THURSDAY, March 20

Housing committee, Ebley Mill, 7pm This meeting covered an update on the council’s new build programme for affordable housing. A few parts of the plan have been tweaked, bringing development forward in Cam, accounting for extra costs of homes at Littlecombe and increasing housing numbers in Stroud. Land in May Lane, Dursley will be sold of to another social landlord to build more affordable homes. Overall it’s a £15million programme which will see 195 affordable homes built.

Monday, March 24

District Councils’ Network, London Hot on the heels of the committee, this Local Government Association meeting of district council leaders from across the country focused on housing growth. With the Home Builders Federation representing the building industry and the National Housing Federation representing affordable housing providers, debate was certainly passionate with much disagreement but it certainly highlighted the important role that district councils have in planning and improving affordable housing.

Thursday, March 27

Strategy and resources committee, Ebley Mill, 7pm I mentioned last week how it covered a couple of the council’s major regeneration projects at Littlecombe and Brimscombe Port. We also received a presentation from Tom Beasley, director of business development at SGS College on the Gloucestershire Renewable Energy, Engineering and Nuclear Skills Academy at Berkeley. The Green Academy is an exciting and key component in the county’s economic growth plan. Look out for more information on this project in the near future.

Friday, March 28

Prince’s Trust, Stroud Sub Rooms A presentation to celebrate the achievements of young people involved in the Get Into Hospitality initiative funded by the council and developed by the Prince’s Trust to get unemployed young people, between the ages of 16 and 25 into careers in hospitality. Nine enthusiastic young people qualified from the hospitality course which included spending time at a Bristol hotel. They are due to be offered interviews and employment.

Tuesday, April 1

Local plan examination begins. Just before Christmas we submitted the district’s draft local plan to the Government.

This week sees the next stage in the finalisation of the plan in the form of public examination, from Tuesday to Thursday, by a government planning inspector. The inspector will assess in detail the top level, or strategic, aspects of the plan such as proposed housing numbers and employment opportunities and if he is happy with those fundamental aspects we will then proceed to the next stage of assessment. The plan maps out housing and employment growth in the district for the next two decades and is critical to ensuring a sustainable and strong local economy for future generations.