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Town council marks 25th anniversary
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radley Stoke Town Council members and staff celebrated the 25th anniversary of the organisation’s establishment with a cake-cutting ceremony held at the annual town meeting on 10th May. Although the first residents of the ‘new town’ of Bradley Stoke moved into their new homes in late 1987, the area continued to be served by no fewer than four parish councils – Almondsbury, Stoke Gifford, Patchway and Winterbourne.
Residents formed the Bradley Stoke Community Development Association to campaign for better facilities and to secure a single parish for the new town (fending off proposals to have separate parishes for the north and south). Bradley Stoke Parish Council was finally formed in April 1992, following the election of 13 councillors the previous March. Soon after, councillors made use of the power to declare their parish a town “to underline its
status … as the largest private housing development in Europe” In its early days, the town council had to fight for what it believed to be its fair share of the £3.2m that Almondsbury Parish Council had received in 1986 for selling land in the north of Bradley Stoke to developers. Its case was based on the fact that three-fifths of the population of the old Almondsbury parish now lived within the town of Bradley Stoke. Following arbitration, a settlement of £1.2m was agreed.
June 2017 Below: Councillors marked the occasion with a specially created cake and matching cupcakes
Bradley Stoke Town Council Notable milestones April 1992: Formation of Bradley Stoke Town Council – following council elections February 1993: Council office moves from town clerk’s home to a permanent address at The Courtyard, Woodlands December 1994: Successful campaign to prevent a park and ride terminus being built in the town May 1995: Arbitration between Almondsbury Parish and Bradley Stoke Town Councils. Bradley Stoke agrees to accept £1,200,000 settlement over allocation of funds following boundary changes March 1996: Successful opposition to Filton Commercial Airport as the Public Inquiry refuses to allow the development November 2002: Official opening of the Bradley Stoke Jubilee Centre (replacing the ‘Blue Hut’) April 2008: Official opening of Baileys Court Activity Centre extension June 2012: Town Council moves to purpose-built new office at The Jubilee Centre April 2016: Official opening of the new Bradley Stoke Skate Park in the grounds of Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre
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