The Bradley Stoke Journal

Bradley Stoke’s Deputy Mayor Ben Walker has expressed concern over obstruction of the pavement around the recently-erected works compound at Bradley Stoke Surgery on Brook Way.

He raised the matter at last Wednesday’s Planning Committee meeting, asking if ISG Pearce – the contractor working on the surgery extension project, had permission to obstruct the highway in this way.

He also pointed out that access gates installed within the compound’s boundary fencing are likely to completely obstruct the remaining pavement when opened.

Cllr Walker said it was not clear which of the two planning applications made by the surgery was actually being implemented at the Brook Way site, but he did not recall either application mentioning that the Brook Way pavement would be obstructed during the construction phase.

Town Clerk Sharon Petela was instructed to contact the Highways Department of South Gloucestershire Council to verify if the appropriate authorisation had been obtained.

The fact that the matter was raised at all seems curious, since two members of the senior management team at the Brook Way surgery (Dr Elizabeth Todd and Julian Barge) are members of the Town Council, although neither of them sits on the Planning Committee.

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Public left in the dark as work begins at Brook Way site

Work has finally begun on the long-awaited expansion of Bradley Stoke Surgery but patients and local residents continue to be kept in the dark about developments at the Brook Way site.

Construction firm ISG Pearce has installed a number of portacabins in the surgery’s car park and a large part of the site plus some public land on Brook Way has been boarded off. This has resulted in the number of spaces on the surgery side of the Brook Way car park being reduced from 20 to 9.

The notoriously secretive Bradley Stoke Surgery gave no warning that the work was due to start and one week later there are still no details about the redevelopment on the practice’s website. The Journal has also been unable to find any related information on the websites of Bradley Stoke Town Council, South Gloucestershire Council or NHS South Gloucestershire.

The Journal understands that the surgery was asked almost a year ago to give a presentation on its redevopment plans to the Bradley Stoke Safer and Stronger Community Group. As yet, no such presentation has taken place, with the surgery reportedly saying they “didn’t feel able to come yet” in July 2009.

The scheme hit the local headlines in December 2009 when NHS South Gloucestershire (NHSSG) was forced to admit that redevelopment of the surgery had been delayed due to the credit crunch. That revelation came after local resident Sachin Singhal had questioned why over 200 pregnant women from Bradley Stoke were having to travel to Filton or Patchway for treatment and advice.

Midwife services at the surgery were withdrawn in February 2009 when portacabins were removed from the rear of the premises but the anticipated redevelopment of the site then failed to materialise. NHSSG later admitted that: “with hindsight, the service was moved earlier than needed”.

The Journal has heard from an unofficial source that the redevelopment of the Brook Way surgery is likely to take nine months.

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The Government’s Planning Inspectorate has allowed an appeal by Bradley Stoke Surgery against South Gloucestershire Council’s (SGC’s) rejection of a planning application to expand the Brook Way premises by a massive 150%.

The news follows a site visit by the agency’s inspector, Timothy Ball, that took place on 30th June 2008.

In a decision announced late last week, Mr Ball rejects SGC’s objections concerning the scale of the development, its effect on the streetscene and possible highways issues resulting from inadequate car parking provision.

Conditions attached to the inspector’s decision relate to the submission and approval of a landscaping plan and a scheme of implementation for the “Green Travel Policy and Plan” proposed by the surgery in its appeal correspondence.

The scheme approved by the inspector is the larger of two separate planning applications that have been made by the surgery within the last nine months. The Examiner reported last week that SGC’s Development Control (West) Committee had ignored the recommendations of planning officers and shown a green light to an application for a smaller scheme involving a 131% increase in floorspace.

Commenting on the earlier decision regarding approval of the smaller of the two schemes, Penny Harris, Chief Executive of South Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust (PCT), said:

It is great news that the plans have been approved, making more much-needed GP services available in Bradley Stoke.

