Letter from our District Councillors
Cllr Stephen Davies and Cllr John Jones
I don't think it is too late to wish you a Happy New Year, and as 2017 is well and truly underway so is activity at your District Council.
First of all looking back, this was the first Christmas of the new waste collection system. I would be interested in any feedback good or bad. Generally it seems to have worked well. There has been an issue about the emptying of Dog Bins but I believe that this has been resolved, again let me know if there are any on-going problems.
Looking forward the application by Ecotricity for a football stadium and business park should come before Stroud District Council Development and Control Committee soon, probably March. Can I stress that despite some of the press releases from Ecotricity this is not "a done deal." It is very important that you make your views known on the Stroud District Council Planning Website, whether you are for or against. I, along with the Parish Council, will be opposing this due to concerns about the Traffic and that this is not in the Stroud District Plan which does include West of Stonehouse. There is also no clear Employment requirement as West of Stonehouse includes allocated employment land.
Talking of West of Stonehouse, the Master Plan for the first phase has been approved and now includes Buffer Zones due to pressure applied by me and others. The next debate will be the size of these buffers when the detailed plan is submitted. As I have often said the detail matters and Councillor John Jones and I will continue to work on this.
In other news, Stroud District Council has apologised for any inconvenience caused by the early collection of some Council Tax in December.
January and February will see the Council deciding the budget and setting the council tax. The Council’s finances are sound and we are not faced with sort of the cuts and redundancies being announced by councils across the UK. Nevertheless, we need to keep looking at how we can save money, reduce costs and increase our income. Gloucestershire’s devolution bid is ‘on hold’. Devolution to the ‘shires’ is no longer near the top of the ministerial agenda.
Finally, be aware that the A38 at Berkeley Bridge will be closed between the 14th and 23rd February. The crane being used to replace the bridge is so big it will cover both carriageways.
The Gloucester-Bristol railway line will be closed over the weekend of 17th-20th February.
As always, both of your District Councillors can be contacted by email or phone:-
cllr.stephen.davies@stroud.gov.uk tel: 07802595307 or
cllr.john.jones@stroud.gov.uk tel: 07808922918
Eastington Community News Magazine. Community news for and by the people of Eastington, Gloucestershire
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