January « 2010 « Charlotte Leslie

Charlotte praises young Avonmouth boxers

Posted by mainuser on January 30, 2010 | Comments Off

Tom Cave, aged 12, in action

Charlotte Leslie’s support of boxing in North West Bristol continued as she celebrate the success of the National Smelting Company’s amateur boxers at a recent show.
Charlotte is president of the Avonmouth-based NSC and is delighted to see the club going from strength to strength, as its boxers progress and it enjoys a new, self-funded club house.
Four young amateur boxers from the NSC took part in the From Boxing Show held on Friday January 22nd.

Tom Cave, aged just 12, won a points victory against Harry Bryant of the Trowbridge Boxing Academy.

The 15-year-old Cory Ciati lost a close points decision against Will Holt from the host club, before welterweight Sam Fitzgerald won on points against Frome’s Jake Toogood.

Finally, senior middleweight Shane ‘Da Bomber’ Brown managed a strong victory over his more experienced opponent, Alan Wilson of Blackmore Vale ABC. Shane’s win included a third round standing count after repeatedly catching his opponent with his hard overhand rights.

Club coach Garry Cave said: “To get three wins from four bouts and away from home was a fantastic result for the club. I’m really pleased for the lads and they deserve all the success in the world.

“We’ve had a great start to the New Year with NSC juniors Jerry Connors and Dan Shackell both winning the Sunday before at the Forest Oaks show and we’ve had 25 wins from 35 bouts this season.”

Commenting, Charlotte added: “It is so good to see the hard work of Garry and his boxers paying off. These young men can be role models and an inspiration to many young people, and are testament to the benefits that boxing can have for young people. ”

To take up boxing for the NSC contact Garry Cave on 07876 233621. The clubs trains on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights from 7 till 8.30pm at the Smelters Gym next to Avonmouth Rugby Club, Barracks Lane.

St. Ursula’s School offers solution to save Elmlea playing field

Posted by mainuser on January 28, 2010 | Comments Off

Local independent school, St. Ursula’s has stepped into the debate over the rebuilding of Elmlea Infant School. St. Ursula’s has offered its classrooms and facilities to children at Elmlea Infant School, in the midst of the controversy over options for rebuilding the school.

Elmlea School boasts superb playing fields

Parents have been fearing for Elmlea School's superb playing fields

Elmlea infant school has been earmarked for investment to improve the buildings, which do not meet Government standards for primary school education. However, there is controversy over the proposed options for the school which include building a new primary school on the existing playing field of the junior school.

Many parents at the junior and infant school are concerned that this will result in a loss of playing space for the children in the long term, and have set up a campaign and Facebook group against the possible plan. ( www.acies.org.uk)

A key factor in the final decision will be the cost of providing alternative facilities for children at Elmlea Infant School while the new school is being built. Supporters of building a new school on the existing playing field argue that it would represent substantial savings as children could move straight from their old school to the new school as soon as it is finished.

However, St. Ursula’s has stepped into the debate, offering up its facilities and classrooms for children at Elmlea Infants, while a new school is being built, in an open letter to the Council and the schools involved.

This solution would be much cheaper than accommodating children in temporary static buildings, and would open up the possibility of the council building the new infant school on the existing infant school site, and saving the playing field.

Commenting, Governor Charlotte Leslie said

“It seems the perfect solution. St. Ursula’s has enough space to share. It would be great if we were able to help by opening the school up to children at Elmlea Infants, while their new school is being built. This would mean that children at Elmlea Infants would be able to enjoy a new school, while the wonderful playing field at Elmlea could be saved for future generations.”

Head Teacher, Lynette Carter, added;

”St. Ursula’s has great facilities available to accommodate the children. We would be delighted to work together with the Council and Local Education Partnership to make this available to Elmlea Infant school children. “

Campaigning for clarity over Elmlea School plans

Posted by mainuser on January 22, 2010 | Comments Off

Charlotte and local campaigner Alastair Watson ask questions over development plans

Elmlea infant school has been earmarked by the council for much needed investment to ensure the school buildings meet government standards. Whilst this is very good news for the school, questions have been raised over the decision making process regarding the redevelopment.

