South West Wiltshire Liberal Democrats

"Statement regarding the Place of Safety provision in Swindon and Wiltshire

Following an extensive consultation on improving the provision and quality of Places of Safety suites, we recently published a paper on the consultation outcome.

Since then the Trust has noted a number of concerns raised and decided to review further comments from stakeholders. The Board will formally consider the consultation outcome and Trust decision at its next meeting on the 27 September and announce its conclusions shortly afterwards.

Wiltshire Council has applied to itself for permission to redevelop the site opposite County Hall on Bythesea Road.

The proposal is for, "Outline application for proposed mixed use development comprising the demolition of all existing buildings on site and redevelopment to include the provision of up to 690m2 of retail floor space (Classes A1, A2 and A3); up to 1,100m2 of restaurant/public house floor space (Classes A4 and AA); up to 54 residential apartments (Class C3); new health facility (Class D1) of up to 4,000m2 floor space; a new leisure centre (Class D2) with up to 1,800m2 floor space with provision of an energy centre within the proposed leisure facility. Provision of associated vehicular access, car parking and service vehicles access. Creation of new footpaths/cycleways across the site, new riverside walkway, public amenity space, new landscaping, removal of existing trees and replacement tree planting. Provision of new pedestrian footbridge across the River Biss, along with steps on the eastern side of River Biss to connect into the existing riverside footpath."

The Emergency Services Show (ESS) is the biggest outdoor show of its kind in the South West, showcasing local emergency services and partner agencies.

The Show is a good place to learn about your local emergency services, view displays and demonstrations, take part in activities, listen to safety talks and meet your local emergency service teams.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), the government agency responsible for delivering driving tests, has announced a full review into driver testing provision for Trowbridge and Westbury Driving Test Centres (DTCs) and their surrounding areas.

Richard Hennessy, DVSA Director of Operations (South), stated " It's a priority for me to ensure we provide our customers with an appointment that is convenient to them.After looking at customer demand for driving tests at Trowbridge and Westbury DTCs, I have commissioned a full review into the testing provision for the sites in question, and the surrounding areas. The review will look at customer demand from in and around the area, the route suitability and what capacity we have, in the surrounding centres. A thorough review will take a little time to complete since is essential that we continually assess our service provision to ensure we offer our customers the level of service they have every right to expect, and we would wish to provide." He went on to explain "The aim of the review is provide a detailed study of the current testing provision for customers in Trowbridge, Westbury and the surrounding areas, which will include looking at customer behaviour and preferences, for test availability and location. I see no reason why this would result in a diminished level of testing for our customers in these areas".

FCC Environmental have been awarded contracts to run local Household Recycling Centres (HRCs) and to collect recyclables.

A new system of kerbside collection will start next summer - black boxes will be used solely for glass collection and the blue lidded bins will take all other recyclables, including a wider selection of plastics and drink and food cartons.

A plan by Redrow Homes to put a hundred houses on land south of Blind Lane and east of Wesley Lane has been refused by Wiltshire Council.

The reason for refusal was: "The proposed development is located outside of the identified village policy limits for the large village of Southwick and has not been brought forward through a Site Allocations DPD or a Neighbourhood Plan. In addition, the large scale nature of development is considered to be unacceptable and inappropriate on the outskirts of a large village which has a limited range of facilities. The proposal fails to promote a sustainable pattern of development and results in an unwarranted encroachment of the open countryside contrary to Core Policy 1, Core Policy 2 and Core Policy 29 of the Wiltshire Core Strategy and Paragraph 17 of the National Planning Policy Framework."

There are dangers for British agriculture and for consumers as the UK government attempts to do trade deals with the world. Those dangers include undercutting by cheap imports and relaxation of animal welfare standards. Here's a Lib Dem press release. Please excuse the chicken jokes.

Fox running into trade negotiations like a headless chicken - Farron

A report by auditors KPMG has identified what it called 'significant gaps in the control environment' of the council's computing systems.

In a report for next Wednesday's Audit Committee they say: "We consider that your organisational controls are generally effective overall. However, there are significant issues identified in the General IT controls over the Authority's financial system (SAP) and the Revenue and Benefits system (Northgate)."

The times you can call Wiltshire Council or visit reception desks will be cut by an hour a day from Monday 7 August. As usual when it makes a cut to a public service, the council brazenly claims the service will be improved because of the cut. In this case it says the cut will "ensure calls can be answered more efficiently and .. direct more resources to the busiest times".