The Bradley Stoke Journal

On Friday (18th April) representatives of Bradley Stoke Cricket Club signed on a new rental agreement with Bradley Stoke Town Council, bringing months of often acrimonious negotiations to an end. The deal is reported to secure the club’s future at the Baileys Court cricket ground for the next forty years.

Bradley Stoke Town Council issued a press release about the agreement on Friday evening, while Mayor Julian Barge can be heard talking about the deal in an audio clip interview published on the sadlybroke website. This sudden wave of publicity is likely to be interpreted by cynics as a sign of the Council’s relief that one element in the long-running dispute over the Baileys Court rental agreements has finally been brought to a conclusion. However, many people in the town believe that the problems are of the Council’s own making, following their decision to unilaterally increase rents by massive amounts in 2007.

In stark contrast, negotiations with Northavon Bowls Club, who also have a ground at Baileys Court, continue to be deadlocked. A source within the Club has informed The Journal that recent attempts to bring in a mediator from South Gloucestershire Council have been rejected by the Town Council. However, a spokesman from the Council gave a different account, stating that the mediator, having examined the history of the case, decided that no useful arbitration would be possible.

Sources from both sides in the dispute have confirmed that the Club has been ordered to remove all its effects from the Baileys Court pavilion by 1st May 2008.

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) has announced improvements in the 312 bus service from Thornbury to Fishponds, with effect from Monday 21st April 2008.

The service, which passes along Braydon Avenue and the southern section of Brook Way, will be of interest to Bradley Stoke residents travelling to Bristol Parkway Station, Abbey Wood (MOD), U.W.E. Frenchay Campus and Frenchay Hospital.

There will be extra services during the peak period, plus earlier and later journeys in the mornings and evenings to extend the period over which the service operates.

The service is operated by Severnside Transport, with accessible buses for wheelchair users.

Links:

• New timetable for the 312 Thornbury to Fishponds bus service (on the SGC website).
• Table of all South Gloucestershire bus timetables.

An extraordinary general meeting of the Northavon Bowls Club on Friday (11th April 2008) overwhelming rejected the new rental agreement recently proposed by Bradley Stoke Town Council. The agreement, which covers use of the bowling green and pavilion facilities at the Baileys Court Activity Centre, had been tabled on Monday evening at a meeting between Club officials and the Council’s working group. [see earlier Journal report.] It is understood that members voted 68 to eight against the proposal.

Pedestrians and bus users look set for months of disruption at Bradley Stoke’s new town centre development when a new access road into the site opens on Monday (14th April 2008).

In a change from earlier plans, buses will no longer be allowed to enter the town centre site during the next phase of construction work. From Monday, a temporary bus stop will operate on Savages Wood Road, at a point approximately midway between the Three Brooks and Savages Wood roundabouts. A notice displayed today at the existing Tesco store suggests that it was previosuly intended to have a temporary bus stop on Bradley Stoke Way, but according to construction company Bowmer and Kirkland, a late decision on Friday by “the council” (presumably South Gloucestershire Council) forced a change of plan.

Pedestrians wishing to visit the existing Tesco store will no longer be permitted to approach from the Three Brooks roundabout. Instead they will have to walk along Savages Wood Road, turn left at the roundabout, and proceed along Bradley Stoke Way, before entering the car park of the store at a point opposite the Leisure Centre. Access along the public footpath (currently closed) that runs from a point opposite the new filling station towards Dewfalls Drive will be permitted, but only as far as the opening to Manor Farm Crescent.

* Click on a thumbnail image to view a larger version.

Signs on display today (Saturday)  indicate that the new access road into Bradley Stoke’s under-construction town centre will open this coming Monday (14th April 2008). Detailed plans on show at the existing Tesco store show that the existing access road, which runs past the old filling station, is to be closed on 6pm Sunday. As reported earlier in The Journal, the new access road branches off to the left of the existing road at a point just beyond the new filling station and follows the perimeter of the town centre site, before entering the car park of the existing Tesco store just beyond the mini-roundabout.

Take a look at our interactive maps page for an overview of the route of the new road.

Bradley Stoke’s new town centre, currently under construction around the existing Tesco store in Savages Wood Road, is being marketed to potential tenants as “The Brooks Centre, Bradley Stoke”. The “Brooks” label, pertaining to the three brooks that run through the town, was thought until now to be a provisional name for the development, used only within design and planning circles.

Bradley Stoke Town Council are known to be unhappy with the name, citing possible confusion with other similarly-named amenities within the town, such as the Brook Way Activity Centre.

In a 2007 press release, Tesco announced that they would be “launching a competition to find a name (for the new centre) … early in the New Year (2008)”.

Click on the thumbnail image above to view the front page of the commercial prospectus for the centre. The complete prospectus can be found on the Alder King website [warning: large download, 2.43MB, PDF].

2008-04-06 Bradley Stoke Wildflowers and Conservation Work

Seeking a break from recording progress in the construction of Bradley Stoke’s new town centre, The Journal’s photographer recently ventured into nearby Savages Wood and woodland below Bradley Stoke Community School to capture some more peaceful scenes. Check out the pictures of bluebells and wood anemones on our PicasaWeb pages [album, slideshow].

Volunteers from the town’s Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group were also busy over the weekend, planting wildflower species in the community orchard. The group’s next workday takes place on Saturday 3rd May, when some stream cleaning is planned.