WHEN I moved to the Forest of Dean in 1975 to take up a
teaching appointment at what was then Double View
School, Cinderford was the beating heart of the Forest.
The town had already lost East Dean Grammar
School, amalgamated in 1967 with Coleford's Bells
Grammar School to form the Royal Forest of Dean
Grammar School. The new school was built on the Five
Acres site now occupied by RFDC.
However, Cinderford remained by far the most
important commercial centre in the Forest. The district
council had a large presence in Belle Vue, the West
Gloucestershire Technical College in Station Street
provided further education for the district and the bus
station was the hub of the public transport system.
Since then, the town's decline has been dramatic.
In 1985, the Technical College closed to be
subsumed into the new RFDC located at Five Acres.
In 1991, the district council centralised its offices in
the newly built headquarters in, yes, Coleford.
Thank goodness Cinderford Town Council had the
foresight to buy the district council offices and turn then
into the Belle View Centre, a vital community resource.
Over the next couple of decades, investment and
development shifted away from Cinderford and, in spite of
regeneration efforts, the decline has continued.
The Conservative controlled Forest of Dean District
Council has repeatedly refused to spend monies
earmarked to bring the Heywood Sports Centre up to
legally required disability standards. They give as their
justification uncertainty over the future of the Heywood
site.
And now, the Conservative county council is set to
close Cinderford library so alone amongst the four Forest
towns, Cinderford will have no library provision.
And just to make sure the kids don't feel left out,
they are closing Splinters Youth Centre.
Beware Cinderford, your secondary school and
leisure centre could be next on the hit-list.
It is beginning to look like targeted malevolence!
– Bruce Hogan, Leader of the Labour Group, Forest
Of Dean District Council.