produced by the community, for the community

Footpaths are one of the things that make England special and pleasant to live in, giving access for many to enjoy the landscape and wildlife around us.

The benefit of taking a short-­cut by foot instead of driving the long-­way round by car, and then competing for a parking place at the destination is additional to our wellbeing and enjoyment.

During the summer months many of us have been able to walk the direct route to the Village Hall or Old Badger in light foot-­ware, and to enjoy the benefit of a chat along the footpath with other like-­minded  folk.

Unfortunately in the other three seasons of the year, ankle-­deep mud and need for wellies have made the car a more desirable option. So, I was delighted to experience new firm gravel paths at ‘Six-­ways’ near Swallowcroft and at the kissing-­gate close to Bath Road junction with Middle Street. Together with previous Parish improvement works laying gravel around muddy gateways in Millend and Cress Green, it will be now be possible to walk over the footpaths to and from the Village for most of the year.

If you are one of those benefiting from improvements to our footpaths, you may wish to join me in sincerely thanking the community footpaths group ‘PROWD’ who organised the improvements, and the Parish Council who funded the works. Contact details for ‘PROWD’ and Eastington Parish Council are contained within their articles of this edition. So, taking some time to express gratitude for their work would no doubt be appreciated by the people who made these improvements happen for us, particularly as there was opposition from some councillors who thought these works were a waste of material and money.

Eastington has been a focus for speculating developers for more than 30 years, and our District Councillor, Stephen Davies, gives perspective to current proposals.


Following the permitted development of towering town houses over bungalows in Swallowcroft and open countryside, faith and confidence in the planning system was severely damaged for many of us. But it was worth persevering in opposing the two Appeals for development in Bath Road (opposite the Garage,) and at Bath Road Bungalow, and it is indeed good news that both Appeals were dismissed. These rulings add weight and credence to the basis of our arguments.

There is of course a drastic need for the right sort of homes in Eastington and elsewhere, as discussed in previous issues.  Representatives from Nailsworth and Eastington Community Land Trusts (CLT) met recently with Neil Carmichael MP to discuss the very worrying proposals for CLTs and Housing Associations (HA) to be included in the recently resurrected ‘Right to Buy’ scheme. It was reassuring to have support from our MP who wrote to the Housing Minister asking for an exemption for CLTs and HAs. If the scheme goes ahead without that exemption, it is almost certain to result in the demise of CLTs and HAs, and consequentially a reduction in the supply of ‘affordable housing’. On the other hand, the price of ‘market’ housing (for private sale,) continues to increase, allegedly fuelled by anticipated faster commuting times from Bristol to London due to electrification of the Great Western line.

While UK land prices continue to rise, the size of homes and gardens get smaller and smaller. It’ll only take someone to invent the vertical bed ,and speculative developers will grab the chance to squeeze even more from those desperate for a home, to build ‘nano-­sized’ houses instead of ‘micro-­sized ones!



Andrew Niblett | Editor

No. 153  Oct Nov 2015