BS3 Campus Project
The BS3 campus project
I am leading a campaign to try and stop the publicly owned Marksbury Road College and the land of the Northern slopes behind being sold off to a commercial housing developer.
As you can see on our website
www.bs3campus.org.uk we have produced alternative plans outline a proposal for the development of a new community owned development using the facilities of the College to create a new urban village hub with new school and health centre, sports and recreation facilities, workshops and employment space, allotments along with a range of affordable, sustainable and self build housing.
We are working with the Free Steiner School group in Bristol that hope to re-occupy the college to create one of the first non fee paying Steiner Colleges in the Country. We are also working with the St Johns Lane surgeries who want to build a new health centre on the site. This would be a great foundation for this community. We are also interested in creating a link with local churches, recognising that building stronger communities is far more than just bricks and mortar but we seek to address the broader issues of education, health, sustainability, social responsibility and housing affordability. This could be a beacon project for Bristol and provide a new model for inner city development that could inspire others across the UK.
We are through battling against the moribund attitude of the landowners (Bristol Council and Homes and Community Agency) who seem to regard the sale of this site simply as a way to raise capital through selling off to the highest bidder despite their policy statements about empowering communities. We think it is shameful that the Council are refusing to recognise the objectives identified by the community in their own consultation as part of the assessment for this tender. We are therefore seeking to raise public awareness and support to prevent the loss of these valuable facilities.
Anyone can add their support to our online petition on the website.
The Big Green Lunch.. 16th June
On Saturday 16th June the College is hosting a lunch and open day at the College which will coincide with Bristol Green Week and the Bristol Biennial. This will be a celebration of community and we would hope that local churches would support this. The event will provide a range of activities around sharing food, ideas, activities and entertainment. Some ways in which you might get involved
1. The lunch from 1.00-3.00 is based on the Eden Projects “big lunch” idea with people bringing and sharing locally sourced food. We also plan to have a community kitchen. We would welcome help from anyone who can cook, bake or volunteer to help run this.
2. We will need chairs and trestle tables. Can any of your churches help us in providing these on the day and any volunteers to pick up on Friday and deliver back. Anyone you know with a van.
3. We will be using the sports hall as exhibition space. Stalls can be hired out for ?10. We are hoping to have a number of stands and exhibitions on sustainable building, local campaigns and businesses etc. Any ideas welcome. I can let you have a booking form.
4. We hope to run a range of activities in the afternoon:
a. Talks and open discussions on the subjects of community and sustainability. We would welcome a speaker from a local church. We will also have an open mike/speakers corner.
b. Activities for kids. CRB checked volunteers needed.
c. Art installations and gallery displays…entries are invited to
all a_t art-el d_o_t co d_o_t ukd. Workshops and displays eg self build, sustainability, drumming etc. Anyone with an idea on running a workshop would be welcome.
e. Music and dance… throughout the day and into the evening. We are expecting a guest appearance from the Invisible Circus’s Carnivillians. New contributors are welcome
5. Funding.. we want to make this a free event. We are not a funded organisation and would welcome any advance offers of donations, however small, to help us put this on. We will ask for donations on the day to go towards running the Artspace College.
Please contact me if you have any questions or wish to discuss, or come along on Saturday
Many thanks
David Parkes
07787 153410
www.bs3campus.org.uk