About Abbotswood Action Group

Abbotswood Action – the History of a group formed

to enhance the Abbotswood area

Late 1960s: Shops & flats above constructed, plus flats in Chargrove & Abbotswood; Doctor/ Dentist surgeries adjacent.

Mid 1970s: St Nicholas Church/Family Centre.

Shops originally included butcher, bakery, greengrocer, launderette, hairdresser, chemist inc post office counter and small supermarket.  Small supermarket, chemist, hairdresser still in existence but area now includes 6 takeaways and Veterinary Surgery; Post Office counter now in supermarket.

Low cost housing area; highly mobile occupancy especially in flats; soon became run-down, subject to vandalism; acquired poor reputation.

1980: Housing Act led to private ownership of adjacent Chargrove/Abbotswood Flats; some shops & flats above began to be privately owned and rented out.  Some upkeep of grass area in front of shops but generally in unkempt condition.

1990s – Public meeting called, interested parties formed committee and Yate Town Council awarded grant (£10k) to re-landscape area in front of shops including re-planting, seating and creation of mosaic brickwork which incorporated games to be played by children (instructions for these games are included in council archives along with the paperwork for this project).  Council slated for doing this on private property!  See pics below.

Constant attempts made to find ownership of the precinct in order to improve the rest of the area failed, and few people knew who owned what; by early 2000s all the shops except the Kebab outlet appeared to be in private ownership.

April 2001: In a project Rodford Primary School children rated the area unattractive, littered & vandalised.

2004: Public meeting held to air views on the area (mostly complaints about litter, vandalism and yobbish behaviour); South Glos Community Officer, Pat Taylor prime mover; South Glos agreed to replace vandalised rubbish bins & repair seats.

June 2004: Abbotswood Action (AA) formed with constitution and committee, supported by Pat Taylor; some funding from Greater Bristol, Yate Town Council & Dodington Parish Council for admin, insurance, but South Glos refused funding on grounds of the area being privately owned.  Attempts to find owner still failed.

October 2004: Festival held at St Nicholas to highlight AA & to enlist support of residents, shopkeepers, visitors & users of the precinct, but little could be achieved in absence of significant funds, and problem of working on private property.

April 2005: Overgrown hedges pruned to assist police surveillance; PCSOs appointed.

July 2005: Walkabout of all interested parties including town/county councillors to illustrate problems – reported in local press; name of possible owner revealed as Mr El Katchi Ibtissem with London address; requested in writing a meeting to discuss the area, but no reply.  Steve Webb MP also did walkabout later & pledged support.

August 2005: Seats repaired on grounds of safety, but no grant available to replace them.

September 2005: Planning Application to build 10 flats on the car park at the rear of the shops & surgeries submitted by Mrs Kachti (now established as owner); mass objection to the application, subsequently withdrawn.

November 2005: Community Safety double decker bus visit, not appropriate timing but Safer South Glos recognising problems of the area.

February 2006: Town Centres Coordinator South Glos called meeting but no apparent outcome.

March 2006: Community Safety Promotion not very successful; Section 16 Notice served on Mrs Kachti – no reply or follow-up; ownership of El Katchi Ibtissem confirmed from Land Registry at last, but still not possible to define accurately area involved.

May 2006: Suggestion of mobile CCTV under Community Safety project; notification posted, but no cameras appeared.

June 2006: Planning Application to build flats in car park re-submitted.

July 2006: Snips (Hairdresser) given grant under Community Safety/Safer Shops project to partly fund cost of broken window.

(2007: Snips had rear windows damaged by gunshots.)

August 2006: PSCOs organised football tournament successfully.

October 2006: Tidy-up Day around St Nicholas Family Centre organised by Centre members.

December 2006: Still no response from South Glos re pursuance of Section 16 Notice.

January 2007: No response to request to South Glos for possible funding under “environmental action”; local authority Clean Neighbourhoods legislation not yet adopted by South Glos.

