Catch up on meetings

Well a busy week so I've not caught up on various meetings in this blog. I don't intend to do that now but here's a flavour of some that I've not mentioned so far in previous blogs...

Photos: Standish Church and below view from Standish across to Haresfield Beacon and Standish woods

I was away at the end of last week for three days with other local Green party District councillors in Standish. Not as exotic as last year when we crossed the border into Wales but like last year the venue and beds were offered free to us. It was good to get away and concentrate on plans for next year and we were able to concentrate on a number of issues in some depth. How can we take forward ideas like Stroud District investing seriously in renewables - an issue I have pushed and pushed - yes there has been some movement but we have a long way to go. There were lots of other ideas and I will be sharing many of them over the coming months.

Last night was Randwick Parish which didn't finish until close to 10 - a full programme - the mirror mystery I mentioned in an earlier blog is solved - the new mirror was put up by a generous resident on the corner near the convent - it replaced the one lost - however Highways removed the whole post with mirror as they had said they would (see my blog here). Crazy but there it is. Of course other issues discussed were to support the 20 mph inquiry at GCC and see if Whiteshill and Ruscombe 20 mph proposals could be extended to include Randwick - various planning applications - but hey the minutes will be out soon to read so I wont ramble here...

We also had a talk to the Parish from local energy company FiVE to see if there was support locally - see my previous blog on that here. I have also suggested that we borrow as a Parish to invest in PV for community buildings like the rest of the Randwick Village Hall roof - this would generate an income for us and indeed pay off the loan - could we make the Parish self-financing in the future?? It needs some seriously bold thinking if we are to go down that route.

I've also had two meetings about the Sheltered Accommodation Review - I have real concerns that Stroud District and the County are not working close enough together with tenants - they all seem to have different visions. Plus went to the event in the Sub-Rooms regarding services for older people where I had the opportunity to talk to various local people like the police, village agent and more - a v useful event. But hey today we've got apple picking and a clear-up of the brook so must dash.