Have you visited the Three Books Lake recently? It is in a sorry state and the council does not appear to be in any hurry to do anything about it. More and more of the silt is building up and turning into a solid state i.e. land in which grass etc. can take root.
Where there is water, it is only 3 to 4 inches deep! The residents of Bradley Stoke stand to lose a valuable recreation facility and wildlife sanctuary, unless something is done.

The streams feeding the lake will also back up, as the water will have nowhere to go – we saw signs of this last winter.

It was interesting to read in October’s Journal magazine of the possibility of a company that can utilise the silt, thereby potentially offsetting some of the costs of dredging. That would be an excellent result. However, when you put the estimated costs of £100,000 in the context that some individuals employed by South Gloucestershire Council, at our expense, are paid that sum as an annual salary, and some twice that amount, I think the wishes of the residents of Bradley Stoke deserve some very serious consideration.

Fred Hillberg
Bradley Stoke

This letter originally appeared in the November 2018 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine (on page 33). 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.

More: Statement from South Gloucestershire Council »

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A set of five new interpretation panels has been installed at places of particular interest within Bradley Stoke’s Three Brooks Local Nature Reserve.

The panels were funded by Wessex Water, which has recently completed a major tunnelling project within the reserve, as part of the Frome Valley Relief Sewer scheme.

The information on the panels was put together by volunteers from the Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group, who wanted to raise awareness about the plants and the wildlife – including swans and slow worms – which can be found within the reserve.

The interpretation panels have been placed around the reserve at separate locations, with each describing a different habitat. There is one at the lake, one on the Tump, one in the community orchard (behind BSCS), one in Savages Wood and another in Bowsland Meadow.

The panel in the community orchard was formally unveiled by Cllr Rachael Hunt, the newly appointed chair of South Gloucestershire Council, on Tuesday 22nd May, in the presence of several members of the conservation group.

• For more information, visit www.three-brooks.info

Photo: Panel unveiling in the community orchard. L-r: Jamie Bowkett (senior ecologist, Wessex Water), Robin Jones (chair, Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group) and Cllr Rachel Hunt (chair, South Gloucestershire Council).

More; Photo of the interpretation panel at the lake »

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Rob Williams of Bradley Stoke’s Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group writes:

As the snow disappeared  at the beginning of March and everybody breathed a sigh of relief that they could go back to work and school on the Monday, the melt-water was bringing an unwelcome delivery for our local nature reserves. Somewhere upstream of Forty Acres in Stoke Gifford, an oily substance had found its way into the Stoke Brook and was flowing downstream through the area.

The Environment Agency were contacted, as they are responsible for investigating pollution events in the water courses. South Gloucestershire Council and the town council were also informed and there were many messages and comments on the TBNCG Facebook page. The concern and interest from the public has been enormous.

The Environment Agency, along with Wessex Water, have spent many hours out searching for the source of the pollution. It may sound like a simple job to walk back up the brook until the culprit is found, but the brook is culverted under the railway and splits in several places. The oily substance is a light hydrocarbon and easily mixes with water, only showing on the surface where the water flow is slow. This means that booms or sponges in the brook won’t retain or absorb the oil and therefore haven’t been deployed.

The extent of the leak appears to be diminishing at the time of writing [mid-March] and there have been no visible effects on the local wildlife, yet. With events like this, it is very important that the public help by reporting direct to the Environment Agency. Investigations can then be conducted straight away.

If you spot a worsening of this spill, please phone 0800 807060 and quote incident reference number 1594021. Please also report any future spills on the same number.

Photo: A rainbow sheen on the surface of the water at one of the weirs on Stoke Brook is a tell-tale indicator of a pollution incident upstream in Stoke Gifford  or Filton

This article originally appeared in the April 2018 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine (on page 11). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,200 homes in Bradley Stoke and Little Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.

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Work to build a new sewer pipe beneath the M4 motorway has reached an important milestone, with tunnel boring now fully under way at the Three Brooks Local Nature Reserve in Bradley Stoke.

As part of its work to complete the final phase of the £15 million Frome Valley Relief Sewer scheme, Wessex Water is tunnelling beneath the motorway from a site adjacent to the ‘duck pond’, close to Juniper Way.

The sewer will provide additional capacity for new developments in the area, diverting wastewater flows from South Gloucestershire to the Bristol sewage treatment works in Avonmouth.

Project manager Mike Bryant said:

“Work is progressing well, with the M4 tunnel crossing works getting under way in the final week of July and due to last for approximately four months.”

The first sections of the Frome Valley Relief Sewer were laid in areas of North Bristol and Yate during the 1980s and 1990s.

Wessex Water is now constructing a 5km long, 1.8m diameter pipe that will run from Iron Acton, north of Frampton Cotterell, and then westwards to Bradley Stoke.

More: Tunnelling also needed in Winterbourne and Iron Acton areas »

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