The Bradley Stoke Journal

Wednesday’s Annual General Meeting of Bradley Stoke Town Council brought confirmation that no agreement has been achieved between the Town Council and Northavon Bowls Club in the dispute over increased rental charges at the town’s Baileys Court bowling green. Councillor Mark Forsyth reported that no correspondence had been received from the Bowls Club before the Council-imposed deadline of midnight on Tuesday.

The Town Clerk has now written to the Bowls Club insisting that it remove all its equipment from the Baileys Court site before 5pm on 28th May. Any equipment left there after that date will be considered ‘abandoned’ and disposed of as the Council sees fit.

The meeting was told that cheques previously submitted to the Council by the Bowls Club had been returned uncashed as they “had strings attached”. It was resolved to send a final reminder to the Club asking for immediate payment of monies owed. Should the debts not be cleared within 14 days, the Council would take court action - in line with its standard bad debts procedure.

Councillors who had attended the meeting of South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) earlier in the day reported that the bowls dispute had been discussed there, but stated that SGC had no intention of attempting to mediate in the dispute.

Councillor Robert Jones was elected as Chair (and Mayor) of Bradley Stoke Town Council at tonight’s Annual General Meeting. The new Deputy Chair is Councillor Mark Forsyth.

Councillor Jones, who represents the town’s Baileys Court ward, also serves as a District Councillor on South Gloucestershire Council. He has been a member of the Town Council since 2006 and has served as Chair of the Finance & Leisure Committee in the past year.

Outgoing Mayor Julian Barge, who has served as Chair for a total of three (non-consecutive) years, performed his final duty in the role when he presented a cheque for £5823 to representatives of his two chosen charities - the Bristol Urological Prostate Cancer Appeal and the Nicola Corry Support Foundation. The amount represents money contributed towards the Mayor’s Fund from donations or special money-raising events during the Mayor’s year in office – notably the Community Festival in June and the Fireworks Display in November.

In his latest press release concerning the actions of Bradley Stoke Town Council at a Special Council Meeting on 8th May, John Kiely, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesman for Filton and Bradley Stoke, claims that “Bradley Stoke Town Council is fast gaining the reputation of the most unhelpful Council in England.”

Following the meeting, Mr Kiely announced that he had written to the Council’s external auditor to complain about the way in which the Council dealt with the Northavon Bowls Club issue.

The ruling Conservative group provided no paperwork nor a report on the financial implications of any of the options they outlined to full Council.

That opposition members did not receive a copy in advance (or at all!) renders this decision ‘ultra vires’.

Mr Kiely said he had copied his letter to the Audit Commission, Freedom Commissioner and the Government Office for the SW.

Tuesday’s press release reveals that the Council’s external auditor Mazars has confirmed receipt of Mr Kiely’s complaint and will now consider whether any action should be taken.

Tuesday was also the deadline imposed by the Council for the Bowls Club to accept the proposed new rental agreement or “that would be it”, meaning that the Bowls Club would have to remove all its equipment from the Baileys Court green and pavilion. No news of a final outcome was made available by either party, but a source in the Bowls Club hinted that a last minute attempt at mediation was being made by South Gloucestershire Council Cabinet member John Godwin (Conservative).

The bowls dispute is due to be discussed again at today’s (Wednesday’s) Annual General Meeting of Bradley Stoke Town Council [agenda] that takes place at 7:30pm at the Jubilee Centre, Savages Wood Road [map].

Works on Patchway Railway Bridge that will require the closure of of the southbound lane of the B4057 for a period of approximately six months [see previous story in The Journal] have been delayed by one week. The restrictions were due to come into force today (19^th May), but signs at the bridge are now showing a start date of 26^th May.

A source at South Gloucestershire Council’s Highways Department confirmed the slippage, citing an overrun on work to re-route gas and electricity services.

The public competition to choose a name for Bradley Stoke’s new town centre finally got underway on Friday (16th May), five days later than the date previously announced by Bradley Stoke Town Council (BSTC) and Tesco at a Special Council Meeting on 8th May.

Tesco had decided back in March to call the development “The Brooks Centre”, but in a remarkable U-turn the company decided to honour its promise to hold a public competition to choose the name.

Entry forms for the contest are available from:

• The customer service desk at the existing Tesco store
• The offices of Bradley Stoke Town Council
• Bradley Stoke Library

or: Download the entry form.

Completed forms should be sent to BSTC or Tesco at the addresses shown on the form.

