South Gloucestershire Council Reviews 

The staff are really helpful and the online system is very easy to use - lots of information on the website. It's quick and easy to get stuff done online.

I think 1 star is being generous.
Grass cutting in Yate has been a disaster in 2023.
Unknown to residents the area was being used as part of a government trial where grass is left to grow long and is cut less often than it was previously.

After 3 months of not being cut it was done early September - and a right pigs ear they made of it too.
Whilst the local councillor got involved it’s the the actual management of this fiasco that need to be taken to task - grass is long again and I suspect we won’t see another cut this side of spring 2024 - hope I’m wrong….

As ever, my experience of talking to South Gloucestershire Council is that they are disinterested jobsworths. I echo the experience of other reviewers. Bin situation has been a nightmare and SG don't take any responsibility. When contacted for advice about a complex situation all I get is a couple of dismissive lines in an email using legal terms which they don't explain. I resent having to pay these people's wages...

I very rarely leave a review unless it’s brilliant or absolutely appalling & so I will now add to my unfortunately 1 star review left previously as there is no Zero star. I pay £159 per month council tax which is sooo expensive for what you actually receive for the money. The council made us all recycle & then gave us a new black bin that was half the size of the previous one which I thought as it was half the size it was going to be collected weekly as it was so small but NO. Now we are all recycling everything but with the exception of the black bin emptied every fortnight nothing else that we recycle has been collected. I really object to being told by South Glos Council that I have to drive to a recycling centre to dispose of my recycling & queue for over an hour whilst they take my £159 per month, it’s an absolute disgrace and if this is going on until September (obviously they can afford to strike until then) we all need a refund on our extortionate council tax. Don’t think anyone from the South Glos Council actually reads any of these reviews but they dam well should.

The list of their errors is to long to provide the complete the extensive list we have. They have failed my disabled parents continuously. They have failed my wife who is also disabled. They cannot produce accurate documentation, their financial info is always "wrong first time". They have sent me other residents in this area's confidential financial and medical records, they have been confrontational when they have been proved wrong, they have made "out of hours" threatening phones calls to me, they believe being offensive and bullying is an acceptable way to deal with the elderly, at risk and disabled, they have untrained staff dealing with vulnerable people, they do not investigate complaints fully and they do not provide accurate feedback. There are so many examples of their failures and failures that have put disabled people at serious risk. They have no understanding of "disability awareness" and no regard for the disabled.

Absolutely shocking. I reported 2 abandoned shopping trolleys in Barrs Court Moat - e.g. fly tipped rubbish inside a public park, in their region - and they replied to say "its not our responsibility" - typical council morons - take take take - massive council tax rises every year and what the hell do they do???? Lining the fat pockets of old fart and very rich councillors!!!!!!!!!!! It would be quicker for me to train the Barrs Court Moat Ducks to form a Duck Squad and between me and the aquatic legends, we might be able to remove the trolleys. Useless councillors.

Have just had waste wizard leaflet through letterbox. It reads "everything with a plug or cable can be recycled." well I have a heavy TV set. How do you recycle that? It won't fit in a car. I can't leave it on pavement for collection as it will block half the pavement up and it weighs a ton.

Just went through a cp plan . So shocked and appalled a the pack of wolves that stuck together , no matter the lies, they were deemed exceptable even talking to a GP about skmeones medical records , the person is at a completely seperste surgery in Bristol. . No support during . Improper use and bulling over my disability. No safeguarding for my children. Comments like my child won't amount to any thing. These people walk around with the title professional 🙄.

Absolute shambles only given one star as can’t give a minus rating. Been waiting 8 weeks for a council tax refund as we sold a property. Called today and was told it would be a further 4 weeks. Absolutely disgusting and appalling customer service. Cost of living crisis means nothing to this useless bunch. Nice offices though!!

If I could give the South Gloucestershire Dog Warden a minus, I would. A 1
Star is very misleading for what is an absolute waste of public money for a service that’s not provided. Complaints aren’t responded to and no outcomes provided. Me and my neighbours are fed up of filling in logs to have no response to a continually irresponsible neighbour and his 2 guard dogs. I have no faith that this review will even be responded to be South Gloucestershire council.

I would if I could give a minus score. I have been trying to talk to street care for over a week but continually engaged so emailed as suggested no response tried messaging on Facebook as suggested no response Finn though if they want something off of yourself it’s instant.

