PRESS RELEASE 5TH October 2021
VAST- Villages Alliance for Sustainable Transport

Residents in Churchill and Langford, Sandford and Winscombe have formed a new group, the Villages Alliance for Sustainable Transport, VAST, to campaign for a better deal for villagers in North Somerset on transport and traffic management.

VAST invites residents and transport groups in the other North Somerset villages to join them in working with North Somerset Council to get action on 2 key issues, the urgent need to reduce traffic and transport emissions in line with North Somerset’s climate emergency targets, and urgently improving transport and traffic management in the villages.

VAST is calling on North Somerset Council to

• develop a Transport Strategy and Transport Action Plan aligned with its Climate Emergency Net Zero Carbon target of 2030 effective for the whole of the county including the villages, to include a shift to public transport.
• prioritise the decarbonisation of transport throughout North Somerset, assessing all transport decisions including procurement decisions for their carbon cost, with an annual reduction target towards 2030, and six-month review and reports on progress,
• urgently review all major infrastructure projects including the Banwell Bypass, taking into account their carbon cost of construction and operation and their individual impact on North Somerset’s carbon budget and Net Zero target of 2030.Contact VAST by email at VAST@winscombeandsandford.org.uk
  For more online information, go to https://winscombeandsandford.org.uk/vast/A Sandford Neighbourhood Group Transport Action spokesperson says:
  We are calling for a better deal for the villages from North Somerset Council. We need much better transport options and traffic management. Speeding traffic through the villages, and congestion at pinch points are on the increase again, which means more worries about road safety, noise and pollution.In Sandford we have Sandford Primary School and Sandford Station retirement complex right on the main road through Sandford, the A368. Cyclists, including young children, take to the pavements to avoid the heavy traffic. In many other areas, there are no pavements, and cyclists and pedestrians face serious dangers on the narrow roads.
  Sandford residents have been living with increasing through traffic and HGVs for many years now, and the traffic will get much worse if the Banwell Bypass project goes ahead. We can expect half as much traffic again from the new bypass road, plus the additional traffic from the new developments near Banwell, which could mean over 3000 new homes and as many additional new cars.
  We urgently need North Somerset Council to update its transport and traffic management policy to bring in active travel schemes, with walking and cycling lanes, reduced speeds limits and improved public transport links for Sandford and the other villages, as they are already

doing for the towns. This is essential to reduce transport emissions overall, which are already out of control at 42% of North Somerset’s total carbon emissions

A Churchill and Langford Residents Action Group spokesperson for CALRAG says:
‘Large areas of the country live in low emission zones, with traffic calmed to 20 mph, while

in our villages the traffic has become much worse, with deteriorated public transport. Young and old in many villages have very poor connectivity and are unfairly isolated. Rural roads have the highest death and injury tolls. Churchill is facing greatly increased traffic and emissions from the A38, and also the A368 via the Banwell Bypass which will increase traffic by 50% even before any new housing is built. We’re already experiencing flooding in and around the new housing developments in Churchill, and we’ve been left out of the Health Impact Assessment for the Banwell Bypass, which has a massive negative impact on community resilience. We need a much better deal for Churchill, much better transport planning and management, and a much stronger approach on reducing carbon emissions and our flood risk.

The Community café and Debbie Fortune Estate Agents are supporting Macmillan’s biggest coffee morning. All the proceeds from the Friday 24^th and Saturday 25^th cafe sessions will be donated to Macmillan Cancer Support. Local company Hearmore UK are sponsoring the cafe costs for the sessions.

Would you like to join the fantastic St Andrew’s crew? We are currently recruiting for two Learning Support Assistants to join our friendly team. Please see full details on our website via the link below:
https://www.standrewscongresbury.co.uk/job-vacancies/

Members of Congresbury WI are celebrating the 100^th anniversary of their Institute’s founding with an Afternoon Tea on 15^th September. Guests include many friends from the Congresbury Evening branch, from linked Institutes and from Trustees of the Avon Federation. Items from the archives will be on show and there will be a spirited rendering of “Jerusalem”, of course. In case members need a reminder – the meeting starts at 3pm in the Methodist Hall!

The next Soups and Puds lunch will be on Thursday 9th September, serving 12.00 – 1.00 at the Methodist Church Hall, High Street. Home made soup, bread roll and home made dessert, coffee or tea. Produce and preserves for sale and a raffle. 

Would you like to join the fantastic St Andrew’s crew? We are currently recruiting for two Learning Support Assistants to join our friendly team in the new academic year. Please see full details on our website via the link below:https://www.standrewscongresbury.co.uk/job-vacancies/

Wrington Country Market is looking for a honey supplier. The market operates Fridays 9.30-11.00 at the Memorial Hall, Wrington. Baked goods, preserves, Cheddar strawberries, veg, flowers, plants and craft are for sale and there is good parking. The organisers say they cannot offer refreshments at the moment as they are not allowed to use the kitchen. 

Your river needs you!  Become a citizen scientist and help monitor pollution in the Congresbury Yeo.  Bristol Avon Rivers Trust are running free Riverfly monitor training on 6th July – contact jess@bristolavonriverstrust.org for more info. Details below.

It’s the United Nations Global Road Safety Week this week and the campaign 20s Plenty has sent through this information.

Avon & Somerset Watch has published a guide to the best way to report crimes and suspicious behaviour. You can read the guide by clicking on this link

Avon & Somerset police have issued a warning over a new text message scam called Flubot. This is a malicious piece of spyware that is installed on Android devices once you receive a text message asking you to install a Tracking App due to a ‘missed package delivery’. The ‘Tracking App’ will actually steal passwords and other sensitive data, while sending messages to your contacts to do the same.

The text message asks the user to click on a link (PLEASE DON’T), doing so will take you to a website where you will be prompted to download the App (DEFINITELY DON’T).

Please forward any scam messages to 7726 (SPAM on your keypad), which is a free reporting service.

Although this scam only appears on Android phones at the moment, Apple IOS users should remain alert as this could apply to these handsets at some point.

Please see the link below for information on the National Cyber Security Website.

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/flubot-guidance-for-text-message-scam