The Bradley Stoke Journal

A number of clubs and organisations that operate in Bradley Stoke will tonight (Tuesday 31st) learn the fate of grant applications made to South Gloucestershire Council’s Southern Brooks Area Forum.

The Forum, which has £23k to allocate from its Capital Grant Funding scheme, has received 17 applications totalling £37k.

Organisations with Bradley Stoke links that have applied for funding include South West Winterguard Academy, Bradley Stoke Community Radio Association, 1st Bradley Stoke Scout Group and Bradley Stoke Bowls Club.

The Winterguard Academy, which meets at Meadowbrook Primary School, is a group that promotes a dance-based activity called ‘colourguard’ – using flags and other equipment to perform a routine to music. They are looking for £2,000 to purchase equipment.

Bradley Stoke Community Radio Association is asking for £3,000 to purchase recording equipment so that it can create programmes and interviews for a radio broadcast planned for October. They say they will work with Bradley Stoke Community School and the local youth service to run workshops to train young people to use the radio equipment to produce jingles. The association previously received a grant of £1,500 from the forum and was recently awarded £500 by Bradley Stoke Town Council.

Read on for details of two more organisations that could win grants tonight »

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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 »

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The annual Summer Reading Challenge was launched at the recent official re-opening of Bradley Stoke Library, following a major extension to allow the library to improve services to children.

This year’s ‘Space Hop‘ Challenge, which invites youngsters to help the young crew of the Ex Libris to set up the first library on the moon, is an adventure to help keep children reading throughout the school summer holidays.

The Summer Reading Challenge is an immensely popular and successful national reading initiative which encourages children to read six or more books of their choice during the holidays with collectable incentives and rewards, plus a certificate or medal for every child who completes the challenge.

Last year, 4,200 youngsters took part across South Gloucestershire and it is hoped that this year’s ’space’ themed event will encourage even more.

Cllr Heather Goddard, executive member for communities, said:

“I know that children really enjoy taking part in the Summer Reading Challenge. It’s a great way to keep them entertained over the holidays, but more importantly, we know that children who take part read more books and read more widely than those who don’t, with potentially life-changing results.”

“I hope that children take part in this year’s challenge and visit the library during the holidays – many of which have been extended and refurbished to offer an even better service to children and young people.”

The official re-opening and Reading Challenge launch was performed by Cllr Janet Biggin, Chair of South Gloucestershire Council, on Saturday 17th July. Also attending the ceremony were Bradley Stoke Mayor Ben Walker and South Gloucestershire Cllr Brian Hopkinson.

Read on for more details about the expanded Bradley Stoke Library

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Work is due to begin today (Monday 19th July) on a Council-run park and ride site at Hunts Ground Road, Stoke Gifford, close to Parkway Station.

The facility, which will cater for up to 200 cars, is being built on the site of an old brick works on the north-west side of Hunts Ground Round [map] between the Esporta gym and Parkway Station.

South Gloucestershire Council puts the estimated construction time at 32 weeks, with completion scheduled for March 2011.

The car park will include lighting and a CCTV system and the gates will be locked at night and opened early in the morning to enhance security.

Parking charges at the new facility will be £5 a day during the week and £3 a day at weekends. Payment machines will accept credit/debit cards only. By comparison, the official APCOA car park at Parkway Station (capacity: 1140 cars) currently charges £6.90 on weekdays and £4.80 on Saturday and Sunday.

Cllr Brian Allinson, Executive Member for Planning, Transportation and Strategic Environment said:

“This is an exciting step in the provision of improved public transport facilities in South Gloucestershire and will provide much needed car parking for those commuters wishing to access the many bus and rail services that call at Parkway.”

The capacity of the current park and ride scheme is much reduced from that envisaged in earlier plans. The Council lost an option on land on the opposite side of Hunts Ground Road, which had originally been earmarked for the scheme, by failing to meet the required Section 106 trigger dates.

Then, the discovery of a colony of the locally rare small blue butterfly on the current site meant that the number of parking spaces had to be reduced by one third in order to leave sufficient space for kidney vetch, the species’ larval food plant, to flourish.

Read on for details of proposed new parking restrictions in Hunts Ground Road »

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Conservative campaigners have welcomed today’s re-opening of Bradley Stoke Library after a five-week closure period, during which the library has been extended by around 60 square metres.

The extension maintains the large open plan design and enables the whole of the rear of the library to be used for children’s services and create a more dedicated space for this age group.

In addition, a staff workroom has been extended to allow more space for storage and office work.

In a joint statement, South Gloucestershire Conservative Councillors for Bradley Stoke John Ashe, Brian Hopkinson, Rob Jones and Sarah Pomfret said:

“In the past, we have had reports from local residents that the children’s area cannot always accommodate the number of families attending pre-school and holiday activities.”

“We have very much taken up these concerns with the council and we are delighted that the work has now been completed.”

“Local residents now have more space in which to enjoy their local library and make use of the important opportunities the facility offers.”

Read on for details of Saturday’s official re-opening ceremony »

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