places in the north of the city for children reaching school age. Bishopston is a popular area for families and this is part of a package of measures to increase school capacity in the city. The next step is to sign contracts for the construction of new buildings. We expect to offer families the chance to apply for places at the new facility in March.”

The new school will be able to work in partnership with Gloucestershire County Cricket Club for indoor and outdoor sports and games.

With planning approval in place, work will start on site in the New Year.

The development will be carried out by Bristol Local Education Partnership www.bristollep.co.uk and follows the successful completion of two other primary schools this year by the LEP. Horfield Primary and Henbury Court Primary have both been significantly extended and refurbished.

In the last two years, the LEP has also delivered four secondary schools on time and on budget, under the council’s Building Schools for the Future programme.

Paul Shadbolt, General Manager of Bristol LEP, said: “The Bishopston development is another milestone in the LEP’s successful partnership with the City Council. We look forward to starting work with our construction partner Skanska on providing a first-class primary building for the community in north Bristol.”

The LEP has already delivered Bristol Brunel Academy, Bristol Metropolitan Academy, Brislington Enterprise College and the Bridge Learning Campus. It is extensively rebuilding and extending five other secondary schools – Ashton Park, Cotham, St Bede’s, St Bernadette and St. Mary Redcliffe & Temple – as well as providing a new building for Florence Brown Special School.

The LEP is also providing a new building for Oasis Academy Bristol, extending and refurbishing Bristol Cathedral Choir School and planning to redevelop Colston’s Girls’ School.

Bristol City Council’s Urban Design & Conservation Team will be producing a Character Appraisal for the Clifton Conservation Area. A Character Appraisal is a document that outlines the significance and special interest of a Conservation Area; it details the features that make that specific area unique. It is one of the documents that guides and informs planning policy for an area.

To start the process, Conservation Officers will be holding a public meeting on Monday 7th December, 6:00pm – New Hall, Clifton High School, College Road, Clifton where there will be a brief presentation outlining the scope of the document and detailing how interested parties can get involved. A period of public consultation follows, when comments on issues officers may like to consider should be put forward and submitted in writing to Urban Design & Conservation, 2nd Floor Brunel House, St Georges Road, Bristol BS1 5UY or e-mail to conservation@bristol.gvo.uk. The public consultation period will close on Friday 15th January 2010.

Bristol currently has 33 Conservation Areas, and the city council has a statutory duty to review their character, special interest and boundaries.

Since 2006 the city council has committed to undertake a full review of Bristol’s existing 33 Conservation Areas, through the production of a Character Appraisal and set of Management Proposals for each area. Character Appraisals are a record of features that will inform sound decisions on the future management of the area.

To date, the following Character Appraisals have been adopted:

• Stokes Croft (adopted 12 October 2007)
• Kingsdown (adopted 31 March 2008)
• Portland Square (adopted 31 March 2008)
• Redcliffe (adopted 31 March 2008)
• Old Market (adopted 31 March 2008)
• St Michael’s Hill and Christmas Steps (adopted 14 January 2009)
• Montpelier (adopted 14 January 2009)
• City and Queen Square (adopted 14 January 2009)

Further information on the public consultation can be found on our conservation pages in the planning section.

Plant a tree - save the planet

The city council’s TreeBristol team and Cycling City team are joining hundreds of other tree enthusiasts this weekend in a national tree-planting event to help claim a Guinness World Record. And members of the public are invited to come along and get involved.

Volunteers are needed to help plant trees throughout Friday, December 4 and Saturday 5 from 10am to 4pm – with the main record attempt taking place across the country between 11am-12noon on Saturday.

In Bristol the trees are being planted to improve the scenery along the new Speedwell cycle path at Ridgeway playing fields. The cycle path, which will be completed in February 2010 will link Speedwell and St George to the Bristol Bath Railway Path. The path is one of a number of new or improved Cycling City routes that allow people to get to their destination using off-road paths or bike lanes segregated from the traffic.

Russell Horsey, senior arboricultural officer at Bristol City Council, says: “This is a great occasion for community members to come out and support a world record attempt whilst also getting a chance to see the new cycle path that Cycling City are bringing to the area.”

The council are funding the planting of big “heavy standards” trees and a new hedge. Trees for Cities are also sponsoring some of the trees. The planting sessions are open to people of all ages.

There will be a similar TreeBristol and Cycling City event on the Bristol Bath Railway path on January 26, 2010.