Alternatively, contestants may send their suggested name to one of the following email addresses:

• bscomp@virgin.net
• town.clerk@bradleystoke.gov.uk

Note that the BSTC email address shown on posters on display in the Tesco store is incorrect. [Postscript: this has now been corrected]

Strangely, the competition is open to all UK residents, not just residents of Bradley Stoke. Entries must be received by 5pm on Friday 6th June, with judging taking place on Monday 9th June.

The winner will receive a £50 Tesco shopping voucher with an entry level personal computer being presented to their choice of local school or nominated registered charity.

The Journal Comments:

Here at The Journal we’re not so sure that our new town centre actually needs a name (other than “town centre”). After all, the development constitutes the whole town centre of Bradley Stoke, not just a part of it - so why does it need a name? We’re more interested in whether residents are going to get any useful community services in the town centre - such as a council drop-in centre, a bank, a post office and a dental surgery.

Southern Brooks Community Partnership is calling on residents of Bradley Stoke to help clear out the pond at Jubilee Green, Savages Wood Road. Rubbish has been dumped in and around the pond, making it dangerous for people and wildlife.

Interested parties are asked to meet at the Jubilee Centre [map] from 6pm on Thursday 22^nd May. Gloves and bags will be provided, but helpers are asked to bring their own waterproof footwear (wellies or waders).

The clear-up is the idea of members of the youth club that meets at The Jubilee Centre. Youth club members and leaders will be joined by a member of the Bradley Stoke Neighbourhood Policing Team as they they deal with the shopping trolleys, bicycles, tyres, plastic seats and other debris that litters the pond.

More photos of the pond before the tidy-up: [album; slideshow]

The initiative comes a few weeks before the town’s annual Community Festival that features events on the Jubilee Green over the weekend of 6^th-8^th June.

Residents are reminded that incidents of littering and fly tipping can be reported to South Gloucestershire Council’s Streetcare team (Tel: 01454-868000). If you are dissatisfied with the response you get from Streetcare team, you are advised to contact your local town or district Councillor [see The Journal's Contact your Councillors page for how to do this].

Fortunately, other ponds within Bradley Stoke are in a healthier condition. A few weeks ago, The Journal’s photographer took these shots [album; slideshow] of the pond at Patchway Common. Elsewhere, the Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group has created two new ponds in the grassland to the north of Savages Wood.

The framework of Bradley Stoke’s new shopping mall, attached to the Tesco Extra store currently under construction in the town’s new town centre, is nearing completion. The photo above shows the view from the Bradley Stoke Way side of the complex, looking along the axis of the mall, with what will be the Tesco Extra store on the left and the mall units (over two floors) on the right.

The mall will have three entrances, two at the ends of the main axis (leading from Bradley Stoke Way at one end and the new town square at the other); a third entrance on the side of the complex will provide access from the drop-off point in the bus lane that will enter the site from Bradley Stoke Way.

Indications are that the ground floor of the mall will include ten retail units, with one unit (on the corner nearest Bradley Stoke Way) being given over to a Tesco cafe. The exact configuration of the upper floor remains uncertain, with plans on the South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) website showing eight retail units, while the Alder King marketing brochure shows just two small retail units plus two larger offices and a centre management suite. Planning conditions imposed by SGC require Tesco to actively market one of the upper floor units for use as a dental surgery.

A spokesman for Tesco told The Journal that the size and type of units in the mall would be varied to meet commercial demand, so that it will only be possible to know the final layout “once all the space is taken”.

Elsewhere on the site, changes have been made to the route used by delivery vehicles serving the existing Tesco store. Access from Bradley Stoke Way has now been abandoned in favour of a route which requires vehicles to enter the site from the Three Brooks roundabout, then follow the new access road for a short way before making a right turn across the construction site. This is similar to the route that will be used once the Tesco Extra store is complete, when delivery traffic will turn down the road between the Three Brooks public house and the new Tesco filling station to reach the loading bays of the new store.

A new area of car parking space, to the right of the new access road as the old Tesco store is approached, is expected to come into service this week. It is understood that it will initially be used for contractors’ vehicles, but when the new Tesco Extra store opens in “late autumn” it will be used by the public whilst the old Tesco store is demolished and its car park re-modelled.

Photos: Click a thumbnail image to view a larger version.

There are lots of photos of the construction work at the new town centre in The Journal’s PicasaWeb gallery. For the latest town centre news checkout posts in our New Town Centre category or see the New Town Centre pages listed in the sidebar of the website.