Bradley Stoke councillors have voted to terminate a long-standing agreement that has seen the town council part-fund an additional part-time police officer on the local beat team. The decision was made after the police force requested a 16% increase in the town council’s contribution from April 2023, along with concerns over whether the council has been getting “value for money”.
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South Gloucestershire Council’s element of the council tax levied on local households is to increase by 4.99 percent from April 2023. The latest rise follows an uplift of 2.99 percent in 2022/23 and 4.99 percent in 2021/22. This year’s increase once again includes a ring-fenced adult social care levy, this time 2 percent. Bradley Stoke households in a Band D property face an annual increase of £104.79.
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Councillors have expressed “significant concerns” regarding a requested 16 percent annual increase in the town council’s contribution towards the funding of an additional part-time police officer dedicated to Bradley Stoke. They are also unhappy at the “lack of visible police presence” in the town and the “withdrawal of police support for community events”.
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A Bradley Stoke town councillor who resigned from the Conservative Party in protest at alleged bullying of council officers has now joined the Green Party following a brief flirt with Labour. The councillor quit the party to become an independent in May last year, accusing two colleagues of unreasonable behaviour in their interactions with council staff.
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Opposition members on Bradley Stoke Town Council have reacted angrily to some of the ruling Conservative group voting to restrict them to attending just one in three of the monthly councillor surgery sessions held on Saturday mornings at the Willow Brook Centre. The new system has been in effect since July following a close vote at June’s meeting of Full Council.
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South Glos Council is running a public consultation on a proposed change to the number of town council wards in Bradley Stoke. In order to avoid the need for “long ballot papers” at elections and the potential for “expensive by-elections” (due to the large number of voters in each of the current wards), it is proposed to increase the number of town wards from three to five.
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A Bradley Stoke town councillor has resigned from the Conservative Party in response to what he describes as “bullying and targeting” of council officers by fellow councillors within the majority Conservative group. The Journal understands that the councillor initially submitted a letter of outright resignation, but was persuaded to stay on as an independent.
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A by-election held in March to fill a seat on Bradley Stoke Town Council that had become vacant following the death of a councillor cost local taxpayers a staggering £12,868, the Journal can reveal. The by-election saw 1,077 votes being cast from a total electorate of 7,056 (a turnout of only 15.3 percent), which works out at almost £12 per ballot paper.
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Bradley Stoke Town Council has been recognised for its standards of governance, community leadership and council development by successfully applying for a Quality Gold Award, the highest-achievable level within the Local Council Award Scheme, which is overseen by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC).
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The Labour Party has won a second seat on Bradley Stoke Town Council in a controversial by-election that is likely to have cost ratepayers upwards of £8,000 to stage. The seat, one of seven representing the South ward on the 15-seat town council, became vacant on the sad passing of mayor Michael Hill (Conservative) in November last year.
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