Agenda item

The Community Resources Manager outlined that an overall sum of £268,196.26 was available to Area Committee 1, which broke down as follows:

•            For General AC1 expenditure: £109,081.32

•            For Lawrence Weston ND Plan expenditure: £159,114.94

It was noted that:

1.      If the Committee approved all the requests for CIL funding the Committee would be £78,079.75 overspent, and £134,114.94 would remain for Lawrence Weston ND Plan expenditure.

2.      The figures noted for cost of delivery at the time of the meeting were higher than those quoted in March 2023 due to the rising costs of goods and inflation.

3.      Proposal AC1PO11 was not being progressed as officers were unable to support the proposal.

4.      Proposal AC1PO13 had a query against it as permission needed to be sought from the landowner which was in dispute.  At present, no new or improved infrastructure would be provided.

The Committee discussed whether they agreed, in principle, to overcommit funding in order to support all the projects on the basis that further funding would be available the following year.  Some Councillors highlighted that some projects may not have put forward this year but hoped to be supported next year and on that basis it would be unfair not have funds available.  It was agreed by majority to support a maximum over commitment of £20k.

The projects were discussed in the following order:

AC1PO12 - Brandon House Community Room

Councillor O’Rourke reported the proposal for a room at Brandon House be modified to be used by the residents to come together for uses such as homework sessions, crafts, meetings and to help develop a residents association.  Full funding of £10,506 was requested to bring facilities up to the required standards.

AC1PO04 – Signage for Elgin Park/ Lower Redland Road Junction and AC1PO5 - Enhancement of Road Safety and Air Quality – St Johns Primary School

Councillor Denyer championed the proposal to improve signage and make it harder for drivers to ignore the “no entry” at this junction, and to make changes outside the school entrance to prevent pavement parking in order to improve safety for pedestrians including young children.  There had been a lot of support for the proposals at the Neighbourhood Forum meetings.  The proposal included use of bollards and changes to the shape of the pavement.  The Committee noted that a bid to the School Streets Scheme had not been successful.

AC1PO6 -  Henleaze Tree Replacement

The bid of £15k had been outlined at the time of submission but due to inflation it was noted that the same proposal was now likely to cost £19,791 for the same number of trees.  Councillors were supportive of increasing the amount of the grant as opposed to decreasing the number of trees.  It was noted that the planned sites for the trees had not benefitted from development funding previously.

AC1PO1 – Blaise Outdoor Gym

On behalf of Friends of Blaise, officers had been asked to seek funding from S106 money, and also the Public Health Sports Team.  The process for awards from the Public Health Sports Team grants was yet to be decided and officers would report back regarding success.

It was noted that the proposal now required £33,900 with inflation added (£41k for the total project).  There was question over the location of the proposal being in the Area Committee 2 wards, however, it was also noted that AC2 had the least funding of all the Area Committees and the residents of AC1 would benefit from the outdoor gym.

Councillors were minded to award less funds than those asked for on the proviso the Public Health Sports Team support the remainder.

AC1PO7 – Essential building improvements to Pooles Wharf Outdoor Activities Community Centre

The Councillors were supportive of the application as it was made up of various funding sources.  It was noted that the project benefitted families from all over Bristol.

AC1PO2 – Warhorse Memorial

The bid was for a war memorial sited on the nature reserve.  An old non-devolved S106 award was possible under the requirement of ‘nature conservation’ leaving a request for £5k from CIL.

AC1PO3 – Restoration of Victorian Drinking Fountain

The proposal to reconnect the water supply meaning access to fresh clean water.. A feasibility study had not yet taken place due to the specialist work so the bid was approximate.  Councillors were concerned that the project could become difficult due to the historical status of the fountain and the reality of whether it was possible to link with drinking water. There was some scope for community fundraising

AC1PO13 – Portway Safety Barrier on Open Space

The application requested a barrier to aid safety on the A4 Portway roundabout.  It was suggested that the long term solution was for shrubs to provide the barrier, with a fence in the short term whilst the shrubs were established.

AC1PO14 – Measures to address pavement parking on Portview Road

The proposal involved bollards along the length of the footway between Catherine Street and Pages Mead as a temporary measure whilst a resolution was sought to improve the footway.

AC1PO15 – Parking provision on Meere Bank

This proposal involved only the three Lawrence Weston Ward Councillors and proposed measures to resolve damage to grass verges at the location.

AC1PO8 – Speed Calming on Apsley Road

This bid was submitted following safety concerns due to the volume of traffic using Apsley Road between Whiteladies Road and Pembroke Road.  Residents were calling for assistance and applied for £60k to deliver a scheme.  During discussions it was ascertained that delivery of the scheme would be unlikely during the current year but at the minimum improved signage and line painting would provide some limited impact (which would cost approx. £10k).

AC1PO10 – Arlington Garden Accessibilty Works

It was highlighted that the issue of ownership of the land had caused some confusion, however Councillor Denyer confirmed that it was not owned by the residents nor by the Council – there is no recorded owner by the Land Registry.  The residents were however in the process of applying for it to become a Town Green so that maintenance was possible.  There was some S106 funding available for that location.

Following assessment of all the applications, the following was agreed: