Leader's blog - w/c 1 September 2025
"Good luck to everyone starting the new school or college year this week, teachers included! Councillors are also readying themselves for a new term, with our cycle of decision-making committee meetings beginning on 2nd September with Development Control (planning), followed by Housing on the 9th – as always, you can find links to watch our meetings and read the papers at https://www.stroud.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/
This week is also international Zero Waste Week, focussed this year on fashion and textiles. In the UK, we throw away 350,000 tonnes of clothing every year, wasting the production materials, water and generating carbon. Recycling is great, but it has its own environmental footprint – better to avoid waste in the first place, by repairing, buying second-hand, or making your own from remnants. We’ll be sharing plenty of tips over the course of the week on our socials. Date for the diary: Rewear Revolution, Saturday 27 September, 11am-9.30pm at Trinity Rooms Community Hub, Stroud – join Stroud Valleys Project, Transition Stroud and friends for a clothes swap, upcycled fashion show and preloved sofa chat with a local fashion professional.
A reminder that new exhibition Earth Fire Iron: Alan Evans and the New Iron Age opens on Saturday 6th September at the Museum in the Park, commemorating the career of local artist-blacksmith Alan Evans. Do visit the Museum’s website for a whole range of exciting events at the museum and other local venues, running alongside the exhibition itself.
Finally, the sixth Stonehouse Walking Festival runs from 5th to 14th September. With a great range of free guided walks - level field and woodland footpaths, gently rolling fields, scenic views, canal, river and rail trails, walks for restricted mobility, family fun walk, history walk, tree walks, picnics, pub and cafe stops - there is something for all. More at https://stonehousewalkfest.wixsite.com/walkstonehouse "
Cllr Chloe Turner, Leader of Stroud District Council