Town Council Newsletter – December 2014

Please note that there is no full Town Council meeting in December though the committees work will continue as normal. Information about committee meetings dates are on the notice boards in the Market Place and at The Westwoods Centre.

Property & Premises Maintenance Committee Update
Over the last few months we have been giving details about the May 2015 elections as all the councillors will be up for re-election. To explain some of the functions of the Town Council, this month’s article will focus on the work of the Property and Premises Maintenance Committee. The committee contains a number of councillors plus some residents with relevant interests. The group meets every quarter to review those areas around the parish which the Town Council has responsibility for. These include general matters such as the grass cutting contract, signage and agreeing tree works. The Council also has responsibility for specific areas around town like the water meadow, the allotments, and maintenance in the Churchyard and Cemetery. This year the committee have agreed to fund new railings around the Memorial Garden, purchased a strimmer, installed solar powered lights in darker areas, carried out maintenance in the play areas, reviewed the cemetery charges and installed a water supply in the allotments. In addition the committee has liaised with different agencies such as Highways and the Cotswold Wardens to carry out improvements across town. New road lines, safety features and a cleaner river in the next year will be the output of this work. The Town Handyman, Brian Hulcup also sits on this committee and most of his workload comes from the meetings. Some of Brian’s work this year includes: using the new strimmer to supplement the grass cutting contractors; general maintenance around Town; painting the wooden bus shelters; spraying weeds and repairing fences.

Wilts & Gloucester Standard, Newspaper Column
The Town Council office has been submitting the article for the community news section since the previous columnist finished. However as workloads are increasing we are hoping that someone would like to do this in future. Please contact the clerk if you are interested or would like more information.