COLUMN by Stroud mayor Tony Davey 

1. Making decisions as elected councillors. 

As elected councillors we need to make decisions of behalf of our Ward Members, when a Consultation isn’t appropriate.

Some times these are big topics to cover (such as a recent consultation from the Cotswolds Natural Landscape) and sometimes smaller (but no less important) local matters such as reviewing Licensing applications.

At our last Consultations and Highways meeting we reviewed the application for a licence in the right-hand side of the old M&Co building, where someone wishes to setup a new convenience store.

What was exceedingly helpful was that, prearranged ahead of our deliberations, we had an excellent briefing by two officers from Stroud District Council’s Licensing Team, who gave a brilliant presentation on licensing rules and what constitutes a sound objection (if an application is not supported).

Licensing and Planning are very different matters and can often be confused. For our newer Councillors and the more seasoned ones, the briefing was invaluable.

Being a Councillor is important - being a trained Councillor is vital.

The Town Council doesn't make the decision in such matters, but there is a mechanism for us to feed in our support or concerns, and then participate in a hearing should the need arise.

2. Awesome line-up for Stroud Goodwill Festival 

Last Sunday you may have heard me on BBC Gloucestershire (and Bristol, Wiltshire and Somerset too) speaking about the awesome line-up for the Stroud Goodwill Festival on the evening of Friday 6th and daytime of Saturday 7th December.

There will be attractions old and new, and something for everyone (I think). Check out https://www.visitstroud.uk/events/stroud-goodwill-evening-2024 and https://www.visitstroud.uk/events/stroud-goodwill-saturday-2024 for details. You will likely find one of the official map and guide flyers in shops in town too.

Events like these cost a significant amount of money and resources to run. The Town Council has a series of grants (check out https://www.stroudtown.gov.uk/grants-and-funding) that can support the running of community events and initiatives, without which many events may not run.

The Stroud Goodwill Festival is one of the events that has just benefited from such a grant, so enabling us all to access so much entertainment for free and safely.

There will be a window display competition that you can help judge, plus a 24 stop trail where you can find the Stroud Goodwill Angels who have a message for you.

3. Many good topics covered at town meeting 

And finally, this week saw the Town Council, District Council, County Council and Chamber of Trade come together for our Regeneration Working Group. It was a full 2-hour agenda, but many good topics were covered.

We are working on a plan to lobby to ensure we retain the best Post Office service possible for our communities.

We also reviewed many town improvement initiatives - even small things make a difference when added together.