The Bradley Stoke Journal

Parents of school-age children in Bradley Stoke looking to keep their offspring occupied during the summer break can choose from options offered by (amongst others) Southern Brooks Community Partnership (SBCP), Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre and Bradley Stoke Library.

SBCP, through its Five Alive scheme (previously Four Towns), will be providing four weeks of free activities for children aged 5-11 at three different venues throughout the town:

• Monday 28th July to Friday 1st August:
  Baileys Court Youth Club, Baileys Court Road
• Monday 4th August to Friday 8th August:
  Jubilee Centre, Savages Wood Road
• Monday 11th August to Friday 15th August:
  Bradley Stoke Community School, Fiddlers Wood Lane
• Monday 18th August to Friday 22nd August:
  Bradley Stoke Community School, Fiddlers Wood Lane

More details can be found in the Five Alive leaflet [PDF, 258KB].

Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre’s Summer Holiday Programme runs from Monday 28th July to Friday 29th August. Activities are focused on the 4-11 age group and include roller-skating, trampolining and fencing.

Bradley Stoke Library’s “Team Read” reading challenge gets underway on Saturday 19th July, with young readers being set the target of reading six books over the holiday period. Free activity sessions for children aged 5-10 will be held at the library on Sunday 27th July, Monday 4th August, Monday 11th August and Thursday 21st August, while a “Just Do It” session for those 11 and over is planned for Wednesday 13th August.

Friday 11th July is the last day for the public to comment on the South Gloucestershire Core Strategy (Issues and Options). The document outlines plans for the future development of the district following proposals from the South West Regional Assembly (SWRA) which could result in the building of nearly 31,000 new homes within South Gloucestershire by 2026.

Several of the planned development areas are close to Bradley Stoke, with major schemes at Northfield (Filton) (2,200 dwellings), Harry Stoke (1,200 dwellings) and Wallscourt Farm (Abbey Wood) (900 dwellings).

An appendix to the plan [PDF, 2.9MB] also outlines two options for further development along the M32 corridor (marked by blue circles in the centre of the image above), in an area that stretches from the A4174 (Avon Ring Road) in the south to the B4057 (Winterbourne Road) near the Vantage Business Park in the north. The appendix suggests that between 2,700 and 3,300 dwellings could be built in this area.

Responses to the consultation may be made using an online questionnaire (registration required), by post or by email.

A planning application for an astonishing 856 illuminated and non-illuminated signs in Bradley Stoke’s new town centre has been submitted to South Gloucestershire Council by Tesco Stores Ltd.

The schedule lists items ranging from large signage gantries to anti-ram bollards and “no smoking” signs.

Notable items are the signs for vehicle set down points (along the northern side of the mall), bus stops (on the edge of the town square) and taxi ranks (in front of the five non-food retail units).

Interestingly, the detailed plans show the “Brooks Centre” moniker on some of the signs, despite this having been scrapped in favour of the “Willow Brook Centre“, following a public competition to choose the name of the new town centre. The Planning Committee of Bradley Stoke Town Council, which kicked up a stink when Tesco seemed to be set on sticking with the earlier name, can however rest assured that the plans were drawn up before the naming competition had been judged.

One of the signs carries the message “Please do not take your trolley beyond this point; trolleys have been fitted with a locking device”. This would appear to confirm suggestions that Tesco intends to implement a system to prevent trolleys being taken off site, an issue that was raised at the local Stronger and Safer Community Group meeting on 10th June. A representative from Tesco is to be invited to attend the Group’s next meeting on 30th September in Bradley Stoke Community School to discuss issues relating to the new town centre development.

The Government’s Planning Inspectorate has allowed an appeal by Bradley Stoke Surgery against South Gloucestershire Council’s (SGC’s) rejection of a planning application to expand the Brook Way premises by a massive 150%.

The news follows a site visit by the agency’s inspector, Timothy Ball, that took place on 30th June 2008.

In a decision announced late last week, Mr Ball rejects SGC’s objections concerning the scale of the development, its effect on the streetscene and possible highways issues resulting from inadequate car parking provision.

Conditions attached to the inspector’s decision relate to the submission and approval of a landscaping plan and a scheme of implementation for the “Green Travel Policy and Plan” proposed by the surgery in its appeal correspondence.

The scheme approved by the inspector is the larger of two separate planning applications that have been made by the surgery within the last nine months. The Examiner reported last week that SGC’s Development Control (West) Committee had ignored the recommendations of planning officers and shown a green light to an application for a smaller scheme involving a 131% increase in floorspace.

Commenting on the earlier decision regarding approval of the smaller of the two schemes, Penny Harris, Chief Executive of South Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust (PCT), said:

It is great news that the plans have been approved, making more much-needed GP services available in Bradley Stoke.

South Gloucestershire PCT continues to work with other practices and we are determined that the necessary service developments will be delivered for the rest of the area.

The surgery management has yet to comment on the recent planning decisions and has given no indication of when the enlarged facilities will come into service.

Bradley Stoke residents have a chance to speak with some of their Town Councillors this Saturday (5th July) at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre. The monthly Councillor Surgery takes place between 10am and 12 noon and is usually located in the cafe area of the centre. The photo above shows the April session, attended by Caroline Charlton and Robert Jones (recently elected Town Mayor).

The Journal’s Contact your Councillors page, featuring an interactive map of the parish wards in Bradley Stoke, can help you find the name and contact details of your Town/District Councillor(s), MP and MEP.

The Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group is hosting a birdbox making session on Saturday (5th July) - meet at the Three Brooks lake at 10am. You can take your finished birdbox home (for a donation of £5) or have it put up in the local woods.

The Group stages regular conservation days on the first Saturday in each month - the upcoming August and September meets will feature traditional haycutting at two sites within the Three Brooks Local Nature Reserve.

Saturday also sees three of Bradley Stoke’s schools staging their annual summer fayres:

• Baileys Court Primary School (12pm to 2pm)
• Bowsland Green Primary School (12pm to 6pm)
• Wheatfield Primary School (from 11am)

The application deadline for management positions at the Tesco Extra store currently under construction in Bradley Stoke’s new town centre has been extended to 11th July 2008.

When originally advertised, the closing date was listed as 19th June. This was later extended to 30th June, before being changed once more to the current deadline.

It is not known if the application deadline changes reflect any slippage in the construction timetable for the new store, which is scheduled to open in “late autumn [2008]“. The projected opening date for a dental practice to be located in the shopping mall attached to the new Tesco Extra store recently slipped from December 2008 to April 2009.

The Journal understands that applications for shopfloor positions at the new Tesco Extra store will open later this month.

Links:

• Advertisement for management positions at Tesco Extra, Bradley Stoke
• More new town centre stories in The Journal
• More new town centre information in The Journal

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