The Bradley Stoke Journal

It’s high season for primary school summer fayres in Bradley Stoke and this weekend saw crowds flocking to events at Meadowbrook and St Mary’s. Naturally, The Journal was on hand to record all the fun - see the album in our PicasaWeb Gallery or view the slideshow (broadband recommended).

Next Saturday (5th July) sees further fayres at Baileys Court and Bowsland Green primary schools. The Baileys Court event runs from 12pm to 2pm, while Bowsland Green’s programme extends from 12pm to 6pm.

The first of a series of 30 plaques to be sited at places of historic interest around Patchway and Bradley Stoke have appeared at The Common (East). The ceramic information panels, which have been mounted on pink limestone boulders, are the fruits of a Heritage Lottery-funded project organised by Southern Brooks Community Partnership (SBCP).

The “Living Landmarks” project has been running since August 2007 and aims to bring together local people of all ages to explore what existed in the past through story telling, arts workshops and audio recordings.

One of the first plaques to be installed (photo above) commemorates Primrose Cottage, which was demolished to make way for Bradley Stoke Way. Its name lives on in the name of the nearby Primrose Bridge. The plaque explains that an adjoining cottage hosted Patchway’s first commercial bakery that operated around 1900.

Visitors to the recent Bradley Stoke Community Festival were able to view the plaques at an exhibition put on by project co-ordinator Carrie Creamer in the Jubilee Centre.

The team has plans to produce a leaflet about the plaques, once they have all been installed. Further information will also be made available on the SBCP website at that time.

Today’s meeting of South Gloucestershire Council’s Development Control (West) Committee is likely to decide the fate of a planning application that would see the floorspace of Bradley Stoke Surgery increase by 131%. Planning officials have already recommended refusal of the application on the grounds that -

The proposed extension, by reason of its size, design and external appearance, would be out of keeping with the existing building and, if allowed, would result in a cramped form of development that would have a detrimental effect on the streetscene …

Local Councillor Sarah Pomfret “called in” the application for a site inspection, which took place on Friday 13th June. The minutes of that inspection show that the Councillors resolved that Council officers should -

… bring forward a full and detailed report to include clarification as to whether any car parking spaces would be lost as a result of the proposal.

which seems rather odd, since a full and detailed report was already available before the site meeting, stating that planning officials had no concerns on transport grounds. The Councillors apparently made no observations on the scale of the proposal and its potential effect on the streetscene.

An earlier planning application for a scheme that would see the floorspace of the surgery increase by a massive 150% was thrown out by the Council late last year. The surgery partners appealed against that decision and the application is currently with the government’s Planning Inspectorate, whose inspector will visit the site on Monday (30th June). The Journal understands that a final decision can then be expected after a further five to six weeks.

Land previously reserved for a new health centre at Savages Wood Road currently lies vacant, after South Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust back-tracked on its original plans (announced in 2005) and instead opted for expansion of existing GP facilities. Three years on, residents of Bradley Stoke are still waiting to see the promised improvements in healthcare provision within the town.

Comments on proposals for a new shared used footway/cycleway on the east side of Bradley Stoke Way, close to the Leisure Centre, must be received by South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) by midnight on Friday (27th June 2008).

Relevant pages on the SGC website:

• Bradley Stoke Way, North of Leisure Centre - Shared Use Path
  • Consulatation Documents
  • Respond to the Consultation

Avon and Somerset Police have today issued a news bulletin appealing for witnesses to an unprovoked attack that occurred at The Common (East), Bradley Stoke at about 5:45pm on Friday 20th June 2008.

A Police spokesperson confirmed that the arrests made in Campion Drive on Saturday 21st June were in connection with Friday’s incident at The Common (East) and that details previously released to The Journal have now been revised following further investigation and arrests.

The helicopter of the Western Counties Air Operations Unit was called in this afternoon (Saturday 21st June) to help in the search for four suspected robbers on the run in Bradley Stoke.

The “eye in the sky” was seen hovering over the town at around 5pm, whilst on the ground Police vehicles were seen in action at The Common (East) and, on the other side of Primrose Bridge, in Campion Drive.

Residents of Campion Drive reported seeing three handcuffed suspects being put into Police cars that had pulled up close to the fence that runs alongside the Three Brooks public footpath leading up to Primrose Bridge. Police seemed to be seeking further suspects and three officers were seen running off towards the nature reserve on the other side of Patchway Brook (see photo above), but they later returned empty-handed.

[Postscript - Monday 23rd June 2008] The following statement has been given to The Journal by Avon and Somerset Police:

Police were called at 4.54pm on Saturday June 21 2008 by members of the public reporting that four youths matching the description of those wanted for a robbery in Campion Drive, Bradley Stoke, on Friday June 20 2008 were on Patchway Common.

Officers attended and the helicopter of the Western Counties Air Operations Unit was involved in the search for the suspects.

Three men were detained by 5.20pm. A 19-year-old from Patchway, an 18-year-old from Bradley Stoke and a 16-year-old from Filton were all arrested on suspicion of robbery and bailed pending further police enquiries.

[Postscript - Tuesday 24th June 2008] Police have issued a revised statement. We are now told that Friday’s incident was an alleged assault rather than robbery and that it occurred at The Common (East).

The judging panel tasked with selecting a name for Bradley Stoke’s new town centre development has chosen “Willow Brook” as the best suggestion submitted in a public competition jointly organised by Bradley Stoke Town Council and Tesco.

The competition was held after a remarkable U-turn by Tesco, which had previously insisted on using the name “The Brooks Centre“, despite having previously promised the Town Council that residents of the town would be given a chance to choose the name in a public competition.

The winner has asked to remain anonymous and has donated the winnings to the Mayor’s Charity, the local branch of the National Association for Colitis and Crohn’s Disease (NACC). Tesco has also matched the sum so that the charity will benefit by a total of £100.

The entry-level personal computer that was also offered as part of the prize package will likewise go to the NACC.

The naming competition was open to all UK residents, not just those living in Bradley Stoke. Dan Bramwell, Tesco Public Affairs Consultant, has however assured The Journal that the mystery winner is a local resident.

Construction of the new town centre is now well under way and Tesco recently began advertising management positions available at the new Tesco Extra store that is scheduled to open in “late autumn [2008]“.

More information about Bradley Stoke’s new town centre development can be found elsewhere in The Journal:

• New Town Centre posts
• New Town Centre pages

Photos of the new town centre construction work can be seen in our PicasaWeb Gallery.