North Nibley Parish Council Meeting

3rd December 2025

My informal notes from Wednesday's Parish Council meeting that I attended along with SDC Cllr. Braun and GCC/SDC Cllr. Cohen.

Apologies from the Clerk so Cllr J Smith offered to take notes. Although some members of the public were present earlier they seem to had a change of heart so no one to ask questions in the public forum.

The Chair rattled through the outstanding actions from the previous meetings, to fast for me to take notes. :)

The SDC District Councillors' Report was taken as read. Just one question on Awaab's Law. A new law that recently came into force. It requires social landlords to fix reported damp, mould and emergency repairs within strict time frames. SDC's housing stock is generally in good state of repair. Two senior damp‑and‑mould surveyors were hired in the spring to improve assessment and response. The existing damp‑and‑mould administrator’s contract has been extended by years and another being recruited as well as a multi‑trade operative, focused on fixing identified issues, will join the team immediately.

Also a quick recap of SDC's decision at Full Council to formally support the proposal to create a single unitary authority for the whole of Gloucestershire, joining the county and district councils into one body despite concerns about the process and removal of district level decision making.

Cllr. Cohen highlighted Grassroots Neighbourhood Fund – £20 k available for community projects. Talked about a gap in finances of £17m. Covered by a 2.99 % council‑tax rise + 2 % adult‑social‑care precept and savings target £25 m via reduced consultancy use and efficiency drives. I hope I've got that detail correct. Overall tough. Little money. 6% for teachers pay has to be found out of the existing budget! Road safety work in the settlements progressing.

The meeting digressed onto talk of potholes being filled inefficiently. :( Play area - £2.5k seems appropriate but her very limited budget needs to be split fairly over all the settlement on her huge patch.

Cllr. J Smith reported on a good meeting with other neighbouring councils. Sharing templates and banking. A follow up meeting planned in Feb or March... Dursley next. Host and chair, opportunity to share best practise. Wotton and Dursley much bigger than the other parishes though, so less in common.

There was discussion on an agricultural - permitted development. The parish council cannot comment on these applications but there has been much comment in the community. There were numerous issues with the application. Officers opinion needs to be sought.

Play Area, Cllr J Smith, was more than pleased that the various legal issues had been overcome. 5 years of work! There was some discussion about phase 1 and budgets.

Before we (the District Councillors) left, the item on the Forestry Commission, re Westridge Woods was brought forward. A letter was to be sent to the FC. Work has already started and everyone was very concerned at what seemed like clear felling (including Beech) in areas protected by a Tree Preservation Order. I'm awaiting a response from the SDC Arboriculture Officer.

As always, you know where I am (Cookability) if you have any questions or just want a chat. I'm not a Facebook much anymore but feel free to share these posts on whatever social media you prefer. :)