County-wide local government reorganisation survey – have your say on the future of local councils

County-wide local government reorganisation survey

The national government wants to change how local councils work. You currently have one county council and six smaller district councils in Gloucestershire. The plan is to swap them for fewer, bigger councils that look after all services. These are known as ‘unitary’ authorities and have existed across the UK in many places for several years. The government produced an official document at the end of 2024, making clear their plans for all English councils to become ‘unitary’.
What does it mean for Gloucestershire?
 
The government has asked local councils to produce proposals on how they would like to move to a unitary model. The city, district and borough councils and the county council are discussing what the best plan/s to propose to Government might be, both individually and as a group. The views of residents and communities will help to inform their thinking. Ultimately, Government will make the final decision.
There are three options currently being considered by councils in Gloucestershire:
• One council covering the whole county.
• Two councils, with an east (Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and Cotswold) and west (Gloucester, Forest of Dean and Stroud) split.
• Two councils, one being an enlarged Gloucester city (referred to as ‘Greater Gloucester’), and one being the remainder of the county.

When will we know what is happening?

The deadline for all seven local councils to submit a joint final plan is the end of November 2025. Any council that wishes to can submit a plan independently. Government Ministers will make the final decision, hopefully by the middle of 2026.

We want to hear from you about how local services in Gloucestershire can work best for you, both now and in the future. These changes give us a chance to check all the services we offer. We want to make sure we can give people in Gloucestershire good, strong, and effective public services for years to come.

Why your views matter
Your feedback is crucial in shaping your local government. We will use your feedback to develop a vision for local government in Gloucestershire before giving a final proposal to the Government in the autumn.
This is your chance to inform our proposals at an early stage. You can share your views from 1 July until 9 August 2025, and there will be more opportunities to comment on the plans in future.
Although many of us use council services daily, we might not often think about how local government is organised – and that’s perfectly okay! You don’t need to answer every question; just let us know what matters most to you.

Keeping your data safe

All of your answers are entirely anonymous. In this survey, we won’t ask for your name, but we will ask a few questions about you. This helps us understand make sure our work represents everyone in Gloucestershire.

You don’t have to answer any personal questions if you don’t want to. But if you do, here’s how we’ll handle your data:

  • We’ll follow the Data Protection Act 2018 and Gloucestershire County Council’s rules to keep your data safe and only use it for the purposes set out in this feedback form. You can find a copy of our privacy statement on the Gloucestershire County Council website: here(External link)

Important points:

  • We’ll keep this data for five years.
  • We usually won’t share this data with anyone else, except for the agency we have appointed to help us run this survey – Cratus Group. You can read their Privacy Policy here: www.cratus.co.uk/privacy-policy
  • If we have to share your data more widely, because of laws like the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 2018, or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, we’ll make sure it’s done legally.

Your choices:

  • You don’t have to take part if you don’t want to.
  • You can stop at any time.
  • You can skip any personal or other questions you don’t want to answer.
Page last updated: 14 Jul 2025, 01:03 PM

Parish Councillor vacancy

Eastington Parish Council has 1 councillor vacancy. If you are interested in finding out more or if you want to apply for the councillor vacancy, please email the Clerk Marianne at clerk@eastington-pc.gov.uk.

Proposed Crematorium in Eastington Parish

There are plans for a Crematorium in the Stroud District and Westerleigh Group Ltd have purchased a site in Eastington Parish.

Westerleigh Group Ltd held a consultation event on 18th June, but this was at very short notice and they did not directly notify the parish council, or other local parish councils, of the event.

There is a webpage live now where members of the public are welcome to view the plans and comment – Stroud Crematorium (westerleighgroup.co.uk)

Once you have reviewed the plans you can get in touch with comments, thoughts or suggestions by contacting Matthew.Knight-Lewis@westerleighgroup.co.uk

Are you interested in becoming a Flood Warden?

Gloucestershire Rural Community Council (GRCC) are working with Stroud District Council to support the re-launch of the Flood Warden scheme and to provide support to recruit, induct and manage the volunteer Flood Wardens. They can also help with any flood related issues/queries via signposting to relevant agencies, raising awareness of how to report issues etc.

Below there is information on:

  • A flyer for the scheme.
  • A Presentation which includes a summary of the Flood Warden role and links to many resources related to flooding.
  • An ‘Expression of Interest’ form, if anyone in the parish (Councillors or residents) are interested in becoming a Flood Warden they can complete and return the form.
  • Are You Ready booklet, this is produced by the Gloucestershire Local Resilience Forum. It is aimed at individuals with tips on how to be prepared for any emergency situation.

Stroud District Flood Wardens Flyer

2023.1 Stroud Flood Wardens Launch GRCC Presentation

Stroud Flood Warden Expression of Interest

Are you ready booklet V2 Web version

 

Speed survey data February 2022

The parish council has been aware of residents’ concerns regarding the increase in traffic through the village and the dangers of speeding vehicles. Regular speed checks were carried out by the police throughout last year with many motorists being caught and fined. However, while this inevitably deterred some drivers from speeding, it continues to be an issue.

The parish council is working with Highways to come up with additional measures, particularly along Bath Road and Claypits. During February the parish council arranged for a speed survey to be carried out. It paid for 6 speed strips to be installed, 3 along Bath Road and 3 along the Claypits. Data was collected over a 2-week period and the highest volumes at all locations was the 7-day period from Friday 11th to Thursday 17th February 2022. The data gathered included speed data, volume of traffic and an HGV count.

We have now received the results of the speed survey, which is given in the traffic summary report below.

TS7267 – 6 x speed summary Eastington 11- 17 Feb 2022

We are working with Highways to purchase a mobile Vehicle Activated Signs (VAS) to be used to reinforce drivers’ awareness of their speed and flag when they are exceeding the 30mph limit along Bath Road and the 40mph limit at Claypits.

In addition, Gloucestershire County Council are working on a new policy for a county wide 20mph residential speed limit to be introduced in Gloucestershire. This would be done in conjunction with the police and local people. The parish council has registered its support for this policy.

Census 2021

Census day is here
Census 2021 is in full swing locally – letters with your unique access codes, have all been sent
out and responses are already coming in. Results will be available within 12 months, although
personal records will be locked away for 100 years, kept safe for future generations.
Operating in line with the Government’s latest Covid-19 guidance, field officers will be
deployed across the country to contact those who have not responded. They will offer help
and advice to those who need it. They will also remind people that their census response is
required by law. To complete your census, and find out how you can get help, visit
census.gov.uk or call 0800 141 2021.

Parish Councillor Co-option

Further to the notice of 24th September 2020, the Returning Officer at Stroud District Council has confirmed that the required request for an election to fill the casual vacancy was not received by the due date. Consequently, the Parish Council has been given permission to fill the vacancy by co-option.

Would anyone meeting the criteria for membership of Eastington Parish Council and interested in being considered for co-option please apply to the Clerk at clerk@eastington-pc.gov.uk by Wednesday 11th November.

 

Eastington Parish Council
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.