Ward profiles 2021: Brislington East – ‘We need more exercise and youth facilities’

A woman walking her dog along Robertson Drive has stopped to chat to a neighbour who’s busy working on a garden filled with spring blooms.

The grassy communal patch on the corner of two residential streets in St Anne’s used to be overgrown and unloved before the gardener, who doesn’t want to be named, started to maintain it out of her own time and pocket.

“This is my gift to the community,” she tells Bristol24/7.

“One thing like that makes a huge difference,” adds her friend, saying the road has better visibility now the patch is less overgrown.

Just along from Robertson Drive, ‘St Anne’s Village Centre’ is a bustling cluster of businesses including Co-op, Star Fish Bar and the doctor surgery, for which the queue is stretching around the block on Thursday afternoon.

Residents would like to see more done with the concrete patch between St Anne’s Village Centre and the river

Beyond the car park lies a concrete patch running alongside the River Avon. Both women agree they would like to see more done with this area to make it safe and accessible for all.

“You could make that whole walkway nice with seating and bins so people could actually go there and enjoy the river,” says the gardener, adding that it would also be a prime spot for an outdoor gym.

The ward of Brislington East covers St Anne’s, including the historic St Anne’s Woods, a chunk of Brislington and a cluster of industrial estates running alongside the River Avon.

If Bristol City Council’s data is to be believed, there is a fair amount of disillusionment with local politics in the area, with only 11 per cent of people believing they can influence decision-making in their local area, compared to 18 per cent citywide.

According to the survey, 69 per cent of people in the ward are satisfied with their local area, compared to 79 per cent among the whole Bristol population.

But there is certainly no shortage of community spirit in the neighbourhood.

A bit further up the hill, on Wootton Road, a tantalising scent wafts out of a small corner unit that’s been home to Just Ryte for two years.

Just Ryte head chef Julian Walcott provided food and a place to go for young people

Busy working in the kitchen, head chef Julian Walcott says it is a friendly and strong community. In the summer, the restaurant and takeaway provided young people in the neighbourhood with free meals and a place to hang out and play games on the benches outside.

“We get a lot of teenagers chilling outside anyway so we just gave them somewhere to come and something to do on a Saturday so they’re not on a street corner,” says Julian, adding that there is a real need for more investment in facilities for young people in the area.

It’s a sentiment that is echoed elsewhere in the ward and one that also stands out in the survey data, which states only 11 per cent of people in the area are satisfied with the provision for young people, compared to 37 per cent citywide. 19 per cent of people are happy with the leisure provision in general – well below than the city average of 46 per cent.

Victory Park looks down over Brislington East

Victory Park was gifted to the people of Brislington by Mr and Mrs Cooke-Hurle to commemorate peace after the First World War

“I would like more outdoor exercise facilities, like pull up bars and dip bars in the parks,” says James Symons, who lives on Pendennis Park.

“I would also like all roads that aren’t major roads to be 20 miles per hour, enforced with more speed cameras and more cycle paths. It’s a residential area but some people drive very dangerously, which is obviously never good especially when there are so many schools and nurseries right next to the road.”

Boasting a vast array of architecture, from centuries-old country cottages to tower blocks, terraced rows and quirky detached builds, the ward borders the busy Bath Road on one side and the River Avon on the other.

It is currently represented by Tony Carey – a former Tory councillor who defected to the Lib Dems in 2019 – and Labour’s Tim Rippington, who won a by-election in January 2020 following the death of Labour councillor Mike Langley.

Green contenders Jason Truelove and David Megson-Smith will be in running on May 6, as well Lib Dem hopeful Mick O’Neill-Duff.

Despite the Conservative group having a club building on Wick Road, Brislington East is so far not included on the list of wards the Tories have confirmed candidates for ahead of the council elections on May 6. The Lib Dems are yet to confirm candidates.

Avon Valley Business Park is one of a number of business parks on the fringes of Brislington East

All photos by Ellie Pipe

Read all of our ward profiles