After complaints from residents of Dudbridge Hill about the graffiti underneath the bridge that carries Dudbridge Hill over the cycle track. I took this up with Stroud District Council. It is actually owned by Gloucestershire County Council (GCC), but SDC managed to access some one-off funding, arrange access, and get the job done. There was […]

It is the householder’s responsibility to keep hedges out of the way of people on the pavement. It can be dangerous for people to walk in the road! Care & Repair (Stroud) Ltd has a list of gardeners able and willing to do this sort of work, and the rates they charge. See here for […]

Gloucestershire County Council is conducting a review of subsidised bus services to save £ 2m of the £ 5m they are currently spending. Stroud information can be found here. Services 8A and 36 to Bowl Hill are among those affected. There will also be an information evening on Thursday 26 May at the Sub Rooms […]

It’s been an interesting campaign in Rodborough. I have now been on doorsteps for half the year – January for the by-election and April for this one – and it has been great to meet so many people. I have been asked to put my leaflets on my website, so here goes. This is the […]

Gloucestershire County Council proposes to cut all its mobile libraries. In the Rodborough county division, Amberley receives one visit a fortnight (a quarter of an hour at the War Memorial), in North Woodchester it stops in two places for twenty minutes each, and Kings Stanley is on two rounds, so receives weekly visits adding up […]

Today I handed in the signatures required to begin the process for by-elections in the Stroud District Council Amberley and Woodchester Ward, and the Gloucestershire County Council Rodborough Division. Both are caused by the death of the sitting councillor at the end of October. Amberley and Woodchester makes up a quarter of the division and […]

I can hardly believe that the changes in housing benefit were successfully railroaded past the LibDems in Cabinet. What was Danny Alexander thinking of? Even if the Tories didn’t realise that their proposals would lead to people currently caught in the safety-net of housing benefit to be evicted by private-sector landlords, and thus to more […]

We had a good public meeting yesterday at Kings Stanley Village Hall on the question of the future of the Kings Head pub just the other side of the road. During the general election campaign, it was pointed out to me that the pub had recently closed. After the election, and fearing a planning application […]

Out delivering leaflets recently, I was asked about charity bags and  given 18 which had been delivered in the last few months to take away. Charity collectors need a licence from the local authority, though the biggest charities are licensed nationally by the Home Office. People wonder which are the best charities to give to. […]

A week after the General Election, we found we had Liberal Democrats in government! As well as Nick Clegg (Deputy Prime Minister), Danny Alexander (Scotland), Vince Cable (Business), Chris Huhne (Climate Change/Energy) and David Laws (no. 2 in the Treasury) in the Cabinet,  there are appointment in six other departments – including Andrew Stunell, Liberal […]