Cllr Gareth Kitchen

Information | Community Newspaper | SDC | Council Meetings Green Party District Councillor for Wotton-under-Edge, North Nibley & Stinchcombe, Gloucestershire, UK. Elected 2nd May 2024. Serving on the SDC Audit & Standards Committee and Gloucestershire Police & Crime Panel. 📧 cllr.gareth.kitchen@stroud.gov.uk ☎️ +44 7396 840710 For urgent and secure messaging use Signal: eco_g_20.24 or less securely, e-mail. (Voicemail & SMS messages are responded to most evenings after work.) ℅ Cookability, 35 Long Street, Wotton-under-Edge, GL12 7BX Privacy Policy - https://www.stroud.gov.uk/privacynotice Promoted by Rob Brookes on behalf of Stroud District Green Party, at 17 Great George St, Bristol BS1 5QT. Find me on the Fediverse (Social media without adverts, algorithms or outrage) here:-

https://stroud.social/eco-g

SDC Councillors' report - April 2025

April 2, 2025•2,447 words

Wotton-under-Edge, North Nibley & Stinchcombe Along with residents' casework and in addition to council and training meetings at Ebley Mill, Cllrs Kitchen, Braun & Cohen attended the regular council meetings at North Nibley, Stinchcombe & Wotton-under-Edge. Council meetings Link to meeting agenda and documents in the committee title. Development Control Committee - 4th March Aston Down, Cowcombe Lane, Chalford, Gloucestershire, S.20/0716/FUL A hybrid planning applicatio...

Bolster Wotton - 25th March 2025

March 26, 2025•1,214 words

Bolster Wotton Meeting 25th March 2025 I attended a busy Bolster Wotton event last night. My local Councillor chums, Catherine and Linda were also there to help support the town in whatever way they can too. These are my informal notes. Personal comment The wise amongst us realise that there is little Councils (Town, District or County) can do directly regarding the High Street. Everything, more or less, falls to the entrepreneurial spirit of residents and risks taken by existing busine...

Stroud District Council - Extraordinary Meeting - 20th March

March 21, 2025•664 words

English Devolution - Local Government Reorganisation - LGR An excellent discussion at Stroud District Council this evening. As a Green there is no party line, so we are free to contribute in the best interests of the residents and business who we represent. I said what I thought needed to be said. The recommendation passed unanimously and I feel the wide ranging opinion will help shape and deliver the best possible outcome. I acknowledge that our leaders do a remarkable job of keeping the who...

Wotton Town Council Meeting - March 2025

March 18, 2025•1,856 words

Wotton Town Council Meeting 17th March 2025 I attended two meetings at the Civic Centre last night along with SDC Cllr. Braun. SDC/GCC Cllr. Cohen arrived later as there was another parish meeting in her ward. There were a few parishioners present. These are my informal notes. Annual Community Meeting (I can't find a link to a publicly available agenda) To meet statutory obligations the purpose of this meeting was to arrange another community meeting at 2pm on 18th May 2025, to be held ...

Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel - March 2025

March 17, 2025•1,489 words

Summary - Shire Hall 10th March A meeting summary and some personal notes authored by Cllr. Gareth Kitchen, SDC. Brief report feeding into the Community Services and Licensing Committee at SDC will soon be here. Webcast of meeting. Agenda packs etc. Minutes here The fire alarm went off at GCC just prior to the start of the meeting so everyone decamped to the street outside. False alarm! New Green Party co-oped member Cllr. Clare Turner from Blockley Ward over in Costswold District, g...

Wotton, North Nibley & Stinchcombe Ward Update - March 2025

March 15, 2025•134 words

I have to apologise for not hitting the 'e-mail send' button recently! A quick recap recent posts:- Affordable Houses on Bradley/Gloucester Street Work is well underway now. There was a 'Meet the Contractor’ event, the other week, at Wotton Baptist Church. As SDC don't actually build houses themselves I thought I'd share some of the detail I've gathered. SDC Councillors' report - March 2025 Lots of activity at SDC with the Council Plan being adopted and budgets set. North Nibley Parish C...

