Steve Webb keeps ministerial role in government reshuffle

It's good to see that our MP Steve Webb has kept his post as Minister of State for Pensions in the major government reshuffle. Steve is now apparently the longest-serving pensions minister ever, as he's been in the post for two and a half years.

The Department for Work and Pensions will be a key area during the rest of this government's term. Some stability in the DWP ministerial team will be welcome, in contrast to the number of changes in other departments.

We could have had a Yate Park and Ride...

... if the Tories on South Glos Council hadn't "postponed" it.

Instead they built this white elephant up the road from Parkway Station at a cost of £1.2 million - a Park and Ride with no bus service!

This photo was taken on a recent weekday afternoon - there were 11 cars. That's a busy day for Parkway North.

And far from being critical of the Tories, a South Glos Labour councillor told BBC Points West that it would come in handy in 2015 when the bus rapid transit is built.

By then we could have had a Yate Park and Ride in operation for four years, and reduced the traffic on our local roads.

South Glos by-election this Thursday

Steve Webb and Tony Davis out
talking to residents earlier this year

If you live around Shire Way, Rodford Way and Abbotswood you will have seen a flurry of leaflets for the by-election this week. The Liberal Democrat Focus Team candidate is Tony Davis, a long-term campaigner for our area.

If you haven't made your mind up who to vote for, please ask yourself when you last heard from any of the other parties before the election was declared. Indeed, have you ever heard of the other candidates before?

Compare that to getting Focus on a regular basis, and indeed everything that appears on this blog.

Please vote for Tony Davis - getting things done for you.

Time to Discover

Would you like to discover...

...our great outdoors by going on fossil forays or star gazing?
...our fantastic local food?
...our rich heritage, from Rolls Royce to Ram Hill Colliery?
...your creativity, with Chinese origami or writing "flash fiction"
...what's going on in your local area for older people?
...events for all ages, including Discovering Dinosaurs workshops?

Discover is a new festival of over 200 events being held throughout South Gloucestershire between 6th September and 4th November. It brings together a number of different events including the Celebrating Age Festival, Active Mind Month, South Gloucestershire Taste Festival, the Out and About in Nature Programme and Heritage Open Doors. You can find out more online.

Most events are free and are able to be booked on line at http://www.discoversouthglos.eventbrite.co.uk/. Why not see what you can discover this autumn?

Change of date for Area Forum Meeting

The date of the Frome Vale Area Forum meeting originally scheduled for Thursday 6th September has been changed. It will now be held on Thursday, 20th September, 2012 at 7pm at Frampton Cotterell C of E Primary School.

Free part-time courses

South Gloucestershire Community Learning Service is offering a range of FREE part-time courses in community venues to help you gain a qualification, improve your job skills, help your children's learning or get more involved in the local community. The courses are aimed at people aged 19 years and over. You can find out more in the online prospectus.

September bus service changes

Some changes are being made to local bus services from 2nd September 2012. Those that most affect us locally are:

The "Eighties services" 85, 87 & 88 have been replaced by a new service 222. This service will connect Chipping Sodbury, Yate, Iron Acton and Frampton Cotterell with Emersons Green, Kingswood and Longwell Green. Sections of the route in North Yate, Iron Acton, Ram Hill and the Emersons Green Treatment centre will be served on a Demand Responsive Basis, this means that the bus will only call at demand responsive stops if requested by a passenger on the bus, or booked in advance by calling 01454 868 368 at least 2 hours before departure.

The X27 Yate to Bristol has a minor timetable amendment to the first journey into Bristol to improve reliability.