February 2007: PC/PCSO surgeries held twice a month at St Nicholas, not widely known.

March 2007: Tidy-up Day around St Nicholas Family Centre organised by Centre members.

2007: It was noted that Bristol City Council had compulsorily purchased a similar precinct in Hartcliffe, but AA’s request for South Glos to take similar action was rebuffed.

July 2007: AA informed that CCTV cameras not possible because the lamp-posts were too old, too frail and not tall enough!!!

June 2008: PCSO Tony Bristow started a very successful Boxing Club within the Youth Club at St Nicholas Family Centre but regrettably, through lack of facilities the club moved to the Yate Outdoor Sports Complex in North Yate in October 2008.  The club is flourishing and has won competitions.

2008: Cllr Alan Lawrance & MW met Mr Hammidi (the Kachits’ agent) who took note of damage etc.  Followed by meeting with Mr H and Mrs Kachti who appeared horrified by state of the place.

2009: Desultory repairs to car park, pruning of bushes initiated by Mr H but not much difference.

2010:  South Glos Legal Dept have establish-ed ownership although it appears that there may be more than one, and the boundaries/ ownership of the area are still not fully known.

AA is well represented at the Safer Stronger South Glos meetings, and continues to press for official action from South Glos.  Occasional improvements are carried out by StreetCare, and the Police have had some success with yobbism.

Abbotswood Action has also been concerned by the problems relating to the underpass on Rodford Way, and has supported the movement lobbying for a road crossing following the tragic death of a teenager.  This topic has also been hotly debated at the area SSG meetings.

Continuing Problems

·         In spite of having found the owner of the Abbotswood Precinct, little response has been forthcoming.

·         Neither South Glos nor AA are prepared to risk the possible legal consequences of taking unilateral action to improve the area (AA has no funding anyway).

·         In spite of the valiant effort of a small number of shop/flat owners, not enough of them, nor the occupiers of the flats above are prepared to take appropriate action in the areas immediately adjacent to their property.  Apart from the regular members of this group, apathy reigns.

·         There has been intermittent improvement in anti-social behaviour, some graffiti has been removed, but coupled with litter, the overall problems remain and appear to be cyclical.

The major stumbling block to any proposed activity continues to be the fact that the area is privately owned, thus preventing speedy intervention. 

Conclusion

Not surprisingly, there has been no response to a challenge from the group to the shop-owners and residents of the flats above to form an association with the objective of funding regular and efficient cleaning up of the area.  However, it must remain the aim of all of them as well as AA to actively pursue the umbrella support of all local authorities concerned to similarly achieve regular and efficient cleaning up of the wider area which must lead to the benefit of the shops, their users and residents.

This area may be privately owned but it is not enclosed and is publicly accessed and used by hundreds of people including many children on their way to and from school every day, 24/7, and should be treated as a much needed public amenity, publicly cared for – this is the aim of Abbotswood Action Group!

Rest assured that the interests of Abbotswood and the surrounding areas are regularly represented at the SSG meetings but it’s possible that the SSG meetings may shortly be swallowed by the new Govt’s “Big Society” notion whereby residents will be expected to act for themselves!

Mary Wright
Chairman Abbotswood Action (& Abbotswood  Resident)

Updated 1 August 2011

The Shopping Precinct Mosaic

The mosaic design below was commissioned as part of the Yate Town Council award of £10000.00 devoted to enhancing the Abbotswood Shopping Precinct.  It was intended to provide a source of entertainment to the many children who visit the precinct.  Unfortunately the instructions for the games appear to have been lost in the “mists” of council archives.  The second picture shows the precinct after the mosaic was laid, and also shows that it was a much more open and tidy space.  (NB click on any picture to view it larger.)

The Shopping Precinct in the 1990s

The Abbotswood Area

NB  Abbotswood Primary School is located on the south side of Rodford Way.