New community noticeboard installed

New community noticeboard installed

We are delighted to announce the arrival of our long awaited community noticeboard, which replaces the broken noticeboard outside Uplands News.  We are delighted to be partnering with Uplands News to renew this important community asset – a place for sharing information about what’s happening across Uplands & Brynmill.

This noticeboard has been paid for through the Onwards & Uplands crowdfunding campaign that we ran in 2021.  Thank you to everyone who contributed to the crowdfunder!

Paid notices will be managed by Uplands News – please enquire within for rates.

Community groups affiliated with Uplands Living Streets may qualify for free placement on the noticeboard, if you are organising events or activities tor community benefit.  Get in touch to discuss!

Uplands Living Streets is a local group that is part of the UK-wide Living Streets network.  Set up in 2019, we are a small group of local volunteers who love where we live and want to help make it even better.  We are continuing to identify new ideas for making Uplands and Brynmill happier, greener and more walkable – get in touch if you have suggestions!

Community Walk on Sat 30th September

Community Walk on Sat 30th September

Everyone is welcome to join our upcoming community walk in Singleton Park, with local naturalist Matt Carroll. Hear about some of the wildlife to be found in the park as the seasons change, and learn the names of some of the birds and trees that we come across. Afterwards, join us for a coffee at Brynmill Coffee House.

11am – 1pm on Saturday 30th September
Meet outside the Swiss Cottage

This easy circular walk will take around 90 minutes. Please wear suitable shoes and waterproofs. Children, dogs and pushchairs welcome!

Book on Eventbrite or just turn up!

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/uplands-community-walk-tickets-696575113917

Meeting point – by the Swiss Cottage in Singleton Park

Onwards & Uplands! Join us on Wednesday 1st of Feb!

Onwards & Uplands! Join us on Wednesday 1st of Feb!

Parklets – What, Why, How?

Everyone is welcome to join our February meeting, where we will be having a talk and discussion about parklets, which are small green seating areas situated on or alongside a pavement where people can sit and relax. How can we apply this idea across Swansea? Join us at 7pm on Wednesday 1st February at Common Meeple Board Game Cafe for a free, informal discussion forum where we will be joined by Habib Khan, director at Meristem Design, an award-winning company creating bespoke green solutions for commercial, public realm and residential spaces.

How to create great green urban spaces

How to create great green urban spaces

Our first face-to-face meeting on Tuesday 22 September in BrewStone, Uplands was a great success! We welcomed both Uplands Living Streets members and people from all over Swansea, all united in their interest in making our communities more green and people-friendly.

Dr Ben Reynolds of Urban Foundry spoke about 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, giving us an insight into how good urban design can make all the difference in creating friendly, connected, and economically successful places where everyone enjoys living and working.

And none of this is new! The Victorians knew instinctively what makes a great place to live, and we can see this in the street layout and connectedness we all enjoy in Uplands.

The big takeaways from Dr Reynolds’ talk?

    • All the cities we love and enjoy visiting are designed around the same principles, which ensure that people have priority over cars.
    • Mixed use is important – shops, mixed with housing, and short connected blocks of buildings with ‘active frontages’ make for places which are vibrant and safe, both during the day and at night.
    • Well-designed cities are those that encourage people to linger – to sit and chat with friends, shop, eat, and socialise.
  • Footfall in shops and businesses increases in urban spaces that prioritise pedestrians, whereas spaces designed for cars actually turn out to be business un-friendly.

Research from all over the world shows that great urban spaces aren’t difficult to create, it just needs the will of people to work together. And when they do, green urban spaces are great news for business, the environment and the community.

Join us for more interesting talks and activities in the months ahead; let us know if there’s a topic you’d like to discuss, or a speaker you’d like to hear! 

Dates for your diary

Saturday 22nd October, 11.00am, Uplands Living Streets Family Walk. Come along and find out more about the history of our great local parks.

December (date and venue to be announced), Christmas Living Streets meeting and social.

Contact us here: Uplandsswanseagroup@livingstreets.org.uk

Onwards and Uplands! Ymlaen Yplands!

New Look & Latest Meeting Notes – 2/07/22

Please click here to see the notes from our latest Uplands Living Streets meeting held on 2nd July.

Here are some highlights:

We’ve decided on a NEW LOOK for our future meetings and we need YOU to help us with it.
We’d like to start hosting discussions at the meetings on various themes of interest to all our members.

Please send us your ideas for speakers, or for any topic areas or subjects you’d be interested in finding out more about. If you’re interested in it, you can guarantee others will be too!

  • St James’ Church is hosting a Bat Walk and Moth Trapping evening this Thursday 14th July (weather permitting) from 9.00pm-11.00pm. All adults and (accompanied) children welcome, and please advertise to all your friends. And don’t forget your torch!
  • There’s a chance for you to find out more about the Pobl Beacon Hill housing development (on the old Teacher Training College site in Townhill) this Saturday 16th July from 11.00am-2.00pm in Cwmdonkin Park. Come along and see what it will look like, and share your ideas about how the site’s green space could be used!
  • We’ll be at the next Uplands Market on Saturday 30th July—come and see us, and help us to develop our Walking Charter!

Our next meeting is on Saturday 3rd September at 10.30am, and here is the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82345556954

We look forward to seeing you.

Onwards & Uplands!