How Safe is Kingsway?
Created by poppyHi,
Having read a lot of negative pieces online regarding Kingsway Village, I felt compelled to ask the residents themselves how they feel about living in Kingsway. Has anything bad ever happened to you or your property, or has your experience of Kingsway been overall a good one?
My first impressions from visiting fairly often to keep updated on the progress of our new-build home have been good. A great family-orientated neighbourhood, a new school, a new playground with tennis courts (can’t be bad), and picturesque views of the rolling hillside. But then I have heard of families living in affordable housing on the estate who have caused trouble for other residents; although the new homes sales assistant did assure us that the particular family had since been evicted.
My family and I have our hearts set on moving into our new home this summer, really looking forward to the move. However, my head is ruling my heart a little when before having exchanged contracts, we are questioning ourselves whether or not security will be an issue on the Kingsway estate.
Will it be safe to leave my pot plants and garden ornaments outside my house, or will it be safe to allow our children walk to the park unaccompanied?
Could we be worrying uneccesarily here?
Are we doing the right thing relocating from Bristol to Quedgeley?
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on Tuesday, March 6th, 2012 at 9:02 am
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March 6th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
We’ve been residents for 14 months now and have not had a single issue with security.
We have plant pots outside our property like many of our neighbours and they’re still there
Like anywhere, you’ll hear good things and (mainly from the local press) bad things, but even living near some affordable houses, we don’t have any problems.
March 6th, 2012 at 1:37 pm
Oh, and the commute down to Bristol (if you’re heading that way) isn’t bad at all. I work in the city centre and it takes around 45 minutes door-to-door. Much better than 45 minutes from Bradley Stoke into the city centre!
March 6th, 2012 at 9:31 pm
Hi,
We moved to Kingsway from North Bristol with our young family 10 mths ago and had the same concerns. So far we haven’t had any problems and are settling in well, however you get good and bad everywhere and usually it’s only the bad press that makes the news.
It appears Kingsway has many good things to offer as an up and coming village, and we have even persuaded the grandparents to purchase a property and relocate here!
March 6th, 2012 at 10:01 pm
I would say living in Kingsway is far better than living in Bristol - Less crime here.
March 6th, 2012 at 11:11 pm
I imagine that a lot of people are in a similar position to you. We too are looking at buying a house in Kingsway, but I must admit the things that we have read are making us nervous! Is it true that there is a lot of anti-social behaviour?
We currently live in an area of our town where there is really very little crime at all and just want to buy a house nearer to our work and where we can start a family.
Is it the sort of place where you can be fairly confident of not being burgled whilst on holiday etc? I think we would be in neighbourhood 3 if we did go ahead and make the decision to buy, is this an OK bit of the estate? Is it a very noisy estate with regard to road noise etc? So many questions!
We did have a walk around Kingsway when we visited and it seemed lovely, however we are aware that one visit doesn’t really tell you that much.
Good luck with making your decision!
March 7th, 2012 at 10:42 am
Hi Folks,
As my neighbours have said, Kingsway is a very friendly and safe area, (I can’t imagine anywhere in the UK that is completely “safe” nowadays, but Kingsway is far better than most).
The initial source of most of the rumours about crime and anti-social behaviour was our local newspaper, which has a habit of taking - and publishing stories supplied by third parties, without any attempt to validate them first! This was confirmed by their Editor In Chief on May 31st 2011, at a meeting organised by the Kingsway Residents Association, (meeting minutes available here), where he said that he wasn’t very proud of - or impressed by the articles.
There are also a number of websites (including the one owned by that same local newspaper) which are frequented by trolls who delight in slating the area and spreading rumours like those you have mentioned… even though they don’t live anywhere near Kingsway (or even Gloucester in many cases)!
Regarding the rumours you have heard - including the comment from the “new homes sales assistant”, this relates to two local families who were causing problems for each-other (not for other residents) and were repeatedly calling the Police to report such ridiculously minor incidents that the local crime rate (which is based on the number of reported incidents) was grossly inflated. When one of the families was moved on, the crime rate for Kingsway dropped by 75% overnight, and has remained lower than - or equal to - the surrounding areas ever since.
