one log in to each section of the site.

There's so much stuff on here that appears to be just in any old order it's unreasonable to expect us to check whether our ideas have already been raised. I also found it very complicated to get to the point where I could actually make a comment. I often cycle, frequently walk, sometimes use a car - rarely use public transport - too expensive, doesn't go where I want to go, not reliable. Need to get across that cycling is for ordinary people going about their everyday business. Need ordinary ("sit-up-and-beg"/ "traditional"/ "Dutch-style") bikes to be promoted and sold and cycle shops to sell ordinary-looking clothing and accessories. Supermarkets to do home deliveries so can go on bike, select shopping, and have it delivered. More places to sell trailers/ child seats/ tandems and other variations on the standard bike. An advertising and awarene ss campaign that convinces that cycling is "cool" and for everybody and that educates cyclists and other road users how to co-exist safely - eg "I need 4 feet" an old one to encourage motorists to give cyclists space. Councillors, council officials, traffic wardens, police, road planners, etc to have access to bikes and use them on a regular basis. Identify the short trips that people make and give them safe routes for these journeys - for me these are often across town rather than the radial routes that the buses go. Not much room here is there! etc etc

Why not convert some of the roads in Bristol into cycle only routes as cyclists even get hit by cars in the bike lanes or they aprk vehicles in them so we need dedicated routes especially in the city centre. If some roads were converted for cycle only use it would encourage more car users to cycle and more parents would feel it was safer for their kids to use them if there was little danger from cars.

I am an occasional cyclist but could certainly be persuaded to cycle more if there were more dedicated cycle routes which were car free. I am not particularly confident in traffic so cycle lanes on busy roads do little to encourage me to use my bike. Maybe you should also consider providing community bikes with dedicated pick up and drop off points which are secure. If you ask for credit card details at the point of pick up you could trace any un-returned bikes to the user or impose fines directly to the card.

When i view this website I have to reduce to 94% so as not to have to use the horizontal scroll bar. The BBC can fit the screen without this reduction, surely BCC could too. Older versions of XP may not have the reduction facilty.

Ask Bristol/Viewfinder CommentrnrnI think Viewfinder is poorly designed. Comments with responses are not threaded but just random on a long list. The specific subject, such as this area which was supposed to ask for comments on the website, gets lost with random comments so some explanation is needed. The older Ask Bristol was actually better this way.rnrnTheir are Open Source (Free) sources for handling discussions lists which work much more cleanly. I notice on this session their is no "Start New Topic" as it was thought to be specific to improving the website comments, but its not been used that way so maybe its needed.

ChasS - we agree and it's something we're trying to introduce. A new design will be implemented shortly which we hope will make it easier to navigate around the site and we're also intending to introduce more explanatory text so that this section will just focus on site feedback rather than receiving comments that are really intended for the open forum. The change in threading of the forums is something we hope won't be too far behind the redesign.

Have a walking strategy and develop showcase pedestrian routes along key routes into the city e.g. Wells Road, Bath Road, Gloucester Road, Stapleton Road etc. which involve a risk assessment of the walking route and measures to make the routes safe and attractive for pedestrians.

First Buses are ripping everybody off. Prices are higher than in other towns and cities, and I think rush hour/peak fares are a stupid idea. You pay more for getting somewhere more slowly! How do you encourage people to get out of their cars and onto public transport when fares are extortionate? Congestion charges won't help as people would pay it as they still have to get to work and it would probably be cheaper than the bus!

Thank you for your comments; this section of the site is designed to be used for feedback (about how easy or difficult the site is to use). I shall place a copy of your comments in the climate change discussion on this site.

I would like to comment on the budget consultation, but the link the the budget document doesn't worok, it seems to point to somewhere on the Council's LAN, which isn't much use to the rest of us!

This link has now been fixed, apologies for the inconvenience caused.

We must spend more money teaching the young in school the values of respect, for one's fellow man, then the crazy crime we have to put up with will start to decline, the cost of crime is a becomng massive, as a local builder, it is now at least a weekly occurance, we must have zero tollerence. I will go ito schools to start the ball rolling, who will join me ????

Thank you for your comments; this section of the site is designed to be used for feedback (about how easy or difficult the site is to use). I shall place a copy of your comments in the budget consultation discussion on this site.

