Written by Chris (editor) on Thursday April 24th, 2008 at 6:28 am
The new town centre should not be called The Brooks Centre, the town council has told supermarket giant Tesco.
The new name was revealed several weeks ago after slipping out in promotional material aimed at shops looking to open in the centre.
The objection came to light following a meeting on Wednesday where councillors said the name had been picked “without any consultation with local residents or the town council”.
Councillors also pointed out the proposed logo was too similar to that of South Gloucestershire Council and that there were too many similarities in the new name to to the Brook Way Activity Centre.
Tesco had been due to hold a competition to name the centre but a spokesman told the Examiner several weeks ago that “time had overtaken them” so they settled on the Brooks Centre.
Councillor John Ashe said: “I am extremely disappointed to hear that Tesco have chosen a name without consultation with the Bradley Stoke public, particularly in light of their promise to hold a competition for local children to gather ideas for a name.”
The new town centre is due to fully open in 2009 with around 15 retail units alongside a rebuilt Tesco which is due to open this Autumn.
Written by Chris (editor) on Wednesday April 23rd, 2008 at 8:43 pm
The row between Northavon Bowls Club and Bradley Stoke Town Council has featured in the national press on Wednesday - here’s a round-up of some of the articles.
The story has also attracted interest from overseas media outlets with this website getting calls from establishments such as American news channel CNN!
Police have been accused of heavy-handedness after sending in seven officers to deal with a group of pensioners who broke in to their own bowling green.
Written by Chris (editor) on Tuesday April 22nd, 2008 at 4:47 pm
We are delighted to announce that The Bradley Stoke Examiner has been nominated for Website of the Year in the prestigious EDF Energy South West Media Awards.
Written by Chris (editor) on Tuesday April 22nd, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Lobbying for a new sixth form and a dental surgery in the town are included in Bradley Stoke Town Council’s Strategic Performance Plan for the next three years.
The authority has launched a consultation on its blueprint for the town until 2010 and now wants your views.
Among the objectives are plans to act as a “local democratic voice representing everyone in Bradley Stoke” and ensuring “high quality, cost effective facilities” are “provided for all ages of the community”.
Another action point is to take action on anti-social behavior in Bradley Stoke, a problem which has seen a recent police dispersal order put in place.
Also in the plan, the council says it wants to lobby for action on traffic congestion and add floral displays on roundabouts.
You can read the full document here - we would be interested to hear what you make of their ideas, good or bad. Hit the comments and let us know.
The letter accused the town council of expecting the club to “sign it [the new deal] without question” and of “bullying tactics”.
We’ve included a full copy of the letter below.
BSTC are still spreading their propaganda. They say negotiations have been going on for over one year. Untrue. They didn’t meet with us or reply to letters for one year. They gave us a draft new agreement in the first week of March and expected us to sign it without question. This was just a continuation of their bullying tactics - leave everything until the bowling season was about to start.
They don’t understand the difference between, subsidise, profit and loss. We are prepared to sign an agreement that will give them full recovery of the costs associated with our occupation of the building and as we pay in full for the maintenance of the green, there is no subsidy. Yet they say we are the most subsidised user. The cricket club will be paying between £4k and £5k and the maintenance of the cricket field and square alone costs between £15k and £20k per annum. Now that is subsidy and BSTC has entered into an agreement with the cricket club on this basis.
It is not our problem if the Bailey’s Court centre is run at a loss at they make little effort to find users, as they prefer to offer their other sites to customers. And, of course they cannot make a profit on our occupation under the terms of their lease with South Glos.
They built an extension costing £775k with no business plan for a return on that investment (the only regular user is the youth club which has been given a peppercorn rent) and effectively want a contribution from us when we don’t enjoy any of the new facilities.
Any help you can give in resolving this will be appreciated.
Written by Chris (editor) on Monday April 21st, 2008 at 7:19 pm
A spokesman for Bradley Stoke Town Council says it is still willing to negotiate with Northavon Bowls Club over a disputed rent agreement but has accused the group of using “childish” tactics.
Councillor Robert Jones, who was involved in trying to broker a deal with the club over use of the green at Bailey’s Court, says he was “shocked” and “disappointed” at Sunday’s protest.
Members of the club decided to hold and impromptu match after the chains holding the gate shut were cut at some point overnight on Saturday.
A spokesman for the bowls club told the BBC they did not know who had cut the chains. The match was eventually abandoned when the police arrived.
They were protesting over an increase of their fees by 50% to £2,300, and then 8% a year for the next four years.
“We’ve tried, in the council in the last 12 months, very hard to reach a settlement,” Cllr Jones said. “Up until the other week we were still meeting with them regularly and discussing the contract.
“We think what has been offered is very fair and we think it’s very disappointing that they feel otherwise.”
Cllr Roberts went on to say that he felt the price rises were fair: “They’re paying considerably less than other users of Bailey’s Court.
“I think it’s a little unfair to the taxpayers of Bradley Stoke that they are subsidising this group of people to a much greater extent than other community users.”
He added that the town council want to continue to talk about a new deal: “We will continue to negotiate for as long as there is hope but we do need to know who at the bowls club is pulling the strings.
“We’d like to think they can sit down and talk to us rationally as adults but so far it’s childish protests from them, I’m afraid.”
