ON the plight of Sandra and Gerry De Klerk, who are desperate to move to Stroud after being terrorised in their home in Zimbabwe but cannot due to visa problems.

Posted by Mad in Stroud: When you consider all the undesirables who get citizenship through sham marriages, we ought to be able to give this guy a home. He is 80 for God’s sake, so unlikely to be a long-term drain on our economy.

On the new weekly food market being run in Stroud’s Cornhill every Wednesday from July.

Posted by kjag23: Fantastic! Will now be able to pick up some bargains!

On the campaign against plans for 80 homes on Grange Fields on the outskirts of Stroud.

Posted by bwb123standin: Kate Van Den Broek from the Save Grange Fields AONB campaign group, said: “The response from the county highways was based on concerns put forward by residents, which shows people’s objections are making a difference.”

Why do these people say those things? Highways has objected to the plans as they stand, they can be changed. It had nothing to do with ‘residents’ concerns’. The more letters that are received from obscure places, the less impact they have. I was at the last SGFAONB meeting, and people were being encouraged to get their friends to write and object, ‘even if they live abroad’. No weight is given to any argument when you just pick random people to complain. In fact it becomes counter productive. There were only about 40 people in the meeting but those who took any notice of the request from the speaker left clutching handfuls of ready typed letters. A lot of misleading information has been handed out about Grange Fields. If you want to argue a point do so but tell the truth, it will all come out in the end anyway.

Winding people up with no good reason is like having a load of rowdy kids on the the bus - nothing but a nuisance.