WEEKLY COLUMN by Stroud mayor Tony Davey

Firstly, Monday and Tuesday saw a joint operation between Stroud Town Council, Stroud District Council and Gloucestershire County Council to raise the appearance of the town. From clearing excessive weeds to litter picking, removing graffiti to checking businesses have adequate waste contracts in place - the tiers of council worked together to make a real improvement.

None of this happened because of a single meeting or a comment on a Facebook post moaning “what about here?” … Council Officers across the board have been negotiating the allocation of work and hotspots, prioritising and putting together a plan of action - Councillors have helped encourage this too.

It wasn’t a “let’s just throw some resources at it” thing - which is good as that would be far less effective. If we can work together to raise the standard, it makes it easier to maintain.

If you spot something that needs attention, you can help by reporting it at www.stroud.gov.uk/report-it/ (fly tipping, dumped litter, graffiti, overflowing bins) or fixmystreet.gloucestershire.gov.uk/ (pavements, roads, potholes, overgrown trees). That’s how we can all play out part in helping draw attention to problems and make those “heat maps” work for us all.

Wednesday night saw a fire take hold of an outbuilding on the former Market Tavern site. This site has been empty for some time and the owners continue to follow process through planning to redevelop the site - having recently held a consultation on plans and made adjustments based on strong themes within public feedback.

My first thoughts were to hope that no-one was hurt nor trapped inside - and I saw multiple comments across social media where members of the public suggested they knew people had been inside the building for a while.

To my knowledge no one was harmed. I thank the emergency services who attended the blaze who work hard to keep us all safe. If you are worried about someone you believe is homeless, please do not hesitate to use the StreetLink App to help get them the support they may need. Had someone have been trapped in the building and no-one alerted to the fact they could have been there, this chapter may have had a significantly different ending.

Finally, as Mayor, I get lots of invitations to meetings, functions and celebrations - far more than I could ever hope to attend (and I still have quite a list of people to get back to). I was fortunate to be invited to the opening of the refurbished bar at The Bear of Rodborough this week.

Some of you may know I am passionate about tourism across our District and the role that establishments such as The Bear play in hosting family celebrations, tourist says and corporate guest stays too. This is important to the local economy of our entire District, including Stroud Town.

I have heard so many stories of people who have visited the Stroud District and chosen our town and its beautiful setting as their home as a result, plus others who have visited and decided to set up business here - employing local people and creating much needed opportunities.

They’ve done an excellent job at The Bear with their remodelling of the space and I know it was well received by those in attendance at its launch.

That’s it for another week. The weekend weather looks to be okay so I hope everyone stays safe and is able to enjoy the offerings in this wonderful part of the world.