Cllr Gareth Kitchen

Community News | SDC | Council Meetings | Wotton | Stroud 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 Secure Web Contact Form: https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/9q0gPl18J1obc9U++FOSQwaL2euErvZTXekMKQVGScw/ 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:-

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Stinchcombe Parish Council Meeting - October 2025

October 5, 2025•440 words

Stinchcombe Parish Council Meeting 2nd October 2025 My informal notes from last Wednesdays Parish Council meeting that I attended on my own as Cllrs. Braun and Cohen had other meeting to attend. Great to see a new Cllr joining the team; Jon Powlesland who recently moved to Stinchcombe. Chartered accountant by background and has worked for various corporates. Currently at the National Trust. One person arrived for the public forum arrived but left after talking with the Chair. They thoug...

North Nibley Parish Council Meeting - October 2025

October 4, 2025•569 words

North Nibley Parish Council Meeting 1st October 2025 My informal notes from last Tuesdays Parish Council meeting that I attended along with SDC Cllr. Braun. I noticed a splendid mosaic on the wall of the village hall for the first time. I'm certain that it's a recent addition and took a quick photo on my way in. No members of the public present this months meeting. It's always a pleasure listening to Cllrs rattling through the action points from prior meetings. It appears that the Black ...

SDC Councillors' Report - October 2025

September 29, 2025•1,528 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 covered the regular council meetings at North Nibley, Stinchcombe & Wotton-under-Edge. Council meetings (Online links to agendas and other supporting documentation via underlined text) Development Control Committee - 2nd September 31 Kingshill Road, Dursley, Gloucestershire, S.25/0257/FUL - approved Adaptati...

Wotton Town Council - September 2025

September 19, 2025•1,007 words

Wotton Town Council Meeting 15th September 2025 My informal notes and comment from the town council meeting earlier this week that I attended along with SDC/GCC Cllr. Cohen & SDC. Cllr Braun. One apology for absence. The resignation of Cllr. Paul Barton was noted, no election had been called so the TC can co-opt. One Cllr. noted that he thought TC would be less good without him. Three sets of Town Council meeting minutes were approved for the 21st July, the Extraordinary Town Council ...

Police & Crime Panel - September 2025

September 13, 2025•1,135 words

Summary - Shire Hall 5th September 2025 A meeting summary, personal notes and comment. Authored by Cllr. Gareth Kitchen, SDC. This article formed the basis of my brief report feeding into the Community Services and Licensing Committee at SDC. Webcast of meeting. Agenda packs etc. Minutes. Normal meeting formalities and we go straight to the Independent Custody Visitors' Annual Report. The Independent Custody Visiting Scheme gives us real insight into conditions in custody and provide...

North Nibley Parish Council Meeting - September 2025

September 10, 2025•616 words

North Nibley Parish Council 3rd September 2025 My informal notes from last Wednesdays Parish Council meeting that I attended along with SDC Cllr. Braun and SDC/GCC Cllr. Cohen. Normal formalities, just one apology for absence and one member of the public to speak, but deferred speaking to the road safety agenda item. Previous minutes approved. The chair jumped around the agenda a little so some items maybe out of order. :) Dealing with previous actions. Cllr Braun reported back on the d...

Stinchcombe Parish Council Meeting - September 2025

September 10, 2025•380 words

Stinchcombe Parish Council Meeting 2nd September 2025 I attended Stinchcombe Parish Council meeting Tuesday night last week along with GCC/SDC Cllr Cohen. Here are my personal notes. Sadly, due to holidays and an unexpected apology the council was not quorate so only informal discussions were had, no decisions could be taken. One member of the public had taken time out to speak to the council. Cllr. Cohen gave a quick overview of her County Council report. Back to school and road safety....

Video clips - Police & Crime Panel - September 2025

September 5, 2025•368 words

Representing Stroud District Council on the Gloucestershire Police & Crime Panel also intersects with my volunteer work with Stroud Against Racism. The Constabulary along with the Community Legitimacy Panel hosted Community Engagement Forum up in Gloucester recently. I thought that this was an ideal platform to tell the story of a recent racially motivated attack in Stroud. The story demonstrates the lack of trust in policing by sections of the community. The Community Engagement Foru...

SDC Councillors' Report - September 2025

September 1, 2025•1,133 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 covered the regular council meetings at North Nibley, Stinchcombe & Wotton-under-Edge. Council meetings Link to meeting agenda and documents in the committee title. Licensing Sub-Committee - 14th August Application for a premises licence to allow 24 hr / 7 day per week sale of alcohol at a new retail unit, ...

