Bristol Community Climate Action Project
We’ve joined the second cohort of six community organisations in the Community Climate Action Project.
The project is pioneering bold and fair community led climate action, demonstrating the important role which communities have in achieving citywide climate and nature goals.
We’re excited that Southmead has the opportunity to put a plan like this together. A co-produced climate action plan will amplify voices in our community, celebrate and build on the work of existing community groups, and highlight what a fair transition to a climate-resilient city looks like for us here. Tackling the climate and ecological crisis shouldn’t worsen the challenges we already face, we believe it should and can improve people’s quality of life too.
This Bristol-wide project is coordinated by Bristol Climate and Nature Partnership, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, and supported by Bristol City Council and the Centre for Sustainable Energy.
Read more about the project here
How does it work?
We’ve been going to workshops and mentoring sessions and getting resources to learn about the seven themes from the previous cohort and expert partners. The seven themes are: Nature, Food, Waste, Transport, Buildings, Energy, and Green Skills.
We’ve also been catching up with Southmead residents to find out what the community’s priorities, views and ideas are for future climate and nature action. So far we’ve been holding pop-ups, chatting to community groups and sharing our online community survey. We’ve held two evening drop ins, run sessions with two of our local primary schools, and three craftivism sessions at The Ranch and Greenway. You can keep a look out for how to be involved and to stay up to date with our progress on our social media, in The Mead (printed and online!), and on this page.
By hearing from as many residents as possible we can produce a plan which helps to tackle other local priorities as well as feeding in to the city’s strategy to address climate change, making sure Southmead gets heard.
Southmead’s plan has launched! You can read it on the link above or by clicking HERE.
Timeline
April 2024
Community Climate Action Plans are launched for cohort 2 at the end of April.
February - March 2024
- Data from the community engagement is processed by the project team
- 2 sessions with staff to help form priorities and actions from the data
- 1 evening session with the community to help form priorities and actions from the data
- Peer review session with city-wide expert partners to run through draft priorities and get feedback
- Final priorities and details sent to build the plan
June 2023 - January 2024
- Community survey launched
- Conversation Corner pop up at Southmead Festival
- 5 pop ups on Arnside
- 1 evening Open Doors event at Greenway
- Conversations with Friends of Doncaster Road Park and Embleton Playground, Friends of Badock’s Wood, Team Southmead, Inclusion Southmead, Greenway Walkers, Community Corner groups
- 2 play sessions at The Ranch
- 1 youth session at The Ranch
- 1 session at Little Mead Primary Academy
- 1 session at Badock’s Wood E-ACT Academy
- 1 craftivism session during Winter Celebration Week
- 2 evening Climate Catch Ups at Greenway
- Workshops with the other communities and project partners continue
- Engagement finishes at the end of January
April - June 2023
- Ella meets with the other community organisations and project partners to learn about engagement
- Workshops for the project team start based on each of the plan themes
- Community engagement is planned, including questions for the community survey
We've funded 20 new street trees in Southmead
In autumn 2023, there was a big map in The Mead and at the Greenway Centre. It showed 25 possible planting spots which had been pre-approved by Bristol City Council for street trees. We delivered a copy of The Mead to the houses near those planting spots. Together, we were able to choose our top 20.
These 20 street trees have been planted over the winter, ready for us to enjoy! They each have a tree guard and a watering bag. You may spot them when you’re out and about, or you can click the link to see the map of where they are.
We can all help to look after these new trees. Please take a look at the FAQs below to find out how, along with more details.
Who will water the tree?
Bristol City Council will be responsible for watering the tree. However the Council are looking after trees all over the city and street trees do face a harsh environment. So, in the spring and summer a helping hand with watering is always welcome! To save drinking water you can use washing up water, bathwater, or collected rainwater. Pour it into the watering bag so it gets straight to the trees roots.
Please be careful near the roads if you water street trees.
FIND OUT MORE >What happens if a tree is vandalised or fails?
There is always a risk that a street tree won’t thrive. They have a hard job being planted next to a road. Trees may fail for a number of reasons, including vandalism, vehicle damage, disease, or lack of watering.
Bristol City Council will do their best to replace the tree during the first 2 years after it has been planted, in the unlikely event that it fails to establish and dies. They will replace the tree on one occasion if it is vandalised within the first 2 years of planting.
If anything happens to the tree please contact us at treebristol@bristol.gov.uk
Can I sponsor a street tree?
Absolutely. Street trees are planted through a partnership between Trees for Streets and Bristol City Council. You can sponsor one yourself or maybe your street want to club together and share the cost. You can choose whether to take on the watering yourself or if you’d like the Council to do it.
You can find out more about Bristol’s street tree planting scheme by clicking the link.
FIND OUT MORE >Why are we funding street trees?
We know that trees are important to our community. We’ve heard that the trees along Greystoke Avenue are a favourite feature of the neighbourhood. Planting trees is also a good way to take positive action for our planet.
Street trees also have a positive impact on wildlife and ourselves. They provide wildlife with food and shelter, keep us cool when the weather gets hot, reduce flooding, and absorb air pollution and carbon dioxide. They can also have a positive impact on our mental health. Spending time amongst trees can lower stress, anxiety, and depression. Research suggests that if children can see trees in their daily lives, then they have early opportunities to connect with nature, and it supports their brain development and wellbeing. Trees are amazing.