Big Ambitions for local Parish

Residents of Laverstock, Milford, Ford, Bishopdown Farm, Old Sarum and Longhedge attended their Annual Parish Meeting held in the Big Barn at River Bourne Community Farm at 6 pm on Monday, May 15th.

Trudi Deane, the Parish Clerk for Laverstock and Ford Parish Council, commented, “We saw a substantial increase in attendance which reflects an improvement of communication channels that the parish council now has with its five key communities”.

Residents enjoyed displays from local groups and partner agencies, including the Milford Area Preservation Group (MAPG), Wild About Laverstock and The Land Trust.

Nick Baker, who, as Chair of the Parish Council, called and chaired the meeting, introduced the Parish Councils Strategic Plan, capturing the councils’ big ambitions for the future in terms of Community Resilience, Planning & Development, Sustainable transport, Climate Change & Environment, Public Amenity and Accountability.

Nick included details of the Operations Officer’s report discussing the important work of taking over assets from Wiltshire Council, including litter bins and play parks and work done to tackle speeding issues.

The council is waiting on the handover of five new play areas, and by the end of the year, the parish will have 33 play areas in total.

Those present also heard from Josh Rogers, The Wiltshire Wildlife Community Empowerment Officer, who stepped in when the guest speaker from the Dog’s Trust could not attend.

Josh spoke about the Castle Hill Country Park management, the tension between being ‘dog friendly’ and protecting the ground-nesting Skylarks that thrive on the site, and the difference between a country park and a nature reserve.

He also mentioned the Hibernaculum offering safe spaces for reptiles and other wildlife and plans for a community garden.

In closing, he also gave special thanks to Bishopdown Farm resident Jim Boardman for all his work, both as a volunteer at Castle Hill and in protecting the Community Orchard from damage by extreme weather last year.

The Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson and Catherine Roper, the new Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police, took the trouble to join the APM and chat informally to residents before they spoke officially and answered questions from councillors and residents at the Annual Parish Council Meeting which followed on straight afterwards. 

Tom Maskell, Vice-Chair of the Parish Council who also attended both meetings said, “It was pleasing to see the number of residents who came, including representatives of our Footpath Warden volunteers, Parish Environmental Action Group and our Community Police team.

We are grateful to the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Constable, for the healthy level of discussion, and for giving detailed and re-assuring answers regarding issues of concern to our residents, such as, staff levels and responses to reported crime and anti-social behaviour.

"To hear Wiltshire Police are looking to improve ways in which the public can communicate with them is encouraging. 

"We also heard from a resident who spoke as a recently retired member of Wiltshire Police about the many ways in which Wiltshire Police should be proud of their awareness, response and attitude towards Domestic Violence incidents.

"We know from Cllrs Lynn and Vanstone who head the Neighbourhood Watch team in Longhedge that residents are concerned about a rise in anti-social behaviour but clearly Wiltshire Police are determinedly raising their game. We wish the Chief Constable success in their new role”.