My Bristol

Why? Because the city council has a new chief exec, and she’s from Yorkshire.

Jan Ormondroyd has now seen them all.  And then we took her to meet the Bristolians who have taken the pictures, and see their city first hand.

Part three: Bins and a dangerous factory

"Estate agents have started calling this lower Clifton" jokes our guide, "but we like to think of Clifton as Upper Southville."

Ben Barker is a Southville legend. Today he’s playing tour guide for the council’s new chief exec Jan Ormondroyd. We’ve had loads of pictures of Bemmie on our My Bristol flickr group – see if you can find them all!

Ben and a posse of locals (two mums, three kids and Rosie the dog) show Jan around.  Plenty of good stuff – Dame Emily’s Park, where the community association paid for some nice playground kit; a homezone scheme which sets pedestrians on a par with cars; and the old St John’s churchyard where Bedminster all started centuries ago.

So what do they want Jan to sort out?

"Very often it seems like one bit of the council doesn’t know what another’s getting up to," Ben explains.  "This is emblematic".

He shows Jan a shiny new sign on East St.  You know the sort of thing, a little map of the area and nice clear walking signs to the Tobacco factory, Windmill Hill, the Park….  But in front of it?  Two great big commercial bins.

"We need someone in charge of the street.  Someone to make it all work, to shout about it and get people moving."

Jan is all ears and sympathy.  "You mean you need some local ownership of the area, a way to get the whole community involved.  I see."  And she does see, it’s clear.  What she can do about it, we will find out later.

Our tour ends at the old Pring and St Hill factory.  Until a few years ago, they still bashed metal here.  Today it’s not only derelict, and full of dangerous rubbish, it’s completely open to the public.

"I feel really unsafe round here," says Hilary. "You wonder who’s coming out of the factory, and who you might meet."

"I know it’s private land," Ben points out. "But surely the safety of the public is the council’s problem.  Kids can just walk straight in and it’s dangerous in there."

"So it’s a real safety issue for you, yes I see that," Jan replies.  Her problem is this is private land, the council can’t just turn up and stick a fence up.

"But I think this is something the council will be actively pursuing.  You’re absolutely right, anyone can walk in, its clearly a danger.  I think it’s something that has to be taken up with the people who own the property."

Was that a promise?  Sounded awfully like it.  Watch this space…