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'Drug consumption centre' and 'new council'

Getty Images A table with drugs on including a spoon with white powder, a needle, pills and joints. Getty Images
Green Party councillors in Bristol have voted to focus on "supporting drug users rather than punishing" them

Here is our daily pick of stories from across local websites in the West of England, and interesting content from social media.

What have been the big stories in the West this week?

Gloucester City Council has reacted to the government's decision to replace the area's county council and six district and borough councils with a single unitary authority, reports Punchline Gloucester. The new council for the whole of Gloucestershire will come into operation in April 2028.

Bristol247 has posted about the Green Party in Bristol wanting to set up a consumption centre for helping people who use illegal drugs. Bristol has been formally declared a "city of harm reduction".

Swindon Advertiser has reported on tributes for a 19-year-old Swindon basketball player who died following an incident at a waterfall in the Brecon Beacons. Sean Kanyoza died on 27 June after getting into difficulty in the Sgwd Clun-Gwyn Waterfall.

And a popular outdoor swimming spot has reopened earlier than expected, reports the Weston Mercury. Marine Lake in Weston-super-Mare had been closed this week for essential maintenance work.

Top five local stories for the BBC in the West

Something longer to read

Bristol Cable has published a feature about the struggles of being a trans person in the city. The article includes accounts from several trans women in Bristol who said transphobia was ramping up following the Supreme Court ruling about the legal definition of a woman. They also said there were long waiting lists for treatment.

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