Trees to be planted at Ridgeway Playing Fields on the Bristol and Bath Railway Path were gathered for artists Ackroyd & Harvey’s work The Walking Forest. The saplings that make-up the work had been brought by means of slow travel from all over the UK. The project formed part of *C Words: Carbon, Climate, Capital, Culture,* a season of events at Arnolfini Contemporary Arts Centre in the run up to next week’s Copenhagen summit on climate change. *C Words* curator, James Marriot, said: “A number of the projects that formed part of the *C Words *season hope to put down roots in Bristol. The planting of the trees at the Ridgeway Playing Fields is a great example of this.”

Yes... this is what we're talking about

Bristol Police Community Support Officers have now been trained to join forces with Bristol City Council staff to target anti-social behaviour, which is damaging the local environment. As part of their duties the PCSOs will now be issuing fixed penalty fines for behaviour such as littering, dog fouling and fly posting.

“Local people tell us that their first concern is to keep their environment pleasant. PCSOs who are normally out and about as part of their jobs will be adding their efforts to tackle environmental anti social behaviour across the board.” said Cllr Gary Hopkins “Among their other duties they will be on the look out for chances to encourage and enforce people to behave responsibly and not to litter or otherwise spoil the local environment.” “And in the run up to Christmas with crowds of people in the city its even more important that we keep it a clean and great place to be”.

Neighbourhood Police Inspector Mark Runacres said, “The PCSOs play a vital role in policing Bristol and help to combat key problem areas such as anti-social behaviour and underage drinking freeing up police officers to deal with other issues. We know from our meetings with the local communities that keeping the area clean and tidy is a first concern. We know also that anti-social behaviour such as littering can lead to more extreme behaviour which has an impact on residents.”

Cllr Hopkins said: “We are pulling out all the stops to ensure that Bristol is one of the cleanest cities in the UK. As well as investing heavily in street cleaning we are also enlisting all the resources we have to keep Bristol a pleasant place to be.” For example we are also training staff from many Council departments such as cleansing, waste, environmental health and pest control, to advise and encourage better behaviour and to issue fixed term penalty fines of up to £75 on the spot.”

More than 40 new PCSOs began patrolling the streets of Bristol earlier this year thanks to £1. 2 million pounds worth of funding from Bristol City Council. This increased the numbers of PCSOs to 132 in the city, meaning that the number of PCSOs in the city has grown by over a third.

Councillor Hopkins said ” This extra Council funding to radically increase the number of PCSOs across the city demonstrated our commitment to work with the other partners in our neighbourhoods to make a safer city. But the money is only part of the story. What is essential is the extra training and joint tasking that helps us all tackle joint priorities. This is only one joint scheme at present that is showing results” said Cllr Hopkins.

St Barnabas Primary

Figures released by the government today confirm that Bristol primary schools achieved their best ever test results this year.

Ten and eleven-year-olds across the city sat their Key Stage 2 Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) in May this year. Results released by the government confirm continued improvement in all three subject areas, English, maths and science and the city moved up 12 places in local authority rankings.

On the measure of children’s progress between the ages of 7 and 11 (known as contextual value added) Bristol has more schools scoring above the national average than last year. Particularly good scores were achieved at St Barnabas CE Primary School, Avonmouth Primary School, Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Knowle Park Primary and Waycroft Primary School.

The overall percentage of children in Bristol achieving level 4 or above, the level appropriate for their age, are:

• English – 76 per cent (75 per cent in 2008)
• Maths – 75 per cent (73 per cent in 2008)
• Science – 85 per cent (82 per cent in 2008)

Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Councillor Clare Campion-Smith: “Congratulations to all the children and their teachers"

Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Councillor Clare Campion-Smith, said: “Congratulations to all the children and their teachers who have worked hard to achieve these strong results. Bristol primary schools are continuing to make progress in driving up standards.

“However, it is clear that we would like to see further progress to move up again next year. We have a strong team of headteachers in place and are working to ensure that our most successful schools share best practice with other schools across the city.”

Our Lady of the Rosary School

Knowle Park Primary School has made particularly good progress with a 14 per cent increase in pupils achieving level 4 English and maths.

Headteacher Peter Overton said:“We are all delighted with these results. They are a just reward for all the hard work of last year fantastic year 6. We enjoy super support from parents and carers and have a dedicated team of staff and governors. We have taken great strides forward as a school following our amalgamation in 2007 and are determined to make sure all children in our school achieve as well, if not even better in the future.”

