As we all know there have been lots of road closures in the Parish due to works to install broadband and these have not been running too smoothly. Debbie met with Gigaclear the broadband provider, Complete Utilities the installer, Gloucestershire Highways and the Parish Council this week . " Highways, myself and the Parish made it perfectly clear we were happy about the communications to ourselves and residents regarding what was happening when. We were happy with the meeting and the ways works were to progress. We were given a timetable of work and road closures and it seemed a really successful meeting" said Debbie
Then this happened, a burst water main and collapse along the High Street at 7.30 this morning. 650 homes and Chalford Hill Primary had no water, 6 families were evacuated and the road was closed. Debbie was on the scene talking to local residents and liaising with the Parish Council for them to update their website. The current position is that most homes should be back on mains water, but bottled water has been delivered to all those affected The High Street is likely to remain out of action for several months once the water main has been repaired and the road will need to be demolished and rebuilt.
Debbie continued "My main concern was that affected residents had water, the lack of drinking water was compounded by the hot weather and I wanted to make sure all households were aware of the issue and had fresh water. I also wanted to make sure the evacuated residents had somewhere to stay. I was very impressed at the Teamwork of all the agencies, Highways, Severn Trent, Stroud District Council and the Police were all working together and working hard for those residents affected."

Debbie operates a food surplus company, each day she collects food surplus from a well know supermarket and distributes it to local charities, such as Marah, Foodbank or the Nelson Trust. She also cooks with it running two Lunch Clubs in Stroud and Chalford and a Big Breakfast in Chalford. Anyone can pop along and pay £5 for wither a three course lunch or  a very big breakfast. Very often Neighbourhood Wardens or PCSOs will pop in the hear residents concerns and pass on information

Debbie really believes that as a Councillor you should take part and help in Community Events, which is why she helps or attends Village and School fetes, food collections and helps in the local shop 

Debbie has in past run the volunteer rota for the Community Village shop. She does 11-1 every Thursday, so pop in for a chat and some shopping

Debbie like the rest of the Conservative Councillors is opposed to new parking charges in Dursely, Nailsworth, Stratford Park, Cainscross and Wotton. In Nailsworth over 350 signatures were collected in 2 hours and over 200 signed the petition in Dursley. 
"I am clearly opposed to these charges as they will have a detrimental affect on the vitality of our market towns. I very clearly stated at Strategy and Resources in June, how concerned I am about the consultation process and wide it will be. I have asked for it to go out to schools, community centres and farmers markets to ensure people are aware"
You can view the Strategy and Resources meeting on the Stroud District Council website, under Democracy and then meetings.
Conservatives will be out most weekends seeing what people think about the proposed charges. You can also have your say on the residents section of the Stroud District Council website. The consultation runs until the 19th July

Debbie attended the Annual Parish Meeting at Chalford Sports and Social Club. the meeting was part of the consultation for the Chalford Parish Council Design Statement. Debbie got 3 years of funding from the Department of Communities and Local Government to help finance the development.
"I went to many of the public meetings all over the Parish when the process first started, people have done an amazing job and its fabulous to see the final version"

Debbie was delighted to help with the Christmas Foodbank collection at Tesco in Stroud. Together with fellow Councillor Darren Loftus, she did a 2 hour stint, encouraging shoppers to make a donation of food for Christmas Hampers
"I really enjoy the store collections, you meet so many people, and their generosity is amazing."