Consent given for 3 new houses in the Green Belt on Bristol Road

Local residents and Frampton Cotterell South Glos Councillors are horrified that consent has been given for three new houses in the Green Belt on Bristol Road.

At the planning committee meeting on 25th January, the application to build 3 new houses on Green Belt land in a paddock between the bungalow at 119 Bristol Road at the entrance to the former Sunbeam Nursery site and the front garden of 127 Bristol Road was approved by councillors despite strong objections from local Cllrs Pat and Dave Hockey, Frampton Cotterell Parish Council and several local residents.

When the planning officer’s report was written and the recommendation for approval was given, no account was taken of the reason why the Government Inspector turned down a recent appeal in May 2015 against refusal of planning consent “for the erection of a triple garage with accommodation above” in the front garden of 127 Bristol Road because it “was found to disturb the openness of the site and thereby the Green Belt”.

This should have been taken into account by the Planning Officer before the recommendation was made – so should the grade of the land (Grade 2 – “Very good” agricultural land). These issues were only investigated at Dave Hockey’s request when he realised they had not been considered.

Local residents stated in their objections to this application that:

• The recommendation for approval sets a dangerous precedent.
• If this application is approved it will open the floodgates.
• If this application is approved houses will be built all the way along Bristol Road in the Green Belt.
• The Green Belt should be protected for all, not disregarded for the short term financial interest of a few. 

 A recorded vote was taken so the split along political party lines can be seen.

To find the details of the planning application, go to the planning application search page and enter reference number PT17/2904/O .

Consultation on 30mph speed limit on Bristol Road

South Gloucestershire Council is consulting on reducing the speed limit to 30mph on Bristol Road between the junction with Church Road and the Winterbourne boundary. This is being proposed by Highways Officers because of the number of accidents there has been. You can make comments here until the 17th November.

Because of the difficulty crossing the road between the bus stop and the Health Centre Pat Hockey had asked officers to investigate the possibility of a pedestrian refuge. Unfortunately the road is too narrow to accommodate one safely.

Frome Valley Relief Sewer work

After years of campaigning throughout the ‘noughties’ about sewage pollution spills in the River Frome resulting in sanitary towels, condoms and raw sewage being left stranded on the banks of the river in Frampton Cotterell Parish, Cllr Dave Hockey is delighted that Wessex Water are making good progress with the final stage of the Frome Valley Relief Sewer. The £15 million project will divert sewage from the rapidly growing Yate/Sodbury area via the new large pipe from Cog Mill, Iron Acton to Bradley Stoke on onwards from there to the Avonmouth Sewage Treatment Plant.

Dave said, “It took a 10 year campaign and a summit meeting hosted by former Lib Dem MP Steve Webb with Senior Executives of Wessex Water and the Environment Agency to get a commitment to take action on this serious pollution problem. Local residents were appalled by the sewage spills. It is great that action is now being taken to deal with the problem - let’s hope the new scheme is successful and will bring to an end sewage spills in the Frome Valley.”

LED lights coming to Church Road

The concrete lighting columns in Church Road are due for replacement. In addition to this their overhead cables and locations do not meet current design standards. This means Council Officers have decided to take the opportunity of redesigning the layout and converting the lights to LED ahead of the rest of Frampton Cotterell which is scheduled for 2018. LED lights are the energy efficient more focused lights, already installed along Badminton Road. Officers have calculated that there will be a 76% reduction in energy use and therefore cost.

Next Community Engagement Forum next Tuesday

The next Community Engagement Forum (CEF) (formerly Safer Stronger Community Group) meeting for the area covering Frampton Cotterell, Coalpit Heath and Westerleigh is on Tuesday 5th July at 7.30pm in the Greenfield Centre. There will be updates from the local fire and police services and from councillors, feedback on previous priorities and a discussion of local community issues.

Local events on Bank Holiday Monday

If you don't fancy travelling further afield on Bank Holiday Monday (30th May), there are events to enjoy locally.

Ram Hill Colliery will be holding an Open Day from 10am to 4.30pm. Light refreshments will be available.