As you have said, the area is very picturesque, the local school is great, (with a second school planned within the next few years), facilities and amenities are very good and improving and the local community spirit is such that we have been featured on the BBC (Points West) as “bucking the trend” (towards the breakdown of communities)” in the UK.
poppy: I have several garden ornaments which have been outside of my house for the last 5 years, and I allow my son and daughter to visit the local parks together, as do all of my neighbours.
questioner: Since moving to Kingsway we’ve found that we can really enjoy our holidays; not only do all of our neigbours keep an eye on our house, we leave them our keys to feed the cats etc, and we do the same for several of them.
I can’t comment on “neighbourhood 3″, but I can’t imagine much road noise there (we live right on one of the main access roads for neighbourhoods 2 & 3 and we don’t suffer with excessive traffic noise at all).
I do wish you both well with your decisions, and with your impending moves (I really hate moving house)
In case you didn’t spot it, you should also take a look at: Kingsway – a great place to live, added today by local resident Steve Martin, in reply to this post.
Regards,
Clive
March 7th, 2012 at 3:00 pm
Can I suggest that all potential home buyers and tenants check out the local crime data base sites like UK Crime Stat’s and compare Kingsway with any other area around Gloucestershire; it is evident from these sites that Kingsway has very little crime in comparison.
Kingsway has been given a bad name by people who don’t even live here. I have lived here for over 4 years and have had no trouble that would come under the crime bracket.
Kingsway is a brand new development and will undoubtedly have some teething problems. I would fully recommend moving to Kingsway and be a part of what will be a great community. Neighbourhood watch in Kingsway is very proactive and residents in Kingsway will and do look out for troublemakers.
It is the English way to complain and moan, it’s just what we do. And negative things that have happened to us will always be talked about more than the positives, it is just the way news is broadcast. As with the news at ten it is the positive story that takes last place and has very little air time.
The Kingsway Villagers website keeps us all informed about local events and goings on. I am sure if there was a St Pauls website this too would portray a bad image for St Pauls as a place to live.
Check out St Pauls in April 1980 a simple drugs raid turned into a full blown riot. It is not right to point fingers and say any one place is worse than any other but if we keep getting such bad press for Kingsway it will create a false reputation.
Come to Kingsway for a visit. Knock on some doors and ask the people who live here what they think. Don’t be put off by some bad comments or news stories. We can’t always believe what we read. I never believed it when the papers told us that a Double Decker bus was found on the moon!
Editors Note: I changed the original linked “local crime database site” with the one above in May 2014, as it seems the original site no longer lists UK crime stats!
March 8th, 2012 at 12:34 pm
I’m going to be boring and agree with everyone else who’s commented here. I bought my first house here 15 months ago and had similar feelings to you in the months prior to the move thanks to negative publicity. I’ve not experienced any antisocial behaviour yet (*looking for wood to touch*) and am perfectly happy to continue living here. Making friends with close neighbours has helped build a sense of community, and I’ve gone away several times leaving only automatic timers for my lights (one of which I got wrong and it was left on constantly for a two weeks)! New facilities are cropping up and they will help to entertain the youths in Kingsway, so I don’t any option for this place but to carry on getting better.
March 9th, 2012 at 11:39 am
OK thanks, it seems my concerns/worries/fears about Kingsway have now subsided!
We too are moving from North Bristol, where we have been settled for the past 11 years, and our current village location is quiet, almost like a ghost town sometimes, lol, so of course we are going to be apprehensive about moving anywhere totally new outside our comfort ground.
All I’ve got to do now is to work out where the footpaths are that will provide a shortcut to the schools and pre- schools. Other than that I’m really feeling positive now about our new home in Kingsway. I have read that Quedgeley is fast becoming a sought after location/property hotspot in UK due to the house prices and transport links. This has to be good news since it will mean a rise in local property values, and also attract more and more like-minded people/families.
