Friday 31 July 2009

Moving Swiftly On...

A quorum of the Old Market Community Association committee met on Thursday with guest appearances from two local beat officers. Of particular note in the discussions were two items:
  1. a meeting with Bristol City Council Redevelopment and Traffic officers; and
  2. arrangements for an AGM combined with a general get-together for local people.
The former is in the pipeline and will be aimed at finding a way to make Old Market more attractive to daytime retailers and improve the lot of those already there.

The latter is proposed for the end of September and initial suggestions are for the meeting to be preceded - or pehaps followed - by a family-friendly affair with food.

Follow or join in the discussions via the Old Market Community Association facebook group.

Thursday 23 July 2009

A Week of Small Changes

Sometimes it's the little things that confirm that things are changing.
Anonymous wooden boards went up over the windows of the would-be massage parlour in West Street that has been prevented from opened by enforcement action.
The recently re-opened lap dancing club was warned by the Council that the “substantial nude lady” on its facade is unacceptable and will be required to be taken down.
After insisting that the hanging baskets in Old Market Street be removed because they were interfering with the proper functioning of the lights, Bristol City Council Lighting Services agreed that they could stay if they were fixed lower down.
Old Market is standing up for itself and is getting more respect!

Monday 13 July 2009

Join the dots...

The Ostrich Struthio camelus is now farmed, pr...Image via Wikipedia

Saturday 28th June: lap dancing club re-opens.

Friday night 3rd July: a woman is attacked as she waits for a taxi at 4am. Police are looking for witnesses. More here.

Saturday night 4th July: a gay man is beaten up by a group of thugs after they leave the club.

Surprised? If you are, perhaps it's time to pull your head out of the sand!

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Wednesday 8 July 2009

The Night Club that never was...

It turns out that Thorne's night club planning application (see A Bad Week for Old Market) was a phantom!

The most offending phrase, "& sui generis in relation to a night club", should never have been included in the description. It's now been removed. Apparently, they had tried that one in a previous planning application and it was refused. So the current application is only to extend the use to include restaurants, cafes and drinking establishments.

Nevertheless, Old Market's shopping space is still at risk.

Wednesday 1 July 2009

A bad week for Old Market

The sudden passing of John Wright, owner and chef of John's Cafe Bar on Midland Road, last Wednesday, will be a great loss not only for his family, friends and customers, but also for Old Market itself. John's business has been a great asset to the area. Its good reputation has drawn people from far and wide to its Sunday lunches and Thai food. Exactly the kind of business that Old Market really needs.

On the same day, Old Market received another blow, albeit of a very different kind. This one came in the form of a planning application. For its former shop at 5-11 West Street, Thorne Holdings Ltd. has applied for permission to "extend [the] ground floor from Use Classes A1, A2 & B2 to include A3, A4 & sui generis in relation to a night club."

In other words, Old Market is at risk of losing yet more retail frontage.

Does Old Market really need another club? Or would somewhere to do the shopping serve it better?

Thorne was granted planning permission in July 2007 ( 07/01107/F ) for the "construction of commercial unit on ground floor; construction of 24 no. self-contained flats with associated landscaping" in the space extending back from its shop and yard in West Street to its yard in Braggs Lane. An overview of the plan can be seen here.

It is likely that the new planning application will be discussed at the Easton Planning Task Group meeting at 6pm on Tuesday 7th July. The meetings are public and are held at Easton Community Centre, Kilburn Street, Easton. If you wish to comment on the application for change of use, please come along.
Alternatively, you can make your comment online here:
09/02402/X or in writing to Bristol City Council Planning Department.
The closing date for standard consultations is 20th July.

p.s. Thorne Holdings is landlord to a series of properties on the north side of West Street, including the last remaining massage parlour.

Use Classes:
A1 Shops - Shops, retail warehouses, hairdressers, undertakers, travel and ticket agencies, post offices, pet shops, sandwich bars, showrooms, domestic hire shops, dry cleaners and funeral directors.
A2 Financial and professional services - Banks, building societies, estate and employment agencies, professional and financial services and betting offices.
A3 Restaurants and cafés - For the sale of food and drink for consumption on the premises - restaurants, snack bars and cafes.
A4 Drinking establishments - Public houses, wine bars or other drinking establishments (but not a night clubs).
B2 General industrial
Sui Generis - Theatres, houses in multiple paying occupation, hostels providing no significant element of care, scrap yards. Petrol filling stations and shops selling and/or displaying motor vehicles. Retail warehouse clubs, nightclubs, launderettes, taxi businesses, amusement centres. Casinos.