Tewkesbury Borough Council Plan 2026 - 2028 Our priorities
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Our priorities
Our Council Plan continues to be shaped around three core priorities.
As Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) progresses, we want to ensure that the needs and ambitions of our borough stay at the forefront of our work. While we play an active role in shaping the future of local government in Gloucestershire, our focus on delivering for our communities remains unchanged.
Our communities continue to sit at the heart of everything we do. The three priorities in our Council Plan remain closely interconnected, guiding our strategic planning and decision-making. They provide a clear framework that helps us manage resources effectively and respond to the issues that matter most to our communities.
Caring for people
We will continue to keep people at the heart of everything we do. Whether it’s providing essential services such as waste and recycling, co-ordinating our emergency response to events such as flooding, or ensuring access to affordable housing, we prioritise people’s needs and wellbeing.
We understand how important it is to provide the right support, resources and opportunities for the people of our borough to thrive. We are committed to supporting the vitality of the communities we serve, from improving health to economic prosperity. In doing so, we listen to the voices of those who are disadvantaged, and work towards building a fairer and more inclusive borough.
Our population increased by 15.8 per cent between the 2011 and 2021 census
(Source: Office for National Statistics 2021)
Photo: Tewkesbury Borough Council – Northway Warm Space at the Northway Community Hub
Caring for the environment
Climate change continues to have a significant impact on our environment, wildlife and communities. We declared a Climate Emergency in 2019 with the aim of making our council services carbon neutral by 2030. In 2023, this was expanded to a borough-wide Climate and Ecological emergency, strengthening our commitment to take urgent action.
Since then, we have continued to strengthen our climate and ecological work. Our small team dedicated to climate change has supported significant progress across our programmes, building on previous investments such as the award-winning solar car park canopy at the Public Services Centre. More recently, the council achieved silver accreditation from the Carbon Literacy Project, recognising its growing commitment to carbon awareness and the positive steps being taken to embed climate responsibility across the councils.
About our borough
Around 763,900 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions was generated by the whole borough in 2021. (Latest figure from Defra and BEIS via naei.beis.gov.uk)
Photo: Tewkesbury Borough Council – Coombe Hill Nature Reserve.
Caring for place
Our goal remains to create positive change that improves quality of life and opportunities for our residents and businesses. We recognise that each area of the borough faces different challenges; from flooding and infrastructure pressures to health inequalities and housing needs, and that understanding these local differences is essential to effective service delivery.
As LGR progresses, we continue to work closely with our partners and communities to ensure local priorities are understood and reflected in future arrangements. This approach will help ensure that, as we transition into a new unitary authority, the needs of our communities continue to guide decision making.
About our borough
We cover 414.4KM2 with 20 wards and 51 parishes across the borough, of which 43 are served by parish councils and remaining eight have parish meeting status (Office for National Statistics 2021).
Photo: Jack Boskett Ltd – Coopers Edge