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No changes to waste collections during Easter, May and August public holidays Release date: 19th March 2015 Cotswold District Council has confirmed that its waste service company, Ubico Ltd, will be collecting waste and recycling from households as usual on Good Friday (3rd April) and Easter Monday (6th April.) The crews will also be collecting from households on the public holidays which fall on Monday 4th May, Monday 25th May and Monday 31st August. Cllr Sue Coakley, the Cabinet Member for the Environment, commented: “We want to confirm in advance that there will be no disruption to the normal CDC schedules during Easter, the two bank holidays in May and the one in August. The Ubico crews will be working in line with their normal schedules during these periods. With the upcoming Easter holidays especially in mind, we would encourage residents to take maximum advantage of the kerbside and other recycling collection services on offer when disposing of their used Easter egg packaging – it all helps to boost our recycling totals.” Please contact the waste hotline on 01285 623123 with any queries. Go to top The UK Parliamentary (General) Election is taking place on 7th May 2015 Release date: 18th March 2015 The UK Parliamentary (General) Election will take place on 7th May 2015, when voters in the Cotswold District will vote for an MP for The Cotswolds Constituency. The Constituency covers the entire Cotswold District together with three Stroud District Council wards (Kingswood, Minchinhampton, and Wotton-under-Edge). On the same day there will be elections to Cotswold District Council. These elections are the first to be conducted since the revision of arrangements and boundaries introduced as a result of a recent electoral review carried out by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. Overall, the number of councillors has been reduced from 44 to 34, with 30 single-member wards and 2 two-member wards. All 34 seats are up for election. Elections for all Parish and Town Councils across the District will also take place on 7th May, with 606 seats to be decided. This is the largest combination of elections for around 40 years. Here are the official notices for the District and Parish & Town elections. Willersey residents will be voting for their MP, two councillors in the Campden & Vale District and if contested, nine councillors on the Parish Council. Currently there are two vacancies on the Parish Council. The overall CDC Parliamentary electorate is around 77,000, of whom around 12,000 (15%) have chosen to vote by post. Counting of votes will take place at Cotswold Leisure Centre, Tetbury Road, Cirencester on Thursday 7th and Friday 8th May. Have you ever thought of being a candidate? The election process begins with the publication of Notices of Election - on 23rd March for the District, Parish and Town Councils, and then on 31st March for the General Election. There will be copies of these Notices on the Council’s website, at the District Council Offices in Cirencester, and in each Parish. To be a candidate at any of these elections, you must deliver completed nomination papers and supporting documents by hand to the Returning Officer at the Council Offices, Trinity Road, Cirencester, Glos, GL7 1PX by 4.00 pm on Thursday 9th April 2015. This deadline for receipt of nominations is statutory and cannot be changed, so we suggest that, wherever possible, candidates should submit nominations a few days before the closing date. To ensure that a nomination is valid, the Elections Team can check the details informally before accepting the papers. Nomination Packs, and further information about being a candidate, are available from the Council’s Elections Team, or from the Council's website. Information for Voters In order to be able to vote at any election, you must be included on the electoral register. Registration is now the responsibility of the individual. However, the Council recently wrote to each household confirming the names of those who are currently on the register at each property. If you are not sure whether you are on the register, or if you have moved house recently and have not let us know, then take a few minutes to check, and make sure nothing stops you from having your say on election day. If you are not already on the register of electors, and wish to vote at these elections, we must receive your application/registration by Monday 20th April 2015. Completed application forms can be posted or faxed to us, or you can register online. If you are not registered, you can't vote! Poll cards will be sent out on 31st March 2015. Can't make it to the polling station on polling day? Then choose postal or proxy voting. It's very easy to apply for a postal vote. You can have a postal vote for one election (or all elections on a particular day), or you may prefer to have a permanent postal vote - it's your choice. If you want to apply to vote by post at the elections on 7th May, then CDC must receive your completed form by 5.00 p.m. on Tuesday 21st April. The same deadline applies if you want to make changes to an existing postal vote arrangement in time for the 7th May elections. CDC will issue postal vote packs to Royal Mail on 22nd April, for delivery to recipients as soon as possible after that date. Proxy voting is