News

Five-day closure of Hempsted Household Recycling Centre in June

From 19 to 23 June, Hempsted Household Recycling Centre (HRC) in Gloucester will be closed to finish the work already underway to accommodate more traffic and reduce queues.
The changes will take effect after the June closure and are being made in response to customer feedback and increased use.
The temporary closure is necessary for the work to be completed safely, but the duration has been kept to a minimum.
Work includes extending the upper road area and creating a multiple lane system, as well as increasing the boundary size to accommodate heavy vehicles. The plans will also make it possible for a reuse shop to be added in the future.
Alternative recycling facilities are available at the HRCs at Fosse Cross, Wingmoor Farm, Oak Quarry and Pyke Quarry however residents may prefer to plan their visit before or after the closure dates to avoid potential queues at other sites.
Thank you for your patience and understanding during this essential closure.
The full list of household recycling centres is available on www.recycleforgloucestershire.com

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Neighbourhood Watch Message

Warning for Builders and other Tradesmen

Please be aware that thieves are targeting vehicles belonging to builders and other tradesmen when they park where they are working, staying overnight or outside their homes and stealing power and hand tools from inside. Please remind neighbours who are in the trade that they should remove tools from vehicles overnight and when parked up during the day or take other suitable action to prevent theft. Consider using some of the following tips:

• If you have a garage, use it. If you have to park your van outside try to park with the rear doors close to a building, garage door, wall or hedge to make gaining access more difficult.
• Consider using additional locks specific to vans.
• Consider adding an additional alarm to the vehicle to protect any goods or tools stored while in transit.
• Leave your vehicle empty. Don’t leave tools in vehicles unattended or overnight, and place a sign in the window stating they have been removed.
• If this is not possible consider installing secure storage containers or lockers in the van to store the tools in.
• Property marking. Security mark your tools to deter criminals. Either engrave or mark the tools with a permanent marker or paint, with your post code and house number or name. Also use an ultraviolet pen to covertly mark the tools or use a covert product such as Smartwater or Selecta DNA. Further details can be found at www.smartwater.com and www.selectadna.co.uk
• Register your tools on Immobilise the national property register at www.immobilise.com where you can record makes, models, serial numbers etc. This will help to trace them back to you if they are stolen and then recovered. Take photographs of your tools and equipment to help trace them if they are stolen.

Remember the police rely on information from members of the public in order to crack down on this type of crime so please report any suspicious activity, including being offered tools for sale in suspicious circumstances, to the police on 101, or if a crime is in progress dial 999.

Alternatively you can report information anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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The proposal to create a new ‘super surgery’ on the Perrybrook site (involving both the Hucclecote and Brockworth GP surgeries) is progressing, but the pace is slow. The NHS’s Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) told us this week that both practices were keen to create a new purpose-designed, much larger shared facility, and their preferred option is to build this on land on the Perrybrook site.

The GP practices are understood to have appointed consultants to work out the costs and the various finance options.

However, progress has slowed because of some planning wrangles related to the Perrybrook development, and until these are sorted out there is unlikely to be a breakthrough. The CCG’s best guess at when things may start to really get moving again was the autumn of 2017.

If it proves too challenging to deliver the ‘super surgery’ on the Perrybrook site both GP practices are exploring alternative options; this might involve securing an affordable plot of land elsewhere for a joint super surgery; or seeking two smaller plots for two individual facilities. As soon as we hear of any further developments we will publish another update on the parish website.

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Neighbourhood Watch Message

At about 3.45 am on Sunday 7th May the owner of a house in Donaldson Drive, Brockworth was asleep upstairs when two unknown male offenders smashed the rear kitchen window and reached in to grab a set of car keys. They were then seen to drive off in the owners purple Citroen DS3 registration number YS16VKR. The vehicle was briefly spotted by Police on the Painswick Road round about heading into Gloucester city centre at about 4am. One of the offenders cut his arm when smashing the window leaving blood at the scene of the crime.

Linked to this crime is a burglary at the Community Centre at Coopers Edge School in Typhoon Way. At about 3.30am neighbours to the school could hear banging coming from the community centre followed by an intruder alarm activation. Two males were then seen to run from the rear of the building and off towards Merlin Way. One was carrying an orange bag. Another neighbour saw a male trying to get into a car on a driveway who ducked into bushes when he realised he was been watched. He was described as wearing a blue running jacket with two reflective strips on the back. Entry had been gained to a vehicle and the community centre via smashing glass. Items were stolen from the vending machine in the centre.

Also back on Friday 28th April a house in Moorfield Road was entered during the day when the owner was out at work. Entry was gained by forcing through the rear patio doors and the offenders conducted an untidy search stealing gold jewellery and cash from an upstairs room.

There have been three shed or garage burglaries reported between the period 1st May and 3rd May although they were most likely all committed overnight on 2nd and 3rd May. Two of these offences occurred on Coopers Hill where two full fuels cans were stolen from a shed and two hedge trimmers were stolen from a shed which also had its lock forced. An insecure garage in Green Street was entered and a box of records, a hedge trimmer, petrol lawn mower, a Husqvarna chainsaw and a Flymo Strimmer were stolen.

