Most people can walk, cycle or drive to their local facilities BUT this is not always possible for the elderly or the disabled. Neither the No 6 nor the No 97/98 go along Church Road:

• Elderly residents in Elmbridge cannot get to the GP surgery, the library or Longlevens Post Office.
• Elderly residents on the Oxstalls Estate (Longford end) desperately need a bus service into Longlevens village in order to get to the GP surgery, the pharmacy, the supermarkets, other shops, the library and Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
• Elderly people and the disabled and those with young children and push-chairs (Innsworth) need the No 97/98 buses to have low access floors.
• Disabled pupils at Milestones School (Longford Lane) could be educated to cope on their own with every day situations outside of the school environment e.g. accessingpublic buses (not school buses where they have helpers) and accessing a Post Office, a library, a variety of shops etc.  

Cllr Susan Jones (councillor for Elmbridge) and Sandra Pember (a Longlevens resident) have started a petition, which is asking Stagecoach to give priority to putting low access buses on the No 6 and No 97/98 routes and asking the County Council to provide further subsidy for the No 6 in order to extend its route via Church Road and Longford Lane and to extend the No 6 timetable. (The last bus leaves Gloucester at about 3pm…..visiting at GRH starts at 2pm!) 

Cllr Jones has spoken to the operations manager at Stagecoach. He would be willing to extend the route and the timetable for the No 6 service, if the County Council would increase the current subsidy.  

Please sign this petition.

Elmbridge Neighbourhood Partnership was formed in August at a meeting held at Sir Thomas Richs’ School.

The aim is to bring together all residents and agencies in Elmbridge. Led by local people who all volunteer their time. Along with their neighbours, they identify issues and work to find solutions.

At the first meeting the topic high on the agenda was the recent flooding crisis. This was then followed by crime, litter, etc. Your local councillors attended the meeting and took away these issues.

A second meeting was held in September and it is hoped that by the end of this year the Elmbridge Neighbourhood Partnership will be officially launched with it’s own committee and constitution. The next meeting is on the 7th November 2007 at Lonsdale Methodist Church, Lonsdale Road, Elmbridge at 7pm.

All residents have automatic membership, so have your say and make Elmbridge a better place to live. For more information contact Vera Li—01452 396992

Gloucestershire’s fire service did a superb job during the summer floods. They benefited immensely by having their own 999 fire control based at the TriService Centre, Quedgeley.The Labour government and the new fire minister, Parmjit Dhanda, want to relocate the fire control to a regional centre based in Taunton. Liberal Democrats are opposed to this plan and have received the support of ex party leader Menzies Campbell.