an option if you can't vote in person and do not want a postal vote - under this arrangement, you appoint someone you trust to vote for you at your polling station. If you want to apply to vote by proxy at the elections on 7th May, then CDC must receive your completed form by 5.00 p.m. on Tuesday 28th April. If, however, you want to make changes to your existing proxy voting arrangements, then CDC must receive your completed application by 5.00 p.m. on Tuesday 21st April. The Elections Team will be available to provide help and assistance throughout the election process. Full details, along with all relevant forms etc., can also be accessed via the Council's website. Contact details are as follows:- Telephone Helpline 01285 623002 E-mail Website Cotswold DC Other useful websites about the elections are:- Electoral Commission About my Vote. Go to top No changes to waste collections days during Easter, May and August public holidays Release date: 17th March 2015 Cotswold District Council has confirmed that its waste service company, Ubico Ltd, will be collecting waste and recycling from households as usual on Good Friday (3rd April) and Easter Monday (6th April). The crews will also be collecting from households on the public holidays which fall on Monday 4th May, Monday 25th May and Monday 31st August. Cllr Sue Coakley, the Cabinet Member for the Environment, commented: “We want to confirm in advance that there will be no disruption to the normal CDC schedules during Easter, the two bank holidays in May and the one in August. The Ubico crews will be working in line with their normal schedules during these periods. “With the upcoming Easter holidays especially in mind, we would encourage residents to take maximum advantage of the kerbside and other recycling collection services on offer when disposing of their used Easter egg packaging – it all helps to boost our recycling totals.” Please telephone the waste hotline on 01285 623123 if you have any queries. Go to top Calling all Cotswolds Photographers – Get Involved! Release date: 13th March 2015 With summer and sunshine just around the corner, the Cotswolds Conservation Board, in partnership with Cotswolds Tourism, are launching a photo competition just in time for the start of English Tourism Week. Keen amateur photographers of all ages are being offered the opportunity to capture what they feel best sums up the beauty and uniqueness of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in a brand new competition. Next year, the Cotswolds AONB will be celebrating its 50th anniversary and to mark the occasion, the Cotswolds Conservation Board, in partnership with Cotswolds Tourism, is launching a competition with some great prizes in both adult and under 16's categories, plus prizes for everyone who enters. Supporting the competition, local photography specialists Clifton Cameras, will present the winner of the adult category with a fantastic Canon EOS 700D 18-55 camera, worth £539. Mark Williams from Clifton Cameras said “We're delighted to be supporting the competition and celebrating this 50th birthday. Our staff know how inspirational the Cotswolds can be for those interested in photography. Having such a wonderful landscape on the doorstep is the only invitation you need to get out and about with your camera. Thanks to Cotswolds photographer and filmmaker Nick Turner, the winner of the under 16's category can enjoy a day's tuition with Nick to learn how to get the most out of their camera and take great photographs. The runners up of both categories will be able to attend a training course at Clifton Cameras and everyone who enters the competition can claim a 50% discount on getting their images professionally printed with thanks to Clifton Cameras. The two winning photographs will also be featured in the Cotswold Lion Spring/Summer 2016 publication as well as the Cotswolds 2016 Visitor Guide. The images will also be promoted through websites and social media channels. Martin Lane Director of the Cotswolds Conservation Board said “The idea behind the photo competition is to celebrate our fantastic Cotswolds landscape, which local residents and visitors enjoy and appreciate so much. The competition will allow the tourism partnership to feature more iconic images of people, towns and events from across the Cotswolds. We hope everyone will want to get involved.” Here is more information and the terms and conditions of the Photo Competition. Go to top Official Cotswolds Tourism Smartphone App launched Release date: 13th March 2015 English Tourism Week is a week-long celebration of events from 14th to 22nd March showcasing the quality and vibrancy of the visitor experiences and the value our industry brings to our nation. As part of these celebrations The Cotswolds are launching a brand new phone app to increase promotion of the area. People from around the world have commented on the usefulness and high quality of The Cotswolds Official Visitor Guide and this has led to a high demand for a free downloadable version to be made available using an iPhone and Android handset. Cotswolds Tourism has been working with technology experts to develop an app which provides an interactive guide to The Cotswolds at the touch of a button. It is a comprehensive directory, providing users with an easy way to discover the best sights, attractions, events, accommodation, food, drink and shopping in the Cotswolds area. Here are some of the great features which users of the app can enjoy:
