Stroud District Council Leader's Diary

Wednesday, May 29 – Visit to Snow Business

THIS was the last of the current series of visits to major employers in the Stroud district by David Hagg (Chief Executive) and myself.

It was absolutely fascinating to see the many and varied ways of creating snow-like conditions for a wide range of commercial and entertainment businesses. If you have seen a TV series or major film with snow scenes, you have almost certainly seen this local product.

All eight local employers visited over the last couple of months reported that despite the current economic conditions they were doing well, both nationally and internationally, in a wide range of products from snooker table cloths (WSP Textiles) through precision measurement (Renishaw) to Snow Business.

Other companies visited by us were Bottle Green, Howard Tenens, Downtons, Magnox, Delphi and Ecotricity.

Thursday, May 30 – Canal channel full

THE new canal channel at Capels Mill is now finally full with 5m litres of water – that’s the equivalent of two Olympic swimming pools!

Tuesday, June 4 – Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership

I SHALL be attending a special event to mark the second anniversary of the LEP and to celebrate its achievements in growing Gloucestershire as the place to live, work and invest. As I have mentioned before in this column, the LEP is considered by central government as a main vehicle for funding growth in commercial investments and the local infrastructure.

One of the district council’s key priorities, and a driver for our Local Plan, is to grow the local economy and increase the number of local jobs. We must do this in co-operation with partners of which the LEP is clearly a major one.

Friday, June 7 – Local Strategic Partnership

THE LSP is made up of members from about 30 different organisations. There are public, private, voluntary and community groups represented who have a diverse wealth of local knowledge and expertise.

The LSP's purpose is to improve the quality of life for local people by encouraging effective partnership and sharing information between those people who can directly and indirectly bring about change.

In the last year the LSP has strongly promoted links between businesses and schools and colleges in Stroud.

At Friday’s meeting, members will be given an update on progress including raising awareness of local businesses among students and increasing work experience time. We shall also hear from the DWP on progress with the implementation of Universal Credit and how job seekers’ skills are being matched to jobs.

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