Quarterly summary – July to September 2026

Versions of below originally published in ‘Henleaze & W-o-T Voice’ publication.
‘We’ refers to myself and Cllr Kye Dudd.
Additional images are mine.

July 2026

Area Committee progress

Bristol has nine area committees made up of the local councillors who make decisions on how local funds (like Community Infrastructure Levy) are spent. Southmead is part of Area Committee 1, which also consists of Horfield, Henbury & Brentry and Avonmouth & Lawrence Weston wards.

Area Committees meet in-person twice a year to decide which local projects to fund. They also meet online twice a year to discuss updates in their areas.

At our in-person meeting at the Greenway Centre on the 11th May we asked council officers to look in detail at a number of projects in Southmead, including investment in parks, transport improvements and other community infrastructure. We are now in Stage 2 of the process to decide what proposals to fund. There will be a technical assessment of each project before the Area Committee decides whether to formally approve them or not later this year.

Communal waste bins

We have been in touch with the Bristol Waste about the yellow communal waste bins on Ullswater Road, just off Arnside Road. Misuse of these bins is exacerbated by broken locks, an issue which Bristol Waste has promised to address.

Morrisons closure

Sadly, the Morrisons daily on Arnside Road is one of the stores recently identified for closure (we’ve been told no earlier than Friday 17 July). This store contains a Post Office counter, a valuable community asset used by many local people. We have been in touch with the Post Office and other local retailers about relocating its counter elsewhere in Southmead.

Greenway pharmacy opening

The Greenway Pharmacy has stopped opening on Saturdays, meaning that local people now have further to travel to pick up prescriptions on that day. I raised this as an issue at a recent Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting. Following the closure of Boots on Southmead Road in 2024, we are concerned that local pharmacy provision is being lost to communities.

Cribbs Patchway New Neighbourhood funding

At a Transport Committee meeting held on 14th May, the Committee approved an application for a potential £3million pot of money for transport improvements to mitigate for the new Brabazon development on the old airfield. Cribbs Patchway New Neighbourhood funding will primarily be used for improvements on the A38 Gloucester Road and the B4056 Southmead Road, although some has been allocated to improved crossing points and dropped kerbs with tactile paving along the Number 2 bus route through Southmead.

Happy Pride

Bristol Pride celebrates the LGBT+ community and culminates on Saturday 11th July. This is a city of inclusion where all are welcome; nothing exemplifies this more than the colour, spectacle, and celebration of Pride on the Downs. All events held on the Downs pay a fee, helping towards the maintenance and upkeep of this wonderful green space.

August 2026

Bristol Waste issues

There was a significant issue with missed bin collections in late June/early July. Bristol Waste understandably had to take the welfare of their workers into account in the very hot weather, leading to delayed collections. But due to staff shortages they then struggled to catch up, meaning some recycling waste was missed for several weeks. Bristol Waste prioritised the recycling waste over the garden waste collection, putting the latter on hold for 2 weeks (subscriptions will be extended). If you are having issues with waste collections, please contact me.

Parks licensing

In a meeting of the Public Health and Communities recently there was a dramatic intervention from a ‘Bring Your Own Baby’ choir, making a point about how park licensing fees are impacting them. All across Bristol, health and wellbeing groups now have to pay a licence fee to operate, thanks to the Green-Lib Dem led council. The Downs Committee have introduced a similar scheme despite the Clifton and Durdham Downs Act saying the Downs should have free and uninterrupted use for recreation purposes. 

Post office closure latest

The Arnside Road Morrisons together with the Post Office branch inside closed on 1st August. We are in active discussions with other retailers to try and identify a new place for the Post Office.

Ward boundary change proposal

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) has published draft proposals for ward boundaries in Bristol. It suggests 36 wards made up of three single-councillor, 26 two-councillor and seven three-councillor wards – with most boundaries changing. Any changes would come into effect in for the elections in 2028.

The proposal includes a potential change affecting Southmead, with the Lake Road vicinity moving into a new Henleaze ward and the Westbury Fields/west part of Greystoke area moving to W-o-T. Southmead would gain some of the area north of Charlton Rd from Henbury and Brentry ward.

Elmfield Secondary School for The Deaf

The construction of the new Elmfield Secondary School for the Deaf is well under way on the Badock’s Wood Primary site. The new facility will bring secondary pupils together under one roof, end the current temporary arrangements, and give them a stable, high-quality setting in the local community when it opens in 2027.

The relocation is expected to cost £7,214,000, funded by a grant from the Department for Education. The current classrooms are small and no longer enough for the pupil numbers at Elmfield.

There are currently 29 students at the secondary, expected to rise to 48 this September. As well as Bristol, pupils also come from surrounding council areas where there are no specialist deaf schools.

The demand for mainstream school places is falling across Bristol in primary schools, as fewer children are being born in the city and families are driven away by high housing costs. However, the demand for specialist places is rising, with a range of specialist educational needs among some children.

September 2026

Henleaze Lake Parking

We’ve had a record-breaking hot summer and Henleaze Lake has been more popular than ever. Unfortunately, this has an impact on local residents who find that some Lake visitors have driven to the facility and parked inconsiderately. The Lake team met with us last year and put some measures in place to address the issue, like parking marshals and recording vehicle number plates in their database, with a threat to sanction those that park badly. However, at a meeting held at the Lake on Monday 27th August it was clear many residents remain unhappy with the situation.

We have written to council officers to highlight the concern of local residents and asked for more double yellow lines to be painted in key areas of concern, like parts of Vintery Leys and Lakewood Road. We mentioned a ‘summer only’ Residents Parking Scheme as a possibility. We want to hear from you if you have any thoughts on this.

CIL and Area Committee update

Area Committee 1 (which includes Southmead ward) met in May and selected a number of projects to go forward to ‘Stage 2’, where a project is worked up in more detail, before funding is agreed. The projects going forward include  improvements to local parks and green spaces, plus traffic and highway improvements.

Kids Go Free on buses during school holidays until 2029

The summer school holidays may be behind us, but many children and their families took advantage of the Kids Go Free on our buses this summer.

Since being launched in 2025 by Mayor Helen Godwin, Kids Go Free has saved families more than £1.4 million, with over 150,000 children aged 5-15 years old eligible to take part. It has been so successful that  the Government announced £100 million of investment for the scheme to go national for the whole of August this year, allowing families to save money as they travel across England.

The scheme has helped more children and young people travel by bus, with the biggest increases seen in lower-income communities. The data shows that journeys rose by an average of 98% in areas where family incomes are among the lowest 10% nationally, while areas within the lowest 30% income bracket saw an 89% increase during the scheme last summer.

Helen Godwin has guaranteed the funding for the next three years so children and young people in our part of the world can hop on the bus for free every Summer, Christmas and Easter school holidays until at least 2029. 

News you may have missed this quarter (links to news articles)

“City of Harm Reduction” - Bristol Post 15 July 2026