Autumn 2014 updates:
The Heritage Open Day was a great success, around 100 people visited. Many more could have come if there had been space for parking as over 300 people applied for tickets. There was a great deal of appreciation from the public that the Civic Society had arranged this event.
We had one last minute visitor, David Hagg, CEO of Stroud District Council, but we were pleased and proud to show him the Civic Society in action and the great asset (the Sculpture Park) that the District has on its doorstep. The day was perfect weatherwise, the arrangements ran very smoothly, and after a brief panic over the loos they too started behaving properly.
Comments from visitors included: “Privileged visit”, “Lovely to see the wonderful sculptures and what a wonderful setting” “So nice to be able to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and fantastic sculptures. Many thanks for letting us in”
The Superstores War:
All three applications had considerable drawbacks; flooding, traffic issues, and impact on local shops, yet SDC seemed to think that one of these should be approved.
Then like a rabbit out of a hat Andrew Watton popped up with his in-town scheme centred round the Market Tavern. Though no planning application was on the table, SDC were convinced this was a viable proposal, worthy of consideration – so after two and a half hours of speeches supporting or opposing the three out-of-town super markets, SDC dropped its bombshell – all decisions were to be postponed until March 2015 to give time for the Market Tavern scheme to put in for outline planning permission.
Many in the town support this scheme but we will wait with interest to see what exactly is on offer, especially for the Farmer’s Market.