On Friday and Saturday, our team were out on East Street gathering the views of local people on what kinds of community spaces they’d like to see in the area. A big chunk of Bedminster, between the railway line and East St up to Windmill Hill City Farm is about to be built on. What’s proposed is mostly a mixture of 1- and 2-bedroom flats and student accommodation. At the same time, there are a lot of vacant properties on East Street. Both these situations give a chance to make space for community activity.
Last year we held some interesting conversations with a range of local stakeholders identifying six key themes everyone felt needed to be prioritised in developing the area – people, business, wildlife and green spaces, learning, arts and culture, regeneration and place and cohesion. From these themes and priorities, we developed some proposals for vacant spaces on East Street.
The ideas include new creative spaces – for music production, 3D printing, life drawing and pottery, exercise spaces – a climbing wall, exercise classes and martial arts and performance spaces – for open mic nights, gigs and poetry slams. We want to hear from local people about what they like about the ideas, what they might use and gather any ideas we’ve missed. The developments on Bedminster Green are likely to bring large numbers of students to the area, so we’re particularly keen to hear from young people.
A screengrab from the Bedminster Spaces website.
“This project is about us doing our best to make the neighbourhood a thriving, active place for everyone. We’d like to make Bedminster better, without losing its character or pushing out people that live here and love it. That’s why we’re trying to talk to as many local people as we can.”
Steve Sayers, Windmill Hill City Farm CEO
You can see the full proposals and submit your feedback via the Bedminster Spaces website. Please complete the survey and tell your friends and neighbours to help us spread the word!
The East Street development project was recently identified by a Power to Change Report as a positive example of high street development involving local authority, private and community collaboration. The full report explores the role that private sector developers can play in supporting greater community involvement in our high streets and in our town centres. You can read it here.
