Leader's blog - w/c 20 April 2026

“I attended a fantastic evening last week celebrating the many community organisations who had received a council Climate and Nature Grant. With a relatively small amount of funding, these grants have enabled a wide range of volunteer-led projects, from installing water collection and conservation systems in allotments, to swift boxes with electronic callers on buildings, tree planting schemes and community energy projects. I am delighted that we were also able to announce a further £30,000 of funding for this year to support more community initiatives.

Stroud District Council has now ended its term as host of Gloucestershire Resources and Waste Partnership, which brings together all councils in Gloucestershire and was chaired by councillor Tricia Watson. There is real energy and ambition within the partnership to support the circular economy and encourage re-use over the disposal of unwanted items. Across the county, charities and community enterprises are already doing great work in this area, and we want to make re-use easier for everyone. As many of you take on a spring clean, I would encourage you to support re-use wherever possible, rather than putting items in your bin. Our Litter Champion continues to organise and support litter picks across the district, working with schools and town and parish councils, and in collaboration with the University of Gloucestershire is trialling a new app to photograph and identify the branding of litter. 

We have also just issued our Biodiversity Duty Report on the council website. It highlights the positive nature recovery work happening across the district, much of it led by local communities, as well as setting out our plans for the future. It’s well worth a read. 

Alongside this, the council continues to invest in affordable homes. Sixteen new affordable, energy-efficient homes in Kingswood have just announced, with many more planned across the district, helping more residents with the cost-of-living crisis.”

Cllr Martin Pearcy, Chair of Environment Committee