I reported the fly-tipping on Keats Avenue after it was spotted on the community litter pick.
It has now been cleared away and I am pleased to see this.
Fly-tipping costs councils and their partners thousands of pounds every year to clear up. Gloucester City Council and Gloucester City Homes work with enforcement agencies to deter people from doing this.
There are lots of options for recycling materials, booking bulky waste collections, donating items or disposing of them via charities. We must all work to reduce fly-tipping and ease the burden on our councils.
Cllr Ashley Bowkett and Gloucester Liberal Democrats are calling for more tree planting in the city.
Liberal Democrats on Gloucester City Council have laid down a challenge to the Conservatives to plant more trees in the city and improve tree maintenance budgets.
Their challenge will be heard at a meeting of the city council when it meets on the 23rd of September.
Barnwood councillor, Ashley Bowkett will move a motion calling for the cabinet member Richard Cook to: –
· identify ways the Council can do more to support tree planting and maintenance
· identify further City Council funds for this purpose
· encourage the County Council to boost funding for Highway trees, and
· set targets and map them against such further funding so that the 2020 Strategy for Gloucester can be fulfilled.
Cllr Ashley Bowkett (Lib Dem, Barnwood) who will propose the motion said:
“Trees are an essential part of the high-quality green infrastructure that our communities value, yet the current council budget allocated to this is acutely inadequate.
This is putting considerable pressure on the City and County Council to meet the commitments laid out in the 2020 Gloucestershire Tree Strategy.
That’s why I’m calling on the Cabinet Member for the Environment to detail what more can be done to support tree planting and maintenance in Gloucester, mapped alongside more appropriate funding to support it.”
Cllr Sebastian Field (Lib Dem, Podsmead), added:
“The Conservative administrations at both the city and county councils have agreed that there is a climate emergency and that one of the ways to help combat this is through increased planting of trees.
“Trees provide shade and attractiveness, as well as storing carbon and increasing O2 levels.
“But the Conservative administration has so far failed to achieve enough towards their targets on tree planting.
“As well as planting them though, trees need to be pruned and maintained, otherwise they become a nuisance or danger, and residents get irritated.
“There are many areas of Gloucester, including Podsmead, where residents make requests for maintenance of trees but there isn’t an adequate budget. The Conservatives need to get real and allocate more money to tree maintenance, which is something the Liberal Democrats have been calling for a long time.”
Ends…
Notes
Contact: Ashley Bowkett: 07938 520700
Photo: Ashley Bowkett
Lib Dem Motion for Council – Gloucester Tree Planting and Maintenance
This council notes the importance of planting more trees in Gloucester and understands that those saplings together with mature trees will also need to be maintained. It welcomes the guiding principles of the 2020 Gloucestershire Tree Strategy, valuing the many benefits that a high-quality green infrastructure brings to our communities, which includes growing trees near where people live and work.
This council recognises that while there are valuable contributions from development and external grants, for example, the Forestry Commission, there is a pressing shortfall in tree planting, maintenance and resources, the fixed budget per financial year is acutely inadequate, and this status quo has already placed increasing pressure on achieving the objectives of the 2020 strategy.
As such, this Council calls on the Cabinet member to provide members with a written report, delivered in good time for members to consider before the next budget, that will:
(a) identify ways we can do more to support tree planting and maintenance
(b) identify further City Council funds for this purpose
(c) encourage the County Council to boost funding for Highway trees, and
(d) set targets and map them against such further funding so that the 2020 Strategy for Gloucester can be fulfilled.
In essence, this council agrees that preparing a more realistic annual budget to commence from the next financial year is vital to support the planting and maintenance of trees and increase biodiversity in Gloucester.
Vicki and I were pleased to give a short concert to the Companions in the Winget Bowls Club a couple of weeks ago.
We were accompanied by our friend Sue Honeywill at the piano, and we have a selection of the music-making we do in Gloucester, from Handel to the Beatles by way of folk and ABBA.
