Community Champions - Adopt a Neighbour!

Too often these days stories are to be found in local papers about bodies being found weeks, months and in some cases years, before they are discovered. When this happens, local people are quick enough to slate the local authority and social services. Surely, we are all to blame equally?
Years ago, when the milk was left on the step of a neighbour or the newspaper or mail were sticking out of a letterbox the community rallied and notified the correct authorities that there may be a problem.
This was community spirit, not surveillance or interference.
*Find a neighbour, exchange phone numbers, tell them if you are going away!
*Look out for more vulnerable neighbours - if you are concerned about them talk to your local Police Community Support Officer, they can pop round and check if a person is all right.
This is another role Community Champions could take on, they could be a point of liaison between the authorities and the community.

Suffering? Need someone to talk too?

In the wake of the tragic death of Shaun Dykes, I am adding a link to the Samaritans to every web-site and Blog I administer.
Please don't suffer in silence, there is a link HERE to the Samaritans, they will listen 24 hours a day.

Things to do in Windmill Hill

Victoria Park Baptist Church
Weekly Services & Events

Our main Church Service is at 11am on Sunday mornings and aims to be suitable for all ages. The evening service is at 6.30pm; it is for adults and is smaller and more informal.
Weekly Groups

Some of our members meet regularly in small groups. Some for fun, some for friendship, some to discuss issues, some to read the Bible and pray together. Everyone is welcome!
Tuesday 7.30pm Life Groups
Wednesday 2.30pm Women's Fellowship
7.30pm Wives Group (1st Wed of each month)
Thursday 2pm Over Sixties
6.30pm Singing Group
Friday 10am Coffee Morning

Location

We are on the junction of St. Johns Lane and Sylvia Avenue, at the bottom of Redcatch Hill. We are within easy walking distance of Windmill Hill, Lower Knowle, and parts of Bedminster and Totterdown.

For courses run at Windmill Hill City Farm, click on this link.
Windmill Hill Community Association and Social Club website can be found at this link.

Thursday meeting

The next meeting for Holroyd and Polden Tenants Association will be this Thursday at 6:30pm. The venue is the meeting room at Polden House. All are welcome, tea and coffee will be provided.

Please sign Epetition

COMMUNITIES AGAINST KNIFE CRIME PETITION
Our Epetition has just been excepted by the Prime Ministers office..... It reads as follows

"Where communities are strong and cohesive, crime and fear of crime is lessened. More needs to be done to address the underling causes of knife crime and boost communities. This could be achieved by the setting up of local community champions within the existing framework of local participation. Working alongside judicial reform which makes carrying concealed weapons an offence which carries a mandatory prison sentence would go a long way to promoting public confidence."
If you wish to sign, the link is here.
Thank you
Ali

Emily Ketteringham Bristol Artist

Local Bristol Artist Emily Emily Ketteringham has kindly given permission to use her image of Windmill Hill on our pages. To see all of Emily's work click on this link, or click image at bottom of this page.
Emily's image is copyright.

New newsletter ready

Twin Tower Times has been printed and will be distributed this week to residents of Polden and Holroyd, this will include meeting dates and venues for the TA

Estate Walk

Yesterday, Tenant Representatives from Polden and Holroyd met with David Wan from Estate Management and did an estate walk over both blocks, viewing some serious health and safety issues and outstanding issues, yet to be resolved, some have been ongoing for a number of years.
David Wan was positive about change, and promises the Windmill Hill Tenants, some things will start to be resolved straight away.
If any Tenant wishes to raise issues about the communal areas of the blocks or about the grounds, these concerns can be passed through CABOT, so knock on the meeting room door or push a letter through, if you can't make a Tenants meeting.
We meet every week on Monday afternoon at 2pm (not bank holidays) and have a meeting in the evening (alternating between both blocks at 6:30 pm on Thursday's. All the issues raised at Holroyd have been passed on to Estate Management. There will be a follow up article in the newsletter, due to be published in the next week or so.
David is also supporting us in our bid to have the little fenced off area between Polden and the pub turned into a family garden.

