Current Issues

Current Issues

There are a number of issues that are currently  ‘active’ within the parish. These include:

‘Adopting’ the Public Open Spaces on Coopers Edge

It has taken many years of tireless lobbying by our councillors to get the Public Open Spaces that were provided by the developers of the Coopers Edge site (and in particular the sports facilities) officially transferred over to Tewkesbury Borough Council.

In early 2024 the first area was formally adopted by the Council, and the operator of the sports facilities (Barnwood UTD AFC) will shortly be getting the facilities up and running.

The parish council will continue to press the developers and the borough council to quickly transfer over the remaining Public Open Spaces, and we will make sure that any final building or road surfacing works are completed.

Plan of open spaces

Tackling Climate Change at a local level

The parish council has become recognised as a pioneer on the Climate Change front – organising a week-long Sustainability Festival, publishing a Green Guide (click here) to help residents reduce their energy costs and protect local wildlife, planting hundreds of trees and sowing huge swathes of wildflowers. We have also hosted a Repair Café and installed new littler bins to encourage people to pre-sort their litter into ‘recyclables’ or ‘general waste.’

Sir Jonathan Porritt
Respected environmental campaigner Sir Jonathan Porritt launched our 2023 Sustainability Festival

In 2024 we plan to improve the energy efficiency of Pineholt Village Hall (which should more than halve its carbon footprint), and we will be seeking to get several local green spaces protected from future development. The parish is also campaigning to improve cycling provision and is encouraging residents to Share Lifts to work.

Green Guide picture
Our Green Guide can be downloaded from the website, and hard copies are available for free at the parish office

We plan to continue to run events to inspire people to do more to address the challenges of Climate Change – including volunteer litter picking sessions, wildflower seed harvesting, and further tree planting.

The Mound

This hillock, next to the Bowling Green, has been unloved and unused for many years. The structure contains about 1,500 lorry loads of rubble and soil left over from the construction of the Cranham Gate estate, which was built in the 1990s.

The Mound
We are pushing for the ‘Mound’ to become a community park

The parish is currently working with the developer of Cranham Gate (Vistry Homes, formerly Bovis) to create a major new community asset.

Plans are still at an early stage, but following a local engagement event, it was clear residents would like the Mound re-landscaped as a community park.

There is also interest in providing some allotments on part of the site, a community composting facility, overflow parking for the adjacent sports facilities and a wildlife area/outdoor classroom.

This project will take two or three years to progress, and it will help to further boost the parish’s green credentials.

Installing a new Trim Trail

The parish has obtained a significant grant from Gloucestershire County Council to install the first phase of a Trim Trail. During 2024 the initial four  pieces of fitness equipment should be installed, and – if it is well-used – there are plans to add additional items across the Coopers Edge area.

dip bars

Traffic Noise

Local residents regularly raise concerns about noisy or speeding vehicles in the area. We are pressing to get the police’s mobile speed camera vehicle deployed more regularly, and we are hopeful that the new roundabout that will be built on the dual carriageway at the rear of Sussex Gardens will help to slow down the traffic there.

Our councillors are continuing to press Highways England to get improved sound barriers installed along the embankment adjacent to Sussex Gardens and Belmont Avenue.

Creating a Local Heritage Trail

The Hucclecote/Brockworth area has a long association with the aeronautical sector, and during World War II the first jet engine powered planes flew from the former airfield that is now the site of the Gloucester Business Park. (https://hucclecotepc.gov.uk/our-history/)

The parish recently discovered that Tewkesbury Borough was holding a pot of money ring fenced for funding public art on Coopers Edge. Working with Brockworth and Upton St Leonard’s parish councils, and the Jet Age Museum we are planning to use this fund to install a heritage trail around Coopers Edge. A series of information boards will explain the history, and these will be strategically located where the original aircraft factory buildings once stood.

It is hoped the trail will be launched late 2024 or early 2025.

Parking problems associated with workers from the Business Park

As the Gloucester Business Park has expanded, some workers have been parking in local residential streets.

To tackle this the parish has worked with residents to introduce new parking restrictions across Cranham Gate.

We also have plans to introduce similar parking restrictions in those sections of the Coopers Edge development that lie within our parish boundary.

The process is complicated by the fact that – at present – some of the streets in Coopers Edge are still owned by the consortium of house builders that constructed the new homes, and the new restrictions cannot be implemented until the streets are formally adopted by Gloucestershire County Council. If everything goes to plan the roads should be adopted late in 2024, and the parking restrictions can then be introduced.

The impact of the Perrybrook development

Although this 1,500 home development is outside our parish boundary the project is having a significant wider impact – generating significantly more traffic along the existing access roads, and adding pressure on educational, public transport, leisure and healthcare facilities.

The whole project will take about ten years to build, and includes 600 affordable homes, a care home for 175 elderly people, offices, and shops.

The parish is currently exploring if better bus links can be established, especially as there will soon be a new Brockworth GP surgery on the Perrybrook site, and many of our local residents are registered with this surgery.

Representing local views on major planning issues

Tewkesbury Borough Council (alongside Cheltenham and Gloucester) is currently in the process of drawing up a new Strategic Plan for the area.

This could have a big impact on Hucclecote – as several major developments are being suggested in or close to us. Our councillors are closely monitoring the process and will be making representations on any issues that we feel our residents may be concerned about.

Recent successes

M5 Resurfacing

We have seen a modest improvement in traffic noise levels associated with the M5, largely as a result of campaigning and high-level lobbying work undertaken by the parish council.

Widening access to the Bowls Club

The Pineholt Bowls Club will be welcoming Hucclecote residents and offering ‘taster sessions’ following the re-negotiation of the Club’s Lease terms. When the Club moved to its site about 20 years ago it operated largely as a private club and few locals made use of the facility.

The parish council liaised with the Club during 2023, and the revised lease now means that any local resident can attend the sessions that are run every Friday evening during the summer Bowling season; residents can also attend the Quiz Nights and other social functions the Club organises in the winter months. In addition to an excellent bowling green, there’s a good bar and lounge area at the facility.

We are hopeful that the Bowls Club and the new operator of the sports facilities will explore how they can work together to further improve the range of social and leisure activities available to our residents.

Securing a site for a much bigger Hucclecote Surgery

Because of all the new homes that have been built in the area it has becoming increasingly difficult to register with a local GP, and the Hucclecote surgery in particular is far too small to cope with local demand – it was built in the 1960s and is 45% undersized.

The parish council has worked with others to explore several possible locations for a new building and we are pleased that a site close to the existing GP practice has been secured.

The £5m building, on land occupied by the former Jordans Brook House in North Upton Lane, will have 17 clinical rooms, including three training rooms, a patient drop-off bay and 29 parking spaces.

If everything goes to plan the new surgery should open in the summer of 2025.

New surgery