Fancy some star-gazing?

A stargazing evening has been organised by conservation groups in Chipping Sodbury and Yate to give local people the opportunity to learn more about the sky at night.

The free event will start at 7pm on Tuesday 29 September in the Watkins Room, Old Grammar School, High Street, Chipping Sodbury.

The evening will begin with a presentation by Callum Potter of the Cotswold Astronomy Society. If the skies are clear participants will then proceed to the wildflower meadow on St John’s Park estate to view the night sky, at approximately 8pm. People wishing to attend the viewing of the night sky without attending the presentation should meet at the River Frome bridge on Wickwar Road at this time.

The event, which is supported by South Gloucestershire Council, is open to all. Budding stargazers should bring along their own binoculars or telescopes if they have them. In the event of thick cloud the evening will be restricted to the presentation in the Watkins Room.

For more information please contact Chris Giles at South Gloucestershire Council on 01454 863725.

Nibley Lane closed on 23 September

Nibley Lane will be closed on 23 September 2009 between 9.30am and 2.30pm for street cleansing and drainage maintenance. Access to properties will be maintained during the works.

Help say "No" to Windmill Green

If you would like to help protect the fields next to Park Farm from disappearing under 220 houses and flats, offices and a shop, please sign our petition. You can also let one of the Focus Team know by phone, email or letter that you would like your opposition to the proposed building put on record.

If you are available on October 20th/21st, you might also like to attend the Public Inquiry in The Ship, Alveston and even speak against the development.

Pat Hockey is representing the Parish Council at the Inquiry. She and others will be discussing how to make the most impact at the Inquiry at Frampton Cotterell Parish Council Planning Committee meetings on Monday October 5th and 19th in the Brockeridge Centre at 7.30pm. Please come along for further information, to let us know if you are going to help or have any suggestions – or contact us.

Changes to local bus services

First have announced changes to some of the local bus services with effect from 27 September.

Timetables for the X42 and 342 services have been adjusted to reduce some journey times, notably in the late evening when journeys have been decreased by just under ten minutes (end to end).

First's website says that on "Service X27 the timetable has been altered slightly to improve punctuality and reliability" - the only change we can see is that they have altered an ingoing stop in Bristol, so the X27 will now drop off at The Haymarket (Stop Rg) instead of Bond Street (Stop B).

Local bus timetables are available on the South Glos bus timetable web page - if a service has changed, the new is shown as "from 27 Sept 2009 until further notice".

Some relief for overcrowded Yate rail passengers

First Great Western is putting an extra carriage on an overcrowded morning service from Yate via Filton Abbey Wood and Bristol Parkway to Bristol Temple Meads. From December there will be three carriages on a re-timed train at 8.16 am, instead of just two carriages at 8.09 am.

This follows a campaign by the Friends of Yate Station and Steve Webb MP, who took a senior First GW manager on the train to show how overcrowded it was.

This still leaves an overcrowding problem in the evening service back from Temple Meads.

Steve Webb described the changes as just a small step forward and commented "It's good news but we need three carriages on all peak services. We also need to be confident that trains will always turn up. They should also be running with greater frequency."

So how about it, First Great Western? You'll be able to take some people into Bristol but you won't be able to bring them back. That's not exactly integrated thinking.

For more details see the Evening Post report here.

Waste plan - more detail on Yate

The West of England Partnership, made up of the four unitary authorities covering the old Avon area, is currently developing a plan setting out where waste facilities should be sited. Earlier in the year, we expressed concern that no specific site was stated for Yate, making it hard for local people to comment. They have now published a document that identifies a "Strategic Area" within Yate and they would like your views on it by 1st October. Contact details can be found on this page.

Frome Vale Area Forum tonight

The Frome Vale Area Forum starts at 7pm tonight (Thursday 11th September) in Frampton Cotterell Primary School. There will be an open session for you to raise issues that concern you, an update on the new Yate Community Health Centre and Southmead redevelopment, and the committee will allocate capital grants.