Symn Lane Car Park Handover - Timeline

August 27, 2025•908 words

Background The development of the Symn Lane Car Park has been protracted, not least because of the Covid pandemic and the original developer selling the project on. However, the current developer left site nearly two years ago. The schedule of remaining works to complete the project is long and complex. As communications have broken down between the Wotton Town Council and the developer the SDC CEO was asked to help broker the completion of the project. Many residents have asked me what i...

Wotton Town Council - August 2025

August 19, 2025•1,099 words

Wotton Town Council Meeting 18th August 2025 My informal notes and comment from last nights town council meeting that I attended along with SDC/GCC Cllr. Cohen. Cllr Braun is taking a well earned break and sent apologies. The minutes from the 21st July and the extraordinary meeting on the 28th July had not been circulated and would not be available until the next planning meeting where another extraordinary town council meeting would be held to approve them. Although a number of people we...

SDC - Microsoft Cloud - Data Sovereignty

August 12, 2025•756 words

I've long had concerns about cloud storage. Personally, I use Proton as my main service provider for e-mail and cloud storage. Pretty much everything is end-to-end encrypted. Proton themselves have absolutely no idea what I store. In my humble opinion this is the only way to handle personal information. Customers of Microsoft, Google et. al. all have their data stored as plain text. This has long troubled me especially as Stroud District Council use Microsoft products extensively. But now...

Dog Poo Bins - Westridge Road - Outcome

August 2, 2025•224 words

Litter & Dog Waste Bins 2nd August 2025 Wotton's newest Litter and Dog Waste Bin has been installed on the corner of Westridge Road. 🎉 🎇 🎆 🎊 It is hoped that this will alleviate the capacity issues of the bin across the road at the top of Little Acre and encourage dog walkers not to leave dog poo bags along the route of the footpath, in hedges and on people's driveways etc. Ideally, positioning the bin up by the pony paddock might have been better but, trust me, the procedures and pr...

SDC Councillors' Report - August 2025

August 2, 2025•1,197 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. Cllr Cohen has also helped two families secure suitable Council housing. Council meetings Links to meeting agenda, documents and other info on the titles. Licensing Sub-Committee - 2nd & 4th July Holy Water, 11 Lan...

Wotton Town Council - July 2025

July 22, 2025•2,160 words

Wotton Town Council Meeting 21st July 2025 My informal notes and comment from last nights town council meeting that I attended along with SDC Cllr. Braun and SDC/GCC Cllr. Cohen. Normal formalities, no apologies and no declarations of interest. The previous minutes were approved with a minor amendment explaining concerns regarding a solar panel grant. At least twelve people present for the public forum. The public forum is where residents can ask direct questions of the council and raise...

Bolster Wotton - July 2025

July 17, 2025•590 words

Bolster Wotton Meeting 15th July 2025 Following a meet up with Cllr. Braun, we went to a meeting for Bolster Wotton last Tuesday evening at the Chipping Hall along with Cllr. Cohen. I took some informal notes. Marketing the town A quick welcome from the town clerk, Andrea. Then straight into a presentation from Tony Davey. He's a retired IT product manager and has helped improve many companies. He's also the Mayor of Stroud and interim chair of the Nailsworth business group. He has ...

Gloucestershire Police & Crime Panel - July 2025

July 13, 2025•1,424 words

Summary - Shire Hall 11th July 2025 A meeting summary, personal notes and comment. Authored by Cllr. Gareth Kitchen, SDC. This will form the basis of a brief report feeding into the Community Services and Licensing Committee at SDC. Webcast of meeting. Agenda packs etc. Minutes No formal apologies and the Panel seems pretty full. New Chair to be elected, I was a bit surprised that there were two nominations. Cllr. Ray Brassington from Cotswold District Council and Cllr. Anne Radley ...

Stinchcombe Parish Council Meeting - July 2025

July 12, 2025•621 words

Stinchcombe Parish Council Meeting 9th July 2025 My informal notes from last nights Parish Council meeting that I attended along with SDC Cllr Braun and SDC/GCC Cllr Cohen. Normal meeting formalities. Two members of the public present to give verbal reports later in the meeting. A few matters were discussed from previous meetings; playground signs, rota for the swings, mowing. Minutes from the council’s previous meeting were approved. The Council to received the SDC District Councillors' ...

Wotton Community Land Trust - Brown's Piece

July 9, 2025•202 words

🌳There was a huge turnout for the Annual General Meeting of Wotton Community Land Trust on Monday evening at Blue Coat School. The Committee members have been working hard over the past year, and it was great to hear that they are now close to purchasing Brown's Piece / Hack Hill. If you'd like to help to secure the future of this wonderful green space for the community and for nature, please do consider donating and becoming a member - with links on the WCLT website: www.wclt.org.uk Further...

