Roadwork frustration!

Lucy Gatward of The Better food Company and I have been featured in tonight's Evening Post in regards to the cursed roadworks on Whiteladies Rd. The GBBN roadworks on Whiteladies Rd have for a long time been causing chaos for all, but as the 'timetable is slipping' the council have decided to tear up the whole street right before Christmas; the busiest week of the year... and guess what, it's the independents that are suffering again! Thanks a lot Bristol City Council.

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Roadworks-Whiteladies-Road-Bristol-just-Christmas/story-14180038-detail/story.html

Twilight Christmas Market a success!

The Whiteladies Twilight Christmas Market début was a great success! My sincerest thanks to everyone who was involved in the event. There was a fantastic atmosphere and a real sense of community! Also a Special thanks to the Blue Spirit Vocals choir for their warming performance. The event managed to raise a total of £327.80 For the Tenovus cancer research charity! It is looking very likely that the Twilight Christmas Market will return to Whiteladies Rd in 2012; bigger and better!

But before this, watch this space for news of upcoming campaigns and our special Spring event...

Merry Christmas, from all of the KWL team x


Check out the photo tab for more pics of the Twilight Christmas Market

Christmas Market vs The Weather...

We have been monitoring the weather for Thursday very closely... and have decided that the candlelit market WILL proceed as planned! It may be a little wet, it may be a little windy, but there will certainly be plenty of Christmas and community spirit! See you there!

Merry Christmas! :)

Twilight Christmas Market
Thursday, 15th December
Whiteladies Rd, (Junction of Apsley Rd: St Johns Court)

2pm-8pm

Twilight Christmas Market

Well it's snuck up on us - winter is upon us and that means not long until Christmas! Keep Whiteladies Local are busy organising an exciting Christmas event in and around St John’s Court on Whiteladies Road. With this event we hope to raise lots of money for Tenovus, the cancer support and research charity. The Christmas Market will showcase a collection of locally produced gifts and Christmas treats - we have many stalls confirmed already including talented artists and artisan food producers! We are also delighted that the Lord Mayor, Councillor Geoff Gollop, and the Lady Mayoress, Mrs Bernice Gollop will be attending the market.

This twilight celebration will be the first of its kind on Whiteladies Road, and we hope to bring together the local communities at this festive time. The market will be candle lit come dusk with festive music and bustling with late night shoppers taking advantage of the stores with longer opening hours (especially for the occasion!) Check out the Christmas tab above for listings. We look forward to seeing you there!!

2–8pm Thursday 15 December
St John’s Court, Whiteladies Road

(where Whiteladies Road meets Apsley Road)

There are still a couple of places left - If you are interested in having a table at the market please contact Helen:

kwl.helenboote@gmail.com


Check out the Facebook event -

https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=228904310492127

KWL Gets ready for Christmas!

Hello folks - Helen here another member of the KWL team! Just wanted to tell you all about an exciting event we are planning for Christmas - to promote and celebrate our beloved Whiteladies! We are hosting a Whiteladies Christmas Fair with the preliminary date of December 15th from 2pm into the evening (candle lit evening shopping - what could be better!) The stalls will be full of locally baked, sourced and produced goodies! Perfect for a few xmas gifts! We are hoping that we can get some shops near-by to stay open late for a true community event! The event will be raising money for 'Tenovus' a really worthwhile cause! Here's a link to the fb event page - take a peek!

https://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=228904310492127

Look forward to seeing you all there!!

Helen xxx

(Image credit - Salvatore Vuono)

Whiteladies...The Next Hollywood! :p

Having witnessed a fairly large film crew filming inside the better food company, I decided to follow them up the road and pester them until they gave me some info on what they were actually filming... Called 'Frail', all I got was that it is some sort of independent feature film; a drama about some girl. They unfortunately didn't offer me a role...

Costa Coffee denied on Gloucester Rd!

Congratulations are in order to Richard Leonard and the 'Love Gloucester Rd' team on their success in stopping Costa Coffee from opening! *Three cheers!*

We too have a Costa trying to open, threatening all the independent coffee shops, so let us hope we shall have the same success here!

