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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South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) and the Highways Authority will discuss the future use of the Tormarton rest area on the A46 this Wednesday (18th January). The rest area is an important facility for both drivers on the A46, and long-distance hikers on the Cotswold Way. The Highways Agency has proposed to remove the toilet facilities, and to leave the limited
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A local government spending watchdog has warned South Gloucestershire Council that failures in the way it managed grant applications from disabled people could mean central government will cut its funding. The Audit Commission has published a critical account of the way in which Conservative-run South Gloucestershire Council managed its process for awarding Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs). Councils are obliged by
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Council plans to boost access to high-speed broadband in partnership with Wiltshire and Swindon councils have been officially approved by South Gloucestershire’s Cabinet. The partnership, first revealed last month, means that South Gloucestershire will now be among the first councils in the country to begin signing up a commercial provider under the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) scheme. The BDUK
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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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Following the success of last year’s Jazz Festival at Chipping Sodbury, plans are well underway for a second Jazz Festival in 2012. Last year’s inaugural festival was a big hit with jazz fans and featured Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen as the main headline act. “It was so well received by residents and supported by local businesses that the 2012
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Council plans to boost access to high-speed broadband across areas of South Gloucestershire have moved into the fast lane, thanks to a new partnership announced today. South Gloucestershire will be joining Wiltshire and Swindon councils as they begin preparations to sign up a commercial broadband infrastructure provider under the government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) project. The BDUK scheme uses central
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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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Labour councillors in South Gloucestershire say they couldn’t positively support the “flawed” Core Strategy as presented to the Council last week because it sacrifices both Filton Airfield and areas of Green Belt for development. The revised Core Strategy, supported by the council’s ruling Conservatives, will agree 26,435 new homes to be built in the district in the period up to
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