Advertise the site by including it prominently with every council tax bill or reminder sent out, instead of aiming the usage at those like students and young people who are very happy for the council to spend our money for us as they don't pay the bill.

Thanks for your suggestion. We did carry out quite a bit of publicity last year through the council newsletter, through community newsletters such as the Lockleaze and Knowle West ones, we also publicised it to students and through the Mature Times as well as through a range of other council publications. We're aiming to reach as representative an audience as possible and would welcome other suggestions of places/ways to promote it.

When you vote to agree with a comment, there does not seem to be a way back to the thread.rnIt would also be useful to have a way for the poster to edit a comment once posted (and be marked as such).

Thank you for your feedback, I have passed your comments onto our web development team who will try to incorporate these ideas into the next phase of the site design.

Within viewfinder there is an option to click on an 'I agree' button, but only apparently once the comment is opened and it then seems not possible to see on the general view (without the individual comment open) how many people have agreed witha specific comment. That would be a useful amendment.

Thank you for your feedback, I have passed your comments onto our web development team who will try to incorporate these ideas into the next phase of the site design.

First time I have seen and used the site. I like it and I like reading other's views too. However, it will only be of real value if the comments and ideas posted have real influence on the decision makers and perhaps the Council Officers should be required to publish a monthly list of ideas received and adopted and also say why a given idea is not adopted

I fail to see the use of this website if the responses that the public give are removed if the Consultation Team disagrees with them (which is what's happened to my comment on the budget). I can understand that offensive or inappropriate comments must be removed but I'd like to know why comments that are neither of these things, would be removed??

Apologies if you have not received an email explaining why your post was removed. I will contact you in person. We will only remove comments that have not met our terms and conditions of use. In fact, I have just checked our moderation log (all removed posts are kept in case of query) and can assure you that it is something that we very rarely do.

Close Bristol City council and replace by a management team who are capable of running the city. If we going to be forced to pay top level tax then we should recieve the appropiate standard of services. Not the sub standard we recieve now

Still think it needs some sort of crossing at the top of union St to go into the Galleries, saw a man knocked down there the other week, buses and cars come around the corners too fast. also some sort to speed restriction across Princes st bridge, some people think it is fun to speed up to take the narrow road across.

Daily me and the kids must negotiate a dangerous bit of pavement on whitehall rd. The road narrows and so does the pavement on the bend which the cars and massive lorries and double deckers take at speed. With a wall on one side there is no margin for error. yesterday a city academy pupil was hit by a wing mirror of a car which did not stop!!! The pavement on the other side of rd is even smaller say one foot!!! please someone sort this out before a life is lost. it should be one way

AskBristol Siter - The site is slow and excludes anyone without hearing (or a sound card). Get rid of the Flash, much to slow. The need to click on "View" to see a complete comment makes it tedious. Their are much better text only discussion sites which might list only titles but allow a view all to expand threads so a response to an individual as well as the main question is possible.

ChasS - thanks for your comment - I've given you some feedback on how we're hoping to improve the threading of discussions above. With regards to the speed, we are also looking in to this. We think the videos are useful but we also recognise that some people prefer text and higher speeds. Will keep you posted.

How about providing a large size brown bin similar to the size of green bin for weekly collection of waste. At the moment the brown bin which is provided for weekly collection does not hold much, spills over and get infested by maggots. Some people were given two small brown bins. But two bins need more space to store. So replaceing the small bin with a large brown bin would really improve the recycling for better.

The general dock area is very disappointing. The flats are not tastefully designed. Bristol could be such a beautiful city spoilt by the lack of imagination of regeneration. Compare to Cardiff or Leed for example.rnrnLack of facilities for large bands and first class sports arenas, how will be ever get people coming to Bristol unless we have something to attract them.

This Bus Company in Bristol should really consider lowering all their bus fares even before 9.00am in the morning to attract 'car users' back into and onto their buses. Improving the Road Management schemes will help with the 'operating times' but it would be helpfull if a driver does not turn up for his /her driving shift that they find somebody else to do that shift and not leave the General Public standing waiting for their respective bus to turn up when it is never going to. Why not have a 'Pool' of standby bus drivers who can fill vacancies caused by sickness as and when they occur. Come on First in Bristol Bus Company, the idea is you are here for the benefit of us - the Public, not the other way round !

