A town council noticeboard has finally been installed in Bradley Stoke’s ‘new town centre’, more than ten years after the facility first opened its doors to the public in October 2008.

The hub of the town, and the location with by far the highest footfall, would seem the obvious place to display public notices and other communications, but for some reason the council and the centre management could never come to a suitable arrangement – until now.

With the town’s previous five public noticeboards nearing the end of their life, council members agreed to follow a recommendation of their annual strategic planning meeting and purchase five replacement noticeboards plus additional ones for new sites at the skate park and the Willow Brook Centre.

This article originally appeared in the April 2019 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine (on page 35). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH (except August), to ALL 8,700 homes in Bradley Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.

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A new suite of wooden play equipment costing £16,000 is soon to be installed at the Beacon Play Area on Bradley Stoke’s Jubilee Green.

The new ‘play challenge’ is being brought in to replace items of equipment that were removed earlier this year after being condemned as unsafe during an annual inspection carried out by a specialist company. As reported in our February magazine, timber beams within the original equipment had rotted away over a period of ten years, making it structurally unsafe.

Work already completed at the site since January includes the installation of a new safety surface and the replacement of the large wooden bridge.

Speaking at the meeting of Bradley Stoke Town Council held on 13th March, premises manager John Rendell informed councillors that the proposed new play equipment comes with a 15-year warranty and is “designed to offer physical challenges to young people from the ages of 3 up to teen ages”. Mr Rendell added that he had spoken to park users and the management of the pre-school resident at the Jubilee Centre to gauge their opinions of the proposals and had received very positive feedback.

Options for replacing the previous wood and cob ‘youth structure’ (a.k.a. teen shelter) were also discussed by councillors, with three options presented by officers: a bespoke wooden design, a traditional wooden design and a standard metal design. Whilst a wooden structure would have been more in keeping with the original Beacon Play area ethos, councillors opted to go for a basic metal structure with a concrete base. The estimated cost, including installation, was put at around £8,000. A contribution of £1,500 is expected to come from the Friends of Jubilee Green charity, which is understood to be in the process of being wound up.

Officers referred to the proposed new structure as a ‘community shelter’ and pointed out that it was also for use by parents supervising children playing at the park and hence would have all-round views.

Mr Rendell told the Journal that he hopes to have the new play equipment installed at the park “by early May at the latest”.

This article originally appeared in the April 2019 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine (on page 29). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH (except August), to ALL 8,700 homes in Bradley Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.

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Two major features of the Beacon Play Area on Bradley Stoke’s Jubilee Green were removed at the beginning of January after being condemned as unsafe during an annual inspection carried out by a specialist company.

The large wooden bridge and the teen shelter were found to have deteriorated beyond repair, according to a report presented to January’s meeting of Bradley Stoke Town Council.

Premises manager John Rendell explained that the structure of the equipment had deteriorated significantly, with timber beams “rotting away above ground level and even more so underground”.

Mr Rendell added: “Lots of time and effort has gone into keeping the equipment safe over recent years and it didn’t come as a major surprise when we received the news.”

The Jubilee Green Beacon Play Area is one of a number of non-traditional play areas that were constructed across South Gloucestershire in 2009, with the help of a £454,400 grant awarded to the local authority by the Big Lottery Fund.

At that time, South Gloucestershire Council’s play development officer told the Journal: “These projects aim to provide a different approach to creating places to play for children. This is based on the idea of designing a whole landscape, which is fun to play in, combining natural and man-made features. The result should be attractive, usable by people of all ages and unique to the site.”

The Jubilee Green park was officially opened by the then town mayor Cllr Mark Forsyth on 24th July 2009. A charity, Friends of Jubilee Green, was formed to oversee further development of the park and organise community events, but this has not been active recently due to the group’s trustees being unable to commit time due to increasing commitments at work and home.

Outlining future plans for the facility, Mr Rendell said: “We have already started the [remedial] works and we aim to replace the pea gravel with a tiger mulch safety surface (funded by Friends of Jubilee Green), which will vastly improve the outlook. We will shape and mould the mounds where the bridge once was and we will be adding some much-needed new active play equipment into the play area itself, giving users a much more diverse play option.”

He added: “We are looking into the possibility of installing a ‘community seating area’ on the village green to ensure we cater for all age groups going forward.”

Detailed proposals are likely to be brought to a council meeting in February. It is hoped to have all the works completed before the summer months.

This article originally appeared in the February 2019 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine (on page 19). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH (except August), to ALL 8,700 homes in Bradley Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.

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This year’s Bradley Stoke Town Council fireworks display was again a great success, raising over £2,800 for the mayor’s charities.

Numbers attending the free event were estimated to be down on last year, most likely due to a forecast of poor weather, which in reality failed to materialise.

Feedback from those members of the public attending the event was very positive.

A total of £2,810 was raised for the mayor’s charities through donations (significantly down on the £4,119 in 2017) with £2,420 of the total coming from bucket collections and the remaining £390 coming from on-site traders (donut and burger vans).

The charities being supported by this year’s mayor, Ben Randles, are the West of England MS Therapy Centre and the Stroke Association.

Of course, the event could not run without the outstanding support from the volunteer marshal and bucket collectors from a range of local groups, including Little Stoke Social Club, Bradley Stoke in Bloom/Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group, Frampton Cotterell Air Cadets, Bradley Stoke Radio, the young people of Bradley Stoke and representatives of the two mayor’s charity groups, as well as town council members and staff.

Bradley Stoke Rotary Club ran the BBQ (which is a major fundraiser for their charity each year) and although we don’t have a figure for this year as yet, it is hoped they raised a significant sum again.

Cllr Randles said:

“I’m really pleased that the evening was well attended and enjoyed by our community. Our local fireworks have become a significant event for our town and it was a great privilege to lead the countdown to set them off.”

“I’d like to say thank you to all those who volunteered their own time to make the event possible again this year, and a special thank you to council officers who organise the logistics making things happen.”

Photo (l-r): Mayor Ben Randles and town council sites manager John Rendell.

More information and related links:

• Video and feedback on the BSJ Facebook page
• More photos on Bradley Stoke Town Council website

This article originally appeared in the December 2018 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine (on page 3). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH (except August), to ALL 8,700 homes in Bradley Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.

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