Several options have been put forward by the Local Education Partnership ( LEP), comprising the company SKANSKA for planning and building work, the schools, and the Council. However, parents have raised concerns about the decision making process for the future of the school, which could jeopardise the future of Elmlea Junior School’s much loved playing field.

Parents have set up a website - www.acies.org.uk – with more information about the possible plans.

In answer to these concerns, Charlotte Leslie has written to the Council and LEP, asking crucial questions about the decision making process.

Commenting, Charlotte said:

” Improvements to Elmlea Infant School are very welcome and much needed. And this investment could transform the schooling for young children at Elmlea Infants’ school. However, this Good News Story is being marred by lack of clarity over the decision making process, and real fears are being raised over the future of the Elmlea School playing field – which is an asset for existing and future generations of children at Elmlea.

I hope that we can unravel the questions that are being asked, and rapidly find a solution which can enable Elmlea Infants’s School to continue its excellent work in the buildings that the school and Elmlea children deserve.”

You can read Charlotte’s letter to Cllr. Campion-Smith and the Local Education Partnership here.

Daisy Field Peaceful Wassail Protest success

Posted by mainuser on January 18, 2010 | Comments Off

A young resident toasts the Daisy Field tree in traditional style

Thanks to the efforts of local resident Caroline Penny, Shirehampton’s peaceful Wassail protest against the Council’s possible development plans for the Daisy Field was a great success.

Almost 150 people turned out to enjoy a special wassail brew of apple juice and spices, and watch local dance troupe Rag Morris perform their traditional dances on Shirehampton Green. They then led a march down to the Daisy Field where they toasted the trees and invited on-lookers to partake in a Morris Dance themselves.

The event was organised to demonstrate the community’s need for the land, and to dissuade Bristol City Council from including the site from sites listed as at risk from development or sale, in their Parks and Green Spaces Strategy consultation document. The document was going to be published this month, but has been postponed until after the local elections, in June.

You can watch some footage from the event below.
Saving the Daisy Field

Morris Dancing and toasting the trees

If you’d like to find out more about the Morris Dancing, go to www.ragmorris.com!

Save the Daisy Field campaign kicks off

Posted by mainuser on January 15, 2010 | Comments Off

Charlotte is supporting local resident Caroline Penney, who has taken the initiative to organise a mass-peaceful protest

The Daisy field is enjoyed by many residents from Shire and beyond

against the Council’s possible plans to build on The Daisy Field. Caroline Penney is organising wassailing, on Sunday 17th January, to demonstrate how much the community values the Daisy Field Land.

Charlotte Leslie is encouraging as many residents as possible to come and attend the event, whatever the weather.

The event is on Sunday 17th January, 2pm, starting on Shirehampton Green.

Organiser Caroline Penney and Charlotte Leslie talk to BBC Radio Bristol about the event:

In a letter to the Evening Post, Charlotte writes,

“It would be a tragedy if this land was lost to Shirehampton. The community, including the group Shire Greens, have invested time and effort in planting bulbs and trees on the land, showing just how much this land is worth to residents. This is the kind of community cohesion that the Council says it wants to encourage, but at the same time will not remove the threat of concreting over the community’s efforts.

But this is perhaps hardest to swallow: While the Council still refuses to rule-out building on the Daisy Field, the derelict site of Shire’s beloved swimming pool which the Council (undemocratically) demolished still lies empty, and undeveloped – a gaping hole in the village.

If the Council really is listening to the people, it must answer this glaring injustice, and exempt the Daisy Field from future development.”

Victory for Save the Lamplighters Campaign!

Posted by mainuser on January 11, 2010 | Comments Off

How the Evening Post reports the victory

Local campaigners are celebrating the news that a piece of community land in Shirehampton, known as “The Lamplighters” has been saved from possible sell-off and development by council.

The much-loved community land was under threat of development under the Council’s “Parks and Green Spaces Strategy”. The strategy aims to identify land of ‘low value’ to the community, for possible sell-off, with a view to enhancing the remaining land.

