Work to deliver new primary and secondary schools in Lyde Green is under way after the final funding agreements and contracts were signed to deliver the new facilities in time for the start of the 2026/27 academic year. The 420-place primary school will be run by the Castle School Education Trust and the 900-place, 11-16 secondary school will be run by the Olympus Academy Trust.
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The region will go to the polls next month to decide who should be responsible for Avon and Somerset Police. The police and crime commissioner sets the police precept part of council tax, decides how the budget is spent, sets local policing priorities, and can appoint and dismiss the chief constable. Election day is Thursday 2nd May.
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South Gloucestershire Council has told the government it needs to reduce black bin collections to once every three weeks. The local authority, which last month launched a search for a new waste partner to collect rubbish from the kerbside, says doing this less frequently will help it plug a funding gap and hit recycling targets.
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Council tax in South Gloucestershire will increase by 4.99 percent from April 2024 after councillors approved next year’s budget. The financial plan includes “investing in cost-of-living support”, as well as taking action on climate change and helping residents cut down on their energy bills. The latest increase follows on the heels of an identical hike of 4.99 percent that took effect from April 2023.
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Council leaders are set to rubber-stamp plans to double the cost of garden waste collections and introduce car parking charges in South Glos despite huge opposition from residents. Cuts to the council tax reduction scheme (CTRS) – benefits that help the poorest households pay the bill – and shorter library opening hours are also included in the local authority’s annual budget.
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National Highways has announced that the A432 Badminton Road bridge over the M4 motorway will need to remain closed for a further two years to allow the structure to be demolished and replaced. Demolition is planned for summer/autumn 2024 following work to divert utilities and it’s hoped that construction of the new bridge will be completed in 2025.
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Children are having to wear coats during lessons because schools in South Gloucestershire are so cash-strapped they cannot afford to turn the heating up. Headteachers say the financial situation has hit crisis point because the district is the worst-funded of all 151 education authorities in the country. Both council-maintained and academy schools are affected.
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A 15-year blueprint for more than 20,000 new homes, 25,000 extra jobs and infrastructure across South Gloucestershire has been published. The draft Local Plan includes a huge expansion of Bristol’s ‘urban edge’ onto swathes of countryside to the east of the city, including green belt land.
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South Glos Council’s joint Lib Dem & Labour Cabinet will meet next week to consider proposals for next year’s budget that include details of “incredibly difficult” decisions to reduce spending and increase charges. The new draft budget does not propose to make new savings, but does provide details of cost-cutting that was approved in the Conservatives’ last budget agreed in February.
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A new free shuttle bus is being laid on to try to ease traffic chaos and delays from the long-term closure of a bridge over the M4 in South Gloucestershire. The half-hourly service will start on Thursday 14th September, to take passengers from Yate Park & Ride via Coalpit Heath to the Cuckoo Lane junction on the A432 Badminton Road, from where it is a short walk to…
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