Churchyard Tombs Project and Stroud Local Plan updates

Good afternoon,

St Johns Tombs Project

You may have now seen the conservation company (Sally Strachey Historic Conservation) working on the tombs in the Churchyard. They started last week and have completed 4 of the tombs already.
We are holding an open event on Friday 25th October from 12 – 4 where you can come along to the Church and see the team at work and have an opportunity to ask them questions. Please do pop in and join us. Display boards will be in the church showing more detail and photos of the works that has been done to date. Refreshments will also be available, and the Parish Council are also interested in your views on Biodiversity in the parish, starting with looking at the churchyard and how this can be increased for wildlife and more wildflowers. We will have mood boards for you to look at and give feedback, and a chance to be involved by volunteering for some of the projects we will be looking at.
Below are some of the photos of the first tomb that has been completed which is that of Wade and the one that triggered this project. All the monies for this has come from the Lottery Heritage Fund, for which we are thankful to be able to carry out this project.

Along with the tombs, the church gate and railings are also going to be restored. This will cause some disruption though as there will be traffic management on the road to allow them to do this, so please drive carefully in this area when this is occurring. This is currently planned to take place at the end of October and could take up to four weeks.

Stroud Local Plan Consultation
Information from Wisloe Action Group

The summer has flown past, and as autumn approaches, Stroud District Council has issued another consultation. You may recall that more than a year ago, the examination process was halted as the Planning Inspectors raised significant concerns and withdrawal of the plan should be considered. The Council refused to accept this, delaying by another 5 months with their flawed plan. The Inspectors provided a further extension (until this December) to complete further work, stating the council must re-engage with communities and other stakeholders i.e. through this latest consultation.

If you responded to the Regulation 19 consultation, you are eligible to respond to this one. To note it is limited to specific points set out by the Inspectors.

Please check if you received an email from Stroud District Council. If you have not received an email (or if you responded via a letter you have not been notified) it is important that you raise this now. Please contact us and we can provide guidance to ensure you have your say.

We are busy reviewing documents and producing a WAG response to the consultation to meet the 23rd October deadline.
You will start to see some posters in the parish raising awareness of the consultation.

We are encouraging residents to respond to the consultation, to support you, WAG has produced guidance for residents (should you wish to use this).

If you have any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Please also keep an eye out for Facebook posts.
Regards
Wisloe Action Group

Information on the Local Plan Consultation can be found on the Stroud District Council webpage: Local Plan Review – Examination Pause Technical Evidence Consultation 2024 (stroud.gov.uk)

A reminder for the Community hedgehog event taking place at the pavilion on Friday 27th September at 3pm with a cake sale. Come along and see how to look after the hedgehogs in our gardens, and raise funds for Wildhogs Hedgehog Rescue Centre

The St Johns tombs project is soon to begin at the beginning of October, so there will be a conservation company on site carrying out the various works required to each of the 24 tombs. The railings and gates are also part of this project to be repainted and revamped, which will have some disruption on the road as traffic management will be required to do this works. Information will be published and updated regularly on the website, social media and via e-mails. There will also be information on the project inside the church where you can pop in and see what is happening. We plan to have an open event on Friday 25^th October from 12-4 where you can come and see information on the project, plus Biodiversity plans for the churchyard and parish from the Parish Council and also about the church itself and its activities. Refreshments will be available too. Save the date and pop along. You’ll also be able to speak with the contractors as they work on some of the tombs. Some of the tombs will need the tops lifting off, some just re-pointing and others collapsed and re-built, plus ones that are currently laid down will be rebuilt. At all times, please be aware of the health and safety procedures in place whilst works are occurring and don’t get too close – they are heavy structures! Thanks goes to the recent volunteers who came out to help find some of the tombs that had become overgrown with brambles. We hope to have more working parties like this as other graves are also overgrown and it was very satisfying how quickly work got done by the group and what was achieved. This project is made possible through the National Heritage Lottery.

The Stroud Local Plan is currently open for further consultation on the items raised by the Inspectors. Those who commented on this previously can comment again on the new information supplied. This can all be found on the Stroud District Council website.

