The Bradley Stoke Journal

A public meeting of the Bradley Stoke Safer & Stronger Community Group (SSCG) on Tuesday evening (21st July) will hear the latest news on the town’s planned sixth form development.

Planning permission for the scheme, which also includes a dance studio and additional changing rooms, was granted by South Gloucestershire Council in September 2008. That opened the way for an application for funding to the Learning and Skills Council, which was duly approved in March 2009.

The Journal has learned that Thomas Vale Construction has been awarded the contract to build the post-16 centre and dance studio. The company is due to commence work next week, after the end of the current school term.

Tuesday’s meeting will hear Deputy Headteacher Jenny Sutton Kirby present an overview of planning for post-16 provision at Bradley Stoke Community School from September 2010. The talk is expected to focus  on the curriculum and its provision within the context of the school’s involvement in the Concorde Partnership.

Also on the agenda is a presentation by a representative of the Aztec Hotel & Spa, intriguing titled “community involvement in the environment”.

Publicity for the meeting also promises an update on the possibility of a team of ‘Street Pastors‘ operating in Bradley Stoke, an idea suggested by a resident at the April SSCG meeting.

A recent circular from Avon and Somerset Police explained that:

Street Pastors are volunteers who work with the police to bring peace and hope to their area. They patrol the streets of their towns between the hours of 10pm and 4am on weekends to provide reassurance and help to those who may be vulnerable or in need.

It is an initiative that is currently growing rapidly across the country. In Avon and Somerset there are already Street Pastors patrolling the streets of Bath, Taunton, Weston-super-Mare and Yeovil and they have been received incredibly well by members of the public, licensees and others with whom they come into contact.

The last SSCG meeting was told that It was hoped to have a representative from Bradley Stoke Surgery attend the next meeting to give an update on the progress of expansion work at the Brook Way site. SSCG Chair Julie Snelling says the surgery management was invited to attend this week’s meeting but replied that they “didn’t feel able to come yet”. There has been no visible sign of progress on the project since portable buildings were removed from the rear of the site in February.

The SSCG meeting takes place at Bradley Stoke Community School on Tuesday 21st July (7pm start).

More Info: Publicity Poster for the July SSCG Meeting

The start of last Wednesday night’s meeting of Bradley Stoke Town Council at the Jubilee Centre was delayed when a senior police officer attending the meeting was called into action to deal with a nuisance motorcyclist.

Town Clerk David Chandler exclaimed (somewhat tongue in cheek): “Arrest that man!” – as the errant biker sped across Jubilee Green, in full view of the gathered Councillors and Police Inspector Bob Evely, who was about to address the meeting.

Inspector Evely rose to the challenge and after a brief survey of the scene was able to collar the offender as he foolishly made a second pass across the green.

After speaking with the biker for several minutes, Inspector Evely returned to the meeting and proceeded to present his case for introducing an extra part-time police officer on the Bradley Stoke beat.

Combating nuisance motorbikers has long been a police priority in Bradley Stoke. Last year, the neighbourhood policing team announced a clampdown on the illegal riding of mopeds, motorcycles and mini-mopeds in the Three Brooks Local Nature Reserve.

More recently, the problem of motorbikes using footpaths around Saxon Way and Winsbury way was agreed as a priority issue at the April meeting of the Bradley Stoke Safer & Stronger Community Group.

The police have said they will continue to issue notices under Section 59 of the Police Reform Act and seize motorbikes where applicable.

Bradley Stoke Town Councillors are to be briefed on plans to expand the local police team at a meeting of Full Council tonight (Wednesday 15th July).

Inspector Bob Evely of Avon and Somerset Police is scheduled to speak on “the proposed part time officer at [the] Willow Brook Centre”, a matter previously discussed at the June meeting of the Council’s Finance Committee.

That meeting heard Town Clerk David Chandler tell Councillors that the police had asked the Council to pay £12,500 p.a. towards the cost of employing former beat manager Claire Fletcher for 24 hours per week.

Councillors responded favourably, with some going so far as to describe the offer as “a no brainer”, although others made it clear they weren’t in favour of a Town Council funding the police. However, a comment made later by Cllr Jon Williams on this website suggests that the amount quoted “may not be the final figure”.

