Following the council meeting on 15th January 2025, and after careful consideration, the councillors set the precept at £11,800, which represents a 25.23% increase from last year’s figure of £8,925. This means the council will receive an income against the expected expenditure budget of £14,292.

In recent years, the council has worked hard to keep the precept as low as possible, maintaining it below the budget required to run the parish council for that year. However, since the Covid pandemic, the parish council’s reserves have gradually been depleted.

Over the past year, there has been significant demand to address flooding issues in the village, and the council, led by Cllr Brindley, has been involved in several flood prevention projects throughout the village and concentrating on the Pond area by the Public House. These efforts have been costly, putting a strain on our limited budget. Despite being promised funding and support from the County Councillor, this assistance has not materialized, which is disappointing and has added further financial pressure as we proceeded with the work based on those assurances. The Parish Council will continue to chase this funding promise.

Additionally, following the floods, strong winds led to the need for emergency tree work.

Rising costs for contractors and their materials, and increased contributions to NICS have also contributed to the financial challenges.

On a positive note, our Band D rate remains relatively low compared to other local councils, positioning us favourably in comparison.

Dear Parish Clerk,

We’re currently working to redevelop our website. We’re working with a consultancy, BTeam to do the research stages, and the site redevelopment.

We would like to learn more about the needs of those who want to enjoy the Cotswolds. In particular, we seek to understand how the Cotswolds NL website can better serve a range of audiences.

Please could you help, by completing a very short questionnaire to help us understand more?

You can access the questionnaire using this link:https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HKPFVKB

The questionnaire is very quick and should take around 5 minutes (or less!) to complete. It will be analysed by a researcher from B Team, a consultancy conducting a project on behalf of Cotswolds NL.

If you are willing to participate in our research, you will find it useful to look at the Cotswolds NL website: www.cotswolds-nl.org.uk

Participants' input will be shared anonymously via a report and set of recommendations—it will not be possible to identify you personally in the research outputs. You can read about how we will manage the data we collect in BTeam’s Research Methodology.

Dear All,

Planning is obviously a key element of what CDC does in our area. As the Local Planning Authority, they have the job of reviewing and ultimately approving or denying applications relating to development - large and small. In the normal process, if an application receives no objections, then the LPA uses a system known as the Scheme of Delegation. This basically means that a Planning Officer will make a recommendation, which is then reviewed by senior planners within CDC and a decision notice is issued. If, however, an objection is lodged, then the officer must refer their recommendation to the Ward member, with a view to ascertaining if any further scrutiny of the recommendation is required. At this point, the Ward member has 7 business days to contact the relevant parties and take feedback on any concerns. If sufficient information is forthcoming, the Ward member can request a referral to the Planning Committee Agenda Review Panel, who will decide if it merits a hearing at Committee. Nb. This occurs at the end of the process when all relevant information from the statutory consultees such as Highways, Landscape or Conservation have been received.

As some of you may remember, a while ago CDC proposed a change to this planning process. From the 1^st of April this year, the Ward member will now have 28 days from the time of validation, to decide if they would like to take the option of a referral. The wording is:

The above application/notification has been lodged in your Ward.
The application form, plans, and accompanying documents are available to view online using the following link for your information only: Public Access Members have 28 days from the date of this letter to make a referral to the Planning and Licensing Committee Review Panel to consider whether the application should be heard by the Committee. Should you require further time, then you can email the case officer to ask for an extension of time for you to make your referral request to the Review Panel. Please remember to state the reason why you believe an extension of time is required. In the event of no request being made within 28 days of the application being received, the application will be determined under delegated authority in line with the Scheme of Delegation contained within the Council's Constitution. If you would like to make a referral, please complete this pro-forma

Nb. To ask for an extension, there must be a valid planning reason - missing plans, lack of feedback from a key expert, i.e. Highways etc. - and the expectation is that the extension be no longer than a week. As Ward members, we have been told that this change will allow us to engage with the officer at an earlier stage in the process, but to be completely frank, my opinion on an application should only ever reflect that of the residents. I should at all times remain neutral on an application until such time as I have heard from the people that will be most affected, usually neighbours, and seen the views of the 'experts'.The reason for this email is to raise awareness of this change so that Parish Councillors can adjust, if required, their internal systems of reviewing planning applications in their parish. Given that some PCs meet less frequently than others, fitting in to the 4-, possibly 5-week window may need some juggling of diaries! Unless there is an obvious concern regarding an application, it is difficult to envisage a situation where I would automatically ask for a committee review, especially if I have seen no objections. This effectively means that after 28 days, residents/PCs will no longer have the option to request a 'call in', regardless of their concerns. I have asked CDC to issue an official communication educating residents about the new rules - stay tuned. Finally, please do impress on your residents that if they have a view on an application - for or against, or just a general observation - it is now imperative that they post those comments on the Planning Portal ASAP. This will give me the time to review that local feedback in time to have additional conversations with the relevant parties and hopefully within the new deadline. Not every decision needs to go to the Committee, but if we want to retain that option, we need to adjust how we approach this process. Any questions, please give me a shout.