The Companions thanked us for performing and kindly donated £50 from their collection to our nominated charity, Joshua’s Warriors.
If you want to hear Vicki and I and many others perform, do come along to the GLOW Festival – it’s all free. You can find out more about all our music-making by visiting www.creativefield.uk.
After residents contacted me, I have written to Matthew Homes over the vegetation overhanging the footpath at Neven Place park, and asked them to get it cut back.
Many residents have raised with me the fact that the play areas are still not open yet. This is obviously a frustrating situation and I have urged Matthew Homes once again on this matter.
I have also alerted them to the grass/weeds growing through the playing area surface. Once the play area is open and adopted by the city council, more regular maintenance will be carried out.
Work is progressing steadily at Milton Avenue. The council have marked out some of the meadow area, and asked the Podsmead Clearance Team to suspend cutting this area for the time being.
When we had our site meeting at the site we discussed other issues such as dealing with the weeds around the perimeter, reducing the brambles and removing concrete posts. These items are out for pricing at the moment.
Progress is being documented on the Milton Avenue park action group on Facebook, which is being managed by Lisa Jevins.
The city council has launched a consultation to find out what residents and businesses think about existing Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs).
A PSPO places rules on a public place and can restrict certain behaviour or require people to do certain things. PSPOs are put in place usually when people’s behaviour has caused a nuisance to others using or living in that area.
The council want to hear from residents, people who use our public spaces and partner agencies to help them decide whether the existing PSPOs should remain in place for another three years.
They would also like to know whether other behaviour is occurring in the city which causes a nuisance and therefore may need addressing with further PSPOs.
The following three PSPOs have been in place since 2018 and are now up for review.
Citywide PSPO
· Dogs must be kept under control at all times, and put on a lead if requested.
· Dogs are not allowed in children’s play parks.
· Dog fouling must be cleaned up.
· Anyone drinking alcohol in a public space must dispose of or hand over their alcohol when requested to do so by an authorised officer, if the request is made in order to stop or prevent a nuisance.
City centre PSPO
· Creates an alcohol-free zone in the city centre, banning anyone from drinking alcohol in a public space (on the streets, in a park or any other public space) within the city centre area.
Organs Alley PSPO
· This restricts access to the alleyway between Eastgate Street and Russell Street in Gloucester city centre, where nuisance and anti-social behaviour was occurring.
I recently received the following email from the environment and flood officer at Gloucester City Council:
‘I am writing to you to provide a quick update on the on-going City wide European Union funded Urban Greening works that are planned for your area. Gloucester City Council has secured funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to protect and enhance the environment. The project’s benefits include more diverse natural habitats, improved connectivity between green open spaces that boost our wellbeing and wildlife as well as flood management.
Part of the funding has been designated to create wildflower meadows across the city. In order to establish these meadows, the existing grass must be treated and prepared to accept the special seed mix.
In anticipation of meeting the timings for sowing this autumn, during September our Contractors will carry out ground preparation to several areas within the public open spaces at Tuffley Park and Milton Avenue. The purpose is to create open structure in the existing grass sward that will allow the wildlife seed to make contact with the soil and germinate. The process will help reduce competition from common grasses and weeds during the establishment of the meadow.
Preparation of the areas is to be done by herbicidal (Glyphosate) treatment and rotavating which will cause the area to look very bare until the seed is established. The proposals include for bulbs and a number of new trees to be planted.
During this time and given the potential for seasonal weather the bare earth may become unsightly and muddy under the normal wetting and drying. This is normal and will be made good during the works.
Once the meadow has been seeded and established it will be managed on a cut and collect basis. This involves cutting the meadows once in late summer and the arisings removed from the surface. Paths and the wider amenity areas are anticipated to be cut on the regular mowing regime.
I’ve attached basic plans showing the proposed new areas. These are not 100% set in stone and may be adjusted during the works. ‘
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Plans for Tuffley Park – subject to revision
There may well be a need for volunteers so do please get in touch with me if you would like to help. It is exciting to see the potential for these areas.