Stinchcombe Parish Council Meeting - March 2025

March 13, 2025•329 words

Stinchcombe Parish Council Meeting 12th March 2025 Attended Stinchcombe Parish Council meeting earlier this week along with SDC Cllr Braun and GCC/SDC Cllr Cohen. Here are my personal notes. Normal meeting formalities. Sadly, no members of the public to ask questions or present ideas to the Council. Update on matters arising from previous meeting and minutes agreed. I can't recall any questions on either the District Councillors or County Councillor report. Three planning application...

English Devolution

March 8, 2025•415 words

You may have seen recent press coverage about the government’s plan to reorganise local government. I thought it might help to explain what we know so far, and what it may mean for us in Wotton-under-Edge, North Nibley and Stinchcombe ward. This is only a short summary - do contact me if you’d like to discuss it in more detail. In the English Devolution White Paper, published just before Christmas, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government set out a plan to dissol...

Old Town Toilets

March 6, 2025•886 words

Background Info Wotton Town Council owns the freehold of the Old Town toilets. The story dates back to 2015 when the service provided by Veolia, the contractor who cleaned and locked the toilets overnight, would be discontinued. A new company called Ubico was being created later that year who might have been able to deliver a similar service. Costs and arrangements were unclear. Little was done. Veolia service was discontinued in the October and the Town Council caretaker was tasked with loc...

North Nibley Parish Council Meeting - March 2025

March 6, 2025•256 words

North Nibley Parish Council Meeting 5th March 2025 As always it was pleasure attending the Parish Council meeting last night along with Cllr Braun. Cllr Cohen sent apologies. Here are my personal notes. Cllr Roland Brown was confirmed as the new Chair of the Council. A member of the public presented some good work undertaken seeking funding of and installation (with the involvement of the Cotswold Wardens) of three kissing gates on a local footpath. I didn't catch the precise location...

SDC Councillors' report - March 2025

March 3, 2025•1,067 words

Wotton-under-Edge, North Nibley & Stinchcombe Along with residents' casework and in addition to council and training meetings at Ebley Mill, Cllrs Kitchen, Braun & Cohen attended the regular council meetings at North Nibley, Stinchcombe & Wotton-under-Edge. Council meetings Link to meeting agenda and documents in the committee title. Housing Committee - 4th February Recommend the Draft Council Plan and the accompanying Delivery Plan to Strategy & Resources Comm...

Affordable Houses on Bradley/Gloucester Street

February 28, 2025•520 words

Following Stroud District Council recently awarding a contract to Speller Metcalfe for the construction of these homes I've been asked lots of questions! There was a 'Meet the Contractor’ event, last week, at Wotton Baptist Church. As SDC don't actually build houses themselves I thought I'd share some of the detail I've gathered. Since space is limited on the site the contractors are having to use smaller machines than normal. The site has recently been stripped. Foundations and service...

Police & Crime Panel - SDC Report February 2025

February 24, 2025•467 words

Community Services and Licensing Committee - Report The main purpose of the meeting was to support the proposed precept from the PCC. The PCC recommended that the Police and Crime Panel support the Council Tax precept increase of £14 in 2025/2026, giving a Band D Council Tax of £322.08 for 2025/2026, an increase of 4.54%. The maximum he is permitted to levy. The PCC kicked off with an overview of the budget. Wide pressure across all forces. Government hasn't given them full cover for pay rise...

Wotton Town Council Meeting - February 2025

February 18, 2025•1,197 words

Wotton Town Council Meeting 17th February 2025 I attended a meeting at the Civic Centre on Monday evening along with SDC Cllr. Braun and SDC/GCC Cllr. Cohen. Agenda here. These are my informal notes. Apologies received from Roger Claydon, Paul Jones and Jane Tyler, no declarations of interest, minutes approved. No residents to ask probing questions of the Council. Standing orders rescinded and #19 brought forward for an update on Brown's Piece (Hack Hill). Dominic Driver gave a short...

