South West Wiltshire Liberal Democrats

Here's the official press release from your WC, following Wiltshire Conservatives' decision to close it. If you live in the Pewsey area, or were involved in the consultation, or are of a nervous disposition, it's probably best not to read on as you may find it condescending, insulting, snivelling, inconsistent and desperately annoying.

Wiltshire Council Conservatives ran a public consultation from June to September this year on whether or not Everleigh Household Recycling Centre (HRC) should be closed. 94% of people said 'No'. The HRC will close.

The formal decision was made at the Cabinet meeting on October 9^th, when Jane Scott's administration voted unanimously to close the service, despite strong representations from residents, parish councillors, and local Wiltshire councillors. The resolution was to:

Wiltshire and Swindon Credit Union is seeking to expand its work across the county in order to help those many people who do not have full access to mainstream banking facilities. Thousands of people in our communities struggle to make ends meet each month, and they then often turn to payday lenders or loan sharks to borrow the money they need to look after their families. This pushes them into a cycle of debt from which they struggle to escape. In some instances people are having to pay back over 25% of their monthly income to loan companies, sometimes amounting to several hundreds of pounds which they should be spending on their families.

This is a press release from your WC. It's been edited to remove clichés, jargon and verbiage.

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A multi-million pound science park for businesses specialising in health and life sciences has been opened in Wiltshire today (21 September).

The Beech-Allen Building, the first phase of Porton Science Park, will support new jobs and businesses linked to the established centres of science and technology at the Porton Down Campus. These include health, biopharma, life sciences, defence and security technologies.

The West Wilts planning committee met this afternoon (Sep 19) in County Hall to consider an application for a "Proposed Coffee Shop unit with external seating area, and associated alterations to car parking and landscaping" next to KFC on Bradley Road.

The scheme was recommended for permission. It was called to committee at the request of Graham Payne to consider the visual impact upon the surrounding area, the relationship to adjoining properties, car parking and environmental/highway impacts.

Wiltshire Council Conservatives have confirmed that, despite objections during the formal consultation period, charges will be extended to include Sundays in all WC pay and display car parks.

There will also be increases for season tickets and for residents' parking permits.

The legal process for implementing charges at Southwick Country Park will go ahead, but the car park will remain free for the moment. The same applies to Westbury Leigh car park and Devizes market place, where asset transfers to the town councils are being considered.

WC has announced that the Melksham sports centre is to close. As with other closures of public facilities they're using maintenance costs as an excuse. Here's what your WC says about the loss of yet another service:

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"The closure of Christie Miller Sports Centre has always been planned as part of the overall scheme of investment in the town and the provision of a new community campus at the Melksham House site. A recent inspection of facilities at the sports centre and the adjacent Highways Depot has confirmed that significant investment of up to £1m over the next three years - with an immediate investment of £350,000 - is required to enable the building to continue to operate and ensure the safety of both staff and centre users and visitors.

A new regime for animal licensing is taking effect from 1 October 2018, with significant implications for new and existing licence holders

Links to the new regulations and DEFRA guidance documents are available on Wiltshire Council's website http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/licences-permits-animal

The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals)(England) Regulations 2018 define the animal based activities that require licences as follows:

A Devizes woman was ordered to pay £400 in fines and costs for throwing litter out of her car window.

Laura Dunnill, of Flax Mill Park, was asked to pay a £75 penalty charge after Wiltshire Council officers witnessed her committing the offence. She was prosecuted after failing to respond.

Ms Dunnill failed to attend Swindon Magistrates Court and was convicted in her absence.

The government has produced a new version of its National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). When the first version came out in 2012 much was made of the way it simplified hundreds of pages of planning guidance into a 59-page document.

The 2018 revised Framework sees the number of pages creep up to 73, with the main emphasis in the update being on using the planning process to increase the quantity of housing, with a target of 300,000 dwellings per year in England.