Anna Sanders, on behalf of Cotswolds Tourism, is very excited about the launch of the app which has been timed to coincide with English Tourism Week: “This is what people have been a long time waiting for and the apps are now available to download from the destination website. “We are confident that The Cotswolds app will be easy to use and - because the data is stored in the app itself - it will also be very economical as far as phone data charges are concerned. This means that users will only need to access the internet if they want to use GPS or download photos.” To download the app visit here. Go to top St Mungo's awarded contract for Gloucestershire-wide Assertive Outreach Homelessness Service Release date: 11th March 2015 Local authorities in Gloucestershire have been working together successfully since September 2012 to help reduce and prevent homelessness across the county. They established an interim service which ensured that rough sleepers were helped off the streets as quickly and effectively as possible. Now, two and a half years on, they have awarded a new outreach contract to St Mungo's Broadway to build on the progress achieved so far and provide even more help and guidance to those who fall on hard times. Following an extensive and robust procurement process, St Mungo's Broadway has been chosen as the new provider of the Gloucestershire Assertive Outreach Homelessness Service. The new contract will run from 1st April 2015 for an initial period of 18 months, and will employ outreach workers operating across the county. The Assertive Outreach scheme is a pivotal part of Gloucestershire's response to central government's ‘No Second Night Out’ initiative, administered by Homeless Link and funded through the Department for Communities and Local Government's Homelessness Transition Fund. The initiative was originally introduced in London in July 2011 with the aim of helping rough sleepers off the streets, ensuring that nobody lived on the streets and that, once helped, people did not return to the streets. The scheme was subsequently rolled out across England. Commenting on behalf of the Gloucestershire authorities, Councillor Sue Jepson, the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing at Cotswold District Council (the lead authority for the County partnership) said: “All the authorities in the County partnership look forward to a positive association and partnership with St Mungo's. We are extremely impressed by the first-rate services that it currently provides for the homeless across London, and the south and south-west of the country. “It is reassuring to know that those in need across our County will benefit from a wealth of experience that dates back as far as 1969. The work of the charities that came together to form St Mungo's Broadway has been highly commended over the years, and has led to the development of many ground-breaking services. It is also gratifying to note that St Mungo's recognises that the solutions to homelessness are as varied, complex and individual as the people it supports.” Adam Rees, Regional Director for St Mungo's Broadway services in the South and South West, said: “The starting point for our work is that rough sleeping is harmful and dangerous, and that no one should have to sleep rough in this day and age. We'll be working with people to find out why they became homeless and to connect them with services to get them back on track, as needed, into housing, into health services and into work opportunities. “We look forward to running this service in Gloucestershire and to working with local partners across the area to support people as they move away from homelessness and on with their lives.” Councillor Mrs Jepson added: “While we are now focussed on what we might achieve in the future, we would like to thank the GEAR Assertive Outreach team for their hard work and tangible achievements over the past two and a half years, and we look forward to a smooth transition to the new provider, ensuring that no vulnerable homeless people are detrimentally affected.” In February 2012, Cotswold District Council was selected by the Department of Communities and Local Government as the lead authority in Gloucestershire for administering central government funding to bolster the prevention of homelessness and rough sleeping, and to support the national roll-out of the ‘No Second Night Out’ initiative. The wider Gloucestershire Grouping comprises Cotswold District Council, Cheltenham Borough Council, Forest of Dean District Council, Gloucester City Council, Stroud District Council and Tewkesbury Borough Council. The Outreach provider has the responsibility to maintain regular contact with known and potential rough sleepers to assess and determine individual needs and deliver a personal plan that enables a rough sleeper to make a sustainable move away from the streets. St Mungo's Broadway, a London-based charity that provides services for homeless people, was formed in April 2014 by the merger of two well-established and respected homelessness charities - St Mungo's and Broadway. St Mungo's began helping people sleeping rough off the streets in 1969. It then developed many ground breaking services including: