At the start of the month I had the pleasure of overseeing proceedings in our neighbouring constituency of Stroud, as local Conservatives members there voted for the person they want to be their candidate for the General Election in 2022.
The event took place in Stonehouse and all three candidates impressed the large audience with their answers to a range of different questions.
Congratulations to Siobhan Baillie (who I am pictured with) who was selected as their candidate. I am looking forward to working with Siobhan and she would make an excellent Member of Parliament. Currently five out of the six seats in Gloucestershire are held by Conservatives – and I am hopeful we will make it a full set again in just over three years’ time!
The summer also gave me the opportunity to visit the team from the Forestry Commission Woods and Forests and spend time finding out about the good work they do on the Public Forest Estate (PFE) here in the Forest of Dean.
I was pleased to talk to the Deputy Surveyor, Kevin Stannard (who I am pictured with sat on the bench), about issues like managing the wild boar on the PFE effectively, promoting our area as a great tourism destination and looking at some of the challenges and projects they are currently working on.
I also had the pleasure of looking around the brand new Gloucestershire College campus on the Northern Quarter in Cinderford just a few weeks ahead of it opening for students. I am extremely proud of the new college and I was grateful to Principal & Chief Executive Matt Burgess, Chief Financial Officer Andy Bates, Director of Estates James Billingham and Sandra Tyrell, Site Principal, for taking me round their fantastic new site.
I have worked closely with the team at Gloucestershire College, the Forest of Dean District Council, Gloucestershire County Council, the Gfirst LEP and other stakeholders for some time to help deliver the necessary Government funding for this project and it ensures we have a brand new further education college in the Forest of Dean, giving our students access to the modern, up-to-date college facilities that they deserve.
It is great that the College is now open for business and the team know they have my full support.