There is a planning application in currently for Wild Goose Lodge at the Patch to become a school / educational facility. The Parish Council have objected to this mostly on grounds of detrimental impact to highways in this area and through the village. The Parish Council have requested this goes to Development Control Committee. If you wish to comment on this, please go to Stroud District Council planning page to give your views.

The Road Safety Group continue to meet with Highways on looking at reduction of speeds in the parish and are having speed surveys done in a number of locations to assist in moving this forward.

Parish News

Planning objection at Wild Goose Lodge
Slimbridge Parish Council have just objected to the planning application S.24/1552/FUL Wild Goose Lodge, Shepherds Patch, Slimbridge, Change of use from youth hostel (Sui Generis) to education facility (Class F1(a)), with the main concerns being highways and access. The Parish Council have requested this goes to Development Control Committee at Stroud District Council. If you would like to add comments to this application, and see the Parish Council comments, please go to S.24/1552/FUL | Change of use from youth hostel (Sui Generis) to education facility (Class F1(a)). | Wild Goose Lodge Shepherds Patch Slimbridge Gloucester Gloucestershire GL2 7BP (stroud.gov.uk)

Hedgehog Community Event
The Parish Council will be having a community event where Wild Hogs Rescue Centre will be at the Pavilion on Friday 27th September to give out information on how we can help look after hedgehogs within our gardens. We will be having a cake sale to raise funds for the rescue centre and if the weather is nice there will be a ‘Hogstacle’ showing the obstacles hedgehogs have to deal with in our gardens and how we can make this safer. Please do come along from 3pm to support this event and learn more about saving our hedgehogs.

St Johns Tombs Project
A big thank you to the wonderful volunteers who came out on Monday afternoon to help clear some of the tombs in preparation for work to start at the beginning of October. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and plenty was achieved. We are hoping to do more working party events to clear some of the other tombs too, so look out for dates if you wish to come along. There will be an open event whilst the works are occurring on the tombs for you to come along to se what is being done, also information on biodiversity in the churchyard and the church will also be giving information on what they are currently doing and fundraising for inside the church too. The date will be Friday October 25th between 12-4, so look out for further information.

Upcoming road works and closures
WWT portacabin – WWT have just received notification they will be having a Portacabin (3.4m wide) delivered to WWT Slimbridge on Wednesday 16^th October 2024. This is for the Godwit Futures project. This will involve a temporary road closure through St Johns Road as it drives down. A letter drop will occur to alert everyone to this.

Please be advised of the following closure: Longaston Lane, Slimbridge
This road will be closed (as per the attached plan) from 09:30 29/11/2024 to 15:30 29/11/2024 to allow for pole testing works by Openreach. Emergency and pedestrian access will be maintained. Closure Plan
If you should require further information please email streetworks@gloucestershire.gov.uk

Kind regards
Helen Dunn, Parish Clerk
07943 894637

Parish News

Coffee morning
The Coffee morning this Saturday 7^th September in the Village Hall from 10.30 -12noon will be raising funds for the Great Western Air Ambulance. Everyone welcome.

St Johns Churchyard tombs
With the money now granted for the works on the listed tombs, it is planned that conservation works will begin in October. Information on the works will be updated regularly both in the church and on the Parish Council website, and we will also be having an open event where you can see work in progress on some of the tombs and join us for refreshments – date to be confirmed soon. To begin with there are a small number of the tombs that have been engulfed in brambles and vegetation and so a working party is planned on Monday 16th September from 1pm – if anyone has any spare time and some secateurs/gloves etc and wish to join us, please contact the Clerk, it will be lovely to have any help.

Patch parking signs
Unfortunately vandalism continues on the parking signage at the Patch. If anyone has any information on this damage, please report this to the Parish Clerk for it to be passed on to the relevant authorities.

Cambridge Flood post
Thanks to a local parishioner the Cambridge Green flood post was taken away and revamped and now looks much better back in position.

