The planned investment of nearly £3m of taxpayers’ money into broadband infrastructure within South Gloucestershire might still leave Bradley Stoke without superfast broadband in 2015, according to a report accepted by Councillors at a Cabinet meeting on Monday.

South Gloucestershire Council’s Cabinet has agreed to add £2.2m of its own money to the £710k allocated by the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) agency, which is aiming to “make the UK’s broadband the best in Europe by 2015”.

Commercial providers are expected to bring superfast broadband to 82% of premises in the district by 2015, leaving the remaining 18% reliant on public money, but the Council says its target is to bring 24Mbps+ broadband to only 90% of premises, meaning that more than half of the “don’t haves” could be left disappointed.

The only consolation is that those that don’t get superfast speeds will be guaranteed a minimum ‘basic broadband’ speed of 2Mbps (around one quarter of the UK average speed today but likely to be viewed by many as inadequate by 2015).

Detailed broadband coverage maps published by Wiltshire County Council (SGC’s new partner after its original consortium with Bristol and BANES disintegrated) reveal that the Council is NOT expecting BT to upgrade the Almondsbury exchange on a commercial basis within the next three years. The maps also show, for the first time, the parts of Bradley Stoke that are plagued with sub-2Mbps provision, at the granularity of individual postcode areas.

Around 4,000 premises in Bradley Stoke are thought to suffer from sub-standard broadband speeds because they are not served by Virgin Media’s cable network and are too away far from the two BT telephone exchanges that serve the town.

The latest maps suggest that around one quarter (1,000) of the non-cabled premises receive a sub-2Mbps service that entitles them to benefit from the Government’s “basic broadband for all” pledge. The remaining 3,000 premises, thought to be currently receiving speeds between 2Mbps and 4Mbps, will only benefit from state aid if the Almondsbury exchange is selected for upgrade to superfast broadband by South Gloucestershire Council.

The Council’s report makes some vague statements about using a prioritisation scheme to ensure that superfast broadband is deployed in “areas where its impact will be felt more strongly” but there is unlikely to be any certainty about geographical coverage until contracts have been awarded to telecommunication providers in “summer 2012”.

Work on the state-aided project is expected to start by the end of the year and be completed by April 2015.

In other developments, the Council is giving telecommunication providers one last chance to confirm their plans for the deployment of superfast broadband in the district, prior to commencement of the tendering process for the state-aided work. A new ‘Superfast Broadband State Aid Consultation’ started on 1st February and runs until 16th March.

The state aid consultation is in addition to the residents’ and businesses’ consultations that are each running until 29th February.

Please help give Bradley Stoke the best chance of receiving its fair share of the available state aid by completing the above consultations!

The Editor comments

South Gloucestershire Council’s investment of £2.2m is well above the ‘match funding’ minimum required by the Government and appears to be a welcome acknowledgement that our slow-coach administrators have finally grasped the scale of the problem.

But the target of 90% superfast is surely too low, given that many of the ‘have nots’ will be left on a ‘basic ’ 2Mbps broadband that will seem pathetic in 2015 – potentially leaving 10% of the population on the wrong side of a new and more pronounced ‘digital divide’.

The Council needs to look to its much vaunted Localism principles and urgently consider other funding mechanisms that, where necessary, allow local communities to supplement the state aid to ensure they aren’t left festering in ‘broadband backwaters’ for years to come.

Related links:

• Broadband coverage maps (Wiltshire Online)
• Submission from Bradley Stoke Councillors to Monday’s Cabinet meeting [PDF]
• Better Broadband Campaign (The 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.

Remember, you can make sure you’re the first to hear all the local news by:

• Subscribing to our email newsletter
• Following us on Twitter
• Joining us on Facebook

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.

Two accidents in the vicinity of Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre hit the headlines in February. An eight-year-old boy had to be cut free by firefighters from underneath a vehicle following a collision in the leisure centre’s car park. Days later, a 10-year-old cyclist suffered serious leg injuries when he was in collision with a car on nearby Bradley Stoke Way. Sadly, this wasn’t to be the last serious accident involving children on this stretch of the road.

Moves to combat anti-social behaviour in the Manor Farm Crescent area took a step forward with the submission of a planning application to close off the pedestrian access point into the Willow Brook Centre at night. A gate, which is locked every night between 10pm and 7am, was installed later in the year.

March saw a house fire in Merryweather Close tragically claim the lives of two young children. Brothers McKenzie (7) and Charlie (5) died despite brave efforts by neighbours and firefighters to rescue them from the first floor of the property. Neighbours set up a trust to raise money for the families affected by the fire and a fundraising event was held at BAWA.