South Gloucestershire PCT continues to work with other practices and we are determined that the necessary service developments will be delivered for the rest of the area.

The surgery management has yet to comment on the recent planning decisions and has given no indication of when the enlarged facilities will come into service.

Today’s meeting of South Gloucestershire Council’s Development Control (West) Committee is likely to decide the fate of a planning application that would see the floorspace of Bradley Stoke Surgery increase by 131%. Planning officials have already recommended refusal of the application on the grounds that -

The proposed extension, by reason of its size, design and external appearance, would be out of keeping with the existing building and, if allowed, would result in a cramped form of development that would have a detrimental effect on the streetscene …

Local Councillor Sarah Pomfret “called in” the application for a site inspection, which took place on Friday 13th June. The minutes of that inspection show that the Councillors resolved that Council officers should -

… bring forward a full and detailed report to include clarification as to whether any car parking spaces would be lost as a result of the proposal.

which seems rather odd, since a full and detailed report was already available before the site meeting, stating that planning officials had no concerns on transport grounds. The Councillors apparently made no observations on the scale of the proposal and its potential effect on the streetscene.

An earlier planning application for a scheme that would see the floorspace of the surgery increase by a massive 150% was thrown out by the Council late last year. The surgery partners appealed against that decision and the application is currently with the government’s Planning Inspectorate, whose inspector will visit the site on Monday (30th June). The Journal understands that a final decision can then be expected after a further five to six weeks.

Land previously reserved for a new health centre at Savages Wood Road currently lies vacant, after South Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust back-tracked on its original plans (announced in 2005) and instead opted for expansion of existing GP facilities. Three years on, residents of Bradley Stoke are still waiting to see the promised improvements in healthcare provision within the town.

The Sites Inspection West Sub Committee of South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) visits Bradley Stoke Surgery in Brook Way today (Friday 13th), to assess a planning application for an extension that would see its floorspace increase by 131%.

An earlier planning application by the surgery, which would have seen the floorspace increase by a whopping 150%, was rejected by SGC planning officers in December 2007. That application has gone to appeal with the government’s Planning Inspectorate, but information obtained by The Journal suggests that a final decision could still be months away.

The revised planning application, submitted in April 2008, has also failed to impress the planning officers, who have recommended that the SGC Planning Committee refuse permission on the following grounds:

The proposed extension, by reason of its size, design and external appearance, would be out of keeping with the existing building and, if allowed, would result in a cramped form of development that would have a detrimental effect on the streetscene …

Today’s site inspection was requested by SGC Councillor Sarah Pomfret, who also sits on Bradley Stoke Town Council. Doctor Elizabeth Todd, the practice’s senior partner and Julian Barge, the practice’s manager, are also members of the Town Council.

Expansion of the Brook Way surgery forms part of South Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust’s (PCT) plan to enhance healthcare provision in Bradley Stoke. The PCT made the following statement to The Journal after the original planning application had been rejected:

The PCT Board supported the individual GP practice plans for development in Bradley Stoke. We are aware that one proposal has been turned down when initially submitted for planning. The PCT is therefore working with all the practices to ensure that the necessary service developments proceed as proposed for the area.

The PCT had previously planned to construct a new health centre on land at Savages Wood Road, which had been offered to it at a “knockdown” price by SGC [see earlier report in The Journal], but changed course in 2006 when it announced it would instead invest in expansion of three existing health centres already serving the town.

With the Brook Way expansion plans in jeopardy, The Journal has pressed the PCT to reveal details of its plans for expansion at other surgeries serving the town, but it has refused to release any further information.

Meanwhile, the land previously reserved for a new health centre at Savages Wood Road lies vacant. Possible disposal of the land was listed on an agenda for a meeting of the SGC cabinet on 12th May, but a source at SGC’s Property Services department told The Journal that the matter could not be discussed because the PCT had not yet informed the Council of its intentions regarding the land.

Users of the overstretched GP services in Bradley Stoke are unlikely to be impressed by this sorry saga.