The Bradley Stoke Journal

Prospective students of Bradley Stoke’s new post-16 (sixth form) centre have aired their views on policies they would like to see enforced when the facility opens in September.

Feedback from a ‘post-16 consultation exercise’ conducted amongst year 11 students and staff at Bradley Stoke Community School (BSCS) outlines opinions on:

• dress code
• rules for the centre’s social area
• attendance regulations
• driving to school
• responsibilities and curriculum

Students say they would like to be able to wear smart denim (not ripped or distressed) and trainers, adding that:

Clothing should be appropriate for working situations and should not make other students or staff feel awkward (no low cut tops, bare midriffs).

On attendance, students believe they should be allowed to leave the site at lunch time, but not at break times. They also say that they should be able to leave early if they have no further taught lessons.

In keeping with the school’s stance on sustainability, the report says that “no-one thinks that [sixth formers] driving to school is a good idea”. However, students who have passed their tests and who have after-school commitments could be permitted to drive to school, the report adds.

Details of courses to be offered at the new centre will be made available in January.

Read more: Post-16 Consultation Feedback [PDF] (BSCS)

The results of a survey of users of the Jubilee Green play park have been published by the Friends of Jubilee Green volunteer group.

89% of the 55 people polled said they would like access to toilets at the park and 71% said they would visit the park more often if they had permanent access to toilets at the Savages Wood Road site.

The news reinforces representations already made to Bradley Stoke Town Council, which does not allow members of the public to use toilets at the nearby Jubilee Centre when any of its rooms are in use by hirers.

36% of users think the park is “great”, with the remaining 64% classifying it as “OK, but could be better”.

The most-mentioned positive feature about the park was the nest swing, named by 47% of respondents.

The park was officially opened in July 2009 following two months of construction funded by the Big Lottery Fund, South Gloucestershire Council and Bradley Stoke Town Council.

The Friends have also updated the Projects page of their website to detail improvements planned for the park, which include a “youth space”, a living willow fence, additional play equipment, an orchard and a community garden.

Local Liberal Democrat Councillor Jon Williams has slammed the Conservatives for, he says, wrongly claiming credit over the approval of a new pedestrian crossing on Brook Way.

The row follows a campaign by parents of children at Wheatfield Primary School, who said they found it dangerous  getting to the school from Saxon Way and other roads on the west side of Brook Way.

The issue was first raised at a meeting of the Bradley Stoke Safer and Stronger Group in February, where concerned parents complained of the difficulty of crossing Brook Way near the mini-roundabout junction with Wheatfield Drive.

Parents also pointed out that the central refuge at existing crossings were too narrow to accommodate pushchairs and that there were no school warning signs on Brook Way.

Cllr Mark Forsyth (Conservative) shocked the meeting when he suggested that the parents might like to “buy some fluorescent jackets and act as lollipop persons”.

A more constructive response came from Cllr Williams, who offered to work with the parents to see if the school’s Travel Plan could be updated with a view to attracting funding for a new crossing.

Cllr Williams says he subsequently spoke to the school, attended the school’s Travel Plan Committee, arranged for a Highways officer to attend, and encouraged the school to resubmit its Travel Plan.

Plans for a new ‘raised table’ crossing were then put forward to the Southern Brooks Area Forum meeting earlier this month, where the parents and Cllr Williams were succesful in obtaining approval for the estimated £20,000 cost.

But a press release put out after the meeting by South Gloucestershire Conservatives – subtitled “Councillors welcome moves to encourage safer route to school” – has angered Cllr Williams, who says the Tories “do nothing and then claim the credit”.

Cllr Williams told The Journal:

“It appears that the Conservatives are rewriting history again. This time they are claiming credit for getting a new, safer, crossing across Brook Way between Courtlands and Wheatfield Drive. The truth is that it was parents at the school and the school’s Travel Plan Committee who should take the credit.”

“Not once did a Conservative councillor make contact with the school or the parents over this matter and the only thing they did to support the scheme was to vote in favour of Cllr Williams’ proposal to proceed with the scheme at last week’s Area Forum meeting.”