the first specialist government-funded project solely for mentally ill rough sleepers; the first specialist project solely for rough sleepers who drink heavily; the only specialist project solely for elderly rough sleepers; and, more recently, the first Recovery College in the homelessness sector. Broadway was created on 1st April 2002 from the merger of two London charities that, between them, had been supporting homeless people for more than 20 years. Broadway always recognised that the solutions to homelessness were as varied, complex and individual as the people it supported. Its services, projects and activities delivered practical support and guidance to help homeless and vulnerably housed adults on their journey from street to home. St Mungo's Broadway manages more than 250 projects across London boroughs and in local council areas in the south of England, each night providing housing and recovery support for around 2,500 people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. St Mungo's also:
Media contact: Gemma Hollingshead, Media Coordinator St Mungo's Broadway Email: Go to top Community Transport Survey Release date: March 2015 ‘A reliable transport network providing door to door travel choices.’ Cotswold District Council would like to know what you think about travel needs in your area and how transport could be improved. Fill in a short, really simple tick box questionnaire to tell us about what transport is needed for the Cotswolds and to give us your ideas by the end of March. You can also get hard copies from post offices or telephone 01285 658802 or 01285 623566 or email The survey is anonymous and the results will contribute to the Gloucestershire Local Transport Plan Review (2015-2031). British Museum objects to go on Display at a new Exhibition in the Corinium Museum in Cirencester GL7 2BX Release date: 6th March 2015 This coming April the Corinium Museum will showcase an exhibition entitled ‘Food for Thought’ in partnership with the British Museum, Royal Holloway London, Exeter, and Reading Universities The exhibition will bring together unique objects, some rarely on display to the public, from Cirencester as well as from Silchester (near Reading) and across the Roman Empire including Pompeii, Rome, Athens and Tunisia. The British Museum has worked in partnership with the Corinium Museum to select the objects and develop this exhibition. The British Museum is committed to working with a The summer partnership with the Corinium Museum has been spearheaded by recent research into Roman food by archaeologists at leading universities. Ongoing discoveries about food in Roman Britain are blogged @notjustdormice on Twitter. With so much information being shared and revealed through excavations, it offered the potential for an innovative, collaborative summer exhibition. ‘Food for Thought’ will feature utensils used in the Roman world, reveal how people prepared their food and how we know about these practices, including food remains from a sewer in Herculaneum. Corinium Museum Director, Amanda Hart, commented “this is such a wonderful opportunity for the Museum to showcase a number of objects from a national museum that would otherwise not be seen by the public. We are so delighted to be partnering with the British Museum and UK Universities on this exciting exhibition. ” Dr Zena Kamash, Lecturer in Roman Art and Archaeology at Royal Holloway University, says “I am very excited to be working with Corinium Museum on this exhibition. It is a fantastic opportunity to bring together new research on Roman food with the Corinium's excellent collections. The loans from the British Museum will allow us to showcase how Roman Cirencester formed part of the wider Roman Empire, and will also allow a wide range of people from outside London to experience the British Museum's collections at first hand.” The exhibition is being curated by Dr Zena Kamash, Dr Erica Rowan, Dan Stansbie, Dr Lisa Lodwick and the Corinium Museum. The project team will be running a series of talks and hands-on workshops in conjunction with the Food for Thought exhibition which runs from 25th April to 5th July 2015. See the events listings for more details and museum opening hours. Entry to the exhibition is free. Go to top Councillor urges more public awareness of ways to combat littering Release date: 6th March 2015 Cotswold District Council's Cabinet Member for the Environment, Cllr Sue Coakley, has stressed the need for more public awareness about the harm caused by littering in the District and how to deal with it. Responding to a motion raised at the Cabinet meeting on 5 March, Cllr Coakley outlined that CDC operates both a proactive and reactive programme of street and road cleansing depending on location involving 13 workers who respond to alerts from local residents and Councillors when a local issue needs attention. However, she also emphasised that there was scope to spread the word more about the help at hand from CDC via the Council’s website homepage and to educate the public generally about ways to combat littering. She explained after the meeting: “We operate both a proactive and demand-led service and, due to the efforts of our environmental services company Ubico Ltd, we can use efficiency savings from the waste collection service to fund additional street cleaning when the need arises. Ubico