42
www.bradleystokejournal.co.uk
t: 01454 300 400
October 2017
News
Counting the true cost of the Forty Acres traveller encampment
L
ocal councils in the Stokes have been counting the cost of a recent unauthorised traveller encampment in the Forty Acres area of Stoke Gifford and considering measures for increasing security at vulnerable sites. Around thirty traveller caravans and associated vehicles entered Forty Acres after a lock and chain was cut on the vehicular access gate from Hatchet Road, opposite Meade Park, on 9th August. The
travellers were eventually evicted by bailiffs on 18th August after Stoke Gifford Parish Council obtained and served a court order. A meeting of the parish council on 12th September was informed that the legal costs associated with the securing the eviction, including legal advice, court charges and bailiff fees, were estimated to be in the region of £2,500. Local residents were commended for assisting the parish council with litter picking
We are looking for Health Care Professionals! 2 x Registered Nurses – Deerhurst Nursing Home, Soundwell &
Saffron Gardens Care Home, Whitehall
1 x Registered Clinician (Nurse/Paramedic) – Orchard Grove Reablement Centre, Whitehall £13.42 - £15.72 an hour + pension and childcare support The Job: - Managing the clinical care of patients and coordinating the staff team - Positive role model, working to our Person Centred Care philosophy to maintain our high standards within the home - To continually develop staff and self to deliver high standards of care The Person: - Registered Nurse or Paramedic (depending on the role applying for) – Active on NMC - A competent and professional manner regardless of the situation Interested in applying? Please contact the relevant person on the numbers below: Deerhurst Nursing Home – tracey.smyth@brunelcare.org.uk or by calling 0117 904 1170 Saffron Gardens Nursing Home – karolina.machalkova@brunelcare.org.uk or by calling 0117 939 6681 Orchard Grove Reablement Centre – kinlay.burns@brunelcare.org.uk or by calling 0117 954 3865 WE ARE OBLIGED TO ASK ALL SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS TO COMPLETE A DBS APPLICATION, WHICH BRUNELCARE WILL PAY FOR. BRUNELCARE IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EMPLOYER REGISTERED CHARITY NO. 201555
www.brunelcare.org.uk
Boulders have been reinstated at the Hatchet Road entrance to Forty Acres
and clearance work after the travellers had left, but it was nonetheless still necessary to use the services of South Gloucestershire Council’s grounds maintenance team to remove large quantities of white goods, mattresses, green waste and general rubbish that had been left behind, at a cost of just over £3,000. Questions were asked about why boulders which had previously protected the Hatchet Road entrance to Forty Acres had been removed a number of years ago and never replaced. It is thought that this happened when either the Environment Agency or SGC were working on the site but no conclusive answers were forthcoming. Needless to say, the boulders have now been reinstated.
Enhanced security
Additional security measures agreed at an extraordinary meeting of the parish council on 29th August include a new height restrictor bar for the entrance to Little Stoke Park and telescopic posts to be installed at entrances to the Mike Gallivan Memorial Field and Royal Park, at a total cost of almost £3,000. As reported in our September magazine, once evicted from Stoke Gifford, some of the traveller convoy made a stopover in Bradley Stoke before eventually forming a new
encampment at The Tumps in Patchway. News has since emerged that a number of travellers attempted to enter the Jubilee Centre site in Bradley Stoke, where town clerk Sharon Petela and other council staff were able to successfully fend them off, the town clerk reportedly sustaining bruising to her arm in the process. Council members later praised the staff “for their vigilance and sterling efforts in preventing unauthorised vehicles accessing the site”. However, they were less than impressed with the response of the police, who took 20 minutes to respond to a 999 call. A formal complaint was subsequently made, which resulted in an apology being issued with the explanation that there had been a misunderstanding between two separate police units. The incident has also prompted Bradley Stoke Town Council to review its site security and it has since been agreed to obtain quotes for the installation of a new gate and fencing at a second vulnerable entrance to the Jubilee Centre site, the installation of tamperproof padlocks on all gates, the installation of boulders along the Great Meadow side of the Baileys Court cricket pitch and the installation of soil banks on Bradley Stoke Way and Brook Way.
The Bradley Stoke Journal is an independent newspaper, produced without subsidy from the public purse To advertise in this magazine or on our websites, phone The Journal’s sales team on 01454 300 400