Special Needs and Disability advice

Supportive Parents provides the Special Educational Needs & Disability Information, Advice and Support (SENDIAS) Service in South Gloucestershire, as well as Bristol and North Somerset.  They are an independent organisation offering free, confidential and impartial advice to parents, children or any young person aged 16 – 25, about SEND. You can find out more on their website.

Night time closures of Nibley Lane

For five nights from 6th November, Nibley Lane between Badminton Road and Westerleigh Road will be closed between 9pm and 6.30am for roadworks.

Housing plans - Coalpit Heath and Yate area

The housing plans for our area made it into the Bristol Post earlier this week - but what they didn't make clear is that this is not a done deal. There is still a chance to have your say.

What the draft Joint Spatial Plan (JSP) says

You can read the full draft JSP here. The key points for Coalpit Heath are:

• Around 1,800 new homes by 2036
• Up to 5ha of employment land
• Vehicular access off Badminton Road/Frog Lane, Roundways and Woodside Road
• New local centre including one, possibly two, primary schools, a local retail outlet and community facility
• Contributions to a new or expanded secondary school in the wider area

In the Yate area it proposes:

• A minimum of 2,000 homes, with at least 1,000 to be built by 2036, to the north west of Yate, stretching round from Engine Common to Nibley.
• New employment land west of Yate, stretching from the Badminton Road down to the double railway arches on the edge of Westerleigh.

The site to the south of Chipping Sodbury is now being held as "contingency" - so if homes aren't being built quickly enough elsewhere, it could be released at one of the 5-yearly reviews of the plan. Planners say around 1,500 homes could be built here, up to 775 before 2036. The site to the north of St John's Way is now considered to be too small to be a strategic development location, but developers have already put forward plans for part of it.

Transport

The developments at Coalpit Heath and north west and west of Yate would be expected to provide or contribute to a strategic transport package including:

• Metrobus extension to Yate and Chipping Sodbury
• A432 Park and Ride
• Yate Rail Station enhancement
• Winterbourne and Frampton Cotterell Bypass
• strategic cycle route
• local bus services. 

The Yate development would also be likely to require an on-site rail crossing and a new rail bridge across Nibley Lane. There is no mention of a Yate link road to any new motorway junction.

Chances to speak up

The JSP is currently going through a process of being approved for consultation. Members of the action group VALID and your local Focus Team attended the Infrastructure Board meeting on Monday to speak and will be in action again at the West of England Joint Committee meeting in Bath this coming Monday.

There will also be chances to speak at both the South Gloucestershire Cabinet meeting at 2pm on 6th November and the Council meeting at 7pm on 8th November (both at Kingswood Civic Centre).

Have your say in the consultation

If the consultation goes ahead, it's expected to run from 22nd November to 10th January. When it starts, we'll let you know how to have your say.

Housing plans - Buckover, Charfield and Thornbury

The housing plans for our area made it into the Bristol Post earlier this week - but what they didn't make clear is that this is not a done deal. There is still a chance to have your say.

What the draft Joint Spatial Plan (JSP) says

You can read the full draft JSP here. The key points are:

• Around 3,000 homes would be provided in a new garden village at Buckover, with at least 1,500 of them being delivered by 2036.
• Around 1,200 homes in a number of developments at Charfield
• Another 500 homes at Thornbury before 2036 plus around 5ha of additional employment land on land at Crossways east of Morton Way

Transport

All of these developments would make financial contributions towards local and strategic transportation schemes, including potentially:

• M5 J14 improvements
• Charfield rail station re-opening
• local bus service improvements
• local highway, foot and cycle improvements.

Buckover and Thornbury developments would also contribute towards:

• Metrobus Extension to Thornbury & Buckover Garden Village
• A38(N) Park & Ride

It says in the policy for Buckover that "Consideration will also be required to ensure the A38 can continue to act as an effective relief road to the M5 without detriment to the new resident’s health & wellbeing."

The Charfield developments would also contribute towards "a comprehensive Wotton Road environmental enhancement scheme, new and improved foot and cycle connections through the village and to key local destinations such as Renishaws, KLB school and Wotton-under-Edge, and including a new Charfield circular public right of way route".

Chances to speak up

The JSP is currently going through a process of being approved for consultation. Members of the action group TRAPP'D and your local Focus Team attended the Infrastructure Board meeting on Monday to speak and will be in action again at the West of England Joint Committee meeting in Bath this coming Monday.

There will also be chances to speak at both the South Gloucestershire Cabinet meeting at 2pm on 6th November and the Council meeting at 7pm on 8th November (both at Kingswood Civic Centre).

Have your say in the consultation

If the consultation goes ahead, it's expected to run from 22nd November to 10th January. When it starts, we'll let you know how to have your say.

Have your say on access to GPs

Concerns were raised at a recent meeting of the Health Scrutiny Committee that some people find it more difficult than others to access GP and other healthcare services. This could depend on appointment booking systems, public transport, how rural the area they live in is and how close they are to a boundary with another council area.

Healthwatch has agreed to undertake a piece of research on the committee's behalf to find out people’s experiences of accessing GP services. You can share your experiences at:

http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/tcfsurveyhominoid/your-gp-healthwatch-sglos/

If you would like to discuss the survey with someone from Healthwatch, please call 01454 543 402.

Worried about someone sleeping rough?

If you are worried about someone sleeping rough, you can use Streetlink to inform the local council of your concerns. They can then visit the rough sleeper to offer them support and try to help them find accommodation.

You will also find advice on Streetlink's site about where to find help for someone at risk of becoming homeless.

STOP PRESS - Draft Joint Spatial Plan published

The latest Draft Joint Spatial Plan has been published. You can read it here.

The plans include:

• 1,800 new homes at Coalpit Heath
• 1,000 homes plus employment land on the edge of Yate, at Engine Common, Nibley and down to Westerleigh
• 1,200 at Charfield
• 1,500 at a new garden village at Buckover
• 500 at Thornbury

We will keep you updated and will let you know how to have your say when the consultation starts.