Update on Dodington Parish part-night lighting

During the recent consultation on part-night lighting in Dodington Parish, local councillor Claire Young queried the accident record at the junction where the road to Chipping Sodbury meets the B4465 by Wayleaze Cottages.

Officers checked the accident records and have confirmed that although there have been 2 loss of control personal injury accidents at the junction since January 2010, both were in the daytime (and in wet conditions). They will therefore be including the lights there in the part-night lighting scheme as there is no road safety reason not to do so.

Get involved in decisions

The latest meeting of the Frome Vale Area Forum is this Thursday, 11th July, at 7pm in the Shire Way Community Centre. Come along and have your say on a range of topics.

South Glos is currently reviewing how it works with residents, community groups and Parish Councils to involve them in making decisions and tackling local issues. You can have your say on the council's website. The results will help shape the future of Safer Stronger Community Groups and Area Forums.

Woodlands Farm refused

Objectors outside the council offices

This afternoon the Development Control (West) Committee unanimously refused the Barratt Homes' application to build on land at Woodlands Farm, Coalpit Heath.

Local councillor Claire Young said, "Thank you to all who came to the meeting today and to everyone who has turned out at the many events to show their opposition to these plans. A special thank you to Richard Merrick for leading the action group and all those members of the group who have helped spread the word and demonstrate just how strongly local people feel."

Barratt Homes now have the option to appeal against the decision. We will of course keep you informed if this happens.

Steve Webb MP with objectors at the site

Woodlands Farm - read the officer's report

You can now see the agenda for next Thursday’s committee meeting online - or you can follow this link directly to the report on Woodlands Farm. The officer is recommending refusal.

If you are planning to attend the meeting, please get there early to find parking (the Castle Street car park is the nearest, there is a pedestrian route through Stokes Close, you don't have to walk round via the road). The Gazette will be taking a photo outside the Council offices at around 2.10pm. The actual meeting starts at 2.30pm.

If transport is a problem, let us know, we've already had one offer of a lift.

Woodlands Farm will be decided on 4th July

Officers have confirmed that the Development Control (West) planning committee will determine the Woodlands Farm planning application on Thursday 4^th July. The meeting is in the council chamber at Thornbury Council Offices and starts at 2.30pm. We know for some of you that will be a difficult time of day to attend a meeting, but if you are free a big turnout would show the committee just how strongly local people feel about this application.

It’s worth getting there early so that you can find parking (there is a path through from the Castle Street car park into Stokefield Close). If you can offer a lift to someone or need a lift yourself let Claire Young know and she will try to match people up. 

Check back next week for a link to the papers for the meeting so you can read the officer’s report to the committee.

Westerleigh traffic calming update

Claire Young recently asked officers for another update on the Westerleigh traffic calming scheme. The new speed limit signs should have gone in during May but they didn’t. Claire has asked officers to chase this up.

As we previously reported, the installation of the speed table and the road narrowings at the entrances to the village was delayed due to objections to the speed table. Officers are currently writing a report to go to the 4th September meeting of the committee responsible for transport so that they can decide whether or not the scheme is implemented. If you would like to attend the committee to speak on the proposals, the details are here:

http://council.southglos.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=399&MId=6601&Ver=4

If you use an electronic diary, you can download the appointment from there. A week beforehand the committee papers will be published at that url, so you can see what the officer’s report says.

Getting on with going green

The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change joined 10s of 1000s of other visitors to the West of England this weekend to mark the start of Bristol Green Week. Ed Davey MP (pictured right) was the keynote speaker at the Green Liberal Democrat (GLD) conference, Getting on with Going Green, held at UWE and timed to coincide with the environmental festival. The GLD conference attendees included academics, industry leaders and political activists.

Energy & Climate Change Secretary, Ed Davey, said: "It’s great to be here for the Green Liberal Democrats Conference. It provides me with a valuable opportunity to listen carefully to delegates’ views on how we ‘get on with going green’. This year’s focus on delivering the green agenda is timely, and comes at a time when the Liberal Democrats in Government are making unprecedented progress.

The Energy Bill has passed the Commons stages and the overwhelming support it received sends out a clear message we are taking action to keep the lights on, create cleaner energy and green jobs, and keep consumers’ bills down.

GLD Conference volunteer co-organiser Mary Page said, "We have worked hard to bring together environmental and sustainability professionals from both academia and industry to provide expert information to Lib Dem policy makers."

"We did this because we believe, not that Lib Dems in government aren't trying hard enough to implement green policies but that they are doing so against very solid resistance. This means Lib Dem MPs and party policy makers need the GLD & other environmentalists actively engaged in the design, creation and evolution of policies which will help produce a strong green economy in a fair and sustainable society."

Local councillor Claire Young, who attended the conference, said, "It was a fantastic opportunity to share ideas and raise issues with those at the heart of Government and learn from experts in the field."

"We know that the cost of energy is a concern for people locally. Nationally, the Lib Dems are delivering schemes like the Green Deal, which will help people boost the energy efficiency of their homes. Here in South Gloucestershire too we have been pushing for measures to help people. Earlier in the week we won cross-party backing to fund a Switch and Save scheme, using the power of collective buying to cut energy bills, and to kick start a community energy co-op. Community energy offers people a share in the profits of local renewable energy installations and gives us a chance to break away from the dominance of the big six energy providers."