Earlier in the month a fuel leak resulted in the Tesco petrol filling station being closed for several hours, causing traffic chaos around the town centre.

A video of a man getting trapped inside a recycling bin at the Willow Brook Centre made the “most viewed” list on the BBC News website in April. The would-be clothes thief had become stuck after being pushed into the bin by an accomplice. He was freed four hours later after the fire brigade cut the top off the bin.

Technical problems marred the town’s Royal Wedding ‘community’ street party held on the Jubilee Centre football pitch. Failure of the big screen projector meant that only a dim 4′ x 3′ image could be seen – instead of the 14′ x 8′ one that had been promised. Many families packed up their picnics and went home to watch the wedding on their own TVs but attendance picked up in the afternoon as people returned to enjoy the stalls and rides set up around the field.

May saw local activists pounding the streets trying to drum up support for candidates in the local (district and town) elections. The Conservatives routed their opponents in Bradley Stoke, winning all five seats on South Gloucestershire Council and all fifteen on the Town Council. Later in the month, Cllr Ben Walker was installed as Town Mayor for a second term, with his 23-year-old sister Charlotte as deputy.

The roll-out of the controversial part-night street lighting scheme was halted (again) after newly-fitted photocell units began to malfunction. A software “anomaly” was later found to be the cause, necessitating the replacement of 2,000 units.

The main day of the Community Festival in June was once again blessed with fine weather and attracted the usual large crowd. The next day’s Bradley Stoke 10k Run, in contrast, took place in torrential rain – but still attracted another big field.

Work on the construction of a new MS Therapy Centre on a site between Bradley Stoke Way and Wheatfield Drive finally got underway after years of funding crises and planning wrangles. Local Councillors had insisted on access to the site being from Bradley Stoke Way rather than Wheatfield Drive but their decision was later overuled by a planning inspector.

Bradley Stoke Community School’s plans to convert to academy status suffered a setback in July when its proposed partner schools (Brimsham Green School and Patchway Community College) decided they would rather stay under local authority control. The local school decided to continue alone and, assuming everything went to plan by the target date of 1st Jan 2012, is now run by the ‘Olympus Academy Trust’.

The overnight street light switch-off came to the fore again when Town Councillor Ed Rose claimed it violated two articles of the Human Rights Act. Cllr Rose’s outburst, derided by a number of Journal readers, was ignored when representatives of the District and Town Councils reviewed the scheme the following month and decided to leave it unaltered.

News that the two local Councils had withdrawn funding for youth work in the town emerged in August, with provider Southern Brooks Community Partnership being told its contract was to be prematurely terminated on 31st October. The Brook Way Youth Club duly closed before the October half-term and interim measures are now in place, pending the results of a ‘Youth Needs Survey’ that ended on 31st December.

Alterations to bus routes by Wessex Connect saw the 71 and 72 services withdrawn from September, to be replaced by new services U7 and U8. The changes left a large part of South Bradley Stoke without a direct daytime service to Bristol city centre, although the company later revised it plans to partly address some of the criticism it received.

September saw the Willow Brook Centre announce plans to introduce traffic calming measures in order to “improve the safety of customers”. Speed bumps have recently been installed on the approach road to the centre and Journal readers have since complained of traffic congestion extending back to the roundabout on Savages Wood Road at peak times.

The Boundary Commission announced plans to erase Bradley Stoke from the name of local parliamentary constituency (currently known as Filton and Bradley Stoke), a move condemned as “electoral genocide” by local Councillor Rob Jones.

A public petition calling on South Gloucestershire Council to improve road safety measures on Bradley Stoke Way, following another serious accident involving a child, attracted more than 3,900 signatures in October – forcing the issue to be debated at a Full Council meeting. A public consultation is currently running on the resultant proposals (responses must be made by Sunday 8th January 2012).

Guinness World Records confirmed that South Gloucestershire Hockey Club’s attempt on the record for the world’s longest hockey game, made at Bradley Stoke Community School over the May Bank Holiday weekend, has been officially recognised.

November saw a record crowd of 8,000 attend the Bradley Stoke Town Council Fireworks Display, where the Vice Lord-Lieutenant for Gloucestershire led the countdown. This time the fireworks were set off from the upper football pitch in order to allay health and safety concerns expressed following the previous year’s event.

