Thursday 20 July 2023 – B4122 (Part), Sutton Benger; from its junction with B4069 to outside the entrance to its property known as Westbrook Farm 20th July 2023 will be closed to all traffic for 1 night between the hours of 20:00 and 06:00 (in the interests of public safety to enable Vodafone to carry out emergency splicing and associated works).

Access will be maintained for residents and businesses where possible, although delays are likely due to the nature of the works.

Due to the resignation of Joe Williams, a vacancy has arisen in the Office of Councillor for
Sutton Benger Parish Council. Please see the Notice of Vacancy for details.

Wiltshire Council is consulting on a Draft Wiltshire Design Guide, which is intended to be a supplementary planning document and has been prepared to support the Wiltshire Core Strategy and the emerging Local Plan.  

Consultation documents 

The Draft Wiltshire Design Guide and information on how to make comments will be published on 3^rd July 2023via the Wiltshire Council website at:  

www.wiltshire.gov.uk/article/6110/Wiltshire-Design-Guide

Hard copies of these documents will also be made available during normal opening hours at all libraries and at the three main council hubs (Monkton Park, Chippenham; County Hall, Trowbridge; Bourne Hill, Salisbury). 

How to comment 
Comments are invited on the Draft Wiltshire Design Guide for 4 weeks from the 3^rd – 30^th July. 

Comments can be made: 
 • Online via the Council’s consultation portal: https://consult.wiltshire.gov.uk/portal

• By emailing designguideconsult@wiltshire.gov.uk and requesting a form which will need to be returned to that email address.  

• By post in writing to: Design Guide Consultation, Natural and Historic Environment Service, Wiltshire Council, County Hall, Bythesea Road, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, BA14 8JQ.  

If responding by post, please use the  forms that are available online and from the libraries and main council hubs. 

Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council are working with iChoosr, independent experts in group-buying, to launch a second Solar Together scheme, following the success of the first in 2022. The Solar Together scheme offers a cost-effective way for residents and businesses to purchase solar panel and battery storage installation.

See Wiltshire Council Briefing Note for full details.

Register without obligation from 5 June: in Wiltshire via the Solar Together website.

Watch the Wiltshire Council webinar held on Monday 19 June on their You Tube Video.

To report potholes or highways defects, please use My Wilts.

The government has extended its £150m Community Ownership Fund and is now inviting expressions of interest.   

This fund helps community groups buy or renovate assets that would otherwise be lost to the community.

Assets are venues and meeting spaces used by the local community, such as:

• community centres
• cinemas and theatres
• galleries
• museums
• music venues
• parks
• post office buildings
• pubs
• shops
• sporting and leisure facilities

Expressions of interest must be submitted at least three weeks before the 12 July 2023 deadline.

Website for further information

We apologise for any inconvenience caused but we have had to cancel the Annual Village Meeting of Wednesday 24 May 2023. We will be reviewing the format of this annual event that the Parish Council are required to host and would welcome any comments on it – please contact the Clerk.

On Monday 24 April from 6pm-7pm, Wilts Council are hosting a webinar to enable you to find out more about the progress of the scheme to repair the B4069 Lyneham Banks and ask questions. They will answer as many questions as they can during the webinar, and all questions and answers will be posted on this webpage after the event. They will also record the webinar and post it to YouTube so that people can watch it again.

Sign up for the webinar

Once you have signed up, they will email you a link to join the webinar; you can expect to receive this link on the morning of Monday 24 April, so please check your email then. For the best experience, please download Microsoft Teams to your computer or mobile device to access the webinar.

A new Emergency Alert System has been created to warn the public if there is a nearby danger to life. A test run of this service has now been scheduled for Sunday, 23 April 2023.

Emergency Alerts are messages sent to all compatible 4G and 5G mobile phones when there’s a danger to your life, health, or property in the area you’re located. The service doesn’t require your location or phone number and only the government and the emergency services can send the alerts. If you don’t have a mobile, you’ll still be kept informed through other channels. If you get an Emergency Alert on your phone, you’ll hear a loud, siren-like sound. A message on your screen will tell you about the emergency and how best to respond.

The Cabinet Office has released a toolkit with key messages and digital assets to help you inform and prepare your communities for this. For more details visit www.gov.uk/alerts.