The sink hole I reported last week on Masefield Avenue has been patched.

It has the word ‘temp’ sprayed across it so I assume this is a temporary fix before it gets properly dealt with.

I will keep pressing for more to be done to fix our roads and pavements.

Residents made me aware of some fly-tipping that took place in Podsmead. They had contacted the council and we were pleased to see that after a council investigation, a fine was issued and other action taken.

The council enviro crime team take these matters very seriously and are operating a robust approach to fly-tipping in the city.

An officer writes:

‘Since the introduction of the team back in September we have investigated 100s of reports of fly-tipping offences throughout Gloucester, and have issued 82 fixed penalty notices to date.

We are also actively working with other agencies and housing Providers in looking at initiatives to prevent and deter problems relating to waste management and fly-tipping.’

Well done to all involved. Do let me know if you spot any fly-tipping in our area.

GARAS (Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers) are appealing for clothing donations.

You can take clean, good quality clothing to St Aldate’s Church GL4 6TR, on any weekday between 9am and 2pm. They are particularly keen to receive men’s clothing currently.

I have urged the council to repair this damaged dog waste bin on the green space at Scott Avenue.

If you know of any other damaged bins in our area please let me know.

I have reported this small hole in the pavement on Masefield Avenue to Highways for repair. I would urge residents to take care in the meantime. It is just outside the entrance to Kipling Close.

If you know of any more highways issues in our area do let me know.

The RPS International Photography Exhibition 162, featuring work from 43 international photographers, has toured the UK and launched at Gloucester Museum on January 27.

Visitors will be able to view the work of award winners Cody Cobb and Chirag Jindal, and explore themes such as identity, spirituality, landscape, and the environment.

More information is available here.

We met with Adam Coleman, Chief Executive of Gloucester Culture Trust, in the JOLT workspace in King’s Square.

GCT are driving cultural activity in the city, in partnership with the city council. We explained a little about what we do via Creative Field and our musical activities.

For a long time, there has been a sense that Gloucester is the poor relation in the county, for cultural events. That is slowly changing as more and more events happen in our city.

As we slowly recover from Covid and start to rebuild our programme of events, it will be vital that we keep being imaginative and innovation.

Some cities have had their cultural offer given an injection of funding and attention by securing City of Culture status. The Conservative administration at Gloucester City have considered bidding for this before, and this time around even got as far as the expression of interest stage before realising that it is too large a task at present.

Bidding for, achieving and then delivering City of Culture is an all-encompassing project and opposition councillors are concerned at the lack of capacity at an already stretched council. But if it could be shown that a bid could be successful and the year properly funded, then it would be a boon for our city.

In the meantime the city must play to its strengths in terms of art and culture. Visual arts, music, performance – all are strong and being supported by the GCT, the council and local partners. We have a great sense of community spirit, and people who want to make things work.

Above all we have a rich and fascinating history which lends itself very well to artworks which draw on it, and tell stories based on it. Community spirit and a unique history must be our chief selling points as we seek to put Gloucester on the cultural map.

Read Easy is a literacy charity helping adults to learn to read. They offer free 1-to-1 coaching. You can find out more about them on their Facebook page.

Fly-tipping blights communities and cost councils valuable resources to deal with.

There are a number of ways you can recycle or dispose of your waste.

Firstly, ordinary household waste. In Gloucester, you can recycle a range of items on the doorstep, including cardboard in the blue bag, and plastic, glass, foil, and cans/tins in the green box. Food waste can go in the brown bin and the council will collect small broken electrical items such as kettles and toasters. Simply leave them (one item per collection) on top of your green boxes.

Recycling is collected weekly in Gloucester. You can also sign up for the garden waste scheme if you produce a lot of clippings etc from your garden.

There is a page on the council website with lots of information about the various services available. https://www.gloucester.gov.uk/environment-waste-recycling/waste-recycling-and-street-cleaning/bins-and-recycling/

For everything that can’t be recycled it’s the black residual waste bin which is collected fortnightly in Gloucester.

Other items that can be recycled but not on the doorstep can be taken eg to the the supermarket (for batteries and carrier bags, for example) or to the Household Recycling Centre at Hempsted (used lightbulbs and a whole host of larger items).

For large household items (bulky waste) there is a collection service offered by the city council. It costs £24 for up to three items, with each extra item up to six items in total, costing £8. If you are in receipt of housing or council tax benefit the fee is £12 up to 3 items and each additional item is £4. Full details are on the council website here.

For goods that could be sold on for charity, you could take books, clothes, records and bric a brac to charity shops. Be aware that many are currently swamped with items so do check first to see what rules they have about donations. If you have items of value such as rare books, CDs, records or DVDs, you can look them up via a smartphone barcode scanner and sell them via eBay, musicMagpie or Ziffit.

The Furniture Recycling Project in Gloucester is also a great way to donate furniture. There are lots of great sites such as Freecycle and newcomer Olio which encourage free swapping and in Olio’s case allocate spare food and household goods to others.

There is almost always a way to dispose of things safely or to get them recycled so that others can enjoy them. Fly-tipping should never be the answer!

Recently there have been a few shed breaks / attempted shed breaks in the area. There have been no attempts to gain access to houses, just sheds. The offender/s are opportunists and gaining access to unlocked sheds via insecure side gates or using a wheelie bin to climb over a side gate.

Below are a few tips to improve the security around your shed:

• Shut and lock any gates into a back garden.
• Secure sheds with grilles over windows, strong hinges and a good lock.
• Security lights can have a positive effect, so think about installing one.
• Display a sign warning thieves that all valuables have been removed.
• Fit a shed alarm to the inside of your shed, and put a sign up saying the shed has an alarm.
• Photograph valuables and record serial numbers.
• Record serial numbered items on ‘www.immobilse.com’.
• Forensically mark valuable items with a UV pen or Smart Water.
• Lock valuables, even when inside the shed.
• Do not leave wheelie bin/s near the side gate, as offender/s can use this to gain access.

Message Sent By
Mike Edwards (Police, PCSO, Gloucester)