Giving the public the real say on the future of Shire's green spaces

Last night I was at a meeting discussing the future of Shirehampton's Daisy Field and part of the Lamplighters land under the Council's Parks and Green Spaces Strategy. That's the strategy whereby areas of land are identified as 'low value', sold off for housing, in order to enhance remaining areas.

The hoards of people pictured here, however, are not the meeting. They are members of the public who were unable to get into the meeting - and to whom an unfortunate council officer gave an impromptu talk and took questions.

For a full version of what happened, read my Daily Mail blog HERE

But in short the whole thing has ignited great public anger -

1. Because asking the people of Shirehampton to sell off the green space they have left in order to 'enhance' the rest with things like sports facilities and a swimming pool, when there is the scar of the demolished old pool, and the mausoleum of the derelict Robin Cousins centre down the road seems to many absurd to the point of being insulting.

2. Trying to alleviate the public's concern about democratic procedure by asking the public to wait until the formal public consultation to put forward their views does not help: People in Shirehampton have objected in the strongest possible terms to so many decisions about their community to apparently no avail, that , as one lady put it, people wonder "What kind of public objection would it take to change decisions under consultation?"

3. In all the opinion gaining exercises the Council is conducting as to what people in Shirehampton want done with their green space, the overwhelming and simple answer is "Please, please just leave it alone! but reopen our closed facilities and maintain our land better". That's the answer. But it doesn't seem to be sinking in...

If you feel strongly about this issue, you can sign a petition online against the designation of The Daisy Field and Lamplighters land as 'low value' by clicking HERE.

Henleaze Fair success - and over £100 raised for new Youth Group

I don't often sit down to get my nails painted, but when all proceeds are going toward the new Henleaze Youth group, set up by Henleaze mum Liz Radford ( pictured in the white t-shirt) , and the nail painters were local young people, well, how could I refuse?

They were amongst the many groups, charities and local crafts-people who had a stall at St. Peter's Church community fair in Henleaze, which I opened at the weekend. The fair raised funds for the church and continuing activities in the community, as well as for a variety of local and third-world charities.

It was particluarly good to see young people taking the initiative and raising money for their own venture. There was a water-tattoo stall run by some very young helpers as well as the nail-painting. The stalls raised over £100 in a matter of hours, and provided many happy customers with some very exotic nails indeed.

Please sponsor me and support St.Peter's Hospice

I've been putting it off and putting it off, since training has been going so diabolically. But I've finally bitten the bullet and committed myself to running the Bristol Half Marathon for St. Peter's Hospice.

The work that St.Peter's does really cannot be over-estimated. They provide support and care not only for those at the end of their lives, but also their families. And in fact, the network of loyal support that St. Peter's has forged through its work is a bit like a family itself.

But St. Peter's needs donations like yours to keep going with its work. So please, even if it's just a tiny amount, please do sponsor me in running the Bristol Half Marathon 2009 for St. Peter's Hospice. Thank you.

Local Bristol Girl writes and performs play

I've just come back from watching a rehearsal of a play written by local girl Rae Piper ( That's Rae, in the hoop.)

The play is called "A Sense of Shakespeare" and in fact, it is so good that I assumed it was written by some very well known playwright or something. Until Rae let on it was her.

I'm not going to let on much more about the play except to say it is not Shakespeare as you've seen it before, it is superbly acted ( if the rehearsal I went to is anything to go by), involves some extraordinary acrobatics ( see above) and some very catchy songs and dynamic dance routines. I'm cussing myself for not having the presence of mind to take a video on my digi-camera. But... I guess that means you'll just have to go along and see for yourself!

It's on at : Circomedia, St. Pauls Church, Portland Square, Bristol BS2 8SJ

On 24th, 25th 26th June - that's THIS Wednesday, Thursday , Friday

Tickets cost a bargain £9, £6 Concessions,
you can get them by calling the box office: 0117 922 3686
Or online at www.colstonhall.org

I've got one thing to say about this play - GO AND SEE IT!


















Rae Piper and the cast, and me.

If policy is out of touch, should Ministers do work experience?

It's not only the expenses row that shows how distant Westminster politics has become from normal life ( although it's a pretty strong example) - it's also the amount of legislation made that bears so little relation to the real problems and how things actually work.

So should Ministers with portfolios of responsiblity have to do work experience?
Read my Daily Mail blog on it HERE.

