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www.stokegiffordjournal.co.uk
New housing: Concern at lack of infrastructure
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Nov/Dec 2019
News
Councillor Column ugust was a quiet month for the parish council, but September and October have seen major changes starting to take place with the Harry Stoke housing development. The parish council did object to the application on the grounds of lack of infrastructure such as road improvement, GP surgery and transport but were overruled. Over the next few years we will see an increase of some 3,000+ houses, yet not one additional GP surgery or improvement to road structure. I will be tabling the lack of GP surgeries at the next Clinical Commissioning Group meeting in January and continue to raise the question of infrastructure with South Gloucestershire Council. It is not acceptable for residents to have a lengthy wait for a GP appointment. We are agreed more houses are required but not at any cost or without the services that go with them. This month will see many changes as the roadworks take off, starting with Gipsy Patch Lane. Work is now well under way around the railway bridge in preparation for its replacement next year. The current bridge creates a traffic bottleneck, causing queues. The new bridge will relieve this pinch point, allowing for reliable bus journey times, as well as providing improvements for pedestrians, cyclists and private vehicles. To keep the impact of the diversions to a minimum, there is a monthly Stakeholder Liaison Group meeting attended by councillors, residents, businesses and officers of South Gloucestershire Council, which will hopefully resolve issues as they occur. Your three district councillors continue to challenge South Gloucestershire Council regarding the removal of twenty-two mature trees to make way for a partial bus lane, in one direction only, along
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Gipsy Patch Lane. The new bridge alone should allow traffic to move freely. Also, with the impact of climate change and the promise to reduce carbon emissions by 2030, the last thing we should be doing is to remove wellestablished trees. The much-needed improved Little Stoke Community Centre is now fully commissioned with business as usual. The community café owned by the parish but privately run is doing extremely well and shows good foresight by the parish. The parish council is currently discussing plans with South Gloucestershire Council for a new community building at Highbrook Park. The formal decision on which organisation is chosen to operate the facility will be made by South Gloucestershire Council following consideration of business plan proposals. Deadline for submission of these documents is likely to be end January 2020. If successful, this will give the parish council a much needed foothold in this area. Parking, one of our main concerns, has been made worse by the impact of commuters parking their cars to catch the MetroBus from stops along the Stoke Gifford By-Pass. South Gloucestershire Council has now allocated funding to undertake an area-wide review of residents parking around Stoke Gifford and Cheswick to look holistically and avoid piecemeal scheme delivery and displacement issues with the aim of supporting shops and deterring commuter parking. Cllr Ernest Brown Chair of Stoke Gifford Parish Council and South Gloucestershire councillor
Rainbows prepare toy library poppy tribute
The 2nd Stoke Gifford Rainbow Unit have been putting the finishing touches to their Armistice Day tribute. The Rainbows have been getting crafty and have made hundreds of pom poms in red & black and purple & black in order to honour the fallen soldiers and animals. The pom poms will be used to adorn the Stoke Gifford Toy Library, both inside and out and will be in place ready for the Stoke Gifford Remembrance Day parade (see details below). The photo above shows a trial run of the external decorations; these will be reinstated on the day of the parade. Poppy decorations inside the toy library will be installed on 1st November.
Stoke Gifford Remembrance parade
Sunday 10th November: Ceremony at the cenotaph, North Road, BS34 8PB at 10.15am followed by church services at the St Michael’s Centre (immediately after) and Rock Lane Baptist Church (11am).
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