Mayor Tom Aditya received the Quality Gold Award for Bradley Stoke Town Council

Mayor, Councillor Tom Aditya receiving the Quality Gold Award

L-R: Cllr Terri Cullen, Cllr Tony Griffiths, ALCA Chair Cllr Gail Boyle, Cllr Tom Aditya, Cllr Keith Cranney, Town Clerk Sharon Petela

Mayor of Bradley Stoke, Councillor Tom Aditya received the NALC Quality Gold Award Certificate from the Chairperson of the Avon Local Councils Association, Cllr Gail Boyle at a modest function held recently at the Bradley Stoke Jubilee Centre, in the presence of councillors and officers.

Whilst bestowing the award certificate, Cllr Boyle said “The Gold Award is only awarded to those councils operating at the highest level of excellence and Bradley Stoke is the second council in the West of England region to be recognised with this crowning accomplishment. The NALC accreditation panel assessed that Bradley Stoke Town Council was able to provide leadership in bringing people together, ensuring value for money as well as constantly seeking new innovations and opportunities to improve, based on a range of evidence-based criteria. In addition, the panel was particularly impressed with the council’s website and newsletter. It is a pleasure for me to be invited to confer this Quality Gold Award certificate to Bradley Stoke Town Council”.

After receiving the certificate, Mayor of Bradley Stoke, Councillor Tom Aditya stated “The NALC Gold Status award is wonderful recognition of the hard work and collaborative approach taken by councillors, council officers, community groups and organisations to improve the quality of life in our town and to provide superb facilities and services for Bradley Stoke residents. This achievement is of great significance for our council, especially in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year. As the primary tier of local government, our Council play a significant role in delivering services to meet community needs, however, we are first and foremost a Council that is firmly rooted in the local community, being the voice of Bradley Stoke, representing the community views, striving to improve the quality of life of the people and our environment. Bradley Stoke is a good place to live and have the amenities to serve the residents. The award underlines the council’s ability to meet those challenges.”

Bradley Stoke is the largest town in the northern part of Bristol. Once considered as Europe’s largest new town built with private investment, Bradley Stoke has repositioned itself as the most vibrant, and affluent place in the West of England region in terms of infrastructure, amenities, per capita income, and human resources development. Our town has achieved a lot during the last 30 years and we are grateful for what we have. We are putting efforts to sustain those achievements as well as to progress further.

Bradley Stoke Town Council intends to build on the work that it has already done in order to achieve the Quality Gold Award by continuing to develop a number of innovative projects to benefit the local community. Bradley Stoke is the largest town in South Gloucestershire with the lowest council tax precepts, and one of the finest places to live in England. Town Council has delivered community engagement and youth engagement projects for the neighbourhood and initiated efforts to alleviate social isolation and loneliness and to promote community cohesion and social harmony amongst our diverse and vibrant population. This year too, realising the financial situation of the residents due to the pandemic, Bradley Stoke Town Council has frozen the tax precepts, whilst ensuring quality services. Receipt of the Award demonstrates that our Council is at the forefront of best practice and achieves excellence in governance, community leadership, and council development.

Town Clerk Sharon Petela added: “We are very proud that we have achieved the Quality Gold status. It was very much a team effort, with everyone playing their part in working towards a successful outcome. This Award recognises the dedication and commitment of our councillors, the council's staff members, volunteers, and all our partners in the local community”.

The NALC accreditation panel commented on the Council’s website; how easy it is to navigate and the quality of the information included, as well as the professional presentation of the information. The panel also drew attention to the range of events, collaboration and engagement with a diverse range of groups in the community.

The Gold Award also recognised that Bradley Stoke Town Council ensured that it delivers value for money, meets its duties, provided leadership in planning for the future, managed performance as a corporate body and succeeded staff to achieve the business plan, demonstrated the breadth of work and services that Bradley Stoke Town Council undertakes for the benefit of its residents as well as having the essential plans, policies and procedures in place to make the delivery extremely efficient.

NALC Quality Gold Award certificate