Yesterday I was out with the petition for the speed limit in Amberley to be reduced to 20 mph.

The limit is currently 40 mph, because that is the speed limit on the Common (to preserve the cows!) and apparently the National Trust won’t let it be reduced in the built-up area. Residents have been concerned by this for some time. Part of the village is very narrow and steep; however, the street lighting (such as it is) is not enough for a mandatory 30 mph limit. The school - just to the south of the crossroads - is slightly away from the main residential part of the village, so there is a lot of concern about the safety of children walking to school.  Boy racers see the 40 mph limit as a challenge.

Before the County election I started a petition, but during the campaign was more interested in canvassing, though I had the petition with me. The post-election leaflet had a short version of the petition on it.

There has been considerable enthusiasm in Lower Littleworth and Theescombe, along the lane to the north of the main part of the village, and I think this could be fertile territory for a Quiet Lane, as is coming to fruition in the more rural part of Rodborough.

I was asked to take sheets in to the Post Office and did so about a month ago; I collected the completed sheets yesterday morning and they make a significant addition to the number of signatures - even discounting several people who have now signed three times! I took the petition house to house yesterday afternoon with considerable success. we now have over 100 signatures from a widespread village of less than 400 homes. However, there is more to do and I will be out again today and later this week.

Yesterday I had an interesting meeting with the council officer responsible for waste collection, and have also been enquiring what neighbouring districts are doing. The answer to the second is ‘disposing of food waste mixed with garden waste, and charging for the garden waste’.

ODD FACT – The In Vessel Composter (IVC) at Sharpness (in the Stroud District)  requires a mixture of food and garden waste. Stroud Conservatives prefer to have food waste sent to Leominster, 50 miles away, for processing because of their blinkered attitude towards the collection of garden waste.

Some garden waste cannot be processed at home. It surely makes more sense to send it to a local IVC than to landfill, as at present.

Cllr Christine Headley joins Stanleys’ residents’ frustration at the abrupt end of the Stanleys Waste Trial, which has been operating since 24 October 2007 and involves weekly collection of dry recyclables and food waste, fortnightly collection of residual waste to landfill, and a subsidised composter offered to every household.
The main problem is the loss of the food waste recycling,  which required the provision of two food waste containers for every household. Cooked waste is not suitable for garden composting, but it can be done by the council in the quantities generated by a locality like the Stanleys.
Worse, landfill tax rises to £ 40 for the new financial year, and there is to be an extra £ 150 payable for every tonne of bio-degradable waste above a certain level that goes to landfill. Cllr Christine Headley says that SDC should keep composting Stanleys’ food waste while a more extensive system is worked out.

It is a strange coincidence that, having taken up the issue of a non-functioning streetlight, two in the same area turn out to be in overdrive.
A few weeks ago, I was alerted to the streetlight by the Woodchester War Memorial, which hasn’t worked for two years. I contacted the county council and was told  that, as the original pole had rusted through at the base and was in danger of falling over, it was disconnected and a new column installed. Unfortunately, residents are still waiting for the electricity to be connected. The nearest supply is about 10m away on the other side of the lane. The  road will have to be closed and, because this is a bus route,  a minimum two months notice is legally required so that the bus company can set up an alternative route. (The law makers don’t seem to have made any sort of exception for a rural, twice-weekly bus - a resident asked me why they couldn’t just schedule the work for a day the bus wasn’t running.) Anyway, it is hoped that the work will be done around the end of May.
Oddly enough, the next streetlight along the lane connecting North and South Woodchester doesn’t turn off,  and nor does one on Selsley Road. I have pointed these out to the county council, too!

I’m rather enthusiastic about Sainsbury’s new planning application in Dudbridge. I’m less than wild about the extension itself, but it’s nice that they have given thought to where to put the old arches, complete with clothiers’ marks and dating from 1646. The proposal for hydroelectric power, courtesy of the Nailsworth Stream, is really exciting. Their claim that the power from the stream is enough for 17 houses is slightly misleading; it’s actually meant to be enough to keep the lights on in one supermarket…. But commendable, nonetheless.

The planning application also involved Conservation Area Consent, as the store is within the Industrial Heritage Conservation Area. The cycle track - once a three-cornered railway connecting Stroud, Nailsworth and Stonehouse - runs close by and Kimmins Mill (now storing historic industrial artefacts) is within Sainsbury’s boundary.

I was horrified to hear that a tree had been cut down on the bank by the cycle track that links Stroud with Nailsworth and Stonehouse. The wood and leaf buds are clearly healthy, which bears out the report that the damage was done by a resident whose garden it overshadowed.

The cycle track is well used by cyclists and dog walkers. It makes a pleasant route from Rodborough School to Dudbridge. I doubt any thought was given to the safety of passers by.

People prepared to chop down trees that don’t belong to them, on a public right of way, are unlikely to have public liability insurance or safety equipment.

I believe those responsible should be prosecuted for criminal damage, and am contacting Gloucestershire County Council and Stroud Police to this effect..

“Tackling Peak Oil and Climate Change, together”

Yesterday evening I attended a Transition Town meeting in Stroud. I’ve not been aware of particular Liberal Democrat interest in the Transition Town initiative, but it is definitely something we should be involved in.

The idea originated with Rob Hopkins; there is more information at <http://transitionculture.org> - yes, no ‘www.’ needed, apparently - and has been taken up by communities all over the country. The structure has been described as ‘chaordic’- a portmanteau word combining ‘chaos’ and ‘order’ originally coined to define the way VISA cards are run. Sounds like community politics!

Yesterday they discussed the local structure, concerned that it was seen locally as exclusively a Green Party initiative,  and agreed that it needed to be visibly accessible to all political and religious viewpoints. Looking at the main website - http://www.transitiontowns.org - I can see that there is potential for a great deal of LibDem involvement.

Mention of Transition Towns on The Archers has raised the profile, though I was surprised at the emphasis on bikes. I believe Borsetshire is a lot less hilly than this part of Gloucestershire! However, there is enthusiasm for cycling within Transition Stroud.

This idea is catching on and we Liberal Democrats need to be seen to be involved.