“A radical idea might be to give every adult and child on the estate a few hundred pounds”
Hartcliffe to the left, at the Hartcliffe Way roundabout in South Bristol(Image: Google Maps)
The community in Hartcliffe should be at the heart of deciding how £20 million of special Government money is spent there – and it should have a lasting legacy to improve the area for years and years to come.
And one radical idea being put forward could be to simply give every man, woman and child in the South Bristol estate a lump sum of hundreds of pounds each – and leave it up to the people themselves to decide what should happen to the money.
That was an idea floated by a former councillor for Hartcliffe, Paul Smith, who last year published a book about how the community had been ‘betrayed’ in the 1950s and 60s when residents moved to the edge of the city with the promise of a ‘Garden City’ full of venues and facilities, which were never built.
Mr Smith was in charge of the city’s housing for four years from 2016 as a council cabinet member, and is now the chief executive of Elim Housing Association in Bristol. He said he feared the £20 million ‘won’t touch the sides’ in Hartcliffe, and there was a danger much of it is spent on consultants and contractors.
Last week in her Spending Review, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a new scheme called ‘Trailblazer Neighbourhoods’, which had been ‘left behind’ by successive Governments and would now each receive up to £20 million of funding.
Almost all of the 20 neighbourhoods to receive the funding are in the north or the midlands, but Hartcliffe was named too, and local councillors welcomed the news.
Now though, there are questions and the main one is what should the money be spent on. “That is a good question,” said Cllr Tim Kent, a city councillor who represents the eastern edge of Hartcliffe that falls into the Hengrove and Whitchurch Park council ward.
“It is obviously one that needs to be answered by the community. But ensuring it has a lasting legacy and increases opportunity should be at the centre of the fund,” he added.
READ MORE: Hartcliffe named as a £20m ‘trailblazer’ neighbourhood in new Government projectREAD MORE: The A to Z of Hartcliffe – 26 (and more) things that put the heart into the ‘Cliffe
Naming Hartcliffe as a recipient of £20m has brought positivity to the community, but questions too. When the Government says ‘Hartcliffe’ what do they mean? Is it the council ward that includes Withywood too? Is it the Hartcliffe that includes the eastern edge that runs into Hengrove Park?
And what is the Government giving the money for? Is it for creating and running new services to replace things, like the youth service, that has been drastically cut over the years? Is it to help refurbish existing buildings like the community centre, or for grander schemes to create new facilities?
Cllr Kerry Bailes, who has lived all her life in Hartcliffe and is a staunch defender of the community, said the money would be most welcome, but pointed out it was to be spent over the next ten years, rather than on a one-off project.
“We’re looking forward to hearing more about this scheme and working with local people to co-design the solutions our community so desperately needs,” she said.
Former Labour cabinet member Paul Smith, who grew up in Hartcliffe and represented it on the city council at the time of the 1992 riots, said it was important that local people felt the benefit.
Paul Smith with a copy of his book Hartcliffe Betrayed(Image: Bristol Post)
“It’s important that this money brings lasting change and that it’s local people who decide how it’s spent,” he said. “It sounds like a lot of money but there is always the danger that huge proportions leave the estate in the pockets of consultants and contractors, and local people don’t feel the benefit of it.
“Real success would be using this money to leverage in more resources and also to transfer more assets on the estate under the control of local residents,” he added. “A radical idea might be to give every adult and child on the estate a few hundred pounds each and let them really decide what the money is spent on or invested in,” he said.
With just over 19,000 residents of Hartcliffe and Withywood at the last census – each person could get anything up to a thousand pounds under Mr Smith’s radical suggestion, but he said it would focus minds in Hartcliffe on working together to do the best for the community.
READ MORE: The lost ‘Garden City’ of Bristol – new book reveals how people on one of Britain’s biggest estates were ‘betrayed’READ MORE: ‘Normal for Hartcliffe’ film gets first screening outside South Bristol
“Some of the investment could be used to transfer the control and ownership of public sector assets, including council housing, in the area to local people under a community development trust or urban town council to give people real long term authority over the area,” he said.
Mr Smith did warn that it could make no difference at all if spent badly. “£20m could make a significant long term difference, equally it could be spent with no lasting impact,” he added.
Hartcliffe filmmaker Paul Holbrook(Image: Paul Holbrook)
Multi award-winning film-maker Paul Holbrook grew up in Hartcliffe and is proud to include the community in many of his films. He said creating a legacy for future generations was important, and the money should be spent on ‘projects that present real opportunities outside of the norm and encourage and empower kids from the estate to find aspiration in industries currently invisible to them!
“Any projects should have a legacy plan, and not just be a quick, shallow way to spend the money,” he added.
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