Gloucester was stunned to learn of the sudden liquidation of the Aspire Leisure Trust which ran GL1 and Oxstalls leisure centres. Some 150 jobs have been lost and the centres have been closed immediately, with rumours that they won’t be reopened for at least a year until a new contractor is found to run the services. Many families relied on the centres for exercise, recreation or income.

Liberal Democrats on Gloucester City Council have been opposed to outsourcing of services by the Conservative administration and this shows why. We have been asking questions at council meetings and asking to see the figures. This failure shows the lack of accountability that often comes with outsourcing.

A great city like Gloucester needs its leisure and sport facilities. Liberal Democrats will be pushing for the services to be reopened as soon as possible, and run in-house by the council if necessary.

Please contact me if you are affected by the closures.

After speaking to residents about the plans for Blackbridge, I wrote to Rappor consultancy to ask about the proposed traffic restrictions.

Here is their response, which may be of interest to readers:

I attach for ease of reference the drawing indicating the parking restrictions along Laburnum Road and additional residential parking spaces (10 spaces) to mitigate the loss of on street resident parking as a result of the parking restrictions adjacent to the proposed access to the Community Sports Hub.  You are correct in that parking restrictions are proposed at the junctions, bends and turning head at the end of Laburnum Road.  Parking in these areas was raised as an issue by local residents during our public consultation and also the parking restrictions were requested by GCC to ensure that these areas were kept clear to ensure safe and suitable access.  You will note that the parking restrictions are only proposed in areas where in appropriate parking currently occurs i.e. on junctions, bends and the turning head.  Parking on the existing footway to the rear of the even house numbers along Laburnum Road (Western side) although not ideal is a historic situation and will remain unchanged by the proposed parking restrictions.   Parking on the eastern side of Laburnum Road will also remain available with the exception of the short length adjacent to the access where resident parking bays have been proposed to mitigation the loss of on street parking.

Residents should feel free to contact me with any questions or comments about this or any other aspect of the Blackbridge scheme.

The traffic calming scheme on Tuffley Avenue has been running for a couple of weeks now. Whilst this scheme has been implemented by the Conservative-run county council, I have tried to have input into the process. I have already heard from many residents about various issues and complaints.

I welcome feedback good or bad on this scheme.
Please email me on Sebastian.Field@Gloucester.gov.uk and I will feed back comments to the local Highways manager.

Best of luck to new business New Era Events. Based in Gloucestershire, they offer a wedding planning service. Find them on Facebook, or drop them an email on NewEraEventsGlos@gmail.com.

I have reported this overflowing dog waste bin, at the entrance to Blackbridge field, to the city council for emptying.

Blackbridge is used by dog walkers, and will still be available for this even once the Hub is open. The difference will be that Blackbridge Charitable Community Benefit Society can maintain the site more effectively, including emptying bins.

The fence on Cole Avenue has now been replaced with the red plastic fence panels.

These fell down in the week but have now been rectified.

I have asked Highways to brief me on the plan for this fence, including whether it will be replaced like-for-like, or strengthened.

Nearly 18 years ago my friend Eddie Tomlinson died while on a gap year in the Lebanon.

He went to sleep and never woke up – killed by Carbon Monoxide from a faulty heater.

His brother Michael Tomlinson MP has been raising awareness of #GasSafetyWeek and building on the work of his parents Howard and Heather to make people alert to the dangers of gas, whether CO or gas leaks in the home.

I’d like to join the Tomlinsons in their campaign on this issue.

If one more family can be prevented from going through this grief, then that is a job well done.

You can find out more information about gas safety at this website.

Make sure you know the signs, and get regular checks done.

This section of wall on Cole Avenue was damaged a while back, and has had a fence panel against it for some time now.

I’ve asked Highways what is happening with it. The wall may be private property, but if unsafe it is a danger to pedestrians. I’ll report back on it soon.

I’ve asked the council to remove these red fence panels from the area around Oakland’s Park.
I am working hard to report issues like these, all across Podsmead.

I’ve been in touch with Gloucester City Homes about this obscured street sign on the front hedge outside Halford House, Podsmead.

They have confirmed the hedge will be attended to and given a trim by the estates team, in the next couple of weeks.