Lib Dem's 'Declare war on supermarkets'

I have come across a recent article in the Evening Post reporting on Bristol Lib Dem's 'declaring war on supermarkets'

This theoretically should be a good thing... So why did reading the article make me feel so nauseous?! Perhaps it's the fact that the Lib Dem's have let us down time and time again in the supermarket battle here in Bristol, with the constant U-turns in granting permissions.

I cant help but feel this is just the Libs trying to jump on the band wagon not because they truly believe it is right but because they believe it will help them regain some popularity.

An old saying comes to mind: Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. We are cautious to celebrate, as this Lib notion isn't a new one.

The Evening post made some pretty callous comments following its article; clearly showing it wasn't at all impressed with the libs, hypocritical, gun toting attitude towards the supermarkets:

'Whatever there reasons, this is woolly-minded gesture politics of the worst kind.'

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Bristol-s-Liberal-Democrats-declare-war/story-13243272-detail/story.html

Bristol Pound drinks reception

Bristol Pound will be holding an informal drinks reception at the Create centre (http://www.createbristol.org/how-to-find-us.htm) on the evening of 28th July at 6pm. It will be an opportunity to talk to members of the Bristol Pound team, ask questions about the scheme and to find out how to get involved.

Sainsburys alcohol license granted

Unfortunate news, Sainsburys alcohol license was granted at the council hearing yesterday. Five representatives from Sainsburys attended vs the five members of the public who turned up to oppose including myself.

Though it has been approved, the fight is far from over... We now have two options: appeal or review. Appealing will go through the court is an expensive process and is used to appeal the council's decision, the review is as it says, a review of the licence again if we can gather more evidence and present a stronger case... So we will certainly be submitting a review, armed with the knowledge of the hearing procedures.

So much has been learned from this experience, too much to write in this one blog. So i have decided to write an account of everything that went on in the hearing, to keep for future use, and so for those who will follow the same path elsewhere, we can help by having a document of exactly how everything happens; all the procedures, do's and dont's.

KWL in Bristol's local food update

http://www.transitionbristol.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Bristols-local-food-update-July-Aug11.pdf

Burlington Rd, Street Party

This was the scene today on Burlington Rd, just off Whiteladies Rd; the locals clearly enjoying the scorching sunshine on a summer’s afternoon.
This is a fantastic reminder to every one that the Whiteladies area is more than just a shopping high street, it's a community, it's a place people call 'home'. :)

First stage a success!!

Great news! Have just received a letter from the council... Our objections to Sainsbury's alcohol licence have been considered valid! So it will now go to a licencing commitee and a hearing! Just going through all the rights and legal documents now, will update shortly with more information.

Last chance to oppose Sainsbury's alcohol licence!

We now only have today and tomorrow to submit objections of the alcohol licence application for Sainsburys. For information on how to do so please look to the prior blog entry titled 'Alcohol licence objection DEADLINE' .

Here is the link the the council's licence application page:
http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/content/Business/Licences-and-street-trading/licensing-file-storage-items/licensing-register--premises-licence-club-premises-certificates-and-provisional-statements---grant-applications.en

Judicial review for Tesco in Stokes Croft appeal granted!!!!!!

Tesco in Stokes Croft appeal has been granted a Judicial Review - so we might stand a chance at removing their permission to trade! This is something everyone needs to get behind! It is massive. It's basically a world first. Do not underestimate the possibilities here!

Here is what Ashley Councillor, Gus Hoyt, says of the permission for the judicial review:

'I strongly feel the wrong decision was made by the planning committee; they completely failed to take into account the extra deliveries a 'Tesco Express' requires. The fact that the deliveries DO occur out of hour slots they were given, demonstrates exactly how much the store respects BCC guidelines. They do not deserve to earn trade in this neighbourhood'

This is a very inspiring and encouraging piece of news, not only just for us in Whiteladies but also for the whole of Bristol! Now is truly the time to get involved and push back the flood.

Here is a link to an article today in the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jun/15/bristol-tesco-opponents-day-in-court?INTCMP=SRCH

Tesco's plans brought to light

Seems like the Evening Post are also having a hard time trying rationalise the need for five supermarkets on one street.

