Park and Ride Planning Application in

Good news - with your help there have been improvements to the proposals but …

• users are still going to have to cross the A432 to get to the bus stop -
• It is likely to turn into a Council Office overflow car park

The plan is for 192 spaces, incl 13 disabled and 20 electric, one car club bay, 6 m/c and secure parking for 46 bicycles. We've attached the plans to this post.

Open from 6am to 10pm excluding bank holidays

This is much smaller than would be needed to allow for all the extra houses since the plans agreed in 2005, so there are real worries about whether it will be big enough.

Parking will £2.60 a day but free for those using the buses. So you won’t need to use the bus or train to park there. That means it is likely to get heavily used by people working in the Council offies next door, as that is desperately short of parking. So there is a real risk relatively few of the 192 spaces will be available for ACTUAL park and ride users.

The plan does show an on site bus lay-by, but there is STILL NO COMMITMENT commitment to actually getting the buses to go in so users are still going to have to cross the A432 to get to Bristol bound buses

The good news is that it WILL have a signal controlled pedestrian crossing over the A432 Badminton Rd - so we have won that battle thanks to your help in creating a strong community pressure.

You can check out the plans and add your views at

https://developments.southglos.gov.uk/online-applications/ - then put the reference P20/16166/R3F in the search box.

Photo - Stephen Williams, Ruth Davis, John Gawn, CLaire Young and Mike Drew trying out the road crossing to get to the bus stop from the proposed car park.

Have your say on new S Glos Council Plan

South Glos Council would like your feedback on their new Council Plan (2020-2024).

The draft plan sets out key priorities and commitments for the next four years and beyond. You can view it and have your say on the council’s consultation website https://consultations.southglos.gov.uk/consult.ti/CP20/consultationHome

until 26th July.

The council say:

“We find ourselves in truly unprecedented circumstances internationally and the implications of the COVID-19 outbreak are being felt across South Gloucestershire. Through a collective effort headed up by the NHS; the public sector, the voluntary sector, our businesses and our residents have come together to tackle the crisis and in taking this opportunity to go public with our priorities for the next four years, we are marking a transition from emergency response to the initiation of the recovery.

This is a challenging time to deliver public consultation and a challenging time for residents to engage when they are coming to terms with the implications of a period of lockdown. We believe this is the right time however to be preparing for a positive and proactive recovery phase and in doing so, to address the wider challenges and opportunities which we were preparing for before this crisis.”

Yate One Stop Shop Fully Closed

FULL CLOSURE OF YATE ONE STOP SHOP

South Glos Council has announced "In March, we closed all of our One Stop Shop (OSS) sites but continued to carry out emergency and pre-booked essential appointments. After considering the safety of the public and our staff, we’ve decided to fully close the Yate OSS. Patchway and Kingwood One Stop Shops also remain closed but will continue to carry out emergency and pre-booked appointments e.g. homelessness, foodbanks and welfare support. Staff from Yate OSS will be redeployed to our central contact centre.  Full closure will last until we can re-open which will depend upon government guidance. You can continue to deliver items to the Yate OSS, which will be collected regularly. In extreme emergencies, our staff will deliver food vouchers directly to residents. We will display key phone numbers, websites and details of local councillors at the Yate OSS. Please share this message where you can."

New Council freephone number

NEW freephone number for queries about S Glos Council and how COVID is affecting is services.

S Glos say "South Gloucestershire Council has launched a new Freephone number 0800 953 7778 for queries about the council’s Covid-19 response. Calls will be answered by trained contact centre staff, who will be able to give you information about changes to services and direct you to the right place for help.

This line is only for Covid-19-related queries. For all other enquiries, please continue to use the main contact centre number: 01454 868009.

The line is likely to be very busy so please do check the information online first at www.southglos.gov.uk/coronavirus and see if you can find the answer there. The pages include information about local community groups that are helping people, changes to council services and information for residents and businesses. If you do have to call, please be patient."

URGENT - SEND (Special Education Needs Review) SURVEY & MEETING 10 Feb

If you have any experience of the way children with special needs are supported in schools here - or worry about funding please contribute your views. Claire Young and your Focus Team have  been  supporting parents arguing for better funding for schools and children with special needs.Now current and future children with special needs,  need your support, by feeding into the review. To find out more about groups working to get improvements to special needs support here look for 'SEND Emergency' on facebook 

The Ofsted re-visit will take place from Monday 10 to Wednesday 12 February 2020. The Ofsted/CQC team will be keen to speak to as many children and young people and their parents and carers as possible, specifically about the weaknesses identified in the written statement of action (WSOA) for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).You can complete an online survey ahead of the re-visit, from 12 noon on Monday 3 February to 12 noon on Friday 7 February. Parents and carers who would like to take part in this survey can follow this link: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/SouthGloucestershireRe-Vis…/ .

There will be an open meeting of parents and carers and the Ofsted/CQC re-visit team. The meeting will take place on Monday 10 February at BAWA, 589 Southmead Road, Filton, BS34 7RF from 7pm until 8.30pm. Please register your interest in attending the open meeting through South Glos Parents & Carers (the local SEND Parent Carer Forum).https://www.sglospc.org.uk/shop/ofsted-cqc . - you can find more info about the meeting there. 

For full details of the re-visit and how you can contribute your views visit www.southglos.gov.uk/SENDrevisit