Tenants campaign group ACORN disrupted a full council meeting inside City Hall to oppose the mayor’s proposals to cut the council tax benefit. Over 50 members assembled, with 20 standing up inside the chambers to disrupt the meeting, and 30 more setting up office in the foyer to collectively ring and text councillors to ask them to defend the benefit. Mayor Marvin Rees refused to answer calls to meet with ACORN to discuss the proposals, and left the podium to chants of ‘shame’ from the public gallery.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Hello, I'm Emma May here with your top five news stories in Bristol this week.
00:08 Our first story this week is 'Relight Your Fire' as The Greatest Days is visiting the
00:12 Bristol Hippodrome as part of their touring circuit.
00:16 The smash hit musical follows best friends in the 90s who reunite for the greatest day
00:21 of their lives as they win tickets to meet boy band Take That.
00:26 The show features some of the band's most iconic songs and heartwarming performances
00:32 from Jennifer Ellison and Olivia Hallett.
00:35 On until Saturday 16th September, the show is written by an award-winning writer Tim
00:41 Firth and will really make your heart shine.
00:44 Our second story this week is one that has been anticipated for a long time.
00:49 The 85-year-old footbridge over the River Avon connects Warping Wharf with Southville
00:55 and the extended and delayed restoration works had a huge impact on residents and local businesses
01:02 but the Gaulferry Bridge has officially reopened.
01:06 The bridge was reopened by Mayor Marvin Rees and Cabinet Member for Transport, Councillor
01:12 Don Alexander with thousands of people crossing the bridge as soon as it was back open.
01:20 Our third story this week is tenants campaign group Acorn disrupted a full council meeting
01:26 inside City Hall to oppose the Mayor's proposals to cut the council tax benefit.
01:31 Over 50 members assembled with 20 standing up inside the chambers to disrupt the meeting
01:38 and 30 more setting up an office in the foyer to collectively ring and text councillors
01:44 to ask them to defend the benefit.
01:47 Our fourth story this week is a sad one for the city.
01:50 A new study exploring the driving conditions across the country's 25 largest cities has
01:56 found that Bristol is one of the worst in the UK.
02:00 Northgate Vehicle Hire conducted the study called the UK Driving Conditions Report based
02:06 on the frequency of collisions, average travel time and the number of speed cameras, bus
02:12 and cycle routes.
02:14 Bristol ranks as the third hardest city to drive in through in the UK scoring a driving
02:19 conditions score of 4.4 out of 10.
02:22 The only two cities considered worse than Bristol were Sheffield and Nottingham.
02:29 And finally, smoking rates in Bristol decreased last year new figures have shown.
02:34 However, charity Action on Smoking and Health said that the figures are a wake up call as
02:39 rates across the country are not falling fast enough to meet the government's target of
02:45 5% or less by 2030.
02:49 Figures from the Office for National Statistics show 14.8% of adults in Bristol smoked in
02:54 2022 down from 16.4%.
02:58 That's you up to date with your top five news stories in Bristol this week.
03:02 Have a great day.
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