Every week is Refugee Week in Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire County Council, as part of the local Strategic Migration Partnership, is celebrating the contribution refugees have in the county and beyond.

Refugee Week took place 19 – 25 June, however for public and voluntary sector partners every week is for supporting and celebrating refugees and asylum seekers.

Currently, Gloucestershire is committed to resettling 35 Afghan families under the government’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), with 31 families currently resettled in the county. This means adults can get their lives back on track, while their children can flourish in welcoming and supportive local schools. There are also people being offered a safe place to live under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.

Gloucestershire has welcomed nearly 1500 Ukrainian guests, including more than 300 school-aged children. While some have chosen to move on or go back to Ukraine, others have stayed and settled in the county. Currently there are 356 households hosting Ukrainian guests in Gloucestershire; opening their family homes to welcome those displaced by war.

In addition to those from Ukraine and Afghanistan, a further 89 families (364 people) from Syria have so far been supported to resettle in the county, under the Gloucestershire Refugee Resettlement Programme (GRRP).

Gloucestershire’s Strategic Migration Partnership

All resettlement schemes are over-seen by the Strategic Migration Partnership, made up of representatives from many of the public sector organisations in Gloucestershire. The partnership works with local charities and aid workers to establish local support as asylum seekers navigate their way to a safer environment to live in. They make sure asylum seekers get access to medical treatment, emotional support, and practical help, such as housing and clothes.

How can you help?

The Homes for Ukraine scheme is always looking for new hosts who are able to share their home with Ukrainian guests. Find out more about becoming a host at https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/your-community/ukrainian-support/gloucestershire-homes-for-ukraine-sponsor-guide/

Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers are looking for landlords who would consider renting to a refugee family resettled in Gloucestershire, through the Home Office Resettlement schemes. Find out more about GARAS at https://www.garas.org.uk/

Free Family Holiday Activity and Food Programme

The Holiday Activities and Food programme will be available this summer for four weeks during the school holidays in Gloucestershire. It aims to provide children with free activities to keep them happy, healthy, and entertained.

Families who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals can register now for the summer Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) funded by the Department for Education.

This summer, using grant funding, Gloucestershire County Council is once again able to extend fun, enriching holiday activities to all children and young people in the county, through its Holiday Activities Programme (HAP).

Both the HAF and HAP programmes will run for four weeks during the school holidays.

Families are encouraged to:

• Register for the Children’s Activities Booking System (CABS) now to make sure their account is ready for when activity booking opens on Wednesday 5 July. Some activities get booked up very quickly.
• See what’s happening in your area

  • HAF@stroud.gov.uk
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

There are lots of great options to choose from again including drama and science workshops, sports and games, art, and crafts, as well as the ever-popular ticketed attractions. More information is available at www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/haf.

To support families in accessing and participating in HAF activities, six new HAF Community Connectors have been introduced in Gloucestershire. These Connectors, one for each district, aim to provide additional assistance to families in need. Furthermore, families eligible for benefits-related free school meals can apply for Holiday Free School Meal vouchers provided by the council. Each child, from reception to year 11, will receive £30 for a two-week period (£15 per week). More information on how to apply can be found at www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/holiday-school-meal-vouchers/.

Parents who have registered previously are automatically included and do not need to reapply. Families whose circumstances may have changed can find out about eligibility for free school meals on our website. Anyone who needs additional support over the summer can apply to the Household Support Fund, which supports households in the most need with food, energy and water bills, and other essential items. The council’s Support Hub also includes links to helpful information and advice, including tools to help save money and look after health and wellbeing.

New Councillor

The Parish Council is back up to full strength as we welcome Tracey Legg as our new member. Tracey has lived in Stinchcombe for 25 years and brings with her considerable experience in administration work and a good understanding of the planning process which should prove very useful. We are pleased to have someone from Taits Hill Road on the Council as it’s good to have representation from various parts of the village.

As previously announced we have also recently welcomed Charlie MacFarlane to the Council. Charlie lives on The Street and has nobly agreed to take on the role of Chair of the Council where he’s already doing an excellent job.

Our other Councillors, Marian Shaw, Diana Davidson and Ian Kirkham all continue to carry out their duties and represent the village as well as ever.

Preparing for Winter

Gloucestershire County Council has agreed a process to allow us to have more grit bins. If you know of any bins that need replacing or relocating, or can think of particular locations where they would be useful, please let the Clerk know as soon as possible.

Once the leaves start to fall, blocked drains become an increasing problem and our County Councillor, Linda Cohen is starting a “Leaf It Out” campaign to try and encourage residents to clear the drains by their properties just to keep the worst under control without waiting for Highways to do it. Any help you can provide in doing this would be greatly appreciated. It would also be very helpful if, where possible, residents could avoid parking over drains so that Highways can reach them when they do come to clear them.

Highways Have Your Say

Gloucestershire residents are being asked for their views on all things highways after a new survey was launched. The survey asks residents for their views on road condition, grass verges, pavements, street lighting, road signs and more. Please try to spare the time to make your views known.
Gloucestershire County Council want more detail on what residents think at a local level. They’re also offering anyone who completes the survey the opportunity to take part in further focus groups to offer more detailed feedback.

