The Devizes Area Board is a panel made up of the seven Wiltshire Councillors from across the wider Devizes area. I sit on it and represent The Lavingtons, alongside Tamara Reay (Devizes Rural West), Simon Jacobs (Devizes South), Iain Wallis (Devizes North), Kelvin Nash (Devizes East), Philip Whitehead (Urchfont & The Cannings) and Laura Mayes (Bromham, Rowde & Roundway).
I love the work that the Devizes Area Board does to support the community. In our December meeting, which was really well attended by members of the public, we broke into groups to discuss a rapid local response to the Cost of Living Crisis. You will no doubt have heard about the Warm Spaces popping up across the area and we are desperate to supplement this with additional initiatives to help further. I will keep you updated via this magazine, my blog and Facebook page as more local support gets rolled-out. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me if I can help.
An excellent example of the support that the Devizes Area Board provides was shared with the audience during our last meeting. I champion all things “Youth” on the board and was thrilled to tot-up this year’s grants we have provided for projects involving young people.
We have helped kick start youth clubs in Bromham, Great Cheverell and West Lavington with grants of more than £9,000. We’ve supported Parish Councils with improvements to play areas by donating more that £13,000. We supported local youth sports initiatives with grants of £12,500 and we assisted schools and church groups with grants of £15,000 for youth work. In total, over the last year, the Devizes Area Board has awarded grants for local youth projects totalling £61,000!
I often harp on about communities uniting in order to build things together. That local, grass roots passion really is the best foundation to a successful project and when those initiatives make it to the Devizes Area Board to request financial support, we are often fighting each other for access to the cheque book!
In other news, I talked about the issues with the completely flawed 5 Year Housing Land Supply last month. Some good news has come from Westminster in terms of amendments to housing targets in response to a rebellion from MPs fuelled by pressure from communities like ours. As always, the devil is in the detail, so I await confirmation from Wiltshire Council officers to confirm that our local control over house building has been strengthened.
Finally, I want to wish you and your families a very happy and healthy Christmas and a positive start to 2023.
You may contact me about this or any other matter by email to dominic.muns@wiltshire.gov.uk or by phone on 07585 394 178.
