This crossing on Cole Avenue was damaged and awaiting repair for some time. I checked in with Highways and it has now been done. Let me know if you see any other highways issues in our area.

Gloucestershire County Council is proud to announce which 52 community projects will receive funding from their £1.5 million Levelling Up Together grant scheme.

The council launched the grant scheme in response to the government’s Levelling Up agenda, which aims to support local areas in need of investment to create opportunities and improve economic growth.

Levelling Up Together grants will support the areas in Gloucestershire that are in the bottom 10% most deprived nationally, helping communities to deliver the initiatives they have said will be most effective for them and their area.

The fund received an overwhelming response, with nearly 130 applications submitted from community groups and organisations across the county. The projects selected cover a diverse range of areas, including health and wellbeing, education and skills, arts and culture, and the environment.

The successful projects include a mental health support service for boys and young men, a project helping children to read, young people’s groups working with diverse communities, helping people to access food, and refurbishments of community spaces including projects to refresh the look of neighbourhoods. The funding will enable these projects to make a real difference to the lives of local people, helping to level up communities across Gloucestershire.

I am particularly pleased to see Read with Me, The Friends of Tuffley Park, and Tuffley Rovers, all get grants. Congratulations and thanks to all those who worked on the bids.

The full list of bid winners is here.

There are some good, free events for children in Podsmead and elsewhere in the city this Easter. If you know of a free event and would like me to publicise it, please let me know.

A planning application has been submitted to Gloucester City Council for the Blackbridge project.

You can view the plans and make comments here.

A few houses on Stroud Road by New Dawn View and Sunnycroft Mews, come under Podsmead ward.

I recently received reports that the street lights in this area were out.

I reported the issue to the street light team and they sent me the following response:

‘We attended to the outage on 4. January 2023.  The engineer reports that there is no service going to columns 85, 86 & 87.

National Grid have been informed and have 25 working days to attend to find where the fault lies in their cabling to enable them to restore the supply.’

I often get contacted by residents in November and at New Year about fireworks and their release.

Below are some extracts from Ask the Police, which readers should feel free to share.

As always this issue needs a common-sense approach of speaking to each other about concerns. I am always happy to hear from residents on this topic.

This is taken directly from www.askthe.police.uk

It is an offence to:

• possess adult fireworks (all fireworks except category 1 fireworks – party poppers, sparklers, throwdowns etc) in a public place by anyone under the age of 18;
• possess category 4 fireworks (professional display fireworks) by anyone other than a fireworks professional;
• it is illegal to supply adult fireworks to those under 18;
• throw or cast or fire any firework in or into any highway, street, thoroughfare or public space (this would include throwing or firing from a private place into a public place, street, highway etc);
• to light any fire or discharge any firearm or firework (without lawful authority or excuse) within 50 feet of the centre of a highway which consists of or comprises a carriageway, and as a consequence, the highway is damaged.

There is a curfew on the use of adult fireworks between 11 pm and 7 am, except on:

• Bonfire Night (when the curfew is between 12 midnight and 7 am);
• New Year’s Eve (when the curfew is between 1 am and 7 am);
• Chinese New Year (when the curfew is between 1 am and 7 am);
• Diwali Night (when the curfew is between 1 am and 7 am).

The penalties for using fireworks outside the above curfew hours are imprisonment (maximum 6 months) and a substantial fine. Please note, you could also commit offences if they were being used to cause a nuisance.

I am delighted that after years of asking, Matthew Homes have at last installed the street name plate at 35-41 Neven Place, Earls Park.

This will help delivery drivers and other services locate these houses much quicker.

I am working with Gloucester City Homes on nearby Cooke Close (on Tuffley Crescent) to get a street sign installed there too.

Christmas has come early for shoppers in Gloucester with the city council offering free parking to support local retailers as part of Small Business Saturday. 

Small Business Saturday is a nationwide event which this year takes place on Saturday December 3.

It aims to encourage shoppers to support local and independent retailers in the run up to Christmas and Gloucester City Council is getting behind the campaign by offering free parking throughout the day. 

This Saturday parking will be free in the council’s car parks on Westgate Street, Station Road and Hare Lane North.

The announcement comes after Gloucester was named as being among the top 10 best places for accessible parking in a national survey.  

Small Business Saturday attracts huge attention on the day itself, with an impact that lasts all year. 

Last year the campaign trended at number one in the UK on Twitter and over 90% of local councils also supported the campaign.

For more information on Small Business Saturday visit www.smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com

Shoppers are reminded to check car parking closing times.

I have urged the council to repair this street sign on Milton Avenue. It is not yet illegible but the paint is peeling off and it is starting to look scruffy.

I hope that it can be just a simple respray rather than necessarily a replacement.

If you see any more street signs in our area that are damaged or missing, please let me know.

I noticed graffiti on this bin in Scott Avenue and have reported it to the council.

If you saw anyone committing this crime please let me or the police know.

It costs councils thousands of pounds every year to remove graffiti from public land.