|
|
 |
|
|
March 2007 |
|
|
|
Ashfield Annual Report
Although it is nearing maximum capacity, YOI Ashfield has received another positive report from the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) in its 2005-06 annual report. The privately run facility, operated by Serco, got good marks for its educational and health programmes. IMB Chairman Arthur Williams said, "It has been another excellent year for Ashfield. All credit goes to Serco's Director Vicky O'Dea, her management team and staff, who have worked extremely hard to ensure that Ashfield maintains a safe and positive environment for the young people in their care."
OFSTED gave Ashfield a good rating, particularly for vocational training. A key element is the vehicle workshop, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company. Health programmes include a no-smoking policy and a healthy eating initiative. The Substance Misuse Team has won awards from for its programmes of prevention, treatment, and support.
The report highlighted several concerns regarding the treatment of the young people housed at Ashfield, including the higher proportion whose homes are more than 50 miles away, making visits from their families more difficult, and the unacceptable manner in which foreign nationals are treated by the Immigration Service.
Ashfield regularly offers job opportunities to local people. Anyone interested in finding out about possible opportunities can contact Arthur Williams on 303 8044.
Jacki Berry
|
|
|
|
May Health Walk 
Join us on a summer walk around Pucklechurch on Thursday, 24th May. Meet at 10.15 at the Pucklechurch Community Centre. We will visit some lovely countryside and explore quiet lanes and byways, some with fantastic views. As usual, it will be an informal and friendly walk with tea, coffee and biscuits to refresh mind and body at the end.
Our dedicated team of walk leaders will lead you round the route and can answer any queries or concerns that you have. This walk covers mostly even ground, but there are a couple of more challenging sections! We will walk for about an hour and cover about 3.5 miles.
You can just turn up on the day, but if you would like any further information about this and other walks in our Walks Programme, please do not hesitate to contact the Walking to Health Team on (01454) 866598 or e-mail Christine.Farr@southglos.gov.uk.
|
|
|
|
CAB Volunteer Opportunities
The Citizens Advice Bureau helps people solve their legal, consumer and other problems by providing free advice, and by influencing policymakers. Your local Citizens Advice Bureau needs volunteers to ensure that this valuable service is available to those in our community who really need it. All sorts of people volunteer for many different reasons, but one thing that unites them all is that they find it challenging, rewarding and varied.
CAB volunteering provides an opportunity to learn new skills and to develop existing ones. Nearly one-third of the volunteers who leave the service each year use their experience to secure paid work, so there's more to volunteering with us than you might think!
If you decide to become a CAB adviser, your training is accredited by the Open College Network and is respected throughout the advice sector. All our volunteer roles will enable you to develop specific expertise. For example, you might improve your IT and organisational skills as an administrator, learn how to deal with the media as a PR volunteer, or develop research skills as a campaigner. It’s also a chance to put the skills and experience you already have to good use by helping others in your local community. We’ll do our best to find a role for you that fits in with your interests, and we’ll be as flexible as possible in enabling you to volunteer at the times that suit you best. Many of our trustees, for example, fit their volunteering around full time jobs.
For many people, the best thing about volunteering for the CAB is getting to meet a wide range of people and make new friends. There is a real team spirit at CAB, and we provide a supportive environment to make sure that you get the most out of your time with us. Above all, it’s a chance to make a real difference.
To find out more, contact us at the South Gloucestershire Citizens Advice Bureau, Kennedy Way, Yate BS37 4DQ or ring us on 08701 212019.
|
|
|
|
Oaktree Avenue: Update on Development Proposals
Over the last few months, discussions have been going on between South Gloucestershire Council’s Housing Enabling Team and GVA Grimley, agents for the Three Shires Medical Practice, to which Dr Seddon belongs, regarding proposals to build a new surgery on the site at Oaktree Avenue. Sovereign Housing Association has also been involved in the discussions, as the Council-owned land has been earmarked for residential development for several years and their plans will need to take the surgery into account.
GVA Grimley has now submitted an outline planning application for the surgery to establish the principle of developing a surgery in that location. The proposed location is at the western end of Oaktree Avenue, set back from the road, next to the industrial estate. Access is proposed to be where the existing road to nos. 51-57 joins Oaktree Avenue.
If outline consent is granted, the details of the surgery and its surroundings will be considered as part of a single, detailed planning application for the whole site. In this way, we will ensure that the design of the two elements -- the surgery and the housing -- will complement each other.
The application number is PK07/0287/O. It can be viewed either by visiting the One Stop Shop in Kingswood Civic Centre and asking to see the plans, quoting the application number, or on the South Gloucestershire public website at www.southglos.gov.uk. From the home page of the website, go to ‘Planning Applications’ on the right-hand side of the page and type the application number in the relevant box. You can also register your comments on the application using the link at the bottom of the application page.
For further information or to express your views, please call Tim Borthwick on 01454 865558, e-mail tim.borthwick@southglos.gov.uk or write to him at the Housing Enabling Office, Yate Leisure, Kennedy Way, Yate, BS37 4DQ.
N.B. Comments on the planning application will need to be made directly to Development Control (East) or on the website here...
|
|
|
|
Be Scamwise
Each year Trading Standards receives hundreds of complaints about the many different types of scams people are encountering. South Gloucestershire Council’s Trading Standards Service, along with the other Services in the South West, have produced some guidance leaflets and ‘No Doorstep Traders’ door stickers as part of the SCAMWISE campaign. The aim of this campaign is to reduce the number of people caught out by scams and rogue traders.
