Tory MP Chris Skidmore presented a petition to South Gloucestershire’s powerful Policy & Resources committee on Monday 7th April, asking them to reconsider the £36 annual charge for green bins. Lib Dem Cllr Ruth Davis, who chaired the meeting said: “We referred this for debate at the earliest possible appropriate meeting – the Communities committee […]

South Glos conservatives astonished residents on Wednesday night, when they refused to vote on freezing green bin charges. Liberal Democrat Cllr Ruth Davis proposed that the fees be frozen until at least 2016/17, to encourage people to use the service. When the vote was taken, all six lib Dem and Labour members voted in favour. […]

South Gloucestershire Council took a step towards approving its capital programme on Monday 3rd March when the Resources subcommittee recommended the programme to full council. The programme deals with some £67m of spending in 2014/15 and 15/16, on major projects – like solar farms, schools energy saving, and rolling out LED street lightning. Other schemes […]

South Gloucestershire Liberal Democrats have cautiously welcomed the new Yate-Southmead bus service. The new service will mean seven day a week access from Yate to Southmead hospital. But it will not extend to Chipping Sodbury, and some passengers will need to change at Bristol Parkway station. Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson Cllr Pat Hockey said: “The […]

“None of us went into local government to dismantle it”. That was the strong message from South Gloucestershire Liberal Democrats at the council’s budget meeting. The council’s £190m budget was agreed unanimously. It included protections for the youth service, money devolved to Area Forums, and the continuation of free car parking in South Glos. “In […]

Liberal Democrats have welcomed the adoption of the council’s Core Strategy. The development makes South Gloucestershire one of the very first councils in the country to have a National Planning Policy compliant framework. Lib Dem lead on planning, Cllr Pat Hockey said: “We welcome the fact that the Core Strategy has gone through. This means […]

Central government is forcing councils to reduce the amount of council tax support given to those who need it most. In South Gloucestershire, the council has to make a £2.5m reduction to benefits. After months of consultation and planning, leading Councillors today announced the plan that will be proposed to council on December 11th. All […]

Liberal Democrats on South Gloucestershire Council have continued pushing for a decent bus service to the new Southmead hospital due to open in April 2014. The council’s Planning, Transport & Strategic Environment committee agreed today (20th November) to introduce a direct visitor’s bus service from the Yate/Sodbury area to Southmead But the proposed service wasn’t […]

South Glos residents should have clearer runs into Bristol on public transport in the near future, following a vote by South Gloucestershire Council. The council’s strategic planning and communities committees both agreed to installing fixed penalty cameras watching bus lanes. This should reduce the number of cars that use them illegally, so the buses aren’t […]

At yesterday’s Health Scrutiny Committee Tories supported a Labour proposal which will greatly delay planned improvements to outpatients’ facilities, or even risk losing them altogether. They voted together to refer the whole matter to the Secretary of State – a move which is likely to delay the improvement plans for months, probably into the pre-Election […]