The Bradley Stoke Journal

A meeting of the Southern Brooks Area Forum on Tuesday (1st September) is set to discuss grant applications from Bradley Stoke organisations.

Area forums, organised by South Gloucestershire Council (SGC), give local people the opportunity to talk about issues and concerns that affect their neighbourhoods. They champion local needs and aspirations and gather the views of residents about specific community issues.

In the Southern Brooks Area, which covers Bradley Stoke, Filton, Frenchay, Stoke Park, Patchway, Stoke Gifford and Winterbourne, 14 organisations have made valid applications for a share of the £32k+ pot of grant funding made available by SGC.

Shopmobility South Gloucestershire has applied for a grant of £3,000 towards the cost of setting up a Shopmobility service at Bradley Stoke’s Willow Brook shopping centre. The total cost of the project is said to be £8,000, which includes the purchase of four ‘Shoprider’ powered scooters.

Willow Brook Centre Manager Scott Lahive explained to The Journal:

“Whilst the facility will be based in the centre, it is possible to connect to the neighbouring library and leisure centre for those who use the scooters. The Shopmobility scheme will be run from a prominent location in the centre of the mall making it more convenient for those using the scheme.”

Mr Lahive says that WestWorld, the mobility and lifestyle retailer shown as a prospective tenant in a marketing brochure for the Willow Brook Centre, has now decided that it won’t be opening in Bradley Stoke.

“We felt that a shop mobility scheme would provide a great service for less mobile shoppers and when WestWorld felt that it wasn’t possible to operate a shop within the scheme, we approached South Gloucestershire Shopmobility.”

Another local project looking for funding is a scheme to improve drainage on the lower football pitch at the Jubilee Centre, Savages Wood Road. Bradley Stoke Youth FC and Bradley Stoke Town FC are looking for grant of £6,500 to carry out the necessary works.

The clubs claim that drainage problems cause matches to be “cancelled on a regular basis when there is any rain”, adding that “last December and January no matches were possible on pitches due to waterlogged damage.”

Bradley Stoke Town Council has already spent over £8,000 during the past year in an attempt to improve drainage on the upper football pitch at the same site.

The Southern Brooks Area Forum meeting takes place at the Greenfield Centre, Winterbourne, starting at 7pm.

More Information: Meeting Agenda (SGC)

A turf cutting ceremony has been held to mark the start of work on the new sixth form (post-16) centre at Bradley Stoke Community School (BSCS).

The £4.6 million project, which also includes a dance studio and additional changing rooms at the Fiddlers Wood Lane site, is being funded by a grant from the Learning and Skills Council.

The ceremony was performed by senior members of South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) with the assistance of four students from the school, watched by representatives from Thomas Vale Construction and Bradley Stoke Town Council (BSTC).

The symbolic first turf was cut by Cllr Shirley Holloway (Chair of SGC) and Cllr John Calway (Leader of SGC), aided by BSCS students George Baggott, Lydia Fawcett, Ed Franklin and Natalie Cox.

Plans for the new sixth form centre were approved by SGC in September 2008 and the construction team moved onto the site at the end of July.

Building work is expected to be completed by May 2010, so that the first cohort of BSCS students can begin their post-16 education in September 2010.

The sixth form centre will cater for up to 180 students in the 16-19 age group, drawn mainly from feeder schools of BSCS, Patchway Community College and Filton High School. There will also be cooperation with other members of the Concorde Partnership, namely Castle School, Marlwood School, New Siblands Special School and Filton College.

Dave Baker, BSCS Headteacher, said:

“The school has students in all years 7-11 for the first time this September so it is both timely and appropriate that the Post 16 Centre is being built in readiness for our first students who will need it in September 2010. It is an exciting time for all involved with Bradley Stoke Community School and for the Concorde Partnership with whom we will be collaborating to provide a full range of courses for all 14-19 year olds in the local area. We are grateful to South Gloucestershire Council for their support in ensuring that the Post 16 provision is in place for next September.”

Demand for places at the new centre is expected to be high and the school admits that capacity may become an issue. That said, Mr Baker pointed out that the building is designed for two year groups, so the school will at least have a year’s grace if significantly more students stay on than has been assumed in SGC’s projections.

More photos from the ceremony on PicasaWeb: album; slideshow

Local politicians attending the ceremony were keen to claim credit for the success of the long-running campaign for a sixth form in Bradley Stoke. [Read more...]

Local police have named Bradley Stoke’s new Council-funded Police Community Support Officer as Paul Baxter, who currently works on the Filton beat.

PCSO Baxter, who has been with the force for two years, will join the Bradley Stoke beat team in September.

Bradley Stoke is one of five neighbourhood police teams being strengthened by the addition of a PCSO funded directly by South Gloucestershire Council.

News of the appointment comes in the August/September edition of the Bradley Stoke neighbourhood policing team newsletter.

The newsletter also contains a report on a cricket match that took place recently between police and residents.

Sgt Steve Ives and a team of PCSOs from Bradley Stoke and Patchway took on local people in a contest on Patchway Common on Sunday 9th August. On this occasion, the residents’ team cam out on top by 202-160 but police say they are looking for a rematch to even the score.

Residents are invited to suggest further ideas for improving contact between police and local residents.

More Information and Related Links:

• Bradley Stoke Police Newsletter, Aug/Sep 2009 [PDF, 295KB]
• Bradley Stoke Police (The Journal)

A road traffic accident on the Winterbourne Road in the early hours of Saturday morning (22nd August) has left two men dead and three others injured.

The accident happened at the junction of Winterbourne Road and Old Gloucester Road, close to where the Winterbourne Road passes under the M4 motorway.

Avon and Somerset Police say a Mercedes collided with a Royal Mail lorry at around 2:30am on Saturday morning.

The driver of the Mercedes was pronounced dead at the scene. A 17-year-old passenger in the Mercedes died later on Saturday.

Two other men remain in a critical condition with life-threatening injuries at Frenchay Hospital.

The Royal Mail driver, 44, is at the Bristol Royal Infirmary suffering from a serious back injury and a broken leg.

Sunday afternoon saw friends of the deceased and injured gathered at the scene, where flowers and tributes have been tied to railings at the side of the road.

Police want to hear from anyone who witnessed the accident or saw the Mercedes earlier travelling in the Winterbourne area. Anyone with information should contact Bristol police on 0845 456 7000 or on Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

The Bristol Evening Post reports today that Bradley Stoke Town Councillor Jon Williams (Lib Dem) has been found guilty of misconduct by the Standards Committee of South Gloucestershire Council (SGC).

The ruling follows an incident at a meeting of the Town Council on 3rd December 2008, in which Cllr Williams called his fellow (predominantly Conservative) Councillors “a bunch of w*****s” before storming out of the room.

Cllr Williams’ outburst came during a discussion on the funding of youth work in Bradley Stoke, which led to the Council deciding to work “in partnership” with SGC rather than continuing its existing direct contract with Southern Brooks Community Partnership.

The SGC Standards Committee has ruled that Cllr Williams breached the Councillors’ code of conduct by “failing to treat others with respect” and “bringing his office or authority into disrepute”, according to the paper.

Cllr Williams’ apology for the outburst was “recorded” at a subsequent meeting of the Town Council on 17th December 2008. It seems however that this was not good enough for one of the other Councillors, believed by The Journal to be John Ashe (Conservative), who decided to take the matter to a higher level.