Wiltshire Council will be closing the A350 through Westbury during September and October to undertake highway resurfacing. Road closures will be required whilst the work is taking place. These road closures will be in place for 24 hour periods to ensure the work is completed quickly and without a drawn out programme.
Salisbury Civic Society recently confirmed that former resident of Mere, Wolfe Frank, chief translator at the Nuremberg trials is to be honoured with a blue plaque and his later role as The Undercover Nazi Hunter will be highlighted at next month's Mere Literary Festival (7th- 13th October 2019).
The Nuremberg Trials were the military tribunals that the major Allies, Britain, USA, Russia and France organised after the Second World War to prosecute leaders of Nazi Germany who had planned and carried out the Holocaust and other war crimes.
On the 11th September the National Audit Office (NAO) released a report looking at support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in England. This report is of relevance for schools in South West Wiltshire, in particular Larkrise School in Trowbridge.
The reprot outlined the scale of pupils with special education needs in England. As of January 2019, 1.3 million pupils in England (14.9% of all pupils) were recorded as having special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). A child or young person has special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. These children have diverse needs of different levels of severity, and they may have more than one type of need. The most commonly identified primary needs
are speech, language and communications needs (21.7% of pupils with SEND at January 2019) and moderate learning difficulties (20.4%).
• 270,800 pupils (20.6% of pupils with SEND) had legally enforceable entitlements to specific packages of support, set out in education, health and care plans
(EHC plans). These are children whom local authorities have assessed as needing the most support. Nearly half (47.9%) attended mainstream schools and almost all the others were at special schools.
• 1,041,500 pupils (79.4% of pupils with SEND) did not have EHC plans but had been identified as needing some additional support at school ('SEN support'). The vast majority of these children (91.6%) attended mainstream schools and the others were in a variety of different educational settings.
Wiltshire police's knives amnesty and knife crime prevention fortnight, started on Monday 16 September and runs until Sunday 29th September 2019.
As part of Operation Sceptre, the national knife crime prevention initiative co-ordinating ways to tackle knife crime, people are being encouraged to hand in unwanted or illegal knives and bladed weapons during the period of the amnesty.
Ellen Nicholson, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for South West Wiltshire said, "I know from professional experience that the effects and consequences of knife crime are far reaching for individuals, families and the wider community. There were 43,516 knife crime offences in the 12 months ending March 2019, which is an 80% increase from the low-point in the year ending March 2014, when there were 23,945 offences.
This knife amnesty gives people a chance to dispose of knives and weapons by simply taking them to one of the specified locations at police stations, churches or community centres and drop them into the amnesty bin.
People handing in knives and weapons will not face prosecution for possession of a knife or weapon and can remain anonymous.
Anyone handing in a knife or weapon during the amnesty is advised to check the opening times of their nearest bin by visiting the Wiltshire Police website or calling 101.
If you have information about someone who carries a knife or is involved knife crimes please call 101 or 999 in an emergency. Information can also be left anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Special amnesty bins are available at 9 locations across the county, with some also in Swindon.
The locations are:
Marlborough Police Station
Melksham Police Station
St Andrews Church, Melksham
Monkton Park, Chippenham
Trowbridge Police Station
St James Church, Trowbridge
St James Church, Devizes
Bourne Hill, Salisbury
SP2 Community Centre, Salisbury
Assistant Chief Constable Maggie Blyth said: "We want to raise the awareness of the dangers of carrying a knife or owning an illegal weapon. "Wiltshire cannot be compared to what is happening in the more urban areas of Britain but we are never complacent; we must let the public know what we can do to remove knives from our streets. "Carrying a knife should not be considered the norm. Fortunately in Wiltshire very few choose to leave the house with a knife or blade, and sadly the reality is that those who do are more likely to be involved in a violent act or be injured. "Education is key, and we need to be passing this on to our children that it's never OK to carry a knife.
"Please help us do the right thing to help keep Wiltshire safe."
On Thursday voters in #Ethandune go to the polls for the by-election.
Residents of Coulston, Bratton, Edington, Dilton Marsh, Heywood and Hawkeridge are being encouraged to cast their votes in the Wiltshire Council by-election.
The by-election is taking place due to the death of former cabinet member and Wiltshire Councillor Jerry Wickham who died in July.
A general election is imminent and this is your chance to meet and hear from Ellen Nicholson, Lib Dem candidate for South West Wiltshire.
Ellen Nicholson is the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for South West Wiltshire. Attendee's will have the opportunity to hear what Ellen stands for and what she wants to do for the constituency.
Ellen will also invite questions from the audience on issues that are of concern to them.This is your chance to meet a leading candidate in the upcoming general election which will prove to be one of the most important elections in modern history.
NOTE: Tickets are so we have an idea of expected numbers, people are able to attend without a ticket.
A team of Liberal Democrats from South West Wiltshire will be heading to Bournemouth this weekend to attend the Party's Autumn Conference.
Leading the team will be Parliamentary Candidate for South West Wiltshire, Ellen Nicholson, who will be taking a few days away from the constituency campaign to represent local members and voters at the Bournemouth Conference.
Ellen Nicholson said, "These are exciting times for Liberal Democrats. In recent weeks we have won the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election, picked up another four MPs through defections, continue to do well in opinion polls and are gaining more seats and votes in our recent three Council by-election successes.
"This will also be the first Conference with Jo Swinson as Leader and I am looking forward to a great speech from her on Tuesday. Jo has already had a great impact in the country. Our membership now stands at a record 120,000. In Parliament Jo has demonstrated the leadership our country so desperately needs.
"With the Conservatives under Johnson hurtling towards a Hard Right No Deal agenda and Labour bogged down on the leftwing margins with Corbyn, Jo has demonstrated there is an alternative to these two extremes - the Liberal Democrats.
"We are the voice of reason. We are the biggest party backing Remain. We are the fighting to ensure the people, not politicians, have the final say between staying in the EU or Brexit (whichever form it takes)."
I was sad to receive a message on Tuesday 10th September triaged from the local Police community coordiinator concerning the theft of lead from the Church roof in Bratton. The theft happened sometime between Sunday evening and Monday morning. The estimated expenditure to replace the lead is going to run into many tens of thousands of pounds and residents are understandably angry.
THE Mayor of Trowbridge, Cllr David Cavill, has today welcomed plans to build 300 new homes and create scores of new jobs close to the town centre.
Residents will get the chance to see the plans when London-based property developers Innox Mills Ltd host a public exhibition from 3pm to 7.30pm on Tuesday at Trowbridge Civic Centre showcasing their draft proposals for the former Bowyers site.
In the recent Gazette and Herald article Mr Rankin said: "I believe the people of Ethandune deserve better and I want to deliver that for them. I want to make the most of supplementary planning conditions to protect the beautiful villages in Ethandune.
"There's also issues with the road which connect the villages as the backbone running through them. Although in Edington there's a concentration on the weight and amount of built up traffc in the area, in the other end of Dilton Marsh the concerns are more greatly about speeding." "I have been out door knocking and speaking to lots of people about the issues they face."
Liberal democrat Councillor Ian Thorn said of Mr Rankin on his twitter account 'Can't say how impressed I am with Alan Rankin. He will make a fantastic champion for the communities of Ethandune'.
🔸Polls open on Thursday 19th September 7am to 10pm 🔸