I don't wish to live anywhere else in the UK (having moved from London 2 yrs ago), as Bristol is a lot prettier, architecturally more eclectic and has a more laid-back feel than other major cities. Liverpool, the Capital of Fashion, and soon to be Capital of Culture, may have the Beatles tourist vehicle, the three graces on its World Heritage Harbour and a skyline imitating NY; Manchester thinks its a hip and happening place and along with Leeds have Versace & other designer shops & more department stores. However, I envy them and other major cities for having several successful theatres, plus ballet companies and orchestras, arenas and atheletic stadiums. Why has Bristol been left behind, a city supposedly with a long-held reputation for being sophisticated and more genteel than many of them up north (having traded in wines & sherries, tobacco, cocoa etc from the C13) when Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool & Newcastle were not major commercial or industrial areas? How come they have orchestras & ballet companies? I'm tired of hearing about the Old Vic, why haven't we got theatres called playhouse, repertory or everyman that sound more accessible and put on contemporary performances, pref. British ones? So, we don't have a proliferation of theatres nor do we have the humble several times a week general market like most other European & UK cities have.

Best things: overall it's an interesting, colourful, pretty & quirky City - it would be hard to tire of it or profess to know every nook of it. It hasn't the harshness of the Mids/Northern cities or manic like the Capital - more polite, laid back and accepting. So many organic/free trade outlets. Always fascinated by the 'older' skateboarders (some in suits) whizzing down Park St/business district, fathers with 1-3 offsprings attached to their bikes, etc - so freespirited. Some of the grafitti is very clever/political/brilliantly done. Like that it has a very provincial feel, so less brashy/trashy than them with some brass 'up North'. Bad: When you've experienced good public transport in London (Birmingham's cheap too) - you realise it could be better & far cheaper with more choice. Too much grafitti - can be an eyesore, and so too the grimy buildings such as the BRI/Dental Hosps, empty/derelict buildings & streets need sweeping more. Shopping isn't inclusive enough - other big cities have designer shops alongside poundstores and big everyday markets selling everything imaginable in their centres. Quite a few want cars off the road, but getting to events in Ashton Court is a trek for many - extortionate bus fare (£9 each way for my grp) that dropped us off nowhere near, made me decide on my first visit last year that it would be my last unless I went by car.

better education in schools in the South Bristol area. Activities within schools that are afordable to WORKING parents.

why cannot isee who has voted ??????

The idea behind this feedback page is to gather feedback about how the website can be improved. Voting for other people's comments is intended to be anonymous. If you would like to see what comments people have made within the main or open forum, you will need to click on 'open discussion' or 'viewfinder' in the above toolbar.

This was not what I posted on 13/07/07 this is a copy of what I posted in error on 04/02/07. Should have been about ageism I believe.

Maurice - sorry but we're still unsure what point you were trying to make but if it's about the design and the original concept of Viewfinder being focused at younger people, we are now aiming at a much wider age group.

We need more play parks for are childs like hengrove park for 1 too 11 year olds in withywood and HARTCLIFFE with cctv for childs yearn"ing for this

We need more play parks for are childs like hengrove for 1 too 11 year olds in withywood and hartcliff with cctv for childs yearn"ing this

There needs to be an automated 'forgotten my password' button

Thanks for pointing this out - this has now been set up

Look at the site today for the first time only one issue ????. Where are the rest

Earlier this year, the website was intended to just act as a pilot site which is why we only had one main discussion forum. We now have the ability to have more than one and are working to improve the range of active consultations carried out through the Ask Bristol/Viewfinder site.

Tipical of the Council, low level publicity about this site

When we started piloting this website, we were targeting our promotional activities at young people - particularly through the universities, the City of Bristol college and through the Young People's forum. We have now opened it up to much wider participation and have recently started a more city-wide marketing campaign. If you have any suggestions about how we should promote it more widely, we'd be happy to receive them.

I think you should have a free text number to upload to this site

We do have a free text number. Sorry - we obviously should have been publicising this better. If you look at the 'help' pages, there is more detail about how to upload a comment or video using your mobile phone.