March 12th, 2012 at 6:37 pm
I have lived here for two years now and cannot see why all the bad press was given. We have found it a very friendly place to live where neighbours are friendly in the main but do not expect to house hop like neighbours in some other areas I have lived.
There is a very good and well supported Residents Association and I would recommend anyone new to Kingsway to join, where you will be greeted with a very friendly informative team.
The bad press came from outside of Kingsway.
Come and join us feel safe and enjoy a real growing community
March 12th, 2012 at 8:57 pm
Hi Questioner,
I would just like to reassure you Kingsway is a lovely place to live. I have been here for 4 years now and never had a problem.
It is very sad that the local press made some rather sad comments, but it’s, reporters if they can blow anything up to make a story they will do it.
Never believe the papers.
I could tell you of a beautiful 4 bedrooom house for sale in Kingway, not overlooked, lovely gardens, very quiet etc.
Come to Kinsgway you will love it.
March 13th, 2012 at 11:13 am
I have lived in Kingsway just coming upto 4 years now. I love my house and the surrounding area. I don’t really understand the bad press as I believe Kingsway is a nice place to live, yes there are issues just like anywhere else.
We have experienced a minor problem where a large plant pot was removed from our front garden (by teenagers I believe) and thrown into one of the balancing ponds, a very kind neighbour managed to stand on the ice and retrieve it for us.
Two of our neighbours have also had burglaries, but this was early last year and I understand no further ones have taken place since.
I’ve heard good and bad things about Kingsway School but what do you believe? See for yourself!
We also go away from time to time and have light timers on and we have great neighbours who look out for our property and vice versa.
I think once Kingsway is complete it will be a great place to live. Our facilities are getting there and can only get better.
March 14th, 2012 at 9:03 am
SSTAR said:
I recall, the local Community Police reporting that a series of local burglaries took place early last year following the release from prison of a convicted burglar who was well-known to the Police.
After investigation the burglar was arrested and incarcerated again, and the burglaries stopped.
Out of interest the burglar was not a Kingsway resident, but lived in Quedgeley!
September 15th, 2012 at 1:02 pm
Hi,
Well as said in my most recent post about my first impressions of Kingsway, my family and I finally moved to our new home in Kingsway on June 25th. I am happy with our new house, and most of the new neighbours, but we have been shocked at the number of police cars with sirens blaring in the area. During the summer holidays, whilst walking my daughter to the local dance school (which is excellent), we almost jumped out of our skins when three police cars came speeding round the corner just as we were about to cross the road at the end of our street! Goodness knows what that was all about, I just hoped it wasn’t an incident by our house. Another time, again one morning around 9am, as we were driving to visit my daughter’s new school, Severnvale (a good school), when a riot van followed by a police car came hurtling down our street, sirens blaring again.
My eldest daughter witnessed a man being arrested by three police men outside his home one afternoon - she was on her way home from her new job at the Barn Owl Centre (which she really enjoys). It is quite worrying as we really have no idea what is going on when we see the police cars etc in our neighbourhood. No one wants to live in an area where this sort of thing happens. It’s the sort of thing we have only seen in TV shows before we moved to Kingsway! We don’t go out looking for these sorts of scenes, we are simply going about our everyday routines and trying to live our lives in peace. My husband has been told by a local Barber that one side of the traffic lights in Kingsway is quite rough whilst the other side is really quite pleasant with no trouble at all. I am now beginning to think that perhaps we have moved to the wrong side of Kingsway! We have had countless other experiences since we moved here, but it would take forever to type away and besides, I really don’t think Kingsway villagers are going to be too happy with my true accounts of my life in Kingsway!
September 16th, 2012 at 1:52 am
You are complaining about the fact that - on 2 occasions, you saw Police Cars with their sirens “blaring” and your daughter saw somebody being arrested… Then you say:
Are you serious?
I’ve never heard any such thing… Does the Barber live in Kingsway?
I don’t want to make light of your problems, but you do seem to be complaining about some very every day things!