The Bradley Stoke Journal

2011 was another busy year for The Journal with 349 news articles and more than 1,000 photos published. Today we take a look back at the main events of the past year in Bradley Stoke.

For a visual record, check out The Journal’s Bradley Stoke Review of 2011 Slideshow on PicasaWeb (also available on YouTube with a couple of audio extras!).

The Journal’s readership grew by a spectacular 75% last year and we look forward to continuing to bring you the town’s most comprehensive news and photo coverage in 2012.

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January began with a revelation from the Town Council that electricity cables powering floodlights around the hard court at Brook Way Activity Centre had been “maliciously severed“. The damage followed a period of friction between the youth club based at the centre and residents of neighbouring properties. Worse was to come later in the year, when a floodlight column was sawn through and collapsed onto the court.

Local police never got to the bottom of either incident but at least they will now be more accessible to residents following the opening of a ‘beat post’ at the Willow Brook Centre, thanks to funding from the centre’s management and the Town Council.

We also learned that the town centre itself would be gaining more residents, with the announcement that Tesco had sold part of the site to McCarthy & Stone, developers of retirement apartments.

More: A look back at February to December 2011 »

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Bradley Stoke Town Council has been told by Royal Mail that it has no plans to provide a larger post office in the town.

The news, revealed during public questions at a recent Council committee meeting, will come as a disappointment to the vast majority of the 273 people who responded to a recent Council consultation to assess demand for better post office facilities in Bradley Stoke.

The survey, conducted between August and October this year, saw 92.7% of respondents express the view that there is a need for a larger post office in Bradley Stoke, with 76.6% specifically calling for a post office to be provided at the Willow Brook Centre.

The results of the consultation were sent to the Royal Mail, Tesco, the Willow Brook Centre and the local MP.

Speaking at this month’s meeting of the Leisure, Youth & Amenities Committee, Town Clerk Sharon Petela said a response had now been received from someone “high up” in Royal Mail.

According to Mrs Petela, who said she didn’t have the letter to hand as she was planning to reveal its content at the next Full Council meeting in January, the response could be summed up as: “nothing’s going to happen”.

More: Royal Mail to look at Pear Tree Road queuing time issue »

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Southern Brooks Community Partnership (SBCP) has announced the opening of the nomination period for the 2012 Outstanding Women’s Awards, which are to be presented as part of the local International Women’s Day celebrations.

The aim of the awards is to celebrate the many contributions that women and girls make to their families and communities – improving the lives and wellbeing of those around them.

Nominations are welcomed for women living in the Southern Brooks area, which includes Bradley Stoke, Filton, Patchway and Stoke Gifford.

Awards will be presented under the following three categories:

Community Award

For women who have taken on the role of community leaders either through their volunteering efforts, examples include running a toddler group, youth or ladies’ group etc, or by going beyond their work specification or leading a pressure campaign to make changes benefiting their community. For women who have demonstrated leadership activities that have benefited their communities.

Business Woman’s Award

For women who have either set up or managed a local business which has grown significantly; or have developed their employees, or women who have mentored others in business and are role models in their fields. For women making a positive impact on the communities that they work in.

More: Young Woman’s Award and how to nominate »

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Happy Christmas to all our readers from The Journal team!

Thanks for your continued support in 2011, which has seen our annual readership exceed ONE MILLION pageviews for the first time*.

We’ll continue to update the website over the festive period, so don’t forget to check back soon for the latest stories and information from Bradley Stoke’s premier news source.

If you’re looking for information about opening hours at the Willow Brook Centre and Tesco Extra, check out our Holiday Opening Hours page.

The page also lists the opening times for the two Bradley Stoke Tesco Express Stores, Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre, Bradley Stoke Library, together with information about refuse collections and bus services over the festive period.

Tesco Extra and the two Bradley Stoke Tesco Express stores are closed on Christmas Day but if you find you’ve forgotten an essential component of your Christmas dinner, you can head over to the Costcutter or Spar convenience stores in Patchway (opening times in the Patchway Journal).

Details of Christmas church services today and tomorrow can be found in our What’s On guide, Bradley Stoke’s most comprehensive guide to local events. For more information about the venues, follow the links on our Faith and Religion page.

* based on figures from our raw website logs.

Photo: THAT spectacularly-decorated house in Orpheus Avenue, Little Stoke, where a charity collection has so far raised £510 for the Jessie May Trust.

More: Meet the people behind the Little Stoke Christmas lights! »

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South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) has responded to criticism of its leisurely approach to dealing with broadband infrastructure problems by forming a new partnership with the neighbouring county of Wiltshire, whose plans are claimed to be “the most advanced in the country”.

South Gloucestershire had previously been working with Bristol City Council and Bath & North East Somerset (BANES) after being assigned a collective pot of £1.4 million from Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) in August but the BANES Cabinet recently voted to decline the Government cash after it realised it would have to match fund it to the tune of £1 million.

SGC’s recent launch of a lengthy 13-month public consultation in which businesses and residents are being asked to “register interest in receiving improved broadband connectivity” triggered an avalanche of negative comments from Journal readers, many of whom are struggling with sub-standard connections in non-cabled areas of Bradley Stoke.

The same sentiment was echoed by local MP Jack Lopresti speaking in the House of Commons yesterday when he said that progress made by Conservative-run SGC had “not been as quick as I and some of my constituents would like”.

Another South Gloucestershire MP, Lib Dem Pensions Minister Steve Webb, was also recently critical of SGC’s progress on broadband, saying the Council had been “particularly slow on the issue and has not yet even submitted a plan [to BDUK]“.

More: Installation to start by December 2012, says Council »

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Shoppers in Bradley Stoke who are in the habit of leaving their vehicles in the car park of the Three Brooks pub while they do a spot of shopping at Tesco could be in for a surprise this weekend when a pay and display parking system is introduced.

Payment machines and signage have been installed at the Savages Wood Road site over the last few days and the system is due to go live tomorrow (Saturday 17th).

Pub Manager Stephen Williams says the measure is being introduced as a “last resort” following complaints from customers unable to find a parking place, even when the pub is not especially busy.

The situation has come to a head after the pub lost 32 of its parking spaces to the neighbouring McCarthy & Stone housing development in early October, after which Mr Williams told The Journal he was looking at “putting solutions in place” to deal with unauthorised users of the car park.

Tesco staff, shoppers visiting the Willow Brook Centre and parents picking up children from the nearby Meadowbrook Primary School are said to be the main culprits.

More: Parking charge will be refundable for genuine customers »

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