Cotswold Water Park joint committee

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The Cotswold Water Park was originally designated in 1967 by local authorities that had an administrative responsibility for the area. To co-ordinate management activities in this newly designated area, a Cotswold Water Park Joint Committee was established in the same year.

Since its designation, the boundary of the Water Park has been extended twice and as currently delineated, the boundary extends across the areas of three local authorities – Wiltshire Council; Gloucestershire County Council; and Cotswold District Council, and abuts Swindon Borough Council.

The Committee now comprises elected Members from the above four authorities, as well as local Town and Parish Councils. Representatives from the Environment Agency, Natural England, Sport England, the Forestry Commission, the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Government Office for the South West are also members of the Committee.

The principal role of the Joint Committee is to set a strategic direction for the development of the Water Park. As the Joint Committee is not a statutory planning authority, it seeks to have its overall strategy and supporting policies adopted within existing and future statutory plans through planning processes and with the support of the planning authorities.

In 2008, the Joint Committee adopted the Strategic Review and Implementation Plan for the Cotswold Water Park (commonly known as the Master Plan) setting out a 20 year vision for the Water Park, together with an ambitious action plan.

The Joint Committee meets three to four times a year and the meetings are open to the public as observers. Please contact Cotswold District Council , which acts as the secretariat to the Joint Committee, for dates, times and venues of meetings.

Much of the day to day practical management and development of the Cotswold Water Park is undertaken by the Cotswold Water Park Sociey  The Society is core funded by the Joint Committee to manage much of its land and property resources, but it also raises substantial additional funding from sources that the Joint Committee and the local authorities are unable to access to undertake a broad range of work, for instance biodiversity and landscape enhancement. To date, the Society has drawn down over £3m of grant funding to provide benefits for residents, wildlife and visitors within the Water Park.

The practice of placing floral tributes at the scene of a road death incident by bereaved relatives and friends is growing.

While it is understandable that there is sometimes a need for bereaved relatives to visit the scene of an accident as part of the grieving process, there are serious road safety concerns over this practice. The locations of many road deaths, especially in rural locations, tend to be at places where it is not safe to stop and/or walk on the carriageway.

Floral tributes are usually allowed to remain for a period of not less than 14 days but generally not more than 30 days. The Highway Authority will arrange for collection and disposal within this period, with the bereaved being given the option of receiving the non-floral tributes which may be placed along with flowers.

Permanent memorials are not permitted within the highway because of road safety concerns.

Last updated: 16 February 2011