The Bradley Stoke Journal

Bradley Stoke’s annual Community Festival gets underway on Friday (6th June 2008) with a coffee morning and flower arranging competition, a four mile walk around Bradley Stoke and a “picnic in the park”.

The main events take place on Saturday in and around the Jubilee Centre [map], Savages Wood Road. Stage and arena acts are scheduled from 11am to 6pm, while a Community Fair, with stalls from local charities, community groups and businesses, takes place between 1:30pm and 5:30pm.

Sunday sees the third running of the Bradley Stoke Festival Fun Run, a 10km multi-terrain race, which starts near the Leisure Centre at 10am. Race HQ and finish is at the Jubilee Centre. Residents are urged to turn out and support the competitors along the course - see The Journal’s interactive map of the race route to see where (and when) you can see the runners go by.

Bradley Stoke’s newly elected Mayor, Robert Jones, has chosen the National Association for Colitis and Crohn’s Disease (NACC) as the organisation to benefit from his charitable fundraising efforts during his year in office.

Last year’s Mayor, Julian Barge, raised £5823 for his his two chosen charities - the Bristol Urological Prostate Cancer Appeal and the Nicola Corry Support Foundation. The Mayor’s charity fund benefits from donations and special money-raising events held during the Mayor’s year in office – notably the Community Festival in June and the Fireworks Display in November.

In a press release issued by Bradley Stoke Town Council today, Councillor Jones reveals that he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease five years ago. By choosing the organisation as his charity for the year, he hopes to raise awareness of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases as well as raising money to support the activities of the charity, which include research, information and support.

Bradley Stoke Town Council (BSTC) and Southern Brooks Community Partnership (SBCP) are urging local community groups to showcase their activities at the town’s Community Fair that takes place between 1:30pm and 5:30pm on Saturday 7th June 2008.

Registered charities and community groups will be charged £10 per table, while the charge for commercial outfits will be £30.

A stallholder’s application form may be downloaded from the SBCP website.

The Community Fair is part of the town’s Community Festival that runs from 6th - 8th June. More information can be found on the Festival page of the BSTC website, including photos from Festivals in previous years.

TV crews were today once again in action at Baileys Court bowling green as they recorded members of Northavon Bowls Club removing equipment from the facility. In an ongoing dispute over the rental agreement for the green, Bradley Stoke Town Council (BSTC) had ordered the Club to remove its effects by 5pm on 28th May.

Despite today’s retreat, the bowlers are confident that legal action will eventually allow them to return to the green. A spokesperson for the Club revealed that it has recently used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain crucial documents from BSTC, which the Club claims strengthen its case against the Council.

Today’s events are expected to feature in tonight’s BBC and ITV regional news programmes and tomorrow’s Western Daily Press and Bristol Evening Post.

More photos of today’s events may be viewed in our PicasaWeb Gallery [album, slideshow].

Northavon Bowls Club is taking legal action in an attempt to regain access to the green at Baileys Court Activity Centre in Bradley Stoke. The Club has been prevented from using the green for several weeks in a dispute with Bradley Stoke Town Council over a proposed new rental agreement.

The Council decided at its Annual General Meeting on 22nd May to cease negotiations with the Club and ordered it to remove all its equipment from Baileys Court by 5pm on 28th May.

In a press release put out this evening, the Bowls Club says it will remove its equipment “under duress” tomorrow (27th May). The statement goes on to say that the Club is “prepared to pay the full cost attributable to its occupation of the premises”, but claims that the Council is “not prepared to make a fair assessment of those costs”.

Wednesday’s Annual General Meeting of Bradley Stoke Town Council brought confirmation that no agreement has been achieved between the Town Council and Northavon Bowls Club in the dispute over increased rental charges at the town’s Baileys Court bowling green. Councillor Mark Forsyth reported that no correspondence had been received from the Bowls Club before the Council-imposed deadline of midnight on Tuesday.

The Town Clerk has now written to the Bowls Club insisting that it remove all its equipment from the Baileys Court site before 5pm on 28th May. Any equipment left there after that date will be considered ‘abandoned’ and disposed of as the Council sees fit.

The meeting was told that cheques previously submitted to the Council by the Bowls Club had been returned uncashed as they “had strings attached”. It was resolved to send a final reminder to the Club asking for immediate payment of monies owed. Should the debts not be cleared within 14 days, the Council would take court action - in line with its standard bad debts procedure.

Councillors who had attended the meeting of South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) earlier in the day reported that the bowls dispute had been discussed there, but stated that SGC had no intention of attempting to mediate in the dispute.

Councillor Robert Jones was elected as Chair (and Mayor) of Bradley Stoke Town Council at tonight’s Annual General Meeting. The new Deputy Chair is Councillor Mark Forsyth.

Councillor Jones, who represents the town’s Baileys Court ward, also serves as a District Councillor on South Gloucestershire Council. He has been a member of the Town Council since 2006 and has served as Chair of the Finance & Leisure Committee in the past year.

Outgoing Mayor Julian Barge, who has served as Chair for a total of three (non-consecutive) years, performed his final duty in the role when he presented a cheque for £5823 to representatives of his two chosen charities - the Bristol Urological Prostate Cancer Appeal and the Nicola Corry Support Foundation. The amount represents money contributed towards the Mayor’s Fund from donations or special money-raising events during the Mayor’s year in office – notably the Community Festival in June and the Fireworks Display in November.