A three-month public consultation on the provision of post office services in Bradley Stoke demonstrated a big demand for a larger post office in the town, with the majority of respondents asking for it to be sited at the Willow Brook Centre.

South Gloucestershire Council triggered an outcry in December when it launched a 13-month consultation to assess demand for better broadband in the district, a whole year after more than a thousand people in the Bradley Stoke area registered their frustration about slow connection speeds by entering BT’s Race to Infinity competition. Three weeks later, an embarrassed Council announced it intended to “fast-track” its plans by teaming up with the neighbouring county of Wiltshire. The consultation will now end on 29th February 2012.

The proposed North Fringe to Hengrove transport scheme, which includes the construction of a Stoke Gifford by-pass and the introduction of a fast and reliable bus service between Bradley Stoke and Bristol city centre was awarded £51 million of Government funding. South Gloucestershire Council and Bristol City Council will now have to dig deep to match fund the money. Don’t hold your breath though – the project won’t be finished until the end of 2016!

A happy and prosperous New Year to all our readers from The Journal team!

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”.

She also revealed that the letter acknowledges customers’ concerns about queuing times at the existing post office within the Tesco Express store at Bradley Pavillions, Pear Tree Road, adding that Royal Mail says it will “see if anything can be done about it”.

The Royal Mail letter is said to conclude with an apology that “[our] response probably isn’t what you were hoping for”.

Town Mayor Ben Walker added that he had heard that Tesco might be willing to consider an upgrade of the existing post office facility at Pear Tree Road.

The campaign for better post office facilities in Bradley Stoke has been spearheaded by Cllr Tom Aditya, who was elected to the Town Council in May. He has previously accused Royal Mail of conspiring with the owners of neighbouring post offices to obstruct the opening of a new town centre post office in Bradley Stoke.

Photo: Post office campaigner Tom Aditya pictured in front of the Tesco Express store at Bradley Pavillions, Pear Tree Road.

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.

Young Woman’s Award

For young women and girls aged between 11 and 18 years who have taken on leadership roles whether as carers, or running their own businesses, or peer mentoring or leading a community group or volunteering or have made a significant difference to their own lives that has impacted positively on others. They have made a difference to the lives of those around them.

Nomination forms may be collected from Bradley Stoke, Patchway or Filton libraries or downloaded from the SBCP website.

The closing date for nominations is Friday 10th February.

In contrast to previous years, SBCP has announced that there won’t be a big ‘one night’ celebration of International Women’s Day in 2012 (see our photos from 2010 and 2011).

Instead, local community groups have been invited to stage activities over a two week period from Monday 5th to Friday 16th March 2012

Photo: Winners of the Southern Brooks Outstanding Women’s Awards in 2010.

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.

The brightly-decorated house belongs to Tony and Veronica Davis (pictured), who hosted a fundraising barbecue when the lights were switched on earlier this month.

The Little Stoke Christmas illuminations have become something of an institution over the years and it takes Tony about a month to put them up each year.

Tony is a passionate Labour supporter and has also been known to display challenging political messages on the side of his house.

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]“.

Mr Lopresti was also critical of Lib Dem-controlled BANES, saying:

“It made no sense for the Lib Dem administration to pull out of the joint plan with South Gloucestershire council, given all the benefits that superfast broadband could bring to households and businesses across both districts.”

And it’s not only residents and MPs that have been concerned about the lack of progress -  Government Minister Jeremy Hunt recently ordered all local authorities to submit a draft Local Broadband Plan by the end of February 2012. Plans must be agreed with the Government by the end of April and procurement of equipment must begin within a further three months.

In today’s announcement, SGC promises that it will now be “among the first in the country to begin the process of signing up a commercial provider”.

Under the plans agreed with Wiltshire (and Swindon) Councils, the process of inviting bids from commercial suppliers is set to begin in spring 2012, with the contract announcement due in the summer. Work to install the network is expected to begin by December 2012, with the first residents and businesses able to sign up for superfast broadband from 2013.

The Council has now brought forward the closing date of it public consultation by ten months to Wednesday 29th February 2012.

Meetings of the SGC Cabinet in January and February will now consider reports before the Full Council is asked to confirm match funding of South Gloucestershire’s £710k BDUK allowance at its budget setting meeting later in February.

Today’s announcement was welcomed by the five South Gloucestershire Councillors for Bradley Stoke, who issued the following statement:

“We had real concerns when Lib Dem-run Bath & North East Somerset Council suddenly pulled out of the joint superfast broadband project with South Gloucestershire because of all the uncertainties this caused and the fact it could have left our town languishing in the slow lane.”

