Action on blocked dropped kerbs

Back in February, the Council announced that it was taking on new powers to crack down on drivers who block dropped kerbs by parking in front of them. This is something that Cllr Jon Rogers and I have been pressing for since we took on our new roles around transport and sustainability last summer.

The initial results are now in. Since the new approach started in March, 192 parking tickets have been issued, the vast majority of which have already been duly paid. The break-down by area is as follows - I'm not sure how these areas are defined as they are not wards, so I suspect that many/most of the Clifton and Redland ones are actually in Cotham Ward (possibly due to my constant nagging!) :

Clifton 84
Redland 43
City Centre 10
Kingsdown 8
Horfield 8
St Andrews 7
Cotham 5
Bishopston 4
Others 23

This is a really good start and I am already noticing that Whiteladies Road, for example, isn't getting blocked up nearly as much as it was. To be clear, it's pedestrian kerbs that are being enforced, not people's driveways.

"Why is this important?", I hear you say! Dropped kerbs are vital for allowing disabled people, older people and people with buggies to get around the city. Without them, they can't cross roads safely - if at all. I was speaking to wheelchair user a few weeks back and she was telling me how she got blocked into a street because cars were parked across the dropped kerbs and when she turned back, she found that someone had blocked where she'd come in! This clearly isn't fair and making sure that pedestrians of all types can get from A to B quickly and safely has got to be a priority.

Plastic recycling - two steps forwards

Yesterday saw the formal announcement of the start of the new kerbside plastic recycling collections in certain parts of the city as the first step towards rolling it out across the whole of Bristol. The collections will start on Monday 19th April and those areas which are covered have been extensively told about it in advance, with flyers and door-to-door visits and so on. Sadly, the initial areas don't include Cotham, but I am assured that it won't be long before we will be involved too.

The second step forwards is that all of the 50 plastic recycling points in the city, like the one at Clifton Down station, will now be accepting pretty much all types of rigid plastic. In other words, they will take things like yoghurt pots, meat trays, plastic glasses and so on, as well as the bottles that have been collected previously. It will only be cellophane, plastic bags and things like this that can't now be put into the plastic banks. If you're not sure, look for any of the logos to the left - these are good-to-go. The one at Clifton Down has been operating on this basis for a while now, so it's being extended elsewhere.

All good news and all part of our plans to hit 50% recycling by the end of the year.