Living well with Dementia

A meeting for people who may or may not be affected by dementia and their carers and families will be held at Ridgewood Community Centre, 244 Station Road, Yate BS37 4AF at 1.30 pm on Wednesday 15 March 2017.

The guest speaker will be Dr Judy Haworth, Dementia Specialist (NBT) and there will be other specialist speakers.

If you wish to attend, please notify Ms. Liz Wilkie on 07593 980538 or 01454 319886 by 10 March.

M32 closures

From 20th March for 11 weeks there will be night time southbound closures of the M32 to enable the central reservation barrier over the Eastville Viaduct to be replaced.

To try to minimise disruption, the contractors will carry out the work between 8pm and 6am Monday to Friday, so the M32 will remain open in both directions during the day. At night the southbound carriageway will be completely closed. There may also be times when they need to close a section of the northbound carriageway too, but these times are not yet finalised. They will be liasing with contractors on other nearby projects, such as MetroBus.

Unfortunately they won't be able to lift the 40mph restrictions when this work is complete because futher work needs to be carried out on the viaduct parapets.

If you have any queries or comments about the works and would like further information, please contact the Highways England Customer Contact Centre on 0300 123 5000 or by email: info@highwaysengland.co.uk.

Police warning following distraction burglary

Following on from last week's Trading Standards warning about rogue traders, this week the police have issued a warning about distraction burglaries after an incident in Yate.

At approximately 11am on Thursday February 16th, two unknown men came to an address in Priors Lea, Yate, saying that they were there to do some work inside. They pushed a large hole in the ceiling before leaving, saying they would be return to fix it. The victim later discovered that they had stolen a box of valuables.

The Police are reminding residents to be wary of unexpected visitors. Use a door chain whenever possible, and check all other entrances are locked before opening the door.

Remember: Not Sure, Don’t Open The Door! Genuine callers will always be prepared to return or wait while you check their credentials.

If you have any information regarding this incident, please contact the Police on 101. Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111. 

Best of Brass charity concert Friday 31 March

Fundraising event hosted by Dodington Parish Council and Dodington Parish Band on Friday 31st March 2017, 7:30pm in Dodington Parish Hall, Finch Road, Chipping Sodbury.

Experience the best of our local community brass band, with music chosen by the Band themselves.

All proceeds to be split between South Gloucestershire Youth Housing and Childhood Cancer Charity.

Tickets are only £2 per person, but numbers are limited - reserve yours now by contacting the Parish Office on 01454 866546.

Raffle & Refreshments Available.

Don't forget - call now to secure your tickets!

Join in your local litter pick!

Dodington Parish Council is arranging three litter picks this spring, one in each ward, to coordinate with some other local events:

• Saturday 25th February 2017 10am - 12 noon
  Litter Pick: Meet at Parish Hall, Finch Road
  Or join in the conservation work at Lilliput Park from 10am - meet at Kingfisher Road gate

• Saturday 25th March 2017 10am - 12 noon
  Litter Pick and conservation morning at Wapley Bushes
  Meet at Shire Way entrance to Nature Reserve

• Saturday 8th April 2017 10am - 12 noon
  Litter Pick: Meet at Kelston Close, Front of Changing Rooms
  Or join in the Abbotswood Action Group Spring Clean and planting 

All children must be accompanied by an adult.
Litter pickers, black sacks, disposable gloves will be provided.
Please join us and do your bit this spring.

Time running out to have your say on basis for Local Plan

You only have until this Thursday, 23 February, to have your say on the South Glos Local Plan Prospectus.

As we reported last month, South Glos has to publish a new Local Plan for 2018-2036. One of the things it will do is allocate specific sites for development - so, for example, if the final Joint Spatial Plan (JSP) for the West of England says there should be another 2,600 homes around yate and Chipping Sodbury, this plan will say more precisely where they should be built. It will also allocate smaller sites, to go towards whatever figure the JSP says South Glos must provide outside the large sites.

Work on the new Local Plan is just starting and the council is asking for your views on what it should cover and what the vision and priorities should be for our area. What do you think the vision and priorities should be? How would you balance concerns like protecting community identity and our countryside with the need for housing?  You can let the council know what you think by answering questions 2 and 3 of the consultation.

River Frome flood risks - exhibition 1st March

The Environment Agency is looking into the risk of river flooding in Yate and Chipping Sodbury and what options there might be to reduce this. Their study is at a very early stage.

They are holding a public exhibition in the Charter Suite at Chipping Sodbury Town Hall on Wednesday 1st March from 2.30 to 7.30 pm.

The area involved runs from St Johns Way through the centre of Sodbury, The Elms, The Ridge, then right past the Riverside complex, and out along Greenways Road and Cranleigh Court through to Stover Road. So anyone living in those areas might want to come along - if you're not at risk of flooding yourself, you might still be interested or concerned about potential flood works along the river.

Come along to their public exhibition to find out more about your current flood risk and what might be possible as part of a future flood alleviation scheme.

Your views and your local knowledge really matter! At the exhibition they would like to hear your views on:
• any flooding problems in the past
• their initial plans and options

You can call in at any time during the exhibition. They will be on hand to answer your questions, hear your views and to give you more information about flood protection, flood warnings and community flood plans.

Plans to demolish Railway Inn and barbers

An application has been submitted to South Glos Council to demolish the Railway Inn near Yate Station and the Barber's Shop next door, with a view to redeveloping on the land - but it doesn't say what the redevelopment might be.

