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 there was any help myself or SDC could offer.

Barbara Piranty also gave a short talk about the Gloucestershire Rural Community Council (GRCC). She is their CEO. They work to develop and enhance communities in the county. Barbara explained how their Village of the year competition worked. Although it is too late to apply this year, it's something which the community might want to engage with next year. First prize in each category is £2,000 and £1,000 for the runner up. Valuable funding for some community project.

The meeting moved indoors and kicked off with the normal formalities. Cllr Marian Shaw 's resignation was accepted. Just one member of the public was here to observe proceedings, they didn't want to speak.

Cllr Cohen was asked about the Church Lane resurfacing. It's on the schedule which is in the process of being drawn up, all OK but no confirmed timescale yet.

No questions on the County councillor report but I had a few late additions to the District Councillors report:-

• Businesses and community organisations in rural parts of the district can now apply for a share of £120,000 for capital projects. SDC also has £40,000 of UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) grants available for capital projects located anywhere in Stroud district.

• StroudFunding (SDC’s crowdfunding platform, where eligible projects are topped up with SDC funding) - the next round will be launched in late June 2025. Workshops will be planned for mid-July, with a deadline to have your project ready by the end of September.

• SDC’s Apprenticeship programme has reopened, with five apprenticeships now open for applications, to start in September 2025. Apprenticeship Open Evenings are being held in the SDC Restaurant at Ebley Mill on 4th and 18th June, 4-7pm.

• Work on local government reorganisation has now restarted in earnest following the county elections and towards the November 28th deadline by which final proposals will be submitted. Officers from all levels are working together on a variety of work streams to begin to set out the detail for both the proposed single and two-unitary models. Government have still not indicated whether they will provide any detailed guidance as to the role of parish & town councils in unitarisation, but it is clear that you will be key partners for any unitary council(s) in the county.

No planning decisions.

Updates from Working Groups and Councillors

The Speedwatch group wants to call a meeting regarding priorities.

Community Recreational Space. Playground; equipment gone in, paths next (soon). signage (needs agreement) can be opened by end of June with luck. Official opening 7th September, maybe a picnic, discuss with play group. Insurance is in progress. A4 No dogs signs required. Litter bin requirement discussed. Playground sign required on highway, road is narrow and egress from the site needs care.

Footpaths Group need some help, by way of training. Maybe from PROW officer at GCC?

Swings at DRFC are now completed. Swings need signage and to be signed off. Volunteers are doing mowing, keep under review.
Parish Council’s Communication and Engagement Strategy, this evenings evnet was one. More discussion needed about best village to move forward.

To plan meeting with Roadwatch and Speed Safety Group to discuss proposals and priorities for the current year outside of council.

To consider how the Parish Council can prepare for devolution. The clerk has a meeting on 12th July.

Personal Comment: [This latest guidance from Govt (just last week) seems to diminish the role of parish and town councils somewhat, in favour of Area Committees (which may or may not involve parish and town councils). The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government now seems to suggest it will be up to local areas to determine their role. Things are obviously in a state of flux.]

The Clerk needed confirmation of ownership of various assets in the village for the asset register.

Bins, both litter and dog poo, were discussed at length. There appeared to be a mismatch with data on the publicly available maps that SDC used to allow people to report damage or overflowing bins. The Report it system is great and I would encourage everyone to use it.

There are two dog poo bins and four litter bins in the village. However, the litter bins located outside the village hall, by the bus stop and the one outside the church are not on the SDC map. I've asked for that to be sorted.

Myself, Cllrs Braun and Cohen left the meeting at this point.