What the Parish Council does
This page gives an outline of the Parish Council's work. The best way to stay up to date is to follow the Hunts Grove Parish Council Facebook page where we post information and links to our blog posts and video updates. There are also noticeboards outside the school, by the lower entrance The Acorn and at Lime Tree Playground.
Village development
It’s really important that Hunts Grove gets the facilities it needs to have a high quality of life and a strong community. That includes a suitable community centre and sports facilities, shops and other services, open spaces and play areas.
The Parish Council engages with Crest Nicholson (the master developer) and others to influence the planning and design, to keep an eye on delivery and to raise residents' concerns. We are a consultee on planning applications for the village and provide input so that Stroud District Council can make decisions in the best interests of residents.
Community
Helping establish a strong community is really important so the Parish Council:
- Runs community events. We have organised the "Hunts Groove" Platinum Jubilee music festival “Hunts Groove” in 2022, and Coronation Festival in 2024 as well as a Santa's Grotto at PTA Christmas fetes, a community day and a Teddy Bear's picnic.
- Organises regularly litter picking by the Hunts Grove Wombles (look out for posts on the council Facebook page or join the Hunts Grove Wombles Facebook group)
- Ran a project to name our open spaces and worked with the school to name play areas
- Looks to encourage and build awareness of community groups (new and established) in or near to Hunts Grove
- Has established a Business Plan delivery team comprising councillors and residents to prepare the council for expected growth over the next 5 years
- Is building a business directory so we can all support local Hunts Grove businesses.
Campaign to abolish the Management Company
The open spaces on Phases 2 to 4 of the village, as well as the community and sports facilities when built, are owned and maintained by a management company funded by yearly payments by residents. This is different from Phase 1 where the open spaces will be adopted by Stroud District Council. This arrangement causes a number of challenges around fairness and local control as well as costing residents in Phases 2 to 4 more money. The Parish Council wants to abolish the management company and adopt the facilities and open spaces as part of our “One Hunts Grove” strategy. For more details of the campaign and our process, see our January 2023 Manco update.
Services and amenities
The Parish Council can also deliver additional community facilities and services, for example:
- We secured funding for the purchase and installation of defibrillators which you’ll see soon outside the school and at the entrance to the village
- We have secured funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to replace the noticeboards around the village that are in a very poor state
- We have started exploring options for youth participation and activities.