STROUD District Council leader Steve Lydon keeps you up to date with council matters

  • Tuesday, December 5 - strategy and resources committee

TONIGHT’S meeting is an additional one to the civic calendar, originally timetabled to discuss the Subscription Rooms. Last year this committee created a task and finish group to recommend how the Sub Rooms are run in the future and a report has now been completed.

However few readers will have failed to notice the intense public debate this subject has provoked. I proposed a last minute ‘notice of motion’ that the committee does not accept any of the bids made, and that instead we lease the Sub Rooms and ensure that it continues to be available to the public as a venue for the arts, communities and education. You can follow the meeting on the council’s website at stroud.gov.uk/webcasts

  • Thursday, December 7 – community and licensing committee

In 2016 Stroud Taxi Association proposed that taxi fares were increased in the district.

This request was declined this but the committee agreed to consider another request a year later. Taxi fares in the Stroud district have not increased since 2011, although Cheltenham’s and Gloucester’s fares have increased in that time. A sub group has investigated the request, and recommends that the daytime rate would be increased by 20p to £2.20 per ‘running mile’ This compares to £1.97 in Gloucester, £2.20 in Cotswold and £2.60 in the Forest of Dean.

  • Eat safe at Christmas

Christmas isn’t far away now and while many of us will have already booked a Christmas party it’s worth remembering the national Food Hygiene Rating Scheme if you’re planning to eat out. Our environmental health officers go out and assess establishments across the district to ensure that they meet standards and give them a food hygiene score. If you’re thinking about booking a table somewhere visit food.gov.uk/ratings

  • Get Ready for Winter

Last week was a particularly cold one, but did you know the Met Office has a website full of advice and helpful links as part of their `Get Ready for Winter’ campaign? You’ll find a wealth of information and advice there about travel, the home, and health & wellbeing. There’s even a link to school closures, making it a winter `one stop shop’. The web address is www.metoffice.gov.uk/barometer/advice and you can follow them on Twitter at #WinterReady