Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

'It's not all doom and gloom'.

Discussions are underway that could bring a long awaited cinema to Trowbridge, members of the Trowbridge area board heard last night.

News that the former Peter Black site has attracted interest from a potential developer was welcomed by the meeting at West Ashton village hall. More than 60 local people attended the second area board held for the town and surrounding villages.

Adam Nardell, Wiltshire Council Vision Director gave an overview of work ongoing in the town, and explained that while the Waterside project that would have transformed the town centre was “dead in the water”, there was a considerable amount of current and prospective investment. Around £65m is being invested on the former brewery site and on the new Gateway site opposite the Shires bringing new shops and businesses to Trowbridge.

He updated the meeting on progress on the long empty St Stephen’s Place site explaining that it is due to go up for sale next week, and discussed the potential of other sites like the River Biss area and Court Street.

The meeting, chaired by councillor Ernie Clark agreed that the area board should get regular reports from the new Transforming Trowbridge group – and to get a review of the traffic on the transport strategy for the town.

Cash help for a variety of local community projects was agreed at the meeting. Grants which totalled more than £15,000 ranged from £1,300 to help fund holiday activities at Trowbridge Museum through to £5,000 to help upgrade the town’s Christmas lights and £5,000 to provide more dropped kerbs in the town.

The meeting also heard from teenagers of the Trowbridge Young Persons Issue Group. They explained their wide ranging work dealing with issues from transport for young people through to CCTV cameras and leaflets on drugs and alcohol. An area board representative was appointed to their group.

Local people were also urged to take part in planning the long term future development of the Trowbridge area by taking part in upcoming consultations. Wiltshire Council planners explained that meetings would soon be underway to discuss the formation of the local development plan for Wiltshire. The Trowbridge area will be on show at a special exhibition in the Civic Hall on November 16th from 1pm – 7pm.

Members of the area board urged everyone to get involved and have their say in mapping the future of housing and other development in their community.

“This is where we can really influence the development of West Wiltshire over the next 20 years,” said chairman Ernie Clark.

The area board also heard updates from the fire and police service, and updates on issues that had been raised through the first meeting. This included the ways local people could get involved in the Community Speedwatch initiative.

All issues and their progress together with agendas, background papers and information on grant applications can be viewed online.

The next meeting of Trowbridge area board will be on 5th November.