I’ve been pushing the developer Matthew Homes and the city and county council to come up with a solution to refuse collection problems in Millstone Way, Earls Park.

With the installation of new lockable bollards, refuse crews can access Millstone Way from Manu Marble Way, to collect refuse and recycling. I’ve also arranged for the blocks of flats at 33 and 46 Millstone Way to get recycling boxes etc.

I hope the new system will be operational soon, now that it has had the final sign-off from the council.

Any residents of Earls Park or wider Podsmead who have issues with their refuse and recycling collection can email me on seb4podsmead@gmail.com.

It was great to be able to introduce young Podsmead resident Joseph to the Mayor of Gloucester Kathy Williams.

Joseph is fundraising for the National Deaf Association by running the mini London marathon in April. He lives with hearing issues so this is a cause close to his heart.

I arranged for Joseph, his sister Elsie and his parents to come up to the civic suite and meet the Mayor and Sheriff before council last week. The Sheriff also was kind enough to show the family the civic suite.

Joseph has already more than doubled his fundraising target of £500, raising a whopping £1108 as I write.

You can support Joseph via the link here.

What a star! ⭐️

I popped along to the Podsmead fun day this week. It was brilliant to catch up with Linda and Nicola from the charity Read with Me, who we’ve helped since their foundation.

Read with Me said this:

Out in the sunshine at Podsmead Not So Secret Book Club today with our wonderful volunteer, Nicola, and Podsmead Councillor Sebastian Field, our champion and supporter since we began four years ago!💛 Thanks to everyone at The Venture: White City for the marvellous food!🍽

Tesco Quedgeley do great work in the community by donating food and domestic goods to local charities and groups.

I asked Theresa Fisher if Tesco could help the Poets Pantry with some supplies, to replenish their store cupboards.

She came back with all this – what a star! 🌟

This donation will really help families in Podsmead.

It was great to welcome Amanda Toner and Marketa Murgasova of Incito McDonald’s to the Poets Pantry in Halford House, Podsmead.

They were dropping off a donation of Easter eggs for distribution to food club customers, as well as some much-needed supplies of pasta and tinned goods to help restock the cupboards. They got to see the Pantry in operation and learn more about how it works.

The food club at the Pantry is an excellent local service helping Podsmead residents to eat well and using a previously disused space on the ground floor of Halford House, and run by volunteers on behalf of the community.

Many thanks to Incito McDonald’s for another example of their generosity to the Podsmead community they serve.

If would like to help the Pantry please get in touch. They always welcome financial donations and in terms of food donations tinned goods, pasta and rice are most useful.

From left to right Marketa Murgasova (Incito), Terry Hook (Podsmead resident and volunteer at Poets Pantry), Sebastian Field (Podsmead councillor), Amanda Toner (Incito).

I was surprised to see a two-seated sofa had been fly-tipped by the bus shelter on Podsmead Road. I immediately reported it to the council for collection, and to the police for their information. Fly-tipping is a crime which can come with a hefty fine if you are caught. It costs the council money to respond to fly-tipping and it is a blight on our city.

The Liberal Democrat group are proposing a motion at Gloucester City Council next week, on the state of the roads in our city. I am aware of many poor road surfaces and pavements in our area that the Conservative administration at Shire Hall have failed to deal with. I also want residents to let me know their experiences and I will push for all the problems to be dealt with.

The motion text reads:

‘This council expresses deep concern about the state of many roads and footways in the city of Gloucester. They are riddled with potholes or crumbling to bits.

This council notes that Conservative run Gloucestershire County Council is responsible for the maintenance of the highway network in Gloucester.

This council agrees that it should lobby robustly Gloucestershire County Council to improve the condition of Gloucester’s roads and footways to a level acceptable to this council and the residents of this historic city.’

You can let me know via the usual methods below:

The closure of Seymour Road planned for this month, has been cancelled.

I do not yet know the reason or the potential new date, if there even is one.

I will report back if I find out more information.

Joseph is a young resident of Podsmead who has had to overcome some challenges with his loss of hearing. He is doing an amazing thing running the TCS Mini London Marathon on 20th April, to raise money for the National Deaf Association.

He’s already raised well over £500 as I write. Do support him if you are able. Click here to visit his fundraising page.

After a meeting in Podsmead I checked out this street sign, which has been uncovered recently at my urging.

It could probably do with a clean.

If you know of any more damaged or dirty street signs in our area please let me know: