Residents have their say on future of Westbury

WESTBURY people have had their say on the future of the town after around 80 people took part in a special conference with Wiltshire Council last Tuesday.

The ‘Our Community Matters’ conference saw local residents meet with the council to discuss what they thought were priorities for the future.

Some of the most pressing issues, as voted by Westbury residents, included child poverty, social inclusion, supporting local businesses, tackling fly-tipping and litter, promoting healthy lifestyles, and improving roads.

Wiltshire councillor and chair of Westbury Area Board, Jerry Wickham, helped to lead the event. “I was very pleased to see a good number of people attend and give us a variety of views,” he told White Horse News. “Events like this and anything that enables us to tailor the service we provide to the community is really important. The council still has a number of priorities to follow but this will help inform what we do going forward.

“It can be hard to engage local people and all too often we find the opinions we do hit are ones that crop up in the papers when people are upset about something.

“Anything we can do to make the community part of our process is important. It would be wrong of us, as the area board, to go away  from an event like this thinking that we know best. It’s important to bear in mind this isn’t just information for the council, but also for the voluntary sector and many others in the town and surrounding villages who have things they want to achieve for their area.”

Residents at the meeting were put in tabled discussion groups and spoke with council officers and elected members about what they thought were important issues for Westbury to tackle. The room as a whole was then polled on the issues and the data collected will be presented at the next Westbury Area Board at the Laverton on Thursday 8th December, 7pm start.