The Bradley Stoke Journal

An unnamed store at Bradley Stoke’s Willow Brook shopping centre has vetoed the Town Council’s plan to establish a monthly farmers’ market in the Town Square.

July’s meeting of Full Council had been told that Council staff were keen to set up a regular farmers’ and artisans’ market in the Town Square and that initial discussions with the Willow Brook Centre had proved fruitful.

Staff had made contact with a local market organiser and advice had been sought from officials at South Gloucestershire Council.

Some Councillors expressed surprise that Tesco had not objected to the plan on the grounds that it might affect their trade but Town Clerk Sharon Petela explained that experience elsewhere showed that the reverse was true, citing  the market held outside Waitrose in Portishead as an example.

However, hopes were dashed at last night’s meeting of the Leisure , Youth & Amenities Committee, where it was reported that Willow Brook Centre Manager Scott Lahive has since “received objections from one of the major tenants [of the centre]“.

Councillors expressed dismay at the change of heart, with Cllr Julian Barge describing the objections as “narrow minded”.

The first market had been due to take place on Wednesday 6th October and the monthly event had already been publicised on the Farmers’ Markets page of the Taste South Gloucestershire website.

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Bradley Stoke Town Council is to place press advertisements for land suitable for allotments after South Gloucestershire Council failed to come up with any potential sites after more than 18 months of searching.

The Town Council became obliged to act after a number of electors, backed by local MP Steve Webb, submitted a petition in November 2008 calling on it to provide allotments for the residents of Bradley Stoke.

With no suitable sites within the town’s boundaries, the Council then agreed to ask SGC if it could provide an appropriate parcel of land at a “peppercorn rent”, with sites at Old Gloucester Road and Trench Lane being suggested as possibilities.

Almost two years on, SGC has failed to come up with a single proposal, claiming that “everything is on hold” because of uncertainties over the provision of gypsy and traveller sites in the district.

Frustration boiled over at last month’s meeting of Full Council, where Cllr Julian Barge described SGC as having been “totally inept” in dealing with the allotment land issue.

Approaches to the neighbouring parishes of Patchway and Stoke Gifford, which both provide allotments within their boundaries, have also come to nought.

Read on to find out how Councillors plan to take matters into their own hands in the search for suitable land »

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Bradley Stoke Town Council has issued a press release to clarify its staffing arrangements after the profile of the Deputy Town Clerk mysteriously disappeared from the Council’s website.

Following the retiral of the long-serving David Chandler in January, Sharon Petela was appointed the new Town Clerk with Lesley Osborne continuing to serve as Deputy Clerk. But then, in early June, Mrs Osborne’s profile mysteriously disappeared from the Contact the Office page of the Council’s website.

In a possibly related move, the Council has recently held two ‘extraordinary and confidential’ meetings (from which the press and public were excluded) to “consider and action the recent Council Staff Pay Grading and Restructuring Review”.

Pressed by The Journal, the Council has now issued a statement confirming Mrs Osborne’s retiral with effect from 28th May.

The statement says that the departure “was kept low key in accordance with her [Mrs Osborne's] wishes”.

Mayor Ben Walker, wished Mrs Osborne well, saying:

“Lesley leaves with the best wishes of councillors and staff and the gratitude of many people from a host of organisations whom she has worked with during her time with the Council.”

[Ed: Best wishes to Lesley from The Journal as well - many thanks for your cooperation over the last couple of years.]

The statement goes on to say that the Council has not yet advertised the vacancy caused by Mrs Osborne’s departure, and that “no decision on the post will be taken until the results of the on-going staffing review are presented to Council.”

The 2010 Bradley Stoke Community Festival gets underway at 9am today (Friday) with a coffee morning, table top sale and children’s entertainment at the Jubilee Centre in Savages Wood Road.

The annual pre-school Picnic in the Park runs from 11am to 2pm – with entertainment from Professor Panic’s Circus, bubble man Steve Price and a bouncy castle.

Saturday (12th June) sees a packed programme of music and dance events at the Jubilee Centre playing fields, with the action starting at 11:30am and running through to 6:30pm.

A special children’s zone will be created on the Jubilee Green, with Professor Panic’s Big Top providing the centre piece along with fairground rides, inflatables, mountain climbing wall, face painting and quad bikes.

Around 70 community, local business, information and food stalls will form the annual Community Fair in the Jubilee Centre Arena, while a schools football tournament for Year 1 boys / Year 3-4 girls, will take place on the upper pitch from 10:30am.

This year’s star guest at the football tournament will be former England and Southampton player Matt Le Tissier.

Robert Godwin of event management company Re-energize told The Journal:

“We have had a big increase in the number of stalls attending – including local vendors, crafts and community operations, schools, charities, PTAs etc.”

Sunday (13th June) kicks off with the Bradley Stoke 10k Run at 10am (from the Jubilee Centre), followed by a series of events at Baileys Court Activity Centre – starting with an open-air church service at 11am.

The church service will be followed at 12pm by a Teddy Bears’ Picnic, a Teddy Bear Dressing Up competition and entertainment for all the whole family.

Read on for more details of Sunday’s events including the cricket tournament and skate park competition

Ben Walker (Conservative) was elected the new Mayor of Bradley Stoke at last night’s Annual General Meeting of the Town Council.

He received the ceremonial chain of office from outgoing Mayor Mark Forsyth, who had previously announced that he had raised a total of £6,735 for his two nominated charities during his year in office.

The money in the Mayor’s Fund comes principally from  the Community Festival in June and the Fireworks Display in November (the latter attracting a record crowd in 2009).

Cheques for £3367.50 were presented to Pat Jones of the Bristol Dyslexia Centre (left photo) and John Francis of the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association (BLESMA).

Cllr Walker, who lives in Little Stoke and runs a building services company, represents the Lakeside parish ward of Bradley Stoke. His achievements as a Councillor include helping to form the Lakeside Residents’ Association and heading the recent negotiations towards the formation of a new bowls club at Baileys Court.

The new Mayor’s charity will be St Peter’s Hospice, which provides, within the wider Bristol area, specialist palliative care to adults suffering from life-threatening illness.

Related link: More photos from the Town Council AGM (PicasaWeb)