Portishead West Ward Councillors

Do you know someone who isn’t online and who might need a photo ID to vote in person in this year’s local elections? Please check in with them to make sure they know about changes to voting and what they might need to do 🙏🗳

Local elections take place on Thursday 4 May and you’ll now need a photo ID if you’re voting at a polling station. There’s lots of photo IDs which will be accepted including a passport, driving licence and blue badge - check the full list at www.n-somerset.gov.uk/voterid

If you don’t have an ID, or you’re not sure if your photo ID still looks like you, you can apply for a free voter ID called a Voter Authority Certificate. Please apply in plenty of time. The deadline is 5pm on Tuesday 25 April.

The quickest and easiest way to apply if online at https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate

But if someone isn’t able to apply online, they can get an application form from the Town Hall in Weston or from North Somerset Libraries.

People who need help with applying for the free voter ID can contact our electoral services team on [email protected] or 01934 634 909.

"…can we choose where new housing should go?

YES.

A Neighbourhood Plan can allocate new homes sites dispersed around the town, even if a local planning authority’s proposal wants to put almost all of the housing on one site on the edge of the Town. The plan also sets out what infrastructure (roads, schools, community facilities, etc.) are needed to make development acceptable.

https://portisheadplan.commonplace.is/

"

Don’t forget about this road closure today! This is for minor patching, but over 22/23 (dates yet to be confirmed), West Hill will be undergoing major resurfacing works!

one.network One platform to plan, monitor, communicate and analyse traffic disruptions.

Get your teenagers out there now!

In case you missed it, many of the walk-in clinics taking place across our local area are now vaccinating people aged 16-17!

These include:
📍 Vaccination Centre @ UWE
📍 Kellaway Pharmacy
📍 College Green Centre
📍 South Bristol Skills Academy
📍 Sea Cadets, Weston-super-Mare

To find a walk-in near you, including opening times and eligibility, please visit ➡️ grabajab.net

Ever wondered what happens to your food waste?

All food waste collected from the caddies is taken to our anaerobic digester in Weston-Super-Mare. It is broken down by microorganisms to produce biogas, which is used to generate electricity and heat homes in North Somerset.

A nutrient rich fertiliser is also produced from the recycled food waste. This is used on agricultural land as well as woodland, grassland, and landfill restoration projects.

Remember that both cooked and uncooked food can be put in food waste caddies for collection.

We are pleased to announce that the first slots on the next phase of rewilding volunteering sessions are now available to book through Eventbrite on the Events pages, or by visiting our webpage at www.n-somerset.gov.uk/rewilding and following the link from there.

These initial sessions will concentrate on some minor aftercare tasks such as weeding, mulching and straightening guards, to give the new tree planting the best opportunity to establish themselves. We hope you can join us in this exciting project!

https://www.facebook.com/355139677848669/posts/4620231291339465/?d=n

Are you currently looking for a new job or considering training options to help you take the next step?

You can now get direct support from a variety of local providers through Employment and Skills Hubs based at Libraries across North Somerset. The hubs offer 1 to 1 sessions and are available at:

Weston Library
For All Healthy Living Centre
Clevedon Library
Pill Library
Portishead Library

The hubs offer a wide range of guidance with support for employment, youth, digital skills, business start-ups and wellbeing.

Opportunity North Somerset is a great place to start your new journey. To find out more about your local hub and book a session, please visit https://bit.ly/3gojDk2 or email [email protected].

The Gordano Valley and Weston Big Wood: Community Consultation (1)

UK Government has imposed challenging housing targets on all local authorities including North Somerset Council (NSC) which has a housing target to build more than 20,000 houses over the next 15 years at a rate of 1369 houses per year, which is many more than has been achieved over the last 15 years.

NSC, as it is legally required to do as part of producing its “Local Plan” for the next 15 years, has put out a request for a “Call for Sites” for landowners to log an interest in putting their land up for development. A number of landowners who own land encircling Weston Big Wood (See red lines on map) have expressed interest in development on their land through the call for sites.

Recently (May 2021) one landowner employed contractors to undertake drilling on the fields next to the Clevedon Road (bottom of map) to find out any drainage issue. So, although no planning application has yet been submitted, this work can be seen as a sign of intent to develop.

We are interested in gauging people's views regarding these special places.

Look out for 2 videos we will be releasing over the next couple of days which will provide more information.

If you would like to find out more or get involved please email [email protected]

Thank you. Portishead Town Council

Why a Neighbourhood Plan?

