Temporary Park Lane closure in October

Park Lane, Kendleshire is expected to be closed between A432 Badminton Road and the junction with Heather Avenue for 5 days from 6th October 2014. This is so that work can be carried out on overhead electricity cables. It could be longer if the work requires it. The alternative route will be via Heather Avenue and Beesmoor Road.

Dairy farm building application to be decided next Thursday

Plans to build a dairy farm building next to the wind turbine south of the B4465 at Wapley will go before the DC (East) planning committee next Thursday (28th August). The meeting starts at 3pm in Kingswood and the agenda and the officer's report on the dairy farm are available online. The officer’s recommendation is just that – a recommendation. It is the members of the committee who will make the decision on the day. As always, both supporters and objectors have a 5 minute slot in which to address the committee, so if there are lots of people it's worth nominating a spokesperson to speak on everyone's behalf. The local ward member, Claire Young, has a separate opportunity to speak.

X27 bus service withdrawn

Back in March we reported that starting in April First Bus would be running a commercial service, the X46, to replace the subsidised X27 that Wessex had been running.The X46 only runs as far as Bristol bus station, not to Anchor Road.

At the time Wessex said they would continue to run the X27 as a commercial service, but with reduced frequency. However they have now announced that they are withdrawing the X27 service from 31st August.

First are amending the timetable for the 46/X46, including introducing an earlier 06:25 service from Yate arriving in Bristol at 07:17. You can find more information about bus timetables on the Traveline South West website.

Check your smoke detector

Have you had a smoke detector fitted by Avon Fire and Rescue service? Unfortunately there was a faulty batch. If you test your smoke detector and find it isn't working please call the fire service on 0800 1412561 or email technicalsupport@fireangel.co.uk for advice. The fire service can't give a definite timescale for when the faulty ones were fitted, but the problems to date relate to some that were fitted more than 6 months ago.


Of course regardless of who fitted your smoke detectors, it's worth checking them regularly.

Have your say on Private Sector Housing services

The council is currently consulting on proposals which will affect the work of Private Sector Housing services as it looks to save £168,000 a year (approx. 24%) from its budget by 2015/16 as part of the council’s savings programme.

Services that could be affected include:

• Disabled adaptations
• Enforcement of housing standards
• Empty homes
• Home energy conservation
• Home renovations
• Licensing of houses of multiple occupation
• Landlord accreditation 

You can find out more at  www.southglos.gov.uk/psh and you have until 10th October to comment.

Let's close the cycle path “missing link” - please sign our petition

Cllr Paul Hulbert and bike with Cllr Claire Young
and petition forms. The existing cycle path ends abruptly
near the Kidney Hill junction on Westerleigh Road.

Liberal Democrat Focus Team councillors have launched a petition to gather support for a project to close the “missing link” on the cycle path from Yate and Westerleigh to Bristol and Bath.

At the moment there is a link from the Bristol-Bath Railway Path – the “M1” of the national cycling network – but it stops south of Westerleigh.

South Glos has been awarded some government money from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund. The cycle path project was part of the bid, but as ever not enough money has been awarded to do everything. The council will be deciding which projects should go ahead next March.

South Glos Cllr Claire Young said “I am regularly contacted by cyclists wanting to know when this path will be finished. We're know there's strong support for the missing link and we hope to show that with this petition”

Dodington Parish Councillor Paul Hulbert said “I’ve been campaigning for a decent cycle link to the Bristol East Fringe for many years. This path would allow local people to get to the Emerson's Green Science Park, the nearby retail and distribution centres and many more employment and education opportunities”

The petition is available online at http://tinyurl.com/cyclelink. Paper copies are available from Paul by emailing paul.hulbert@gmail.com.

Don't lose your vote

By the end of this month, you should receive a letter from South Glos Council telling you if you need to take action to join the new Electoral Register.

Most people who are currently registered have been added to the new register automatically, and the letter will let you know if this applies to you. Some people have not been added to the new register automatically and these people will need to re-register. The letter will tell you if you are in this group, and what you need to do to re-register.

The letters are a result of a new registration system called Individual Electoral Registration (IER). The aim is to modernise the way people register to vote and help tackle electoral fraud. You may need to take action to join the new individual electoral register, even if you are currently registered to vote.

Under the new system:

• everyone is responsible for registering themselves (under the old system the ‘head of household’ could register everyone who lived at their address) 
• you can now register online 
• you need to provide a few more details to register (your national insurance number and date of birth). This is to make the electoral register more secure. These details are checked against government records to help make sure that registrations are genuine. 

If you're not on the electoral register, you won't be able to vote in next year's elections. You could also be at risk of an £80 fine if you don't respond to requests for information from the council and you need to be registered to apply for credit, as credit reference agencies use the register to prevent fraud.

If you are a South Gloucestershire resident and you haven’t received a registration letter by the end of August then please contact the electoral services team by calling 01454 863030 or by emailing electoral.services@southglos.gov.uk If you need to register or re-register please visit www.gov.uk/register-to-vote