This council is not taking the needs of its ratepayers first and foremost. It is granting planning for huge housing developments without any facilities which means the overstretched surgeries, schools and other facilities in the area cannot give the service they should.
They have passed on basic public health protection such as rat control to private companies who charge an obscene amount of money for a service making it beyond peoples purses so the rats proliferate.

I don’t know how many times I’m going to have to phone about this issue. You state to leave the purple nappy bags beside the black bin if no room inside. And yet again I’ve gone to collect in my empty black bin to find all my full nappy bags still sat outside my garage. If you don’t sort it I will personally throw the Dirty nappies at your bin men. Like getting blood out of a stone complaining to you people I swear. 😡😡😡😡😡

I reported a kerb Stone that is wobbly & higher than all the other kerbs.. This kerb is on a corner junction next to the main road it's a trip hazzard & potentially an accident waiting to happen. I reported it 5 weeks ago & they still haven't fixed it or made it safe . I expect our council tax Bill's have gone up yet again ,maybe I should make them wait over 5 weeks before I pay that. My neighbour recently reported a similar issue & it took 3 months for south Gloucestershire council to finally repair that. An absolute poor & very slow response from this lot . Sloppy service. I won't even rate them a single star .

I have literally just witnessed the bin men coming back to empty a forgotten recycling box of a neighbours from this morning, they pulled up right next to a cardboard box that has blown down the street (obviously from this morning) the bin man looked at it, emptied the green box and drove off leaving the flattened cardboard box on the pavement! Wow!

I tried several times to contact the Planning Department by phone - it just rings and rings and nobody answers. I then sent an email on the Saturday (via Corporate Contact Centre email address) and low and behold I got a reply by 16.00 hours on the following Monday.

I wanted to put up a wire mesh fence between my neighbours and my property - height of 0.9 metres (2ft 11inches) off the ground. I wanted to check with the Planning Department that my understanding was correct that I could put up something as long as it was 3 feet or less. The reply I got was astonishing to say the least! Basically, if I paid £128 for a planning advice consultation, they would then review my request and advise.I then went on to various planning portals and found my answer - at the front, you can put up to a 1 metre high wall or fence as long as you or you neighbour are not in a conservative area or your properties are not listed.

South Gloucestershire Council promote themselves as a nice place to live. However, they don’t want to be helpful to their Council Tax payers, who incidentally keep them in a job, and try a fleece them for every penny. I bet the majority are still working from their dining rooms and spare bedrooms while the rest of us are back in our place of work.

I recently had a awful time and ran into debt which was forwarded to rundles bailiffs who wanted £150 a month payment which really stressed me to the point of being unable to eat or sleep with worry. I ended up contacting south good council as I was in tears and anxiety was raging, I spoke to a MS CUFF from debt recovery team, what a lovely woman. She’s a asset to the council, very sympathetic and kind. She went out of her way to help with rundles bailiffs and make a affordable payment plan. Thank you so much MS Cuff. That help may seem little to you but I actually managed to sleep well again and felt like loads of weight was lifted off my shoulders. What a lovely human being. Thanks again. Jessica M

Having waited nearly an hour on the phone still no response, a standard for Sth Glos Council. The level of incompetence from the top down belies belief. Council taxes go up quality of service goes down though currently at rock bottom. Not adverse to spending money on absurd ideas that create greater issue than are resolved and benefit the few rather than the majority. Bad planning, bordering on no planning at all is the main attribute of this council coupled with a lack of spinal rigidity. The worst council in UK and rightly deserves the criticism it gets. They forget they are a public body, paid for by the public to serve the public. The whole council needs revamping from the top down with staff that care and perform their duties on behalf of the public.

Zero stars if i could. There policies are an absolute joke which they seem to tweak to suit themselves. Planning / enforcement might as well be abolished and let builders / developers do want they want, how they want and when they want, with no regard to anyone else.

Tbh I would rate them zero if I was able.
A group of residents are having horrendous problems with a neighbour running an unsuitable disruptive business from home. The council have facilitated her ability to do this despite the negative impact its had on surrounding properties and serious wellbeing of residents.
We were told SHE has rights!!
It’s not the only issue as these are the neighbours from hell!!!
The council have been unhelpful , arrogant and said there’s nothing they can do.
I repeatedly asked if she had a licence coz I wanted to know if they’d given her specific permission and was blanked! If they have, why weren’t residents consulted and why don’t they have the power to revoke it?
Don’t bother consulting the council about any problems you might have they make decisions in your behalf and then don’t have the guts to defend those decisions. Faceless cowards!!
The amount of council tax we have to pay for NOTHING.. is an absolute disgrace!