Town and Parish Council elections – Prospective candidates online event 5th March

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Town and Parish Council elections are coming up on May 1st  and it may be that people interested in standing for their local council have questions about the role of Councillor.

The Wiltshire Association of Local Councils have put together an online session to help prospective candidates better understand the role of the Town and Parish Councillor. The session will feature a panel of an experienced Councillor, a Clerk and a member of Wiltshire Councils Legal, Democracy and Governance team. The hour-long session, scheduled for 6pm on March 5th, will start with a short presentation by our panel, talking about their respective roles, the rest of the session will enable prospective candidates to ask questions and better understand the way our Councils work.

More information is at Your Parish Council Needs You! – March 5th | Wiltshire Association of Local Councils

 

Catch up on Wiltshire Council 2025/26 Public Budget Webinar

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Earlier in the week Wiltshire Council Leader Cllr Richard Clewer and Cabinet Member for Finance Cllr Nick Botterill hosted a Public Budget Webinar to talk through the 2025/26 budget proposals in more detail and answer questions.

The webinar can be viewed here 

 

Studley Grange Motorsports Hub – Launch of Consultation

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A public consultation has launched on Studley Grange Motorsports Hub. Please find attached a community leaflet that has been dispatched to local residents, about an exhibition event on Saturday 15 February, 12-6pm, Royal Wootton Bassett Memorial Hall, Station Road, Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, SN4 8EN. There is a private preview event, between 10am-10:45am, on Saturday 15 at the above address. If you are able and intend to attend, please notify by emailing .

Wiltshire Council Flood update

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Flooding update

Following heavy rain over the weekend and more forecast for the next few days, there are several flooding issues in Wiltshire and there may be more over the coming days. Our teams are working hard throughout the county to provide support and our Local Authority Incident Officers (LAIOs) are on standby.

Flood warnings and alerts
There are several flood warnings (flooding is expected) and flood alerts (flooding is possible) in place across the county. Please keep an eye on the Government’s flood alerts and warnings webpage for the latest and encourage people to sign up for flood warnings. There is also more advice on what do when flood warnings/alerts are in place.

Our teams are working throughout the county today to resolve any issues reported to us. All gully tankers are working to clear gullies where required and we are also clearing debris, grips and gully grates.

Road closures
We continue to keep our webpage with advice and the latest road closures as up to date as possible, but please be aware that this is a changing situation. There may be other roads, particularly side roads and smaller roads, that are experiencing flooding in the county.

Advice
Our advice to residents continues to be to take note of any signage, to not attempt to drive through flood water and to allow extra time for their journeys. Residents should follow the advice given from emergency services and the council.

Please report any issues in your communities using MyWilts as usual. Residents should also use MyWilts or call 0300 456 0105 to report issues, and we would continue to encourage you to liaise with your Flood Wardens to avoid duplicate reporting of issues where possible.

People affected by flooding
If there are any homeowners or households affected by flooding, they should contact us at  with their name, address and email address, and if any support becomes available, we can then notify them.

Waste collections
Our waste and recycling service disruption page continues to be updated with details of any issues with collections. Our advice to residents if their waste/recycling hasn’t been collected because of delays, is to leave their bin out and it will be emptied as soon as possible.

Further information and useful links
We’ll keep our flooding webpage as up to date as possible and will continue to post regular updates on our Facebook page. Local community Facebook pages such as the Spotted-type pages have also been regularly updated by residents throughout the day.

Here are some other useful links:

Local elections webinar for prospective local election candidates

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Wiltshire Council are hosting a webinar on Tuesday 11 February from 6pm – 7pm to give prospective candidates and agents all the information they need ahead of May’s local elections.

The webinar will be an opportunity for those considering standing for election and their representatives to hear from our election team directly, including the Returning Officer, and have any questions answered.

Please sign up to attend by visiting Local Elections 2025 – Candidate & Agent webinar. The Wiltshire Council Unitary Election and town/parish elections take place on 1 May.

This will be a useful session for all those considering standing for election this year. We’ll have people on hand to answer any questions and talk through the process of nominating and everything to consider so that the election is as smooth an experience as possible for everyone involved.

2025/26 budget proposals published – public webinar on 4 February

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Following this week’s publication of Wiltshire Council’s draft budget proposals for 2025/26, a public webinar is taking place soon for people to find out more and ask questions.

Wiltshire Council Leader Cllr Richard Clewer and Cabinet Member for Finance Cllr Nick Botterill will be hosting the webinar on 4 February from 6pm to talk through the proposals in more detail.

For a link to the draft proposals and information on how to join the webinar people should visit https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council-democracy-budgets-spending. People can submit any question in advance to .

Wiltshire Council: Cost of living support

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Please see attached flyer

Press release from the PCC: Extra is needed for continued investment in policing – how much would you be prepared to pay?

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Wiltshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner is asking all residents to use their voice and identify how much extra they would be prepared to pay for policing – and why.

PCC Philip’s Wilkinson’s annual Use Your Voice: Budget and Precept survey seeks the views of residents and stakeholders as the budget for policing and commissioned services for the next financial year (2025/6) is developed.

Respondents are asked whether their household would be prepared to invest more in policing through the police precept element of their council tax.

This, alongside a grant from the government, accounts for the entire budget for policing in the county. As it stands, due to the national police funding formula, Wiltshire Police is the third lowest funded police force in the country per head of capita.

A Band D household currently pays £269 per year for policing and Mr Wilkinson is looking at options to increase this by just over 5% – £14 per year extra, or an additional £1.16 a month. This is the most that can be asked for without a Local Referendum.

The survey runs until Friday 31 January 2025 and is available here 

Storm Darragh advice

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Wiltshire Council today sent the following advice to communities:

Storm Darragh is due to bring strong winds and rain to Wiltshire in the coming days. There is currently a yellow warning of wind in place for later today (5 December) and further yellow warnings of both rain and wind in Wiltshire in place for the coming days, though this may change.  As this follows Storm Bert and the recent heavy rain, there may be a risk of some localised flooding as the ground is already saturated.

Please remind your communities to keep an eye on the Government’s flood alerts and warnings webpage for the latest information. They can also sign up for flood warnings and find out about what to do when warnings/alerts are in place.

It’s important that people take care on the roads and drive to the conditions. Anyone driving on Wiltshire’s roads over the coming days should remain vigilant of surface water and not attempt to drive through any floodwater.

Please report any weather-related issues such as fallen trees or flooding to us using MyWilts.

Useful links:

People encouraged to check if they’re eligible for Pension Credit and Winter Fuel Payment

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We are continuing to encourage people over the state pension age to check their eligibility with the Government for Pension Credit and the Winter Fuel Payment.

Pension Credit gives people extra money to help with their living costs if they’re over State Pension age and on a low income.

Checking entitlement is easy with the government online calculator.

In addition to Pension Credit, those who qualify could also receive Winter Fuel Payment and other support such as help with housing costs, help with Council Tax and a free TV licence for those aged 75 and over.