News / East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood
‘We just want a safe space to live’
It’s a “perfect storm” said Tom Fisher on a recent morning before he prepared once again to face the “super dangerous” roads around his local area to get his daughter to a swimming lesson.
“Thin roads, speeding, aggravated commuters using their horns and swearing at one another” collide on a daily basis to create a hurricane of problems for Tom and many of his neighbours.
The narrow nature of his road, a terraced street in St George, is only one factor that concerns the father of two surrounding the ceaseless “rat-running” in his area as people attempt to short-cut their way to and from work.
is needed now More than ever
“It’s getting worse,” Tom, a teacher, said over a freshly made coffee at his home on Sherbourne Street which runs between St George Park and Avonview Cemetery.
“A lot of cars will straddle the pavement just to get through some streets quicker.”
It has been so consistently unsafe for Tom and his family that even walking to the park can be a struggle – he often has to swerve around reckless drivers encroaching on the pavement where he pushes his two young girls along in prams.
Tom’s fears for his family, thankfully, are not being shoved out of the way in the same manner, with the arrival of a new pilot project in the area offering a glimmer of hope.
The East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood which will begin for a six-month trial period in September, aims to make it harder for people to use streets like Tom’s as rat-runs.
Bristol City Council say that liveable neighbourhoods – with another planned in south Bristol – can make communities quieter, safer, healthier and improve air quality for everyone.
“As part of our first Liveable Neighbourhood pilot project, we are working with people who live, work, study and travel through east Bristol to design people-friendly streets.”
The East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood pilot encompasses areas of Barton Hill, Redfield and St George – photo: Betty Woolerton
Tom said that while he can “sympathise” with commuters who are just trying to get to work on time, it is also not his problem.
“Although that might sound harsh, at the end of the day, I have to live here… We just want a safe space to live.”
Tom said that a lot of the online backlash towards the scheme is misplaced: “I feel like the conversation is being dominated by a large online presence, most of whom do not seem to live in east Bristol.
“It’s becoming a politicised topic when it’s really not about that.”
The “anti-local” sentiments expressed by people who decry the scheme have certainly struck a chord with community-oriented Tom who regularly talks to other young families who live on his street.
He said that a lot of his neighbours support the scheme and are hoping for a return to safe travel measures, and he is confident that the scheme will give his family long-overdue respite from the daily danger that exists on his doorstep.
Main photo: Tom Fisher
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