Gloucester City Council, who run elections in the city, have today issued the following statement:

‘On Thursday 6 May, Gloucester’s residents will go to the polls to have their say on who represents them for the next few years.

Residents are being asked to vote for who represents them at Gloucester City Council, Gloucestershire County Council and to select their Police and Crime Commissioner. 

There are a number of ways to take part in the election – voters can visit a polling station where Covid safety measures will be place, including staff wearing face coverings and sitting behind screens and social distancing measures inside and outside each polling station. 

Anyone voting in person is required to wear a face covering when inside the poling station, unless exempt for medical reasons and may bring their own pen if they wish. 

Alternatively people can vote by post or appoint someone they trust to vote on their behalf, which is known as a proxy vote.

Letters are being sent out to let voters in Gloucester know if they are registered to vote and the ways they can take part in the election.  

Anyone who isn’t yet registered has until April 19 to do so. The deadline to apply for postal votes is April 20 and for a proxy it is April 27.

However, if a voter tests positive for Covid 19 or is required to self-isolate after the deadline, they will be able to apply for an emergency proxy vote up until 5pmon polling day.

Jon McGinty, Managing Director at Gloucester City Council and Returning Officer, said: “The elections are very important – they’re an opportunity to make your voice heard and have a say on who represents you on issues that directly affect day-to-day life here in Gloucester. 

“However you choose to cast your vote in May, you can do so safely. We’re putting arrangements in place to help you stay safe at the polling station; you can expect many of the measures you’ve become used to in shops over recent months, such as hand sanitiser, screens and face masks. But you also have the option to apply to vote by post or by proxy but please don’t leave it too late to do so.”

For information visit the Gloucester City Council website or call 01452 396203.’

Liberal Democrats establish County Council Task Group to scrutinise polluters and hold water companies to account for polluting Gloucestershire’s rivers and endangering public safety.

Our county’s rivers are flooded with harmful pollutants, including raw sewage discharged from Gloucestershire’s water companies, Severn Trent, Thames Water and Wessex Water.  Back in 2019, these companies were found to have discharged into English Rivers for a combined 400,000 hours.

Last September, Gloucestershire Liberal Democrats brought a motion to the County Council, calling on it to take urgent action to address pollution in our county’s rivers.  This motion passed resoundingly, supported by councillors from all parties.  

Now, we’re turning up the heat on the county’s biggest polluters, forming a County Council task group that will:

• Investigate the extent of pollution present in our rivers
• Investigate the extent of the damage this pollution is having on the ecosystems within our rivers and the safety issue it poses.
• Scrutinise the activities of water companies and other polluters, and to challenge them to change their behaviour.  
• Explore the opportunity to create a designated bathing spot in some of Gloucestershire’s rivers to make them safe for the public to enjoy.  

Commenting on the next steps, Cllr Paul Hodgkinson, the Lib Dem spokesperson on the Climate Emergency, said:

“We are extremely fortunate to live in a county with such an incredible natural landscape and waterways, yet for decades water companies have been allowed to abuse our rivers to the point that they have destroyed natural habitats and are endangering public health.

“I am extremely pleased that we’re taking the next step and forming a task group to scrutinise their actions, to hold them to account for the dumping of sewage and to challenge them to change their behaviour.  

“This is an exciting opportunity to build back better from this challenging period, because Gloucestershire deserves better than filthy polluted rivers.”

Milton Avenue green space has been the site of much good work by local groups in recent years and it will be the location for exciting works to come.

With money from the European Union (safe despite Brexit), the area will be improved with extensions of the pond and planting of wildflowers. It is also hoped that we can improve accessibility at the site.

Covid has obviously delayed things but we hope to start planting in the autumn, with the project running until 2022. There will then be a 15 year maintenance period where the council and partners will need to keep what we plant etc in good order.

The key thing at the moment though is to get the heavy bramble cleared to allow for planting.