St Barnabas CE Primary School, Montpellier shows excellent value added scores for achievement between the ages of 7 and 11.

Headteacher Claire Waters said:“We’re delighted with our key stage 2 results this year. We feel very proud of the children’s progress and their commitment to learning. The results reflect the fantastic team work and co-operation between school staff, parents, governors and the wider school community.”

Kerry is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Carers.

Kerry McCarthy MP has added her support to Carers UK’s national carers’ rights campaign on Friday 4th December 2009.

There are over six million unpaid carers in the UK who provide care and support to family, friends and neighbours, providing unpaid care worth an estimated £87 billion each year. The Carers Rights Day campaign, run by Carers UK, seeks to increase the take-up of benefits and raise awareness of carers’ rights and the support that they may be able to get in order to protect their pensions. It might be the Carer’s Allowance, council tax discount, Pension Credit or Housing Benefit that makes a difference.

Kerry, who is passionate about carers’ rights and who will be a guest speaker at the Black Carers’ Project AGM next week said:

“It’s a real concern that carers in Bristol may not be getting all the help they are entitled to. Carers are fulfilling a vital role in society and without them the NHS and social care system would not be able to cope. It is essential that they are given information about their rights so that they get the support they need in order to plan for their futures.”

Carers UK urged carers to get in touch with its Adviceline (0808 808 7777 or www.carersuk.org) to receive a free booklet. Carers can also pick up booklets in their local Lloydspharmacy store.

Imelda Redmond, Chief Executive said,

“Many people assume that we will all automatically get a state pension, but you don’t. Pensions are built up from National Insurance contributions over the years. Many carers haven’t been able to make those contributions because of gaps in paid work and, despite their huge contribution to our society, there is a real risk that they will end up with less pension in their retirement. That is why it is so important they get advice and take steps to protect their pensions.”

To coincide with Carers Rights Day, Carers UK is publishing two new resources to help carers with advice, Caring about your pension and Looking after someone: A carer’s guide to rights and entitlements.

In May 2006 Kerry hosted a reception at Parliament for the Shared Care Network, a national organisation based in Easton, which promotes short-break services for the families of children with disabilities.

Locally, Kerry has spoken at the AGMs of the Black Carers Group and the Princess Royal Trust for Carers, which is based at the Vassall Centre in Fishponds. She has also met with Dhek Bhal, an organisation which supports carers from South Asian communities, and a group of young people from the Young Carers Network.

Kerry has been a great supporter of Carers Week. She has signed a number of EDMs in support of the campaigns, as well as attending Carers Week events in Bristol. She marked Carers’ Week this year by speaking at the 10th anniversary celebrations of Bristol Black Carers Group.

Kerry has been involved in efforts to help people with disabilities to find employment in Bristol. This summer, with fellow Bristol MP Douglas Naysmith, she attended the launch of the Leonard Cheshire Charity’s ‘Ready to Start’ campaign, which aims to support disabled people starting their own businesses. She was a judge for Bristol’s Remploy ‘Leading the Way’ awards, which recognise businesses and individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the employment of disabled people. She presented these awards in September.

The Core Strategy is part of the Bristol Development Framework, the council’s development plan. It has been prepared over the past three years with involvement from Bristol residents, businesses and stakeholders.

It sets out the council’s strategic policies for different parts of the city, identifying the type, scale and broad location of where new homes, transport improvements, jobs, shops, open spaces and services will be located in the period to 2026.

The key policy components of the Core Strategy include:

1. Protecting the existing Green Belt within the city boundaries from housing development for at least the next twelve years.
2. Implementing some of the UK’s most stringent standards for the construction of new buildings, especially concerning energy efficiency.
3. Actively supporting the development of renewable energy production through one of the UK’s most progressive energy policies.
4. Extending the obligation of developers to provide affordable housing to create mixed and sustainable communities.
5. Focussing regeneration on south Bristol, the ‘Northern Arc’ and the Inner East area (St Phillips) and providing 30,000 new homes by 2026.

Assistant Executive Member for Sustainability, Councillor Neil Harrison, said: “The Core Strategy is a vital document for driving forward our vision for Bristol. We want the city to be in the vanguard of green and sustainable development, while also recognising the need for additional affordable homes and continued economic competitiveness.”

The council is now inviting the public to make ‘representations’ on the Core Strategy. These representations will be considered by a planning inspector appointed by the Secretary of State to carry out a public examination of the Core Strategy.

