STROUD District Council leader Geoff Wheeler keeps you up to date with what is happening at the council

 

Council newsletter

THE council’s own newsletter, SDC News, will be delivered to every household in the district this week. It is an annual publication which provides residents with information on the services available to them from their council.

Meeting the Challenge

DISTRICT councillors met the leader and chief executive of Gloucestershire County Council to hear how it intends to meet the challenges posed by the social care needs of the increasing number of people who are living longer. At the same time, the county is faced by a growing gap between what the people expect in health and social care and what the county council can afford – a gap they estimate as about £25 million a year. The county is planning a four-stage approach to providing support that includes intervention and support to help people make the right life choices to remain healthy, investing in community capacity, getting people back to independence following injury or trauma, and working with partners to provide specialist support for those who need this kind of help. Clearly there will have to be close working with the NHS to achieve these aims, and the district council will also be able to help through its health and wellbeing and housing programmes.

Filming in the district

AS MANY of you will know, in the past few months a film production company has been filming at various locations in Stroud and Cotswolds a television production of J K Rowling’s novel The Casual Vacancy. I was lucky to be invited by the company which searches for locations and suppliers to attend a filming session that took place in a house. What particularly struck me is the large number of production staff who need to be housed and supplied with all kinds of services over a long time. It’s a good business opportunity for the district that, allied to our very attractive landscape, we need to follow up.

Phil Sullivan

WE WERE sad to see Phil Sullivan, Stroud District Council’s head of community safety, retire last week. Phil brought a great deal to us, not least CCTV cameras and our team of neighbourhood wardens. He was particularly adept at attracting external funding to the district. I wish him well in his retirement.