Trevor Carbin Liberal Democrat

Wiltshire Council's Strategic Planning Committee met on Tuesday (June 22) to decide on the application from Northacre Renewable Energy Ltd to build what the committee report describes as a "moving grate combustion plant for the 'recovery' of energy from residual waste (Energy from Waste (EfW)). Moving grate combustion is a thermal process to break down waste into a fraction of its original size. The plant generates baseload renewable energy (i.e. steam, which can then be used for other purposes such as electricity generation and heating) and uses a flue gas treatment system to reduce the resultant flue gas emission concentrations to below (sic) environmental standards."

Wiltshire Council has submitted bids for £14m of Government funding to pay for projects in Melksham and Trowbridge which would provide opportunities and improvements for both towns.

The bids are part of the Government's Levelling Up Fund, which aims to invest in infrastructure projects that improve everyday life across the UK. The £4.8bn fund will support town centre and high street regeneration, local transport projects, and cultural and heritage assets.

The Wiltshire Police and Crime Panel has appointed a new chair and vice chair and has agreed arrangements for the interim period until the election of a Police and Crime Commissioner in August.

At a meeting on 10 June the panel elected Swindon Borough Councillor Junab Ali as Chair and Wiltshire Councillor Ross Henning as Vice Chair.

The scheme to put a McDonalds restaurant on the car park at Trowbridge Tesco had generated a lot of objections from residents, especially those on the neighbouring Longfields estate, and including a petition with 1500 signatures.

The withdrawal of the application follows sharp criticism by the Wiltshire Council highways officer of the way the applicants had attempted to assess the traffic impact of the scheme. "The TA (Transport Assessment) includes misleading statements that do not illustrate the whole picture, making reading and clarity confusing."

A Devizes resident has been issued with a £400 Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) for dumping two armchairs at the former slaughterhouse land on the corner of Coate Road and Windsor Drive, Devizes.

The incident was witnessed by two members of the public, who wrote down the registration number of the vehicle and helped Wiltshire Council in tracing the culprit. Both witnesses are entitled to claim a reward via the council's We're Targeting Fly-tippers campaign, where residents are rewarded for providing information which leads to the payment of a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) or a successful prosecution.

Wiltshire Police is believed to be the first force in the country to designate their Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) with the power to request a rod licence from people who are fishing.

PCSOs are a vital part of the neighbourhood element of the Community Policing Team model in Wiltshire. A number of them, alongside some of the Police Officers and Local Crime Investigators, are already trained as Wildlife Crime Officers, working closely with the Rural Crime Team to support rural communities and to disrupt criminal activity that targets these areas.

Chief Constable Kier Pritchard stated: "Within Wiltshire, our Rural Crime Team is one of the only teams nationally to submit 'disruption reports' relating to Organised Crime Gangs, recognising that offences such as hare coursing and poaching are often entwined with their other criminal behaviours. I am immensely proud of the targeted work they are undertaking and the outcomes that they are achieving."

"Legislation changes over the last few years have enabled Chief Constables to be more creative with the 'policing powers' that they can designate to their Police Staff working in roles such as a PCSO. This allows us to better respond to new or emerging threats to society. I am pleased that this power, which is normally only something that Police Officers can do, can now also be granted to PCSOs."

"Rather than just accompanying the water bailiffs on their patrols, this change in power will now allow our PCSOs to actively work alongside them to tackle illegal fishing activity. This further highlights our commitment to partnership working and to extend our disruption abilities to this additional area of the community."

If you believe you are witnessing illegal fishing in progress dial 999, Call 101 to report an incident after it has happened.

Following the publication of the roadmap for lifting COVID-19 restrictions, free parking on streets and in Wiltshire Council car parks for NHS and care workers will come to an end from 21 June 2021.

Cllr Dr Mark McClelland, Cabinet member for Transport, said: "We know how important NHS and care workers have been throughout this pandemic, and we have supported their hard work with free parking on streets and in all Wiltshire Council car parks since March 2020.

The WC Cabinet has agreed the next steps for the A350 Melksham bypass.

The project was the subject of an initial consultation, held from November 2020 to January 2021, on a long list of route options. The project now moves to the next stage, another consultation on a shortlist of one.

That's Option 10c, the long route to the east of the town, with various alignments at the northern end. The consultation will also look at improving cycling and walking facilities along the route, either in conjunction with the scheme or separately.

Some twenty years ago, West Wiltshire District Council was facing a problem with its leisure centres. Officers wanted to shut some of them down to save money. A tendering exercise was undertaken to see if any companies wanted to run them. Several were interested, but they too wanted to make closures. "Why do you want leisure centres in Westbury and Warminster - if we shut one people will drive to the other, which might then make a profit. What does a place like Bradford on Avon want with a swimming pool when there's one in Trowbridge." ... were the type of comments received from potential contractors.

Application Ref: PL/2021/03749 - Outline Planning Permission

Address: Land at Glenmore Farm, The Ham / Hawkeridge Road, Westbury, BA13 4HQ

Proposal: Residential development (use class C3) for up to 145 homes, community orchard, children's play areas (LEAP), tree planting, habitat creation and ecology buffers and mitigation; site drainage and associated infrastructure. All matters reserved except for access