Council officers were due to be inspecting the Earls Park site as part of the adoption process on Wednesday 13^th April. Until the site is adopted by the Council, the land is owned and maintained by Matthew Homes. It is private land in which the Council cannot operate.

The council are aware of the issues with bins so they are looking to:

• Get the contact details for the management company that Matthew Homes should have appointed to empty bins and maintain the play areas and grass area.
• Ensure that a sign with these contact details is in place in the parks to enable residents to report any issues easily.
• Agree with the developer a regular time for which the bins shall be emptied and try to hold the developer to account on meeting this agreement.
• Agree with the developer a regular schedule of litter picking and maintenance and try to hold the developer to account on meeting this agreement.
• They also were due to report the damaged bollard at Neven Place as part of the visit.

I will be following up with the council for feedback and will relay any further developments or actions. Residents can let me know any concerns by contacting me.

At the full council meeting last month I asked a question about the defunct ‘2Rs Community‘ clothes banks in Gloucester. The charity closed down in 2021.

If clothes banks are on private land then it is up to the landowners to remove them. I have provided a list of the banks I am aware of to the council and they are writing to the landowners and the administrator of the charity, if they can locate the information. We cannot just remove the bins as they may be a business asset.

In respect of the Podsmead bin in Burns Avenue, we have suggested in the meantime hanging a sign on the bin to say this clothes bank is no longer in use. There are other options in Podsmead and the local area to recycle clothes, such as the bank at The Club at Tuffley Park, or Kingsway Asda and Quedgeley Tesco clothes banks.

After I urged the council to replace the faded 7.5 tonne limit sign on Cole Avenue leading to Podsmead Road, it has been replaced by Highways. Now it’s more legible, it should help to deter heavy lorries driving along Podsmead Road, which is both a noise nuisance, and illegal if they weigh above 7.5 tonnes.

All waste and recycling collections will take place as normal on Friday 15th April (Good Friday) & Monday 18th April (Easter Monday)

More information about waste and recycling is on the city council website here.

Welcome to the April edition of Neighbourhood Watch OUR NEWS.

As we draw nearer to Neighbourhood Watch Week (30th May – 5th June), the Month of Community (June), and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee (also in June), this edition focuses on ways we can improve our community’s health and wellbeing. It also features articles on:

• free training for Neighbourhood Watch volunteers
• the era of the swindler
• making a community
• engaging young people
• and much more.

https://assets.neighbourhoodalert.co.uk/images/site_images/88409_April_2022_OUR_NEWS.pdf

A briefing was held for Gloucester City Councillors with the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire, Chris Nelson. This came about after a successful Liberal Democrat motion to council calling for a briefing to be held with the PCC, to look at policing issues in our communities.

There was a good turnout from councillors including the whole Lib Dem group. Many councillors asked questions of Mr Nelson, including myself.

I asked about the recent TV programme featuring Gloucestershire officers, and particularly about the problem of alcohol-related crime mentioned on there. The PCC replied that alcohol crime was a major resource drain on the force, and that he was personally trying to do things on this issue.

I also referred to the problem of speeding, for example in Tuffley Avenue and Podsmead Road in my patch, and would the PCC come and meet me to see for himself. He acknowledged that this is one of the things that residents often bring up and want action on. He said it is one of his passions and he wants to get something done on this issue.

He said we was willing to meet me in Podsmead to look at any issues, but also the senior officers who were in attendance that evening said they would be in touch, as they knew already that I was very proactive in my ward, for example with regular walkabouts with PCSO Sexton.

The clothes banks for ‘2Rs community’ have been a magnet for fly-tipping, including in Podsmead at Burns Avenue.

Some research I did led me to find out that 2Rs was based in Wolverhampton, and that it no longer exists.

I asked the Leader of the Council a question about this issue and whether we could get the banks removed. He said in response that the clothes banks were usually sited on private land and in these instances it is up to the landowner to get them removed or to make sure they are serviced. Given the charity no longer exists, I would hope that landowners would prefer the banks to be removed, especially as they are a magnet for fly-tipping.

The first part of my question has the list of 2Rs banks that I am aware of in this part of the city:

‘There are several clothes banks for the ‘2Rs Community Resource Centre’ around the city, including in my ward of Podsmead on Burns Avenue, in Tuffley by the Seventh Avenue shops and in Chatsworth Avenue, and in Grange by Homleigh shops. An internet search shows that 2Rs was a Wolverhampton-based charity and that is was dissolved on 31st March 2021.‘

I understand from the Leader that he has been in touch with the city centre manager who is going to contact owners to request removal.

Clothes banks can be very good for charities who can make money for their causes from reselling good quality discarded garments or selling textiles to the rag trade, but only if they are maintained and regularly emptied.

There is a clothes bank in Podsmead at The Club at Tuffley Park that is available to residents. There are also often clothes banks in supermarket car parks such as Asda or Tesco.

If you know of any more disused clothing banks, or any other instances of fly-tipping in our area, do let me know.

There’ll be a meeting of the Not so secret Book Club on Robinswood Hill on Tuesday 19th April, 11am-2pm.

See the poster for further details or go to www.readwithme.org.uk

I am pleased to see at long last that the fly-tipping at Milton Avenue has been removed. Part of the issue seemed to be that despite giving detailed directions, the collection team couldn’t locate it. In the end PCSO Sexton and I submitted a map to them and now it has gone.

In other news, Milton Avenue play area is open and being enjoyed by local children. One piece of equipment was broken recently and we got that reported for repair – thanks to Les and Lisa Jevins for alerting me to this.

I had a note from council officers regarding the pond:

‘The work for the pond was put out to tender to three competent and approved contractors, but unfortunately no bids were submitted.

It has been decided that, from an ecological perspective, we should now wait until October before disturbing the pond. We will therefore include these works in a broader tender package going out in the next few months.

We also intend to include some additional tree and shrub planting along the linear strip to break it up a bit.

It’s a shame we could not crack on with the pond works, but it is important we do it right.’

It was also noted that sewage is entering the pond, and this is something that has been observed before. I have written to Severn Trent and they have replied, and we are looking at holding a multi-agency site meeting to try to resolve this problem once and for all.

If you have any questions about the Milton Avenue area please let me know.

Gloucester Quays have a food & craft market the first weekend of every month (excluding Tall Ships weekend 4th-5th June). Come along to enjoy quality food & craft. Find out more here.