The Bridge House Light Railway will be running from 2-4pm at the Bridge House care home in Frampton Cotterell.

Road safety wins at Area Forum

A number of local road safety schemes got the go ahead at last night's Frome Vale Area Forum. After listening to the concerns of residents, councillors chose schemes including:

• Introducing a crossing point on Wotton Road, Iron Acton, outside the primary school
• A red surface treatment to highlight the existing crossing points in Rangeworthy
• Processing a Traffic Regulation Order to reinforce the existing `No Stopping’ marking outside Frampton Cotterell C of E Primary School

Local people also came along to talk about the schemes they would like the council to investigate in preparation for carrying them out in the future. The Forum could choose three from a long list. Two of the chosen ones were in our area - investigating a 20mph limit on Ram Hill and a 7.5T weight limit on Dodington Road. Thank you to those who came along to speak in support.

Earlier in the meeting we had heard about the work Network Rail plan to do on the bridge, which local people are concerned will reduce visibility. The forum members also asked for their concerns on this and the need for the completion of the pavement to be raised with the Chair of the Planning, Transport and Strategic Environment Committee.

Church Road bridge wins award

The new Church Road bridge has picked up a Prime Minister's Better Building Award in the category of Civil Engineering Project of the Year (up to £10m).

The new bridge is one of the first in the UK to be made from layers of glass and carbon fibres bound together with a tough resin in a process more commonly seen in advanced passenger aircraft manufacturing. The materials used are resistant to frost, extreme temperatures and de-icing salts that can cause problems in steel and concrete bridges, and require no painting or waterproofing. It is estimated that this could reduce the bridge’s maintenance costs by up to 35 per cent over its 120-year lifetime. It also needed less time to install than a conventional bridge.

New Post Office opens

Postman Pat joined Paul's Place founder Kath Aldom and former MP Steve Webb to officially open the new Post Office in Village Roots (the NISA store) this morning.

Steve thanked Edwina and her team for their efforts and joked that in 18 years as an MP he never opened anything that wasn't already actually open so this was a world first. Kath Aldom talked passionately about the importance of community and supporting local businesses.

It was then time for the official ribbon cutting. Pat was rather too tall for the Post Office area but gamely knelt down to pose for pictures. Then Kath cut the ribbon and it was open for business. One of the services the new post office will be offering is passports - and Dave was their first customer.

Apologies to anyone who expected the opening to be at 1pm as advertised. Unfortunately it was changed at the last minute. If you were hoping to meet Postman Pat there is another chance to see him on Saturday 19th September between 2pm and 3pm.

Don't forget - new Post Office opening on Monday

The shop fitting is all completed at Village Roots (the NISA) and the new Post Office will officially open for business at 1pm on Monday (14th September).

Edited: It will now be opening at 11am. Kath Aldom, founder of Paul's Place, will officially open it and Postman Pat will be there too.

Church Road bridge latest

Unfortunately the council is still waiting for BT to remove their last cables from the temporary bridge. Once they have done that council workers can take that structure down and tidy up the verges and the river bank. At that time they will also sort out the copings and a couple of other minor snagging items like the mastic seals in the parapet walls. Officers will continue to push BT for a date for them to complete.

Tonight (Thursday 2nd April) officers are due to carry out a load test on the bridge, starting at 10pm to minimise traffic disruption. The purpose of the load test is to gather performance data to compare with predicted structural performance. The University of Bristol want the information for their academic research which will then eventually feedback in to the industry and help promote the use of these Fibre Reinforced Polymer structures.

The test is not being carried out because officers have any concerns over the bridge.

The test will be carried out under traffic signals but there may be some delays to motorists for a few minutes while lorries run slowly across the bridge and the strain gauges, accelerometers and deflection sensors collect the data.

STOP PRESS - Church Road lights removed

The resurfacing and road markings on the new Church Road bridge have now been completed and the traffic lights removed just before 6pm this evening. Pedestrian facilities will be reinstated in the next couple of days.

Church Road bridge update

Residents will be delighted to know that work on the demolition and replacement of the bridge is due to complete on target by 30 November ready for reopening to 2 way traffic on Monday 1 December.