“But this announcement shows that we now appear to be in the superfast lane of the superfast broadband roll-out and we commend the immense behind-the-scenes efforts of South Gloucestershire Council to find more willing partners who share a common determination to ensure that our town amongst others are at the forefront of the country’s superfast broadband revolution.”

Related links:

• Better Broadband Campaign (The Journal)
• Wiltshire Online (Wiltshire Council)

The Editor comments

This sounds like good news for rural South Gloucestershire. What a pity the Council didn’t think of doing it a year ago when initial partnerships for BDUK bids were being formed.

What we need to know now is whether Bradley Stoke qualifies for any of the BDUK cash at all. Or will we still be left waiting for BT to do the job with its own money because the Government considers the Almondsbury exchange area “commercially viable” for superfast broadband?

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.

A charge of £2 is to be levied for a three hour stay in the car park, with the fee being refunded to customers of the pub when they place their first order.

The parking fee will be payable from early morning until 9pm. Customers wishing to leave their vehicle in the car park overnight will be exempt from charges the following morning provided they record their registration number on a list held at the bar.

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) and other local authorities in England that have so far failed to publish plans for improving broadband infrastructure in their areas have been set a deadline by Whitehall officials concerned that the Government’s promise of delivering the “best broadband in Europe” by 2015 could be in jeopardy.

The news comes three weeks after South Gloucestershire Council launched a lengthy 13-month public consultation in which residents and businesses are being asked to “register interest in receiving improved broadband connectivity”, which triggered an avalanche of negative comments from dismayed Journal readers.

An impatient Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has now ordered all authorities to submit a draft Local Broadband Plan by the end of February 2012. Plans must be agreed with the Government by the end of April and procurement of equipment must begin within a further three months.

Any authority that has not begun procurement by by the end of July is likely to see the Government stepping in to take remedial action.

In the Government’s original plan for the delivery of superfast broadband published in December 2010, local authorities were expected to submit detailed bids for a specific share of the £530m funding. By April 2011, so few Councils had submitted plans that the Government abandoned the bidding process and decided to allocate the remaining money based on its own assessment of local needs.

The West of England (South Gloucestershire, Bath & North East Somerset and Bristol) was allocated £1.4 million from the fund in August 2011. Since then, BANES has voted against accepting its share of the Government money, which must be match-funded by each Council. The Journal has also heard a rumour that SGC is considering leaving the West of England group to pair up with another local authority whose broadband plans are more advanced.

Around 4,000 homes in Bradley Stoke suffer from low broadband speeds because they are too far away from BT exchanges in Almondsbury and Filton.

BT has scheduled the Filton exchange for upgrading to its Infinity ‘fibre to the cabinet’ service but Almondsbury has so far failed to feature in the company’s upgrade plans.

The Almondsbury exchange once again failed to feature in BT’s latest upgrade announcement made earlier this week, promoted locally as a “bonanza for Bristol”.

Although the company has said it considers Almondsbury to be in the ‘final third’ of the country that will not be be upgraded on a commercial basis, it is not clear whether the exchange will qualify for Government subsidy as it is classified in the ‘Market 3′ category by Ofcom, indicating that there is a high level of competition from different telecoms suppliers.

More info: Deadlines set for local authority broadband plans

A planning application to extend the permitted working and delivery hours at the Aldi supermarket store in Bradley Stoke has drawn opposing views from local Councillors and the store’s customers.

The store submitted the application after South Gloucestershire Council accused it of operating in breach of two conditions attached to the original planning consent for the site.

Since the planning application was registered on 9th November, the store has collected an 842-name customer petition supporting “the planning application submitted by Aldi for extended delivery hours at this store to enable the freshest products to be available when the store opens every day of the week”.

The Journal understands that the petition was placed at the store’s checkouts between Saturday 12th November and Thursday 24th November, with sales staff inviting customers to register their support.

The completed petition was posted to SGC on Saturday 3rd December (one day after the official end date of the consultation period) and appeared on the Council’s website on Wednesday 7th December.

Members of Bradley Stoke Town Council’s Planning Committee, meeting on 23rd November, took an opposing view and registered an objection on the grounds that “the proposals will be detrimental to the residential amenity of the surrounding area”.

Two of the Bradley Stoke Town Councillors who voted against the application, Cllrs Ben Walker and Keith Cranney, also sit on SGC’s Development Control (West) Committee that is now likely to be asked to determine the case.