do a first-class job – a dedicated crew works in Cirencester all day, and other town centres in the District are also cleaned from 6:00 am to 9:00 am each day. Ubico also works to a schedule which ensures that other villages through the District are cleaned on a regular basis. “Ubico also operates a programme of roadside clearance which is adjusted according to need. Additionally, the environmental wardens at CDC have established good relationships with local people and organisations that are just as keen as we are to combat littering and fly tipping.” She continued: “Despite all this good practice, littering is still a concern and we want to make sure that the public are fully aware of our reactive service, as well as reminding them about the lawful means of disposing of their litter. As a result, we have modified our website to simplify the process for reporting littering – including fly tipping - which requires the attention of our clean-up teams. Our homepage now displays a green button marked ‘Report littering or fly tipping’ which takes you straight to the relevant webpage for reporting an incident, and enables us to attend to the matter promptly. “We appreciate all the help we get from local communities that are willing to undertake their own litter picks. CDC provides gloves, pickers, bags and high visibility jackets and also arranges to collect the filled bags after the event. Anyone interested in organising an event should call 01285 623000 and speak to our Customer Service team. I have personally organised litter picks in Lechlade for the last five years and have seen a significant reduction in litter in the town as a result. I know that several other Councillors have done the same in their wards and have achieved similar outcomes. “We are very fortunate that we have extremely efficient and proactive environmental service professionals and also many residents who take such great pride in the appearance of the District and want it to look its best, at all times of the year. There is, however, more to be done and we have already allocated an additional £68,000 to the street cleansing budget for 2015/16. I have also arranged for an options paper to review our current arrangements and investigate whether we can do even better in the future. “Finally it is worth mentioning the national Big Tidy Up initiative which encourages all communities to undertake local litter picking – we very much encourage Cotswold residents to get involved – details are on their website”. The Cotswold District covers 456 square miles and comprises almost 200 settlements. Ubico Ltd employs a dedicated crew of 13 staff to cover all street cleaning activities, and cleans 2,500 streets each year with many attended to each day. They are also responsible for cleaning 122 miles of A roads in the District (the equivalent of 244 miles for both sides.) Go to top May 2015 Elections - Nomination Packs now available for Prospective Candidates Release date: 25th February 2015 The UK Parliamentary (General) Election will take place on 7th May 2015 to elect an MP for The Cotswolds Constituency. On the same day there will be District Council elections, based on revised ward boundaries following a recent electoral review by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. Overall, the number of seats has been reduced from 44 to 34, comprising 30 single-member wards and 2 two-member wards. All 34 seats are up for election. Elections for all Parish and Town Councils across the District will also take place on 7th May, with 606 seats to be decided. The election process begins with the publication of Notices of Election - on 23rd March for the District, Parish and Town Councils, and then on 31st March for the General Election. Prospective candidates for any of these elections can now obtain nomination packs and further information from the Elections Office at Cotswold District Council in Cirencester, or on the Council's website. Anyone wishing to stand as a candidate at the local elections will need to submit their completed nomination papers by hand to the Trinity Road offices at any time between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm on any working day (excluding bank holidays) from Tuesday 24th March to Wednesday 8th April, and from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm (the nominations deadline) on Thursday 9th April. For Parliamentary candidates, completed nomination papers need to be delivered by hand to the Trinity Road offices between 10 am and 4 pm on any working day (excluding bank holidays) from Wednesday 1st April until Thursday 9th April. Go to top Cotswold leads the way again with 5% Council Tax reduction - “the biggest cut in the country” Release date: 24th February 2015 Cotswold District Council Leader Lynden Stowe has today announced that the authority will be cutting its share of local residents' Council Tax payments by 5% for 2015/16, hard on the heels of a 3% cut in 2014/15 and a 5% reduction in 2013/14. Last year’s 3% cut was hailed as the joint biggest in the country and the previous 5% cut for 2013/14 also led the field. The latest 5% reduction for 2015/16 will ensure that CDC is in the top spot in the national Council charts, and the combined reductions of 13% over the last three years also represents the best performance over that time period. In fact, taking