23rd August 2024

Friday came around quickly, so here's the round-up for this week.

You may have read that the railway bridge at the station is being removed for refurbishment from Tuesday 27th August and a temporary bridge put in its place towards the other end of the platform. Any visitor to the station will likely have noticed how due this work is - it's a Grade II listed building and needs work. I often see comments "let's get that building listed!", but don't be mistaken by thinking that protects it from falling into a state of disrepair. Yes, it places restrictions on what can be done, but it doesn't open a magic pot of money for upkeep and listed buildings often take significant amounts of money in upkeep. Listed buildings can fall down because the costs of repair and upkeep are too great - listing doesn't remedy that. This won't be happening to our bridge, of course. I've been asked what has happened about accessibility and the bridge. We're informed this plan still goes ahead, and the funding for the next round of feasibility work was won just before the General Election - this remains in place and has not been cancelled (I'm informed). There's lots to consider and that's not delivering long-term accessibility in weeks or just a few months (as much as I'm sure we'd all wish it would). There are some potential plans that include modifying this bridge, other potential plans for a new bridge … nothing is decided as yet. In any event, this bridge needs repairs and refurbishment and it's very positive news that this is happening. Should the chosen plan be to add lifts to this bridge, the bridge will need to be in a sound state before that could happen anyway. After such a positive message around cleaning the town up last week, over the weekend a couple of organisations chose reverse some of that good work by fly-posting across the town. It's not okay. There are many shops that are happy to display posters, publications to display events, more community Facebook groups than you could shake a stick at, and none of them involve trashing the town. I appreciate the work the SDC Community Wardens did in clearing the mess up on Monday, plus the members of the public and anyone else who also did their bit. Not only is it a waste of paper and a waste of public resources to remove it, it could come with a fine for removal too for those who carry it out and the organisers. Please help keep our town tidy. If you see a problem, please use Stroud.gov.uk/report-it. Sorry to have to report upon another bad thing this week … it appears an arsonist has struck the family cubicle in the toilets at Bedford Street. This is really infuriating to see and seriously limits the options for those needing a larger cubicle and baby changing facilities. This mindless act will take significant work to rectify - the picture I share here is after the initial clear-up (thanks to 'Tidy Tim' the electric road sweeper and their operatives), the initial state before this tidy-up was far more grim. Thanks to Stroud District Council for getting onto the clean-up so quickly. The fire took the ceiling, damaged the wall, significantly damaged some fittings, took out electrics and ruined the floor, so there's lots to get fixed and it'll not be cheap nor quick to do. These are costs the District Council could do well not to bear. I receive complaints from the public, from time to time, about the availability of the toilets and vandalism and arson are just two of the reasons for closure. Even if it may not always be perceived that way, we all understand the impact lack of facilities has on the community. The District Council recently invested in new signage holders, following joint discussions at our Regeneration Committee, so rather than "it's closed" messaging, we can be clearer why. Whilst it doesn't detract from the impact, it sometimes helps to better understand the context. CCTV is being reviewed and it's hoped the culprit can contribute to the repair bills as a result, but if you have information on this or any other criminal damage, please report it via 101 or (if a crime is in progress) via 999. With all that said, let's focus on the Bank Holiday weekend and I hope those of you who are fortunate enough to have a break will have an enjoyable one.

My last thanks of this update to go those who are arranging events across Stroud and the wider District this weekend for others to enjoy. Many are volunteers who invest many hours of their time for the benefit of others.I look forward to sharing my next update with you - which will hopefully be a more positive one.

As an elected member of the local town council, I value transparency and accountability in my interactions with constituents. Please note that while I serve as a councillor, the views expressed on social media are my own and do not necessarily represent the official stance of the council as a whole.

For official responses from the council, please direct inquiries to council@stroudtown.gov.uk.