Support retention of caretakers

http://unitecaretaking.blogspot.com/

Visit this Blog if you wish to support retention of the caretaking service in Bristol City Council!

Secure tower blocks

When you read news stories like this you wonder if more money should be found for security in local authority residential tower blocks. The entire BBC article follows;

Teenager in death fall from flats

A 16-year-old boy who fell to his death from a block of flats in east London may have been chased, police have said.

Detectives said they were investigating whether the teenager had been pursued before falling from the building in Paragon Road, Hackney, on Wednesday.

The teenager, who has not been named, died at the scene.

The victim's next of kin have been informed and a post-mortem examination is due to be held later. No arrests have been made.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "At this early stage, we believe he had fallen from a block of flats.

"One line of inquiry officers are investigating is that the boy may have been chased prior to the fall."

Emergency services were called to the scene where they found the victim shortly after 1600 BST.

The spokesman said: "We believe we know the identity of the deceased, but await formal identification and confirmation that all next of kin have been informed."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/london/7574210.stm

Published: 2008/08/21 09:45:16 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

Polden has had it's door entry system smashed repeatedly over the last few days.... Shall we wait until we have a tragedy, before something is done to protect tenants?
A tenant mentioned this morning, bricks were being thrown from a window at the weekend.

Tenant meeting Holroyd House 21st August

This Thursday (Aug 21st) there is a tenants meeting being held at Holroyd House Community Room for the Tenants of Holroyd and Polden at 6:30pm. All are welcome to attend.

Tenants Meeting Thursday 6:30pm

On Thursday 6:30pm we are having a meeting with officers and councillors in attendance,
in the meeting room at Polden, Lower Ground Floor.
Tenants from Polden and Holroyd all welcome to attend.
The agenda will include an overview of committee roles, the family green space funding project, repairs and health and safety and any other business.

Police Clinic in Polden

Police Clinic at Polden House Friday 8th August at 2pm in Meeting Room, Lower Ground Floor. All welcome, please come along.
Ring flat 1 on entry panel at front of Polden for entry if you are not a Tenant.
Hope to see a good crowd!

A message from the Neighbourhood Policing Team about throwing items from windows

In the early hours of Saturday 26th July 2008 police were called to Holroyd House. A number of reports were made to police of a disturbance from an address within the block and of items being thrown from one of the flats. A male was subsequently arrested by police on suspicion of causing criminal damage to a vehicle as a result of items being thrown from his address. He was detained and interviewed at Broadbury Road police station. The Neighbourhood Policing Team are now working with BCC housing to take action against the tenant of this property. If you witnessed this incident, have any information or if you can provide further evidence of Anti Social Behaviour in Holroyd House then please contact me or Lisa Taylor at your local BCC Housing office.

Sue Coates

Neighbourhood Policing Team

0845 4567000

susan.coates@avonandsomerset.police.uk

Hazard!

The railings to the rear of Polden House are very loose, there could be a nasty accident if they are not secured. Alf Havvock our local Councillor is on the case, so hopefully such a severe health and safety risk will be addressed very soon. I will post pictures tomorrow.

More Facilities Needed For Families

When the local authority place children in tower blocks, a duty of care must exist to them to make sure there are facilities locally to underpin their needs.
I know we are in close proximity to Victoria Park, which is improving all the time, but when children are younger they need to play closer to home.
Polden Tenants forum are planning to bid for money to improve the green space between the tower block and the pub. It would make a fantastic family area rather than a dog toilet (there is an unused dog bin a few metres away from this area)
A range of facilities could be included in this space such as a built in barbecue area, extra benches, a small adventure playground, plants and flowers and new railings with a suited lock on a gate so safety would be ensured.
This could be achieved easily with a little partnership working and support from local residents.

End of an Era

It is the end of an era at Weston-super-Mare today as the Grand Pier was razed to the ground in a fire which took hold so quickly that nothing could be done by the emergency services to save the historic building.
There have been a spate of seaside fires in the last few months, many of which have been deliberately started, lets hope this one was an accident.
Luckily, no one appears to have been injured in this tragic fire. The pier has been an iconic part of Weston's seaside culture for 100 years, I have linked the official site here, it contains some photos and memories and is worth a visit.