inflation into account, and our two-year freeze prior to these cuts, this actually amounts to a real-terms cut of about 30% over 5 years. Speaking at the Council's annual budget setting meeting on Tuesday 24th February he confirmed the 5% cut and made an assurance that all of the Council's frontline services would be retained while freezing charges for car parking, leisure centre and Corinium Museum admission fees, and green waste collection charges for yet another year. Building control fees are being cut by 10%. Commenting on this achievement, Cllr Stowe said: “It’s remarkable that we have been able to reduce Council Tax for three years in a row. Most of the savings we have achieved stem from the joint working we have undertaken with other Councils. We have developed a very close relationship with West Oxfordshire District Council over the last few years and now share around 80 posts, ranging from senior management to officer level. We have also established strong ties with Cheltenham and Forest of Dean Councils, sharing resources to carry out back-office jobs such as finance, HR and procurement (another 80 posts shared between all partners). The future looks bright as we embark on more work with these partners through the emerging 2020 Vision programme - looking ahead, this will enable us to pursue more work sharing and cost-cutting initiatives without compromising the independence or local decision-making of the participants and should save us all a total of over £50 million over ten years. Setting up the environmental services company Ubico Ltd with Cheltenham Borough Council has also been a positive experience. The company already expects to save £5 million in costs during its first five years of operations, and is currently preparing to add more Councils to its list of clients. “Freezing costs for services produces real dividends - more people are coming through the doors of CDC-owned leisure centres, and the take-up of the weekly green waste kerbside collection service continues to rise year on year. We have even reduced the cost of some parking charges and our car parks are well used as a result. This has all been achieved despite a 60% plus reduction in core government grants to the Council over the last five years. “Our Council Tax rate is one of our key indicators when we assess our overall efficiency. We have already assessed that we are one of the best performing local authorities in the country and this 5% cut should help us keep that position. “I have always maintained that it is not our job to take more money than we need to deliver our services to residents, and I am very pleased that we have been able to leave as much as possible in the taxpayer’s pocket. In fact, the real-terms reduction of 30% over five years means that some £4.8m has remained in the local economy to stimulate prosperity. Residents across the Cotswolds can be assured that we are obtaining the best value for money possible, thanks to our cost saving measures. Our next big step - increased partnership working with Cheltenham, Forest of Dean and West Oxfordshire Councils - will enable us to work even more efficiently, and we will continue to look for further savings.” Don't miss your right to vote - CDC backs national campaign Release date: 2nd February 2015 Residents of Cotswold District who have not yet registered to vote are being encouraged to do so – in line with a national campaign. National Voter Registration Day takes place on 5th February 2015 as part of a nationwide week of action to encourage and inspire people to come out and register to vote. In line with the campaign, and with the general election taking place this year, Cotswold District Council is urging its residents to get involved by registering to vote. They can do this online or contact the elections team for a registration form. In the next couple of weeks, every household in the District will receive a letter asking them to check that their registration details held on the electoral register are correct. If they are not correct, residents are advised on how they can update their details so that they are entitled to vote. The national campaign also aims to tackle the lack of engagement in politics which is common across the UK, particularly among those aged 18-24 with less than 25% of that age bracket turning out to vote in the 2010 General Election. National Voter Registration Day proved to be a success last year, with around 35,000 people in the UK registering to vote in just one day. Sarah Dalby, Electoral Services Manager at CDC, said: “We are giving our full backing to this national campaign which highlights the importance of voting. It's very important that people make sure they are registered to vote before they go along to the polling station on voting day. You can register your details quickly online and the form takes about five minutes to complete. Registering your details by post is also easy – just contact my elections office to do this. “Once registered, residents can exercise their democratic right to vote for the candidates that they wish to represent them in government. Don’t forget – if you are not on the register, you cannot vote.” Further information about voter registration will be contained in the letters going to residents. In the meantime, the public can visit our website /about-the-council/elections/ or