A public consultation has been launched to gather local views on a proposal to stage a weekly 5km parkrun event in Bradley Stoke’s Three Brooks Local Nature Reserve.
The consultation is being run by Bradley Stoke Town Council, some of whose members have voiced concerns about the use of the nature reserve for an event that could potentially be attended by hundreds of runners every Saturday morning.
Parkrun is a free community event, held every Saturday at 9am, at which you can walk, jog, run, volunteer or spectate. There are currently almost 800 parkrun locations in the UK.
According to parkrun, their volunteer-led events are “positive, welcoming and inclusive”. Furthermore, “there is no time limit and no one finishes last; everyone is welcome to come along.”
Proposed route
Participants will assemble and leave bags at the ‘triangle’ near Three Brooks Lake (a.k.a. the duck pond), where the pre-race briefing will be held. They will then walk up to the start point, located at the bottom of the steep path up to the Tump (shown as a green dot in the map above).
Once started, at 9am, they will initially head north, going as far as a point just short of the wooden bridge, where they will make a U-turn and head back south. After reaching the lake, they will head west, under Stoke Bridge (Bradley Stoke Way), to a second turning point. From here, it’s up to the wooden bridge once more and back again before making a final U-turn and heading back to the finish point (shown as a red dot) near the lake.
The circled numbers 1-5 shown in the above map are kilometre points.
Consultation questionnaire
The town council’s public consultation has the form of a number of questions which can be answered via an online form. Alternatively, paper copies of the questionnaire are available from the town council offices at the Jubilee Centre.
The questions asked are:
- Do you use the Three Brooks Nature Reserve?
- If yes, what for and how often?
- If yes, do you use it on a Saturday morning between 8 and 11 am?
- What are your thoughts on the proposal (outlined above)?
- Do you have any additional access needs to be able to use the Three Brooks Nature Reserve (such as wheelchair/mobility scooter/pushchair). If so, do any of the parkrun proposals give cause for concern?
The consultation closing date is Sunday 30th July 2023.
Missing information
Journal editor Stephen Horton comments:
“At the time of writing, the information presented on the town council’s consultation page doesn’t include any information about the anticipated numbers of participants or where those arriving by car will park. This is a serious deficiency which I have raised with the council.”
While the parkrun volunteer group behind the proposal has been reluctant to predict participant numbers for a parkrun in Bradley Stoke, the following weekly attendance statistics, calculated over the last 12 months for the three existing parkrun venues in South Gloucestershire, may prove informative:
- Pomphrey Hill: Average 258; Maximum 349
- Chipping Sodbury: 276; Maximum 351
- Thornbury: 87; Maximum 140
On vehicle parking, the parkrun volunteer group has stated that the management of the Willow Brook Centre has agreed that parkrun participants may park at the shopping centre. The group says it will “make it clear to participants that this is the preferred option”. The distance from the Willow Brook Centre car park to the assembly area in the nature reserve is 1.1km, via Bradley Stoke Way and Concorde Way (a 14min walk according to Google Maps).
Drop-in information session
The town council is additionally hosting a drop-in information session in connection with the consultation. This will take place between 9.30am and 12.30pm on Saturday 1st July 2023 at:
Baileys Court Activity Centre
Baileys Court Road
Bradley Stoke
BS32 8BH
What happens next?
Information gathered in the local consultation will be considered by the town council before it submits a formal response to South Gloucestershire Council, which owns the nature reserve and will determine the fate of the parkrun application.
Asked to provide an overview of the assessment process, a South Gloucestershire Council spokesperson told the Journal:
“An application was received on 9th March 2023 to hold a parkrun in the Three Brooks Local Nature Reserve. The application is being progressed through our Hire of Open Spaces process, and includes consulting the town council, ward councillors, registered third party groups for the proposed location, and internal council teams who may also have an interest in the site.”
“We are currently waiting for the town council to provide their response. They are undertaking their own local consultation and have advised that they will not be in a position to formally respond until September.”
“We anticipate a decision will be made by early October 2023.”
Related links
🔗 Public Consultation on proposed parkrun on Three Brooks Nature Reserve (BSTC)
Accounts of discussions about the parkrun proposal that took place at two recent town council meetings, held in March and May 2023, can be found in previous articles tagged ‘parkrun’.
Permission granted
UPDATE added 20th July 2024.
Following public consultation, Bradley Stoke Town Council submitted a ‘no objection’ response to South Gloucestershire Council and the latter subsequently granted permission for the parkrun to take place in the nature reserve.
The inaugural running of the Bradley Stoke ‘Three Brooks’ parkrun will take place on Saturday 20th July 2024. For further information, visit https://bit.ly/bs-3b-pr
Related post: Bradley Stoke nature reserve parkrun starts today (Saturday 20th July)