Solar Farm fund
Don’t forget the Solar Farm fund applications are now open for local organisations. Details are on the Parish Council website: Solar Farm Community Fund – Slimbridge Parish Council (slimbridge-pc.gov.uk)

Pension credits and Winter Fuel Payments
With the loss of winter fuel payments, please check if you can claim Pension Credits. Further advice can be found here:
Pension credit advice | Age UK
Winter Fuel Payment – Heating Allowance | Age UK

Parish News

Slimbridge Gardening Club Summer Show
Slimbridge Village Hall 17 August at 2 pm. Entry £1, Children Free.
Refreshments on Sale. Plants for Sale
Everyone welcome. Please pass the message on!
If you’d like to enter one of the classes, there’s plenty to choose from. Classes include:
Vegetables; Flowers; Floral Arrangements; Cookery; Preserves; Photography; Children’s classes; Teen’s art class
All entry forms to be emailed or entries telephoned by 6 pm August 13th.
Brochures available from the Slimbridge Post Office or online https://homepages.plus.net/slimbridgegc/ or via the Village Facebook page.
All children’s and teen’s entries are free with Entry Form. We are delighted that Jackie Lantelli will be judging these classes.

Playing Field Car Park
The drainage works are due to begin next week on the playing field car park so there will be disruption with limited to no parking. The works should be completed ready for the return of school. Please park considerately if parking on the roads.

Parish News

Postponed roadworks on A4135
The postponed roadworks on A4135 Dursley Road Cam will now take place from September 11th. Please see the below letter recieved
A4135 letter

Gloucestershire Police – speeding stats now available
Gloucestershire Police now publish all the speeding stats information on their website for local and county areas. This includes data from the Community Speed Watch Cameras and groups. You can find this at Stats and data | Gloucestershire Constabulary

Warm and Well Energy scheme
Stroud District Council are promoting the Home Upgrade Grant scheme, run by Severn Wye’s Warm and Well service. The scheme helps low-income, off-gas households in Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire access free energy-efficiency home upgrades, to keep their energy bills down in winter. And the household income limit is now up to £36,000 allowing more residents to qualify.
Severn Wye are working on behalf of the Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire local authorities who have £6 million in government funding available. It is open to residents who:

• Don’t have mains gas central heating
• Own or privately rent a property with an EPC rating of D, E, F or G
• Have a total household income of under £36,000 per year

Households in your parish could qualify for fully-funded energy-saving home improvements
Find out more and apply here: www.warmandwell.co.uk/upgrade
Flyer

kind regards
Helen Dunn, Parish Clerk
07943 894637

We have good news – we have just been awarded £116,000 through the National Heritage Lottery to restore all 24 listed tombs in St Johns Church along with the railings and church gates. Please watch this space for some events on how you can come and see what is happening when the work begins. Information will also be in the church and on the Parish Council website as it progresses.

At the recent Parish Council meeting recycling was discussed and whether we should have recycling bins on the playing field – we would love your thoughts on this before we consider purchasing bins. Would you use them and encourage others to do so?

In the coming weeks we will be having the works done on the drains in the Playing Field car park, so there will be some disruption, I will keep you posted on social media and e-mails (please sign up to our e-mails if you haven’t yet!)

Unfortunately as you may now know, the Battery Storage application was given permission. We will now be doing all we can to ensure that all conditions are adhered to and that the fire and rescue service are involved in all safety plans. Thanks to our District Cllrs for the support they gave along with Cllr Mike Stayte on behalf of the Parish Council and WWT also objected.

Biodiversity is now a big topic and we all have to play our part. We will be looking at how we manage our assets in the coming months and looking to leave some areas to grow next year to see what we have – this will be in the Churchyard, playing field and some other areas we own too. We would love your help in recording flowers, insects and wildlife in the parish; we are aiming to use an app iNaturalist if you want to have a go at downloading it. Also keep the date of Friday 27^th September free when we are hoping to have a hedgehog event giving information on how to look after our prickly friends.

The Cambridge Green flood post is beginning to look a little tired so we are looking to give it a bit of TLC, if anyone has any comments please send them to the Parish Clerk.

