There is a job opportunity for an Employment Skills Learning Project Coordinator for Blackbridge Charitable Community Benefit Society.
Please contact Sue Cunningham for the application forms, or ask me and I can email them to you. Email all completed applications and monitoring forms to s.j.cunningham@glcommunities.org.uk.
The closing date is 5pm on 25th July. Shortlisting w/c 25th July. Interviews on 1st of August.
Recently a consultation event was held at the current clubhouse for Gloucester Athletics Club, regarding the potential development at Blackbridge.
This plan would allow for a 3G floodlit playing field, a new clubhouse with a gym, changing facilities, studio space, cafe and bar etc, enhanced cricket and rugby natural pitches, and car parking for the site. There is provision for 30 houses next to the existing New Dawn development, which was part of the Gloucester City Plan and would enable contributions to be made to the overall financing of the project.
Access to the site is being proposed through Laburnum Road, and whilst there would be a loss of parking at the top of the road, this would be mitigated by provision of resident-only parking in the smaller of the two car parks.
Environmental studies would be commissioned as part of the planning process, and resident input would be welcomed on what people would like to see.
Understandably, there are some concerns about the access road and increased traffic and/or loss of parking, and other things like security and environmental concerns.
What I would say is that plans are still being developed at this stage, so nothing is set in stone.
Update – there has been a delay of a few months to allow a traffic survey in September to give a true picture of the current traffic. The planning application will likely go to the city council in January 2023.
I will take on board all comments received and look to represent the will of the community as much as possible. I would urge people to have their say as early and as often as possible.
Below is a letter I recently delivered to local homes.
You can view the presentation boards that were displayed at the consultation events here: https://www.sfplanning.co.uk/blackbridge-consultation.
Please keep an eye out for Eva, a 7 month old cat (but looks like a kitten).
She went missing in June from the Neven Place area of Podsmead (part of the new estate at Earls Park).
Anyone with info as to her whereabouts please contact Vicki Macfarlane on 07704114430.
Recently Crypt Head Nick Dyer and I had one of our regular meetings.
We discussed things like our work with Read with Me in the community, the Highways plan for the Podsmead regeneration scheme, the availability of school facilities for the community, and that Crypt are hopefully going to be able to collect donated food for Poets Pantry.
Crypt are an important part of the Podsmead community and it is great that they work well with local councillors and residents.
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 14th 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.
To get involved, email grants@gloucester.gov.uk including the name of your ward councillor; and provide answers to the following questions:
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.