North Nibley Parish Council - July 2025

July 3, 2025•806 words

North Nibley Parish Council 2nd July 2025 My informal notes from last nights Parish Council meeting that I attended along with SDC Cllr. Braun and SDC/GCC Cllr. Cohen. Normal formalities. No apologies. Good to see that one Cllr. declared and interest in the planning item. So they will not take part in any debate or vote on that item. Two members of the public were present. The public forum is where members of the public can ask question directly of the council. A great opportunity to...

SDC Councillors' Report - July 2025

June 20, 2025•1,794 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 - 10th June Tenant Satisfaction Survey 24/25 These results help the Council to understand where we are doing well and ide...

Wotton Town Council Meeting - June 2025

June 16, 2025•1,149 words

Wotton Town Council Meeting 16th June 2025 My informal notes from last nights Town Council meeting that I attended along with SDC Cllr Braun and SDC/GCC Cllr Cohen. Normal formalities. No apologies. The mayor and deputy declared interests in item 8b. A dispensation had also been sought for the same item (in case the council was inquorate, I think) but was not invoked. Maybe it was sufficient for councillors to leave meeting? The mayor mentioned a circulated e-mail and items 9,10,11,17 we...

Stinchcombe Parish Council Meeting - June 2025

June 15, 2025•843 words

Stinchcombe Parish Council Meeting 14th June 2025 My informal notes from last nights Parish Council meeting that I attended along with SDC Cllr Braun and SDC/GCC Cllr Cohen. Prior to the council meeting there was a farewell get together, with residents, for a drink to thank Marian Shaw for her amazing 29 years on Stinchcombe Parish Council. This was going to be her last Parish Council meeting. It was also a good opportunity to socialise and caught up on a few projects going on to see if t...

New Stile - Westridge Woods

June 8, 2025•55 words

New Stile - Westridge Wood 6th June 2025 Following a lively Wotton Town Council meeting on the 19th May, the landowner has installed a nice new stile on the permissive path into Westridge Woods, as they promised. Also, SDC have committed to carry out a dog poo bin assessment. ...

North Nibley Parish Council - June 2025

June 5, 2025•1,151 words

North Nibley Parish Council 4th June 2025 I attended the meeting at the Village Hall last night along with SDC Cllr. Braun, GCC/SDC Cllr. Cohen sent her apologies. These are my hastily written, informal notes. The photo this month commemorates the buddleia shrub which partly died and fell over long ago. The team from Ubico had been diligently mowing around it (a prescriptive contract, no doubt). Recuperating from my recent health problems, I thought it would be good exercise to wander ov...

Racial Assault - Stroud

June 3, 2025•1,060 words

Background Stroud Against Racism (SAR) members spent last Sunday afternoon (1st June) at a gathering of some concerned residents of our wonderful district. The stories shared helped set background and provide context to an abhorrent crime that was witnessed. SAR was contacted to provide support for those involved. The victim was set upon by five racist thugs and this attack was witnessed by children. Police were called but, as far it was understood, the victim doesn't want to press charge...

Dog Poo Bins - Westridge Road

June 3, 2025•661 words

Dog Poo Bins 6th June 2025 Following a lively Wotton Town Council meeting on the 19th May, it became clear that there was a problem relating to dog poo bags and their inappropriate disposal close to Westridge Road:- used bags being left in the pony paddock (80 had to be cleared by the landowner) used bags being left along the length of the footpath used bags being left outside properties on Westridge Road None of this is acceptable behaviour. Anyone caught will be subject to a fine not e...

SDC Councillors' Report - June 2025

June 1, 2025•547 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 - 20 May Hunts Grove Phase 4, Hunts Grove Drive, Hardwicke, Gloucester, S.20/0103/REM Reserved matters applic...

SDC Consultation and Engagement Survey

May 28, 2025•2,038 words

The Council is running a short survey on how it consults and engages with its communities and stakeholders to ensure that they are listened to and can influence decisions that are made. I encourage you all to respond to this survey. If you want change, it starts here. ;) However, personally, this simple consultation about engagement has triggered all sorts of thoughts. Earlier this week I had yet another stay at GRH and had plenty time to dump of all of these thoughts onto my blog. I'...

Wotton Town Council - May 2025

May 21, 2025•1,421 words

Wotton Town Council Annual Meeting 19th May 2025 I attended the meeting at the Civic Centre on Monday along with SDC Cllr. Braun and GCC/SDC Cllr. Cohen. These are my informal notes. Lots (maybe 50+) members of the public were present. The meeting started with the formality of electing the Mayor for the civic year. Paul Smith is continuing in that role and Roger Claydon is continuing as deputy. Just one apology for absence. The session jumped straight to the issue of footpath access to ...