A Neighbourhood Plan will give our community the power to shape future development in Portishead.

We can choose where we want new homes, shops and offices to be built and what they should look like.

We can protect important green spaces.

It will be based on what the people of Portishead want for the town, not what the Town Council think the town needs, so if you don’t tell us what you want, we can’t include it.

Have your say http://ow.ly/b84I50EYj1a

Some important information about next week's Portishead Residents' Annual Meeting. This is not a Council meeting, but a meeting for residents.

Important information regarding the skate park surface.

The new surface at the Merlin Park skate ramps is complete! A huge thanks to Ben Aldridge, chair of the Community Matters committee, for all of his hard work getting it to this point, and to our Deputy Clerk for the help she's given Ben.

The surface is obviously still very fresh, so please be careful if visiting the area over the next few days. Thanks 👍.

Over the next few weeks, we're asking you to to help us develop our Neighbourhood Plan – and we want to hear what matters to you!

The first stage is an online map, where you can pinpoint different locations to have your say. A more in-depth survey will follow next month. You can check out the online map here 👇
https://portisheadplanmap.commonplace.is/comment

One year - let us never forget.

Sunday 14 March marks the anniversary of us losing our first resident in North Somerset to coronavirus. Over the past year many more people from our communities have passed away.

The year has been hard for everyone, but especially for those of us who have lost someone and not been able to mourn or pay our respects in the usual way. We have all lost someone, or know someone who has lost someone. On Sunday 14 March let us come together for a moment of quiet reflection and to remember all those who are no longer with us.

Please join us in a moment of remembrance and unity across North Somerset that day by lighting a candle, or shining a light in your window at 7pm to the memory of those no longer here, but never far from our thoughts.

Read about the COVID-19 vaccine NHS information about coronavirus vaccines, including vaccine safety and who will get the vaccine.

Fabulous! You should all be proud!

In North Somerset we’re proud to say 97.5% of all plastic collected through the kerbside recycling service is recycled. This high rate is due to our kerbside sort, where crews are able to identify contamination and leave this material in the recycling box, and importantly residents’ participation in recycling the correct items.

This means that only 2.5% of plastic collected through the kerbside recycling service is not accepted for recycling, which is very low, and mainly due to contamination, this includes non-recyclable plastic, such as, plastic film, crisp packets or black plastic. Please note: although we do not collect black plastic, we can collect all other colours including; blue, green, grey and brown.

All recyclable plastic collected at kerbside is then recycled within the U.K.

Household plastic packaging such as bottles, pots, tubs and trays are taken to Biffa’s plastic processing plant in Aldridge. The plastic pellets that are created are sold to manufacturers and recycled into various products including milk bottles, cosmetic tubes, drainage pipes, compost bins and car parts.

Help reduce contamination further by checking what items can be recycled in your kerbside collection: www.n-somerset.gov.uk/recycling

Wondering what happens to the rest of your recycling? Check out our website for more information: www.n-somerset.gov.uk/my-services/bins-recycling/recycling-rubbish-collections/where-your-recycling-goes

Check your collection day online: www.n-somerset.gov.uk/my-services/bins-recycling

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-how-gcse-as-and-a-level-grades-should-be-awarded-in-summer-2021

Consultation on how GCSE, AS and A level grades should be awarded in summer 2021 The approach to awarding GCSE, AS and A level grades in 2021 following the cancellation of exams.

https://twitter.com/ns_recycling/status/1351120924402208769?s=21

NS Recycling & Waste on Twitter “If you are registered to the garden waste service you can put your real Christmas tree out for recycling on your 1st garden waste collection from today You can compost/store your tree at home or if not possible to do this safely take it to the recycling centre, essential use only”

Please fill this in to ensure we get what we need!

📢There's one week left to have your say on how North Somerset grows and develops in the future 📢

So far less than 2% of respondents to this consultation are aged under 30, but this is exactly who we need to hear from.

These are the people who might not yet have their own home or a family of their own but will over the next 10-20 years.

This is our opportunity to plan for the right houses, in the right places, at the right prices.

▶https://bit.ly/2JJiNR8

What a lovely idea!

Lot of things have had to be different this year. But, in among the changes, there have been some special moments where communities could still come together while physically staying apart, like the claps for carers and key workers.

Winter Carols on the Doorstep is inviting everyone across the UK to gather on their doorsteps (strictly household and support bubbles only) at 6pm next Wednesday (16 December) and belt out a selection of Christmas carols.