A resident of Mallard Close, on the opposite side of Bradley Stoke Way to the supermarket, has also objected, claiming that members of his household are frequently awoken by deliveries to the store “which take place anywhere between the hours of 2am and 6am several times a week”.

Perhaps surprisingly, there have been no objections from residents of properties in Brackendene, some of which are very close to the loading bay at the rear of the store.

Current planning conditions restrict working and delivery times to 7am – 8pm Monday to Friday and 10am – 4pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays. Furthermore, “no deliveries whatsoever” may made to the shop on Sundays or Public Holidays without the prior written consent of the Council.

The new application seeks permission for working and delivery times to be extended to 6am – 8pm on weekdays and Saturdays and 8am – 6pm on Sundays and Public Holidays. The store is also asking for the ban on Sunday deliveries to be lifted.

Young master chefs of the future recently put their culinary skills to the test at Bradley Stoke Community School (BSCS) as they competed in a hard-fought cooking competition sponsored by the local Rotary Club.

On the day of the competition (Wednesday 23rd November), four nervous but excited young chefs took their places in the cookery room at the local secondary school. Their bags contained all they needed to present their dishes together with ten pounds worth of ingredients. After half an hour of free preparation time, came an hour and a half of competitive cookery before their masterpieces were scrutinised by the judges.

The competition, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Bristol Aztec, followed the pattern set by the previous year’s successful contest. It presented an opportunity to plan a two course meal whilst being mindful of healthy choices, good planning, hygienic practice, and a wise use of time and money. It also provided a chance for the students to celebrate their prowess, and gain a sense of pride in their achievement.

The judges were Mike Riordan, Head Chef at the Aztec Hotel, Adrian Kirikmaa, Restaurant Manager at the City of Bristol Academy and John Kelly of South Gloucestershire Education Authority. To them fell the difficult task of assessing the students’ work and the finished results, and what results!  The meals were without exception beautifully presented and tasted delicious.

The worthy winner was Abbie Pearce who, as the judges pointed out, cooked a high risk menu choice which could have gone horribly wrong but turned out to be a triumph. It required a high range of skills as Abbie made her own pasta for her prawn tortellini, her own pastry and crème patissiere for her seasonal apple tart.

After being presented with her prize of a £30 Mall voucher and a book on kitchen knife skills, a delighted Abbie said:

“It was exciting, I tried so many combinations at home but I’m pleased I chose this one.”

Adam Sullivan, one of the other competitors, said:

“It was hectic and tested a lot of skills, but I found it a very enjoyable experience and I would do it again,”

Runner-up Henry Vanderhoest added:

“The high point for me was getting it out on time and getting it to look as I wanted it to look.  I managed to work in an organised way, washing up as I went, I think we could have done with an hour’s prep time.”

Leiv Rhem, commended by judges for making the healthiest choices (his main course was a dish of courgettes and prawns on a bed of rice), said:

“My greatest concern was to get it out on time; the first time I did it at home, I ended up serving it up to my parents cold!  This time I was pleased it turned out better and and took a lot less time.”

Fiona Dowling, teacher of catering at BSCS, said:

“The students clearly researched their dishes well, and all showed a range of high level skill and presentation styles. This is a testament to their commitment – they clearly practised to achieve the high standard of dishes produced on the evening.”

“I am really proud of them all; they are a credit to their school, and especially to themselves.”

Competition organiser and Rotary Club member Roger Worth told The Journal he thought the overall standard of culinary skills shown in the competition had been higher than last year, despite the reduced number of competitors.

Photo 1: Young Chef contestants (L-R) Henry Vanderhoest, Abbie Pearce, Adam Sullivan and Leiv Rhem.

Photo 2: Competition winner Abbie Pearce is congratulated by Roger Werth and Susan Bamber-Powell of Bristol Aztec Rotary Club.

More photos on PicasaWeb: album; slideshow

South Gloucestershire Council wants local residents and businesses to complete an online survey to demonstrate the demand for a better broadband service in Bradley Stoke and other parts of the district but seems to have forgotten to tell anybody about it!

A consultation entitled “Improved broadband for South Gloucestershire – Resident’s survey” began on Monday 28th November and runs until 31st December but, ten days in to the 33 day consultation period, the Council has not yet given the survey any credible publicity. [Ed: I've assumed the end date of 31st Dec 2012 should read 31st Dec 2011 - see comments below]

Whilst many residents of Bradley Stoke will question why the survey is needed, having already demonstrated a massive local demand through BT’s Race to Infinity competition a whole twelve months ago, the Council says the exercise is necessary in order to secure Government funding for broadband improvements in areas deemed unviable by commercial suppliers such as BT and Virgin Media.

