The Bradley Stoke Journal

Following on from a planning application to fit a gate to the pedestrian access point between Manor Farm Crescent and the Willow Brook Centre, a site inspection is to be carried out on Friday 1st April at 10:50am by the South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) Development Control (West) Committee. This will then inform the full Planning Meeting to be held on Thursday 14th April when a decision is expected to be taken.

The purpose of the proposed development is to restrict the use of the access point by introducing a gate which would be locked shut between 8pm and 7am in order to prevent occurrences of anti-social behaviour in the locality.

Despite a recommendation from the SGC planning officer to proceed with a twelve-month trial for a gate, the application has been referred to the Planning Committee by Cllrs Brian Hopkinson and Jon Williams in the above manner to allow Planning Committee members to “consider the benefits of the proposal for the local community as a whole”.

The planning application states:

“It has been acknowledged that there have been occurrences of anti-social behaviour in the locality which is giving local residents grounds for concern and distress. It is also acknowledged that the development could act to discourage the congregation of youths at this location and very close by. However, there is no tangible evidence that the proposed development would act to resolve the anti-social behaviour issue.”

Read on for more comments from the SGC planning officer »

Bradley Stoke’s Willow Brook Centre (WBC) has submitted a planning application to install a lockable gate on the pedestrian access route from Manor Farm Crescent in an effort to stem late night anti-social behaviour (ASB) in neighbouring streets.

The move comes seven months after Bradley Stoke Mayor Ben Walker called a multi-agency meeting to discuss ways of tackling the rise in ASB that began when the new town centre was opened in 2008.

There was an approximate delay of eight weeks in the planning application being submitted due to uncertainty with the process and what could best be described as good-willed political interference. But the submission appeared on the South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) website last week and following the consultation period, which will last until Tuesday 8th March, SGC is expected to make a decision by the beginning of April.

A survey of the views of local residents was conducted at the end of last year and produced interesting results. Cllr Jon Williams (Lib Dem) has reported that out of 120 survey forms issued, there were only 22 returns but all of those that did respond indicated that they wanted action of some form to be taken.

Read on for more views from Councillors and the WBC management »

Residents of Bradley Stoke streets surrounding the Willow Brook Centre have called for two pedestrian access routes to the shopping development to be blocked off in an effort to stem a tide of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the area.

The plea came at at meeting chaired by Bradley Stoke Mayor Ben Walker, also attended by Inspector Bob Evely of Avon and Somerset Police, Scott Lahive of the Willow Brook Centre and a representative from South Gloucestershire Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Team.

The meeting was called after Bradley Stoke Town Council received numerous complaints from residents of the Manor Farm area whose properties border pedestrian routes into the Willow Brook Centre.

Residents complained of abandoned Tesco trolleys being rammed into their front doors, flower pots being smashed, trees being snapped off and an incident where the front door of a property was set alight.

Most of the incidents were said to have occurred around midnight and to have been perpetrated by “drunken” 16-18 year-olds.

Read on for details of the access points which residents want blocked off »

Anti-social behaviour in the Manor Farm area of Bradley Stoke is on the agenda of two public meetings taking place in the next ten days.

The issue last came to the fore in 2008, when the opening of a pedestrian route from Manor Farm Crescent into the newly-built Willow Brook Centre brought a massive increase in nuisance behaviour.

A street meeting was held between police and local residents and a Neighbourhood Watch scheme was later formed.

Matters seemed to quieten down in 2009 but now things appear to have flared up again, with Mayor Ben Walker warning in a recent letter that “anti-social behaviour within the Manor Farm area of Bradley Stoke … is fast becoming a serious issue”.

Tuesday’s meeting of the Bradley Stoke Safer and Stronger Community Group [agenda], which takes place at the Jubilee Centre (6:30pm start), will be the first opportunity for residents to query the police and other agencies – when the agenda item “Anti Social Behaviour (Manor Farm)” comes up for discussion.

A second opportunity to discuss the issues comes on Tuesday 27th July when a public meeting to “discuss the current issues relating to anti-social behaviour within the Manor Farm area of Bradley Stoke” will be held, also at the Jubilee Centre (7:30pm start).

Organised by Cllr Walker, the meeting will be attended by representatives of the Willow Brook Centre, Tesco, Avon & Somerset Police, South Gloucestershire Council, Southern Brooks Community Partnership and Holdshare Property Management.

Read on for more information about the two meetings »

Residents of Manor Farm Crescent and neighbouring streets, concerned about an increase in crime and anti-social behaviour in the area, have called a meeting to consider the formation of a Neighbourhood Watch group.

The move follows a “walk through” meeting held last month at which local police and representatives of South Gloucestershire Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Team discussed residents’ concerns and outlined measures that could be taken to address the problems.

