Brislington Greenway Given the Green Light at Planning!
April 4, 2022
We’re proud to be located in the Brislington ward of South Bristol, BS4 - right on the edge of the area, but with close personal links. Sam lives there, and is a passionate advocate of ‘Practising what we Preach’ - getting involved in community action and activity, and using our platform as a business to support positive endeavours to create change to our built environment. We first got involved supporting change in the area during the 2016 Brizzlewood Event, which was held as part of the City’s ‘Make Sundays Special’ programme. We ran a stall inviting people to say what they loved most about the area, what they disliked, and what they’d love to see happen! We received hundreds of responses, and gathered them in a presentation to take back to the community via the Neighbourhood Partnership. Off the back of this, and along with local councillors and residents, we helped to form the Community group, ‘SPRING’ - the Sandy Park Road Improvement Neighbourhood Group.
SPRING became a great platform for members of the community to start taking action, making plans, organising events and bidding for Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds to enact change. As a practice, we sponsored events, and facilitated some amazing UWE Architecture and Town Planning Students to undertake ‘Live Projects’ through the office, and using SPRING as the client organisation. They investigated whether a Neighbourhood Development Plan would be appropriate for the area, and if so, where, and for what. Another pair conducted amazing research on the Grade 2 Listed Tram Depot, whilst another team of Masters Students supported work for the Brislington Green Trail. One of the ideas to emerge out of all this activity was for a Brislington Greenway - promoting active travel and community use of the abandoned former railway link through the area.
Local Councillor Andrew Varney worked closely with Studio Mothership director Ken Borg, both key members of SPRING, to develop a powerful campaign to support this fantastic idea. Years of dedication from Andrew, and Councillor Jos Clark have now paid off, with Planning Permission granted recently to create a safe Cycle and footway along the route, along with 50 container meanwhile workspaces. We’re proud of the small part we played in this process; and pleased to reflect on the power that planting ideas can have. In the right conditions, great ideas grow, and make our communities even better places to live, work and play.