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Thursday 15 July 2010

Deep Roots Music Festival at Frog & Fiddle

31 July 2010, Frog & Fiddle

Deep Roots' second installment comes after the success of it's first night in February 2010 that raised over £350 for DEC Haiti and Rene:gade Roots which saw more than 300 people pass through and raised more than £400 for Sue Ryder. This time they will bring you some of the finest local talent this county has seen on a packed night of bands, DJ's and MC's that will have the place jumping.

ACTS:
Boys in the Wood
(Acoustic/Folk/Reggae)
Vital Organz (Live Roots UK Hip Hop)
Arianna & The 4th Phase (Acoustic)
Rat-Tash Co (Live Roots UK Hip Hop)
Elliot Withers (Acoustic/Alternative)
Charlotte Coupland (Acoustic/Folk)

DJ's:
DJ Senz/Nick Beats
Expect a lively jam session toward the end of the gig with all the artists involved in the night =)

Time: 7.30pm - 11:30pm Price: £3/£2.50(Students)/£2 Live Music Society
For more information visit http://www.deep-roots.co.uk/

Cheltenham MP To Become a Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Transport Committee

Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood has welcomed his appointment by Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg as chair of the Liberal Democrat parliamentary transport committee. He chaired his first meeting of the policy group last Wednesday. Martin’s new brief will cover all aspects of transport policy including rail, road, aviation, buses, cycling and alternatives to travel. In the last parliament, he was a shadow environment minister for the Lib Dems but as many senior Lib Dems have entered the coalition government, roles have changed to focus on co-ordinating policy with ministers and leading the development of new policy for the Liberal Democrat party. Lib Dem transport minister Norman Baker will attend the parliamentary committee whenever possible and Martin will have a direct line to the Department for Transport.

“I’m very pleased to have been given this role” said Martin. “It’s important that there is a Lib Dem voice outside government on key policy issues. We may be in government but we are still a separate political party with our own values and ideas as well. Norman Baker has brought his outstanding green credentials to government and we will be doing our best to support him. But we also need to look ahead to the party’s 2015 manifesto and keep the fresh, radical ideas coming.”

“It’s also a role that ties in very neatly with my responsibility to Cheltenham. Bus services, railway services and aviation are all local issues as well as national ones and I hope I will learn a lot from dealing with government that I can put to good use here as well.”

Leckhampton Court Hospice Autumn Fayre

11 September 2010, Leckhampton Court, Church Road, Leckhampton. 11am - 4pm

Live music, performances and entertainment all day including The Music Man children's entertainer, Cotswold Big Band and Gloucestershire Morris Men. Stalls selling arts and crafts, jams, plants and much more. Grand Raffle, bouncy castle, Angells Pets, face painting, children's games, BBQ, tea and cakes.

Admission: Adults £2, Children and Concessions £1. All proceeds will go to Sue Ryder Care - Leckhampton Court Hospice.


District Sports Summer Activities for Children

District Sports are running the following 4 weeks this summer:


July 26th - 30th Football Academy @ Chipping Campden School, Cotswolds
August 2nd - 6th American Sports Academy @ Sir Thomas Rich School, Gloucester
August 9th - 13th Cricket Academy @ Balcarras School, Cheltenham
August 23rd - 27th Football Academy @ Chipping Campden School, Cotswolds

All days are 9am-4pm, the schools are aimed at mixed ability boys and girls between 5-14 yrs old, coaching new skills, tactics and gameplay. All coaches are qualified, CRB checked and experienced in delivering FUN and enjoyable sessions. There will be plenty of competitions and prizes within each week so everyone always goes home happy.

Costs - £17 per day or £70 per week (£15 discount) + 10% discount available for siblings attending together. To book - please contact Jamie on 07763462795 or email him at jroberts@districtsports.co.uk

Tuesday 6 July 2010

Cheltenham MP Praises RSS Abolition by Coalition

Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood welcomed the coalition’s commitment to scrapping Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS), which would have imposed thousands of new homes on areas of green land around Cheltenham.

Speaking in a debate in Westminster Hall, Martin praised the work of organisations such as the Leckhampton Green Land Action Group (Leglag) and Save the Countryside. He singled out local campaigners and councillors like Kit Braunholtz, Alice Ross, Helen Wells, Gerry Potter, Cllr Klara Sudbury, Cllr Steve Jordan and Cllr John Webster, who campaigned tirelessly for the abolition of the South West RSS.

Martin said ‘It is fantastic news that RSSs are being abolished. I would like to congratulate the coalition ministers on taking this important step forward in giving power back to local communities.’

Martin nevertheless asked ministers to urgently consider some possible risks in the coalition strategy: ‘It is clear that ministers now want to hand power back to local communities but I am concerned that the Planning Inspectorate might undermine those good intentions when they come to rule on local appeals. I am also worried that a policy vacuum might emerge between the abolition of the RSS and the emergence of local strategies like our own Joint Core Strategy. ‘

Finally, Martin raised the impact of the RSS abolition on those on the housing waiting list: ‘If this does mean some constraint on market housing, which could in turn affect the affordable housing that has often piggybacked on market housing, then the coalition must address how we can provide more affordable housing, and in particular social housing for rent. This could be done by providing more flexibility for landlords like Cheltenham Borough Homes to buy and build more new council housing.’

Cheltenham MP Questions CRC Decision

Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood has responded to the government announcement that the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) is to close. The Cheltenham-based agency will be replaced by a Rural Communities Policy Unit that will be part of the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The coalition has announced its intention to cut costs across government to help reduce the crippling national debt and also to remove so-called 'arms-length' quangos when policy is better made by ministers. But Martin has been critical of the lack of consultation surrounding this decision and said the government's announcement left important questions unanswered.

He commented: 'At least 60 jobs in Cheltenham have been put at risk by this announcement and I will be making a strong case to ministers for the new policy unit to retain staff in Cheltenham. But there are wider issues too. The CRC has three functions. Providing expert advice to government on rural affairs can be done within Defra but it's difficult to see how their independent watchdog and advocacy functions will be carried out. These are important influences on government policy. Only today, the Commission has launched an important report on upland areas stressing the importance of biodiversity, landscape management and reforestation as well as the needs of those who actually live in rural upland areas. Just abolishing this function could leave a big gap in government thinking.'

'I'm also very disappointed in the lack of consultation surrounding this decision. The new politics should be about transparency, consultation and evidence-based decision-making but I can't see much evidence of any of these on this occasion. I'm not expecting any special favours as a government MP, and I realise the ministers involved were Conservatives not members of my own party, but I would have thought all stakeholders should have been properly consulted. If the coalition is to keep public confidence for what are inevitably going to be some very tough decisions, we need to do better than this.'

Cheltenham Animal Shelter's Novelty Dog Show

10 July 2010, Cheltenham Animal Shelter, Gardener's Lane, Cheltenham

Come along to Cheltenham Animal Shelter's annual Open Day and Novelty Dog Show on Saturday 10th July from 12 noon until 4pm. They have lots of fun activities for all the family including a bouncy castle, bbq, ice cream, jewellery stands, charity bric-a-brac stalls, tea and cakes, competitions plus lots more! Joe Inglis (BBC Vets in Practice star) will be officially opening the event and will have a stall there as well. Entry is free. For more information visit Gloucestershire Animal Welfare Association and Cheltenham Animal Shelter Gardners Lane Cheltenham GL51 9JW 01242 548775 www.gawa.org.uk