Young film makers in Yate premiere

South Gloucestershire Council is premiering two short films created by young people from the St Nicholas Youth Centre in Yate.

The films examine the lives and aspirations of young people in the area and were made in conjunction with artist Vivi Stamatatos. The films, which premier at 2pm on Saturday 30 January at Yate library with the film makers in attendance, were commissioned by the Council’s Arts Development Service for display at the refurbished library on its new plasma screens.

Road to Somewhere looks at the change in youth culture through generations, contrasting the experiences of young people today with that of their parents who were growing up in the 1980s.

What Catherine Did Next looks at the life choices, hopes and aspirations of young people living in Yate. Both films were entirely scripted and acted by the young people themselves.

For further information, please contact Alison Catlin, Arts Development Officer on 01454 865835.

Come and hear Paddy!

Thornbury and Yate Liberal Democrats

invite you to come and hear

Paddy Ashdown

on Thursday 4th February

in Thornbury Leisure Centre at 8pm.

Paddy will discuss the political situation at home and abroad, as well as his experience as a Royal Marine, a Diplomat, and Lib Dem Leader for ten years. There will also be a chance to put your questions to him.

Entry is free but if you intend to come it would be helpful if you could let Thornbury and Yate Liberal Democrats know on steve@stevewebb.org.uk or by phoning Steve Webb’s local office on 01454 322100.

Please print this blogpost and bring it along as your ticket, and invite your friends to come along too.

Published, promoted and printed by Clive Parkinson on behalf of 
Steve Webb (Liberal Democrat) Poole Court, Poole Court Drive, BS37 5PP

Important news on bin collections

From Monday 25 January ALL collections (including black and green wheeled bins and green box recycling) will revert to the normal published days.

If all the confusion caused by Christmas and the bad weather has left you wondering which week you're on, you can check your collection dates online. Where collections have been delayed, SITA will collect reasonable amounts of side waste.

For this week (18 January - 22 January), green bin collections are still suspended and SITA is running approximately one week late on black bin and recycling collections. The advice for this week is still to put your containers out as per the holiday calendar and SITA will get to them as soon as they can.

Celebrating age - opportunies for community groups

South Gloucestershire Council, Age Concern, the Senior Citizens Forum and Southern Brooks Community Partnership are staging the first South Gloucestershire Spring Into Life Festival – A Celebration of Age. This festival will open on Saturday 10th April with an event at Patchway Community Centre, and closes on 23rd April with an event at Cadbury Heath Community Centre.

Community Groups and Organisations can:
• bid for up to £300 to put on their own event, with the deadline for applications being Tuesday 9th February 2010
• be included in the Active Directory in return for waiving fees for those new members attending during the festival
• run an activity or session at either the Patchway or Cadbury Heath event

For more information on bidding for funds or running an activity at the opening or closing events, please contact Denise.swain@southglos.gov.uk by Tuesday 9th February 2010. For publicising ongoing events, please contact David.dowding@southglos.gov.uk by 31st January.

Shire Way resurfacing - further update

The major resurfacing work due for the lower end of Shire Way was delayed yet again because of the snow.

It has now been rescheduled to start on Monday 18 January, and to be complete by Wednesday 27 January. Temporary traffic lights will be in operation.

This will be a full-scale excavate and resurface process similar to what was done on the other part of Shire Way.

It will not be the same as the thin coating that was put on Heron Way, about which there were many complaints at the Area Forum at the Shireway Community Centre recently - the road at Heron Way was open when surfacing was going on, and cars damaged the soft surface.

Community Transport lifeline in the snow

Excellent story on the Gazette website - instead of picking pensioners up to go shopping, drivers for Yate, sodbury and District Community Transport have been delivering essential groceries to those stuck inside their own homes.

On days when the schools have been closed so they didn't have to run the schools contracts, Community Transport drivers have been collecting groceries for pensioners and people with mobility problems. The most popular items have been basics like bread, milk and soup.

The Ring and Ride service has still been operating but cannot get up some of the icy streets, so anyone who requires help with their shopping during the cold weather should call Yate and District Community Transport on 0845 2410985 or 01454 228706.

Snow safety - safe igloo and snowmen!

A "safe snow" theme seems to be emerging today:

Beware of the building site - this igloo warns "Unauthorised entry to this site is strictly prohibited... Safety helmets must be worn"

And these safety-conscious young ladies have a snowman first-aider with his flourescent jacket. This clever group of snowmen always has two or three faces looking at you, whichever direction you approach it from.

Snow News 7 - South Glos website running normally again

The South Glos website is now running normally again, with the snow information all linked from the Severe Weather page.

Snow News 6 - South Glos website service reduced

Due to very heavy demand access to the South Glos website has been reduced, so some of our previous links don't work.

Schools closures are now on the main South Glos web page

Snow 2.0 - websites for the technically inclined

Yes, it just hit us again. We thought geekier readers might like these links:

Rain and snow precipitation radar map (enter town or postcode in left hand column to centre map)

Twitter map updated from #uksnow tweets 

Up to 1.7m pensioners will miss out on Cold Weather Payments - Steve Webb

Up to 1.7m pensioners will miss out on Cold Weather Payments triggered by the recent weather, according to analysis of Government figures by the Liberal Democrats.

Cold Weather Payments of £25 a week are paid to people on low incomes who receive a qualifying benefit, such as Pension Credit, which goes unclaimed by as many as 1.7m pensioners.

Commenting on the Liberal Democrats website, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Steve Webb said:

“It is a scandal that pensioners on the breadline are missing out on these payments, worth an estimated £42.5m.

