Gloucestershire Amenity Societies’ Association – the umbrella body for all of the civic societies in the county – submitted its concerns about Local Government Reorganisation to all council leaders earlier this year.
The Association requested that any approach to local government reorganisation in the county should include:
a. Planning boards structured around towns and settlements, not solely centralised authorities.
b. Rural planning boards, perhaps at parish council level, provide a similar capability across all rural areas.
c. Appointment and retention of locally assigned conservation officers and tree officers with genuine place-based knowledge.
d. Clear mechanisms for civic and community input at settlement level, with amenity and civic societies accorded formal consultee status on planning, public realm and conservation matters.
e. Explicit recognition that rural and mixed counties require different governance models from metropolitan areas.
f. Town centre forums be established in every larger settlement to coordinate management of the public realm and promote civic pride. Members to include, as a minimum, town council representatives, the local amenity group, Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and neighbourhood police.
g. Best practice from all councils to be adopted by the new unitary authority. Examples include CBC’s licensing visibility alongside their planning applications, and the Cotswold’s Design Guide, which was held up as national best practice by the Government’s Living With Beauty report of 2020.
Click here to read or download the letter GASA sent to all Gloucestershire council leaders.