The Solar Farm Fund applications open in August, so if you are a community group and have a project going which you need funds for, please look at applying. Forms and rules are available on the Parish Council website. The Parish Council have also updated their Strategic plan for the next 4 years. This can also be found on our website under documents and policies and gives information on projects planned. Please do look and give any feedback on this.

Parish News

Good afternoon,

Battery Storage application, Kingston Road
This application is going to the development Control Committee on Tuesday 9th July at 6pm at Stroud District Council. the agenda and Officer’s report is now available on the website at Welcome to Modern gov | Stroud District Council. The Officers report is to approve permission. The Parish Council will be in attendance to put forward their objection. This is being finalised at the Parish Council planning meeting this evening.

Roadworks updates:
Please find attached letter and map regarding the upcoming works on A4135 Dursley Road Cam  starting 19^th July 2024.
Gloucestershire Highways aim to complete the works as safely and timely as possible.
Closure information

Have your say on Gloucestershire’s local nature recovery strategy (LNRS) 🐝
The LNRS will map out how and where nature recovery could take place in Gloucestershire.
The Local Nature Recovery Strategy covers 4 main areas.

• A list of priority habitats
• A list of priority species
• A list of recommendations for how these can be protected
• A map of priority zones

You can find out more about the local nature recovery strategy on our website.
This survey will take 10-15 minutes to complete. Your response will be used to inform the priorities and actions which will support the delivery of the LNRS.
To take part and have your say visit our website. The engagement exercise closes on Tuesday 9 July, at 5pm.

Older Drivers Forum

DRIVING SAFELY IN SUMMER

This popular series of free zoom webinars returns at 10am on Saturday 29 June     
NHS report 1 in 5 people will suffer from hay fever at some point in their lives. If a driver sneezes when driving this can cause their eyes to close for up to three seconds. At 70mph a car can travel up to 103 metres in that time.             
Summer has finally arrived and brings with it seasonal road safety challenges. Traffic volumes increase with more vulnerable road users out and about. This is the busiest time for farmers.
Fast growing hedgerows obscure traffic signs and make visibility at blind corners and junctions even more challenging. At dawn and dusk wild animals are more active.
More tourists visit our beautiful county with some not being experienced with rural road challenges. The festival season is in full swing causing traffic jams in unexpected places.
Combine all this with – hopefully – higher summer temperatures and the results are higher stress levels for drivers and vehicles alike.
This webinar will help attendees brush up their skills and knowledge on how to keep driving safely for longer in summer
We are trialling a new registration process so click on this link to secure a free space

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApduCoqTgqHtSzhAqgmXVgJCY3HZXWW2_m

If you have any issues email odfglos@gmail.com

Parish News

Kingston Road Battery Storage planning application. 
This will now be going to Stroud District Council Development Control Committee on Tuesday 9th July at 6pm. The Parish Council are preparing their speech as we will have a 4minute slot to put in our objections. District Councillor Lindsey Green is also speaking on our behalf, and she has no time restrictions. There will also be a 4 minute time slot for those wishing to object and 4 minutes for those wishing to support. This 4 minutes is strictly adhered to and if more than one person wants to speak within the slot, the time is shared out equally – for example two people wishing to object will be given 2 minutes each. You will need to register if you wish to speak. Public are welcome to attend the meeting.

