Planning permission has been applied for the whole Park, and is currently being considered. The plan submitted is here. It is due to be decided upon by the end of April. The work has been put out to tender, and prices are due to come back in the first week of April.

BT have now removed the telephone kiosk, and we plan to infill the hole and match the wall to the surrounding when funds allow.

The Community Cashback fencing is now installed, and as the tendering prices came in below budget, the £10,000 has also funded new drop bollards at the entrance and new self-closing gates at the pavement to prevent children running out on the road, and dog signs for the playground.

The fence is not as high as we would have liked, so we are working with the council to raise it; the funding had to be spent by March, so they ran out of time to get planning permission for a higher fence.

We met with the Council this week to discuss progress, and may have made a breakthrough on the issue of the land strip within the Park that is not owned by BCC. As this land has been untended for 9 years, BCC legal department had been advising that we do not contact the owner and wait for a further 3 years to enable them to apply for possession. BCC have now changed their stance, and we are hoping to meet with the owner of the strip soon. We aim to secure their permission for work on their land, which will enable us to secure the Biffaward £50,000, and enable us to continue applying for further grants. Without their permission, grant funds cannot be spent on their land.

We are currently working hard on the Lottery bid to reclaim the rear wasteground, which is due in on May 12th. This is a standalone project on council land, so will go ahead regardless of whether we manage to resolve the ownership / permission issue of the land strip.

We are still waiting for a reply to our letter from Jon Rogers about the chronic underfunding of Montpelier’s parks. Hugh Holden of the Bristol Parks Forum also raised the issue with Tracey Morgan, the new manager of the Parks department. If you feel like dropping them your own note about it, their email addresses are: jon.rogers@bristol.gov.uk and tracey.morgan@bristol.gov.uk.

Happy Easter!

Simon, Shiona, Will and Piers

The Parks Department have been dragging their heels and giving both groups the run around.  We have written this letter to Jon Rogers to get him to try to provoke some action from them.

We will update here when we hear back.

26% of CO2 emmissions come from domestic buildings with half of this simply leaking out through lofts and walls. It would be great to build a team of people who can support others to make their homes less wasteful. Take a look at the Community Energy Efficiency Programme post for more information.

First, some good news.  Montpelier Park has been accepted through to the second round of another grant application, for a further £50k from Biffaward.  If successful, this would give us a total of £157k.  The work on the Park fencing is due to start in March, and the telephone box should also be removed by then.

Next, the more tedious news.  In order to qualify for the £100k in grants from Biffaward and the Lottery, the Park Group has to submit some formal documents.  These include a constitution, details of elected officials and evidence of an AGM.  We NEED to have these to get the grants.

This is where we need you!

I’m afraid AGMs fill me with fear and loathing, so unless you object (and please do feel free to), can I suggest we keep the formalities to an absolute minimum?

Transition Montpelier are holding an open meeting on Wednesday 10 February at 8pm in the old Fairfield School on Fairfield Road.  They have kindly let us meet here at 7.30pm to hold our AGM, elect officials, pass the constitution and briefly discuss what else needs to be done. This way, we guarantee to finish by 8pm, and we fulfil a large part of our responsibilities for these two grants.  If you would like a more involved discussion, you are welcome to stay on for the TM meeting where an hour has been set aside for the Green Spaces group to break off and we can spend more time on the interesting things.

Here is a draft consitution for you to comment on below; this has been drawn up to comply with the funding bodies’ requirements and is currently being checked by them too.  If you are interested in standing for a post or have AOB please let me know; we will be electing Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and up to three Executive Officers.

I can’t emphasise enough how useful it will be to have you there.  We really need your support and if you can come it would be fantastic.

Cheers,
Shiona

The main criterion that needs to be fulfilled is planning permission for the design, which will hopefully be submitted in January.  Work could then be completed on this phase by Autumn 2010.  The Lottery requires Montpelier Park Group to draw up a formal constitution and hold an AGM, which we are hoping to do in January; date to follow as soon as possible.

We are awaiting confirmation of the exact amount, but hope it will be about £10,000.  This money has to be spent by March 2010, and we have agreement from Bristol City Council that it will be delivered by then.   This will also hopefully help us secure further funding both inside and outside BCC, as it demonstrates both local support for the project and national acknowlegement of its value.

If you are interested in helping us hunt down more funds, please get in touch!