The strategy can be viewed at the following locations:

• The Council House, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TR (Mon-Fri 7am-7pm)
• All Bristol City Council Customer Service Points (Mon, Tue and Thu 8.30am-5pm, Wed 10.30am-5pm, Fri 8.30am-4.30pm):
• 2-3 Waring House, Redcliff Hill, Redcliffe, Bristol, BS1 6TB
• Robinson House, Hockeys Lane, Fishponds, BS16 3HL
• Symes House, Peterson Square, Hartcliffe, BS13 0BD
• Salcombe House, 147 Salcombe Road, Knowle, BS4 1AB
• Ridingleaze House, Ridingleaze, Lawrence Weston, BS11 0QE
• Phoenix Court, Bond Street South, Bristol, BS1 3PH
• Southmead House, Greystoke Avenue, Southmead, BS10 6BQ
• All Bristol City Council public libraries during their normal opening hours.

It can also be viewed on the council’s website: www.bristol.gov.uk/bdf

Written comments can be submitted via a representation form to:

Core Strategy Consultation (CD/BH), FREEPOST BS6529, Bristol BS1 5BR or by email to bdf@bristol.gov.uk.

Representations forms will be available at the above locations. Additional copies can also be downloaded from the council’s website.

All representations must be with the council by Friday 15 January 2010. Following this the council will send the Core Strategy, supporting documents and any representations to the Secretary of State and hopes to do this in Spring 2010. The examination is then expected to take place in the summer of 2010.

On 1st November, Connecting Bristol, Bristol City Council’s Digital Partnership, launched www.greenaddict.eu – a major web site on the green use of ICT.

“ICT isn’t something you would immediately associate with being environmentally friendly, however it has quickly become an important enabler of new smarter, greener ways of living and working that will, over time, bring about major reductions in energy use and carbon emissions,” said Cllr Barbara Janke, Leader of Bristol City Council.

The website was developed as a result of an innovative study to calculate the carbon footprint of business use of ICT in the city and to develop a Green ICT solutions database. With funding from the Carbon Trust, Connecting Bristol undertook the study during the last year, which revealed among other things that the business use of ICT costs Bristol approximately £11 million per year in energy costs and produces over 67,000 tonnes in CO2.

This study is the first of its kind to provide a baseline for a city to measure progress in reducing ICT-related carbon emissions, and provides a template for other cities who wish to follow Bristol’s lead. The project will support Bristol’s commitment to achieving its carbon reduction targets, to reduce emissions by 40% by 2020 and 80% by 2050.

“Having carried out this study we have now developed www.greenaddict.eu which showcases the results of the study and will bring together Green ICT pioneers from across Bristol and Europe, providing examples of what can be achieved and encouraging greater uptake of Green ICT solutions,” said Cllr Janke.

The European ICT for Energy Efficiency Project Award was set up to promote innovation in ICT that will contribute to substantial and measurable improvements in energy efficiency, and that have the potential to provide visible and convincing showcases for investment by business, citizens or both.

“We hope that people will vote to ensure that Bristol is recognised as a leading European city for Green ICT and if we win the 20,000 Euro prize we will re-invest this in Green ICT projects for Bristol,” said Cllr Janke.

Lee Robinson returns

Bristol head to Ireland tomorrow for their second fixture of the new British & Irish Cup. The West Country side won their first match of the competition against Neath last Friday, with a young side outscoring the Welsh outfit two tries to one.

In the backs, Lee Robinson makes his return from injury for Bristol after suffering a broken nose in a training session back in October. Try scorer Sam Alford starts at scrum-half while Jack Tovey, Luke Eves, George Watkins and Chris Ashwin remain unchanged from last week.

Sam Giddens and Ben Glynn make their first starts for Bristol Rugby, with Nathan Budgett set to captain the side.

Munster A Vs Bristol Rugby, Friday 27th November, KO 19:30

Bristol XV

Jack Tovey; Lee Robinson, Luke Eves, Sam Giddens, George Watkins, Chris Ashwin, Sam Alford; Mark Irish, Ross Johnston, Mako Vunipola, Ben Glynn, Josh Brown, Nathan Budgett (C), James Merriman, Darren Barry

16. Ollie Hayes, 17. Wayne Thompson 18. Marko Mama 19. Adam Bellamy 20. Robbie Shaw, 21. Mark Davies, 22. Jack Gadd