St. Pauls Neighbourhood Plan

As the coordinators of the St Pauls Community/Neighbourhood Planning in partnership with Black South West Network (BSWN) and Vocalise, we want to look into some of the issues that the current gentrification of the area is bringing, such as the decanting of parts of the BAME community without affordable provision. The output of this neighbourhood plan is a proposal that respects the wishes of the existing communities and provides visualisations of the proposed developments. The current work so far, on the creation of a St Pauls Neighbourhood plan, and proposals for the development of a ‘Green Way’ path are shared below.

Since the closure of St. Paul’s Unlimited, the St. Paul’s Neighbourhood Plan has been facilitated by Cognitive Paths. Our aim is to connect local organisations and residents with the planning authorities and developers. Supporting the community to take ownership of local assets will hopefully result in a strengthening of the community, an improvement in the maintenance and care of the spaces, a boosting in tourism and local businesses, and a preservation of heritage.

We provided support in the administration, the setting up and hosting  of meetings, in technical matters, updated planning documents, and hosted community discussion. The initial stages of community consultation have been completed with the assistance of U.W.E. architecture students. We explored whether the parks and public green spaces groups in St. Pauls, Montpelier, and St. Werburghs would collaborate to develop a lead organisation to develop the green space framework. We also facilitated a discussion around the preservation of St. Pauls’ culture and heritage through a creative and aspirational museum. The project culminated in proposing interventions to uplift the green area such as a community garden, a market, local events, activities for young people, redevelopment, and artwork.

Bristol Park and Green Spaces

The value of our green spaces has become even more apparent this year. Parks provide a wealth of opportunity to support our wellbeing, opportunities for social interaction and learning as well as precious space for urban wildlife; how can communities make the very best of the resources available to them and take a lead on ensuring parks continue to thrive. How can we create a new way making parks work for everyone? We want to encourage local people to explore how their Parks and Green Spaces benefit their community. What is already happening that can be built on? What opportunities do people see and how can we as communities make those opportunities a reality?

St. Paul’s Decolonised Museum

The project is implementing the concept of a “De-Colonised Museum” in the area of St Paul’s and Ashley Ward, Bristol. A series of workshops, engagements with the local community, and public experiments, will take place in order of realising, in one form of another, the museum. The provisional site, 31-32 Cave Street, for the museum comprises of a bomb damaged Georgian building, with extensive warehouses to North-West and South. At this stage of the concept of a “De-colonised Museum”, the has created meaningful discussion with the community and collaborated with other organisations to help facilitate what concept will look like for the area. The outline brief from UWE and Cognitive paths is to develop proposals for a creative, aspirational museum for the locals and wider community.