What a year for Bratton!

BRATTON Parish Council’s support for the Tidy Bratton Group, the Monday Gang and a wide range of volunteers has achieved the accolade of Best Kept Large Village in Wiltshire.

Chair of Bratton Parish Council, Jeff Ligo, reports, “It is a tremendous achievement for the village.

 “The parish council, elected in 2017, has continued to support the numerous voluntary organisations and clubs within the village, putting additional resources into the Jubilee Hall and the Recreation Ground.  

“The monthly newsletter is now called the Bratton Parish News (formerly the White Horse Churchman) following an agreement with St James’ Church.   The council now has a printer to print the magazine and volunteers edit and deliver it to all the homes in the village.

 “Earlier this year the pre-school in the Church Institute closed with just a few weeks’ notice.  We are hopeful that this sad loss to the village will be remedied early next year with a five-day-a-week pre-school.   Thanks to Cygnet Pre-School that operates at Westbury Leigh, it is intended to establish a pre-school on the Pavilion on the Green.  

“As well as leasing the pavilion to Cygnets, the council is supporting the initiative with a grant of £3,000.  This is a major initiative for a parish the size of Bratton, but the unanimous view of the council is a pre-school is an important village asset.

 “Our Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group carried out a massive survey earlier in the year which was returned by 61% of the households in the village and next year we hope to move forward with our Neighbourhood Plan.  

“It is a cumbersome and complicated process, not helped by the uncertainty of the outcome of the Wiltshire Housing Additional Sites Plan public inquiry which may (or may not) allocate a site for 38 houses on the western edge of the village.”