Stinchcombe Parish Council Meeting

12th June 2024

It was a pleasure to attend my first Stinchcombe Parish Council meeting last Wednesday night along with SDC Cllr Braun and GCC/SDC Cllr Cohen. Here are my personal notes.

It was great to see a number of parishioners present who were able to raise issues of importance to them and the community.

Items discussed included:-

Motorised traffic using a local bridleway. Possibly due to people deferring common-sense to their mobile computer equipment. Correctly positioned signage by Highways may or may not help.

Questions were raised about the accuracy of the definitive map as published via the GCC web site.

Progress on the new playground was queried. It was suggested that maybe the Bishop could be written to to speed things up.

County Cllr Linda Cohen reported back on a number of issue that she is helping with. Many other issues were raised. Linda pointed out that waiting to raise issues with her directly was inefficient. It is far faster for the individual to report issues directly with the Fix My Street app. Everyone agreed that this does seem to work much better than the old system.

Requests were made for updates on three current planning enforcement cases

• Property at 2 Wick Lane (Manor Cottages).
• Parford Farm whose recent appeal was refused. 
• Land at Stinchcombe (this opposite Yercombe Lodge).

There was brief discussion on the value of the SDC pre-planning service. Using this service would reduce much cost and angst for residents as it will flag up any planning obstacles before considerable costs are incurred.

Richard Bartlam offered to update the parish's website with this information which has been done promptly.

The parish website is packed with useful community information and a wonderful distraction!

There was also brief discussion on how the parish might be able to take advantage of the Community Infrastructure Levy.

Funds collected, by SDC, through this levy can be used by Local Town and Parish Councils on local needs and are termed 'local projects'. Cllr Braun pointed out the the levy is closely linked to major new housing developments, so there would not be much available for Stinchcombe compared to other settlements. I pointed out the North Nibley discussed ideas such as a pedestrian crossing, playground equipment and even a safe route to walk or cycle to Wotton. Cllr Braun pointed out that other type of funding are available.

The councillors and most parishioners left the meeting after point 10.