NEW! January's council round-up
A lot of the things the Town Council does over the course of a year
don't really warrant a story all to themselves. However many of these
activities are of interest to specific communities.
In this new feature for our website we'll offer a monthly round-up of some of these projects. For January we have our views on the new concessionary bus fares, emergency repairs at The Space, plans to create a Speakers' Corner in the town, and more ...
OFFICE CLOSED: The Town
Council office will be closed for three days from Monday 17th January
whilst staff undertake re-organisation work. A further two days closure
may be required at a later date.
BUS FARES: The Town
Council has voiced concerns over the proposed new concessionary fares
scheme. In response to a county-wide consultation we have urged the
county council to reconsider a blanket ban on concessionary fares
before 9.30am. We consider that such a bar should only be applied when
there is a regular service that offers a reasonable alternative. The
example given in our response was the No25 service which serves Summer
Street. There is a bus at 8.45am but then a gap of almost 3 hours
before the next one.
THE SPACE: Emergency
repairs have been completed to secure the structure of the Lansdown
Hall and Gallery (The Space) during the winter weather. The work to
repair pipes and guttering and to make the building water-tight, was
the top priority after the Town Council acquired the building in the
Autumn to save it from closure (pictured above). A working group
is currently liaising with architects to draw up a scheme of
improvements that will improve the building’s appeal to all users.
SPEAKERS' CORNER: Stroud could soon have its own
Speakers' Corner after the Town Council gave its support to the setting
up of a Speakers' Corner Committee in the town. The proposal by Deputy
Mayor John Marjoram seeks to promote public debate on local and
national issues.
LOCKING HILL: A town centre road will become one-way, in the other direction, in the next few weeks, as part of the ongoing experimental traffic order put in place by the county council. Vehicles will be able to travel up Locking Hill from Slad Road. This is intended to make it easier for traffic to access Gloucester Street from Merrywalks. At present such motorists have to drive up to The Fountain and turn into Lansdown.
Article added online January 11th 2011
Picture by Andy Read