Woodlands Farm planning appeal officially started

The start letter has now been published for the appeal against the Blackberry Park application for up to 215 homes on land at Woodlands Farm.

Any comments you made at the application stage will be passed on to the Planning Inspectorate. If you want to make any additional comments, you must submit 3 copies of them to the Inspector by 9 March 2018. The Planning Inspectorate will not acknowledge representations.

For more advice on taking part in an appeal you can read a 'Guide to taking part in planning appeals proceeding by an inquiry' online.

Campaigners brave the rain

Despite the rain and strong winds, local people turned out in force on Wednesday to protest about how difficult it was to respond to the consultation on the Joint Spatial Plan (JSP). The JSP proposes that 1,800 homes should be built in the fields to the east of Roundways.

Volunteers needed at Brockeridge Youth Club

Are you thinking of working with young people? Or do you have interests or skills to share, such as sports, craft or gardening? If so, Brockeridge Youth Club would like to hear from you.

The club is looking for people willing to help for a couple of hours on some Tuesday or Thursday evenings. It's a thriving group offering fun activities but unfortunately the youth leader has to turn young people away because of the lack of adults. Free training and references given, the hours are 6.30-8.30pm on Tuesdays and 7-9pm on Thursdays.

To find out more email volunteering@southernbrooks.org.uk or phone Catherine on 01454 868 570.

Airbus Community Awards

Do you know of a community group that is making a difference locally and could do with some extra funding? If you do, you might like to nominate them for the Airbus Community Awards. To find out more, visit www.bristolpost.co.uk/airbus

How to complain to Tulip about smell in Westerleigh

Following the drop-in earlier this month at Westerleigh Village Hall, the owners of the abattoir, Tulip Ltd, have issued a complaints process to use whenever there is a smell that you suspect may be coming from the abattoir. You can read it here.

Houses proposed on land set aside for health facility at Frenchay

Your Focus Team was shocked to learn that North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) have given the nod to developer Redrow to put in a planning application on land previously set aside for new health facilities at the former Frenchay Hospital site.

Back in November we were told that the future requirements for community health and care facilities at Frenchay and Thornbury were going back to the drawing board. We know now that, by that time, NBT were already in talks with Redrow about developing housing across much of the Frenchay site.

We think it is outrageous that the NBT are considering allowing houses to be built on land that was supposed to be used for community health facilities before they’ve worked out how they are going to provide those facilities. It's a sad reflection on Government underfunding of our local NHS that they feel under pressure to do this.

Photo on fields off Roundways on Wednesday

Local resident Stephie Richardson has started a petition challenging the whole Joint Spatial Plan process. It already has over 900 signatures.

Now the action group VALID are asking local people to meet by the gate into the fields off Roundways, near the Manor School at 9.30am next Wednesday (24th) for a group photograph.

New South Glos wards confirmed

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England has published its final recommendations for the new wards for South Gloucestershire Council, to take effect from the elections in May next year. In the area covered by this blog:

• Charfield ward will be unchanged. 
• Westerleigh and Ladden Brook wards will disappear. 
• Frampton Cotterell ward will be enlarged to become a three member ward, covering the parishes of Frampton Cotterell, Iron Acton, Rangeworthy and Tytherington and the Coalpit Heath ward of Westerleigh Parish. 
• The Westerleigh ward of Westerleigh Parish and Dodington South ward of Dodington Parish, which are both currently in Westerleigh ward, will move into an enlarged Boyd Valley ward.
• Wickwar Parish will move into a new two member Chipping Sodbury and Cotswold Edge ward.

The external boundaries of the Parishes are unchanged. For example Westerleigh Parish will still cover Westerleigh village, most of Coalpit Heath, Henfield, Ram Hill, Kendleshire, Mayshill, Nibley (south of the River Frome) and the Stover Road area of Yate. However, instead of being in the one member Westerleigh ward, the Parish will now be covered partly by the 3 member Frampton Cotterell ward and partly by the 2 member Boyd Valley ward.

Site visit for car park extension plans

At the DC (East) planning committee last week, councillors decided that they needed to see the land where the council is proposing to extend their Badminton Road office car park before making a decision on whether it should go ahead.

The visit will take place at 10.20 am on Friday 26th January. The officer's report is available online.

Ram Hill 20mph limit formally advertised

Following last year's consultation on the proposed 20mph limit on Ram Hill, Broad Lane (Ram Hill end) and Serridge Lane, the Statutory Notice for the new limit has now been published. You can find out more here.

Roll out of smaller black bins starts

Back in July 2016, we reported that the Conservative council would be cutting the black bin sizes from 240 litres to 140 litres. The roll out of the new smaller bins starts next Monday and will take around three months to complete.

 This is what will happen on the day yours changes:

• Your black bin will be emptied into the usual lorry.
• A crew following behind will remove the wheels and stack the old bins at the roadside in groups of ten. The stacks will be placed on their sides without blocking pavements, driveways or footpaths. 
• Later the same day, another vehicle will remove the old bins - most parts of the bin will be recycled. 
• Another crew will follow the round in the other direction, delivering new bins, so depending on where you are in the round you may get your new bin delivered before the old one is taken away.

