The Parish Council now normally meets at 7pm in the Village Hall

on the second Thursday  in each month.

 Everyone is invited to attend.

ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17

Welcome to the Annual Report 2016-17 on the activities of the Council.

You will find details of how the Council spent its money and how the Council funds this expenditure.  Click here to see the annual accounts

The Parish Council consists of 9 councillors who represent an electorate of approximately 1,332. Elections are held once in every four years, the last one was uncontested in May 2016.

The Parish Council has a number of responsibilities in the village including: Burial ground, closed churchyard, play area, notice boards, bus shelters, and grass cutting of the parish owned open spaces.

The Parish Council employs 1 part-time member of staff (20 hours per week) to manage all Council matters.

The Council meets on the second Thursday of the month in the Village Hall in Eastington.  Agendas are displayed on the village notice board and also on the website – www.eastington-pc.gov.uk.  The public are welcome to attend these meetings and raise questions during the 20 minute public forum at the start of the meeting.

We keep residents updated on parish matters through our website, the Eastington Community News and you can follow us on Twitter (@Eastington_PC) or on Facebook (EastingtonPC).   

Chairman’s Report:

Another year has flown by in a flurry of activity.  Sometimes it feels that as a Council we make slow progress but when you look back on the achievements of the past year it really has been quite busy.  We launched a new website including email addresses for our councillors; the Neighbourhood Development Plan was adopted in October 2016; the long-awaited village gateways were ordered and should be installed during 2017; the skate area at Snakey Park is well underway all paid for through grants and developer funds and organised by the Friends of Snakey Park.  

A review of dog and litter bins was undertaken and two new bins installed with more planned.  The Council also achieved Quality in the Local Council Award Scheme and is currently putting together an application for Gold status.  I’m sure you’ll all agree we’ve achieved quite a lot for a small council with one part-time member of staff.  As always, we’re very grateful to our supporters and volunteers who help us with our projects.  My personal thanks go to the Councillors who work incredibly hard to progress our plans.

Oldbury End (our preferred name for the development West of Stonehouse) will be starting this year; the detailed planning applications have started to come in and with the support of Stroud District Council we’re making sure we receive the best development we can whilst retaining the unique historic characteristics of our hamlets.

Ecotricity plans for the land at junction 13 will likely be decided later this year; we’re hopeful that the application won’t be permitted; we remain very concerned about the impact on the A419 traffic and surrounding hamlets.

To keep up to date with Parish matters, please come along to our Council meetings or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.                                                                                                         Cllr Muriel Bullock - Chairman

 BUT the  meeting  on 8 June 2017 will be at the Community Centre at OHMG (due to the elections using the village hall).  

BURIAL GROUND NOTICE

All glass and china items will be removed from the burial ground as they can easily become broken and create a risk of injury to visitors.   

The parish council carries out regular safety inspections and items will be placed for your collection in the bin storage area.  Any items not collected within one month will be taken for rubbish.  Please help us by removing glass and china items from your loved one’s grave as soon as possible.

EASTINGTON PARISH COUNCIL RECEIVES TOP AWARD IN NATIONAL SCHEME

Eastington Parish Council has been awarded the prestigious Quality Gold award as part of the Local Council Award Scheme, the third council in Gloucestershire to receive this award. This achievement recognises that the council achieves good practice in governance, community engagement and council improvement. Moreover, the Council goes above and beyond their legal obligations, leading the community and continuously seeking opportunities to improve and develop even further.

The Local Council Award Scheme is a peer assessed programme that has been designed to both provide the tools and encouragement to those councils at the beginning of their improvement journeys, as well as promoting and recognising councils that are at the cutting edge of the sector. It is through the sector working together to share best practice, drive up standards and supporting those who are committed to improving their offer to their communities that individual councils and the sector as a whole will reach its full potential.

The accreditation is valid for four years but the council won't be resting on it's laurels and looks forward to continuing to do all it can to improve.

Julie