A partnership formed of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire Council’s was assigned £1.4m for broadband infrastructure improvements by the Government in August and the Councils have been asked to submit a ‘local broadband plan’ as the first stage in the process of securing the cash. The Government money, which must be match-funded by the Councils, will be used to pay telecommunications companies to install superfast broadband in commercially unviable areas.

The current survey is being undertaken in order to gather evidence that (hopefully) proves there will be enough demand to generate sufficient revenue for the telecommunications providers once the equipment has been installed.

South Gloucestershire Council was recently criticsed by Government Minister Steve Webb, the MP for Thornbury and Yate, for “lagging behind” neighbouring counties that have already had their broadband improvement plans approved by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), the Government body responsible for handing out the cash.

Since the Government’s broadband strategy was launched in December 2010, South Gloucestershire Council has missed opportunities to work with neighbouring Gloucestershire (awarded a pilot scheme in January 2011) and Wiltshire (£4m plan approved in May 2011). The Council failed to submit a bid for the second phase of BDUK funding in April 2011 and has now been handed what looks like an inadequate sum (£26 for each subscriber in ‘poor broadband’ areas) by impatient Whitehall officials worried that the Government’s promise of superfast broadband for 90% of the UK by May 2015 might be in jeopardy.

Writing in his Autumn newsletter to constituents [PDF, 2MB], Mr Webb says in an article headlined “Get Us Out Of The Slow Lane!”:

“Although the Government has set aside £1.4m for broadband in South Glos and Bristol, South Glos Council has been particularly slow on this issue and has not yet even submitted a plan.”

“High speed broadband will be ever more crucial to our economy in future. People who run small businesses and want to work from home, simply can’t, because of our poor connections. People who want to study or just enjoy the latest home entertainment increasingly rely nowadays on high speed broadband.”

“The Council needs to take this issue seriously and move our broadband services into the 21st Century.”

Approximately 5,000 of the 9,000 homes in Bradley Stoke are able to receive Virgin Media’s cable broadband, which delivers speeds well above the national average of 7.5Mbps. The remaining 4,000 properties are reliant on ADSL broadband provided over BT wires from either the Almondsbury (01454) or Filton (0117) telephone exchanges. Due to the distance from these exchanges, many subscribers experience connection speeds that are well below the Government’s 2Mbps definition of ‘standard’ (basic) broadband.

In last year’s BT Race to Infinity competition, a massive 11.24% of the subscribers on the Almondsbury exchange voted for it to be upgraded to superfast broadband (ranking it 19th out of 2,495 eligible exchanges in the UK) but BT has so far failed to schedule it for upgrade, suggesting that it is in the “final third” of exchanges that are commercially unviable.

The Filton exchange, which polled 2.1% in the Race to Infinity, has since been scheduled for upgrade sometime in 2012, although we have heard rumours that some subscribers in Bradley Stoke have been told they will not be able to receive the improved service because they are too far from a street cabinet.

Photo: Filton and Bradley Stoke Conservatives campaigning for faster broadband in December 2010.

Related link: Better Broadband Campaign (The Journal)

Pupils at Holy Trinity Primary School in Bradley Stoke were recently treated to an unusual assembly and a special visit by a poo-powered car.

The ‘Bio-Bug’ was launched last year to national and international acclaim and is the brainchild of Wessex Water’s renewable energy company GENeco. It is a converted VW Beetle that runs on methane gas produced from sewage sludge treated at the Bristol sewage treatment works in Avonmouth.

Julian Okoye and Boyd Goode of GENeco took the car in to Holy Trinity and conducted an interactive and fun technical demonstration assembly with audience participation from the whole school. After the assembly they also held a more detailed workshop session with some of the older children.

One of the highlights of the assembly was the selection of four children to join the GENeco team as ‘scientists’ in demonstrating to the school, with specially prepared GENeco samples, exactly what goes down the sewer network and how it is converted into renewable energy by millions of micro organisms through a completely natural process called anaerobic digestion.

At play time pupils were given the chance to look at the car, which was driven on to the school playground.  The car has two biogas cylinders in the boot as well as a standard petrol engine.  The waste from 70 homes could provide enough gas to power the car for a year.

Headteacher Jane Johns said the whole school really enjoyed the visit and found it highly entertaining and engaging.

