Archive for category: News

The below is just published by Wiltshire Council.

Annual canvass underway

Wiltshire Council has started the annual process of ensuring the county’s electoral register is up to date, which helps ensure you don’t lose your chance to vote on decisions that affect you.

Each household will receive at least one form of canvass communication (email, letter, or form) asking for confirmation of who lives at the address, to check who is eligible to register to vote.

Not all households will receive an email, letter or form at the same time. The form or email will have clear instructions as to whether each household needs to reply.

Emails will be sent this month to those people the council has email addresses for, with forms posted to relevant people from September.

The quickest and easiest way for you to confirm details on the Electoral Register, once you have received the instructions, is by using the secure online system at www.householdresponse.com/wiltshire and the security codes provided on the email or letter. Wiltshire Council may email more than one person in the same household, but only one person from each household needs to respond if necessary.

More information can be found at https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/elections-annual-canvass.

The below is reported by Wiltshire Council:

Building Digital UK (BDUK) has appointed telecoms provider Openreach to build next generation gigabit capable infrastructure in Central and North Wiltshire. This follows the award of a contract to Wessex Internet covering South Wiltshire last year.

The Openreach contract will target places that are too expensive for providers to reach in their commercial build, and which would otherwise be left behind without access to next generation broadband connectivity.

Wiltshire Council has welcomed this appointment and looks forward to developing a working relationship with Openreach and supporting them to achieve a successful rollout of this scheme.

Openreach anticipate connecting 9,000 premises over the next five years. This means residents and businesses will have access to lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband to help grow the local economy, accelerate innovation and improve people’s lives.

Detailed delivery plans are being developed so we can measure the pace of delivery against Openreach’s targets. This announcement moves the project into the early enablement phases, and further briefings will be provided as more information becomes available.

Further connectivity has been widely anticipated by residents, businesses and people in North Wiltshire who were not otherwise connected through the Project Superfast programme, which ended in 2022. Wiltshire Council is hopeful for further flexibility through the BDUK Gigabit Voucher Scheme (GBVS).

This scheme can provide vouchers worth up to £4,500 for homes and businesses in the hardest to reach rural areas to support the cost of installing new gigabit capable connections to their doorstep when part of a group. Further briefings will detail when/if BDUK release vouchers for areas needing additional support to achieve connectivity. Currently the voucher scheme is paused in Wiltshire and many other parts of the UK, although this can change.

Communities can now have their say on the Gypsies and Travellers Development Plan Document, as the consultation begins today (Tuesday 20 August) until 5pm on Friday 4 October.

To enable people to find out more about the Development Plan Document and ask questions, Wiltshire Council are holding five engagement events at different locations around the county in September where you can drop-in to find out more, and one online engagement event.

People can read the Gypsies and Travellers Development Plan Document and supporting consultation documents on the website and at the main council offices at County Hall, Trowbridge, Monkton Park, Chippenham, and Bourne Hill, Salisbury. The plan will also be available in many Wiltshire Council libraries.

Anyone can share their views through our online portal, and anyone without internet access can visit a library to use the computers, or contact the Council to get a written copy of the representation form and find out how to view the documents.

Information about what types of issues people can comment on will be available on the Wiltshire Council website.

The list of engagement events is as follows. People can just turn up at any time during the in-person events, which are drop-in sessions – there is no need to book. However, anyone who wishes to attend the online event must sign up beforehand. Anyone with an interest in the Plan can attend any of the in-person events – they do not need to choose the one nearest to them.

More information is available at Have your say (Regulation 19 consultation) – Wiltshire Council.