The Bradley Stoke Journal

South Gloucestershire Council has drawn up plans to invest £2.2 million of its own (i.e. Council Tax payers’) money in providing broadband infrastructure capable of delivering “much faster” speeds.

The news is revealed in a press release put out by the Conservative Group on South Gloucestershire Council, ahead of a Cabinet meeting on Monday 6th February.

The investment is in addition to the £710k grant allocated to South Gloucestershire by Government agency Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK).

It is also revealed that around 82% of premises in South Gloucestershire will be upgraded by commercial operators, leaving the remaining 18% (21,000 premises) in need of Council subsidy.

We are told that the Council’s aim is to provide superfast (> 24Mbps) broadband to 90% of premises in South Gloucestershire by 2015, with the remainder promised a minimum of 2Mbps by the same date.

More details and analysis will follow in The Journal once we have more information.

Read more: £3m for superfast broadband roll-out in South Glos

Discussion is open - 7 comments (view) - click here to respond.

Has anyone else notice that the street lights are turning off earlier, at 23:40?

I watched them this week in Wheatfield and Bradley Stoke Way.

This isn’t even taking into account the 1 hour difference?

Bit concerning for people walking back from pubs etc.

South Gloucestershire Council has started a second round of public consultation on its proposal to install a raised table road hump at a zebra crossing in Pear Tree Road, Bradley Stoke.

The exercise, which runs until Wednesday 23rd November, relates to the statutory notice that the Council is required to publish before constructing the road hump.

According to the notice, the proposed hump will extend over the full width of the carriageway and be 13 metres in length and 75 millimetres (maximum) in height.

Plans released as part of the consultation show that two new “humped crossing” warning signs will also be installed.

The proposals were put forward after a new Travel Plan for the nearby Holy Trinity Primary School identified an increase in the number of drivers failing to stop at the crossing.

More: Plans may be viewed at Bradley Stoke Library »

Hundreds of metres of cable trenches are currently being dug around Bradley Stoke, to provide power to real-time information displays at bus stops on the ‘showcase’ 73 route.

The work began in April last year, when the stop opposite Bradley Stoke Surgery was first to be connected to the grid.

Money from central government is being used to provide the displays, through the Greater Bristol Bus Network (GBBN) project.

Electricity cables from the stops are being connected to street lamp bases but in many cases the lengthy trenches can be seen to pass several other lamps along the way.

A worker installing a cable to a stop on Brook Way, near Hawkins Crescent, where a street lamp stands directly behind the stop, told a Journal reporter that connections had to be made to lamps controlled by Western Power Distribution rather than South Gloucestershire Council (SGC). As the lamps on Brook Way belong to SGC, a 50+ metre trench has had to be constructed to reach the “right” sort of lamp in Hawkins Crescent (photo).

South Gloucestershire Council is asking residents to complete a satisfaction survey on the  rubbish and recycling services it provides through contracting firm SITA.

For the first time, residents are this year able to complete this survey online, in the hope that more residents will take part and reduce the environmental impact of the survey.

Working in partnership with South Gloucestershire Council, SITA will analyse the findings from the survey and use the results to monitor and improve services.

Everyone completitng the survey will be in with a chance to win a £50 garden centre or meal voucher in a free prize draw.

The online survey runs until Thursday 14th April.

Bradley Stoke Councillor Robert Jones has attracted criticism from the blogosphere after he published an insensitive message about proposed Council cuts on the social media site Twitter.

The message, sent from the Councillor’s mobile phone as he was waiting for South Gloucestershire Council’s budget-setting meeting to begin on Wednesday evening, read:

“Just arrived at south glos council ahead of tonight’s budget. No sign of protest. Clearly we’re not cutting enough.”

The ‘tweet’ was perhaps referring to protests that had occurred at Bristol City Council’s budget meeting the previous day but the final “not cutting enough” part of the message has been seized upon by left wing bloggers, led by Bristol trade unionist yokelbear.

UNISON South West later tweeted about “a councillor who takes pride in cuts” and numerous other Twitter users have branded the message “disgraceful” and “offensive”.

Cllr Jones appears to have since deleted the message but it has been preserved for posterity on the photo blogging site Twitpic.