Stinchcombe Parish Council Meeting February 2025

February 17, 2025•309 words

Stinchcombe Parish Council Meeting 12th February 2025 Again, it was a pleasure to attend Stinchcombe Parish Council meeting last week along with SDC Cllr Braun and GCC/SDC Cllr Cohen. Here are my personal notes. Normal meeting formalities. No parishioners present to speak at the public forum. :( The Chair ran through many of the actions from the previous meeting (which I missed, apologies given). A new format for the minutes makes action points really easy to spot ensuring items don't s...

Gloucestershire Police & Crime Panel - February 2025

February 8, 2025•1,245 words

Summary - Shire Hall A meeting summary and some personal notes authored by Cllr. Gareth Kitchen, SDC. Brief report feeding into the Community Services and Licensing Committee at SDC is here. Webcast of meeting. Agenda packs etc. A few apologies. Space on the panel for a Green Party member. Minutes of the previous meeting approved and no declarations of interest. The main purpose of the meeting was to support the proposed precept from the PCC. The PCC is seeking the full £14 (4.5% i...

SDC Councillors' report - February 2025

February 3, 2025•676 words

Wotton-under-Edge, North Nibley & Stinchcombe Along with residents' casework and in addition to council and training meetings at Ebley Mill, Cllrs Kitchen, Braun & Cohen attended the regular council meetings at North Nibley, Stinchcombe & Wotton-under-Edge. Council meetings Link to meeting agenda and documents in the committee title. Development Control Committee - 21st January Update on planning changes Due to the Government’s reform of the National Planning Policy Framew...

Wotton Town Council Meeting - January 2025

January 21, 2025•1,911 words

Wotton Town Council Meeting 20th January 2025 A rolled car on Blackquarries Hill 20th Jan 2025. I attended a packed meeting at the Civic Centre on Monday evening along with SDC Cllr. Braun and SDC Cllr. Cohen. Agenda here. These are my informal notes. The normal formalities. Apologies from two councillors. A Cllr. declared an interest relating to the KLB grant application 8c. Previous minutes were approved. In the public forum a spokesperson for the Heritage Centre, advised that they ...

Rumours of Geckos at Potters Pond confirmed

January 17, 2025•208 words

Great news. Plans have finally been produced for the installation of electric vehicle charge-points in Potters Pond car park, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire. There maybe some minor disruption at the beginning of March when they will be installed. These chargers have been a long time coming. It was originally hoped that the Geckos could have been installed in the Chipping Car Park. However, due to various factors locating them, including proximity to trees, electricity sources and tren...

Time to boycott Facebook, Threads & WhatsApp

January 12, 2025•385 words

Zuckerberg is now urging Trump to stop the EU from fining US companies. The tech bro billionaire, like Elon Musk before him, wants to spread divisive harm, misinformation and AI slop with no responsibility whatsoever. No doubt other US tech corporations will follow, demanding more and more outrageous immunities. I firmly believe countries like the UK need to start properly protecting their citizens. Yet each and every UK govt. department, council, institution and political party embrace an...

SDC Councillors' report - January 2025

January 3, 2025•660 words

Wotton-under-Edge, North Nibley & Stinchcombe Along with residents' casework and in addition to council and training meetings at Ebley Mill, Cllrs Kitchen, Braun & Cohen attended the regular council meetings at North Nibley, Stinchcombe & Wotton-under-Edge. Council meetings Link to meeting agenda and documents in the committee title. Development Control Committee - 3rd December Land at M5 Junction 13 west of Stonehouse (New FGR Site) - S.23/1484/REM Reserved matters (layou...

Devolution shake-up will be ‘just like Brexit’

December 23, 2024•628 words

As a follow-up to the Fears Gloucestershire councils shake-up will be ‘just like Brexit’ article here are some personal thoughts. I can't help thinking this post will get me into trouble! Hey ho. Read the Gloucester news centre article first. It'll set the scene. Thanks to Barbara Lawrence for posting it on Facebook and bringing it to my attention. https://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk/fears-gloucestershire-councils-shake-up-will-be-just-like-brexit Make no mistake, I think Westminster's de...