Some recent examples of scams appearing in South Gloucestershire are:
- Traders cold-calling, saying they have tarmac left over from doing some work for the highways department and offering to tarmac driveways for a low cost. The work is of a poor standard so the cost turns out to be relatively expensive.
- Traders cold-calling and offering to undertake roofing repairs that appear to be unnecessary.
- Cards being put through letterboxes suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parcel and giving a telephone number to contact. It appears this telephone number is a premium rate number, and you could incur a cost of £15 without realising.
- Unsolicited telephone calls requesting the names and addresses of residents under the pretence that they are being invited to an event -- however the event does not exist. These calls could have a number of purposes -- to use personal details for fraudulent activities or to ensure properties are empty for criminal reasons, for example.
The leaflets we have produced provide advice on how to recognise scams and protect yourself from them. These leaflets and door stickers can be requested from Trading Standards at 20 Marsh Common Road, Pilning, South Gloucestershire BS35 4JX, or trading.standards@southglos.gov.uk or via Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.
Clothing Collection Leaflets
Trading Standards are urging local residents to be wary of the large numbers of leaflets which are being dropped door to door requesting that householders donate unwanted clothing and other household items. These leaflets often give the recipients the impression that anything donated will go to help people in the third world or benefit other charitable causes, but they all tend to stop short of claiming to be from actual registered charities. There are concerns that the goods collected are being taken to Eastern Europe, where they have good resale values, and are then sold on to market traders who sell them for profit.
Be suspicious of such clothing collections and remember that the only way to guarantee that donations benefit good causes is to only deal with charities that you can identify as genuine or take your clothing direct to a charity shop.
If in doubt, contact Consumer Direct on 08454 040506.
|
|
|
|
Pucklechurch Trading Estate Changes Hands
In January Pucklechurch Trading Estate was sold to Slough Estates International (SEI) for £16.1 million. Pucklechurch Trading Estate consists of 20 acres of industrial properties, currently with 260,000 sq ft of industrial units and opportunity for an additional 40,000 sq ft. Two buildings that remain from the Second World War barrage balloon squadrons are Grade II listed.
The estate had been owned by Pucklechurch Development Company for over 40 years. Chairman Andrew Davison said, “Pucklechurch Development Company has held the interests of five local families for two generations, and we are sad to end our connection with this very successful investment. We are very happy that Slough has acquired the property -- particularly as they intend to continue to support the village community.” We hope that SEI live up to this pledge and become stalwart supporters of Pucklechurch village activities and initiatives.
Gareth Osborn, SEI's Regional Director for Thames Valley & the West, says, “We intend to manage the estates more actively than they have been in the past and will be drawing up plans to further enhance and modernise the units.” Mr Osborn's office can be reached at 01753 213541 or by email on Gareth.Osborn@sloughestates.co.uk.
SEI owns three other industrial estates in the South West: Emerald Park at Emersons Green, The Beeches in Yate and Weston Industrial Estate in North Somerset.
According to their website, SEI is a UK-based property investment and development company with extensive interests in Europe and North America and a property portfolio worth £5.6 billion.
Let's welcome SEI to the village and look forward to their involvement in our community. We hope that it will be a mutually beneficial relationship.
Jacki Berry
|
|
|
|
Village of the Year Competition
Pucklechurch has been entering the Village of the Year Competition for the past 20 years, during which time we have won several runners-up places and several most improved village awards. In the years 2003 and 2004, Pucklechurch won the top award for large villages, and our two plaques have been set in stones at the foot of our millennium stone near the entrance to the trading estate. There's another stone just waiting for this year's award. Keeping in mind that the award does not go to the prettiest village but the tidiest, it would be helpful if everyone would do their best to keep our village free of litter.
Les Whittock
|
|
|
|
Veteran's Badge
If you served in the armed forces at any point up to 1969, you may be entitled to a Veteran's Armed Forces Lapel Badge, which has been introduced relatively recently by the Ministry of Defence. It was first introduced in 2004 to cover a limited group of former service personnel, but a few months ago it was extended to cover anyone who had served up to the end of the 1960s. It does not relate to any particular conflict, there is no minimum period of service, and it includes service in the Home Guard.
If you or someone you know might be entitled, contact Steve Webb MP on 01454 322100. He will send you an information note from the House of Commons library together with an application form.
|
|
|
|
Photo Competition 2007
Pucklechurch Revel will again sponsor the Bob Stone Memorial Photography Competition in 2007. The third annual competition will offer prizes for two age groups and two categories, each of which will be judged separately for first, second, and third place. Entries are due in by September 1st. There will be a fee of £1 per entry for adults, but entry is free for those 17 and under. Prizes will likely include cash, vouchers, and/or merchandise.
The competition is open to amateur photographers who are residents of Pucklechurch, Shortwood, Abson, Westerleigh, Hinton, Doynton, and Dyrham and any student attending Pucklechurch Primary School. Judges will be from outside the village and will look for good composition, pin-sharp focus, and visual impact in selecting the winners.
Age groups:
17 and under (entry is free)
18 and over (£1 per entry)
Categories:
- Pucklechurch Village Life -- Buildings, people, scenery and events that show where and how we live
- Open -- Any other subject, such as travel, portraits, nature, pets, abstracts, or architecture
Entries will be judged by experts from outside the village, with the exhibition and prize-giving planned for Sunday, 30th September. Entry rules are available from the website now and will be out in local shops in June and July. Look for more details in the next issue of Pucklechurch News.
See last years winners here...
|
|