“Fuel prices are at an all time high, making Cold Weather Payments all the more important to people already struggling on a poverty pension.

“Labour has failed pensioners by creating a complicated system that makes it difficult for them to get the help they desperately need.

“The Government should be making every effort to identify pensioners who are missing out and get them this extra cash.”

Thin ice warning

Children and young people have been seen walking on the ice at Kingsgate Park Lake, Yate.

The ice is very thin, and an unexpected fall into icy water can be fatal even if it's shallow.

Parents, please warn your children about this.

Snow News 5 - latest on rubbish collections / useful South Glos links

Theoretically SITA are aiming to restart rubbish collections on Monday (11 January) but this is very weather-dependent. The priority will now be the black bin collections. Full details here:

• South Glos rubbish and recycling arrangements

Most schools opened yesterday, but there were some exceptions. Watch this page for further updates:

• South Glos schools snow arrangements

For general South Glos snow announcements and updates on bus services please see:

• South Glos severe weather and bus page
  

These pages change quite frequently, particularly the schools one. To make sure that your computer displays the latest version, press Refresh (F5) every time you visit. The site is getting very heavy traffic, so the pages may be a little slow to load.

How do you say "You're nicked!" in Polish?

Avon and Somerset Police report how building international relationships with police forces in other countries has helped lead to the arrest of a violent criminal from Poland.

A year ago Avon and Somerset Police played host to a number of police officers from Poland. This programme included a three month secondment to Staple Hill.

While out on a plain-clothes patrol, one of the Polish police officers spotted a man who she believed was wanted in Poland.

Investigations were undertaken which led to a European Arrest Warrant being issued in Poland.

On December 23, the man was arrested from his home in Yate on suspicion of aggravated robbery, a mugging and absconding from prison. This week, he was interrogated by the Extradition Court in London.

It was Polish police officer Agnieszka Izdebska who spotted the man while on patrol.

She said: "This is material proof of how important this kind of co-operation between police forces is, and how important this programme of secondment of Polish police officers was."

Chief Superintendent Tony Oliver, who was based at Staple Hill when the Polish police officers were seconded there, said: "This goes to show that it is a very small world, and that by building relationships with our overseas colleagues, we can work together to bring offenders to justice wherever they are.

"It also sends a strong message to offenders that even if you flee your country, you are not necessarily going to escape justice.

"It was a valuable experience for us working alongside our Polish colleagues, sharing ideas and information, learning from each other.

"It was commendable that the officer had the powers of observation to spot this individual.

"She was not proactively looking for him and had no idea that he would be in that area.

"It was a chance encounter, but one that came about because Avon and Somerset Police can see benefits in building relationships with forces in other countries."

Snow News 4 - Is your local school open or closed?

Situations at South Glos schools will vary tomorrow (Friday) - some are open, some are closed and some are only open for certain year groups.

Full details are on a special South Glos schools web page - most schools don't have details yet, but the website will be continuously updated from 7.00 am tomorrow.

Photo: The newest member of staff at The Fox

Youth Cafe gets planning permission!

The proposed Youth Cafe in Yate has now received planning permission. The £1.3 million complex, which will be built between the leisure centre and the roundabout, will be jointly funded by Yate Town Council and South Gloucestershire Council.

Snow News 3 - Thursday 7 January

• South Glos schools are all closed
• Filton College is closed
• Almost all our local bus routes are running, but with some route variations

Please see South Glos website for latest updates

Snow news 2 - South Glos schools closed Thursday

All South Gloucestershire schools will be closed tomorrow (Thursday 7 January).

More snow-related details on the South Glos website

New NHS Constitution

The Government is currently consulting on a new NHS Constitution setting out the rights of patients. You can view and make comments on the consultation online.

Snow news

You can find out how the snow is affecting Council services on the South Glos website, which also has a list of schools that are closed.

All bin collections are cancelled today (Wednesday 6th January).

No First Bus services in our area are running at the moment (1.30 pm) - see the First Bus website for latest details (click on "disruption" in right hand column)

Nick Clegg to hold public meeting in Bath this week

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg will hold a public meeting in Bath on 7th January, to discuss with local people the issues that matter to them.

Since Nick became leader of the Lib Dems he has held well over 50 public meetings across the country, and anyone is free to attend at St Michael’s on Broad Street in the centre of Bath, start time 6.30pm.

Nick said, “It is now more important than ever for politicians to get out of Westminster and engage with people about how to rebuild our economy and restore trust in politics. I am looking forward to meeting the people of Bath and discussing the issues that matter most to them.”

If you’d like to come along and ask a question of Nick, then you can register your interest by going to http://meet.nickclegg.com

Get ready now for The Big Spring Clean

South Glos Council will be running the Big Spring Clean campaign again in 2010. It will be starting on 1st March, a month earlier than last year so litter can be collected before the vegetation starts to grow. The campaign will run for two months.
To register your interest call 01454 863592 from today or email naturalenvironment@southglos.gov.uk You will then be sent an information pack and booking form. You can use the form to order gloves, bags and even a skip if necessary.

The official launch of the Big Spring Clean 2010 will take place on Saturday 20th March – the first day of Spring. If you can organise a special event for that day please let South Glos know so they can help to promote it.

You can also find tips, details of what's going on locally or register your group at these national websites:

www.thebigtidyup.org
www.cleanupuk.org.uk
www.litteraction.org.uk

Shire Way resurfacing - rescheduled

The major resurfacing work in Shire Way, Yate from the Edgeworth junction down to the Westerleigh Rd mini-roundabout was originally supposed to be done last month.

It has now been rescheduled to start on Monday 11 January, and to be complete by Tuesday 19 January.