Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

Wiltshire Council news from Ernie Clark.

Firstly, may I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I realise that it’s rather early to do so, but this is the December newsletter!!

Good news on the Community Speed Watch issue. Enough volunteers have come forward to make the scheme viable, but more volunteers would be nice to see. Another two sites have shown as being suitable for monitoring and so risk assessments will be carried out. By the time you read this the first training session will have been held at the village hall.

I must admit to being a little surprised that while many residents complain about the speed of traffic in Hilperton not so many are prepared to try and do something about it. But, I guess, that’s life.

The new plastics and cardboard ‘blue bin’ service is now up and running. If you haven’t received a bin yet, please contact me.

You might have noticed that the chimney at the CPUK factory in Staverton was dismantled recently. CPUK has built an 'energy centre', which completed its trials over the summer, and so no longer needs the chimney. A new gas turbine with a heat recovery system uses smaller chimneys and makes the old one obsolete. It is a loss to the skyline but marks another step in the history of the site.

At their November meeting, members of Wiltshire Council agreed to remove the post of chief executive. Andrew Kerr’s application for voluntary redundancy was considered and agreed. The terms of his dismissal and redundancy were approved in line with the council’s redundancy policy. Members also agreed to appoint the service director for human resources, Barry Pirie, as the head of paid service and to appoint corporate director, Carlton Brand, as the council’s returning officer.

The terms of Andrew Kerr’s redundancy were not disclosed as this is personal information and due to data protection cannot be published at this time without his consent. However, the information will be made public when the council’s end of year accounts are published next June.