Bolton to bow out in May

Local Green Councillor, Charlie Bolton has announced on his blog that he is stepping down in May at the local elections. Charlie has served the Southville ward for four years. Tess Green will be the Green Party prospective candidate for Southville. She stood last time, and lost to Labour's Sean Beynon by just six votes.

Read more on Charlie's blog.

Prostitution and drugs in our area

A three part BBC drama is being filmed in Bristol, telling a story about the lives of young women who are involved with drugs and prostitution. Part of the filming is planned for the beginning of January on Ashton Road, Duckmoor Road and Durnford Street which includes late night filming.

The area would not be identifiable as being in Bristol and the police are aware of the proposed shoot. Filming will take place over five days, on the 7 January during the day and from 11-14 January from 4pm to 4am. The production team have said they are keen to liaise with local residents to discuss the practicalities of filming on their roads and get any questions answered and requirements taken into consideration.

What a week!

Last week battle lines were drawn and all sides of the 'Tesco at Ashton Gate' debate were preparing for a final push before Bristol City Council's planning committee meeting on 5 November. Well what a major change in such a short period of time.

$teve Lansdown and City decide that they want Sainsbury not Tesco for Ashton Gate. Planning meeting postponed and then the application is withdrawn. Planners recommend a 'yes' to the stadium but not all the housing that goes with the scheme. And BERATE decide its work is done and announce it is disbanding.

Simply Southville would like to pay tribute to BERATE and especially Chris and Tom who have given so much time to the campaign. BERATE wanted to stop Tesco and a third superstore in greater Bedminster. It did it.

We will have to see what the Sainsbury application brings and there will still be community concerns about traffic, pollution and the impact on local stores. Simply Southville will be watching! However, it has to be better than what was originally proposed by City and Tesco.

Will there be a BERATE2? Who knows?

New recruit at Simply Southville

Here at Simply Southville HQ we're delighted to announce a new arrival. Our baby daughter was born on 15 July, weighing in at 7lbs 12ozs. So the local population has increased by one but don't expect to read her first posting for a few years!

Southville man gets MBE

Stan Hammond, from Coronation Road, Southville, received an MBE from the Queen on Tuesday 7 April at a ceremony in Windsor. His award was for his work in helping to set up the Pride of Bristol Trust, which provides training sessions for youngsters on a former Royal Navy ship. The trust was started in 1995, with the first trips made the following year. Since then, about 400 children a year have benefited from the team-building sessions.