Barratt Homes proposals

Last week Barratt Homes held an exhibition in Zion Church Hall showing how they would like to develop land next to Park Farm. As you may have read in the Evening Post, your local Focus team believe this is jumping the gun. The Council's consultation on where the thousands of new homes being imposed on South Gloucestershire should be built hasn't even started yet!

If you oppose these proposals, you might like to write to Barratt Homes. If you do, keep a copy of your letter. It will be really important that you also respond to the Council's consultation. Watch this space for more information on how to do this when the time comes.

Ruffet Road flooding - a solution?

Last week South Glos Council's drainage engineer visited the Ruffet Road/Coalsack Lane junction to investigate the recurrent flooding problems. He and his team probed the highway culvert and located a blockage/collapse half way across the road.

Next week (week beginning Monday 31 January) Ruffet Road will be closed between the Coalsack Lane and Henfield Road junctions so that the repair gang can dig down and either repair the culvert or lay a new one.

Phone mast appeal - how to comment online

All the original objections will be passed on to the planning inspector considering the Badminton Road phone mast appeal, but you can also make additional comments or comment if you didn't first time round. To do this online, go to the case summary, click on the link under "Documents" and then click on "Comment on this case". Fill in the form and submit it.

To find out more about the appeal process, try these links:

Helpful guidelines from the Planning Portal

Advice notes on electronic submissions

More advice from the Planning Inspectorate

Phone mast - the appeal process

The Planning Inspectorate have now written to South Gloucestershire Council about the phone mast appeal. You can see the letter on the website.

The Council has until 3 April to write to all those who made comments on the original application informing them of the appeal. Comments made before will be forwarded on but if you want to make additional comments you should send three copies to the Inspectorate by 1 May 2008.

Preparations for new Yate Health Centre

Preparations have begun for the building of the new Yate Health Centre. Read more on our sister blog for Yate, Sodbury and Dodington.

Composting - the latest developments

Recent newspaper reports have suggested that the new site SITA are considering is in the same area as the withdrawn application, outside Westerleigh.

At the same time, New Earth Solutions who have already proposed building a composting facilitiy at Falfield, are reported to be weeks away from submitting plans to build one at Avonmouth, to process Bristol City food waste which is currently sent to Poole in Dorset. This is an industrial site, much like the location of the facility local Councillors visited in North London. While it remains to be seen whether permission will be granted for the Avonmouth site, an industrial site would seem a more appropriate location for this type of facility.

Could you help at Ram Hill colliery?

Last week the Frome Vale Area Forum gave a grant to the Friends of Ram Hill Colliery to put towards spoil heap clearance and tools for cutting back vegetation.

The Friends group completed a series of working parties last year that cleared away vegetation at the site and made a start on removing a top soil heap. Over the winter they have been putting together a programme of work for 2008 and you can hear more about this at their AGM at 7.30pm on Wednesday 26th March at Coalpit Heath Village Hall (Miners' Club).

Your first chance to help out on site this year starts at 10am on Sunday 30 March. For more information contact the Chair, Steve Hillyard, at steve@hillyard.demon.co.uk.