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South Gloucestershire councillor Peter Tyzack has been chosen as the Liberal Democrat’s candidate for the new Filton and Bradley Stoke (FABS) parliamentary constituency at next year’s general election.

Cllr Tyzack becomes the third Liberal Democrat to be nominated to fight the seat after the resignations of two previous candidates.

Emma Bone quit “for family reasons” in 2008, while John Kiely stepped down earlier this year saying that he need to give priority to his work on Bristol City Council.

Cllr Tyzack, who represents Pilning and Severn Beach on the district council, has stood for parliament on two previous occasions.

In 1997 he fought the Bristol East seat, where he finished in third place with 14.8% of the vote. More recently, he contested the Bristol North West seat in 2001, finishing with 15.9% of the vote behind runaway winner Doug Naysmith.

In a press release issued by Filton and Bradley Stoke Liberal Democrats, Cllr Tyzack says:

“I am honoured to have been chosen by the Party to represent the people in this new constituency for the next general election. I would like to say thank you for the support that I have already received and the further encouragement since my selection especially from Steve Webb MP.”

“What I would like to do is to offer a real alternative for the people of this new constituency. With just over five months left to run to the general election, FABS is a rare opportunity for us. Local by-election results across the country show a significant move towards the Liberal Democrats, so we should be optimistic.”

Cllr Tyzack has served on South Gloucestershire Council and the previous Northavon District Council since 1994. As a qualified teacher he taught at three Bristol secondary schools before leaving the profession to set up an independent property business and also a small building company.

The new Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency is formed exclusively of wards from the district of South Gloucestershire. The wards that it incorporates previously belonged to the Bristol North West, Northavon and Kingswood constituencies.

Independent website ukpollingreport classifies Filton and Bradley Stoke as a marginal seat but predicts that it will be won by the Conservatives with 35.7% of the vote, followed by Labour on 32.8% and the Liberal Democrats on 27.2%.

Related link:

• Filton and Bradley Stoke – General Election 2010 (The Journal)

A private enforcement company has been brought in to combat unauthorised parking around the edge of the Tesco petrol filling station at Bradley Stoke’s Willow Brook Centre.

Notices threatening rogue motorists with a penalty charge of £70 have been erected around the area. The signs bear the name of South West Parking Solutions, a Cheltenham company.

A reporter from The Journal witnessed an official taking several photos of a car parked in the area before securing a penalty notice behind the windscreen wiper of the vehicle. One further car was also seen to have a notice attached.

Willow Brook Centre Manager Scott Lahive told The Journal:

“The restriction have been introduced due to the high level of illegal parking we have experienced in this area. The area had been clearly lined as a loading/delivery bay since opening.”

“Earlier in the year the road markings were also extended and made even more prominent however abuse persists. Parking in this area has an operational effect on the centre as this section is for centre deliveries and fuel deliveries.”

“This hasn’t been a decision we have taken lightly and we have trialed other options before commencing with parking penalties, however the situation has got progressively worse and we are left with no other option.”

Police have been called in to investigate the disappearance of thousands of pounds of funds belonging to the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) of a Bradley Stoke primary school.

Writing in a recent newsletter, Arlene Yalung, outgoing Chair of the Friends of St Mary’s (the PTA of  St Mary’s RC Primary School in Webbs Wood Road) says:

“This year we have unfortunately encountered a problem with being able to produce a final set of accounts and have had to work with auditors from the local authority which has resulted in us having to pass the matter to the police.”

“It stems from a deposit of £3,500 being made in January that it would appear the bank are unable to trace.”

A spokesperson for the local education authority (South Gloucestershire Council) confirmed to The Journal that:

“The Friends of St Mary’s are currently voluntarily working with the appropriate bodies to resolve an accounting issue. The Friends are a completely separate organisation to the school.”

Parents at the school have been asked to: “refrain from becoming involved in any unhelpful conversations with each other or members of the Friends.”