The Greens may learn a potent political lesson in the coming weeks. Power is different to protest. As the people in charge of Bristol City Council, the Green Party seems comfortable. The 2024 local elections saw it win 34 seats compared with Labour’s 21. But the handling of the van dwelling situation on the Downs has placed the party under real scrutiny - scrutiny to which it is not accustomed. 

The council finally summoned up the courage, after the discovery of human waste in makeshift woodland “toilets”, to move the vans on. In December. The start of winter. The run up to Christmas. It’s all about timing, and this timing is terrible. It leaves residents and visitors frustrated at the continued presence of the vans and the van dwellers forced to up sticks (upon pain of legal action) at the worst possible time of year. 

This could have been dealt with months and months ago. Why the delay? Evidence of anti-social behaviour and egregious fly-tipping by some (not all) van dwellers was obvious. The disgusting dumps on the Downs were just the filthy icing on the inedible cake. The sluggish response by the council beggars belief.

The Greens appear to have caught themselves in a cleft stick of their own making. A commitment to protect our precious, verdant spaces and a desire to come across as “right on” by being nice to those who (largely) choose to live illegally in squalor. 

With power comes responsibility. So get on with solving this problem in the best interests of everyone concerned. 

This newsletter’s favourite charity, Smart Works Bristol (SWB), is firing on all its chic cylinders.

SWB uses clothing and coaching to help women into the workplace. High-quality clobber plus expert advice, so they can look good and sound good in job interviews.

Since opening in Bristol just a few weeks ago, SWB has delivered 111 appointments to unemployed women. And the charity’s recent focus on younger women appears to be reaping rewards. Some 67% of engagements fall within the 26-49 year old demographic, while 20% are 25 or under. The rest are 50+(which counts as young in this 56 year old’s humble opinion). 

Here’s what one client said about SWB: “They made me feel human - I am going to feel super confident. I felt a million dollars.”

I rarely shed a tear (unless sport is involved), but those words pluck at the heartstrings.

SWB has a 35-strong team of volunteers who help serve our community. We should wish them all a very Merry Christmas. Lovely people doing important, unpaid work. 

Here’s a picture of some of the SWB folk getting festive. 

Mark Riley, CEO of Mathison.ai and Publisher of Bristol News By Hana, appends his moniker to copies of “The AI Prophet” earlier this week at our city’s excellent Origin Workspace (where the cool start-up people gather). It’s a must-read if you’re interested in a world increasingly obsessed, worried or excited by the acceleration of AI. 

You can get your copy of The AI Prophet: A Human Survival Guide For The Coming Machine Age by Mark Riley on Amazon

Rhidian Wynn Davies | Editor in Chief

Scroll down for property news and more things to do in Bristol this weekend…

as chosen by our editors

Google asks - can you guess this city? Level “Hard”!

Formula One

Motor racing has not, to date, featured in our sports column. We tend to focus on the Bristol sporting staples of football and rugby — until now. 

Bristol-born Lando Norris won the F1 World Championship on Sunday, proving that nice guys really can come first. 

Norris is a superb driver. Courageous yet courteous, too. Many a sportsman would be well advised to take a leaf out of the “Lando’s way” playbook. That his mother, Cisca, stole the show during the post-race euphoria only made her boy’s victory all the sweeter.

Lando is now cemented in Bristolian sporting history. Still some way to go, though, to wrestle the crown of Mr Bristol from Ellis Genge. The Bears behemoth may not be able to fit into an F1 car. But he can bulldoze his way through brick walls for his team and the Ashton Gate faithful. 

Bristol Bears

Speaking of Mr Genge, he played his part in a terribly tight 17-16 win over Scarlets in the Investec Champions Cup last Saturday in warm and friendly Llanelli.

The victory hinged on another try from Louis Rees-Zammit. The fleet-footed Welsh winger smuggled the ball over the line this time - instead of his trademark airborne, one-handed finish in the corner. Rees-Lightning is a rugby superstar. Let’s hope Bristol keep him on the books. 

Next up for the Bears? Another Champions Cup match, this time against the dangerous French side Pau at the Gate. Sunday 14 December, 5.30pm. 

Bristol City

A 1-0 home defeat against promotion rivals Millwall on Saturday was the last thing City needed. The Robins had the chance to go third but instead dropped outside the playoff places.

Matters did not get better in midweek. Wednesday night’s 2-2 draw with Leicester City at Ashton Gate meant City fell to 10th in the Championship. It could have been worse. The Foxes were 2-0 up at halftime before the Robins displayed some pluck to salvage a draw. Emil Riis scored the equaliser in the 83rd minute and the Gate faithful left the ground grumbling but not mutinous (halftime boos notwithstanding). 

City are just one point adrift of the playoff places. But four points dropped at home in just a few days is far from promotion-chasing form. And there is now plenty of traffic ahead of them in the table.

Playoff peril?

7th QPR: 31 points

8th Stoke City: 30 points

9th Southampton: 30 points

10th Bristol City: 30 points

Sixth place secures a playoff berth and the Robins are less than half way through the season. But socks need pulling up over the Christmas period. And the fixture list for the rest of December is daunting.

Next up are free-scoring league leaders Coventry City, away tomorrow at 3pm. Then it’s second-placed Middlesbrough at the Gate on the 20th. The Boxing Day match sees the Robins travel to mid-table West Brom, but then it’s third-placed Millwall away on the 29th. Merry bloody Christmas.

City drew fellow Championship side Watford in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup (Ashton Gate, Saturday 10 January 3pm). A potentially tough gig. The Hornets are only two points behind the Robins in the league table.

Bristol Rovers

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Rovers did not have a ball with their number on it in the hat for the 3rd Round FA Cup draw. A dreary 1-0 defeat away to Port Vale in the 2nd Round last Saturday saw to that.

And then things got worse for the Pirates. Tuesday night saw them thumped 4-0 by Barnet in League 2. Shipping goals at that rate is relegation form. 

Relegation rollercoaster

There are only two drop spots in League 2. But the Pirates are doing their very best to fill one of them. The plank is quivering. 

21st Crawley: 17 points

22nd Bristol Rovers: 17 points

*******************************

23rd Harrogate: 16 points 

24th Newport County: 13 points

The Pirates have an awful goal difference of minus 20. That’s worth at least a point. And not in a good way. 

Next up for Rovers? Swindon at The Mem Saturday 13 December, 12.30pm. Swindon are second in the league. Note to optimists: don’t hold your breath.

The Sports Desk

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