TOWN councillors are lobbying to clean up Stroud following concerns about litter, flyposting and graffiti.

The council's regeneration committee believes more could be done to improve the town's appearance with cleaner streets, tackling flyposting and graffiti and installing better signage.

Members asked Stroud District Council's community services department if more could be done to address 'concerns that the town centre had begun to look increasingly untidy and uncared for'.

Councillors were informed that a new community services officer had been appointed by SDC and that an inspection regime was being developed for market towns within the district, including Stroud.

More regular inspections would mean less reliance on towns councils to report problems and SDC also agreed to investigate what more could be done to tackle flyposting.

Stroud mayor Stella Parkes said: "A scruffy town looks unloved and feels unsafe and Stroud is neither of those things.  

"We're concerned about the condition of the streets and their impact on people's perception of the town, both locals and visitors.

"We want Stroudies to be proud of where they live.

"Graffiti and flyposting are illegal, costly to remove and damaging to the surfaces they are applied to. 

Stroud News and Journal: Graffiti in Stroud town centre is one of the key issues raised"That's why we are doing our bit to develop responsible street art projects."

Tony Davey, Stroud chair of Chamber of Trade, said: "We remain committed to making our towns better places to work and visit.

"The current economic climate is making this more challenging than it has been for many years.

"The empty units left by the collapse of national chains and withdrawal from our communities by banks makes our towns less attractive.

"Stroud is far from immune from this and we are working with Stroud Town Council and Stroud District Council to establish ways in which we can improve our towns through short, medium and long-term measures. 

"Given this situation we need investment and focus.

"We need to accelerate work to raise the standards in our town with a view to first halting, and then reversing, the decline we are witnessing.

"Stroud raises significant funds through taxation and fees (including parking charges), so we need to be reinvesting this to ensure this can continue, before letting the funds leak out elsewhere."

Stroud town councillors are also in discussions with Gloucestershire County Council to install four brown tourism signs at key entry points to the town: Painswick Road, Cainscross Road, Bath Road and London Road.

Stroud News and Journal: One of the signs in Stroud the town council is looking to replace

The proposed 1m by 0.5m signs, which would likely cost on average £130 each - would replace Stroud's current plaques and would emphasise the community as the home of Stroud's Museum in Park, at Stratford Park plus the Cotswold Playhouse in Parliament Street.

An SDC spokesperson said: "We support town centres across the district in many ways, and tackling litter and flyposting is a priority.

"Our Neighbourhood Wardens remove all flyposting from public property.

"With our waste and recycling partner Ubico, litter is picked daily and swept twice a week in the town centre where we have more than 50 litter and waste dog bins.

"We will continue to work with partners including Stroud Town Council on these issues."

A Gloucestershire County Council spokesperson said: “We are working with Stroud Town Council on proposals to replace existing ‘Stroud - a Britain in Bloom Town’ signs with new brown tourism signs welcoming visitors to the town.

“They will be installed at various entry points and aim to promote the facilities and attractions in Stroud that are available to tourists as well as residents.”