The Bradley Stoke Journal

The work of two local Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) has led to a man being detained on suspicion of thefts from cars in Bradley Stoke and Stoke Gifford.

PCSOs Kirsty Flicker and John Hitchings were on a routine patrol on Tuesday (25th November) when they were given details of a man who had been seen acting suspiciously around cars.

The PCSOs immediately passed on the information to regular officer colleagues, and a plain clothes unit was dispatched.

Police officers subsequently arrested a 32-year-old man in a car park in Bradley Stoke.

The suspect was scheduled to appear yesterday (27th November) at North Avon Magistrates Court to face two charges of theft from a motor vehicle, one charge of attempted theft from a motor vehicle, one charge of going equipped to steal and one of handling stolen goods.

Related Links:

• Bradley Stoke Journal : Police
• Avon and Somerset Police : Crime Prevention Advice for Vehicle Owners

Mobile takeaway vans could soon be trading again in the car park of the Baileys Court Activity Centre in Bradley Stoke.

Prior to the recent redevelopment of the site, The Chinese Wok van was a regular visitor, but construction activity meant the business had to move elsewhere and the van did not return on completion of the work. It is now believed to be trading elsewhere in Bristol.

Bradley Stoke Town Council (BSTC) has received enquiries from two companies interested in trading from the site - the well-known Papas Pizzas and an unnamed business thought to specialise in kebabs.

The enquiries received a warm welcome at last week’s BSTC Full Council meeting and the path is now open for the businesses to apply for a trading licence from South Gloucestershire Council.

Papas Pizzas is currently operating from Eagles Wood in the north of Bradley Stoke. The van has previously been sited at various locations in the town including Brook Way, Savages Wood Road and Pear Tree Road. Residents’ complaints about noise from the van’s generator led to the business moving from Pear Tree Road earlier this year, despite the support of over 750 customers who signed a petition to allow it to stay.

Santiago Pablo, proprietor of Papas Pizzas, confirmed to The Journal that he is currently in negotiation with BSTC over the exact siting of a potential pitch at Baileys Court. He says he would like his van to be sited where it can be seen from the road and not “tucked away at the end of the car park”.

Mr Pablo said he plans to initially operate from Baileys Court on two evenings a week, though this could be extended if the venture proves successful. The move could take place as early as January or February of next year, he added.

Related Links:

• The Journal’s Guide to Takeaway Food Outlets in Bradley Stoke
• South Gloucestershire Council - Street Trader Licensing

Bradley Stoke Police have introduced a ‘Three Strikes’ scheme to combat inconsiderate parking around the town’s Meadowbrook Primary School in Three Brooks Lane.

The move comes after the problem was agreed as a priority issue at the Safer & Stronger Community Group meeting on 30th September.

Neighbours of the school told the meeting that parents/carers dropping children off at the school were continuing to ignore parking restrictions, creating hazards for other road users and pedestrians.

Earlier in the year, a Police ’street briefing’ in Crystal Way, which adjoins the school, led to a ‘Zero Tolerance Month’ being declared with regard to parking on pavements and blocking driveways. Police later reported that a number of fixed penalty notices had been issued and “strong words of advice” given.

A letter announcing the ‘Three Strikes’ campaign was delivered last Thursday to properties in streets surrounding the school. In the letter, Police ask residents to report occurances of illegal or inconsiderate parking by filling out an ‘incident form’ and handing it in at the school office.

Under the ‘Three Strikes’ scheme, a first offence leads to a letter from the Police, a second offence triggers a home visit and a third offence results in a parking fine of £30 or £60 plus three points.

 Related Links:

• Bradley Stoke Journal : Police

Bradley Stoke’s Baileys Court Primary School has been closed today after being hit by a sickness bug.

A message placed on the school’s website yesterday (Thursday) states that the closure is being made to “[contain a] widespread sickness bug amongst the children … and avoid further infection.”

A spokesperson at South Gloucestershire Council told The Journal that representatives of the Council’s Environmental Services department visited the school yesterday and suggested that the school close for the day on Friday while the school receives a deep clean.

