The Bradley Stoke Journal

A public meeting in Bradley Stoke on Tuesday night (29th November) will see Councillors decide how to spend the area’s allocation of £50k for local transport schemes.

The meeting of South Gloucestershire Council’s (SGC’s) Southern Brooks Area Forum, at the Jubilee Centre (7pm start) will consider a total of 28 potential schemes, proposed by residents, Councils, Councillors and schools.

Seven of the proposed schemes lie within the Bradley Stoke town boundaries, these being:

• Kerb works near Pear Tree Roundabout on Woodlands Lane
• Improved school signage in Breaches Gate, near Baileys Court Primary School
• Noise and speed reduction measures in Woodlands Lane, near Woodlands Park
• Speed reduction measures in Ormonds Close, near Bowsland Green School
• Introduction of a pedestrian crossing on Brook Way between Braydon Avenue and Baileys Court Road
• Cycle track measures in Webbs Wood Road, near St Mary’s Primary School
• School ‘keep clear’ markings and traffic orders in Webbs Wood , near St Mary’s Primary School

The Bradley Stoke schemes are pitched against five from Filton, five from Patchway, six from Stoke Gifford and five from Winterbourne.

More: Chances are slim as budget is massively oversubscribed »

Town Councillors have urged residents concerned by proposed changes to bus services in Bradley Stoke to attend tonight’s Southern Brooks Area Forum meeting in Filton.

Residents attending last week’s Town Council Planning Committee meeting were advised that the changes were a commercial decision by the operator, Wessex Connect, and not South Gloucestershire Council (SGC).

Protests by bus users and Journal readers have already resulted in an amendment to the originally proposed route of the new peak-hours-only U8 service that replaces the hourly 71 service from 18th September. The new U8 service will now additionally pass through the south of Bradley Stoke, enabling that area to at least maintain a link with Bristol city centre at peak times.

The recent changes can be seen by comparing the (original) version 2 and (latest) version 4 issues of the U8 timetable on the UWE website, although Cllr Keith Cranney warns that “the situation is liable to change from day to day.”

Town Councillors agreed to “write to Wessex Connect raising concerns, on behalf of the residents of Bradley Stoke, with regard to the withdrawal of bus services from the town.”

The Southern Brooks Area Forum meeting takes place tonight (Tuesday 30th) at Filton Community Association, Elm Park, Filton BS34 7PS [map], starting at 7pm.

The main business of the Area Forum meeting will be to allocate the £26,607 of capital grant funding available to voluntary organisations in the Southern Brooks area, which includes Bradley Stoke, Filton, Frenchay, Patchway, Stoke Gifford and Winterbourne, for the 2011/2012 financial year.

Read about the Bradley Stoke groups that have applied for grants »

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) is now making it even easier for people to recycle their cardboard waste by providing local residents with a free bag.

According to information on the SGC website, the bags are now available for collection from Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre and Bradley Stoke Library on a “one per household, first come, first served basis whilst stocks last”.

Executive Member for Communities, Cllr James Hunt said:

“We have listened to the views of residents who are keen to recycle as much cardboard as possible and these bags will help us to increase the amount of cardboard that is recycled, reduce contamination of the green bin and make the streets tidier.”

“We are aware that some residents do not want additional containers therefore cardboard presented neatly at the kerbside in other containers will continue to be collected as normal.”

Cardboard is no longer collected from the green wheeled bin as it is now being recycled, rather than composted down with garden waste, allowing it to be used again and again, which is more environmentally friendly – according to the Council.

The Sort It! civic amenity site in Station Road, Little Stoke, is to begin closing on Wednesdays when new operating times come into force on 1st August.

The news was buried in the footnotes of a South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) press release titled “Improvements to Sort It! Centres” put out on Wednesday (26th July).

