One local councillor said the council is considering various suggestions and changes to the contentious idea of dividing the roads of north of North Street into four distinct zones<\/a> for vehicles, and she was hopeful the plans from the city council for Southville could be shaped by everyone in the area.<\/p>\n But this week, the South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood drop-in consultation roadshow stopped at the Chessel Centre, in the heart of the Bedminster neighbourhood built in just a couple of years either side of 1900. Now famous for its street art<\/a>, the terraces were built to house the miners, tobacco factory employees and foundry workers. Here in the Chessels – the name given by those marketing the terraces way back in 1899 – the roads are narrow grids, filled with parked cars.<\/p>\n Any idea of zoning off this area between North Street and West Street with the \u2018modal filters\u2019 is at least two years down the line – Barton Hill and Redfield already have them, with Southville and Totterdown at the front of the queue in South Bristol<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the meantime, for The Chessels, the SBLN means plans for a matchday parking scheme and a general residents parking scheme. Although everyone spilling out of The Chessel Centre on Wednesday evening agreed parking was a nightmare and something had to be done, there was little consensus on what, and how.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Green-friendly South Bristol suburb turns against Liveable Neighbourhood ‘road blocks’<\/a>READ MORE: Bristol Clean Air Zone could change if new liveable neighbourhood scheme gets go-ahead<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not really in favour of the idea of a residents\u2019 parking scheme, no,\u201d said Paul, who has lived in this part of Bedminster for all his 71 years, and now lives at the bottom of the hill nearer Ashton Gate Stadium, with his wife Gill. \u201cWell, I would be in favour if it works,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing is whatever they do has got to be monitored. A residents parking scheme – ok, but what times? It would be pointless during the day – there isn\u2019t a parking problem here in the daytime. A matchday parking scheme? OK but who would be enforcing it?\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Paul was more exercised with the impact of Southville\u2019s traffic zones, particularly on Coronation Road. \u201cI get what they are saying, but it will just end up pushing more traffic into Coronation Road, and that\u2019s already bad.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul is one of that elite band of Bristolians who are the support crew for hot air balloons, and is often to be found behind the wheel of the balloon vehicle, tracking it across Bristol. \u201cCoronation Road is a nightmare already,\u201d he emphasised.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019ve been times when I\u2019ve come out of Ashton Court, got onto Coronation Road and watched the balloon float over me. I haven\u2019t made it to Bedminster Bridge roundabout and I\u2019ve said to them on the radio \u2018you\u2019re going to have to land and wait for me\u2019 – and they are already in Pucklechurch,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Rob and Christine have lived just off Chessel Street for only 36 years, and watched as the roads have filled with cars, and the demographics of the area have changed. \u201cSomething does need to be done, of course,\u201d said Rob.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Bristol\u2019s second liveable neighbourhood incoming but ‘lessons have been learned’<\/a>READ MORE: ‘Liveable neighbourhoods\u2019 explained as Bristol looks set to get another<\/a><\/p>\n They came to the consultation looking for answers but found few. \u201cThey didn\u2019t seem to be able to answer questions in as much detail as I hoped,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s quite grey and not very precise about what they want to do and how it would work,\u201d added Christine. \u201cHow would it – a residents\u2019 parking scheme – be enforced. There was nothing precise about their answers,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n A residents parking scheme has existed in Southville for ten years – in fact it was the tenth anniversary of the scheme starting last Sunday.<\/p>\n That was brought in there to stop commuters parking in Southville\u2019s streets for free and walking into work in the city centre – something which isn\u2019t exactly an issue further out in The Chessels, where the streets can be half empty during the day, but chockablock with the residents\u2019 own parked cars in the evenings – and sometimes impassable whenever there\u2019s a match or concert at Ashton Gate just under a mile away down the hill.<\/p>\n Rob and Christine have seen many changes since the 1980s, and worry that residents parking schemes and ultimately the modal filters and low traffic neighbourhoods won\u2019t work here. \u201cThese are narrow streets, we\u2019ve got lots more HMOs around here now, you\u2019ve got trade vehicles always around, and you\u2019ve got the stadium,\u201d said Rob.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about how residents who have a car would be able to get to their homes, how would the movement around the area change. They (the council officers inside) were aware of some of the issues we were raising,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s an area that needs some sort of engineering.\u201d<\/p>\n Southville\u2019s residents are wrestling with the imminent prospect of the zones and the modal filters, and that sparked queues of people to show up to denounce the idea earlier this month at the consultation events in Southville. In Bedminster, it\u2019s two years down the line and there are no maps with zones and roadblocks – yet.<\/p>\n But Will, from one of the roads off the main spine of Chessel Street, said he is a huge fan. He was disappointed, he said, that the Low Traffic Neighbourhood and all its dead-end roads, cul-de-sacs and modal filters were being proposed in Southville first and not here in The Chessels.<\/p>\n READ MORE: ‘Insanely dangerous’ parking is forcing people to move away from BS3<\/a>READ MORE: Bedminster parking row erupts again with ‘park in your own street’ notes left on windscreens<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very enthusiastic,\u201d he said. \u201cI saw that only people who were against it in Southville went to their event<\/a>, so I came out to my local one specifically to tell them that I support it. I thought it was important to drop in and say that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Will said he feared the event would be a confrontational public meeting, but councils don\u2019t do consultations like that anymore if they can avoid it – this was officers standing behind maps and listening to questions.<\/p>\n \u201cAn RPZ is needed here – and matchday parking. I used to live in Cotham and it made such a difference,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m aware I\u2019m in a privileged position. I can work from home, I don\u2019t have a car, and I know there are some who have important issues with this, but you wonder who is the council making the area for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"How](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_TCB031025SBLNBRI.jpg\")
How the South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood scheme will impact Southville(Image: Bristol Post)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_TCB161025ChesselsBRI_04jpeg.jpg\")
The South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood consultation event, held at the Chessel Centre in The Chessels area of Bedminster, on Wednesday, October 15, 2025.(Image: Bristol Post)<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_TCB161025ChesselsBRI_05jpeg.jpg\")
The South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood consultation event, held at the Chessel Centre in The Chessels area of Bedminster, on Wednesday, October 15, 2025. Cllr Ellie Freeman (Green, Bedminster)(Image: Bristol Post)<\/p>\n