WEEKLY COLUMN by Stroud MP Simon Opher 

Here in Stroud, there are numerous places we visit and facilities we use that feel like our own: fields we walk across, our pubs, village shops, the buses that take us to work… so many of the little things that mark our communities as ‘ours’.

Yet, of course, most of these things aren’t ours at all. They are owned or operated by someone, and it can be a real shock when something that feels like an important part of our community is threatened. Bus services can be changed. Pubs close. Fields sold for development.

That’s why it’s important for government to support communities when their assets are threatened.

The new Labour government has plans to democratise bus services by delivering new powers for local leaders to franchise bus services, lift the restriction on the creation of publicly-owned bus operators, and safeguard local bus networks by providing more accountability over bus operators. It would certainly help the situation in Wotton at the moment, but there are issues we need to work through where services cross district borders.

Included in the English Devolution Bill are measures are strong new ‘right to buy' measures for valued community assets: empty shops, pubs, community spaces and so forth. These will make our communities richer by ensuring that some of those things that we think of as ours are safeguarded for future generations to come.

Places like Chalford’s Old Neighbourhood Inn, Nympsfield’s Rose and Crown and the Heavens in Stroud’s would all benefit.

Last week I met some of the inspirational people involved in Stroud Commons. They’re organising an event on 13-14th September to explore how we as a community can buy local assets. They are also looking into how we can make local investment pay for local residents, (reducing our reliance on banks and corporations, looking to take money out of our communities to enhance their profits), and think about how we manage our local economy.

We currently have a great opportunity to make our local economy more sustainable, people focused and community based. I don’t think we should waste it.

Link here: https://festival-of-commoning.org/