They have published an article today page 8, regarding the new Tesco store at the bottom of Whiteladies Rd, including a map of where all the supermarkets are situated on the road, visually showing just how absurd it is! Here is the link to the article online:

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Derelict-petrol-station-shop-flats/story-12765895-detail/story.html

Sainsbury's licence error

Having received numerous comments by people saying they saw on the notice in the Clifton Bazaar premises that the deadline for objecting the alcohol licence was actually June 9th, not the 17th, I investigated to find two adjacent notices on the window each with a different deadline date.

Following this find, I contacted the licencing authority to report how misleading this is to the public, they have said that the actual deadline IS the 17th... the notice with the 9th on it was a technical advertising error and will be removed.

Hmmmm...

'Keep Whiteladies Local' in the Evening Post

News of our campaign has now officially reached every part of Bristol as we were featured in todays Evening Post (June 10th, page 23). You can also find it online by following this link:

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Campaign-aims-stop-supermarket/story-12746588-detail/story.html

Alcohol licence objection DEADLINE

Sainsbury's have submitted their request for an alcohol licence to the council. We now only have until the June 17th to be able to oppose to this…

Here’s a link to Cotham councillor Neil Harrison’s blog advising on the best course of action:

http://cotham.blogspot.com/2011/05/sainsburys-licence-application.html

So, if we want to oppose the licence, as many people as possible need to either email or send a letter to the council with a valid reason why Sainsbury's should NOT have permission to sell alcohol. It will only take one feasible, valid objection to stall them (however, validity of the objection is at the council’s discretion, grim I know!).

Emails should be sent to Nick Carter (executive officer of licensing for Bristol city council): licensing@bristol.gov.uk

IMPORTANT! Application reference must be included, please quote: 11/01124/PREM

Please refer to one of the four areas of legitimate objection below:

• the prevention of crime and disorder
• public safety
• the prevention of public nuisance
• the protection of children from harm

Even if you do not live near by (perhaps you work in the area), please continue to send an objection anyway… the more there are, the better!

I have queried if a petition signed and printed would be sufficient but I was recommended that every one writing a personal letter would hold much more weight, so this is what we should do! Please can you spend just a few moments of your time to email or write a small letter to help us put the FIRST dent into Sainsbury’s plans on Whiteladies Rd.

PS: Don't forget to put your name and address on it!

Whiteladies is under siege...

OK, if you are not aware, Sainsbury's have planning permission to open a new store in the former Woolies/Clifton Bazaar building on Whiteladies Rd. Like a snake in the grass, they have done this very quietly whilst all attention has been on the Tesco in Stokes Croft.

They already have a large store in Clifton Down shopping centre on Whiteladies, but feel the need to open a new one just above and across the street to Tesco, clearly trying to leap frog their rivals and catch footfall heading DOWN the road. In response it seems Tesco have decided to do the same at the other end of Whiteladies road... they are trying to open a store opposite the BBC studios, thus catching the footfall coming UP the hill before people reach Sainsbury's.

It's a war... and Whiteladies road is the latest street caught in the middle of it.

If both the proposed supermarkets go ahead, there will be a total of 5 just in the small stretch between the Downs and Clifton Down.

Sainsbury's is the immediate threat as planning permission has been granted... BUT not all is lost yet! We still have time to oppose various licences! If they are wounded enough they may simply realise it wont financially be worth it and leave. Optimistic I know, but we have to try! So many struggling, local businesses are at stake!

So the first point of action is to object to the alcohol licence (which may even be 24/7?!) which they have just applied for... they are clearly looking to make massive revenue from students and late night alcohol sales. Whiteladies already has its issues with binge-drinking, especially at the weekends and all the problems that come with it! Sainsbury's will only make this worse...

We dont have much time.

Another day, another supermarket

Welcome to the home of the Keep Whiteladies Local campaign. This is a new endeavour to tackle the growing problem of the supermarket monopoly, and this site will be growing on a daily basis as the campaign unfolds. Whiteladies Rd. in Bristol has become the latest victim of supermarket creep, which could potentially see 7 supermarkets within a 2-mile stretch, which would include 3 Sainsbury's and 2 Tescos.

If you can help us in any way, please get in touch! Progress will be rapid, so check back frequently for updates.