There’s lots more information on their website https://www.doorstepcarols.co.uk/ including carol sheets, sheet music and invites you can send to your friends and neighbours. BBC Radio Somerset will be joining in on the night broadcasting the carols so you can sing along.

Are you already planning to get involved? Is your local community planning something similar? Let us know in the comments below and please share this post so we can help spread some festive cheer across North Somerset
🎶🌲🎅🔔✨

With the vaccine on its way, BNSSG CCG have asked that as many people as possible please complete this five minute survey...

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/C19_vac2

Covid-19 vaccine - Tell us what you think Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/shop-local-how-and-why-sustainable-communities-tickets-131020009375

Shop Local - How and Why - Sustainable Communities Why and How to Shop local

So important that everyone gets involved and has their say!

Join the conversation about North Somerset's future! 📣

North Somerset Council are developing a new Local Plan for the area and the next stage of consultation is underway.

The new plan will identify where development can and cannot take place in North Somerset and guide investment and funding for new housing, jobs, transport and community facilities until 2038.

The new six-week “Choices for the Future” consultation runs until Monday 14 December To join the conversation and take part, go to www.n-somerset.gov.uk/newlocalplan.

For all those concerned about Kilkenney Fields, here is the statement made at the Planning Advisory Group meeting last Wednesday...

At the start, let me just say clearly, we need trees. That's it, we need trees and we need to plant them where we can. If we can persuade private landowners to plant them, so much the better and it would take some pressure away from us, but NSC own some land that trees can be planted on, so in line with the unanimous vote that took place at full council regarding the rewilding of North Somerset, the plans were put forward for consultation last year. This followed all the normal routes that consultations take, with publicity and announcements and plenty of chances for the residents of North Somerset to put their case. As is unfortunately the way with so many public consultations, when one takes the population as a whole the response rate seemed low. However, the response rate, in comparison with most other consultations, was remarkably much higher than usual! And, looking at the positive vs negative, residents were pretty much in favour of it.

Obviously, last year some people came forward who hadn't seen the plans and they made their feelings clear. Compromises were reached, changes were made. We saw this in Portishead, in Clevedon, in areas around Weston. With this in mind, this season's planting is being preceded by notices in the specific areas, so that residents who were not aware can come forward and again make their feelings clear. This is what you will have seen this last week or so. However, it seems that there has been some confusion and some residents have assumed that the notices regarding the Golf Course are also referring to Kilkenny Fields. This is not the case and the planting planned for this season is for the Golf Course alone. Comments made in the initial consultation led the rewilding team to reassess Kilkenny Fields and, along with the further comments that they have received recently, they are looking into what changes they can make to allow for trees, long grass and open spaces for everyone to enjoy. The map should have been changed so that this could be seen by residents and I will pass on to the rewilding team that this is probably been some of the cause of the confusion

To put it plainly - no one is going to be planting ten-foot trees in a dense forest layout. How this came to be the message, I cannot understand. Some trees may be fast growing, but to be quite honest, the number of trees being planted is to allow for some die-back, so we're not looking at the equivalent of Weston Big Wood in front of us any time soon. Part of the plans are for long grass, for insects and small mammals, and part for mown grass, for walkers and dogs. We must remember, this land is for everyone and everything. Let me say one more time, we need trees. If people will not stop living at the rate we are, then we need to do all that we can to create a balance. We use renewable energy where we can, we are as efficient with commodities as we can be, we redress the biodiversity imbalance by increasing and improving our green spaces. This means we stop mowing everything in sight and we plant trees.

Don’t forget, you can register to be alerted to new consultations here...

https://n-somerset.inconsult.uk/

Homepage - North Somerset Council Consultations You don't need to register for most consultations but where you do, you only need to register once. If you do register, you can opt-in to receive a weekly email alerting you to any new consultations.

I know this isn't on our side of town, but it's still worthwhile making a comment and sharing your views...

Please help the 'Potager Garden' become an Asset of Community Value 🌻🌷

Portishead in Bloom held a plant sale last week at the 'Potager Garden', which is a community space situated between Portishead Library and the Cabstand.

There are plans to list the garden as an Asset of Community Value with North Somerset Council, which will help to protect the land from future building development.

By answering a few questions in the anonymous survey linked below, you'll be helping to protect and preserve this corner of calm in Portishead. The results will be used to convey the importance of this community space to North Somerset Council.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/8BX65QT

We'd love as many responses as possible, so please feel free to share this post. For a printable version of the survey, please email [email protected].

Thank you!