call the elections team on 01285 623000 or visit our Trinity Road offices in Cirencester and Moreton Area Centre for more information. Sign up now for Cotswold District Council's Green Waste service – only £30 per year Release date: 2nd February 2015 Cotswold District Council is hoping for a record number of residents will go green this year and contribute to the authority’s excellent waste recycling record. The eighth year of the Council's chargeable garden waste service starts on Wednesday 1st April and CDC is urging existing subscribers to sign up again while hoping that even more householders will follow suit. Everyone participating will help contribute to the Council's impressive recycling/composting rate of almost 60% - the best in Gloucestershire. Those signing up for the service for 2015-16 will have their garden waste collected weekly provided they have paid a £30 licence fee to use the green garden waste wheeled bins. They will also be able to empty their unwanted food waste into the green bin. Additional licences can be purchased for a further £30. Alternatively, for those who cannot accommodate a green wheeled bin at their property, 50 compostable brown paper garden waste sacks can also be purchased for £30 (available from the Council's Trinity Road offices or at the Moreton Area Centre). Residents who receive Council Tax or Housing Benefit are entitled to a 50% discount on the price of a green waste licence. Cllr Sue Coakley, Cotswold District Council's Cabinet Member for the Environment, comments: “We are very grateful to our residents who recycle. The green waste service is very well supported and it would be great to see even more people signing up for it this year. We have frozen the price at £30 yet again and this represents really good value for money. “Our garden and food waste, collected through the green bin scheme, is recycled into compost rather than going to landfill. We hope that even more residents will sign up to the scheme this year to help us make a greater contribution to the environment.” Go to top Local Plan drop-in sessions - 28th and 29th January Release date: 27th January 2015 Members of the public are being invited to Local Plan drop-in sessions on Wednesday 28th January and Thursday 29th January to view proposals in the Cotswold Local Plan consultation document and discuss them with the District Council's Forward Planning team. The 28th January session will take place in the Council Chamber at CDC's Trinity Road headquarters in Cirencester and the 29th January session will be held at the Council's Moreton Area Centre. Both will run from 2 pm to 6.30 pm. The Local Plan consultation document, which details the development strategy, proposes site allocations and strategic policies for the District, and is currently available for public comment until Friday 27th February 2015. During this period, the public can view the document online. Hard copies are also available for inspection at the Council's Trinity Road headquarters and Moreton Area Centre office, as well as in public libraries across the District. Cllr Nick Parsons, the CDC Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Forward Planning, believes that the drop-in sessions will be very useful in helping residents understand the issues: “We have already consulted local communities and organisations to get to this stage of the Local Plan, and the drop-in sessions are another part of the on-going consultative process as we consider the best way to plan development up until 2031. This is a good opportunity for local residents to find out the rationale behind the Plan and to query specific issues and concerns, including proposed housing distribution and the infrastructure improvements that will be required. We provided some background information in the recent edition of CDC's Cotswold News magazine which was delivered to all households and is now available on our website and we distributed a leaflet to 12,000 homes which focuses specifically on proposals for the Cirencester area. These forthcoming drop-in sessions should enable our planners to give more in-depth explanations and also provide them with the opportunity to consider and discuss alternative approaches raised by local residents.” How to comment during the consultation. The most effective and direct way to provide comments will be via the online bespoke system on the CDC website which will be running during the consultation period. We are aware that some people may find this difficult for a variety of reasons, including poor Broadband connections, and the Council will accept input by letter (to Local Plan, Forward Planning Team, Cotswold District Council, Trinity Rd, Cirencester GL7 1 PX) or by email (to We cannot guarantee, however, that comments sent to us by letter or email will always be correctly allocated or interpreted. Copies of the draft Plan will be available for inspection or purchase (£5 per copy) at the Council's Trinity Road office and the Moreton Area Centre. The document will also be available to view in hard copy at local libraries. Please remember that all comments on the 'Local Plan Reg.18 Consultation: Development Strategy and Site Allocations' Document need to be received by Cotswold District Council no later than 5pm on Friday 27th February 2015. Go to top |
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