The above sketch is an indicative plan and is by no means a final proposal – it’s just to indicate what could be done at the site. I have permission from council officers to share it.

I have had meetings on this subject regularly in my time as city councillor for Podsmead. There is a lot of goodwill and positive energy going into this. My thanks as always to the volunteers and groups who have maintained this site up to now.

Please do get in touch if you have ideas or questions. This will very much be a team effort and I look forward to helping steer it through.

A few days ago I wrote on Facebook about the issues at Tuffley Park with the gate and the mud in the entrance.

I have been speaking with council officers and trying to find a solution with them.

Reseeding at the moment would be impractical and a waste of money until the weather improves. We need the ground to dry out a bit before we can plant new grass. Putting stones down now to solidify the ground would risk damaging the council mowers when the grass comes back and it needs cutting.

So in the interim we are looking at wood chips as a better option. We are also going to try to sort out the gate and liaise with The Club at Tuffley Park in order to keep an eye on it.

As ever I am grateful to the several residents who brought this to my attention. If you know of an issue in our parks or in Podsmead generally then please get in touch.

Gloucester City Council is reviewing its festival and events programme including considering socially distanced events or online alternatives to ensure that the city’s vibrant cultural life continues.  

The city council and its partners are closely monitoring the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic and are looking at how Gloucester can continue to provide a cultural programme for 2021.  

Work is also taking place behind the scenes to ensure that cultural events and festivals can continue in the city when it is feasible to do so.

Last year’s Bright Nights festival in December and Of Earth and Sky by Luke Jerram in the autumn, demonstrated how cultural events can still be held in a safe and socially distanced manner. 

Both events took place outdoors, laying down a template for how art, music and performance can be experienced by the community safely.

In addition, the city’s History Festival went ahead with a varied programme of talks and events online.

The museum’s latest exhibition, Life in Lockdown can also be accessed online along with a series of 40 talks about the museum’s artefacts now available on YouTube.

I am a member of the working group that looks at cultural matters in Gloucester during the pandemic, and we have been working hard to get events happening again.

Last month I also asked a written question of the cabinet member about plans for the future as Covid hopefully abates.

Some work was done in a residential area of Podsmead last year and this barrier was left by the roadside.

A resident contacted me and asked if I could get it removed. I reported it to Highways in the hope that either it was one of theirs and they could collect it, or they would recognise the contractors it belonged to if not.

I will check on this next time I am walking past and report back.

I called for this drain at the entrance to Newark Road to be cleared and this was done quickly.

Keeping drains clear and flowing freely is important in flood prevention.

I am working on the issue of flooding to properties in Newark Road.

If you know of a drain or gutter that is blocked please let me know.

Two notices of motion from the Liberal Democrat group on the city council tonight:

1.     PROPOSED BY COUNCILLOR BRAZIL

“This council notes the increase in cycling as a mode of transport since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. It agrees we should encourage improvements in facilities for cyclists in Gloucester and throughout Gloucestershire.

This council notes that many cyclists might also want to carry their bicycle on public transport, especially on buses.

This council calls on the county council to investigate the provision of carrying bikes on buses in the county and request they work with the bus companies looks at how this may be achieved.

This council agrees that we need to work towards encouraging and sustaining climate friendly transport.”

2.     PROPOSED BY COUNCILLOR HILTON

“This council notes that on 26^th December the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government awarded £830 million to 72 areas in England to help transform their high streets.

Despite Gloucester City Council putting in a 17-page bid, this council records its disappointment that the city centre didn’t get a penny from MHCLG.

Others city and town centres nearby, were successful. Swindon got £25m and Kidderminster £20.5m, with provisional funding awarded of £10m to Leamington Spa, £10m to Yeovil and £14m to Taunton.

This council calls on the leader to provide members with a written report of what went wrong. Highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the submission and what could have been done better.”

I reported two patches of pavement on Shakespeare Avenue and I am pleased to hear that they are going to be repaired.

If you know of any potholes or other highways issues in Podsmead, as ever please let me know.