The South Glos Post

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, which will be added to a £710k grant from the government body Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK).

In line with the ambition in South Gloucestershire’s recently refreshed Sustainable Community Strategy to improve access to broadband for all, this project’s aim is to achieve access to a minimum of 2 Mbps broadband speeds for all premises in South Gloucestershire by 2015 and superfast broadband to be available to a target of 90 per cent of premises – also by 2015.

Work to install the superfast broadband infrastructure could start as early as this December because the new tie-up with Wiltshire Council – confirmed earlier this month by South Gloucestershire’s Conservative Cabinet – ensures that the district’s broadband project is one of the most advanced in the country.

It’s estimated that around 82 per cent of premises in South Gloucestershire will be able to benefit from improved broadband infrastructure funded by broadband suppliers themselves, resulting in the availability of a faster and more reliable service by 2014.

The remaining 18 per cent (approx 21,000) of premises – where there are currently no plans by broadband suppliers to invest – will benefit from this public investment in order to make the provision of faster broadband commercially viable.

More: Plan must be ratified by Full Council on 22nd February »

Source: Conservative Group on South Gloucestershire Council

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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’ and other associated infrastructure.

Last year South Gloucestershire Council refused permission for the scheme, but the developer – Wind Prospect Developments Limited – then appealed to the independent Planning Inspectorate.

But in his concluding remarks, the inspector backed the council’s refusal, saying:

“the proposed development would have serious implications for the character and appearance of the rural surroundings in terms of landscape, the historic environment and the amenity of public rights of way, so serious in my opinion that they outweigh the benefits of renewable energy production.”

Local campaigners believe this ruling has significant implications for another proposed wind farm development at the nearby village of Ingst, which is in the Green Belt.

More: Decision is a victory for people power says councillor »

Source: Conservative Group on South Gloucestershire Council

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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 – at Severn Beach station between 2009 and 2011.

The same count found increases at other South Gloucestershire stations over the same 2 year period:

• Filton Abbey Wood has seen a 12 per cent increase – from 3,102 to 3,461
• Patchway has seen a 26 per cent increase – from 234 up to 295
• Yate has seen a 5 per cent increase – from 931 up to 974

Cllr Robert Griffin (Con, Pilning & Severn Beach) said:

“The Severnside Community Rail Partnership does a tremendous amount of good work and this whopping 49 per cent in passenger numbers is testament to these marvellous efforts.”

“All we can do is encourage people to leave their cars at home and use public transport and it’s great to see this being done in ever increasing numbers on the Severn Beach line.”

“And there’s always more we can do to keep this trend heading in the right direction, particularly improving reliability.”

More: Council transport chief is "delighted" with figures »

Source: Conservative Group on South Gloucestershire Council

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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 re-development of Filton Airfield and safeguarding of 50 ha of aerospace land to allow local firms to expand and new ones to locate here.

The Core Strategy still includes the protection of the Green Belt stretching from Pilning all the way through to Frampton Cotterell and down the east of Kingswood – areas that had been under severe threat from the previous government’s Regional Spatial Strategy.

And the airfield’s redevelopment would strengthen that protection even more.

But in the main vote only Conservative councillors unanimously backed these plans. Labour abstained and the LibDem group was split down the middle with some voting for and against.

Cllr Robert Griffin (Con, Pilning & Severn Beach) said:

“I am pleased that the Core Strategy has been approved including the defence of the Pilning Green Belt and promotion of a new M49 junction, but I am disappointed that the other parties did not join the Conservatives in unanimously supporting these aims.”

“You just need to look at GKN’s decision to build their factory near Severn Beach to see that a runway is not a pre-requisite for a successful aerospace company.”

“But Labour’s overnight aerospace experts cannot seem to grasp that.”

“GKN ship all their manufactured components out by lorry.”

More: Labour and LibDems "unable to see the bigger picture" »

Source: Conservative Group on South Gloucestershire Council

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