If you have any information regarding these incidents please report the matter to the police by ringing 101 or by email to 101@gloucestershire.police.uk
Alternatively you may report any information you have anonymously to Crimestoppers by ringing 0800 555111 or at www.crimestoppers-uk.org

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The Annual Assembly of the Parish Meeting will be held at the Pineholt Bowls Club on Monday 15th May 2017, starting 6.30 p.m.

This meeting is open to all residents of the civil parish of Hucclecote. The agenda for this meeting can be found in the ‘Council Meeting’ section. We look forward to seeing you.

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The work to improve the Pineholt Village Hall will commence on 8th May 2017, therefore the facility will be out of action for around 4 months while the building work is undertaken. During this time the parish council office will be temporarily relocated to the Hucclecote Community Centre. The office will be open Monday – Thursday 09:00 – 12:00.

The telephone contact number will be 07716122319. Please do not ring the Hucclecote Community Centre as they will be unable to connect you.

By early September the project should be completed and the much improved hall will be ready to use again. Regular updates will be posted here and on our Facebook page.

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Neighbourhood Watch Message

Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service (GFRS) has joined other services around the country to urge residents to stop using white goods that have been recalled. 

GFRS attends more than two incidents every month involving defective white goods and, as part of their Safe and Well campaign, carry out free checks of all white goods in the home. 

Trained teams will visit, free of charge, and carry a full safety check for residents. You can book a visit by calling free on 0800 180 41 40 or visiting www.glosfire.gov.uk. 

White goods fire safety tips:

• Be sure to register your appliances so you can be contacted if a safety repair is ever needed. It’s easier than you think! Visit http://www.registermyappliance.org.uk/
• You can also use the free “self service” model checker on the following websites or call 0800 151 0905 to confirm if your appliance is affected and for details on the next steps should your model require corrective action.
  • For Hotpoint, Creda or Proline – http://safety.hotpoint.eu
  • For Indesit – http://safety.indesit.eu
  • For Swan – http://safety-swan.eu
• Don’t leave appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines and tumble dryers running overnight or when the house is empty.
• Good housekeeping can reduce the risk of fire – dusty vents on fridges should be cleaned and lint filters cleaned regularly.
• If your tumble dryer is taking longer to dry your clothes, the vent hose may need cleaning out.
• Research reveals that 32% of people would continue to use white goods even if they started making strange noises. It’s never wise to ignore strange appliance noises – turn the appliance off and call an electrician.
• Make sure you have working smoke alarms and a fire escape plan.

Visit www.glosfire.gov.uk for more tips and advice about electrical safety

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Gloucestershire’s NHS team wants to encourage local people to be more active, so they live healthier lifestyles and therefore make less demand on health and social care services. This is one of the main themes that emerged from a presentation on the Sustainability and Transformation Plan attended by the parish council in Gloucester yesterday (21 March). 

Over the next five years the county’s population is expected to increase by 42,000 and the number of older people with a long term health condition is forecast to soar from 47,500  to 77,000. 

A range of initiatives are therefore being launched to encourage more active lifestyles – including programmes that aim to get people ‘walking for health’, setting up Zumba classes, launching community choirs and opportunities for people to do more gardening, and a big push to encourage people to lose weight. Ellen Rule, the local NHS Director of Transformation, said it had already made significant progress with its weight loss initiative – collectively the people of Gloucestershire have already lost the equivalent of seven double decker buses in weight. 

Once Pineholt Village Hall has been enlarged and upgraded (the work should be completed by the end of the summer) we will investigate if there is demand for fitness or similar classes to be run there. 

Other elements of the Transformation plan include establishing 16 ‘cluster GP’ practices (one of these could be set up on the Perrybrook development to serve the residents of Hucclecote), and a major overhaul of IT systems. 

The full Plan can be viewed online here. www.gloucestershirestp.net

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We have received the following notification from Barclays Bank regarding the Hucclecote Branch:

On 23 June 2017, we will be closing our branch in Hucclecote.  Our records show a low and falling level of transactions at the branch with a 8% drop in the last year alone.  On average more than 58% of our customers are already using other branches, and this figure is even higher for our business customers. 

This closure means our nearest branch will be at Southgate Street, Gloucester. Everyday transactions, typically carried out over branch counters (including paying in a cheque or depositing cash), can also be completed at the Post Office located at  Silverdale Parade, Hillview Road, Hucclecote GL3 3LA.

In terms of what the change means in practical terms, customers that currently use the branch will not need to take any action as all account details, sort code, account number, direct debits will remain the same. If a customer is registered for Barclays Mobile Banking, Online Banking and Telephone Banking they are also exactly the same, and customers can carry on using existing cards, PIN and chequebooks as normal.

Letters to customers regarding this matter will be arriving with customers from Friday 17th March 2017. 

Community Banking Director
Gloucester, Worcester & The Valleys

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