STROUD District Council leader Steve Lydon introduces the next week of his calendar.

Thursday 16 February

I attended a Leadership Gloucestershire meeting along with all the district council leaders, the county council, Local Enterprise Partnership, Police and Crime and Crime Commissioner and the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group.

Two priorities that I advocated were accepted: that all organisations get behind are skills and affordable housing.

These were identified as key issues in the recent Stroud business and residents surveys.

I also wish to record my thanks to Suzette Davenport the Chief Constable who has announced her retirement.

The council’s environment committee

Amongst the topics it discussed was a report received on the Future of Town Centres in the district.

Town centres are the heart of our communities and it's important we do our best to support, and when possible, enhance them.

Also discussed was the approval of the Design Statement for Slimbridge, and an update on the Kingswood Neighbourhood Development Plan.

Tuesday 20th February Housing Committee

A busy agenda which includes an item on how effectively the council engages and consults with its tenants.

This will be the first meeting where there will two tenant representatives.

Sadie Tazewell will join Ian Allan and it will be great to have them along to fully contribute to discussions and review our policies.

Thursday 23rd February full council meeting

Where we will set the council tax for the next financial year.

It's worth noting that in terms of where the money goes, the majority goes to the County Council, then the Police and Crime Commissioner, the district council is next and then lastly the Parish and Town Councils.

The proposal is a £5 annual increase in council tax.

At Band D this means council tax goes up by 10p a week.

The Government expects all councils to raise their council tax by up to 2 per cent (1.99 per cent is the highest we can go) or £5 whichever is the higher.

Our 4 year plan is shown with a £5 increase being applied for each year.

However, we will make a council decision each year on whether to apply the next £5 increase.

As always don’t forget that agendas and reports for all SDC meetings are available on the council’s website (stroud.gov.uk) as are the webcasts of the meetings where you can either watch them ‘live’ or at a later date.