In common with other Sort It! sites in Mangotsfield, Yate and Thornbury, the Little Stoke site will benefit from extended opening hours between April and September, remaining open until 6:30pm, but whereas the other sites will continue to open seven days a week, Little Stoke will now be closed on Wednesdays throughout the year.

Over a whole year, the other three sites will see a 25% increase in opening hours but for Little Stoke the total yearly hours will remain more or less unchanged.

Council says Little Stoke mid-week closure will pay for longer hours at other sites

Challenged by The Journal over the seemingly geographically-biased decision, a SGC spokesperson said:

“The reason for closing a SORT IT!* Centre for one day is to help to pay for extended hours on all sites.”

“The reason why Stoke Gifford [Little Stoke] was chosen was that it is a small site, which already has a vehicle height restriction and trailer ban in place for health and safety reasons. Wednesday was also the obvious day to close the Stoke Gifford site as data analysis showed this to be the least busy day at this site.”

“When we met with the local members for Stoke Gifford earlier this year they agreed the extra hours more than compensated for the day closure.”

Read on to find out what Bradley Stoke Councillors think of the decision »

Ratepayers in Bradley Stoke will see no increase in the amount of Council Tax they pay in 2011/2012 following decisions by all four charging bodies to freeze their respective tax demands at 2010/2011 levels.

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC), Avon and Somerset Police and Avon Fire & Rescue have all decided to set zero percent increases, thereby securing ‘Council Tax Freeze Grants’ from central government, worth £2.8m (equivalent to a 1.6% tax rise) to SGC alone.

Bradley Stoke Town Council (BSTC), which is not eligible for the government sweetener, has also declared an unchanged precept – leading to a unaltered total bill of £1,580 for the ‘average’ band D property in the town.

Opposition groups supported Conservative-led SGC’s tax freeze but were critical of the lack of detail on proposed cuts and the need to dip into the authority’s reserves.

In setting a budget of £196 million council, SGC says it will implement a set of initiatives to help it run more efficiently, which it hopes will save taxpayers just over £9 million during 2011/12.

The projected savings include £6.6 million through simplifying its ‘back office’ function (rising to around £10 million per year eventually); £1.2 million through reducing the number of senior managers working at the Council (rising to around £2 million eventually) and £1.4 million by procuring goods and services more efficiently (rising to between £7 million and £9 million eventually).

The efficiency savings will see more than 300 Council jobs axed over the next two years.

In addition to the projected savings, the Council will need to take £2.3 million from its reserves in order to balance the books.

The Town Council’s 2011/2012 budget also foresees a shortfall – of nearly £19k (equivalent to a 2.3% precept rise) but Councillors voted unanimously to set a zero percent precept rise and fund the defecit from reserves.

Read on to find out what local politicians had to say »

Four Bradley Stoke organisations will be hoping to win a share of a £28,161 grant fund at this Tuesday’s meeting of the Southern Brooks Area Forum in Winterbourne.

A total of 26 applications totalling £43,888 have been received from organisations in the Bradley Stoke, Filton, Patchway, Stoke Gifford, Winterbourne, Frenchay and Stoke Park areas covered by the Forum.

The South West Winterguard Academy (SWWA), which meets at Meadowbrook Primary School and promotes ‘Colourguard’ (a dance based activity using flags and other equipment), is asking for £2,168 to cover the cost of hall rental, equipment, travel and insurance.

Bradley Stoke Bowls Club (BSBC), based at Baileys Court,  is looking for £2,500 (half the annual cost of green and room rental that it pays to Bradley Stoke Town Council) so that it can reduce its membership fees and hopefully attract new members.

Bradley Stoke Community Radio Association (BSCRA), which has recently occupied a studio at the Willow Brook Centre, wants £3,000 to pay for the official licences that it needs to broadcast over a 28-day period covering the Community Festival in June.

Finally, the Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group (TBNCG) is seeking £400 to pay for bee friendly flowers that will be planted in the community orchard behind Bradley Stoke Community School.

Read on to find out how Council officers have assessed the bids »