Bedminster traders set up new association

By Bedminster-People | Thursday, November 26, 2009, 07:00

A traders' association has been set up in East Street, Bedminster.

And at its first meeting, members of the newly-formed group called for alcohol-related problems to be stamped out to help improve the area's reputation.

Staff from organisations including Wilkinson, Cash Converters, Minuteman Press, Halo, George's Café, Bedminster Library and The Assembly have joined the association to discuss issues in the shopping street.

The East Street Traders Association (ESTA) was set up with the help of The Greater Bedminster Community Partnership and Bristol City Council in an effort to boost trade.

Traders will meet regularly to discuss ways of working together and developing plans to improve the area.

At the first meeting earlier this month, traders urged licensees to work together through a PubWatch scheme and called for action to tackle street drinking.

In May, the Evening Post reported that traders, customers and residents in East Street believed alcoholics breaking the 'no street drinking' rules in place were the biggest blight on the area.

Last week, an abusive street drinker was banned from the East Street area for two years after he was given an anti-social behaviour order.

Anthony McCarthy, 53, of Padstow Road, Knowle, had shouted and sworn at shoppers and harassed staff at Stead and Simpson shoe shop.

Police say they have been targeting the problem using new powers to disperse drinkers for up to 48 hours.

Also at the meeting, members were also asked for their comments on plans to carry out improvements in East Street. They discussed the traders' newsletter, which will see its third edition published in January 2010.

John Hirst, operations director at Destination Bristol, shared his experience of working with retailers in Broadmead and trading in a recession.

Bristol city councillor Gary Hopkins, cabinet member for environment and community safety, said: "Successful local shopping districts are the heart of a community.

"Really good centres make an area an attractive place to live and work as well as shop - so we want to help local traders to bring out the best in Bedminster."

The next meeting of ESTA will be held early in the new year.

Traders interested in getting involved should contact John Laite by emailing placemanagement@bristol.gov.uk or calling 0117 903 6855.

Re-post Write a story

Comments

Yes, you see more of the PCSOs than actual policemen, and part of the problem there is that the public know they don’t have many real powers. Under the old system, there was always likely to be a policeman just round the corner, whereas now you don’t see one for days at a time, or when you do, they’re there because of a specific incident.
I’m not impressed with how much of police patrolling now seems to be in cars. I once watched a drug deal outside my house, at about 10.30am. I watched with surprise at how little effort they made to conceal what they were doing but I was amazed to then see a police car drive round the corner, straight past the deal and carry on down the street! If they had been on foot, they would have realised what was going on. The dealer and buyer didn’t bat an eyelid. Why would they?!
The one area I do think has been successful with the new teams is the PACT meetings they have for the public, where you get to vote on things that need action, and the police then make it a priority to tackle them for the next few months.

By magwitch2009 at 16:21 on 30/11/09
Report
Magwitch2009 wrote:

"Would be interested to know what people think of the neighbourhood policing teams."

I would say "What neighbourhood policing teams?" but I know they exist so that would be a little unfair. However, I have very rarely seen them out on the streets. I reckon that in the past five years I have seen foot patrols by police officers about three times in the East St/North St area and a couple of times by PCSOs (whose powers are pretty limited). As mentioned in the original post, this is probably down to the area they have to cover which is pretty unreasonable and spreads them too thinly to have any deterrent effect. Most of the other times I have seen officers, particularly around East St is when they have been reacting to an incident and they were definitely not the local neighbourhood team (I know this as one of them was an acquaintance of mine and did not usually police Bedminster).

The new system definitely does not work as well as the old system in which you had more local police stations instead of fewer centralised ones and where the officers from those stations had good local knowledge, were known by the community and were seen to be out and about. The new system of neighbourhood teams is a start but it is still flawed. Three or four officers to cover a large area is not enough, especially when they are being expected to carry out PR duties (visiting schools/WI meetings) on top of trying to make safer neighbourhoods and deal with the myriad of paperwork the modern officer faces.

By Kaptain_Von at 14:58 on 30/11/09
Report
Would be interested to know what people think of the neighbourhood policing teams. I think the idea was to bring back something of the 'old beat copper' with these teams, but I don't think it works as well as the old system. They have so wide an area to cover that we don't really get to know them and you don't see them very often, so little deterrent effect.

By magwitch2009 at 19:13 on 28/11/09
Report
kaptain_Von- i echo your words of " one old fashioned beat copper who knows the area"
probably the solution to many problems and not only in East Street!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i know money is always an issue but surely a "local copper" is worth their weight in gold (and i'm sure there's an unintentional joke in there somewhere!)

By garlic48 at 18:49 on 28/11/09
Report
I think they need to address a number of issues. The shops that are currently empty need filling as they are beginning to look seriously rundown which does nothing to improve the image of the area. Ideally these would be filled with independent traders, not more pound shops/99p stores, arcades or charity shops which whilst filling spaces don't really do anything for the area.

The other main issue is, as has been noted the problem of alcoholics and drug users gathering in the area. The street drinking ban does not seem to be being enforced particularly well. Not two hours ago I was witness to at least seven of the local alcoholics/addicts gathered around the seat outside HSBC at the top of East St. Most of these are already known to the police but a police car drove past and the officers did nothing despite the group drinking quite openly. There needs to be a dedicated officer or officers for the area, working with the traders and patrolling to ensure that gatherings like that are dispersed. This would also have an effect on the amount of shoplifting and other problems that occur in East St, most of which is linked to the local addicts and alcoholics. One old fashioned beat copper who knows the area and knows the potential trouble makers is a remarkably good deterrent and makes shoppers feel safer which in turn is good for the shops themselves.

Finally, it needs to be decided if East St is a pedestrian area or not. It is claimed to be but as most who live in Bedminster know, this is a bit of a joke with buses still zooming down it and motorists still using it as a route to Bedminster Parade.

By Kaptain_Von at 16:08 on 27/11/09
Report