It has been almost four years since I was elected to serve as your local councillor. Now that all the nonsense about mayors and combined authorities has been put to bed (for now at least!), Wiltshire will go to the polls on Thursday 1st May. This will be your chance to have your say as […]

As your local councillor I am often asked about the state of the highway so I thought it might be helpful to write about Wiltshire Council’s investment in our roads, and how spending is prioritised. Wiltshire Council is evidence-led, with prevention and early intervention in all service areas from Adult Social Care and Children’s Services […]

Many residents have asked me why we aren’t recycling our food waste like some other authorities in the UK. In short, when the Environment Act was updated in 2021 with a requirement for councils to collect food waste and flexible plastics (film lids and cellophane), we were midway through a recycling contract and were granted […]

Out here in the sticks we can enjoy beautiful country walks, village pubs and a better sense of community than residents in busy towns. However, from a transport perspective we are less fortunate than residents in Trowbridge, Salisbury or Chippenham who have train stations, regular bus connections and better cycling and walking infrastructure.   At […]

Housing developments are always sure to divide opinion. I write this having attended the Eastern Area Planning Committee at the Corn Exchange in Devizes this afternoon where the Long Field development of up to fourteen houses and a new Co-Op store was just approved for Market Lavington.   Strong and balanced representations were made by […]

I hope you had a lovely summer and saw some sunshine, either at home in The Lavingtons or further afield. There were lots of local events held across the area and thankfully I got to enjoy several in between work and childcare. It was good to catch-up with many of you on my travels. As […]

I Jinxed it. I am truly sorry! My July article started with a comment about the beautiful sunshine and went on to mention the football. As I write this article for August it has been cold and grey for weeks and England have just lost the Euros final to Spain. This morning, Wiltshire Council’s regular […]

As I write this the sun has been shining for two days in a row… it feels like a long time since that happened! With a month of international football to watch, my fingers are fully crossed that our local pubs can fill their gardens, put some cash in their tills and catch up on […]

Politics… I despise it at times; most of the time in fact. It often leads to what James O’Brien (LBC presenter) calls “footballification”, where people offer blind support to anyone on the same “team”. The same thing happens the other way around where, just like the famous Liverpudlian rivalry, some people “hate” anything in Evertonian […]

The A-road through West Lavington has been renewed and the finished surface is a huge improvement. Last week, following scrutiny of the resurfacing schedule for the wider Devizes area, I asked for Market Lavington’s B3098 to be re-prioritised. The stretch between the West Lavington crossroads and Lavington School is particularly bad and whilst I appreciate […]