Chance to work together (From Gazette Series)

Chance to work together

COUNTY residents are to be asked for their views on how problems like congestion should be tackled.

The Gloucestershire Strategic Partnership (GSP), a group of key organisations including the county council and police, will work together on the Great Gloucestershire Debate to find out what matters most to people living in Gloucestershire.

The public consultation exercise, which was launched on Monday, will then be used to shape the direction of local policy.

Transport is at the top of the agenda as road experts warn congestion is likely to become a serious problem.

Other issues in the partnership's Community Strategy for Gloucestershire include boosting the local economy, tackling substance misuse, getting people off benefits and back to work, tackling fear of crime and affordable housing.

Launching the debate partnership chairman Chris Creswick said: "In order to make better plans and good decisions the GSP believes that it would be really helpful to engage the public as fully as possible in discussing problems and possible solutions. This is what the Great Gloucestershire Debate is all about."

Gloucestershire County Council chief executive Peter Bungard said: "It's time to give the community a voice. There are many people out there who believe they will not be heard, but I want to send out the very clear message that we are listening.

'There are around 1,600 voluntary and community organisations in Gloucestershire, whose members work hard day in and day out, but don't get the chance to talk publicly about the issues that affect them. Only a minority of people ever take part in public consultations - the majority, who don't answer questionnaires or attend public meetings, have views too and it is these people we are trying to reach. The Great Gloucestershire Debate is a chance for the public to give us a mandate to lead on some of these tough issues.

Council leader Barry said: "I'm very keen to create an environment where we all listen to the local community on the big issues for today's society. Transport is obviously a serious current issue and I look forward to a successful debate."