The news follows a long campaign to save the land, led by local campaigner, Charlotte Leslie and Cllr. Siobhan Kennedy-Hall. Over the summer, Ms. Leslie and Ms. Kennedy-Hall organised a petition against the council’s plans, as well as “Shire’s Big Picnic”, attended by hundreds of local residents as a peaceful protest, and a public meeting with council officers in September.

The land has been saved thanks to the results of a soil-test which was requested by Cllr. Siobhan Kennedy-Hall at the public meeting organised by local campaigner Charlotte Leslie, chaired by Cllr. Kennedy-Hall.

At the public meeting in September, local residents flagged up their concerns over the council’s possible proposals to build in the land. One issue that was raised was the fact that the land was previously a land-fill tip and may contain toxic substances that would be disturbed if developed. Council officers agreed to Cllr. Kennedy-Hall’s request to conduct a soil test with all speed.

The soil test results reveal significant heavy metals beneath the Lamplighters land, making it unsuitable for development. The Council have now confirmed that the Lamplighters Land will be excluded from development consideration, in a Parks and Green Spaces consultation document due to come out in January 2010.

However, the report also reveals that another piece of much-loved community land, The Daisy Field, in Shirehampton, has not been saved from possible development plans. Charlotte Leslie, who is also the Prospective MP for Bristol North West, and Cllr. Kennedy-Hall have vowed to keep campaigning to save the land.

Charlotte Leslie said,

“I am delighted that after all the hard work of local residents, the Lamplighters Land is now safe, and will even be enhanced. We said all along that the campaign for the Lamplighters was to ensure it did not even appear in the council’s consultation document, and we have done that.

“However, the battle is not over. The Council has stripped Shirehampton of so many amenities in recent years. The Robin Cousins Centre is still closed and derelict, and Shire’s lovely swimming pool is now sadly demolished, thanks to the Council. I will be fighting with residents to ensure that the Council does not strip Shirehampton of yet another much-loved community amenity – The Daisy Field. If the Council is really listening to residents’ voices, they will take the Daisy Field out of the list of at-risk land as well.”

Cllr. Siobhan Kennedy Hall added,

“Local residents have been fighting all the way for this result. It was their input at the public meeting in September which has really forced the Council to think again about their ill-thought-through plans. I’d like to thank everybody who has signed my petition, came to the picnic and made Shirehampton’s voice heard at the public meeting. Together we have won a real victory, and together we will work to make sure that the will of the people really does win through.”

The Council’s Parks and Green Spaces Strategy Consultation is due to be published in January 2010, and will include a list of Bristol green-space under consideration for development. Residents will have the chance to respond to the consultation and object to land included in the list for development, which is likely to include Shirehampton’s Daisy Field.

Cllr. Kennedy-Hall’s petition against building on the Daisy Field and Lamplighters Land is still open on the Council petitions website.

Blaise Primary School children debate ‘leadership’ with Charlotte Leslie

Posted by mainuser on January 10, 2010 | Comments Off

Charlotte Leslie gave a talk to Blaise Primary School children on ‘leadership’, as part of the volunteer programme in schools, set up by local organisation, ‘Ablaze’.

Blaise primary rrs webpic

The Ablaze programme taps into local business and entrepreneur enthusiasm and skill, and links it up with local schools and recently received acclaim from Lord Digby Jones - former head of the CBI at their awards event.

Charlotte was invited to Blaise Primary School to explore the children’s aspirations for the future, how they can realise them, to discuss how individuals can make a real difference to the world around them and debate what ‘leadership’ means in practice.

The children also talked to Charlotte about the Rights Respecting School status of Blaise Primary School. They took her on a tour of the school, explaining how the concept of rights and responsibilities fed into their school day.

Commenting on the day, Charlotte said:

” It was a real pleasure to talk to the children at Blaise primary. I was impressed by their level of maturity , as well as their knowledge of political systems and historical events, and understanding of playing a responsible role in the world.

” I have to congratulate the Deputy Head, Miss Austen, who has done so much work on the Rights Respecting agenda in the school, and who has also won an award from Ablaze. Bringing an understanding of responsibility and rights to children at an early age is invaluable for future life, and for the citizens of the future.”

For more information about how you or your company could get involved with the Ablaze programme, email enquiries@ablazebristol.org

Archive for January, 2010