We have spent nearly a year liaising with the Ministry of Justice Probation Service South West (PSSW) to arrange ‘Community Payback’ work in Bathurst Basin. The Community Payback scheme is designed for cases of theft, assault or property damage where custodial sentences are considered inappropriate.
We hosted a meeting with PSSW and Bristol City Council Harbour staff, Eric Dougall and Clark Wiltshire, the outcome of which was a joint community programme to help improve Bathurst Basin by carrying out a range of tasks, such as
- Painting the Utility Room block in Harbour colours
- Painting the bollards, winches, and utility cabinets
- Raking up the dead leaves and weeding
Probation Service staff members Philip Griffin, James Nepean and Richard Ward have organized a team of six unpaid community support members to work on maintenance work around the Basin. James leads the initiative supported by Richard when on site.
Bristol City Council agreed to provide third party liability insurance, paint, support materials and equipment, site representatives and develop an agreed Scope of Work with PSSW to improve Bathurst Basin.
We had to wait for the cold and wet winter weather to ease away before work could commence. The work team finally started work on Friday 19th May. They will work from 9:30am to 3:30pm as team members must be collected from various locations in the city. The initial plan is that the team will be here one day a week, but this could be increased as other projects are completed. This is seen as a ‘win-win’ activity as everyone benefits. If the Bathurst Basin example is a success, it will be extended to other parts of the Harbour.