Throughout this process your collection day will stay the same. You can find out more about recycling on the South Glos website. If you can't find the help you need online, call 01454 868000.

Wessex Water unveil new sewer plans

There was a good turn out at the drop-in at Westerleigh Village Hall on Monday, where Wessex Water unveiled their plans to build a sewer bypassing the village for the abattoir waste. It is hoped this will address both flooding and odour issues in the village.

The new 1.6km pipe will be exclusively for Tulip trade effluent and will join the main Yate 600mm sewer north of the Nibley Lane junction. The work will cost £1 million and start in September 2018, taking an estimated 5-6 months.

There were also representatives from Tulip and the Environment Agency on hand to answer questions. Tulip will be putting in place a dedicated phone number to report any further issues.

Let's hope the new sewer will put an end to the bad odours affecting the village.

Temporary closure of Henfield Road

South Glos have issued a notice to say that Henfield Road will be closed from Station Road to Ram Hill at some point on or after 24th January. The closure will only operate while signs are in place and is expected to take place over one night between 8.30pm and 4am.

History talk next Wednesday

The latest Frampton Cotterell and District Local History Society talk will take place on Wednesday 17 January 2018 at 7.30pm in the Zion Church, Frampton Cotterell. "A Little Kingdom – the Harman family’s Lundy 1925 to 1969" is a talk by Andre Countanche. All are welcome, the entry is £4, including light refreshments, or you can pay an annual subscription of £15.

Time running out to have your say on housing plans

Time is running out to have your say on plans for thousands of new homes in our area - all comments have to be made by the end of 10th January - that's next Wednesday.

How to have your say

You can comment online - you can step through the Joint Spatial Plan section by section and there is a button at the bottom of each section that allows you to add a comment. You'll need to register with the site, if you haven't already done so for a previous consultation, and log in. Do make sure you submit each comment before moving on to the next section.

Policy 2 sets out the Spatial Strategy - this lists the locations where large numbers of houses are proposed and explains why. The five locations in South Gloucestershire are covered by policies 7.8 to 7.12. Don't be misled by the latter being labelled Yate, the land is actually in Iron Acton and Westerleigh Parishes.

If you're short of time, focus on the policy for the area of most interest to you, you don't have to respond to every policy.

Before making your comments, it is well worth reading this page on how to comment and this guide to commenting.

Remember, this is your last chance to have your say so don't leave it to others. Once the plan has been adopted it will be too late to change where the new development goes.

Reminder - Westerleigh smell drop-in on Monday

Before Monday's Westerleigh Parish Council meeting in Westerleigh Village Hall, there will be a drop-in from 5.30-7pm where local people can talk to Wessex Water, Tulip (abattoir owners) and the Environment Agency about the smell problem in the village. This follows the good news that Wessex Water plan to start on a Flood Alleviation Scheme in the autumn, which will introduce a new section of sewer that will take the discharge from the abattoir and bypass the village.

Woodlands Farm - Barratt Homes to appeal

As some eagle-eyed residents have spotted, correspondence on the web page for the Woodlands Farm "Blackberry Park" application shows that Barratt Homes are going to appeal against the council's refusal last summer.

What is on the website at the moment is pre-appeal correspondence, where they're sorting out what form the appeal will take. The Planning Inspectorate have agreed with Barratt Homes that there will be a public inquiry but Barratt Homes have not yet submitted the Appeal Start Letter. This is the official notification of the start of the appeal and is key because all the dates (for example, the deadline for comments) will flow from that. When South Glos gets the Appeal Start Letter they will then notify Claire Young as ward member, the Parish Council and so on.

For the hundreds of people who objected to the application, this will not be a welcome start to the new year. When the appeal does start, we will let you know how you can have your say.

Have your say on Climate Change Strategy

Climate Change is one of the biggest challenges facing the world today. South Glos Council is currently consulting on its draft Climate Change Strategy for 2018 - 2023. You can find out more and have your say at www.southglos.gov.uk/climate18 until 12th March.
There are several ways you can respond:

• Take part in the online survey
• Download and print a paper copy of the survey and send to Freepost  RTXL-YJXJ-BXEX, South Gloucestershire Council, Corporate Research & Consultation Team, Climate Change Strategy, Council offices, Badminton Road, Yate, BRISTOL BS37 5AF
• Email: consultation@southglos.gov.uk
• Telephone: 01454868154

Next mining talk

The next South Glos Mines Research Group talk will take place on Wednesday 10th January, 2018 at the Cricket Club, Serridge Lane, Coalpit Heath, BS36 2TT (7:30pm for an 8:00pm start). The talk by Jonathan Maisey will be about the history and exploration of Windrush Quarry, one of the underground sources of Cotswold Stone. Non-members pay £2 or you can pay £17.50 to become a member and attend the regular talks for free.