Bristol, UK
- www.bbc.co.uk Bristol City Council under fire for art collection worth £134m - BBC News
Figures show the council owns 380,000 works of art, but 90% of it is hidden away.
Ita a measure of priorities that the council can't pay it's staff properly to organise the streets to be swept or rubbish to be collected but can hoard millions of pounds worth of art.
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Tower named among UK’s worst new buildings
Another well deserved honour for our recently departed "mayor".
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Former mayor named honorary industrial professor Bristol University
He'll be lecturing in How to get money out of big industry whilst in a position of power starting next year.
- www.bbc.co.uk Bristol City Council appoints interim chief executive - BBC News
Paul Martin was previously the chief executive at two London councils and the Government of Jersey.
- www.bbc.co.uk LSTD: Love Saves The Day festival’s clampdown on drugs - BBC News
Organisers have introduced a range of measures to deter people from taking illegal drugs.
> LSTD: We will not tolerate drug use. > > Bristol: Hold my pills....
- www.bbc.com Bristol City councillor disqualified weeks after local election - BBC News
The primary school teacher can't be a councillor because she works for a council-run school.
>Ms Vittori said she was "unaware" about about the potential conflict of interest, adding it is a "great shame that this did not come to light earlier in the process".
🤦♂️
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Latest images revealed for Temple Island plans
Bristol Council have decided not to build Bristol arena in Bristol but in the neighbouring county. Instead they're guaranteed rent for forty years to some landlords. Makes sense 😅.
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Bristol’s planning department put into ‘special measures’
>there are respects in which (Bristol City Council) are not adequately performing their function of determining applications for planning permission
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BBC News - Restrictions on new Bristol bars and clubs to be kept
www.bbc.co.uk Restrictions on new Bristol bars and clubs to be keptThe rules mean that a new licensing application within the designated area is presumed to be refused.
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Councillors vote down Rees’ final budget after bad-tempered debate
thebristolcable.org Last council budget under Bristol mayor Marvin Rees voted downThe Greens came under fire for voting against Labour’s plans without providing alternative council budget solutions.
The Greens came under fire for voting against Labour’s plans without providing alternative solutions. With councils are going bankrupt elsewhere in the country, the stakes are high as Bristol prepares to ditch its mayoral system.
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Council says it’s now safe for residents to return to Barton House
www.bristol247.com Council says it's now safe for residents to return to Barton HouseThe tower block was evacuated in November
Residents of Barton House are able to return to their homes from Tuesday following the publication of a number of reports confirming that the building is safe.
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Halls Well
An article on the funding of the refurbishment of the Bristol Beacon
- www.bbc.co.uk Barton House: Council aware of weaknesses a year before evacuation
Bristol City Council thought it could "mitigate" the risks of a tower blocks structural issues.
- www.bbc.co.uk Barton House: Residents evacuated from tower block fear returning over safety concerns
People evacuated from Barton House in Bristol due to safety concerns are worried about going back.
- www.bbc.co.uk Restrictions on new bars and clubs could end - BBC News
A policy stopping new bars and takeaways from opening in Bristol city centre is set to be scrapped.
- www.bbc.co.uk Outcry as council demands slice of traders' income - BBC News
Bristol City Council could charge up to 15% of mobile traders' income under new plans.
> "I was told in December the ground rent would be increased. Then I was informed the pitch was also being put up for tender," he said. > > "Finally we were told a successful application for this tender would also be the one presenting the highest percentage figure of annual turnover they were willing to give. > > "It's so very short-sighted. The council is sucking the life out of Bristol."
- www.bristol247.com Derelict hotel could finally be demolished
The building opposite Temple Meads was once one of Bristol's grandest hotels but has become increasingly dilapidated in recent years
"finally"
- www.bristol247.com Coffee van owner urges council to drop plans to take slice of his profits
Small businesses who trade from mobile spots in parks and the Harbourside could face rent hikes
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Missing child
Copied from the Bristol subreddit https://old.reddit.com/r/bristol/comments/194r3n8/missing_child_please_help_find_trinity/
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Climate activists let down tyres of electric car
www.bbc.com Climate activists let down tyres of electric car - BBC NewsThe owner says he found it "comical" after a leaflet was left saying he drives a "gas guzzler".
Bristol has gone full circle 🤣. Your car is damaging the environment.... err it's electric.
- www.bristolworld.com Coffee van could be forced to move after council asks for slice of profits
Mi Café Su Café has traded on the Bristol to Bath Railway Path in Fishponds since August 2020
Bristol council once again proving that Bristol isn't a good place to do business.
- www.bbc.co.uk Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees honoured with an OBE - BBC News
Community workers, an MP and a former - and current - mayor are among West country recipients.
