Investment in our communities

Hello,

Working with local communities is key to everything we do and over the last couple of weeks I’ve been seeing first-hand the impact of the investment that we have made in communities across Wiltshire.

Last week I visited our recently completed health and wellbeing centre – the Nadder Centre in Tisbury, which is a really impressive community facility. It’s a bright, airy, colourful building with first-class facilities for local businesses, library visitors, young children, parents, gym users and many more…it really does feel like there is something for everyone there and the feedback we’ve received so far from visitors and users has been so positive.

I have always advocated that all our public buildings should be for the community and, as such, have a range of uses. I am really pleased that following last week’s visit, it has been decided that the Nadder Centre will host this year’s Wiltshire Assembly event, which is scheduled for next month.

The assembly is one of the biggest events we run in the county, bringing together key stakeholders to tackle different issues that are affecting Wiltshire. This year it will focus on housing, with the aim of raising awareness of housing needs and the gaps in housing in local communities. Attendees will be encouraged to discuss and commit to action the delivery of the right type of housing across the county that will meet the needs for the future. It is anticipated that more than one hundred representatives from organisations and communities will attend and I look forward to hearing their views and implementing what’s needed to tackle the housing issues we face.

I also visited Salisbury to sign an historic agreement which will see the transfer of responsibility for a package of buildings, facilities, assets and services to the city council.

This includes services and assets which are really important and touch people’s lives, including the Market Place, property, a new CCTV system, shopmobility, children's play areas and maintenance services. This transfer is significant as it places the delivery of local services with local councils. We are working with other local councils across the county to discuss which services could be transferred to ensure their sustainability into the future.

We are all aware that keeping active helps us to improve our general health and wellbeing, so I was delighted this week to officially hand over the new all-weather sports pitch in Beversbrook to Calne Town Council. The artificial pitch is another really impressive facility, one which is already encouraging people of all ages to be much more active…whatever the weather!

The pitch, and the recently installed toucan crossing to improve pedestrian access, has been installed at a cost of around £600,000. This is a significant investment – but in my view a really worthwhile one that reflects our commitment to improving local community facilities across the county.

Many teams are using this new pitch and have made it their home including FC Calne, Derry Hill FC, and Calne Utd – sadly my team Manchester United haven’t visited yet, but maybe one day – and more than 900 hours of football have been played on the new facility since May. That’s fantastic and shows it’s a success.

Of course these highlights from Tisbury, Salisbury and Calne, are just some of the investments we’re making in communities and it’s great to see that investment paying off.

And, finally in this blog I would like to acknowledge and thank all our staff for their hard work; particularly in challenging times. In recognition of this hard work I have agreed that Friday 23 December 2016 will be a day’s leave and that the offices will be closed. Whilst I recognise that some staff will be providing critical front line services on this day I have asked that it is an additional annual leave day for all staff (to be taken, when appropriate) as a thank you for everything that you, our valued staff do.

Jane

Planning for the future

Hello,

It’s that time of the year where the main political parties hold their national conferences and there is a huge amount of focus on the various policy announcements coming out of them.

I’ve just returned from a few days at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, at which I was really pleased to be able to have the opportunity to speak on some topics of real importance to Wiltshire and some of the ways that we have tackled our challenges head on.

Of course, many of the challenges we face aren’t unique; for example, all local authorities are trying to find ways to deal with rising demand with reduced funding – however, it’s good to be able to talk to our counterparts across the country at events like these to share knowledge, understanding, and of course solutions.

One of the main topics that came out of the Conservative Party Conference was that of housing; which, incidentally, is one of the biggest challenges we face in Wiltshire. Interestingly, Council Leaders across the country regularly ask: ‘how do we build the homes that Britain needs?’ and I was fortunate enough to be able to speak on the subject at the conference.

Did you realise that by 2025 our population in Wiltshire will increase by 9 per cent– that’s an extra 42,000 people who will need somewhere to live!

Moreover, people are also living longer – by 2025, the amount of people aged over 75 will increase by 68%; this means that we will need more properties with adaptions for those with disabilities.

All in all it is clear to see that we need more homes, and lots of them at that. However, it is important that we ensure that these are the right homes, built in the right way and in the right places, with the right infrastructure surrounding them.

Our houses need to be built sustainably, in a way that builds strong communities and not in a manner that purely just puts a roof over people’s heads.

Personally, I don’t think there is a better example of this than our army basing programme, again which is something that I highlighted at the conference.

This programme will bring 4,000 service personnel, along with 3,200 family members from Germany to Wiltshire by 2019, as Salisbury Plain becomes the largest military training area in the UK.

Indeed, while we welcome this as an opportunity to strengthen our connection with the military, it’s not without its challenges.

For example, we have worked very closely with the MoD to ensure that this programme is a success. I was really pleased that the recent peer review of our work on this programme was so positive and my thanks go to the many of you who I know were involved in this; your contribution should not be under-estimated. 

As part of the planning agreement for 917 army homes near Salisbury, there will be significant investment in community infrastructure – in schools, road improvements, community facilities, recreation, sports facilities, a medical facility and cycle paths across Salisbury Plain’s communities.

As you can see, this programme isn’t just about building the homes that Wiltshire needs, it’s about building a community for the future.

There wasn’t an off-the-shelf solution to this challenge; a unique situation required a unique solution and, of course, that is so true of many of the challenges we face.

One of the things I took home from the conference was that solutions to the problems we collectively face can be found in the same way – by getting the right people to come together and look creatively at what can be done.

I always like to say that every challenge has a solution.

Working together is the key; that is what has always worked for us in Wiltshire and I am certain that this will always continue to be the case.

Jane