An application for the £150 Energy Rebate for those eligible households who don’t pay their council tax by direct debit is now open on www.gloucester.gov.uk

Council Tax Energy Rebate – Gloucester City Council

Over 33,500 energy rebates have been paid to City Residents so far and those who are eligible but have not yet received their £150 rebate are invited to apply online at: Council Tax Energy Rebate – Gloucester City Council

Applicants are reminded that they must be the named council tax bill payer, have their ten digit council tax account number which begins with 030 (found on their bill at point 2) and provide a recent bank statement showing name and full address in order to submit an online application.

Eligible residents have until the 14^th of August to apply for the £150 energy rebate, however any eligible resident who has not submitted a successful application by the closing date will not miss out, as the £150 energy rebate will be added onto the council tax account and a new bill with revised instalments will be issued.

Full details are on the Energy Rebate page of the City Council website.

Residents in the Blackbridge area have recently had leaflets through their door regarding the proposed development.

This leaflet has some detail about the proposals, such as what facilities will be provided, and how the project is being financed.

People will undoubtedly have questions and may have concerns or comments. There will be some initial consultation events next week, on Wednesday 29th June.

These will be:
2pm – 6.30pm at the Athletics Clubhouse, Blackbridge Field 7pm – 8.30pm at Poets Pantry, Shakespeare Avenue, Podsmead

I would urge anyone who is able to attend to go along to these. If you can’t attend or you have further questions, you can email him on richardfishlock@activegloucestershire.org, or call him on 01452 303528. As always please feel free to ask me any questions, which I will answer if I can.

In May/June 2021, NGLP undertook some initial routine site investigation works to assess the ground conditions on their land. The findings from these works have informed their planning application which Gloucester City Council has now approved.

A specialist contractor VHE Construction will be moving onto the site on Monday 27 June and the work is due to be completed in September.

Activity on site 

This phase of work will include remediation work to clean up the land and remove materials associated with the site’s former use as a gasworks, followed by the reinstatement of the site to the original ground level so that it can be brought back into future beneficial use.

The working hours will be between 7.30am and 6pm Monday to Friday. You may see some of the team arriving on site before 7.30am but no work will take place before 7.30am or after 6pm.

Keeping everyone safe

As a responsible neighbour, NGPL have procedures in place to ensure they minimise any disruption to the local community. ‘We have robust plans for mitigating any odour, dust and noise associated with the work due to take place and we will be monitoring these to ensure that we are working within safe limits. The health and safety of the public, our neighbours and our workers remains our top priority when undertaking any work.’

Communicating with you throughout the work

NGLP are considering holding an information event to provide an opportunity for the community to find out more about the work and meet the team.

If you’d like to attend an information event, please could you confirm your interest to the community relations team by emailing NGLPCommunityRelations@camargue.uk or calling on 0800 1448 904. Depending on the level of interest, NGLP will contact you with further details. The level of interest will determine the format.

I understand from council officers that Podsmead has received its first spray of the weeds this month, with a second spray to follow later in the summer. I will be monitoring these and following up with officers to check they are done. If you know of any weeds in Podsmead please let me know.

After a resident alerted me to the damage inside the gate at Tuffley Park, I have reported this to the council and urged staff to make it safe.

I have also asked them to check on the gate at the other side of the field, from Podsmead Place/Laburnum Road as it is a bit creaky and not automatically returning to closed anymore.

Do you have a project or idea that could support your local community? Gloucester City Council is pleased to announce residents can now apply for funding from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).

The Community Infrastructure Levy allows councils to raise funding from developers carrying out projects in their area to fund a wide range of facilities and services needed to support the local community. 

The city council has funding available from recent developments and is asking residents to submit their ideas or projects of up to £3,000, as well as larger grants of up to £15,000 which supports at least one of the following themes.

• Improves community facilities and enhances the natural environment
• Has a wellbeing focus that actively tackle issues such as exclusion and isolation
• Supports equality, diversity and inclusion
• Has an environmental focus that actively addresses and tackles climate change
• Improves access to volunteering, training or employment opportunities
• Celebrates cultural diversity

To get involved, email grants@gloucester.gov.uk including the name of your ward councillor; and provide answers to the following questions:

• What is your project?
• How does your project benefit others in your community?  
• Who is involved in planning and delivering the project?  
• Who is giving their time to support the project?
• What will those involved in the project be contributing?
• What will have changed in your community and when do you hope to see a difference?
• How much are you applying for and what will the funding be spent on?

Applications for the funding will remain open until Friday 22 July. 

Further information about the Community Infrastructure Levy is available on the city council website.

A lot of litter collects in the verge by the side of Bristol Road, by the bus stop. This is a shame because we got a new bin installed there not long ago.

It looks like in this case it might be litter blowing up the road and collecting in the hedge. I am trying to get a fence put up there to stop this happening but it is tricky as it is private land.

I have followed up with Gloucester City Homes the broken wooden rail that I reported to them some weeks ago. I have also made them and the council aware of the fly-tipping on the grass at Byron/Keats Avenue green space. If you know of any other issues in our area please let me know.

Thursday June 9th is International Batten Disease Awareness Day. There will be a cake sale from 2.30pm-4.30pm at The Club at Tuffley Park, to raise money for the Batten Disease Family Association and Joshua’s Warriors.

Recently I attended a meeting at Milton Avenue balancing pond with representatives from Severn Trent Water and the City Council, to look at the problems with water quality from pollution that is entering the pond, fed by the culverted watercourse.

In recent years some improvements have been made to the water quality by identifying dropped connections such as the one on Podsmead Road, but there is still a way to go.

While on site ‘grey’ water (sink/ washing machine type) was observed entering the pond from the outfall, indicating potential misconnections in the upstream catchment.

The amount observed was not of significant immediate pollution concern, but it was appreciated that it was undesirable (fish were observed in the pond).

Severn Trent Water assessed their assets which discharge into the culverted watercourse, and that could be investigated.

The process would be to lift various sewer covers to check for grey water staining/ evidence of misconnections, and trace them back to the source if possible.

Severn Trent opened the surface water sewer adjacent to the balancing pond, which was observed to be clear of grey water, so this has eliminated that immediate area. They are now going to look at investigating other locations further upstream in the catchment and report findings back to the council.

The council will investigate undertaking a camera inspection of the culvert following Severn Trent’s feedback from their inspections

The council are also proposing to install a simple reed/ natural forebay to the pond to help with water quality.

I will be relaying further information from Severn Trent and the council as I have it. I am grateful to them for meeting with me and undertaking this work, and also to the many volunteers who have helped to maintain this site over the years.

If you have any questions or feedback do let me know.