News from the Shire - Wednesday 23rd April
Your latest roundup of Gloucestershire news from rural communities including Tewkesbury, Stroud, the Cotswolds and Forest of Dean
Dear readers - welcome to another roundup of news away from Gloucestershire’s two main urban centres, namely Gloucester and Cheltenham.
I hope many of you had a relaxing Easter break and once again I will keep this week’s News from the Shire short.
In case you have missed it, my local election leader interviews are still ongoing. A week to go until polling day, below are three interviews so far with another three to go before May 1st.
I have to thank those of you who cannot stand politics but are still subscribing to the newsletter! Non-political pieces are coming soon…
Below is another rural news roundup.
Tewkesbury
🐑 A warning has been issued to dog owners after a video caught a dog chasing a ewe which was found dead soon after. The footage, which was captured earlier this month near Winchcombe Cricket Club, shows a small dog chasing a ewe and its lamb and at one point the ewe appears to collapse mid-chase while trying to protect its offspring. Kim Horton, Gloucestershire Live
🍕 Bishops Cleeve Italian style pizza business is fining customers who choose to order pineapple as a topping in the month of April. Home cooks Rachael Willoughby, 59 and Elliott Richmond, 52 who run CasaGees had previously refused to sell pineapple on their pizzas – saying the topping is untraditional. But for the month of April they are relaxing the rules to raise funds for a local food bank charity, Feed Cheltenham. Gloucester News Centre
Stroud
🍺 Plans for a new shop selling beer with a taproom have been submitted. Mills Brewing has submitted a premises licence application to open a site at Griffin Mill trading estate off London Road in Thrupp. If plans are approved by Stroud District Council, the site would be allowed to sell alcohol from 10am to 10pm everyday. Alice Knight, Stroud News & Journal
🍲 A fabulous fusion of Romanian and Italian food is ready to make its mark at the Five Valleys Food Hall in Stroud, with the latest new business at the popular town centre venue. Irina and Bogdan Iordan-Stanescu have already built up a following at local pop-ups and markets with their delicious home-cooked dishes – now they’ve launched their own business, Casa Romana, in the former Non-Solo Pasta unit at Five Valleys. Matt Bigwood, Stroud Times
🗳️ The selection of a GP, who accessed a patient’s records to get her telephone number to text suggesting a “pub lunch”, as a Gloucestershire County Council candidate has been defended by the Green Party. Richard Dean received a formal warning after a medical practitioners’ tribunal concluded that his fitness was not impaired in 2018. The now Dursley candidate was working as a locum GP at the Avenue Surgery in Cirencester when he saw the patient, an aid worker. Carmelo Garcia, Local Democracy Reporter
🏠 Plans have been submitted to build almost 2,800 homes across the Sharpness and Berkeley area as part of a new major development. An outline planning application has been submitted to Stroud District Council. The proposed scheme includes building up to 2,750 homes across a 607 acre site on agricultural fields - which would be built by 2040. Alice Knight, Stroud News & Journal
🛜 A new planning application could soon see a 24-metre 5G telecommunications mast installed at Painswick Golf Club, significantly expanding the area’s mobile infrastructure and digital connectivity. Submitted by Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Ltd, the proposal involves removing the existing 15-metre monopole and replacing it with a taller lattice tower. Lewis Clarke, Gloucestershire Live
🔋 Plans for a 36MW battery storage facility near Slimbridge have taken a step forward with a proposed variation to the approved scheme, seeking permission for layout changes aimed at improving site safety and operational efficiency. The application, submitted by Slimbridge Energy Limited, relates to land located north-east of Kingston Road. It proposes adjustments to the development already granted planning permission in July 2024, under reference S.23/1593/FUL, which approved the installation and operation of a battery energy storage system (BESS) and ancillary equipment. Lewis Clarke, Gloucestershire Live
🙌 A series of posters have been put up at railway stations, inviting train travellers to explore the Stroud district. Stroud District Council's planning strategy service commissioned local artist Isabella Fay to create the posters. The aim is to encourage visitors to travel to the district by train and inspire residents to discover new places. The campaign, which runs through April and May, highlights Stroud district's attractions, including Stroud Farmers’ Market, the Stroudwater Navigation Canal, and the commons. Matty Airey, Stroud News & Journal
Cotswolds
🚌 A temporary solution to Venice of the Cotswolds’ ‘coach parking chaos’ has been thwarted by the presence of underground electricity and telephone lines which stopped workers from installing street signs – making parking restrictions unenforceable. Gloucestershire Highways had planned to start a trial scheme designed to address the shortage of coach parking facilities in Bourton-on-the-Water in time for Easter. Carmelo Garica, Local Democracy Reporter
🏠 Plans to build up to 195 homes in a Cotswold town have been submitted to the council - but campaigners have said it is 'crazy'. Up to 195 homes could be built off London Road next to the Cotswold Business Park in Moreton in new plans from Bloor Homes. The homes would be 40 percent affordable, and a cycle route would be built between the 1.5km journey between the homes and the town centre. Daniel Kelly, Cotswold Journal
🛍️ A shop in the centre of Cirencester has revealed it is closing after three years in the town. Plant store Fern & Ivy, located in West Way in Cirencester, is shutting its doors this month. Its final day of trading will be Saturday, April 26. However, Fern & Ivy said that the business itself will keep trading. Kate Jones, Cotswold Journal
Forest of Dean
➡️ The demolition of “Britain’s biggest man cave” cost taxpayers around £220,000 – and the council wants millionaire accountant Graham Wildin, who built the huge leisure complex, to foot the bill. Forest of Dean District Council demolished and removed the 10,000sq ft building in Meendhurst Road in Cinderford last summer. The leisure complex at the back of the home of Mr Wildin, 73, had a bowling alley, casino and a cinema and was built without planning permission in 2014. Carmelo Garcia, Local Democracy Reporter
🛋️ A sofa dumped by the side of a road in Gloucestershire has become an unlikely tourist attraction. The two-seater settee was abandoned on wasteland in the middle of the village of Lydbrook at the beginning of April. Despite fly-tipping being illegal and punishable by large fines or even prison time, more furniture has since been added and the site has become a popular resting spot. BBC Gloucestershire
🗳️ A Gloucestershire council candidate is proposing the “radical” plan for the “Forest of Dean annexation of Ross-on-Wye” in a bid to avoid the need to build a new town near Gloucester. The recent trend among some politicians of talking about annexing their neighbour’s land has surfaced in the run-up to this year’s Gloucestershire County Council elections. Former Forest of Dean District Councillor Thom Forester is proposing the annexation of nearby Herefordshire market town – which needs to find sites for another 3,000 homes over the next 20 years. Carmelo Garcia, Local Democracy Reporter
🏠 Where an extra 5,400 homes will be built in Gloucestershire could be decided with the help of artificial intelligence as the idea of a new garden town becomes a real possibility again. Forest of Dean District Council has agreed to have a re-think over where new homes will be built as part of their blueprint for development. Carmelo Garcia, Local Democracy Reporter
🐟 A chip shop owner has said he has nothing "to fall back on" after his business flooded during a storm. James Ruddy, who owns Ruddy's Fish & Chips in Lydney, said he was "lucky" to have flood insurance when Storm Bert hit the town in November 2024, but he is unable to get the same cover now. Maisie Lilywhite & Annabelle Martin, BBC Gloucestershire