Have your say on how the council helps keep our communities safe

South Glos is asking for your views on the future of its Community Safety and Anti-social behaviour team. You can find out more and have your say here until the 24th December.

Meeting with officials over smell in Westerleigh

Unfortunately after several years when the odour problems in Westerleigh had improved, in recent weeks there have been some significant issues, including a recurrence of smells via the sewers. Claire Young has been in contact with the Environment Agency and Wessex Water and will be meeting officials next week to discuss the next steps.

Don't forget the Environment Agency advice if an incident occurs. They ask you to:

• Contact Dominic Sugrue of Tulip in the first instance (0117 957 6056, Dominic.Sugrue@tulipltd.co.uk) . Tulip are obliged to investigate, they must also record details of the complaint and their response. This information can be audited by the Environment Agency.
• If the odour persists and the response is unsatisfactory, please also report the odour to the Agency’s hotline (0800 80 70 60).

It really is important to report incidents as and when they happen, to give the best chance of resolving the problem.

Wooden structure at 20 Boundary Road approved

The large wooden structure in the garden of 20 Boundary Road and the fence was approved by the planning committee this afternoon.

More road works on Badminton Road?

It's good to see Badminton Road being patched, despite the resulting queues caused by the temporary lights. However it now appears that Wales and West Utilities will be adding to the chaos with Stop/Go boards around the Oakwood Gardens junction from 9th to 13th October. Claire has contacted the Street Works team to find out more.

Warning from the police

At last week's Safer and Stronger Community Group meeting, local beat manager PC Finbar Simmons warned people about a series of dwelling burglaries that have happened in Bristol. The properties are being attacked due to the nature of their exterior door handle - a paddle / stub exterior door handle.

The design is that once the door is shut you cannot open the door again from the outside using the paddle / stub handle on the exterior. Victims they believe that once the door is closed that means their door is locked and their home is secure. This is not the case. These doors are still easily opened and this is why burglars are specifically targeting homes with these handles.

The 2 methods of entry of burglars are as follows:

1. They put their hand in through the letterbox and use a stick or pole to knock down the interior door handle, which then opens the door. If the door was locked using the key, and the key is still in the door, some offenders hook the key out of the lock and use it to unlock the door from the outside.
2. They place a small screwdriver / bradawl in at lock height which disengages the releaser of the lock, which then makes the exterior handle work and the door can be opened. This style leaves very little visible damage to the door, and can only be seen upon very close inspection.

If the victims used their keys to lock the doors and took the keys out of the lock, then offenders could not break in using the above methods.

Victims also believe that by lifting the interior door handle that means the door is locked. Again this is not the case, it purely engages the lever hooks into the frame, but once the offender disengages the releaser in the lock using a tool, this allows the offender to open the door using the exterior door handle as the mortice lock has not been locked using the door key.

Cycle path update

Due to land issues, plans for spending this year's funding for the Yate Spur cycle path have had to be rejigged. Instead of working on the part from Kidney Hill up to Broad Lane, highways officials are bringing forward improvements to Broad Lane track, which weather permitting will have started this week. They also hope to do work on a couple of other sections. Local councillor Claire Young will be meeting officers next week to find out more.

Engage Festival next Saturday

The Engage festival runs from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 17 October 2015 at WISE Campus, Filton. It celebrates the diversity of cultures across South Gloucestershire’s communities, through food, performances and activities. More information, including a timetable of events, is available online.