The Bradley Stoke Journal

Local residents are being offered the chance to get active and do their bit for the environment by learning the country craft of hedge-laying.

Free training courses are being held in the grounds of Wheatfield Primary School on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th January (advance booking is essential).

The courses, organised by local resident John Morris, Environmental Projects and Partnerships Officer at South Gloucestershire Council, are suitable for beginners and those with some experience.

Wheatfield Headteacher Chris Dursley said:

“I’m really grateful to John Morris for organising the hedge laying workshops. This is a great opportunity for members of the local community to learn a new skill, as well as support Wheatfield’s wildlife and school grounds development projects.”

“Like many properties in the town Wheatfield School is lucky to benefit from its boundaries being made up of old hedgerows that provide shelter and food for wildlife. It’s amazing to see just how much wildlife these habitats support. Hedgehogs, robins, blackbirds, blue tits, bullfinches and sparrowhawks make good use of these green corridors and are often seen in the school grounds.”

“As you walk the pathways around the town you often see hedgerow after hedgerow that are in need of management – they have become too tall and gappy at the bottom. They are turning into a row of trees rather than a nice thick bushy hedge, that provide a much better habitat for wildlife to live in.”

More: Find out how to book your free place on the course »

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Work to install a new raised table pedestrian crossing on Brook Way, close to the mini-roundabout at the junction with Wheatfield Drive, is set to commence on Monday (20th June).

The work to install a 75mm high raised table across the full width of the road and widen the island and footway approaches to the crossing could last until Friday 1st July, according to information published in South Gloucestershire Council’s (SGC’s) weekly Road Report.

A pair of ‘children going to school’ warning signs will also be installed on Brook Way (near Brackendene and Dewfalls Drive) as part of the scheme.

The Council warns that temporary two-way traffic signals will be used during the installation work.

The crossing upgrade was first proposed following a a campaign by parents of children at Wheatfield Primary School, who had complained of the difficulty of crossing Brook Way at peak hours.

In December 2009, the Southern Brooks Area Forum agreed to meet the £20,000 cost of the work and a public consultation on the proposals followed in October 2010.

Local politicians later squabbled over who should take credit for winning funding for the project, with the Liberal Democrats’ Jon Williams claiming the Tories were trying to “re-write history”, countered by Brian Allinson saying that Cllr Williams’ “pram [was] increasingly lacking toys”.

Read on for details of how objections have delayed the project »

Bradley Stoke’s Wheatfield Primary School has been rated “good” by Ofsted inspectors, who visited the school last month.

The team of five inspectors observed a total of 25 lessons at the 399-pupil school, which is located in Wheatfield Drive, off Brook Way.

The inspectors summarised their findings as follows:

“Wheatfield is a good school. Outcomes for pupils have been sustained and standards particularly in English are improving. These improvements are well founded on comprehensive and accurate self-evaluation which is, in turn, informed by a detailed analysis of performance data and careful monitoring.”

Pupils’ attainment is said to be “improving” and is “above average by the time pupils leave in Year 6″, although the inspectors point out that “pupils are more confident in applying their reading and writing skills than their numeracy skills”.

Behaviour at the school is rated “outstanding” and pupils are said to have “an exceptionally good understanding of a healthy lifestyle”.

More information and related links:

• Ofsted reports for Wheatfield Primary School (Ofsted)
• Schools in Bradley Stoke (The Journal)

Local Liberal Democrat Councillor Jon Williams has slammed the Conservatives for, he says, wrongly claiming credit over the approval of a new pedestrian crossing on Brook Way.

The row follows a campaign by parents of children at Wheatfield Primary School, who said they found it dangerous  getting to the school from Saxon Way and other roads on the west side of Brook Way.

The issue was first raised at a meeting of the Bradley Stoke Safer and Stronger Group in February, where concerned parents complained of the difficulty of crossing Brook Way near the mini-roundabout junction with Wheatfield Drive.

Parents also pointed out that the central refuge at existing crossings were too narrow to accommodate pushchairs and that there were no school warning signs on Brook Way.

Cllr Mark Forsyth (Conservative) shocked the meeting when he suggested that the parents might like to “buy some fluorescent jackets and act as lollipop persons”.

A more constructive response came from Cllr Williams, who offered to work with the parents to see if the school’s Travel Plan could be updated with a view to attracting funding for a new crossing.

Cllr Williams says he subsequently spoke to the school, attended the school’s Travel Plan Committee, arranged for a Highways officer to attend, and encouraged the school to resubmit its Travel Plan.

Plans for a new ‘raised table’ crossing were then put forward to the Southern Brooks Area Forum meeting earlier this month, where the parents and Cllr Williams were succesful in obtaining approval for the estimated £20,000 cost.

But a press release put out after the meeting by South Gloucestershire Conservatives – subtitled “Councillors welcome moves to encourage safer route to school” – has angered Cllr Williams, who says the Tories “do nothing and then claim the credit”.

Cllr Williams told The Journal:

“It appears that the Conservatives are rewriting history again. This time they are claiming credit for getting a new, safer, crossing across Brook Way between Courtlands and Wheatfield Drive. The truth is that it was parents at the school and the school’s Travel Plan Committee who should take the credit.”

“Not once did a Conservative councillor make contact with the school or the parents over this matter and the only thing they did to support the scheme was to vote in favour of Cllr Williams’ proposal to proceed with the scheme at last week’s Area Forum meeting.”

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A new Sure Start family support centre looks set to be established at Bradley Stoke’s Bowsland Green Primary School following a decision by South Gloucestershire Council (SGC).

Sure Start centres provide a range of services such as advice and information for parents on a whole range of issues, health visitor support, training for parents on issues such as parenting, breastfeeding etc., and play and stay provision for mother and toddler groups.

The Bradley Stoke centre is one of four recently approved by Councillor Sheila Cook (Conservative, Almondsbury), SGC Cabinet Member for Children & Young People, the others being in Severn Beach, Emersons Green and Yate.

Funding of £2.2 million for the new centres has been provided by the Government, which requires the new facilities to be available by March 2011.

Councillors considered both Bowsland Green and Wheatfield primary schools as potential sites before opting for the Ellicks Close location.

The new facility will be achieved through refurbishment of existing accommodation and the building of an extension.

Bradley Stoke Central and Stoke Lodge Councillor, Sarah Pomfret, said:

“At the moment, there is no children’s centre in Bradley Stoke, so local parents have to go to centres in Little Stoke, Filton and Patchway.”

“The Council’s announcement is hugely positive because there’s a lot of need for something like this in the town and there will be an even bigger increase in population as a result of the Northfield development at Patchway.”

“Establishing a children’s centre in Bradley Stoke will also allow the existing centres at the Stokes and Filton to offer services to the future community arising from the development planned at Harry Stoke.”

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) has opened a public consultation on proposed traffic management measures around Wheatfield Primary School in Wheatfield Drive, Bradley Stoke. The proposals address a number of issues highlighted for attention in the school’s recently-produced Travel Plan.

Proposed measures include the installation of dropped kerbs, bollards to reduce cycle speeds on approaches to road crossings, improvements to a footpath and the introduction of waiting restrictions (double yellow lines and ‘keep clear’ markings).

Most of the planned works are in Wheatfield Drive itself, although one of the proposed measures is in Brackendene, from where a footpath links to to Wheatfield Drive via The Common (East).

The public consultation runs until 7th November 2008.

More information on the SGC website:

• Consultation Summary
• Consultation Documents
• Respond to the Consultation