Thornbury EcoFair

If you are interested in all things eco-friendly, why not attend the Thornbury EcoFair between 10am and 4pm on Saturday 19th May at The Chantry in Castle Street, Thornbury. You can find more information on the Sustainable Thornbury website.

Drop-in to discuss Westerleigh traffic calming proposals

A number of issues were raised during the consultation on the traffic calming proposals for Shorthill Road and Westerleigh Road in Westerleigh. Officers are now going to hold a drop-in session from 5pm-7pm on Monday 14th May in Westerleigh Village Hall so that people can discuss their concerns face-to-face with them.

As well as giving residents a chance to discuss these plans, officers will also bring along the latest plans for the Mangotsfield to Yate cycle path, which will involve other road safety improvements in the village of Westerleigh. You can read more about progress on this on our sister blog.

After the drop-in, officers will stay on to answer questions on the plans at the start of the Annual Parish Meeting.

482/483 bus service changes

The current operator of the 482 and 483 bus services, from Chipping Sodbury to Cribbs Causeway via Coalpit Heath and Frampton Cotterell among others, had announced that they no longer intended to operate the service from 20 May, as the services were no longer commercially viable. Following an emergency tender, Wessex Connect will now run the service for a year with increased journeys in the afternoon peak times.

Capital grants available for community and voluntary groups

South Glos Council's capital grants scheme are now open for bids, with a deadline of 11 June for applications to be submitted.

Voluntary and community groups in South Gloucestershire can apply for help with the cost of capital projects such as buying or enhancing buildings or purchasing new equipment, machinery or vehicles.

A total of £125,000 is available to projects that benefit South Gloucestershire residents, with funding mainly available to smaller projects costing no more than £3,000. Decisions on funding will be made at the Area Forum in September.

Further information on the scheme is available at www.southglos.gov.uk/communitygrants.

Ram Hill Colliery Open Day - Sunday 6th May

The Friends of Ram Hill Colliery are holding an open day from 10am-4.30pm tomorrow (Sunday 6th May). If you would be interested in joining them as a volunteer, why not go along to their AGM on at 7.30pm on Wednesday 16th May in the Miner's Institute (Coalpit Heath Village Hall).

Park Lane temporary closure

Park Lane is expected to be closed (except for access) from its junction with Heather Avenue to its junction with Badminton Road (A432) from 09.30am - 12.30pm on Wednesday 25th April to allow work on the railway bridge to be carried out.

Cycleway link - new planning application "The Fishing Lakes Link"

South Glos Council has submitted planning application no. PT12/0895/R3F for an 800 metre length of cyclepath parallel with Westerleigh Rd, from its junction with Kidney Hill to the Green Lane that leads towards the Railway Path at Coxgrove Hill. This would avoid the "pinch point" under the motorway at the rail depot, and give a more direct route in due course to Emersons Green.

See the South Glos website for details - look under Documents, then "The Fishing Lakes Link" for full details in a very understandable form. If you wish to make a comment it has to be in by 17 April.
This is an extension of the Yate to Railway Path cycle link already planned. To get direct to Emersons Green, a further link would be needed via Lyde Green - there's no planning application for that at the moment. Also, although this application includes pictures of a revised route for the Yate to Railway Path cycle link around Broad Lane, that will be covered by a separate planning application at a later date.

Incidentally, the Joint Cycleways Group meeting due on 17 April has been postponed because the representatives from Sodbury Town Council can't make it. They're trying to reschedule for early May. We will report here after the meeting.