Alkington

The parish of Alkington lies on the southern boundary of Gloucestershire within the Berkeley Vale. It is east of the town of Berkeley and is located half way between Bristol and Gloucester. The north/south through routes of the M5, A38 and the Bristol to Gloucester main line railway all cut across the parish but, despite these major arteries, the parish has extremely poor public transport links with local towns and cities.

The parish is home to approximately seven hundred people. About 160 of these are under 18 and about 100 are over 65. In view of the number of young people, the lack of any provision for play or youth activities is a matter for concern, especially since the lack of affordable transport or safe walking/cycling routes make it impossible for youngsters to take part in activities in other local towns. Difficulties with transport apply to the whole population and this has led to an overwhelming dependence on the motorcar. It has also made it very difficult to obtain planning permission within the parish as applications are generally turned down on the grounds that there is no public transport available. Eventually the countryside will die if this criterion is always accepted as the most important consideration.

With the decline of agriculture as a local employer, the working population in general has to go farther afield to find jobs. Providing employment within the parish are Michaelwood Services on the M5, two public houses, two motels (one associated with the motorway services at Michaelwood), two garages - one of which sells papers, bread, milk and a few other items, a coach hire company, a caravan site, a small industrial estate, a garden centre, a skip hire business, builders and a couple of office premises. The forthcoming appraisal should provide better information about this.

The parish does not have a focal point since there is no school, shop, post office or community facility. Newport Chapel provides the only place of worship and can also be used for community meetings when necessary. Stone Cricket Club, which has its ground within the parish, is the only place where community social activities can be held.

The eleven hamlets all tend to have different foci for their nearest towns. For example, Woodford could tend towards Stone (for school and church) and perhaps Thornbury (for shopping), whilst Blanchworth might tend towards North Nibley and perhaps Wotton-under-Edge.

In 2002 Alkington Parish Council acquired a new clerk and five new members. This means that all but one of the Parish Council members, together with the Clerk, are on a steep learning curve. With a view to achieving 'Quality Parish' status, all members are undertaking training as available and the clerk is enrolled on suitable courses. A Parish Appraisal will be undertaken during February 2003 to establish electors' concerns, problems and opinions. If this appraisal highlights any significant problems which require additional feedback from parishioners this will be arranged, because the council members want to accurately reflect local feelings.

January 2003