The seven utility companies have taken turns to divert their services from bypassing the bridge to going over it following the closure over the school summer holidays. The pavements are now being reconstructed prior to the final surface being laid for the road and white lining replaced.

Thankfully the  new composite bridge deck has a 120 year life.

Update on lights on Church Road

Council Officers have been checking and observing the situation with the Church Road bridge traffic signals. There is no fault on the sensors. They are still of the view that the problems have occurred when heavy traffic is accompanied by a vehicle crossing on red. The sensor then reacts by going into "safe mode" which reduces the the green time on the following cycles.
 

If after monitoring the situation this evening they believe the problem will continue they will be switching the signals to manual during peak periods on Monday.

Church Road bridge latest

We are aware there has been a traffic light problem on the bridge works on Church Road. Pat Hockey is investigating.

The road works have been extremely frustrating for local people. We've made sure officers are aware of this and they have given us an update on the schedule. They are currently planning for the footways and carriageways to be completely reinstated and final surfacing complete by the 30th November 2014.

Some people have commented that they are not seeing much work happening. Officers say they are coordinating a complicated set of third party activities, tying in with the utility company programmes, so there may be periods where it would appear nothing is happening. South Glos are also working on the site but not always in the sight lines of other road users. It is to everyone’s advantage to get the job completed and for the council to get off site as delays mean cost.

Church Road bridge on track

The Church Road bridge works are currently on track to be completed by the end of November. Most of the council works are completed and the various utility companies now need to re-divert all their apparatus before the footways and road can be resurfaced.

Safer Stronger Community Group on Wednesday

If you live in Frampton Cotterell, Westerleigh, Coalpit Heath or Iron Acton, why not come along to the next Safer Stronger Community Group meeting on Wednesday 24th September 2014 at 7.30pm in St Saviours Church Hall, Coalpit Heath (BS36 2RP)? There will be updates from Avon Fire and Rescue and the police and a chance to raise issues in your community.

Ancient and Modern in Harmony

The plans for the demolition and replacement of Church Road bridge were first discussed about 3 years ago soon after the weight limit had been reduced due to the corrosion of the steel reinforcements under the bridge deck.

Cllrs Pat and Dave Hockey insisted right from the start that when the parapets were taken down the stones must be stored and reused to rebuild them.

The Frampton Cotterell councillors said, "We know how strongly local residents feel about loss of local pennant stone walls and the need to retain them. When we consulted widely across Frampton Cotterell and Coalpit Heath to enable the Village Design Statement to be put together, it was clear that residents treasure the local cottages, houses, schools, hat factories and boundary walls that are built using local stone."

"We are delighted that the new, high tech composite bridge deck will be enclosed between parapets rebuilt with the original local stone. When work on the bridge is completed later this year it will look the same as it did before the bridge was demolished. This is especially important as the bridge is close to the Grade 2* listed Saint Peters Church.”

The photo shows Lee Hodge from Streetcare working on the reconstruction of one of the stone parapets on Church Road bridge.

Church Road opens on time

Church Road reopened to through traffic Sunday night following the bridge installation on 24th August. Well done to the team for getting it open in time for the new school term. All the bus services have reverted to their normal routes.  Temporary traffic lights will be in place while final works are carried out to redivert utility cables and complete the bridge parapets. It’s anticipated that the bridge will reopen fully in late November.

South Glos has also started reinstating the street lights on the pedestrian refuges on Badminton Road, which were removed so the bridge could be brought through. The 30 repeater signs that were attached to them won't be going back as they are no longer lawful signage.

News flash - Church Road to reopen Sunday night

We've been informed this afternoon that Church Road is to reopen on Sunday night.

All the civil engineering work has been completed today. The road surface is temporary until the various utility companies have re-diverted their apparatus, following which the final surface course will be laid (which will also take into account surrounding defective areas).

Temporary vehicle restraint barriers and 3-way lights shall be installed on Sunday night, at which point the road can then be re-opened, estimated to be around midnight. The vehicle messaging signs will automatically update to say "Church Road now open" at midnight.

All ready for the new school term on Monday - well done to all involved.