Academy conference in Bristol

--I spent this morning at an academy conference, organised by the Merchant Venturers ( who sponsor two very different academies- the Merchants Academy at the old, seriously challenged Withywood School, and Colstons Girls school, an independent becoming an academy.)

Bristol's education situation ( i.e. not good) has meant that it has been a focus for the academy programme, and the city now has 8 academies up and running. Huge amounts of energy, effort, innovation and talent have gone into determining that these academies are a success. I've so far visited the City Academy , Bristol, Merchants Academy, and new Colstons Girls academy and have already blogged about the opening of Brightstowe academy. The thing all these schools have in common is a determination from the sponsors and the heads to make things work, regardless of what has gone before.

Shadow Schools Minister, Nick Gibb (in the middle of me and Trevor Smallwood, the master of the Merchant Venturers) came down to talk about Conservative policy towards academies, to give the sponsors some idea of what they might expect under a Conservative Government. Nick described some of the ways a Conservative Government would halt the erosion of the academy concept by the Brownites ( who always hated Tony Blair's reforms) and return academies to the original model -(which was an idea based on Conservatives' City Technology Colleges) as well as allow primary schools to become academies. Sponsors gave feedback and, most valuably , their perspective on what makes a good school, and what politicians can do to support their efforts.

It was a fascinating day. I have often felt that one of the problems with politics is that policy makers often don't get enough input from the real world, people who live and work in eg. education; and that too much policy is made on bureaucratic theory. Today was a feast of information, experience and expertise for anyone thinking about the future of education - of the city and of the nation.

Resurrection for Shire's Tithe Barn

It's become a familiar story: Despite local protest, historic sites of enormous local interest get sold off to become yet more blocks of flats. The property developers move in, and gone is a unique heart of a local community - forever.

So it really is a burst of fresh-air when an historic community facility gets bought - not by property developers, but by a community group who want to pump new life back into it, for the community.

That's exactly what's happened with Shire's Tithe Barn. It has been bought from Bristol Charities by the PCC of St.Mary's Church, Shirehampton.

The Barn was opened for the first time in ages, to hold an open day for local people to come in and have an input into how they would like to see The Tithe Barn renovated and put to use.

I escaped from some arduous pre-local election leaflet delivery to have a look round and to have a chat with the dynamic Rev. Canon Christine Froude, vicar of St. Mary's church. She is hoping that the barn will be used to host a variety of community outreach initiatives, including social events, clubs, advice services and counselling, as well as additional church services for the ever growing congregation of St.Mary's.

Good luck - It will be a refreshing to have new additional facilities coming into Shirehampton, instead of watching yet more get stripped away.

Read my Daily Telegraph article on MPs Expenses

The Daily Telegraph rang up and asked what I felt about the expenses fiasco as a prospective MP. You can read what I wrote about it HERE

Leukemia Research Charity Football Match

We couldn't have asked for better weather for the charity football match for Leukemia Research, on Sunday at the Port of Bristol Sports and Social Club. The event was organised largely thanks to Liz and Phil Radford and their dedicated team of helpers and was a huge success. Matches took place throughout the day , with the winning team playing an all-star cast of celebrity footballers, including our very own Geoff Twentyman.

But it wasn't all about football. There were refreshments (including superb home-made curry) and the stall was so busy that I was drafted in to help out. Though I'm not sure that 'help' is what the organisers might have called it...

We are still waiting to hear how much we raised, but a huge congratulations to everyone who made it such an enjoyable, and successful day.

Help support David from Brentry in the Special Olympics

I was tipped off by Rose, who seems to know just about everything that's going on in Henbury, to go into the flower shop on Crow Lane and talk to the lady in there whose son has autism and plays judo with the KoDachi Special Needs Judo Club in Southvill.

So I did. It turns out that David Woodland ( pictured, middle, ) has autism has been offered a place at the Special Olympics. It's a huge achievement and fantastic news - except for one thing: As anyone who has done international sporting competition knows, it can cost. And David and his family really need help to cover the costs of all the kit, travel and accommodation of the Special Olympics GB, in July, and in the international competitions David has to attend in leading up to it. They told me they'll have to raise around £800-£1000. They've already given up holidays, luxuries and going out to support David, and David has done a sponsored judo-throw to raise funds.

But there's still a long way to go. If you'd like to sponsor David, either get in touch with me, (charlotte@charlotteleslie.com) or the KoDachi Special Needs Judo Club secretary Helen Goodchild on 01275 874547. Or alternatively, go into the flower shop on Crow Lane to find out more...