Chris Caswill

One of the oldest walls in the town centre is going has fallen victim to the latest cold weather.  Ownership of the wall behind Providence Terrace, and near Ivy Lane Primary School, has been disputed for some time, and only recently accepted by Wiltshire Council. No sooner was that agreed than the wall began to collapse after the latest hard frosts. 

 So now it will have to be taken down and replaced by some temporary steel tube railings.

“At least it will now be safe for people using the footpath” says Chris, who is the Wiltshire Councillor for the area “and that’s especially important for the children from the school, who use the footpath a lot.  Providence Terrace residents will also be glad that loose stones from the wall will no longer provide ammunition for mindless idiots to throw into their properties.”

“But this old wall was part of our local heritage, going back to the old farm which was here before the school - and before the railway.  My long term aim will be to get it rebuilt with the original stones, which the Council have agreed to store in the meantime.” 

The Chippenham Area Board meeting on Monday 25th backed a call from Cllr Chris Caswill for more action to reduce late night noise and anti social behaviour in Bath Road car park.  They rejected a recommendation from Council officers that a temporary installation of a CCTV camera would be enough.  Council officers have been asked to look again at the possibilities of installing a barrier and taking down the old market canopy.  And the working group set up to oversee these next steps will include representatives of local residents.  

This followed a packed meeting in the Monkton Park offices the week before, when around 30 residents expressed their anger that nothing had been done to deal with these problems over the last four years.  The residents unanimously agreed to call for more action, and for the Area Board to decide on long term solutions at its May 10 meeting. 

After the meeting,  Chris said :”Local residents have made their views known, and turned up in large numbers to do so.  This hopefully puts an end to the suggestion that this is only an issue for one or two troublesome people.  It certainly means that the so-called ‘engineering’ options’ must now get proper attention.  I personally still believe the only way to reduce late night noise is to lock the car park at night.  And the Council, as car park owners, have a duty of care to do this.  In any event, more needs to be done, and it is good that the Board have given their support.”  

A new web site has been launched - Power 2010 - where the public can vote for the five most needed changes in our political system.  You can find it at :

 http://www.power2010.org.uk/votes

Your  chance to influence the campaign’s top five pledges.

There is a stretch of Station Hill between the top of Monkton Hill and the Sadlers Mead turning which is the only access to Monkton Park.  There are no alternative routes for this part of the road. Residents have for some time been expressing concern about emergency access in the event that the section being blocked by an accident of some kind.  Cllr Chris Caswill convened a meeting last week to discuss the issue, which was attended by the police and fire services, the Council and First Great Western.  The ambulance service were not able to come on this date, and were no doubt fully busy dealing with weather related incidents.  “We had a very useful discussion about the level of risk, and about alternative emergency routes,” says Chris.  “The emergency services are now being asked to review their assessments of the risks in the light of the changes that have taken place in Monkton Park in recent years.  We also want to open discussions with Network Rail about a possible route across the station forecourt, which seems to be one of the best engineering options, and will be asking them for a meeting” 

More on this as discussions continue. 

In 2010, we are going to re-launch our local surveys.  These will  offer you the chance to have your say on issues of the moment.  Please take a moment to cast your vote.  The first one in 2010 is of course about the snow and ice and how well you think the Council have done in keeping our roads open and pavements safe. 

Town centre residents have been waiting for years for some action on the late night noise in the Bath Road car park.   

At the Area Board in November it looked like we were making real progress - all Board members voted for a costed proposal to come to the January 11 Area Board meeting.  It looks like the issue will come to a head at that meeting. 

“There seems to be an assumption within the Council that a car park barrier will cost tens of thousands of pounds”, says Cllr.  Chris Caswill, “but I have done some homework with the help of Google and electronically controlled barriers come in at about £1500-£2000.  The fitting and cabling would be extra of course but I am very puzzled by these huge costs and where they come from.”

The campaign for a fair deal for town centre residents continues……

The second planning application from Ashtenne & Asda for development of the Langley Park site will not now be decided in December.  Discussions between the applicants and Council planners are continuing and the most likely dates for decision are the February 10 or March 17 (daytime) meetings of the Council’s Strategic Planning Committee.  Chris continues to make the case for the meeting to be held in Chippenham, to allow local residents to attend. 

One result of November’s exceptionally heavy rain is a delay in painting some of the yellow lines for the town’s new parking restrictions.  These restrictions formally came into force on November 30 but the Council says :

“Normally our contractors would install the lines and erect any appropriate signage, on or before the implementation date.  The road marking material however, cannot be laid in wet weather conditions.  Markings laid on a wet road surface start to lift within a short period of time the lines requiring re-laying. 

Due to the recent prolonged periods of rain our contractor is behind schedule with the extensive work load and whilst every effort will be made to lay the markings as soon as possible, unfortunately not all the restrictions will be on the ground until after the operational date.”

Good news - a new dentists’ surgery will be coming to Chippenham, and it will provide an NHS service.  From March 2010 it will be  will be based at the Hathaway Medical Centre. Until then patients at the new practice can be treated at the Caledonia Dental Practice in New Road.   

This new  service will provide NHS dental treatment for an additional 10,000 new patients each year and has been commissioned as part of NHS Wiltshire’s £3.2 million investment in NHS dentistry.  Registrations will be offered initially to resident patients from the SN14 and SN15 postal areas.  

To get registered at the new surgery, you will need to go to the Caledonia Dental Practice, 34 New Road, Chippenham, SN15 1HP to collect an application pack . If you cannot go yourself, someone else can pick up the pack on your behalf. Once you have completed and returned the forms, the surgery will contact you to arrange an appointment. 

Wiltshire Council has announced the implementation of new ‘Traffic Regulation Orders’ (TROs), including the one which will bring changes to permitted parking areas in Monkton Park and the town centre.  Details have been published before but can now be reviewed via the council’s web site :

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/parkingtransportandstreets/carparking/parkingandwaitingrestrictions.htm

by clicking on the ‘C’ and following the Chippenham link. 

It may be worth bookmarking this site for future reference.