Councillor Tom Aditya has been elected as the new mayor of Bradley Stoke. He was formally handed the chain of office on Wednesday 15th May at Bradley Stoke Town Council’s annual general meeting, held at the Jubilee Centre.

Tom, who represents the Bradley Stoke South ward, has been a councillor since 2011. He has served on various committees of the council and has chaired the Planning, Transport and Environment Committee and served as deputy mayor. Cllr Aditya takes on his new role, not only as the first Asian mayor in Bradley Stoke, but also in South Gloucestershire. He is also understood to be the first person of Indian origin to be elected to such a role in South West England.

Tom, a management consultant and financial adviser, is originally from Kerala, South India. He has studied at various places including the USA. He moved to the UK in 2002 and settled in Bradley Stoke. His wife works for the NHS (Renal Transplant) and his children attend local primary and secondary schools.

Tom is a passionate community campaigner and his interest in advocating social harmony stretches beyond the boundaries of Bradley Stoke. Since 2007, Tom has been involved with South Gloucestershire Council’s Equalities Forum, which enabled him to reach out to various communities in the region. He was also a trustee of the Southern Brooks Community Partnership. Currently, Tom serves as vice-chairman of the Police Strategic Advisory Group, the Community Engagement Forum and as a member of the Avon and Somerset Police Scrutiny Panel. Tom is also the chairman of the Bristol Multi-Faith Forum. He told the Journal that he sincerely hopes his time in office as mayor will allow him to promote more community cohesion and he is keen to involve a wider sense of inclusion for all residents.

More: Wants to see more residents actively involved in the community »

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Bradley Stoke Town Council (BSTC) says it has received “great reviews” from users of a new £16,000 suite of play equipment recently installed at the Beacon Play Area on the town’s Jubilee Green.

The new equipment, designed to offer physical challenges to young people from the ages of 3 up to teen ages, replaces items installed ten years ago that had become unsafe due to timber rot.

BSTC’s premises manager John Rendell told the Journal:

“We are delighted with the fantastic new play challenge recently installed in the Beacon Play Area. It provides some much-needed play space for children and we have received great reviews from local users who regularly attend the site.”

‘Phase two’ of the upgrade is to install a community shelter which parents can use in bad weather (whilst keeping an eye on their children using the play area). Mr Rendell says it is hoped that this will be installed “towards the end of July, in readiness for the busy summer months”.

He added:

“This particular play area offers something different to the other more traditional play areas in the town and has always been extremely popular with local residents. It doesn’t have the more common metal swings, but it has a sand pit for the very young to enjoy, slides, a nest swing and a climbing net, along with the new play challenge.”

“We plan to continue to make improvements going forward to further enhance this popular play space for the benefit of all users.”

The play park is located on the green next to the Jubilee Centre, Savages Wood Road BS32 8HL.

This article originally appeared in the June 2019 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine (on page 15). 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 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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