Every home and business in South Gloucestershire will potentially be able to access broadband by 2015 with nine out of ten enjoying superfast speeds of up to 24 Mbps, thanks to nearly £3m of public investment. South Gloucestershire Council has drawn up plans to invest £2.2m of its own money in providing broadband infrastructure capable of delivering much faster speeds,
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Local campaigners have expressed their delight after a planning inspector backed a council refusal to build a wind farm near Oldbury-on-Severn, South Gloucestershire. Widely known as the ‘Stoneyard Lane Wind Farm‘ because of a public right of way accessing the site, the proposed development involved the construction of four 127m (to blade tip) wind turbines, one 80m ‘anemometry mast’
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Rail campaigners have welcomed new figures showing dramatic increases in the use of local train services, particularly from Severn Beach station Figures published as part of the Severnside Community Rail Partnership’s (SCRP’s) 2011 Annual Report from the weekday passenger count carried out in November show that passenger numbers have increased from 135 to 201 – or by 49 per cent
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Labour councillors have failed to support plans for a new aerospace hub and protection of the Green Belt, whilst the LibDems are split – according to Conservative councillors in South Gloucestershire. At a meeting on Wednesday 14th December, councillors agreed to submit to a planning inspector a revised future development blueprint – its Core Strategy – that now includes the
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The row over Filton Airfield is distracting from the fight to save the local Green Belt, according to local Conservative campaigners. At a council meeting on Wednesday 14th December, planning officers at South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) are asking councillors to submit to a planning inspector a revised future development blueprint – its Core Strategy – that includes the re-development of
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Rail campaigners in South Gloucestershire have welcomed assurances by the industry that local services will improve. It follows concerns raised by South Gloucestershire Council’s transport chief about disruption that has been occurring on local rail services, particularly cancellations affecting passengers on key commuter services on the Severn Beach line and the Gloucester-Yate-Bristol Parkway-Bristol Temple Meads line. On various occasions, there
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A newly-elected councillor and former Army tank commander has called for Armed Forces personnel to be given priority when affordable homes are allocated. Ben Stokes was elected in May onto South Gloucestershire Council as Conservative councillor for Boyd Valley. He previously served in the Queen’s Dragoon Guards of the British Army, who are currently on tour in Helmand Province in
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South Gloucestershire residents could see their council tax bills frozen for a second year running. At its next meeting, the Council’s Conservative Cabinet plans to ask residents for their views on a second council tax freeze as part of a consultation on next year’s council budget. Council tax rises have fallen steadily since the Conservatives started running South Gloucestershire Council
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Payments for council services made through South Gloucestershire’s post offices and local shops have rocketed by 59 per cent in the last year, new figures reveal. Despite strong opposition from Labour and Lib Dem councillors, the authority’s Conservative administration transferred its cash payments service out of council’s three offices and into the larger existing network of local shops and post
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Press release by the Conservative Group on SGC A vote forcing a local NHS U-turn on the new Frenchay community hospital has been narrowly defeated. Labour councillors tabled a motion at last night’s South Gloucestershire Council meeting calling on the local North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) to overturn its decision to involve an independent provider, such as St Monica’s Trust,
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