Access the highways survey before it closes midday 1 August 2023. Offline submissions also available on request.
Reporting highways issues can be done online Your Highways – Report it – Highways (gloucestershire.gov.uk)

Feedback: Dursley Rocks at Dursley Rugby Club 
Friday & Saturday 9th & 10th June

The Rugby Club are holding a review in connection with the club hosting the Dursley Rocks event during the weekend of 9-10th June and have invited Stinchcombe residents to contribute regarding their experience of the event. If you have any comments, positive or negative, and/or suggestions for how things could be structured or managed better or differently, I’d be pleased to collate them and pass them onto the Club for their consideration.

I’ll be happy to coordinate the feedback and will ensure all feedback is anonymous in order to protect privacy. You can contact me in any of the following ways:

• E-mail me at: dr.a.macfarlane@icloud.com
• Text me on: 07976 353325
• Written feedback dropped into my letterbox at: The Barn, Townsend Farm, The Street, GL11 6AP.

Charlie Macfarlane.
Parish Councillor.

News from Berkeley & Oldbury Site Stakeholders Group

Magnox Ltd, based in Berkeley, are responsible for decommissioning the old Magnox nuclear power stations, including the local Berkeley and Oldbury stations. This brief has been extended by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to include Sellafield and Dounreay, and the Advanced Gas Cooled Reactors (AGRs) which will be closing down over the next 10 years. It is probable that all nuclear establishments will also come under the same umbrella company. As the company will have a much-increased portfolio, a rebranding project is currently being undertaken

Berkeley & Oldbury Site Stakeholder Group

Magnox have formed Site Stakeholder Groups (SSGs) for each site. These hold quarterly meetings outlining decommissioning progress and regulatory reports. I attend the Berkeley & Oldbury SSG meetings as representative for Stinchcombe Parish Council.
Details of SSG activities can be found at https://magnoxstakeholdergroups.com/ . In future the minutes of the SSG meetings will be added to this website

SSG Meeting on 11^th May 2023

The meetings do not only discuss decommissioning, but also wider issues as in the examples below.

Proposed redevelopment of silt lagoon

One of the silt lagoons at Oldbury is now under consideration for change of use. When the station was running is was required to settle silt out of the water to be used for cooling. The most likely outcome is a change to a wetlands reserve for birds.

New nuclear build

The government is in the process of setting up a new flagship body, Great British Nuclear (GBN), to enable nuclear projects and support the UK’s nuclear industry. It is envisaged that GBN will help projects through every stage of the development process and develop “a resilient pipeline” of new builds.

New large scale nuclear power stations are either under construction (Hinkley Point C, 3.2 GW) or planned (Sizewell C) by client EDF. More may be built, but also under consideration is the development of small modular reactors (SMRs), typically with capacity up to 500 MW per unit. The main components will be factory built and assembled on site. This will reduce the construction period and facilitate high quality workmanship under factory conditions.

GBN are currently reviewing six designs for SMRs, including by Rolls Royce https://www.rolls-royce-smr.com/ and a company supported by Bill Gates https://www.terrapower.com/ . SMRs are pressurised water reactors (PWRs), in line with most new nuclear power stations. The Rolls Royce SMR derives from established technology used in nuclear submarines.

It is probable that Oldbury will be selected for development of a new SMR. This should be largely welcomed in the local area for the job opportunities and involvement of local industries.

Chris Davies

The Emergency Alerts service

The UK government’s new Emergency Alerts system is now live.

• The system will enable people to be contacted via their mobile phone when lives are in danger.
• It will be used to warn you in the event of emergencies, such as severe flooding.
• If you receive an alert, read the alert carefully and follow the instructions.

On Sunday 23 April 2023 at 3pm, there will be a national test of the Emergency Alerts service.

Emergency Alerts are sent to all compatible mobile phones within an area of risk. They don’t track your location, need your phone number, or collect personal data. Only the government and the emergency services will be able to send them. If you don’t have a mobile phone, you’ll still be kept informed through other channels.

If you get an Emergency Alert on your phone:

• You’ll hear a loud, siren-like sound.
• A message on your screen will tell you about the emergency and how best to respond.

You’ll be able to check an alert is genuine at gov.uk/alerts
You can opt out of receiving emergency alerts; for more information on how to opt out please go to gov.uk/alerts

Having joined the Council in December 2019 and chaired it since May 2021, Simon Packer has now resigned. He has worked very hard for the benefit of the village and the PC would like to thank him for his very valuable contribution.

This means that there is now a vacancy on the Parish Council. Membership of the Council is open to anyone who lives or owns a business in, or within three miles of, Stinchcombe and is an opportunity to be involved in village life and to have a say in what happens here. It involves attendance at, usually, nine meetings per year, at approximately six-week intervals (with mulled wine at Christmas!) and each lasting about an hour and a half. There is also some communication by email between meetings. It would be an excellent way for someone new to the village to become established and get to know people or for those who’ve been here a while to become more involved and we would welcome applications from new residents as well as long-standing ones.

Ours is a very small Parish Council with only five members but a quorum of three is required for meetings (the same as for a council of ten members). If we don’t have a full complement of councillors, a touch of flu and a traffic jam on the same day can mean cancelling a meeting at short notice. This hasn’t happened often but means that we would like to fill the vacancy as soon as possible. If you think you might be interested, don’t hesitate to contact the Clerk at clerk@stinchcombepc.co.uk for more information.

Nola