Work to create 20 new parking spaces at Bradley Stoke Town Council’s Brook Way Activity Centre site could finally get under way in October, more than six years after redevelopment proposals were first put forward.
The future of the dilapidated hard court area at the centre has been the subject of much controversy, not least when, in September 2013, the then mayor Cllr Brian Hopkinson proposed the construction of two new buildings on the site, one for a charity and the other for youth provision.
A subsequent public consultation showed that 59 percent of respondents wanted to see additional parking facilities provided at the site, with just 20 percent supporting the need for a “new building” of some form.
A working group formed to consider the results of the consultation failed to produce any formal reports over a period of more than two years and, in the words of Cllr Elaine Hardwick, was deemed to have “died a death” by July 2016.
In that month, the town council agreed to use earmarked reserves to extend the car park at the Brook Way site, remove the hard court and create a grassed ‘village green’.
A planning application for the proposed scheme was subsequently submitted, in April 2017, to South Gloucestershire Council (SGC). However, it was later withdrawn after SGC officers had expressed concerns about the loss of trees and the potential for excavation works to damage the roots of some retained trees.
A planning application for a revised scheme was submitted in January 2018 and consent was granted in May 2018.
In the approved scheme, 20 additional parking bays will be created within the footprint of the hard court. In contrast to the previous scheme, no deep excavations of the hard court surface will be carried out. Consequently, there will be a “graduated incline” between the existing car park area and the new parking bays.
Engaging a contractor to carry out the necessary work has been a lengthy process as the council was obliged to advertise the job specification on a national procurement website. After this failed to attract any enquiries, quotes were subsequently sought from local companies and the lowest received tender of £37,650 has now been accepted.
The council’s premises manager John Rendell says he is hopeful of agreeing a start date in October and it is anticipated that the work on site will take three weeks to complete.
This article originally appeared in the October 2019 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine (on page 2). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH (except August), to ALL 8,700 homes in Bradley Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
UPDATE (9th October 2019)
Bradley Stoke Town Council has confirmed that the work on the hard court area will commence on Monday 14th October and take four weeks to complete.
Bradley Stoke Town Council has confirmed that the work on the hard court area will commence on Monday 14th October and take four weeks to complete.