Reclaim your street for a day!

A quick (and belated - sorry Hamish and Gay!) plug for a new local project called BS6 Open Streets. It's being run out of Sustainable Redland with help from the Council and its role is to help local communities to hold events on their streets in order to make them more 'human' again and to help bond people together better. I've pasted in their press release below, so that they can speak for themselves!

Create a more resident friendly road, an ‘open street’ - to enjoy the space to celebrate, chat, walk, bike, dance or play.

There are many ways to make this happen…whether you wish to only claim a few roadside parking places by laying out artificial grass to drink tea and cake, swap plants or ideas or temporarily open the entire street for the residents to celebrate together, start a ‘playing out’ scheme or just enjoy a vehicle free day.

Sustainable Redland, with a supporting grant from Bristol City Council, is here to assist you, to create your very own ‘open street’. We hope, by promoting these opportunities, just by temporarily allowing people to dominate the road space, it can build positive relationships between neighbours, so strengthen a sense of community spirit and enthusiasm about their locality.

So if you are planning a Street Party, Street Social, Playing Out or a Swap Shop…the BS6 Open Streets project is here to support and encourage you, with practical advice and the offer to loan essential equipment like ‘Road Closed’ signs and bunting!

See www.bs6openstreets.wordpress.com for more details or email bs6openstreets@gmail.com.

On a similar tack, a quick plug also for the second (which makes it 'annual', I guess!) Cotham Hill Street Party on Sunday 20th May from noon to 6pm. This was a great event last year, but fingers crossed for a less windy day this year...