Wotton Town Council Meeting - December 2024

December 17, 2024•493 words

Wotton Town Council Meeting 16th December 2024 I attended the Civic Centre on Monday evening along with SDC Cllr Braun. Here are my informal notes. At the Council meeting there was a minutes silence for Sir David McMurtry. Apologies received from the Mayor and SDC Cllr Cohen. The Chair thanked Eve Coy, who has recently resigned from the Council, for all her hard work. Just one member of the public at the forum, a representative from Christmas under the Edge. They gave a brief update o...

Stroud Funding

December 15, 2024•463 words

UTEA Smashes Stroud Funding Target UTEA's old lighting system was failing and needed replacing. The group worked out what money they needed and set-up a project on the new crowdfunding platform for Stroud district (called Stroud Funding) which is run in partnership with the company, Spacehive. Spacehive provided a bit of help which enabled the project to be shared far and wide to raise the funds. Lots of people shared the project and that helped boost local support. The target wa...

Stinchcombe Parish Council Meeting December 2024

December 11, 2024•587 words

Stinchcombe Parish Council Meeting 12th December 2024 Again, it was a pleasure to attend Stinchcombe Parish Council meeting earlier this week along with SDC Cllr Braun and GCC Cllr Cohen. Here are my personal notes. The meeting had started early so councillors could go through budgets. :) Normal meeting formalities. Then maybe for the first time there were were no parishioners present to speak at the public forum. :( There were few items in the GCC and SDC reports that directly impacted...

Stinchcombe Parish Council - Meet & Greet

December 6, 2024•332 words

Stinchcombe Parish Council - Meet & Greet 5th December 2024 It was a pleasure to attend the Stinchcombe Parish Council Meet and Greet on Thursday night along with SDC Cllr Braun. The venue was packed and it really was great to see so many parishioners, volunteers and councillors there. The purpose of the event was to inform the community about what is being done and, I suppose, what's possible for the community to achieve. One of the big projects, driven by a group of passionate you...

North Nibley Parish Council Meeting - December 2024

December 5, 2024•478 words

North Nibley Parish Council Meeting 4th December 2024 As always it was pleasure attending the Parish Council meeting last night along with Cllr Braun & Cllr Cohen. Here are my personal notes. Cllr Brown was stand in Chair tonight as few apologies but still quorate so the meeting proceeded with the normal formalities. The Council is still looking to co-opt members but no applications have been received. Three members of the public were present to discuss issues of importance. The item...

SDC Councillors' report - December 2024

December 2, 2024•626 words

Wotton-under-Edge, North Nibley & Stinchcombe Along with residents' casework and in addition to council and training meetings at Ebley Mill, Cllrs Kitchen, Braun & Cohen attended the regular council meetings at North Nibley, Stinchcombe & Wotton-under-Edge. Council meetings Link to meeting agenda and documents in the committee title. Audit and Standards Committee - 19th November Reviewed Treasury Reports paying attention to the ratings for Environmental, Social and Governanc...

Wotton Town Council Meeting - November 2024

November 19, 2024•1,073 words

Wotton Town Council Meeting 18th November 2024 I attended a meeting of Wotton Town Council meeting last night along with SDC Cllr Cohen and SDC Cllr Braun, I took some informal notes. Before the meeting there was talk of the gargantuan size of Council agenda packs. This months WTC pack weights in at 273 pages. A Cllr. is gobsmacked that these are still being printed out. I didn't pipe up that my last SDC Audit and Standards pack was close to 400 pages, but sent electronically. There ha...

SDC Strategic Leadership Team Wotton Ward Walk - November 2024

November 14, 2024•471 words

Wotton Ward Walk 13th November 2024 A beautiful day to show the Stroud District Council Strategic Leadership Team around Wotton Ward with fellow district councillors Linda Cohen and Catherine Braun. I took some notes. We met up in the Civic Centre car park and started off looking at the new SDC council housing site between Bradley Street & Gloucester Street take a look at the demolished buildings and discuss timescale for redevelopment which will be starting before the end of the financ...