It appears all you need for an honour is to be an affront to local democracy.... sigh. 😢
- www.bristolworld.com Bristol independent gift shop to close, citing CAZ among factors
Frankly's Helen Symonds says the Clean Air Zone has been 'really bad' for her business
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Man in charge of Bristol's housing 'wasn't told' of 2017 tower block warning letter
www.bristolpost.co.uk Bristol's housing chief 'wasn't told' of 2017 tower block warning letterThe very same day the government sent a letter warning Bristol to check their tower blocks, the chief executive at City Hall resigned
The man in charge of Bristol’s housing in 2017 said he was not passed a letter from the government warning of safety concerns with tower blocks like Barton House - which was sent on the same day the city council’s chief executive suddenly resigned.
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Barton Hill tower block emergency evacuation
thebristolcable.org Barton House residents' lives turned upside down after evacuationKicked out of their homes under chaotic and confusing orders, Barton House tenants face an uncertain future as their homes are deemed unsafe.
A report from November 15th on the Barton Hill tower block evacuation.
- www.bbc.co.uk Decision to axe 40 Avon firefighters announced to save money
The Fire Brigades Union have called the plans by the Avon Fire Authority "dangerous and irresponsible".
- www.theguardian.com Call to shut down Bristol schools’ use of app to ‘monitor’ pupils and families
Exclusive: Think Family Education app gives safeguarding leads easy access to pupils’ and relatives’ contacts with police and child protection
Criminal justice and antiracist campaigners have raised concerns over an app being used by schools in Bristol to “monitor and profile” pupils and their families.
- www.bbc.co.uk Bristol Black Lives Matter march organiser admits fundraiser fraud
Xahra Saleem took money from a fundraising page set up after Edward Colston's statue was pulled down.
An organiser of a Black Lives Matter protest has admitted taking money from a fundraising page set up before the toppling of Edward Colston's statue.
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Report into Bristol underground says it is needed and can be done - if it's mostly above ground
www.bristolpost.co.uk Exclusive: Report into Bristol underground says it is needed and can be doneMetro Mayor Dan Norris has said Bristol 'won't get an underground', but the latest report from his team recommends going further with a plan for a hybrid underground-overground project
A plan for a new mass rapid transit system that involves some underground tunnels under Bristol is needed, is achievable and work towards creating it should continue - that’s the conclusion of a report written by senior transport chiefs at the West of England Combined Authority. The report - a draft of which has been seen by Bristol Live - is to be submitted to a key meeting of WECA on October 6, and makes it clear that while it will be expensive and cause a lot of upheaval, Bristol, Bath and the wider West of England needs it and it ‘can be delivered’.
- www.bristol247.com New wetland habitat near Bristol opening to public next month
Hallen Marsh will be turned into a wetland habitat as part of flood defence works
A newly created wetland habitat north of Bristol is due to open to the public and birdwatchers next month.
The large wetlands includes four kilometres of new public footpaths and has already proved popular with different species of birds.
Hallen Marsh, north of Avonmouth and Lawrence Weston, has been turned into a wetland habitat as part of flood defence works led by the Avonmouth and Severnside Enterprise Area.
- www.bbc.co.uk Repair bill for M32 bridge in Bristol goes up to £200m
National Highways now says it wants to expand the scope of repairs to the city centre flyover.
😬
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Fury as South Bristol school scraps all its A-levels hours before start of term
www.bristolpost.co.uk Fury as Bristol school scraps all its A-levels hours before term starts"It's not good enough. They are failing the children here, they have let them down again" said one local councillor
Parents, teenagers and local councillors have been left furious after a South Bristol school scrapped its entire academic A-level provision less than 24 hours before the courses were due to start.
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Work to begin to complete the Old Market ‘gap’
www.bristol247.com Work to begin to complete the Old Market 'gap'The £1.2m scheme on the Castle Street and Tower Hill junction is funded by WECA through the Department for Transport’s Active Travel Fund
Work to complete the so-called Old Market ‘gap’ between the Old Market roundabout and Castle Park is starting on Monday.
The scheme is due to be completed by April 2024.
- www.bristol247.com New fines of up to £300 for using log burners
The aim of the fines is to reduce air pollution
Councils in England have been given new legal powers to issue fines between £175 and £300 to households who emit more than 3g of smoke per hour from chimneys.
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Council misses 'definitive' deadline to reopen Chocolate Path
www.bristolpost.co.uk Council misses 'definitive deadline' for reopening riverside pathThe Chocolate Path first closed almost six years ago and still is, but Cumberland Road reopens today
A path along the river in the centre of Bristol that closed nearly six years ago will remain shut for another week - after contractors missed the ‘definitive’ deadline announced by the council last month.
- www.bbc.com Weca boss leaves with £219,000 golden handshake
Weca's chief executive, Patricia Greer, had been on sick leave since last November.
I'm sure the "that's not how budgets work" apologists would like to comment on this. It's public money they're wasting. Nice job if you can get it.