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

The Local Plan The inspector who has been examining our Local Plan has now finished the public sessions. The Local Plan sets out what development will take place within the district over the next 15 years. The inspector will suggest some possible changes and the council will consult on these later this summer. He will then decide whether any further hearing sessions need to be held in the autumn. If not, he will issue his report and the council will look to adopt the Local Plan by the end of the year.

Local Government Conference I am attending the Local Government Conference in Harrogate this week. The conference gives local councillors the opportunity to hear and debate the effect on councils of the latest proposals from government ministers and leading executives from other bodies like the health service. Hot topics this year will be further cuts in government grants to councils, devolution of powers to local authorities and their role in health and wellbeing. The conference also provides a chance to exchange views with councillors from across the country on the whole range of services provided by local councils. In Stroud these will include the provision of more affordable housing and how we can help promote the growth in local jobs. I am very proud that Two of our major projects – the canal and new council homes – will feature in a display and hopefully be seen by all delegates.

The incinerator You will have read that the High Court judge deferred a decision on our legal challenge to the secretary of state having allowed the incinerator to go ahead. No time was been given for when the judgement will be issued; it could be by end of this week, but it may take up to four weeks. We made a strong case that the incinerator will have a detrimental impact on our district.

Steam on the Canal It was great to see seven steam boats on the canal at the weekend. They sailed from Stroud to Stonehouse and made quite a spectacle. Just a couple of years ago, this would have been impossible – and it dramatically demonstrates the progress being made by the canal project. At a meeting on Thursday, Our strategy and resources committee awarded a grant to the Stroud Valleys Canal Company so it can buy a long reach excavator and a piece of land – allowing the canal to be dredged and maintained.