(from SHIRE March 2001)
Do you want to see an improvement in the quality of life in Shirehampton? The Public Hall Management Committee has recently commissioned a Community Profile of Shirehampton. A public meeting was held on Wednesday 31 January to present this report and to invite discussion for future action. The meeting was chaired by David Thomas. Ian Bone gave a summary of the findings and Sarah Osborne gave an outline of how a Community Development Trust might be useful to our needs. Ian's Report was intended to provide factual information about various aspects of life in Shirehampton so that we know what might need to be done to improve things. He talked to lots of people in different organisations and as individuals and made use of as much information as he could from census returns and official statistics. The report is well worth reading in full and you can see it at the Library or get if from the Public Hall. Copies were given out to those who came to the meeting.
The main recommendations were as follows:
1. If different organisations get together to work on projects important to our community, this gives more credibility and more muscle for getting funding. It is more likely to make things happen.
2. Safety in the area of the High Street and The Ridge would be improved if there was something more interesting for young people to do instead of hanging around and causing damage.
3. Low incomes, premature death and health inequalities show that Shirehampton needs to find a way of getting its fair share of available government and local authority funding. At the moment we do not seem to be poor enough or sick enough to get much help!
4. We need to build an inclusive community that values and helps everyone. Sarah Osborne represents BACEN (Bristol Area Community Enterprise Network) and she explained some of the details of ways that working in partnership might work in practice by means of a Community Development Trust. This is a more formal way of working in partnership that can apply for funds and manage bigger projects than would be possible for small individual groups. The meeting was then opened to the floor for comments. To begin with the report that Portway School might lose its Sixth Form was challenged by Cllr Lukins. It is by no means certain. There was also discussion of the school's bid to be a Centre for Sports Excellence which again remains undecided. Nicola Berry, Assistant Head of Portway Community School said that the school is committed to working in partnership with the local community and she is liaison officer for this.
A spokesman for Penpole Tenants Association agreed that action was needed to stop the problems with antisocial behaviour in the area around The Ridge, but he expressed concern about being pushed too quickly into a Community Development Trust before people really knew what this was and whether it would achieve anything.
Mrs Tillett, a representative of the High Street Traders Association agreed with the view that something needs to be done about crime in the Village. Closed circuit TV or video cameras had been suggested but this would not necessarily solve the problem and might not be cost effective. Janet Thomas pointed out that there are already a number of strong organisations in Shirehampton but that individually what they can achieve is limited. Working together would be more effective. There is a strong tradition of self sufficiency and independence in our community but we could build on this by working together.
The bottom line is that if YOU want a better quality of life don't just talk about it, join whatever local group appeals to you, make some new friends and let's start working together.
J. Thomas