Tenants Meeting 2pm Today

The regular Tenants meeting is taking place at 2pm in the meeting room at Polden. A reminder to all to lock up their cars and to buy good alarms will be issued as there seems to be a spate of vehicle thefts and thefts from cars in the area.

POLDEN WATCH!

Who says that office furniture doesn't grow on trees!
Update................... The office chair was at the bottom of Windmill Hill yesterday afternoon, perhaps it fancied a vacation!

PRIORITIES FOR WINDMILL HILL

At today's Tenants forum we will be asking what the 3 priorities should be for the Community Policing team as there is very little input from the residents of this part of Windmill Hill.

Priorities established on 14th July 2008

1. Anti-social behaviour at Victoria Park.
2. Cotswold Road - Drug dealing/Anti-social behaviour/Vehicle crime (to include the burial ground and the telephone kiosk, Windmill Hill).
3. Oxford Street / New Walls - Drugs / Anti-social behaviour.
If anyone wishes for priorities to be put forward we will be publishing details of the Police and Communities Together (PACT) meetings on this blog.

The priority the Tenants of Polden House wish to put forward to the next PACT meeting is that the throwing of items from windows and balconies from the tower blocks on Windmill Hill should be addressed as it is only a matter of time before a passer by is injured as some large items are being thrown.
Also at the meeting:
We discussed the need to address facilities for children living and visiting Polden. There is a fenced off area between the Rising Sun Pub and the tower block that would be perfect for a dedicated family area. At present dogs are being exercised, which puts some parents off using it with small children due to the risk of toxoplasmosis. We will be writing emails to the grounds maintenance team and asking if turning the area into a family garden could be considered as a project, perhaps including a built in barbecue area. It was also agreed we would ask the pub Landlord if we could have a mural on the wall.
Another idea discussed was that representatives of the Tenants Forum would make an effort to welcome new Tenants to the block and encourage them to join the Forum.
It was also mentioned that the trees should be kept safe on the site as they hang over onto the pavement. We were informed some time ago that the trees had self seeded - this on further investigation seems not to be the case as the Residents were approached by post and asked if the trees should be planted or not, it was decided to plant them. We are going to ask if they are on the grounds maintenance spec for the site.
It was also decided that a newsletter should continue, and we should include features for children as well as for the adults, so we will edit accordingly. This will be a monthly project and any Tenant can contribute. Just write your article and post it through the letterbox of flat 1.

NEXT RESIDENTS MEETING @ POLDEN

The next Tenants meeting will be held in the meeting room at 2pm on Monday 21st July. The newsletter is now ready to distribute and includes a questionnaire about the optimum time for future meetings.
We will be posting some of the articles on this Blog in the coming months, and Tenants who have access to the Internet will have a chance to opt out of getting a paper copy of the newsletter to help reduce our carbon footprint.
On a more serious note, a couple of Tenants are throwing their rubbish out of their windows - this will be discussed at Mondays meeting, as apart from being disgusting behaviour & a health hazard, it is extremely dangerous to anyone underneath when it is thrown.

..........Tilting @ Windmill Hill

I cannot take the credit for the blog title, it was on a t-shirt printed by a Caretaker who recently retired from looking after the tower blocks situated on the hill - in reference to Don Quixote and the pointlessness of fighting what you perceive to be a giant.
Windmill Hill in Bristol is a mixed tenure area, it has some amazing views of Bristol especially from the tower blocks Polden and Holroyd House, yet they are unpopular with some locals and with prospective tenants as they have been neglected due to lack of funding.
A Tenant Forum has recently been established within Polden House to try to redress these issues. This blog will follow Polden's progress and also include local news.

Welcome........

.........To Tilting at Windmill Hill! Please leave comments and check back regularly for new posts (I am aware there will be grammatical and spelling errors :-)
Even if you reach this page in error, stay and make friends. I reserve the right to delete and moderate comments if they contain personal attacks on people, but hope I won't need to.