She added:

“The children loved seeing the car and responded very well to the importance of the environmental messages presented. As a school we are keenly aware of sustainability issues and being good stewards of the earth’s resources is very important to us.  It was fascinating for the children to see the car and to learn how waste could be converted into renewable energy.”

Julian Okoye GENeco’s business development manager said:

“It was a pleasure visiting Holy Trinity Primary School. The children were very well behaved and respectful. They were great fun to be with and asked some thoughtful questions. The children were intrigued to learn about the contribution the micro organisms made in producing renewable energy.”

“As a company our engagement with the community is driven by a genuine interest in finding creative and informative ways to help teach young people about science and engineering and how to care for the environment.”

Deputy headteacher Mr Stanley (pictured seated in the Bio-Bug) said:

“Many aspects of the presentation fitted really well with the water cycle work some of the older children had been studying earlier on in the year. The children also found it mind boggling to learn that waste can generate so much energy. By lunchtime the children were still discussing what they had learnt about the distance the car could travel when powered by waste.”

Talking about the future, Mr Okoye added:

“This is a really exciting time for the GENeco  business. We currently produce over 40 GWh (40 million kWh) of renewable energy from the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge. This is enough electricity to supply over 10,000 homes which is a town of about the size of Bradley Stoke.”

“In addition to this we are currently building a 40,000 tonne food waste treatment plant at our Bristol sewage treatment works in Avonmouth.  This plant will transform food waste from councils, supermarkets, hospitals, businesses and manufacturing organisations into renewable energy and nutrient rich fertiliser and will be open in Autumn 2012. ”

“At full capacity the plant will be capable of providing the energy needs for up to 3,000 homes and will provide forwards thinking organisations with a cost effective and sustainable local solution for treating their food waste.”

Schools and public services in Bradley Stoke look set to be affected by industrial action being taken tomorrow (Wednesday 30th November) by public sector workers protesting at pension reforms.

Four of the town’s seven schools – Bradley Stoke Community School, Baileys Court Primary School, Meadowbrook Primary School and Wheatfield Primary School – look set to be fully closed for the day.

The other three schools are expected to be partially closed (i.e. for some year groups): Bowsland Green Primary School, Holy Trinity Primary School and St Mary’s Primary School (closed only to Years 3 and 6).

Parents are advised to check directly with the schools for further details.

South Gloucestershire Council’s Streetcare helpdesk told us today that refuse collections will be carried out as normal on Wednesday.

Other Council services that could be affected include libraries (Bradley Stoke’s is closed anyway on a Wednesday) and One Stop Shops (such as the one at Patchway), where “waiting times may be longer than usual”.

Elsewhere, services at police station front desks and local hospitals could be affected.

Congestion can be expected in Bristol city centre, where a 10,000-strong protest march is due to depart from College Green at 11:30am, with a rally in Castle Park at about 12:30pm. Park Street will be closed from about 10:45am until about 12 noon, according to the BBC.

More info:

• Industrial Action (South Gloucestershire Council)
• Industrial Action (North Bristol NHS Trust)
• Strikes: How will I be affected? (BBC)
• Public service strikes – how you might be affected? (Directgov)
• Public and private sector pensions compared (BBC)

A public consultation on the provision of post office services in Bradley Stoke has demonstrated an overwhelming demand for a larger post office in the town.

The survey, conducted by the Town Council between August and October this year, saw 92.7% of the 273 respondents express the view that there is a need for a larger post office in Bradley Stoke.

A clear majority (68.1%) specifically said they would like to see a large post office at the Willow Brook Centre, a proportion that increases to 76.6% if those that expressed two or more locational preferences are included.

The town’s only current post office, within the Tesco Express store at Bradley Pavillions, Pear Tree Road, is criticised by many of the respondents for being too small and offering an inadequate range of services for a town the size of Bradley Stoke.

Parking facilities at the existing North Bradley Stoke post office are condemned by many respondents as inadequate and there are numerous complaints of people experiencing long waiting times at the two window facility.

The consultation was carried out after Cllr Tom Aditya, newly elected in May this year, raised the matter at July’s Full Council meeting, having campaigned as a resident for better post office facilities since as long ago as 2007.

The Town Council has now agreed to send the results of the consultation to the Royal Mail, Tesco, the Willow Brook Centre and the local MP.

Cllr Aditya previously revealed in an article in the newsletter of the South Gloucestershire Asian Project that the Royal Mail is seemingly against the opening of a post office at the Willow Brook Centre, writing:

“… neighbouring post offices with the help of Royal Mail officers are trying to obstruct opening up a Town Centre post office in Bradley Stoke.”

