Northavon Bowls Club has been given ten days by Bradley Stoke Town Council to sign an agreement which will see an 8% rental rise.

At a specially-convened meeting the club was told if they did not sign the deal that they would not be allowed to use the green at Bailey’s Court Activity Centre.

But the bowls club says the move may see them close down because they cannot afford the proposed rise.

The agreement to send back the previous rental proposal came at the end of a stormy meeting where the council was repeatedly pressed on arbitration.

Bradley Stoke councillors rejected a plea to allow South Gloucestershire Council to arbitrate as, according to Mayor Julian Barge, they would not be impartial.

Northavon Bowls Club president Margaret Thompson said she was “very disappointed” at the outcome of the meeting.

“I thought they would be more magnanimous and I thought that they would see a way forward to support the bowls club.

“I don’t know what they will do with the bowls green as this will close us down because we just cannot afford the rise that they want.”

Mayor Barge said: “We have been trying to work with the club for over a year now and that has been about coming to an agreement and arbitration, in any other language, but if the will is not there to work together it does not matter who arbitrates.”

The Brooks Centre name for Bradley Stoke town centre has officially been dropped and a new name will be picked through a competition.

Dan Bramwell, representing Tesco at a meeting of the town council, announced that the town’s residents would be asked to pick a name.

“We want everyone in Bradley Stoke to get behind this,” Mr Bramwell said. “Come up with a name they want - there is a judging panel in place, we’ll be putting up posters up around the town, and we’ll be launching it with the media next week.

“We’re looking at a closing date at the end of May and judging in the first week of June.”

We were live at the specially-convened Bradley Stoke Town Council meeting which was called to discuss the Northavon Bowls Club rent row and the new town centre name.

Below you can read our live coverage of the meeting which took place on Thursday, 8 May.

Click the ‘more’ button to read the full account.

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A representative from Tesco will attend Thursday’s specially-convened Bradley Stoke Town Council meeting to discuss the name for the new town centre.

Dan Bramwell, Public Affairs Consultant for the firm, will face questions about The Brooks Centre name which councillors have opposed.

Tesco has previously said they would run a competition (also here) to name the new development but later claimed “time had got away from them”.

The meeting will also discuss the row between Northavon Bowls Club and the town council.

A new walking group, which aims to help people living in Bradley Stoke get healthy, has attracted a dozen members.

Sara Goldhawk, the woman behind the scheme, completes fitness walks up to three times a week, and wants to help other residents to get fit.

She hopes the club will combine the ideas of a slimming and fitness group and help people lose weight and tone their body.

 ”We already make a fantastic sight as we walk and talk a route from Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre on a Friday afternoon,” Sara said.

If you want more information then you can get in touch with Sara via her website or call her on 01454 413115.

Classes are on a Friday afternoon and meet at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre - if you have not been before the first class is free.

A special Bradley Stoke Town Council meeting has been called on Thursday to discuss the rental dispute with Northavon Bowls Club.

The meeting, to be held at the Jubilee Centre, will see the full council attend to talk about the current deadlock which has seen the bowls club locked out of the green at Bailey’s Court.

The stalemate led to members of Northavon Bowls Club hold a protest match which was eventually stopped after the police were called.

Also on the agenda is plans to discuss the the town centre where Tesco has recently come under fire from Bradley Stoke Town Council.

The supermarket firm decided to call it the Brooks Centre after promising to involve residents in a competition to name it.

The meeting will start at 7.30pm in the Woodlands Suite.

Footnote: The Northavon Bowls Club issue was referred to full council by the Bailey’s Court Working Group following the recent incidents surrounding the dispute.

The consultation into changes at Aztec West roundabout received more than 100 replies, according to South Gloucestershire Council.

The proposal for the roundabout would see extra bus lanes added and some extra traffic lanes in a bid to relieve some of the congestion in the area.

Controversially, though, the council wants to ban right turns from Bradley Stoke Way into Woodlands Lane - a move criticised by readers of this website.

A spokesperson for the council said: “Over the next few weeks, the council will be considering the correspondence received and will respond to those who commented on the scheme before considering making any necessary amendments to the scheme.”

The proposed changes to the roundabout are part of the Greater Bristol Bus Network.

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