Ruscombe Green

Over 80 people join the Stroud Against Gyratory protest

2012-01-28T16:55:00.000Z

From Cllr Andy Reeds blog here This morning saw over 80 people come to protest at the possible reopening of the slip road past the hotel and timber yard. I will hopefully have time to produce a video of some of the voices at the protest by next week. It was great to see such huge and passionate support for improving this gateway to Stroud - indeed cross-party support was very evident.

Stroud District Budget - could have been better!

2012-01-27T21:45:00.001Z

Poster spotted in shop A late night last night at Stroud District Council....got there before 6pm and didn't get away until after midnight so do excuse me if this doesn't make total sense in places. It was budget night and we set the 4 year spending plan - the way it all happens is not really democracy at it's best - a Green alternative budget was voted after being presented to not even be

Stop supermarket bullying

2012-01-26T08:30:00.000Z

Sun across Whiteshill It's four years since the Competition Commission said the UK needed a supermarket watchdog. This blog has covered this issue and the campaign over those years - well we are getting closer to some success....at the moment supermarkets are currently still able to: Transfer ‘excessive risks and unexpected costs’ to UK and overseas farmers and suppliers Contribute to farm

Wonderful bread....

2012-01-25T09:30:00.000Z

A while back I mentioned the bread at the Lavender Bakehouse - well Sally is continuing to make some very wonderful loves - also sold through the Food Emporium in Stroud....as she says in an email: "We make an exciting range of tasty breads the old fashioned way using long fermented yeasted doughs, and a variety of sourdoughs. Our delicious handmade breads are a result of using the best

Ecotricity invest in 'lowest cost renewable energy technology'

2012-01-24T09:18:00.000Z

On Monday it was announced that local green energy company Ecotricity had acquired an aquatic bicycle pump. The Searaser device pumps saltwater to an onshore generator by using the rise and fall of a large float to pressurise water - but the great thing is that it doesn't need to be in the hostile environment of the ocean which adds all sorts of costs. Ecotricity's Dale Vince, said: "We

Badger culls are mistake

2012-01-23T11:30:00.000Z

Me in badger outfit! So now we know two badger culls will take place this August - one in Tewkesbury and the other near Taunton. The government claim these will be followed by another ten new 'cull zones' every year. This is a complete nonsense - as this blog has pointed out there is no scientific case for the cull - even Professor John Krebs says that he "can't understand how anybody who's

Stratford Park Leisure: great, great improvements

2012-01-22T07:00:00.000Z

I was delighted to be invited to the "VIP opening" yesterday of the newly redeveloped Stratford Park. It has been a long haul to get the improvements but they are very, very worth it - District Council officers, the new company Sports and Leisure Management Ltd (SLM) and indeed the lead Councillor, Keith Pearson, should all be delighted by the results - and thanked. Well done to all! It was

Lucas challenges nuclear subsidy

2012-01-21T09:56:00.002Z

Oldbury nukes viewed from Randwick We have heard endlessly about how nuclear will compete fairly yet the evidence is clear that it will get a subsidy - see my submission to DECC last year here and my letter here to press a year ago. Now here comes a complaint to the European Commission on the legality of UK nuclear policy could stall massive new build programme. The complaint, organised by

New Glos library strategy

2012-01-19T08:30:00.000Z

Poet Marcus Moore: part of the Save Libraries Day 'Flying Authors' tour This week GCC announced their new library strategy - it is very good news that a public library service will now be retained in Hesters Way, Matson and Tuffley! Congrats indeed to campaigners - a significant victory that is worth celebrating. Without the campaign and the court case these libraries, serving the most

Campaign to keep Glos NHS public

2012-01-18T08:00:00.000Z

Puckshole resident Michael Lloyd There is now a date for the legal hearings regarding our local NHS services. On February 8th (and possibly 9th) at the Royal courts of Justice in London (on the Strand), lawyers will argue whether there is a case for a Judicial Review, and if the Judge agrees, one will proceed immediately (this is called a "rolled together" hearing). The outcome of the Judicial

More quotes

2012-01-17T08:00:00.000Z

“Love is the felt experience of connection to another being.An economist says ‘more for you is less for me.’But the lover knows that more of you is more for me too."Charles Eisenstein'We have a two-party dictatorship in this country. Let's face it. And it is a dictatorship in thralldom to giant corporations who control every department agency in the federal government.' Ralph Nader, commented

Labour disappoints

2012-01-16T11:02:00.002Z

Below is Caroline Lucas's letter on Labour's failure to offer an alternative economic agenda in today's Guardian. This is disappointing indeed when there are so clearly opportunities to develop a greener economy. Labour's lack of alternative visionIn his interview with your paper on Saturday, Ed Balls effectively holds up a white flag and admits that Labour has given up any attempt to set out an

Stroud Potato Day is Back!

2012-01-15T07:00:00.000Z

Potato Day last year Here is the press release we have just sent out: Down to Earth Cooperative and Transition Stroud members are organising the second-ever Stroud Potato Day on Saturday 4th February 2012 in Merrywalks Shopping Centre. Philip Booth said: "Stroud Potato Day is back! Last year we were amazed to sell half a tonne of seed potatoes from a stall in Merrywalks. Well we are going to

Oxfam venture in Stroud

2012-01-14T14:53:00.000Z

Just a note here about a new Oxfam venture in Stroud - some local people are hoping to form a new Oxfam Stroud Fundraising Group. They are looking for likeminded individuals to join them - people who would like to use their time and skills to make a lasting change to people living in poverty. While I am not getting involved with this project, as someone who used to manage Community Aid Abroad's

Big Cats book and film

2012-01-13T17:28:00.000Z

This blog has covered the news re possible Big Cat sitings locally and the stall at the Festival of Nature. Well Rick Minter's book, 'Big Cats, Facing Britain's Wild Predators', is out now and for those interested they might want to see the Cotswold TV film here where Rick is interviewed.

Consultation on where houses will go

2012-01-12T08:00:00.000Z