On the Thursday evening many hundreds gathered on Uphill Hill to see the lighting of the Jubilee Beacon by a representative of the Queen via the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , the Town Mayor and her consort, the Chair of North Somerset Council and the Chair of the organisers, Uphill Village Society.

On the Saturday evening there was a full house at St Nicholas Church for a Jubilee Prom Concert provided by Worle Wind Band although Paddington was not in attendance as he was otherwise engaged at the Palace. Even the outside of the church was illuminated in red, white and blue.

On Sunday the Picnic in the Park sadly had to be cancelled (the ground was too wet to picnic and by 3 o’clock the rain was coming down) but the village still partied – in their own front gardens, in the street and in the church. The streets and houses had plenty of bunting and the church gave a tremendous welcome to all who set foot inside not to mention the cakes and scones. The spread there was amazing with all who attended appreciative of the other goodies on offer. Well done everyone who organised the event there. 

And how Uphill partied elsewhere! With various roads putting on their own street party and what fun they had  – the raw egg throw and catch in one road looked great fun, unless you were unlucky to have the egg break when you caught it.

Her Majesty would be delighted to know Uphill celebrated her 70 year reign so well!

As a result of the recent tabletop sale held across the village the Village Society has been able to make a donation of £459 to Weston Hospicecare. In addition various residents have donated the proceeds from the sale to the charity as well. This very successful event will hopefully be repeated on at least a annual basis.

Our photograph shows Stewart Castle, Chair of the Village Society and Marie Keele, Trustee  and organiser of the sale making the presentation of the cheque.

The first of seven trees being planted to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee has been put in place by the Village Society in the Bluebell Field with the agreement of The Woodland Trust.

Two further sites have been identified for the remaining six trees to be planted during the planting season at the end of this year, adjacent to the seats in Ellesmere Road and at Kynfton Close entrance. Four other sites are now needed and suggestions are invited. Please send to info@uphillvillage.org.uk or to speak to any Village Society trustee

Challenges for the future

North Somerset Council are starting the process of preparing a local plan to shape investment and infrastructure funding to support new homes, workplaces and local facilities for the next 15 years and beyond.

This is the council’s opportunity to plan for new homes of the right type, at an affordable price, in the right places, to meet the needs of the people who live here now and in future.

Last summer the council carried out a consultation called ‘Challenges for the future’ to start the discussion about what issues you think need to be addressed in the Local Plan.

The consultation ran from 22 July to 2 September 2020 and the council received over 3,000 comments from a wide range of people across the district (including residents, businesses, house builders, service providers, interest groups and town and parish councils).

Consultation and feedback

The feedback received has been set out in a Consultation Statement which outlines how and who were consulted and summarises the responses.

The comments can be viewed on the online consultation page:

• Challenges for the future consultation

This feedback has been analysed and used to shape the priorities for the Local Plan and will help with the next stage of preparing the plan:

• Choices – Autumn 2020

This is all about looking at alternative approaches for where new housing, employment and community uses might go over the next 15 years and which are the broad locations which best reflect your priorities

Draft plan 2021

This version of the plan will be a full plan with detailed polices on the approach to various forms of development. It will replace the current Core Strategy, Development Management Plan and Site allocations Plan. It will set out the council’s overall spatial strategy – where it thinks growth should be encouraged within North Somerset. It will allocate sites to meet this growth as well as the infrastructure, jobs and services North Somerset will need.

The council will seek views on this in 2021.

The Village Society will look closely to see how the proposed plan will effect uphill. Anyone with views or comments to make on issues raised today should address them to secretary@uphillvillagesociety.org.uk or address them to the council direct.