WWT and delivery of a Portakabin
The Parish Council have been informed that the WWT will be having a Portakabin delivered towards the end of Summer (potentially August / September) which will need to come down St Johns Road. Due to its size, they are having to apply for a Traffic Road Order to be able to deliver it which means a parking restriction / road closure as it travels down. As we hear more about this, we will keep everyone updated so as to be able to keep the road clear during the delivery schedule slot.
As a bit of background from WWT the Portakabin will be for the following:
The Portakabin will be a nursery for eggs and chicks of wading birds, in particular black-tailed godwits. This species’ UK population (centred in the Fens of East Anglia but also with vanishingly small populations in the Severn Vale, Lancashire and Essex) had declined to 35 pairs in 2017 but through WWT’s ‘headstarting’ work, increased to 54 pairs by 2021.  ‘Headstarting’ involves the licensed collection of eggs in order that chicks can be artificially hatched and raised for release – thus bolstering populations that are failing to be self-sustaining as a result of low annual recruitment of young through nest predation, unseasonal flooding events and habitat degradation. You might find this video explaining “headstarting” of interest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4epn_AsEpIE
Last year WWT was awarded grant funding from Natural England to set about achieving the UK Government endorsed “National Single Species Action Plan for the UK Breeding Population of Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa limosa 2023 – 2033”. The plan has a target of establishing 80 breeding pairs of godwits at 4-5 sites in the UK by 2033. We aim to establish a captive breeding population of godwits at WWT Slimbridge in a project we are calling “Godwit Futures”. The captive population will be managed to produce birds for future reinforcement and reintroduction projects to achieve the godwit’s action plan’s target.

Road closures
Please find attached letter and map regarding the upcoming works on  A4135 Dursley Road Cam. starting 18th July2024. This is to resurface the road. 
Closure letter and map

Playing Field / Legion car park
The drains are due to be repaired on the Playing Field car park during August, so there will be some disruption and limited parking. This will take approx. 2 weeks to complete. We will keep you updated on dates. It is hoped this will alleviate the flooding coming off the playing field in heavy rains and flooding out onto St Johns Road.

St Johns Churchyard tombs project.
A grant has been applied for through the National Heritage Lottery to repair the 24 listed tombs and the railings and gates of the churchyard. We have about 4 more weeks to hear back if we have been successful. If we have then there will be some open events to come and see the works and learn about the history of these tombs.

Kind regards
Helen Dunn, Parish Clerk
07943 894637

Parish Council Annual Meeting
This took place on Monday and Cllr Mike Stayte has now been voted in as Chairman, with Cllr John Cullimore continuing as Vice Chairman. Two new Cllrs have started – Steve Tilley and Caroline Tatham, and all Cllrs have been allocated roles which can be seen on the Parish Council website. There are also two new District Cllrs – Charlie Tuffin and Paul Turner, with Cllr Lindsey Green being voted in again.

Solar Farm Community Fund
Each year we ask for a new parishioner to be on the panel for up to 3 years which involves one meeting a year and reviewing the applications that we have come in. If you would like to be put forward for this role, names will be drawn out of a hat at the next Parish Council meeting for those that express an interest. Please send an e-mail to the Clerk.

Abandoned bike?
an abandoned bike has been found on St Johns Road. This is being kept at a Cllr’s house, if you think it is yours or know who’s it might be, then please drop me an e-mail or phone call.

Dog fouling
It has been bought to our attention that dog bags have been being left on the floor by bins. Please either ensure the waste goes in the bins or take it home. If the bins are full / overflowing they can be reported to Stroud District Council on recycling@stroud.gov.uk

Footpath working group volunteers.
With the vegetation growing up fast now, we could always do with more footpath working group volunteers. Please get in touch if you are interested.

Roadworks
TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF A1435 SLIMBRIDGE CROSSROADS TO DRAYCOTT (CAM PARISH) STROUD DISTRICT
Gloucestershire County Council, as traffic authority, intends to make an Order under the relevant provisions of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (as amended) to temporarily close part of the A1435 from Slimbridge Crossroads to Draycott from its junction with Bristol Road to its junction with High Street for a distance of approximately 3220 metres.
The reason for the said closure is to carry out carriageway maintenance works. The said road is expected to be closed from 3rd June 2024 to 7th June 2024 only.
For further information, please contact Gloucestershire Highways on 08000 514 514 or visit www.gloucestershire.gov.uk
Alternative Route – as signed on site
Emergency access and pedestrian access, will not be maintained for safety reasons as there will be deep excavations and machinery in use.

I have asked for further information on this, and so far have been informed that “The closure will take place of a night-time only. There will also be 2-way traffic lights over the railway bridge during the daytime.”