The Bradley Stoke Journal

This week’s public meeting of the Bradley Stoke Safer and Stronger Community Group is to hear a presentation on South Gloucestershire Council’s strategy for combating fly tipping.

A representative of the Aztec Hotel & Spa is also due to explain to the meeting how the hotel contributes to the local community.

The meeting will commence with a review of progress made on priority issues agreed in July, which included anti-social behaviour at the Baileys Court shops and wheelchair access issues at the Willow Brook Centre.

The Safer and Stronger Community Group (one of 20 in South Gloucestershire) was set up as part of the Neighbourhood Policing Model and South Gloucestershire Council’s Community Engagement initiative.

Participants include people who live and work in the area and representatives from the local police, Avon Fire & Rescue, NHS South Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire Council, Bradley Stoke Town Council, Southern Brooks Community Partnership and other local organisations.

The group now has its own website, where meeting agendas and minutes can be found, along with other useful community information.

This week’s meeting take place at the Baileys Court Activity Centre, Baileys Court Road on Tuesday (27th October), starting at 7pm.

Related links:

• Agenda for the 27th October 2009 meeting [MS Word]
• Minutes of the 21st July 2009 meeting [MS Word]

A public meeting of the Bradley Stoke Safer & Stronger Community Group (SSCG) on Tuesday evening (21st July) will hear the latest news on the town’s planned sixth form development.

Planning permission for the scheme, which also includes a dance studio and additional changing rooms, was granted by South Gloucestershire Council in September 2008. That opened the way for an application for funding to the Learning and Skills Council, which was duly approved in March 2009.

The Journal has learned that Thomas Vale Construction has been awarded the contract to build the post-16 centre and dance studio. The company is due to commence work next week, after the end of the current school term.

Tuesday’s meeting will hear Deputy Headteacher Jenny Sutton Kirby present an overview of planning for post-16 provision at Bradley Stoke Community School from September 2010. The talk is expected to focus  on the curriculum and its provision within the context of the school’s involvement in the Concorde Partnership.

Also on the agenda is a presentation by a representative of the Aztec Hotel & Spa, intriguing titled “community involvement in the environment”.

Publicity for the meeting also promises an update on the possibility of a team of ‘Street Pastors‘ operating in Bradley Stoke, an idea suggested by a resident at the April SSCG meeting.

A recent circular from Avon and Somerset Police explained that:

Street Pastors are volunteers who work with the police to bring peace and hope to their area. They patrol the streets of their towns between the hours of 10pm and 4am on weekends to provide reassurance and help to those who may be vulnerable or in need.

It is an initiative that is currently growing rapidly across the country. In Avon and Somerset there are already Street Pastors patrolling the streets of Bath, Taunton, Weston-super-Mare and Yeovil and they have been received incredibly well by members of the public, licensees and others with whom they come into contact.

The last SSCG meeting was told that It was hoped to have a representative from Bradley Stoke Surgery attend the next meeting to give an update on the progress of expansion work at the Brook Way site. SSCG Chair Julie Snelling says the surgery management was invited to attend this week’s meeting but replied that they “didn’t feel able to come yet”. There has been no visible sign of progress on the project since portable buildings were removed from the rear of the site in February.

The SSCG meeting takes place at Bradley Stoke Community School on Tuesday 21st July (7pm start).

More Info: Publicity Poster for the July SSCG Meeting