Alex Turner
Listen: Area in Focus – the fight for the St Paul’s dentist’s
In February, hundreds of people queued up on Ashley Road for several days to register for NHS dentistry, as the local practice reopened. In this episode, we tell the story of the campaigners who fought to ensure their neighbourhood did not lose a vital health service.
Owner of ex-pub and cinema should up his landlord game before developing more flats, say tenants
High-profile plans to turn a former Wetherspoons on Church Road into housing have been withdrawn this week. Some tenants of the developer, Landrose, say it needs to improve its service to people already living in its properties.
Listen: The Debrief – why does transparency matter, and is the council getting any better at it?
It’s almost six months since the Cable asked why Bristol’s performance on FOI requests was so poor. As the city’s political system prepares for change, Alex Turner talks to Priyanka Raval about why this is important, and whether we can look forward to more open local government.
‘I can do action’: cafe owner who organised tower block evacuation response aiming to be councillor
When she heard Barton House was being evacuated in November, Cafe Conscious owner Deniece Dixon got to work helping families who had become homeless. Two months on, she explains why she’s set her sights on City Hall
Listen: Bristol Unpacked with BBC journalist Lucy Proctor on mad cows, Covid and conspiracy theories
Thirty years ago, BSE was spreading across the UK while the government insisted beef was safe. Neil asks Lucy, producer of The Cows are Mad podcast, about the scandal – and how conspiracy theories have thrived as trust in the establishment has nosedived.
Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Watershed CEO Clare Reddington on cinema, class and council cuts
As Bristol City Council slashes spending on venues including arthouse cinema Watershed, Neil asks its boss Clare why funding the arts matters, and whether the sector's reputation as catering mainly to the well-heeled is justified.
Transparency matters: why is Bristol City Council failing on freedom of information?
Cable research shows that Bristol is worse than many other major cities at handling citizens’ FOI requests. Why is this a problem – and will the end of the mayoral system next year bring more open local government in the city?
Exclusive: Council denies structural issues identified four years ago are root cause of tower block evacuation
Bristol City Council says 'new and intrusive' surveys raised questions over whether it could rely on its own records about Barton House, whose residents have been left temporarily homeless after the building was deemed unsafe.