This local landmark is almost 200 years old and "locally listed", but that doesn't seem to be adequate protection against redeveloping the site. There's no sign of any effort being made to reuse this historic building, which is part of the character of this old part of Yate.

Even if it's shown that it can no longer be used as a pub, couldn't at least the facade be saved? And of course another local business will go with it, the barbers.

Local Focus Team councillors are objecting to the application - if you want to make your opinion heard, please click on this link for the South Glos planning website and search for application PK17/0445/PND

This is urgent - you'll need to comment by Thursday next week, 23 February. 

There's more coverage from the Gazette here 

Rogue Traders in South Glos – Let Trading Standards Know

South Gloucestershire Trading Standards have repeated the warning given recently to residents to be extra vigilant when dealing with unexpected callers at the front door.

Officers are aware that rogue traders are currently operating in the area and are offering to buy gold or jewellery or carry out, amongst other things, paving, roofing and gardening work. Reports suggest they are currently operating in Yate and Frampton Cotterell areas.

South Gloucestershire Council Trading Standards advise residents:

• Do not to deal with unexpected visitors at your door you do not know who they are or what their history may be.
• Do not allow any unknown and unexpected visitor into your home. If possible, try to deal with them through a window or use a door chain.
• Ensure your front and back doors are closed and locked if your attention is elsewhere.
• If you are unhappy or feel intimidated by the visitor – shut the door and call the police.
• If you think you or someone you know may have been targeted by scammers or rogue traders, please contact senior Trading Standards enforcement officer Neil Derrick on 01454 864565 or 07801 200104 as soon as possible.

Remember: Not Sure, Don’t Open The Door

For advice on this and other consumer matters, please contact the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 04 05 06, Monday to Friday between 9am-5pm.

Better news about Yate Fire Station

Some positive news on Yate Fire Station. At the end of last year, Avon Fire Authority was consulting on cutting Yate Fire Station from a full time service 24 hours a day to having a full time crew 8am to 5pm and just one crew on call at night. We were very concerned that this could put people in the Yate area at risk - you can see Claire Young's response to the consultation here.

Our Yate colleague Cllr Mike Drew has been working hard with the Deputy Chief Fire Officer to develop an alternative. Instead of taking us down to one on call crew, the Fire Authority has now agreed there will be two part time crews on call. While not the full time crew we wanted, it's a step in the right direction.

Having two crews, even coming from home, makes a big difference. Because there will be two crews there at about the same time, they are allowed to do things like doing rescues. If there was only one local crew they could assess the situation but then they would have to wait for a second crew e.g. from Kingswood before they could actually enter a burning building.

The agreed two-crew manning is supported by the Fire Brigades Union, so we think it's a reasonable answer to the problem. A big thank you goes to Mike and everyone who has campaigned for a better outcome.

Could YOU become a St John Ambulance First Aider?

St John Ambulance are looking for volunteers to join their team of First Aiders. You will be trained to a high standard to provide first aid treatment to patients at events covered by St John Ambulance in the community, at concerts, sports events etc. at local, regional and national level.

No previous training is required – it will all be provided – they just look for a desire to help people and the readiness to deal with situations that can be distressing. 

Click here for more details - the closing date is 28/02/2017 and interviews will be held on 08/03/2017.

Barn Dance for St Nicholas Family Centre

At 7.30pm on Saturday 4th March there will be a Barn Dance at St Nicholas Family Centre, Yate BS37 4LG. Tickets are £8 for adults and £5 for children under 12, with the money going towards making further improvements to the family centre. While you're there for the dance, you will have a chance to see the ambitious new kitchen plans for St Nix.

Phone 07788111626 or 07879680118 for tickets, or pay on the door.

Stephen Williams chosen as Lib Dem candidate for Metro Mayor

Congratulations to Stephen Williams on being chosen as the Liberal Democrat candidate to be the first Metro Mayor for the West of England, ina  campaign that will last for 90 days up to the election in May.

Across the West of England area, the campaign is between the Tories and Liberal Democrats. By electing Stephen, the region will benefit from someone with both experience of local government and Whitehall.

The new Metro Mayor will have a range of powers and over the coming days and weeks the Lib Dems will be fleshing out plans to improve the transport, housing and infrastructure of the region.
You can send a message to the Tory government that this region cannot be taken for granted.

82 bus campaign continues

Your Focus Team is continuing to fight for a better 82 bus service, after the last bus of the day was cut in January. On Monday, local councillor Claire Young spoke out again at the South Gloucestershire Council Public Transport Forum.

Losing the last bus of the day is a blow not just to those visiting relatives in hospital but also to workers at the Mall, Cribbs Causeway. They are having to catch buses into the centre of Bristol and back out to places like Yate and Coalpit Heath, getting home very late at night. Your Focus Team is pushing not only for the last service to be restored but also for a later service that would come back from Cribbs after the shops have closed at 9pm.

First Bus said that they had changed the timetable to improve reliability. By reducing the frequency and not having drivers changing mid-route, they said it gave more time to recoup delays, especially at peak times. They admitted that due to roadworks, including the temporary traffic lights in Winterbourne, there had been problems in the first couple of weeks of the new timetable, but they claimed that reliability had improved since, though there was still work to do.

The poor reliabilty is having a knock-on effect on our highly valued Community Transport services. Because people don't feel they can rely on the 82 bus to get them to their hospital appointments, they are turning to Community Transport, while others are being referred by their GPs because they don't meet the strict criteria for the Patient Transport Service. Claire met Green Community Travel representatives on Wednesday to discuss this and other issues.