In February 2007 South Gloucestershire Council sold its Council houses to Merlin Housing Society. After this sale, the Council had £1.3 million left in a reserve bank account (formally known as the Housing Revenue Account).

After some debate the Council decided to spend £300,000 upgrading CCTV systems - including the town centre in Kingswood. The remaining £1 million has been divided-up into the 'wards' in South Gloucestershire according to the number of Council houses that were in each 'ward' in February 2007.

Local councillors now have the role of working with their communities to decide how to spend this money. The main restriction on the use of the money is that there can't be any on-going costs unless they can be covered elsewhere. For example, if some play equipment were purchased, the maintenance costs in subsequent years would have to be paid for by another means.

In Woodstock, councillors Roger Coales, Andy Perkins and Pat Rooney have £50,000 to spend. Click here to see what we have spent it on so far.

The first project that we have decided to fund is to pay half of the costs of refurbishing the gates to Kingswood Park. The Park's Friends Group have put in a lot of work organising various events over the past few years and approached us with their desire to see the gates spruced up. We felt this was an idea well worth supporting.

Our colleagues who represent the Kings Chase ward (north of the A420 - Regent Street/High Street/Hill Street), councillors Terry Walker, Julie Walker and Malcolm Bridge have £95,000 to spend and they are paying for the other half of the costs.

We have some other ideas for the £50,000 and will be consulting on these and seeking more ideas over the coming months. However, if you have any ideas please fill-in the form. You can use this form if you live in either Woodstock or Kings Chase.

As of September 2010, we have spent or agreed to spend the following;

• £3,580 on refurbishing the gates and pillars of Kingswood Park.
• £3,000 to Our Lady of Lourdes primary school so they could enhance a play area.
• £2,500 to Kingswood Foundation on Britannia Road to provide disabled access to a studio.
• £921 to the Old Park Youth Centre for some multi-media equipment for young people.
• £950 to the Park Neighbourhood Nursery for an outdoor seating/reading area.
• £390 to the residents of Abraham Fry House, a former Council property, for a dishwasher.
• £3,000 has been allocated to Beacon Rise Primary school for a project of their choosing.
• £3,000 has been allocated to The Park Primary school for a project of their choosing.
• £3,000 has been allocated to Courtney Primary school for a project of their choosing.

We have received a number of further suggestions from local residents and will be considering these in due course.