The Bradley Stoke Journal

Proposals for a number of road safety improvement schemes around Bradley Stoke achieved limited success when they were discussed at a recent meeting of South Gloucestershire Council’s Southern Brooks Area Forum.

Seven Bradley Stoke schemes were competing for a share of the £50k pot available, along with other proposals from Filton, Patchway, Stoke Gifford and Winterbourne.

In the end, just two of the Bradley Stoke schemes were awarded funding – and only for “investigation” work rather than full implementation:

• Noise and speed reduction measures in Woodlands Lane, near Woodlands Park
• Introduction of a pedestrian crossing on Brook Way near the junction of Elm Close

Each of the above projects was awarded £5k, with the Brook Way proposal being extended to also investigate the possibility of providing a pedestrian crossing facility near the Concord Medical Centre in Braydon Avenue.

Of the eight schemes awarded funding by the area forum, six were given £5k for “investigation” work. The only two projects to receive funding for implementation were in Patchway, where the left turn from the A38 Gloucester Road into Shellmor Road is to be prohibited and a bus stop on the A38 northbound, near the Callicroft Road junction, relocated.

More: No joy for Bradley Stoke 'safer routes to school' plans »

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) has responded to criticism of its leisurely approach to dealing with broadband infrastructure problems by forming a new partnership with the neighbouring county of Wiltshire, whose plans are claimed to be “the most advanced in the country”.

South Gloucestershire had previously been working with Bristol City Council and Bath & North East Somerset (BANES) after being assigned a collective pot of £1.4 million from Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) in August but the BANES Cabinet recently voted to decline the Government cash after it realised it would have to match fund it to the tune of £1 million.

SGC’s recent launch of a lengthy 13-month public consultation in which businesses and residents are being asked to “register interest in receiving improved broadband connectivity” triggered an avalanche of negative comments from Journal readers, many of whom are struggling with sub-standard connections in non-cabled areas of Bradley Stoke.

The same sentiment was echoed by local MP Jack Lopresti speaking in the House of Commons yesterday when he said that progress made by Conservative-run SGC had “not been as quick as I and some of my constituents would like”.

Another South Gloucestershire MP, Lib Dem Pensions Minister Steve Webb, was also recently critical of SGC’s progress on broadband, saying the Council had been “particularly slow on the issue and has not yet even submitted a plan [to BDUK]“.

More: Installation to start by December 2012, says Council »

A major transport scheme that includes the building of a Stoke Gifford by-pass and the introduction of a fast and reliable bus service between Bradley Stoke and Bristol city centre has taken a big step forward with the award of £51 million of Government funding.

Work on the £102 million North Fringe to Hengrove Package, which will also be funded by Bristol City Council (BCC) and South Gloucestershire Council (SGC), is scheduled to start in two years time, subject to successfully overcoming regulatory hurdles that are expected to include a public inquiry.

The Stoke Gifford by-pass, running from the Parkway North Roundabout on Great Stoke Way to the Avon Ring Road (emerging opposite the Holiday Inn), will provide Bradley Stoke motorists with a more direct route to junction 1 of the M32 at Hambrook, avoiding the notorious bottlenecks at the Parkway Station railway bridge and the Abbey Wood Roundabout.

Public transport users will benefit from a new bus-only junction onto the M32, where Stoke Lane crosses over the motorway, close to the Dower House.

Within Bradley Stoke, a number of new bus lanes will be constructed along Bradley Stoke Way – without reducing the number of lanes available for general traffic. For more details, take a look at The Journal’s interactive map of the rapid transit route or consult the detailed route plans [PDF, 63.7MB] submitted with the official bid to the Department for Transport (DfT).

Statutory orders for the scheme are due to be published by June next year and a public inquiry could start in December 2012. On-site work is scheduled to start in December 2013 and the new by-pass and ‘rapid’ bus service should be open/operational by December 2016.

More: South Glos Council chooses not to publish funding plans »

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) and other local authorities in England that have so far failed to publish plans for improving broadband infrastructure in their areas have been set a deadline by Whitehall officials concerned that the Government’s promise of delivering the “best broadband in Europe” by 2015 could be in jeopardy.

The news comes three weeks after South Gloucestershire Council launched a lengthy 13-month public consultation in which residents and businesses are being asked to “register interest in receiving improved broadband connectivity”, which triggered an avalanche of negative comments from dismayed Journal readers.

An impatient Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has now ordered all authorities to submit a draft Local Broadband Plan by the end of February 2012. Plans must be agreed with the Government by the end of April and procurement of equipment must begin within a further three months.

Any authority that has not begun procurement by by the end of July is likely to see the Government stepping in to take remedial action.

In the Government’s original plan for the delivery of superfast broadband published in December 2010, local authorities were expected to submit detailed bids for a specific share of the £530m funding. By April 2011, so few Councils had submitted plans that the Government abandoned the bidding process and decided to allocate the remaining money based on its own assessment of local needs.

The West of England (South Gloucestershire, Bath & North East Somerset and Bristol) was allocated £1.4 million from the fund in August 2011. Since then, BANES has voted against accepting its share of the Government money, which must be match-funded by each Council. The Journal has also heard a rumour that SGC is considering leaving the West of England group to pair up with another local authority whose broadband plans are more advanced.

More: Almondsbury exchange misses out again in latest BT announcement »

Representatives of a group campaigning for improved road safety measures on Bradley Stoke Way will tonight (Wednesday 14th) address a meeting of South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) in a debate secured through the Council’s petitions scheme.

Two serious accidents involving school-age children on the stretch of the road near the Willow Brook Centre earlier this year led to a group of concerned parents and residents launching a public petition to force a debate at a meeting of Full Council – through a mechanism enshrined in the South Gloucestershire Petitions Scheme.

Officially launched on Saturday 15th October, two weeks after the second serious accident on the road, the petition soon achieved the 2,500 signatures required to force a debate and the number of supporters has since grown to over 3,900.

The petition called on the Council to install a new ‘raised table’ toucan crossing, replacing the two drop kerb uncontrolled crossing points where the recent accidents have occurred. It also demanded conversion of the dual carriageway stretch of Bradley Stoke Way to a single lane, the introduction of a 30mph speed limit and the installation of improved warning signage and over-speed indicators.

Since the petition was launched, the Council has committed to installing a new toucan crossing between Wheatfield Drive and Savages Wood and extending the 30mph speed limit in a northerly direction so that it includes the new toucan crossing. The 30mph zone will also be extended in a southerly direction south of the Savages Wood Roundabout – to include the existing toucan crossing between Snowberry Close and Champs Sur Marne.

More: Current plans omit speed table and lane reduction »