Tesco, who operate the current post office franchise at Pear Tree Road, also appear less than keen to see any changes.

Prior to the commencement of the Town Council consultation exercise, The Journal was given a less than encouraging statement from the Tesco press office.

A spokesperson told us that the post office within the Pear Tree Road Tesco Express store was “incredibly popular with our customers and used by thousands of people [every month]“. To close the facility and move it to the Willow Brook Centre would mean “an extra one-and-a-half mile / twenty minute walk for many of our customers”, they added.

Tesco told us they would like to keep the existing post office at Pear Tree Road but would have no objection if the Royal Mail wished to open an additional branch at the Willow Brook Centre.

The spokesperson insisted there was no space to accommodate a post office within the Tesco Extra store “due to the large number of lines that it carries”.

Scott Lahive, Manager of the Willow Brook Centre, said he would welcome any proposal to site a post office at the Centre, although he cautioned that it was unlikely that any retailer other than Tesco Extra would be able to accommodate it. “It’s a commercial decision for Tesco”, he added.

More info: BSTC Post Office Consultation Report (BSTC) [PDF]

Photo: Post office campaigner Tom Aditya pictured in front of the Tesco Express store at Bradley Pavillions prior to his election as a Town Councillor.

Services not currently available at Bradley Pavillions include:

• Car Tax and Passport Check & Send: Available at Rodway Road, Patchway (1.3 miles from the centre of Bradley Stoke)
• ID Checking Services: Available at Church View, Filton (2.0 miles)
• Driving Licences and Foreign Currency: Available at Straits Parade, Fishponds (3.7 miles)

Related link: Post Office Branch Finder

Children at a Bradley Stoke primary school will be seen more clearly this winter thanks to a donation of high-visibility vests from their local opticians.

The Bradley Stoke branch of Specsavers in the Willow Brook Centre has donated 300 hi-visibility vests to pupils at Meadowbrook Primary School.

The vests will help to ensure the safety of children when walking to and from school and during school outings.

Ed Stanleigh, store director at Specsavers in Bradley Stoke, said:

“Child safety is a huge concern for parents, especially on the roads as the dark mornings and early nights begin to set in. The vests will enable children to be seen more easily and will hopefully give parents peace of mind.”

John Barr, headteacher at Meadowbrook Primary School, added:

“We’re thrilled with this kind donation from Specsavers. The vests will be a great help to the staff when our children are engaged in activities outside, allowing those supervising to keep an even closer watch over them.”

Photo: Rachel Wilde, Trainee Dispensing Optician at Specsavers Bradley Stoke, hands over some of the hi-vis vests to pupils at Meadowbrook Primary School.

The Aldi supermarket group has submitted a planning application to increase the permitted working and delivery hours at its Bradley Stoke store near the Patchway Brook Roundabout.

The move is understood to be in response to an enforcement order issued by South Gloucestershire Council that accuses the store of being in breach of two conditions attached to the original planning consent for the site.

Current planning conditions restrict working and delivery times to 7am – 8pm Monday to Friday and 10am – 4pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays. Furthermore, “no deliveries whatsoever” may made to the shop on Sundays or Public Holidays without the prior written consent of the Council.

The new application seeks permission for working and delivery times to be extended to 6am – 8pm on weekdays and Saturdays and 8am – 6pm on Sundays and Public Holidays. The store is also asking for the ban on Sunday deliveries to be lifted.

Opening hours at the store were recently extended to 8am to 8pm Monday to Saturday; Sunday hours remain unchanged at 10am to 4pm.

A covering letter submitted with the application justifies the request on the grounds that:

“… greater flexibility is required to fully service the store at Bradley Stoke to ensure the store continues to meet customers’ requirements for fresh produce.”

A number of properties in Ferndene are situated very close to the delivery yard at the back of the store and the owners/tenants of eleven residential properties in that road are to be formally consulted by the Council along with nearby businesses that include Pizza Hut, Busy Bees Nursery, Rowe Veterinary Hospital and Reed Employment.

Aldi has submitted a noise assessment study to the Council, which it claims:

“… concludes that in the context of the existing background noise levels in the locality, together with the mitigation measures, impacts associated with an extension of working/delivery times will not be excessive or cause materially significant impact to nearby uses or properties.”

Consultation on the application runs until Friday 2nd December 2011.

Photo: Residential properties in Ferndene are situated close to the Aldi delivery yard.