Taking up your concerns

Thanks to everyone who has filled in our survey recently - you can fill it in online here.

We have been busy following up the issues you raised. Claire Young took up the issue of anti-social behaviour at the bottom of St Saviour's Rise with the police beat manager at the Community Engagement Forum. He assured us the police will be keeping an eye on this location as the weather warms up.

Residents living alongside the drainage channel on Park Farm where oak trees were axed were furious that their local environment had been trashed without any notice or discussion.

Pat Hockey and Dave took the matter up with South Glos Council’s Tree Officers as they had put a blanket tree preservation order (TPO) on all oak trees on both Park Farm and The Meads estates before the sites were developed – Pat and Dave had not realised that oak trees by drainage channels were not covered by the TPO.

Officers confirmed that just one other oak tree by a drainage channel was still at risk - they agreed to put a Tree Preservation Order on it as a matter of priority to protect it.

More consultations on savings proposals

Regular readers will have noticed that every week there are new proposals coming out for ways to save money from South Glos Council's budget. By April next year, the council will have saved £43m from its annual budget – with around another £36m to be cut by 2020.

We have to make these savings because the council tax we pay only covers part of the coucil's costs. Most of the rest comes from central government grants, which are being reduced as part of tackling the deficit.

Some of the latest consultations include:

• A review of the council’s Private Sector Housing service, including landlord accreditation and empty homes management, with a target saving of £168,000 - the deadline for comments is 10 October 2014.
• Proposals for saving £50,000 from the Trading Standards service, including Lorry Watch, consumer advice and trader approval - the deadline for comments is 5 November 2014.
• A review of the council’s Community Engagement service, including the priority neighbourhoods scheme and safer, stronger community groups, with a target saving of £200,000 - the deadline for comments is 30 November 2014.
• Options for cutting £277,000 from the Community Safety and ASB team - the deadline for comments is 5 December.

You can find all current South Glos Council consultations online. 

All the political parties on the council agreed the savings targets when we set the budget in February. Wherever possible we want to make the savings by making things more efficient – better use of IT for example or cutting senior managers – but that alone is not enough. We have to make difficult decisions and the Lib Dem Focus Team wants to make sure this is done as fairly as possible. We want to protect the most vulnerable, work with you to find new ways of doing things and we want to know what you think are the most important services to save.

There will also be the usual budget consultation later in the autumn – keep an eye on this blog for more information.

Your views on anti-social behaviour

Avon and Somerset Police are running an online survey about anti-social behaviour. If you're using a desktop or laptop you can fill it in here and there is also a mobile and tablet version. The survey closes on Sunday 9th February, 2014.

Problems in lane between Wayleaze and Alexandra Road

Claire Young shows Pat and Dave Hockey drugs bags found in the lane between Wayleaze and Alexandra Road. She has reported the bags
to the police and Safer Stronger South Glos. People living nearby are concerned about the vandalism and antisocial behaviour that goes with the drinking and drug taking. Please report any incidents to the police on 0845 456 7000. Claire asked Street Care to deal with some stones that were removed from a wall and left in the lane.

Taxi marshal scheme for Chipping Sodbury

Those of you who went out in Chipping Sodbury last Friday or Saturday night may have seen the new taxi and street marshals in operation. The scheme follows a similar one in Kingswood. The marshals will work on Fridays and Saturdays between 10pm and 2am, maintaining a safe, orderly queue at the taxi rank outside the George, assisting the police and taxi drivers, helping prevent anti-social behaviour and crime and watching out for unlicensed taxi drivers.

Local Councillor Dave Hockey, who led a Council review into tackling anti-social behaviour, has welcomed the move. “Once our review found that a taxi marshal scheme in Kingswood was a real success I was keen to see one in Chipping Sodbury. I have been pushing for it to be operational in the run up to Christmas and over the New Year period when Chipping Sodbury will be at its busiest - the extra protection provided will I am sure be much appreciated by all involved.''

Frome Vale Area Forum tonight

Tonight (Thursday 26th February) is the Frome Vale Area Forum. It kicks off at 7pm in Chipping Sodbury Town Hall and items on the agenda include anti-social behaviour, a Street Care update, a decision by the area committee on small grants and an open session for you to talk about the issues that concern you.

Requests from the community police team

In the run up to Halloween, if you have any problems with youths etc, please report them as soon as possible. Police/PCSOs will be patrolling on the 31st October.

Graffiti is becoming an issue in side streets, in the Coalpit Heath/Frampton Cotterell locality. If you see anyone in the process of spraying paint dial 999, or if you notice graffiti at a later time please advise the community police team of the location.

Action plan for Beeches Trading Estate

On Thursday I attended a meeting organised by Safer and Stronger South Gloucestershire to discuss the problem of youths congregating on the Beeches Trading Estate. Residents had complained about the noise from youngsters reving car engines and playing loud music, sometimes into the early hours of the morning.

The meeting gave residents the opportunity to hear what action was already being taken and to join in the discussion with the various agencies about future plans. An action plan was drawn up and one important outcome for residents was an agreed procedure for reporting incidents, so they know who to contact and can be confident that everyone involved is aware of what is happening.