Incidents of anti-social behaviour in the area have increased significantly since a new pedestrian access point into Bradley Stoke’s new town centre from the end of Manor Farm Crescent was opened earlier this year. Recent events have included the torching of a stolen moped, burglaries and an incident of indecent exposure.

A majority of the residents who attended October’s street meeting called for the new access point to be sealed off, despite the inconvenience that this would cause them by increasing the distance they would need to travel in order to reach the new town centre.

Bradley Stoke and South Gloucestershire Councillor Jon Williams, who also attended the meeting, explained that planners had wished the new town centre be “permeable” [for pedestrians and cyclists] but said he wouldn’t personally object to closure of the access point and would pass residents’ views on to the District Council.

Police Sergeant Clive Johnson told the group that he would be meeting with the management of the Willow Brook Centre to discuss the matter further.

The residents’ Neighbourhood Watch meeting takes place on Monday 10th November at 8pm. Further details (including the venue, which we have been asked not to publish) may be obtained by email from: meeting.081110@bradleystokejournal.co.uk or via The Journal’s ‘Contact Us‘ form (please include your name, address and telephone number in your message).

Related Links:

• Bradley Stoke Journal : Police
• Bradley Stoke Journal : New Town Centre – Pedestrian Access Routes
• Avon and Somerset Police : Neighbourhood Watch

Residents along pedestrian access routes into Bradley Stoke’s soon-to-open Willow Brook Centre have called a meeting to discuss the increased amount of anti-social behaviour that has been experienced since new access points into the site were opened earlier in the year.

The move follows an article that appeared on 27^th August in the Bristol Evening Post, in which a resident of Shepherds Walk described a catalogue of incidents that had occurred in the neighbourhood since the new access points were introduced.

The meeting, advertised on flyers delivered over the weekend to homes in streets bordering the Willow Brook centre, takes place this Tuesday, 23^rd September, at 8pm. Further details (including the venue, which we have been asked not to publish) may be obtained by email from: meeting.080923@bradleystokejournal.co.uk or via The Journal’s ‘Contact Us‘ form (please include your name, address and telephone number in your message).

The flyer describes the purpose of the meeting as being “to gather as much information as possible and [form] a consensus of opinion.”

Asked to comment on the residents’ concerns, Willow Brook manager Scott Lahive told The Journal that the centre would be “fully secured and manned, with full CCTV coverage”. He added that he had advised the residents to call a meeting with local Councillors and the police, which he would happily attend.

The Journal has learned that the residents intend to raise their concerns at a meeting of the Bradley Stoke Safer & Stronger Community Group that takes place on Tuesday 30^th September at Bradley Stoke Community School (7pm start), where Mr Lahive is already scheduled to take part in discussions.

Many residents expect the Town Square of the new centre, which features a fast food restaurant and a coffee bar, to act as a magnet for local young people and they fear that the increased pedestrian traffic will lead to an increase in anti-social behaviour and littering in the neighbouring area.

Two new pedestrian access routes will become available once the centre opens next month – an entrance into the shopping mall from Bradley Stoke Way and a footpath into the Town Square from the pelican crossing on Savages Wood Road (via the car park of the Three Brooks public house). The latter will form a convenient link into Snowberry Close and onwards into Diana Gardens.

The Journal has put together a detailed plan showing all the pedestrian routes into the new town centre, which suggests that the following streets are likely to see an increase in pedestrian traffic once the new town centre opens: Manor Farm Crescent, Shepherds Walk, The Hedgerows, Dewfalls Road, Wheatfield Drive, Ellicks Close, Fiddlers Wood Lane, Champs sur Marne, Snowberry Close, Diana Gardens, Three Brooks Lane, Crystal Way, Hawkins Crescent and Savages Wood Road.

Documents seen by The Journal reveal that one resident’s concerns about the increase in anti-social behaviour attributed to the opening of the new access points were raised with Bradley Stoke Town Council in early June, when the Town Clerk promised that the matter would be discussed at the planning committee meeting on 23^rd June. However, minutes for that meeting, available at Bradley Stoke Library, show no record of it being discussed.

The matter was on the agenda for the two subsequent meetings of the planning committee in July and August, but The Journal has discovered that both of these meetings were inquorate, with just two Councillors turning up to the August meeting.

It is hoped that the matter will finally be discussed at the planning committee meeting on Wednesday 24^th September – more than three months after the concerned resident first contacted the Council.

Related Links:

• South Gloucestershire Council – Safer & Stronger Community Groups
• Safer South Gloucestershire – Anti Social Behaviour
• Bradley Stoke Town Council – Meetings Minutes & Agendas