In this update:
Parks Forum Meeting 13th February
The minutes from yesterday’s meeting will be on our website in due course, thank you to Cllr Asher Craig for taking time to join us and also to Richard Fletcher for standing in for Jon James at short notice.
On the website now is link to the presentation we received from Mary-Jane Wilshire about the plans for the renewed Parks & Green Spaces Strategy.
www.bristolparksforum.org.uk/meetings/
Don't forget - Volunteering in parks meetings Fri 19th 2.30pm & Sat 20th February 10.30am – book via evenbrite
There were questions at the meeting about mapping green spaces and areas that are short of green space, the maps produced for the 2008 strategy can be seen here, but as Richard said these will need updating as part of the new strategy.
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Position Statement on Cycling and Walking Infrastructure
A reminder that the document that Len discussed at the meeting can be seen at www.bristolparksforum.org.uk/BPFCyclingWalkingConsultationFeb2021.pdf
There are a number of feedback questions within the document, please respond with any comments by 28th February 2021 to info@bristolparksforum.org.uk
During the meeting Len showed a picture of the Bristol and Bath Railway Path. Sustrans have been working on improvements to the path between Easton and Clay Bottom.
Sustrans have issued final designs for the improvements to the path - and will be delivering them over the summer. Len notes that it is interesting to see how colours and textures have been used to inform users of locations, junctions and other features and try and influence how people use the route.
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Bristol & Bath Parks Foundation – Training for Park Groups
As most of you know, BBPF has secured a small amount of funding to develop training and resources to support parks groups and volunteers while you are not able to be out in parks.
After analysing the responses collated at the Thank You Event and through the survey, it was clear that this are the most pressing issues and the topics that will be addressed:
- Improving parks for nature
- Recruiting & retaining volunteers
- Using social media
- Fundraising
They would really appreciate it if you could register to show which you are interested in - it can be all of them! As soon as the dates for training are confirmed, they will then contact you directly.
To register your interest, please click here
Training will come in a series of interactive online training sessions and longer lasting resources in the form of videos/PDF guides. They will be bringing in experts well as finding examples of projects run by park groups to inspire you. There will also be plenty of opportunity to discuss your ideas and concerns with others.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with BBPF at info@bbpf.org.uk
Best and warmest wishes,
All the team at Bristol and Bath Parks Foundation
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Stoke Park Ranger
The application deadline for the Ranger Role for Bristol City Council located in Stoke Park has been extended to 21st February from the 14th February (due to BCC systems updates and applicants were not able to access the application pages at times this weekend).
Details:
Salary : £25,481 - £27,741 pro-rata
18.5 hours per week based mostly in Stoke Park
Closing date for applications is Sunday 21st February 2021
As a Ranger you will have a highly visual and important role in making sure our parks and green spaces are welcoming and attractive places to visit and you will help lead the landscape maintenance and management of some of Bristol’s most important green spaces and heritage estates. We are looking for someone with experience in carrying out practical landscape improvement work, habitat management tasks, woodland management tasks and grounds maintenance tasks.
Interviews are expected to take place during week on 24th and 25th February 2021. For more information please contact Mary O'Connell mary.o'connell@bristol.gov.uk.
To view job details or apply on-line click here
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Bristol WalkFest 2021
We are delighted to confirm that after the disappointment of having to cancel last year’s event, Bristol WalkFest is set to return in May.
This year the team coordinating Bristol WalkFest is Active Ageing Bristol, founded and funded by St Monica Trust and The Anchor Society, hosted by Age UK Bristol, with support from Bristol Public Health. Age UK Bristol are once again the lead partner, with funding from Bristol City Council Access Fund and Bristol Health Partners.
The WalkFest 2019 event was a massive success with 71 different local organisations collectively hosting 257 walks and events throughout May, attracting more than 7,800 walkers.
This year’s Walk Fest will run between Saturday 1st May to Monday 31st May 2021 and is a great opportunity to showcase and publicise all the great walking opportunities and groups there are in Bristol and to encourage people to walk more often.
Due to continued uncertainties around what level of COVID-19 restrictions could be in force in May, we anticipate we may have to focus on signposting people to walking routes and groups, walking related activity providers and online events. However, situation permitting we very much hope the festival can also continue to promote a choice of smaller group walks and activities, even if they have to implement measures to comply with relevant guidance for COVID-19 safe activities.
One very exciting announcement we can make now is that Bristol City Council Sustainable Transport team, in partnership with Age UK Bristol, will launch a FREE walking app at the start of WalkFest. It will be a Bristol section on an already established and successful app called Go Jauntly. They have done similar work across England with some great projects in London and Southampton.
The platform will be used by residents to access walks throughout the year and act as a virtual home for WalkFest 2021 walking routes. The hope is to bring together a host of walks from communities, organisations and individuals across Bristol, as the platform can be used by anyone to create a walk. The walks can be separated into categories and themes, for example, history, family friendly, retail, short walks etc. so we will be hoping for a real mix that can be enjoyed by all.
The app can be downloaded on Android or IOS from App Store and Google Play. To showcase the features and demonstrate how to create walks we have organised a webinar on 23rd February 11.00-12.00. If you would be interested in finding out more on this, please please click here to register
The webinar is open to anyone so please feel free to share with any groups or individuals that might be interested in learning more about the project or adding walks to the platform.
We will be back in contact with you again shortly to ask if you would like to include a walk, event (virtual or one that could be delivered within Tier 1-3 restrictions) or opportunity for the 2021 festival, so have a think about how you may want to support the event and either get in touch with us at info@bristolwalkfest.co.uk or wait for us to be back in touch soon to follow up and discuss more.
We would also really appreciate if you could pass this information onto any groups, contacts or other organisations you think would be interested in being involved in Bristol WalkFest 2021.
Many thanks for your support to date and we look forward to speaking with you soon!
Best wishes,
The WalkFest Team
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Bristol Parks and Grass Cutting - Update
I gave an update on this at the meeting:
Following the meetings of the Parks Forum Committee and other interested members, and the feedback from Friends groups about grass cutting in Bristol Parks & Green Spaces we sent the key issues identified to Parks Department for their response and to form the basis of a meeting with us.
The committee met with Parks representatives and has a better understanding of the work that the Council and its Parks Department are doing in the short and long term.
There is recognition of the need to ensure information availability and flow (in both directions) and to improve access to general information about the grass cutting regime and meadow / grassland management now and in the future.
We are working with the Parks Department on this and will bring more details to a future meeting.
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Rob Acton-Campbell
Bristol Parks Forum
www.bristolparksforum.org.uk/vision/
Due to the Coronavirus BPF normal meetings are cancelled until further notice but we are holding meetings by Zoom – provisional dates for the rest of 2021 are Saturdays 15th May & 16th October.
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