Best regards,

David David Cunningham Ward Councillor Fossebridge, Cotswold District Council07753 755503

The Police and Crime Commissioner Election which is taking place on Thursday 2 May 2024.

The election is for the PCC of Gloucestershire and is being run by the Police Area Returning Officer (PARO) based in Gloucester City Council.

Cotswold District Council Local Returning Officer, Robert Weaver will be conducting the election within our District on behalf of the PARO.

Our website includes a link to Gloucester City Council’s website where the notices, information for prospective candidates, lists of candidates and other key information will be held.

The list of candidates will be known after 4pm on Friday 5 April with a notice being published no later than 4pm on Monday 8 April.

Poll cards

Poll cards will be posted to all registered electors on 25 March. If anyone does not receive their poll card or has changed their address, name etc they should re-register at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote .

The same link can be used for residents who are not yet registered to vote. The deadline to register to vote at this election is Tuesday 16 April.

Postal and proxy voting

Anyone wishing to vote by post can apply online at www.gov.uk/apply-postal-vote . The deadline for making an application is 5pm on Wednesday 17 April.

Anyone wishing to appoint a proxy to vote on their behalf can apply online at www.gov.uk/apply-proxy-vote . The deadline for making an application is 5pm on Wednesday 24 April.

Paper forms are available by contacting this office.

Voter ID required

Anyone voting in person at a polling station will be required to provide an acceptable form of photo ID before being given their ballot paper.

Anyone needing a free Voter Authority Certificate should apply by 5pm on Wednesday 24 April at https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/voter-id/applying-a-voter-authority-certificate or contact us for a paper form.

Polling stations

If anyone is unsure of their polling station, they can check the details on our website by entering their postcode.

If you have any questions relating to the election or electoral registration, please do get in touch.

Kind regards

Sarah

Sarah Dalby

Electoral Services Manager/Deputy Returning Officer

01285 623002

elections@cotswold.gov.uk

www.cotswold.gov.uk

https://news.cotswold.gov.uk/news/green-to-the-core-local-plan-consultation-begins

Follow the link above for further information.

Please note parish council meetings will be held on the 2nd Wednesday of every other month, the first one being the 10th of January 24.  All public are welcome to make comments at the beginning of the meetings.

https://www.cotswold.gov.uk/StowandSwell

Dear Residents

As you all know public consultation is taking place for the Stow and the Swells Neighbourhood Development Plan, which is being held on the Cotswold District Council's website and this consultation closes on midday 5th January 24 (please use the link above to access consultation).

The official submission of comments from Broadwell Parish Council is attached for your viewing.

We are encouraging all residents of Broadwell to have their say in the consultation.  

Broadwell Parish Council has also endorsed the commissioned report from Chadwick Town Planning.

We are happy for you to use any part of our comments for your submission.

Regards

Broadwell Parish Council Members

Broadwell Parish Council encourages all of its residents to have their say by following the above link.

I am writing to introduce you to a new on-demand bus service for the North Cotswolds. This service is being run by Community Connexions – a Gloucestershire charity providing transport for the most vulnerable in our communities. This is a door-to-door service, so not to be confused with the recently introduced Robin bus.

The service is due to start the week commencing 3rd April and the Bus will be based at Stow. I am writing to ask for your support in publicising the service in your parish/town. We are also looking at running regular shopper routes, these are door to door so ideal for those unable to get to a bus stop. We would like to know which supermarket(s) are most utilised in your area to set up the most suitable route(s). Passengers on these shopper routes can use their concessionary bus passes, so can travel for free.

To this end, we would be grateful if you would reply with what would be of best use in your parish. When the routes are finalised we will send you a PDF and some paper copies to publicise.

If there are groups you know that would benefit from the service please do let us know.

This is a pilot project for the North Cotswolds and we need your assistance in making it a success.

Kind regards

Amber

Amber Deacon

Marketing Manager

Community Connexions

Suite 10, Corinium House,

Corinium Avenue,

Barnwood Point,

Gloucester

GL4 3HX

Mobile: 07539 083551

Office: 0345 6805029

Email: amber@communityconnexions.org.uk

Website: www.communityconnexions.org.uk

We always need more volunteer drivers! Do you know anyone who could help?

https://communityconnexions.org.uk/volunteer/

Our values – Respectful, Helpful and Honest

Community Connexions operating Community Transport across Gloucestershire

Registered charity no. 1119310. Company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales, company no. 05880006.

Registered office: Suite 132, Corinium House, Barnwood Point, Gloucester GL4 3HX Tel: 0345 680 5029.

Vat registration no. 940 9715 08

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083947032636

The parish council has created a Facebook page to communicate parish council news directly to parishioners. Please click the link above to view our page and feel free to advertise it to other local residents. The above link can also be found at the bottom of our website pages by clicking on the Facebook blue logo.