The Jubilee Weekend was a fantastic display of patriotism and adoration for the Queen but also a reflection of community spirit, neighbourliness, and friendship. I think after so many months of not being allowed to see each other, followed by the cautious opening-up of life, everyone has realised just how much social interaction suffered. With […]

Encouraging local youth initiatives is a bit of a pet-project for me at the moment, not just in The Lavingtons but across the Devizes area. I am working with a variety of stakeholders to improve youth provision and thankfully I am starting to see some really positive changes. Enthusiasm from Devizes Town Council is strong, […]

The first Ukrainian settlers are due to arrive in The Lavingtons shortly, thanks to the compassion and support of a number of our neighbours. The thought that terrified and vulnerable families have been offered shelter and hope by local residents is amazing. Locally, over 200 households have offered safe homes for people fleeing from the […]

I am sure we have all been impacted by the sudden increases in energy costs and so I thought I would borrow from my neighbouring councillor Tamara Reay (Devizes Rural West) who is also portfolio holder for Climate Change. She has put together some useful information which will be helpful to many of us in […]

On Tuesday 15th February I sat in Full Council from 10:30am until 9:10pm to debate the new budget. I will spare you a complete summary since the agenda pack was 597 pages of A4… front and back! I will instead pick out two elements that grabbed headlines. The Council proposed an increase to parking charges […]

Happy New Year! I am never quite sure what the acceptable cut-off date for that exclamation should be. Wishing you all a “Happy New Year” towards the end of January probably signals that I am still clinging onto Christmas cheer instead of kicking myself that it’s cold and grey and I haven’t made a start […]

I was very alarmed to hear that there was an attempted dog theft from the Plain this month. We have heard of numerous reports in Wiltshire over the last year but this one was incredibly close to home in a popular and well visited area and seemed to be coordinated to include the slashing of […]

This month I met with several local residents who are passionate about the fight against climate change whilst many more sent me ideas and comments via email following the publishing of Wiltshire Council’s Climate Strategy. The Council has made great strides in reducing its carbon footprint over the last few years and the Climate Strategy […]

It can feel frustrating at times that “the system” (however you interpret that!) feels broken. You’re not alone, however, I take some comfort in the fact that, when we work together, we can fix things. Two examples spring to mind; the first being the development of 50 houses in West Lavington which gained planning approval […]

Over the summer I have seen a real buzz around our local villages despite the rubbish weather! Easterton held a ceremony for the re-opening of their Village Hall and West Lavington welcomed some inspiring young walkers who passed through the village on their way from Truro to Glasgow raising awareness of Climate Change ahead of […]