Inspector Evely might also have something to say about the provision of an extra Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) in Bradley Stoke.

A press release in March from the ruling Conservative group on South Gloucestershire Council announced that the Bradley Stoke police team was to be strengthened by the addition of an extra Council-funded PCSO.

The news was confirmed in mid-June when the Council’s South Gloucestershire News (SGN), delivered to all homes in the town, told residents that the policing teams in five neighbourhoods (including Bradley Stoke) had [already] been strengthened by the addition of a Council-funded PCSO.

However, enquiries by The Journal have revealed that no new PCSO has so far joined the Bradley Stoke team.

When asked about the potentially misleading information published in SGN, South Gloucestershire Council gave us the following statement:

“The new council-funded PCSO for Bradley Stoke is in post and is currently undergoing training at police headquarters. He will be working in the local area by September.”

“The council is pleased to have been able to provide this additional service for residents of Bradley Stoke. We are sure the new PCSO will enjoy working with the local community.”

Related Link: Bradley Stoke Police (The Journal)

The Bradley Stoke police team’s recently published July newsletter highlights a number of “nuisance” issues said to be causing concern in the area.

“Nuisance vehicles” are said to be blighting the north of the town, while “nuisance youths” are causing trouble at play areas in the south.

The police also say they are looking for more residents to volunteer for a proposed Community Speedwatch Scheme following a crackdown on speeding in Woodlands Lane, which saw around 40 motorists prosecuted or warned.

On a lighter note, the police report on their participation in a six-a-side football tournament at the recent Bradley Stoke Community Festival.

The footballers were PC Mark Graham and PCSOs Gary Tilling, Paul Baxter, Andy Pound, Chris Baker and Jason Green.

The station team beat nearly all comers in the football matches organised by the Bradley Stoke Football Initiative, before finally being defeated on penalties.

The next meeting of Bradley Stoke’s Safer & Stronger Community Group (SSCG) takes place at Bradley Stoke Community School on Tuesday 21st July (7pm start).

More Information and Related Links:

• Bradley Stoke Police Newsletter, June 2009 [PDF, 308KB]
• Bradley Stoke Police (The Journal)

A father of two from Bradley Stoke is said to have sparked a nationwide police hunt after eloping with a local 15 year old schoolgirl.

A “exclusive” report in yesterday’s Sun [Dad aged 22 runs off with schoolgirl, 15] claims that Jack Saxton has “gone on the run” with Alyx Leighton, who turned 15 two weeks ago.

The report says that Alyx had printed out a route from Bradley Stoke to Glasgow and searched online for B&Bs before her disappearance.

Avon and Somerset Police are yet to make a statement on the matter, despite the Sun claiming that police are “concerned because Alyx’s underage”.

Police are appealing for witnesses to an assault that occured on Sunday night (28th June) near the Jubilee Centre in Bradley Stoke.

A couple walking home came upon a group of men near the entrance of the Jubilee Centre. One threatened the man with a knife, and he was then beaten and kicked by five others. When the alarm was raised they ran off towards Little Stoke Lane.

Police say there had been reports of nuisance behaviour in Wrington Close just before midnight, and it’s believed these were the men involved in the assault.

The suspects are all white. The man with the knife is described as 5ft 5ins tall, of small build with blond or gingery spiky hair shaved at the sides. He was wearing a white or grey tracksuit.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Staple Hill police on 0845 456 7000 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

The area around the Jubilee Centre has been the focus of a number of crimes in recent months.

A suspected arson attack in March saw three cars set ablaze within the space of an hour, including one vehicle on a drive in The Beeches, just yards from the Jubilee Centre.

May saw a number of newly planted trees along the edge of Savages Wood Road destroyed by vandals.

More recently, a van leased by Bradley Stoke Town Council for use by its newly-appointed Mobile Cleansing Operative (MCO) had its windscreen kicked in when parked overnight in the car park of the Jubilee Centre.

Residents of homes surrounding the centre fear that vandalism and anti-social behaviour will increase once the new Beacon Play Park opens on Jubilee Green next month.