Notice of Vacancy in the Office of Councillor

Posted on By Mary

NOTICE is given that, due to the resignation of Mark Ogden, a vacancy has arisen for a Councillor for the Town Council.
The vacancy will be filled by election if a request from 10 local government electors for the Town is received within 14 working days of the date of this notice. The request must be received by 13th October 2022.

Requests should include each electors’ name and address and should be sent to the Chief Executive at the address below or by email to elections@cotswold.gov.uk
If an election is called, it will take place not later than 15th December 2022.

If 10 signatures are not received by the date given, the Town Council may fill the vacancy by co-option.  For further information please email the Town Clerk. clek@northleach.gov.uk

Support If You Are Worrying About Money

Posted on By Mary

As the cost of living rises, support is sometimes hard to find.  Cotswold District Council are supporting a new initiative called “Worrying about Money.”   A leaflet has been circulated which offers many ways, for those struggling financially, to access immediate assistance via a number of agencies and funding streams.  A copy of the leaflet can be found below.

Cotswold District Council Opens New Scheme to Help Residents With Energy Bills

Posted on By Mary

Cotswold District Council has opened applications for financial support to those most in need of help with their energy bills. The new scheme is for residents who were not eligible for the recent £150 council tax rebate.

The Government set the criteria for the original £150 rebate scheme which was targeted at households in Council Tax bands A-D. Additional funding was provided to councils to set up a local scheme to help those not supported by the original rebate.

The new scheme is intended to help support those most in need during the current cost of living crisis. It covers:

  • People living in properties banded E-H who are on low incomes or don’t pay council tax due to caring or health reasons
  • People on low income who pay energy bills but not council tax
  • People living in houses of multiple occupancy and on low income
  • People living in emergency or supported accommodation

The full list of eligibility criteria is available on the Council’s website along with a form to apply for the support. 

Those unable to use the website can telephone the Council for advice and support, however, the Council is encouraging people to apply online where possible to free up phone lines for those who need them most.

Cotswold District Council has moved as fast as possible to pay the original £150 rebate to those eligible, with most people who pay their Council Tax by Direct Debit now having received the payment. 

For those who don’t pay by Direct Debit, the Council does not hold the details to make a payment and is currently contacting those eligible to explain how to provide the required information to the Council so the payment can be made. 

The Council has to carry out a number of checks on those applying for the support to make sure fraud is not being committed. This may slow payments, but the staff working behind the scenes are working hard to process applications as quickly as possible.

More information on the rebate can be found on the Council website at cotswold.gov.uk/150rebate

Notice of Vacancy in the Office of Councillor

Posted on By Mary

NOTICE is given that, due to the resignation of Alan Wellman, a vacancy has arisen for a Councillor for the Town Council.
The vacancy will be filled by election if a request from 10 local government electors for the Town is received within 14 working days of the date of this notice. The request must be received by 28 April 2022.

Requests should include each electors’ name and address and should be sent to the Chief Executive at the address below or by email to elections@cotswold.gov.uk
If an election is called, it will take place not later than 5 July 2022.

If 10 signatures are not received by the date given, the Town Council may fill the vacancy by co-option.  For further information please email the Town Clerk. clek@northleach.gov.uk

Cotswold District Local Plan 2011-2031 Consultation

Posted on By Mary

Regulation 18 ‘Issues and Options’ Consultation is available for residents to view and submit comments between the following dates:

Start date: Friday 4th February 2022

End Date: Sunday 20th March 2022

The Local Plan is the statutory development plan setting out the principal policies and proposals for land use in the District. The Council has now reached the first formal consultation stage in the partial update process – known as the Regulation 18 ‘Issues and Options’ consultation.

The public consultation invites comments on a targeted update of the adopted Local Plan, focussing on specific issues and options covering 18 planning topics or themes. Last year the Council agreed a programme of work to update the Local Plan partially so that it can respond to the Council’s new Corporate Plan, climate and ecological emergency declarations and recent changes to national planning policy and guidance.

Your comments together with updated evidence will be considered and used to inform the next stage of the plan preparation process – the draft Local Plan Partial Update – which will be the subject of a further round of consultation in 2023.

Please note the deadline for comments is 11:59pm on Sunday 20th March 2022

It is important to be aware that names and comments, once processed, will be made publicly available on the Council’s website. A Local Plan Privacy Notice is available on the Council’s website.

To assist the consultation process, public drop-in events will be held on:

Wednesday 2nd March 2022 from 2pm until 6:30pm at the Committee Rooms, Council Offices, Trinity Road, Cirencester, GL7 1PX and

Wednesday 9th March 2022 from 2pm until 6:30pm at Moreton Area Centre, High Street, Moreton-in-Marsh, GL56 0AZ

Further supporting evidence documents, including FAQs, are available to view or downloaded on the Council’s website at: https://www.cotswold.gov.uk/planning-and-building/planning-policy/

If you have any queries please contact the Forward Planning Team at Cotswold District Council on Tel: 01285 623000 or email: local.plan@cotswold.gov.uk

Annual Canvas of Electors 2021

Posted on By Mary

As you may already know,  Cotswold District Council’s Electoral Services Department undertakes an annual check of properties in the District and this year’s is now underway.

The canvass starts with a data matching process against Dept. of Work and Pension records.  This gives them two sets of properties – those where all the electors match to DWP (Route 1) and those where all or some electors don’t match (Route 2).

The canvass began with an email to Route 1 properties a couple of weeks ago.  The email asked residents to confirm or change their details.  If no response is received from a property, a form will be posted to those households at the end of August. 

These Route 1 property forms do not require a response from the householder unless there are changes to be made.  Once the forms have been posted,  work on these properties is complete although entries are reviewed throughout the year using internal data such as council tax records. Therefore, as no reminder form will be sent, it is important that any household that requires changes to be made, returns the form to CDC or makes changes online. 

Route 2 properties will receive a form within the next 10 days and Cotswold District Council does need a response to these.  Therefore, if no response is received they will follow up with a posted reminder and finally a canvasser visit to the property.  Also, as part of the process they will be sending a separate information sheet to properties that currently don’t have any electors registered.  A copy of this can be found below for your information.

If you have any queries, please contact Cotswold District Council’s Customer Services team on 01285 623002 or email them at  elections@cotswold.gov.uk