The school is expected to re-open on Monday as normal, although parents are advised to avoid sending children back to school until 48 hours after they were last sick.

Transport operator First Group plans to axe the 74 and 74X bus services that run between Stoke Gifford, Bradley Stoke and Bristol city centre, according to a report in the Bristol Evening Post.

The 74 service currently runs once a day in each direction, picking up at Ellan Hay Road, Bradley Stoke at 7:04am and returning from Bristol at 5:43pm. The limited stop X74 service makes one journey a day, picking up at Ellan Hay Road at 7:42am. Both services operate Monday-Friday only.

The company claims that low customer demand is behind the proposed changes, which will come into effect on 1st February next year.

Bradley Stoke Mayor Robert Jones is quoted as describing First Group’s actions as “death by a thousand cuts”, while town and district Councillor John Ashe complains that “First hasn’t even had the decency to consult local residents about the impact that these ill-thought through changes will have”.

Related Links:

• Announcement of service change on First Group website
• The Journal’s guide to bus services in Bradley Stoke

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) is today (Tuesday) staging an exhibition in Bradley Stoke about proposed plans for the provision of gypsy and traveller sites in the district.

Independent consultants have determined that there is a need for an additional 53 permanent residental pitches and 25 transient pitches in South Gloucestershire.

The government believes that there is an urgent need to meet this shortfall by 2011 and has told the Council to produce a new plan called a Development Plan Document (DPD), which will identify land where pitches can be developed.

The exhibition is part of a public consultation exercise on the Council’s recently published ‘Gypsy and Traveller Sites: Towards Preferred Options’ document, a precursor to the full DPD that will be submitted to central government in November 2009.

One of the 17 sites suggested in the current document is at Northwood Park, Old Gloucester Road, Winterbourne [map], just over the M4 motorway from Bradley Stoke, where it is suggested that the existing Council-owned site could be extended to include a further ten residental pitches and two transient pitches.

A further suggestion is for a new privately-owned site at Curtis Lane, Stoke Gifford [map], where two residental pitches and one transient pitch might be provided.

The exhibition is open from 2:30pm to 7pm at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre, Fiddlers Wood Lane.

Related Links:

• SGC Consultation : Gypsy and Traveller Sites ‘Towards Preferred Options’
• ‘Toward Preferred Options’ : Plain Guide [PDF, 1.7MB]

Just one month after the official opening of Bradley Stoke’s new town centre, construction of phase 2 of the development is now well under way.

The main component of the second phase is the so-called Retail Terrace, a row of larger non-food retail units tailored to suit the needs of major national retailers.

Unit one, on the corner of the Town Square, has a floor space of 5,000 sq ft on a single level, while the other units are sized at up to 10,000 sq ft at ground level plus a further 7,500 sq ft at first floor (mezannine) level. Each of the larger units is capable of being sub-divided into two separate stores.

The latest plans (below), revealed in September at a meeting of the Bradley Stoke Safer & Stronger Community Group, show the Terrace consisting of six units of varying sizes. One unit is designated for occupation by Brantano (shoes & accessories), while a second is shown as being “under offer”.

The steel framework of over half of the new Retail Terrace is now in place (photo, above), but work is constrained by part of the site being used as a temporary car park until demolition of the old Tesco store is complete.

Phase 2 also incorporates construction of a third side to the Town Square, which will add two further retail outlets currently designated for Westworld (mobility & lifestyle) and Ladbrokes (betting).

Willow Brook Centre manager Scott Lahive told The Journal that the new Town Square units will be handed over by the construction team in early January [2009] and are expected to be operational by late February/early March. Handover of the Retail Terrace is planned for May/June and it is hoped that these units will be trading by June/July.

It is understood that the Retail Terrace units are being targeted at major fashion outlets such as Next, New Look and H&M, who are thought to be keen on supplementing their relatively small outlets at The Mall, Cribbs Causeway.

Official confirmation of tenants is not expected until January at the earliest.